I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 767: Revised - Steel Collision

The "LK2" tank emitted a dull "roar" in the rain, like a beast’s low growl, with exhaust lingering on both sides, unwilling to depart.

The tracks rolled over puddles, splashing muddy water on the faces of the German soldiers behind, but the soldiers were oblivious.

Their attention was completely focused on the French tank formations that were barely visible opposite them.

That was Shire’s unit.

The undefeated First Armored Division, the first unit in the world to use tanks, and also the unit with the most mature tactics and the richest combat experience.

The German soldiers dared not relax for a moment because they knew that meant death.

The soldiers seemed to smell the scent of death, their breathing became heavy, their hands gripping the rifles turned white from the force, and each step forward became incredibly difficult.

Closer and closer.

The good news was that from the formation, it seemed the French tanks were not many, only about thirty.

Erwin loudly motivated the soldiers from behind: "They must have split their forces, we have a numerical advantage!"

If it weren’t for a few malfunctioning tanks, their numbers would nearly double the French, Erwin thought.

But then his heart tightened.

Shire splitting his forces meant his other unit had already rushed to Metz, which meant everything the German Army did now was meaningless and could not delay Shire’s speed by even a second.

No, Erwin gritted his teeth, if they could defeat these tanks in front of them with numerical superiority, they could still force Shire’s main force to respond.

Closer and closer.

The German soldiers saw the general outlines of the French tanks, and these guys seemed different from the imagined "Shire A1".

But the German soldiers didn’t think much.

What else could it be besides "Shire A1"?

This tank was already excellent enough; they kept winning, and Shire had no need to develop new tanks.

Closer and closer.

The body of the French tank finally pierced through the rain and appeared before everyone, the 75MM caliber gun on the right side of the tank body in full view.

The German soldiers were stunned, their feet clearly paused.

The speed of the "LK2" tank also slowed down a bit, evidently, the tank crew noticed something was wrong, and a few commanders even panickedly opened the hatches to look outside, seemingly for help.

An infantryman screamed:

"My God, that’s Shire’s new tank, we’ve never seen this tank before!"

"It has two guns, what should we do?"

"Such a large tank must have thicker armor; we can’t defeat them!"

...

Erwin quickly shouted from behind:

"We have no retreat, soldiers, we can only advance."

"Listen to me, we may not be able to penetrate their frontal armor, but we can definitely penetrate the sides."

"We still have a chance, we have a numerical advantage, we can use our speed to flank them, victory will be ours!"

The soldiers barely calmed down.

General Erwin made sense; when tank formations clashed, there was no running away.

Because running without a fight, the enemy tanks would chase after and destroy their tanks one by one.

Thus.

"Use speed to flank them."

"Use speed to flank them."

...

The orders were passed down, including to the tank crews.

However, before they were ready, the French tanks on the opposite side stopped one after another.

The German soldiers instantly felt an overwhelming pressure, this was the French tanks getting ready to fire.

Erwin wiped the rain from his face heavily and shouted orders: "All units, speed up!"

At this time, only speeding up could affect the enemy’s aim, especially for the 75mm gun mounted in the hull.

But it was already too late.

Before the order was even transmitted, a burst of cannons sounded from the opposite side, and shells rained into the German tank formation.

No whizzing sound. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Their distance was too short; the shells didn’t fly far before they exploded, and what could be heard were thunderous explosions.

Seven or eight tanks in motion instantly turned into fireballs, directly hit by the 75mm guns.

The 75mm guns used high-explosive shells, but their muzzle velocity and caliber were enough to penetrate the 14mm thick front armor of the "LK2" tanks and then explode inside.

The scene could only be described as shocking and terrifying.

The shells triggered internal ammunition and gasoline explosions; the entire tank body disintegrated from the inside out in an instant, with parts and armor fragments flying everywhere like shrapnel.

German soldiers trailing behind the tanks fell in wails, some pierced through the eyes by screws, some had their legs broken by wrenches, and others had half their heads shaved off by steel plates...

The battlefield seemed to have been switched on, instantly turning from a stand-off to a bloody hell.

Even Erwin, watching from the rear, felt a chill in his heart.

Though the French only had about 30 tanks, if each was equipped with two guns, their firepower was doubled.

Especially since the 75mm had a high rate of fire, theoretically up to 30 rounds per minute, much faster than any other tank gun.

In the blink of an eye, the German tank formation was blasted into a mess with bodies, blood, and tank wreckage everywhere.

The German infantry was terrified; some fled regardless, some lay motionless on the ground, and some had already raised their hands in surrender, no longer thinking about cooperating with the tanks.

The "LK2" tanks, perhaps due to insufficient external sensors, were unaware of the carnage outside and continued speeding forward.

A few managed to break into the French tank formation.

Erwin praised internally, in close combat, the "LK2" had a speed advantage; perhaps they could throw the French into disarray and turn the tide.

But the next second, Erwin was in despair.

When the "LK2" approached the target’s side, it slowed down, simultaneously rotating the turret, and missed the target’s body when it suddenly fired.

The shell hit the wide side of the French tank at close range.

Just as Erwin was about to cheer, he saw the French tank continue firing as if nothing happened, whether it was the turret’s 37mm gun or the hull’s 75mm gun.

"No." Erwin was in disbelief: "It clearly hit the side armor."

"General." The staff officer observed through the binoculars for a moment and replied: "It didn’t penetrate!"

"This, this is impossible." Erwin glared at the staff officer: "They were only a few meters apart, hitting at a vertical angle, this situation can penetrate 40mm armor."

"Gener, General." The staff officer looked innocent: "I saw the dent in the armor."

Erwin was stunned.

He actually knew what was going on; the fact was, it didn’t penetrate, otherwise that tank wouldn’t have any combat power left.

He just didn’t want to believe it.

God, Erwin sighed inwardly, if even the side armor couldn’t be penetrated, was there any chance of victory?

All the "LK2" tanks were enemy targets; they were already doomed!