I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 788: The German Army’s Counterattack

In fact, it wasn't just British commanders like Haig who didn't believe the German Army would counterattack; even Ludendorff, Hindenburg's assistant, didn't agree.

(The picture above shows German General Ludendorff, who was Hindenburg's deputy during World War I. The two were described as being as close as a married couple. When Hindenburg was appointed Chief of the General Staff, Ludendorff was appointed Quartermaster General, equivalent to Deputy Chief of Staff. From then on, Hindenburg controlled the army, and Ludendorff controlled the logistics, giving them the de facto status of military dictators.)

"Marshal." Ludendorff asked Hindenburg in confusion while holding the battle reports from these days: "Our casualty ratio with the enemy has reached almost 1:7. We are in the midst of victory, so why not continue to maintain this advantage?"

Hindenburg responded with a "hmm."

Ludendorff was more adept at politics and interpersonal relations; he lacked sufficient decisiveness and vision in military and strategic matters.

This was one of the reasons why Hindenburg got along well with him.

The assistant is just an assistant. Even if he tries to claim credit by jumping around, military power always remains in Hindenburg's hands, and all Ludendorff can do is compensate for Hindenburg's shortcomings in diplomacy.

"Do you think our victory against the British Army is a real victory?" Hindenburg calmly responded with a question.

"Isn't it?" Ludendorff didn't quite understand.

"No, Erich." Hindenburg took down his still-smoldering pipe and replied, "We have only one true opponent, and that's Shire. Although we are engaged in battle with the British Army at a 1:7 casualty rate, we're always losing the '1'. Do you understand?"

Ludendorff gave a half-understanding "oh."

Perhaps Hindenburg foresaw a longer-term outlook and didn't want to face the depletion against the British Expeditionary Force before the showdown with Shire, even though it was technically a victory for Germany.

"Moreover," Hindenburg added, "the British Army's losses mean nothing to us, but their supplies do."

Ludendorff understood this: "If we continue fighting like this, we can't capture British supplies. But attacking could change that."

Hindenburg nodded and stood up, gazing westward from the window.

Now, British supplies have largely arrived in Metz; it's about time for a counterattack.

...

Lorraine, at the Franco-German border.

Just at dawn, in the light drizzle, the British Expeditionary Force, under Haig's command, launched an attack on the German defensive line.

The attack proceeded as usual after half an hour of artillery preparation.

Unlike before, this time, Monty had urgently bought a batch of mortars, submachine guns, and shotguns from France.

He planned to emulate Shire's trench attack tactics, using mortars for long-range suppression of German firepower, then approaching with grenades, and finally occupying enemy trenches with submachine guns and shotguns.

"As long as it can win, it's a good tactic," Monty told himself. "No one will care whose tactics I use."

But Monty knew that wasn't really the case.

Haig was very averse to hearing about Shire or Shire's tactics.

However, compared to victory and survival, this was insignificant. At most, they could repack it as a "refined British tactic."

Over fifty tanks, along with more than ten thousand soldiers, moved en masse toward the German defensive line.

Monty observed the enemy positions through the binoculars' field of view, amidst the smoke.

This must succeed, Monty told himself.

If this doesn't break through, he couldn't think of any other way that would work.

What Monty failed to notice was that the German defensive line had undergone changes after an overnight transformation.

In front of the defense line, the 21-meter-wide anti-tank ditch had been filled in several paths, some wrecked British tanks were towed away, and the craters in the no man's land had been filled; the barbed wire fences were not increased but rather decreased.

Simultaneously, where the German Army should have been firing salvos of artillery shells heavily on the advancing British forces, there was an unusual silence.

Monty noticed the oddity, put down his binoculars, and frowned, muttering, "What on earth?"

The adjutant next to him said, "Maybe the Germans have run out of shells. That's our chance, Major."

Indeed, that was a possibility. The Germans were facing shortages of supplies.

But then, reconsidering, Monty thought that possibility wasn't high.

Because this was the first attack of the day, and after a night's transportation, the Germans should have managed to get some ammunition.

If it's not that, then what is it?

Suddenly, a flash of terror crossed Monty's eyes. He remembered Shire's warning: the Germans were about to launch their attack.

If it's not due to a lack of shells, the only reason the Germans wouldn't fire is that they were worried the shells would tear up the ground, affecting tank advancement.

"Not good!" Monty exclaimed, "The Germans are about to attack. Order the troops to switch to defense immediately!"

"Major…" The adjutant gazed at Monty in astonishment.

The troops had already entered no man's land; how could they switch to defense?

"Hurry up!" Monty ordered loudly, "Switch to defense, pull the troops back!"

"Yes, Major." The adjutant replied.

However, just as the adjutant turned around, he saw three red signal flares shot up from the German direction.

Then, the sound of engines roared suddenly from the German lines, and tanks appeared with soldiers emerging from the defenses to confront the advancing British troops.

The British soldiers, who were attacking, were instantly dumbfounded.

All they had focused on was how to close in on the trenches and charge, never expecting to find themselves facing German tanks.

At the forefront were all "Upper Silesia" medium tanks, soon followed by several massive machines. Their flat hulls had no turrets, and they were several times the size of the new British tanks, with various muzzle outlets sticking out around, resembling a spiky porcupine.

"What is that?" a British soldier cried out in surprise.

"It's the Germans' new tanks."

"God, Shire was right; the Germans were indeed planning an attack."

"We're doomed. Why did they refuse to listen to Shire's advice? Those bastards, they've killed us all!"

...

With no psychological preparation, the mental defenses of the British Army collapsed at the first sight of the new German tanks.

The first to flee were the tanks.

A few "Independent" tanks made a desperate U-turn, even rolling over allied forces in their rush to retreat.

In the face of life and death, people react in two extreme ways: one is to die calmly, holding on until the end; the other is to think solely of survival, disregarding everything else.

The British tanks showed both reactions.

Yet, the tanks that remained to fight were soon successively destroyed by German anti-tank guns.

Through battles with Shire, the German Army had already developed tactics involving infantry and anti-tank guns cooperatively destroying enemy tanks.

Next, the German tanks charged into the British ranks with their accompanying infantry, like tigers entering a flock of sheep.

At that moment, the British troops completely collapsed, moving from hesitance to outright retreat, creating an army-wide rout!