I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 786: What I Care More About Is How to Defend

Chapter 786: Chapter 786: What I Care More About Is How to Defend

Unlike Shire, Tijani showed great interest in the ’Independent’ tank.

"It’s a great tank." Tijani walked over to Shire with his coffee, his eyes lighting up when he saw the sketch: "Although they copied the rotating turret of the ’Shire A1’, the four machine gun turrets provide good cover for the tank."

Tijani had commanded the ’Shire B1’, and he believed the advantages of this tank were obvious: thick armor and powerful firepower.

But the weaknesses were equally prominent: without machine gun cover, it had nearly no resistance capability when engaged in close combat with enemy infantry, making it easy to be approached and destroyed.

Therefore, when he saw the British ’Independent’s’ four machine gun turrets, his immediate feeling was that it compensated for the deficiencies of the ’Shire B1’.

Shire smiled lightly: "Do you know what the design principle of a tank is?"

Tijani shrugged; he could only command tanks in battle or appreciate equipment like artworks, but didn’t have the energy to delve deep.

"Minimal tank crew." Shire nodded towards the ’Independent’ tank: "Take a look at how many people this tank requires."

Tijani began to understand: "It might require 7 people."

"To be precise, it’s 8 people." Shire corrected: "Four machine gunners, and a gunner, loader, driver, and commander."

Normal tanks can have the commander take on the role of loader or gunner, but the multi-turret ’Independent’ can’t.

The reason is there are too many people, and the firepower direction is also diverse.

The commander needs to have eyes on all sides and ears wide open, while simultaneously commanding the driver and output from four machine guns and one cannon.

In the tense state of the battlefield, even a full-time commander becomes overwhelmed, let alone a part-time one.

Tijani understood: "Therefore, even coordinating within this tank is a major issue."

...

Lorraine, the battlefield on the Franco-German border.

The ’Independent’ tank was slowly advancing towards the enemy line, appearing orderly on the surface, but was actually chaotic inside.

"Captain, we spotted enemy infantry artillery fifty meters ahead; they’re aiming at us."

The commander hurriedly yelled to the gunner: "Take it out!"

"We can’t aim unless we stop the tank..."

"No, we can’t stop; stopping would make us a target for the enemy." The commander turned to the machine gunner: "Suppress with machine gun!"

"We haven’t spotted any infantry artillery, Captain; everywhere there are our own troops."

"I haven’t spotted it either."

The commander yelled: "One o’clock position, move quickly, machine gun number 2 ready..."

Before the machine gun could finish turning, "Boom," the German infantry artillery hit the tank and crippled it in place.

For the 8 tank crew members, forget about coordinating attacks; even basic communication inside the "rumbling" tank had difficulty reporting data.

Thus, before communication tools developed any further, the most flexible and practical was actually the ’Shire A1’ with its 2-man tank.

The ’Shire B1’ tank with 4 crew members was still acceptable, because its roles were very clear: the rotating turret primarily used for tank warfare, and the 75 gun on the hull used for infantry support; the gunners knew what should be done when.

...

Shire continued analyzing with the sketch in hand: "Another issue with the multi-turret design is the severe lack of internal space, leading to problems with ammunition storage and armor thickness."

Tijani nodded in agreement.

Although the tank crew doesn’t weigh much, they require a lot of space, and with 8 people cramped inside, they at least need to be able to move and turn, and the commander potentially needs to move to command.

This meant that even though the tank was heavily armed, it had insufficient ammunition, and the armor couldn’t be too thick.

...

"Lieutenant, we’re out of bullets."

The commander hurriedly ordered: "Take the bullets from machine gun number 3 and 4, and replenish number 1 and 2."

The commander felt that the machine gun turrets numbered 3 and 4 at the rear were entirely redundant; throughout almost the entire battle, their gun barrels were always aimed at friendly forces.

"Which idiot came up with this design!" the commander complained: "They didn’t consider battlefield practicalities at all."

When would machine gun number 3 and 4 actually function properly?

Probably when the tank broke into the enemy ranks, but then wouldn’t there be infantry of their own at the rear?

So what was the significance of these two machine gun turrets?

While pondering, "Clang," a penetrative sound, the tank was pierced frontally by a German armor-piercing round, and inside, the 8 tank crew members screamed and fell into a pool of blood amidst the flying shrapnel and armor fragments.

The front armor of the ’Independent’ tank was only designed with a thickness of 28MM; although it was temporarily increased to 35MM and sandbags were attached, it was still penetrated by the German anti-tank gun at close range.

...

"Ultimately they will halt in front of the anti-tank trench." Shire pointed at the deployment map of the Hindenburg Line: "They hope to suppress the Germans with the powerful firepower of the ’Independent’, while using the tank’s armor to provide cover for the infantry, allowing infantry to charge into enemy trenches for hand-to-hand combat."

"What’s wrong with that?" Tijani’s eyes flashed with confusion; if he were to fight, he might also adopt this tactic.

"The tank can indeed become cover, Major General," Shire said: "But simultaneously, they also become an obstacle for the soldiers’ advance; moreover, the Germans are equipped with flamethrowers."

...

Bands of fire dragons spewed downward across the anti-tank trench onto the British Army soldiers on the other side.

The shrill screams of the British Army soldiers sounded throughout the battlefield, everywhere there were flames jumping and rolling, scaring the rear British Army soldiers into halting.

The tanks were not spared either.

Although the flames couldn’t burn through steel plates, they could force the engine temperature to rise, causing damage; if any tank was unfortunate enough to leak oil during battle, it would quickly catch fire and explode.

The German machine guns continued roaring, the rain of bullets crisscrossed through the flames shooting towards the advancing British Army, knocking down soldier after soldier.

Corpses stacked into heaps inside and outside the anti-tank trench, the blood soaked into the trench and puddles, turning the whole world red.

...

The telegram arrived in Shire’s hand.

The British Army’s offensive failed; several hours of attack led to the loss of over two hundred new tanks and more than thirty thousand soldiers, a calamity worthy of comparison to the River Somme.

Tijani whistled, saying with ridicule: "These forces and tanks are enough for us to organize another Armored Army."

Then he eagerly asked Shire: "If it were you, General, how would you break through the Hindenburg Line?"

Shire calmly replied: "If it were me, I would care more about defense, not offense."

"Defense?" Tijani exclaimed, and then he understood: "You mean, the Germans would counterattack?"

Shire nodded.

The German commander is Hindenburg, he wants to prove his commanding ability to the Germans, prove that he is stronger than Fajin Han, prove that he has the capability to become Germany’s Chief of Staff or even a behind-the-scenes emperor.

Thus, obviously, he wouldn’t "wait for a rabbit" and enjoy the benefits.

He would do his utmost to demonstrate his strength!