"Everyone, I wish you all a victory here, and I hope you all remember that every soldier is the most precious wealth of the Legion!"

On the deck of the "Border Governor", Chen Tian and others were seeing off the senior generals of the 3rd Infantry Army. At this time, there were fewer people present than in the morning. General François had led the 1st Infantry Army to land and support Guderian's armored mixed division in combat. General Olger led his troops to land in Area B east of Bonesmouth, and was advancing inland attacks. The artillery attacks on Svenge Port in Area C by the battleship fleet had already ended, and artillery fire almost leveled the civil buildings and British defensive fortifications in the port. Fortunately, a considerable number of docks could still be used. At this time, the soldiers and supplies of the 3rd Infantry Army were gradually landing.

The generals did not have too complicated expressions on their faces. At least so far, everything has been going as planned. Now both sides are striving to complete their deployment in the shortest possible time.

The slightly reddish and soft light of the sunset quietly sprinkled on the deck. Although there was no sound of gunfire on the sea surface, countless small and medium-sized ships were busy traveling between the fleet and the port, and a vibrant scene was seen.

"Your Highness, Lieutenant Colonel Garys called!"

When the staff officer came with the telegram, Scher and others standing beside Chen Tian all looked at attention. Today's combat operations of the airborne troops opened their eyes. Now everyone wants to know what kind of miracles these flying infantry can create. If they had not defended the Fordine River Bridge, the British vanguard might have joined the Bonemouth defenders.

Chen Tian read the telegram sent by Garys, and there were both good and bad news.

"There are so many things that are commemorative today. The largest landing operation in the era of giant ships and cannons. The first tactical airborne was used for actual combat. Now it is the encounter between the armored forces of the two armies! I think this battle will announce the beginning of a new era!"

After Chen Tian said that, he handed the telegram to Hoffman to satisfy the curiosity of these guys. The timely arrival of the armored commando will undoubtedly greatly improve the morale and combat effectiveness of the paratroopers. According to the battle situation there, it is the best time for the paratroopers to blow up the bridge and then retreat from the west of the bridge. The bad news is that the British armored troops have already broken into the paratroopers' first line of defense. If the bridge is blown up before repelling the British attack, a considerable number of paratroopers will become prisoners of the British.

"The British armored car they encountered should be from the M series!"

Hoffmann and other army generals were not surprised by the emergence of British armored vehicles. Before the outbreak of the war, Britain was one of the few countries to put armored vehicles into actual combat. In addition to the British colonial war, only the Balkan War had wars on the battlefield. However, the number of armored vehicles invested by the belligerent countries was pitifully small. Since the beginning of the century, British M-series armored vehicles have always attracted the attention of various countries. Most of the armored vehicles in Belgium, France, and Russia can see the shadow of British armored vehicles. It was not until a few years before the war that German armored vehicles developed rapidly under the leadership of Chen Tian and far surpassed countries in terms of quantity and performance.

"It seems that there is no need for the British to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to study new armored vehicles. What I worry about is their tanks and anti-tank weapons, and we know almost nothing about this!"

Although both Britain and Germany tried to steal the other party's confidential intelligence through spies, due to technical restrictions, the spy war at this time was far less exciting than World War II (the most famous female spies in World War I relied on stealing intelligence with French and German officers). Moreover, before the war broke out, most people did not expect that the two countries would really fight each other. The German government sent a large number of German spies to France, while the British ignored the remote small place of East Prussia. As for Chen Tian, ​​who had "foresight", his spies sent to Britain were not yet invaded to the top or key positions of the British government because his spy agency was not established for a long time.

Chen Tian has not equipped the "Stones" with anti-tank guns and armor-piercing shells. After all, the main task of the tank at this time is to deal with infantry and cavalry. For British M-series armored vehicles with armor thickness of 4-5 mm, bundles of grenades can be killed. In addition, each "Stone I" and "Stone II" have two special bullet belts. These bullets are still fired through the Maxim machine gunners on the tank, but these bullets contain a tungsten carbide bullet core (that is, the "K" type bullets equipped by the German army for machine gunners and snipers in the war in history, which are specially used to accurately shoot long-range targets and targets with protection). They can penetrate the walls of British M-series armored vehicles within 200 meters.

However, due to the tight preparation time for attacking Britain, the German logistics department had not had time to produce enough "K" bullets to equip every soldier, otherwise the British armored vehicles would be unable to move forward.

As for anti-tank guns and armor-piercing shells, they are becoming more and more mature at this time. Germany's latest "monster" tank is equipped with a 50mm caliber special tank gun. The shells it uses include armor-piercing shells, sub-caliber bullets and blasting grenades. The armor-piercing shells have a steel thick-wall shell, which are filled with zha, a bullet-bottom fuze and tracer, and can penetrate armor plates of a considerable thickness; the sub-caliber bullet is made of hard metal and the core is fixed in the bullet body. This bullet is lighter than the general armor-piercing shells, with a higher initial velocity, and its armor-piercing ability is also very high; blasting grenades are divided into two types: instant fuse and delayed fuse. Instant fuse shells are used to eliminate uncovered moving targets or partially masked targets in the bunkers, and those equipped with delayed fuses are used to eliminate field bunkers and fortifications.

