I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 760: Is This Really Shire’s Troops?

On the road leading to Nancy City, Ganmelin, wearing a steel helmet and a raincoat, wobbled forward inside an armored vehicle.

For the first time, he doubted his own theory.

Are tanks really useless?

During the assault on Thule, they were unstoppable; despite the Germans setting up anti-tank ditches, bridge layers still paved the way and easily crossed over.

Soon, German soldiers collapsed under the concentrated attack of the tanks.

If infantry had been used for the assault, it might have taken months or even longer to achieve this.

But with tanks, it took less than an hour to capture the city.

Ganmelin admired, this is the tool Shire used to create miracles. Now that they're in his hands, he should make good use of them!

"General," the adjutant sitting beside him reported, "Three kilometers ahead is Nancy."

Ganmelin uttered a "Hmm," silently took out the map from his pocket, looked at it for a while, and then ordered, "Order the Special Mechanized Division to move to the east of Nancy to block the enemy reinforcements from the east. Specialized Artillery Division, fully attack Nancy."

Ganmelin, on the surface, was the commander of the Second Specialized Artillery Division, but he commanded two divisions.

The parliament had made a big investment, building everything according to Shire's First Armored Army, including the Mechanized Division.

"Yes, General." The adjutant transmitted the order through the radio.

Ganmelin advanced with the Specialized Artillery Division, and soon they approached the German defensive line outside Nancy City.

He lay on the front of the armored vehicle, using the front armor for cover, observing the Nancy defensive line through binoculars.

In the drizzle, the German trenches were bustling with heads, seemingly in urgent maneuver.

This was what Ganmelin liked to see; it indicated the Germans were unprepared and were still adjusting their forces even as the battle approached the city.

He did not hesitate, raised his hand to the rear, and gently waved it forward. The tanks, already prepared, roared forward with infantry.

Only then did the artillery open fire.

This followed the principle of "not using large-scale artillery preparation before a tank assault" because craters would affect the tanks' advancing speed and even increase the failure rate of the tanks.

The artillery providing cover was "truck guns" and "Saint-Chamond" bought from Shire's factory.

The tank formation grandly charged towards the German positions, using Shire's "three-three formation," one tank attacking, one covering, and one reinforcing.

Even Shire, if he were here, might mistake them for his own troops.

This unit was meticulously created under Briand's support. His idea was simple: if you don't understand Shire's tactics, just copy them exactly, doing everything Shire does, including details like artillery cover.

He believed that if Shire could defeat the enemy with these techniques, others could too.

Finally, when the tanks were within three hundred meters of the enemy positions, the artillery cover stopped timely.

The disadvantage of the "Saint-Chamond" and "truck guns" was that their positions couldn't be leveled, affecting their shooting accuracy, and at three hundred meters, friendly fire could occur.

Ganmelin, observing the battlefield through binoculars, flashed a satisfied smile; the Germans had no reaction, the situation was set.

But just at that moment.

"Boom boom."

"Boom boom boom!"

...

Explosions rang from the German positions, one after another, with at least dozens of small cannons firing in turn.

"What is that?" Ganmelin frowned; he had never heard such cannon sounds on the battlefield.

Judging by the sound and smoke, the caliber shouldn't be large. Are such small-caliber cannons used to deal with tanks? How ridiculous!

However, when his vision fell on the attacking tank troops, he was shocked; more than a dozen tanks had been hit and immobilized, and several were billowing black smoke.

The adjutant screamed nervously, "General, their artillery can penetrate our tanks, and the hit rate is very high!"

Ganmelin was at a loss; he had never heard of the Germans having such equipment.

Before this, German artillery either had poor accuracy and couldn't effectively hit moving tanks or couldn't penetrate tank armor.

Could there really be such artillery that could both hit and penetrate?

"Boom boom boom!" Another seven or eight tanks were hit and immobilized.

"What should we do?" The adjutant shouted at Ganmelin in panic.

This was also what Ganmelin wanted to ask. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

If Shire faced this problem, what would he do?

Why did I encounter such a situation?

Damn it, I knew tanks were useless, they are just targets for the enemy, as long as the enemy has the right equipment.

How could I believe they could lead the army to victory!

Ganmelin gritted his teeth, "Keep attacking, even without tanks, the infantry can't retreat. Order them to charge into the enemy's trenches, advancing is victory!"

"Yes, General."

The troops that had been fighting in an orderly manner suddenly became chaotic.

Infantry units rushed past the tanks, forcing the tanks to slow down due to obstruction, their firing angles blocked and unable to shoot.

Meanwhile, because of the reduced speed, the tanks became easier targets for the enemy.

And the infantry, without the tanks' cover, fell in droves under enemy machine guns.

...

On the opposite side, organizing the defense was Manstein's mobile unit, which had arrived not long ago. Upon entering the defense line, he deployed anti-tank guns on both flanks.

Although this TAK model anti-tank gun could penetrate 25mm armor at a range of 300 meters, this was for vertical armor.

However, the front armor of the "Shire A1" was 25mm with an angle, making it very difficult to penetrate.

Deploying them on the sides targeted the weak side armor of the "Shire A1," greatly increasing the penetration probability.

However, after actually penetrating, Manstein, looking at the chaotic French troops, became worried.

Is this really Shire's unit?

Even if caught off guard by the anti-tank guns, they shouldn't fall into such disarray!

Soon, the French artillery, regardless of everything, suppressed again.

That was Ganmelin ordering the artillery to destroy the German anti-tank guns, but in the light rain, the artillery couldn't locate the German tank gun positions, merely firing wildly and causing numerous friendly fire incidents. The French troops ran chaotically like disturbed ants.

Manstein thought to himself, this isn't Shire's unit; we've been deceived!

However, at this point, Manstein could only bite the bullet and continue fighting, retreating now was impossible!

Next, Erwin led his tank division to launch an attack from the flank.

His tank troops would bypass the French tank formation to attack the French artillery from the rear.

Tanks against artillery, it would be a dimensional crushing.

Ganmelin, seeing the sudden appearance of the German tank formation on the flank, turned pale with fright.

"Mechanized Division." Ganmelin shouted, "Immediately bring the Mechanized Division back to block them!"

"General," the adjutant responded loudly, "the Mechanized Division is already engaged with the enemy and cannot return to aid!"