Man in World War II: The Fall of an Empire!

Chapter 55: Encounter, Second Battalion Commander, where are your damn Italian cannons?

On a small road, both sides were covered with green grass, and some small flowers were swaying in the wind.

This was originally a place isolated from the rest of the world.

Until an explosion sounded, breaking the original tranquility.

A barrel cart was destroyed on the spot, rolling in the sky like a gymnastics team spinning, but it ended up being smashed to pieces instead of standing firm.

"Get out of the car! Spread out!"

At the moment when he saw the vehicle in front being destroyed, Loew screamed and urged the soldiers to get out of the car.

He is still very aware of the explosion of landmines and the shelling of artillery shells.

So there is no hesitation at all and the need to guess what caused the current situation.

The huge explosion directly killed four soldiers on the spot.

Some of the remaining people jumped out of their cars and rolled over lying in the grass.

As a scout, even a fool could tell that this was an ambush or an encounter.

"Damn it, are these Germans crazy? Are they really chasing us? Do they really think we are fools?"

A French lieutenant colonel with a mustache roared with murderous intent.

It can be seen that he is also driven to be anxious, otherwise there would be no need to be like this.

The point is, who made him look like this?
Only half of this French tank regiment is left.

An attack by the Luftwaffe caused half of the loss.

Half of the tanks were lost, but there were still thousands of troops.

The retreating French army in front of them thought it was a German pursuit force coming.

The German army thought it was the fleeing British and French allied forces they were chasing.

"Counterattack! Counterattack!"

Loew signaled the brothers to immediately organize a counterattack.

The MG34 general-purpose machine gun was the main core and started the counterattack.

But everything in front of him exceeded Loew's expectations.

Hundreds of French soldiers began to rush towards them, followed by many tanks.

"This!"

Loew himself was dumbfounded when he saw the scene in front of him. Is this the group of people he was chasing?
Why do they still have tanks?
"Go and report the situation we encountered to the captain immediately. Run and don't drive the car, otherwise you won't be able to get back alive."

Loew ordered the soldiers to go back and report the situation.

"Set up a defensive formation with machine guns as the core and dig foxholes."

Loew shouted loudly.

The soldiers immediately began digging foxholes to prepare for resistance, while the machine gun crews continued to cover the ground with fire.

The infantrymen raised their guns and started shooting to suppress the machine gunners when they shouted to change the barrel.

This kind of mutually covering shooting blocked the progress of the French soldiers outside.

The large army, which was only a few kilometers away, was also worried after hearing the continuous sound of explosions.

"What's going on ahead? Is it so intense? Immediately order the troops to speed up, and the artillery and tanks are ready to go into battle at any time."

William issued the combat order.

Everyone immediately accelerated their marching speed.

On the way, I saw soldiers who came back to report the news.

"What? Hundreds of French troops counterattacked and there were a lot of tanks! How is this possible?"

William said in disbelief, but he soon understood.

This is an encounter, and the French army in front of them should be a defeated unit that is being chased urgently.

"Arrange the place immediately according to the defensive position!"

Knowing that the situation was serious, William directly deployed a defensive formation.

Originally, the company's battle was in the rhythm of a fierce attack, but facing the French army's state, they could only choose a defensive formation to defend themselves.

French tanks are different from British tanks. French tanks not only have strong firepower but also strong defense.

At least all the German tanks currently except the No. [-] assault gun are unable to deal with it.

William knew that he was short of troops, and the opponent might not have any artillery or the like.

As long as the track of the No. [-] assault gun is interrupted, no matter how awesome it is, it will stop.

Because the No. [-] assault gun relies on two crawler forward wheels to adjust its direction.

If there are five No. [-] assault guns, even a whole regiment of tanks on the opposite side can attack him.

But there were only two, and the disparity in strength was too large.

Everyone was busy setting up the defense line, and Loew in front was dragged back by three soldiers.

Loew was shot in the chest and was bleeding. The soldiers hurriedly bandaged him and began to cover and retreat.

A low-slung half-track came speeding up.

After picking up a few people, he turned the throttle to the end and ran away.

"Medic! Medic!"

As soon as the motorcycle stopped, the soldiers on top were heard shouting at the top of their lungs.

The medical soldiers rushed forward immediately, opened the medical box and immediately began to rescue Loew.

"Lucky you didn't hurt any vital parts."

The medical soldier said during the inspection, and then began to take out the tweezers, search for the bullet, and pull it out of the wound.

Blood continued to gush out, and a plasma bag was directly hung up and transported from the other arm.

"Hold on and everything will be fine."

William came to Loew and said.

Loew glanced at William with confused eyes, then closed his eyes and fainted.

"Take good care of him. If anything happens, send him to the hospital immediately."

William signaled, and then began to fight back.