Unfortunately, due to time reasons, the new tank guns and "Monster" tanks have not yet been put into mass production. Fortunately, the test process of the three prototype cars of "Monster" is relatively smooth, and they will have the opportunity to transport them to the UK for actual combat experiments.

In the telegram, Garris did not mention the British "little vagrants" tanks that had not yet entered the battlefield. He just saw some huge iron lumps moving slowly towards the battlefield in his telescope. From the appearance, the "little vagrants" were a bit like a reduced version of an armored train. Garris did not know what to distinguish between tanks and armored vehicles, so it was not until the end of the battle that Chen Tian and the Legion Command realized that it was not just a simple armored encounter.

When the first "Stone II" turned onto the bridge, three British armored cars that advanced to the German trenches were frantically straiting German soldiers nearby. After years of technical accumulation, these armored cars had rarely broken down due to their own failures. However, their weak armor and not-sturdy vehicle structures were most afraid of shells falling near them. If single or bundles of grenades were next to them or even under the vehicle exploded, they would not escape the fate of damage. The other three armored vehicles that the British army launched the attack were paralyzed in front of the position by German grenades, but their machine guns could still continue to fire.

Captain Nicklas and his tank No. 1 rumbled forward along the railway tracks on the bridge. Following him were tanks No. 2 and No. 3 in the armored commando. The other two tanks arrived together remained on the west side of the bridge to assist the paratroopers in defense. The armored vehicles were also divided into two parts, 2 "big swords", 4 "Troys" and 1 repair car remained on the west side of the bridge, and the rest followed Nicklas toward the east side of the bridge.

Captain Nicklas joined the tank troops as early as the beginning of the establishment of the East Prussian Legion. When the war broke out, he was a lieutenant company commander. During the famous road bloody battle in the Battle of Compiñon, his company participated in the battle to intercept the rear of the Russian 2nd Army. Later, he led his troops to fight in Russian Poland. He received a second-level Iron Cross because of his command of the courage and tenacious combat. After that, Nicklas Company and other companies of the old tank division were transferred to the new Guderian Tank Division, and followed Guderian to fight in France. After the Battle of France, he received a first-level Iron Cross and was promoted to deputy battalion commander of the captain.

Seeing the paratroopers suffered heavy casualties under the strafing of British armored cars, Nicklas was furious. He picked up his machine gun and fired at the British armored vehicle a hundred meters away. However, after half of the ordinary bullet belt was shot, the British armored vehicle not only did not silence, but instead pointed the muzzle at him. The British fired at a distance of 100 meters and seemed quite accurate. Their machine gun bullets hit the front armor of Nicklas No. 1.

After discovering the uninvited guests on the bridge, two other British armored cars and many British infantry focused their attention on the iron lump full of rivet armor. Countless bullets flocked to them. The British seemed to want to crush the German tanks with countless bullets. Unfortunately, what disappointed them was that the German tank was moving forward unyieldingly like that nation. After driving the east of the bridge, Nicklas' No. 1 car turned to the side and stopped. The barrel on the turret began to adjust, and the muzzle finally aimed at the British armored vehicle that was ramming in the front.

Bang……

Before his hearing could recover from the loud noise, Nicklas couldn't wait to turn his attention back to the aiming position. The explosion of smoke quickly dissipated. What made him very upset was that the British armored vehicle had not changed in shape. Obviously, the shell just now did not hit it directly.

Nicklas did have reasons to be upset when he did not hit a car-sized object at a distance of 100 meters. However, the short tube of the 37mm cannon on the "Stone II" and the arc-line trajectory of the shells fired by the artillery all restricted the gun from accurately hitting the target. However, the machine gun on the British armored car no longer fired, and members of the car were likely to have been damaged by shrapnel or shock waves.

The gunner quickly opened the barrel and retreated the shell. The strong smell of fire immediately spread in the tank cabin. Nicklas and his tank masters had to wear a strange-looking gas mask on their faces. As a rational general, Chen Tian never rejected the use of chemical weapons. So far, he has not been put into the battlefield because there is no need to use them. At the same time, he also knows that in the war in history, both sides used poison gas bombs, and no one can guarantee that they were

In this case, the British would not take the lead in using poison gas. Therefore, before landing in the war, existing gas masks in Germany were used to prioritize the equipment of landing troops. Various factories were also making every effort to produce such tools that were simple in structure but could save countless soldiers' lives. So far enough gas masks have been provided to Chentian's 8th Army and Hindenburg's 5th Army. Once the British army used poison gas, these gas masks would be distributed to the soldiers as fast as possible.

