Chapter 534: Chapter 534 Anti-Tank Trench
In Namur, heavy rain poured down, shrouding the entire city in a mist of water. By the afternoon, it was as dark as night, and only faint human silhouettes could be seen a few meters away through the rain.
However, inside the city, many people were cheering in the rain. They held hands to form circles, dancing joyfully to the music and rhythmic claps, shouting as they danced.
The people told the Germans they were celebrating the arrival of the rainy season, but that was far from the truth.
They were celebrating the sounds of artillery from outside the city, celebrating the French Army’s advance to Namur, and celebrating the long-awaited arrival of Shire’s troops at the city gates.
Gathered together, the people whispered in the rain:
"Are we sure it’s Shire’s troops?"
"Of course, did you hear those fierce explosions? They say there are at least 10 artillery regiments. The Germans are getting hammered! Their end is near!"
"Will they act against us in the last moment?"
"Don’t worry! Remember Shire’s declaration regarding Ghent?"
"Yes, if the Germans do harm to us, Shire will not spare them! They wouldn’t dare!"
...
(The image above depicts a scene of Belgian folk dancing)
In addition, Belgian guerrillas and civilians proactively launched attacks on the German Army. Explosions in garages and fires in warehouses occurred one after another.
...
In the River Bay District command post, Admiral Nicholas was busy calling and radioing for assistance from various places.
But to his disappointment, no reinforcements could arrive in time for Namur.
"All the front lines are very tense, Vice Admiral," Fajin Han responded to Nicholas, "whether it’s Verdun or the River Somme, they don’t have extra troops and equipment. I will organize reinforcements as quickly as possible, but it may take three days."
When Admiral Nicholas received the telegram, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Three days, reinforcements would take three days to arrive?
And after this half-day of artillery fighting, his only three artillery regiments had suffered heavy casualties, leaving only two artillery battalions with combat capability.
The rest were either destroyed by rocket fire or had suffered significant personnel losses.
If they gathered the remaining forces and repaired the malfunctioning artillery, perhaps they could barely assemble an artillery regiment.
But what difference would it make?
The reassembled artillery regiment would still be powerless, watching as each of their pieces was destroyed!
Admiral Nicholas cast a helpless gaze towards the rain-shrouded River Bay District, which was now littered with craters of various sizes, the artillery shelters nowhere to be seen, and remnants of artillery lying scattered everywhere.
Why had it come to this?
These were supposed to be the invincible 105mm howitzers!
Since the war began, they had never lost in artillery battles; now they were being decimated without even seeing the enemy.
...
Across from the River Bay District, Shire had just arrived in Namur from Verdun.
The command post’s tunnel was somewhat damp, with a few places still seeping water, and the ground was so muddy it felt like stepping into a swamp.
But those things didn’t matter. What mattered was that it was safe here, with no enemy shells capable of striking.
Under the acrid smoke of the kerosene lamp, Shire looked with great interest at the battle results estimated by the artillery observers.
Tijani eagerly reported beside him:
"We have taken out at least two enemy artillery regiments."
"Our side has suffered almost no casualties. Only one rocket artillery vehicle had a temporary malfunction and was destroyed during retreat."
"But all personnel were evacuated, and the only injury was a sprained ankle affecting movement."
Shire was not surprised. The mobile rocket artillery was almost "invincible," although very fragile, one hit and they were blown to pieces.
However, he was puzzled about being able to take out two German artillery regiments.
"The German artillery didn’t retreat?" he asked.
"No," Tijani answered decisively. "If they had retreated, they wouldn’t have been able to block the passage, and that’s not what they wanted."
Shire said nothing.
The German artillery actually had an option. They could have used their range advantage and retreated to a point where the 105mm howitzers could block the passage, while the rocket artillery could not reach them due to its shorter range.
In this situation, Shire would have to suppress them with bombers and advance with armored units under artillery fire.
This was war; you can’t expect to attack under near-perfect circumstances. The risk is inevitable.
But the Germans hadn’t done that.
After some thought, Shire seemed to understand. The Germans knew nothing about the rocket artillery. They didn’t know its range and therefore couldn’t react appropriately to its weaknesses.
"They didn’t disperse their artillery?" Shire asked again.
Tijani shook his head again, "No, they didn’t."
Clustered artillery would suffer heavy casualties against rocket artillery; howitzers are precious and can malfunction from even a glancing hit.
If the Germans had dispersed their artillery, the rockets’ lack of precision would have required more ammunition and time to achieve the same results.
But the Germans still didn’t do that.
Shire thought, this could be considered a benefit of a new weapon debut. Once the Germans understood the rocket artillery’s data, the artillery battles wouldn’t be this easy.
...
Erwin looked at the torrential rain outside the command post and breathed a sigh of relief, "We seem to be safe."
"What do you mean?" Admiral Nicholas, who was overwhelmed, asked. "Are we not in danger? The enemy could attack our defensive lines through the blockade at any moment, Major!"
And it’s Shire’s armored units. He even thought Erwin was joking.
"No, General," Erwin turned his head towards the observation window and seriously replied, "This rain saved us, at least buying us time. Our reinforcements will arrive in three days."
Admiral Nicholas thought of something but still wasn’t sure. "You mean the rain will make the ground muddy, making it unsuitable for tank operations?"
"That’s one reason," Erwin slowly walked back to the desk, pointing at two fortifications on the map in front of their defensive line and explained:
"More importantly, there are these anti-tank ditches."
"I built two lines, one within the range of our 77mm infantry guns."
"The other one is within the range of our infantry’s anti-tank grenades."
"Earlier, I was worried the French Army might use sandbags to fill in the anti-tank ditches and force a breakthrough."
Admiral Nicholas’s frown gradually relaxed. "With this heavy rain, the anti-tank ditches will turn into mud and puddles, making them difficult to fill like a swamp."
Erwin added, "Even if they are filled, the foundations on both sides could easily collapse, trapping Shire’s armored units."
Admiral Nicholas slowly nodded, turning his gaze to the pouring rain outside the observation window.
Not long ago, he had been cursing this damn weather, but now he hoped the rain would continue to pour harder and last longer.