The French army continued to approach under the cover of tanks, but they were also hit by heavy artillery.

The three 150mm heavy infantry guns are not just decorations.

Just as William thought, the artillery in the opponent's hands is also fast, accurate and ruthless. The French 75mm chick is no joke.The fast rate of fire and accurate aim are also good. Children who have watched the sword show all know Li Yunlong's classic line "Second Battalion Commander, where is your damn Italian cannon?"

In fact, it was a 75mm French rapid-fire gun.

Could the French lieutenant colonel on the opposite side also be shouting, "Second Battalion Commander, where are your damn Italian cannons?"

Boom boom boom!
At least three more 75mm rapid-fire cannons began to hit William's artillery position.

The range of infantry artillery and mountain artillery is quite large.

The other party is simply difficult to reach from a few kilometers away.

After more than thirty rounds of 75mm artillery, the two half-track self-propelled guns were destroyed.

One artillery piece on the opposite side may have been destroyed, but there were at least two still shelling.

The remaining half-track self-propelled gun was destroyed after firing seven rounds.

Three 150mm heavy infantry guns were destroyed, killing a dozen gunners.

The other two M1940 artillery pieces are still standing strong. They mainly dig a small hole and push them in. As long as they are not hit directly, it is basically impossible to kill them.

The explosion range of the 75mm artillery is also limited.

And there is only one 75mm French chick left behind, which has no way of causing substantial damage.

"Captain! French tanks are rushing over from the left, and the defense line is on the verge of collapse."

Ram came to William's side with blood on his face to report.

He was waiting for William's last order.

Whether it was a fight to the death or a retreat, he would execute it.

He glanced at Ram whose face was covered in blood, and then looked at the other brothers who were locked in a bitter fight.

"Retreat! Use up all the rockets to stop the French army, and blow up the paralyzed No. [-] assault gun."

William chose to retreat. People are the most precious to him.

As long as he wants these weapons and equipment, he will have them soon.

So there is no need to fight like crazy with the French here.

"Yes!"

Ram called to the brothers to start retreating, and those who could move began to retreat with those who could not move.

Three half-track rocket motorcycles delivered all the final shells.

At the same time, mortars fired multiple smoke bombs, shrouding the entire battlefield in white smoke.

When the French army saw this, they did not pursue any pursuit, because they were in a hurry to escape and had no time to pursue the German army.

William led his men to retreat two kilometers away and then regrouped the troops without being pursued by the French army.

There are four platoons in the company, with a total of more than 180 people. Only 107 people have returned so far.

This means that the casualties were close to 80 people.

When the rest of the company arrived, they began to collect the bodies and clean the battlefield.

In this battle, a German company encountered a French tank regiment.

The French army lost 5 artillery pieces, 16 tanks, and 294 soldiers.

Although only one company of the German army lost 63 people, many people still survived the battlefield.

This is also a blessing for William.

And William was recorded in history because of this battle.

The reason for being so excited is mainly because everyone said that the French army's combat effectiveness was limited to World War I.

After seeing a company fight like this when encountering a tank regiment, I had to reward them heavily.

William was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, plus the Silver Assault Medal.

In addition, William was promoted to major battalion commander.

This time's achievement has also come into the sight of Mustache.

He became more and more satisfied with this nephew.

The generals of the Wehrmacht were very satisfied after seeing William's performance.

William's company stopped to rest and recuperate due to heavy losses.

And it needs to be reorganized into the size of a battalion.

There are many new recruits and weapons and equipment that need to be integrated.

As a Thor arsenal, William will definitely not build his troops according to the conventional German battalion model.

Call it a combined combat camp.

This is a multi-arms joint combat camp.

Each team size will be set to 12 people.

It carries an MG34 general-purpose machine gun and a 13.8mm anti-tank rifle.

Two Thor shotguns and two MK40 submachine guns, all using 47-round drum modes, are used for charging and attacking.

Two sets of 8 mm thick steel plate armor, which are usually worn by soldiers at the forefront.

The weight is not light, but it tastes much better than killing someone.

The rest are equipped with Thor M1940 semi-automatic rifles.

The squad leader will have an MD1940 automatic pistol, and the machine gunner will also be issued one.

This is the firepower configuration of a team in the combined combat battalion.

Absolute luxury, at least so far, no country can have such luxurious configurations.

The U.S. military in 40 years will not be able to do it. It may be able to fight in 45 years.

As for platoon-level units, a platoon has four squads, one of which is the fire team.

It is equipped with a 50mm mortar and a 13.8mm heavy machine gun.

A 180mm half-track rocket motorcycle.

At least some armored vehicles dare not come over and act wild. The 13.8mm Thor heavy machine gun can penetrate 20mm armor. If you dare to come over, you are looking for death.

Replacing armor-piercing bullets is another result.

　Please vote, thank you all.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)