Chapter 222: Difficulties
Black devils descended from the sky.
Even though French aircraft manufacturers had drawn lessons from the Spanish battlefield and modified the original MS 406 fighter so that its top speed rose from 480 kilometers per hour to 600 kilometers per hour, making it comparable to the German Bf 109, there was still a qualitative gap between it and the FW 190, whose maximum speed reached 760 kilometers per hour.
To ensure the enemy underestimated them, the German pilots flying the FW 190 deliberately reduced their speed, keeping pace with the MS 406 fighters.
The French had no intelligence on this aircraft at all.
They merely assumed it was another variant of the Bf 109.
Five escort fighters climbed to meet them. Seeing the Germans only evade and refuse to engage directly, the French pilots even believed these aircraft were the remnants of an inferior German formation. Like mad dogs, they bit tightly onto the tails of the two FW 190s.
And that was exactly what Karl wanted.
"First Fighter Squadron, Number Three has led the French to you."
"Number One, copy."
The next moment, Karl piloted his fighter and led his squadron into the attack.
Aboard a French bomber, the pilot quickly discovered a fatal problem.
Because the LeO 451 bomber had been forcibly mass-produced and rushed into service, once it entered actual combat, the weaknesses hidden beneath the production schedule immediately revealed themselves.
"Damn it, the bomb bay is jammed!"
The next instant, bullets from an MG 17 machine gun pierced through the fuselage and struck the bomb bay.
The resulting ammunition detonation created a brilliant cloud of fire high in the sky.
This was not an isolated case.
During the early stages of the Spanish War, French aircraft companies had sold a small number of fighters for supporting facility experiments. But later, the Progress Party's arms procurement in Spain was monopolized by Germany.
That meant French aircraft could appear reliable during ordinary test flights. Yet once they entered high-intensity aerial warfare and close air support operations, problems began to emerge one after another.
The LeO 451 bomber suffered bomb bay malfunctions.
The MS 406 fighter experienced engine surges.
Furthermore, although the pilots were flying new aircraft, they lacked systematic combat training. This flaw was exposed almost immediately.
If they had faced the German Air Force units used in the northern offensive against Poland at the beginning of the war, perhaps the difference in personnel quality would not have been so obvious.
But now, they were facing elite pilots flying FW 190 fighters.
Combined with the gap in aircraft performance, French fighters virtually became targets waiting to be slaughtered.
Close air support was also extremely unfavorable.
The new crews could not clearly identify their targets and frequently bombed friendly units.
By late morning, the French Army had completely lost air superiority over both flanks.
Only five Royal Air Force squadrons cooperating with the main assault of the armored division somehow managed to maintain limited air superiority within a narrow area.
The situation on the ground was even less optimistic.
The commander of the Second Mechanized Battalion, part of a light mechanized division, had finally forced back the German defensive units and occupied a town after suffering more than one third casualties and a combat loss ratio of one to five.
At that moment, he was shouting at the radio operator.
"I cannot hold much longer. The German Army is counterattacking. They have already started their counterattack!"
"Just taking this small town cost me three tanks crippled by German rockets and six destroyed outright. I do not have many tanks left. I request artillery support. I repeat, I request artillery support!"
Bang! Bang!
Two shells exploded in an open area, making the glass rattle violently.
A thousand meters away, in an open field, a German "walking Stuka" rocket launcher, an extension of the anti-tank rocket launcher, was hidden in the bushes atop a tracked vehicle.
As engineers gestured over the map, the launch frame tilted slightly upward.
The Type 40 rockets inside the barrels reflected the sunlight and emitted an eerie glow.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several walking Stuka rocket launchers unleashed their first volley.
All of them struck the French Army's makeshift defensive line built from sandbags, debris, and rubble.
The result was predictable.
Some of the walking Stuka launchers were even equipped with modular 280mm high-explosive shells.
This heavy demolition firepower, designed to break enemy strongholds, was like a boxer landing a crushing blow on thin paper when used against sandbags, debris, and broken walls.
Bang!
Boom!
French soldiers behind the sandbags were blown into charred fragments of flesh. Only a few wisps of white smoke and blood remained to prove that they had once been human.
The temporary fortifications were destroyed.
Under the cover of infantry fighting vehicles, German soldiers began the second assault on the town.
The mechanized battalion commander, unable to receive any artillery report, realized that the artillery battalion had most likely been wiped out by German bombers.
They would not receive heavy artillery support.
He raised his binoculars.
Sparse mortar shells exploded on the open ground, kicking up mud and dirt. But German soldiers continued advancing, accompanied by a new round of artillery cover.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sFH 18 howitzers began their first volley.
Meteors fell from the sky.
Looking down from above, the town resembled a muddy field ravaged by heavy rain, filled with shell craters, ruins, and corpses.
This volley directly destroyed all remaining houses.
More than half of the French combat personnel were incapacitated.
The only forces the mechanized battalion commander could still deploy were the tank units resting in the rear.
Facing the enemy's individual anti-tank weapons, the French commander knew that continuing to resist was meaningless.
He chose to retreat.
The first day of fighting was intense.
France suffered more than three thousand casualties, with the wounded approaching two thousand six hundred.
Logically, the advance should have stalled.
Yet despite such heavy losses, parts of their front line continued to push forward.
Even air superiority in the main attack area had not been lost.
Pétain did not understand why. He could only attribute it to reasoning similar to Daladier's.
Because of the influence of Greece, Germany had not deployed large numbers of troops along the border. Their material reserves in the area were also insufficient. That was why, despite causing heavy casualties, they still could not hold their positions.
Regardless, the first day's advance achieved a barely acceptable result.
The main attack line had been pushed forward fifteen kilometers.
Although the infantry had not simultaneously straightened the front vertically, the result was still far better than expected.
Pétain was correct about one thing.
The forces on the border were not the entirety of Germany's strength.
A significant portion of Germany's troops was about to move into the Ardennes Mountains.
But he was wrong about one matter.
Heinz Guderian was not unable to hold the line.
He was deliberately creating the illusion that the French Army could barely advance.
As the French Army created the salient he had envisioned on the first day, the First Armored Division, under the cover of the first close air support operation by dozens of bombers, launched a fierce night assault against the French right flank.
The wide-open plains were dotted with hastily dug trenches.
French soldiers, exhausted after a full day of fighting, had only just fallen into deep sleep when the roar of bombers brought them into death's embrace.
Bombs almost plowed through the entire right flank.
But that was not enough.
Artillery roared at the same time.
Various shelling attacks continued for a full hour.
Then came an endless torrent of steel.
The paralyzed defensive units could not organize a proper defense at all. They could only retreat.
Like cold-blooded heavy cavalry charging into infantry ranks, the First Armored Division focused solely on offense. It pushed brutally through the front and drove deep into French territory, punching a massive hole directly through the supporting infantry division in the rear.
By morning, the French Army attempted to defend.
But all resistance did was cause the First Armored Division to lose a few tanks.
It did not stop their advance.
By afternoon, after attacking for almost an entire day and night, the First Armored Division successfully completed its breakthrough mission.
The two supporting light mechanized divisions could not even keep up with its speed.
The Air Force could only temporarily dispatch paratroopers to barely close the enormous pocket encircling fifty thousand French soldiers, including those trapped inside the salient.
Now, whether to break through this defensive line or withdraw from Germany became Pétain's greatest dilemma.
.....
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