Tank No. 2 quickly drove past Tank No. 1, and it drove forward without stopping. The machine guns on it kept firing at the British infantry exposed in front of the position. At this time, most tankers did not seem to remember the two special ammunition belts placed in the spare ammunition box. Since German armored troops were not found near the bridge before, the British infantry attacking this time did not carry anti-tank weapons, and the Hale grenades in their hands did not pose a greater threat to German tanks than machine gun bullets.

Nicklas' second shell finally hit the British armored car that had stopped before. Its 5mm frontal armor could not resist the close attack of the 37mm caliber artillery. A large hole was blown out of the armor plate connected by rivets, and thick smoke suddenly rolled in the car's cab, blurred blood.

After the No. 3 tank car drove, several infantrymen on the Troy armored personnel carriers jumped out of the car. These lively guys quickly entered the defensive position in Qiaodong. The paratroopers' crumbling defense line immediately stabilized. Under the attack of German tanks and armored vehicles, British infantry suffered heavy casualties for a while. Almost every second, several people wearing yellow khaki uniforms fell under flying machine gun bullets. The remaining British armored cars began to shoot and retreat while shooting. However, the 37mm cannons on German tanks shot one shell at an extremely fast rate of fire, and finally killed them one by one. The surviving British armored soldiers jumped out of the car and retreated with the infantry.

After that, three German tanks aimed the muzzle at the dozen small-caliber rapid-fire guns behind the British infantry. The firepower of these British artillery was far stronger than that of German tanks. However, they had almost no choice for the 20mm thick armor on the front of the "Stone II", but the German tanks could easily kill the unstoppable British gunners. The artillery fire soon ended in the panic retreat of the British artillery.

Seeing the British officers and soldiers gradually fading away, Niklas and the tankers were not happy at all. In order to defend this line of defense, the paratroopers paid a considerable price. Thousands of corpses of soldiers on both sides lay in a small area from the town to the bridgehead. Rather than saying that this is a battlefield, it is a large cemetery. Now, every meter of tanks moves, they have to crush several dead bodies, and a considerable number of them belong to the heroic paratroopers.

After joining the battle and conducting continuous shooting, the infantrymen who came with the armored commando finally had the opportunity to carefully look at the place. Guns, helmets and other equipment of soldiers on both sides could be seen everywhere on the ground. The piles of British armored cars that had already become ruins were still burning and smoking, and many dying people were still moaning and struggling.

Most of the living paratroopers were injured to varying degrees. They either leaned on the wall of the trench and closed their eyes to rest, or helped bandage each other with their comrades next to them. The few medical soldiers were busy near the trench. After receiving emergency treatment, the seriously injured paratroopers were carried onto armored personnel carriers, including the German Army's first sniper Hilderland. When people found him, he was lying in the bottom of the trench covered with blood. Although his life was safe, his sniper record in this war was also at the 489th man. Until the end of the Battle of Britain, no sniper could surpass his record. After several months of recovery, Hilderland returned to the team. He will use his experience to lead the German snipers to create new glory in future battles.

The British troops involved in the attack did not completely withdraw from people's sight. After they re-contracted and replenished new troops outside the town, the troops that the British were preparing to attack seemed to be large in number. The British heavy artillery deployed in the rear began to bombard the ground, and the heavy shells plowed the ground near the town again, but the British still did not dare to extend the artillery fire to a place very close to the bridge (some people say that artillery fire is as difficult as bombing to accurately hit targets like the bridge, but under the dense heavy artillery fire, no one can guarantee that the unintentional willow will not happen. As long as a heavy shell hits the bridge, the bridge will be terrible).

After the British shelling began, Nicklas' armored commando retreated to the rear of the defense position in the east of the bridge, where he met Lieutenant Colonel Garys, the commander of the airborne troops. The British army with an absolute advantage on the opposite side, Lieutenant Colonel Garys decided to take the remaining paratroopers to break through the west side of the bridge and retreat towards the beach. Nicklas's tank armored vehicles were responsible for opening the road and breaking the rear. In addition, the command specifically mentioned the use of the two spare bullet belts on the tank in the telegram.

The British shelling lasted for about 10 minutes, during which time more than a dozen gray-black and green iron lumps had arrived in front of the British infantry preparing to attack (the British sometimes painted armored cars dark green, while gray-black was unpainted vehicles). As soon as the shelling ended, thousands of British infantry advanced to the bridge again under the guidance of combat vehicles.

At a distance of about 1,500 meters, three German tanks responsible for breaking the rear opened fire at the British armored troops at the forefront of the British attacking troops. It took nearly an hour for the British little vagabonds to climb here, and two were broken on the road. The remaining three were naturally full of anger and fired with cannons. The 37mm caliber artillery of the German tanks was the same as the 40mm caliber artillery of the British tanks. German tanks used ordinary shells, while British tanks specially prepared armor-piercing shells. However, since the number of tanks on both sides was not large and were constantly moving, both sides failed to hit the other side directly from 1,500 meters to 200 meters (for rivet-armored tanks, even ordinary shells hit directly, they had a considerable lethality, at the least they were damaged, and at the worst they were losing combat capability or even scrapped).
Chapter completed!