I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Charles's Troops

Charles's troops were divided into two parts, each about a thousand men, commanded by Estigny and Browning, respectively.

They had indeed departed from Charles's tractor factory, with tanks, tricycles, troops, and ammunition all loaded onto a train bound for Paris.

But the spies had not considered one thing: train carriages can be easily swapped.

When the train arrived at the Paris train station, the carriages were secretly split into two sections inside the station and then attached to different locomotives.

One train headed straight for Andelussy to the north of Lafox, while the other made its way south to Tarmon.

The so-called "train carrying Charles's tanks and troops" was far behind, and it only carried canned goods and bread meant for the front lines.

The landslide was a deliberate act, designed to make everyone, including Gallieni's headquarters, believe that the troops could not arrive in time, preventing them from interfering.

Everyone's attention was fixed on the train blocked by the landslide, and no one realized that Charles's troops had already arrived at their destination and were methodically entering the battlefield.

Estigny was responsible for the attack on the Andelussy area.

He arrived at the battlefield first aboard a tricycle, raised his binoculars, and looked in the direction of the enemy. The enemy was unprepared on the front line. There were only a few insignificant barbed wire fences and wooden barriers; no soldiers were visible outside. Estigny guessed that the enemy was probably sheltering in the trenches from the rain.

A raincoat-wearing infantry colonel rushed up to Estigny in the rain. He glanced at Estigny, noticing his artillery colonel's uniform, and with a tone full of doubt, asked, "Colonel, which unit are you from?"

He seemed unaware of any artillery reinforcements.

Estigny said nothing. He just stood there, quietly waiting for a moment.

The telephone at the guard post rang. The sentry took the phone and called out, "Colonel, it's your call from the Paris City Defense Headquarters!"

The infantry colonel was even more confused. What did this have to do with the Paris City Defense Headquarters?

He walked into the post and picked up the phone, and his eyes went wide with shock as he looked at Estigny outside.

After exiting, the infantry colonel seemed like a different person, nervously stammering:
"You're... Charles's troops?"

"Attacking from here? I mean... my name is Klopp, Colonel, nice to meet you!"

Estigny politely shook his hand and introduced himself.

"Colonel Estigny!" Klopp straightened his chest. "What are your orders? I mean, how should we cooperate with you?"

"You just need to watch, Colonel Klopp!" Estigny answered coldly. "You don't need to do anything; just watch, and remember that!"

Colonel Klopp was somewhat embarrassed. He felt insulted.
However, he quickly realized that this unit indeed had the right to insult them.

Estigny was not arrogant; he knew that coordinating with untrained units would only turn the operation into chaos.

Tanks rolled up one after another, their engines rumbling as they lined up in a wedge formation, ready for the assault.

There weren't many tanks, only 36 in total, the number of a tank battalion.

Two tank companies were arranged on the left and right, with one tank company in the rear as a reserve ready to assist at any moment.

Estigny hesitated not at all. As soon as everything was ready, he gave the order to attack.

The battle, which was to catch the enemy off guard, relied on speed; every minute wasted would give the enemy one more minute to prepare.

The tanks rumbled forward, accompanied by infantry moving through the mud and water. The tracks made a "clanking" sound, splashing mud and water around.

The ground was pockmarked with craters of all sizes. These craters were a nightmare for the CA-1 and Saint-Simon tanks, but they posed no problem for the fully tracked Mark I tanks.

The tanks easily crossed them, causing little more than a slight tilt of the vehicle and splashing mud, like waves of water hitting the faces of the soldiers following behind.

Five hundred meters.

The tanks crushed the rotting, foul-smelling corpses left on the battlefield, releasing a dark greenish-red liquid that immediately filled the air with a suffocating stench.

The soldiers were nauseated, their stomachs churning.

But they knew that their survival was at stake and could not afford to be distracted.

Thus, even though they were one hundred and twenty percent unwilling, they had no choice but to step through the filth, crawling with flies and maggots, to maintain their formation.

Four hundred meters.

Perhaps due to the rain and the downpour, the enemy still hadn’t realized that a tank battalion was approaching.

The soldiers, keeping their eyes on the tanks ahead, gripped their rifles tightly, their hands turning white from the pressure. Their breathing grew rapid.

The great battle was about to begin...

Three hundred meters.

German soldiers finally heard the sound, and a few of them climbed out of their trenches, some holding binoculars, and looked in this direction.

Estigny acted decisively, whispering, "Fire!"

The soldiers immediately raised their rifles and fired. The few Germans who had peeked out were struck by bullets from several directions. They fell back into the trenches, a splash of red appearing briefly in the rain.

The sound of gunfire alerted the German soldiers, who quickly popped their heads up in rows from the trench and raised their rifles.

However, they were clearly startled when they saw the tanks suddenly appear in front of them. The gunfire paused for a moment before continuing.

Bullets hit the tanks' armor, sparking as they bounced off with a sharp "clang," some especially crisp and high-pitched, ringing out like a bell.

Estigny knew that those were the German K-shells, which could not penetrate the tanks' frontal armor.

"Speed up!" Estigny shouted.

The infantry, having received the order, waved signal flags in front of the tanks' observation holes. The tanks roared to life, pushing forward at full speed.

Soon, the German artillery shells arrived—those from the German 77mm guns. Only a few dozen shells, most falling behind the tanks, with only a few landing near them.

Estigny silently breathed a sigh of relief. The German 105mm howitzers had been tricked into targeting the Lafox area, or the losses would have been unavoidable.

He saw a few soldiers fall to the ground, hit by stray bullets, and shouted, "Take cover behind the tanks, maintain the attack line!"

Now was not the time to expose oneself and shoot. This would be suicide under the enemy's concentrated fire!

It wasn't until the tanks crushed the barbed wire and approached the German defense line within thirty meters that Estigny shouted, "Grenades!"

He blew his whistle with all his might, signaling in all directions so that everyone could hear.

The soldiers quickly pulled grenades from their belts, skillfully lit them, and threw them toward the enemy lines.

Some soldiers even sprinted a short distance behind the tanks before tossing the grenades. The movements were seamless, throwing the grenades in an elegant arc over the tanks into the German trenches. They clearly had done this many times before.

Although the German soldiers did not know what these thrown objects were, they still felt the danger and began shouting, running in all directions to avoid them.

"Boom! Boom..."

The trenches were filled with thick smoke as explosions erupted, and the French soldiers shouted as they charged forward, bayonets fixed, rushing over the tanks!

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