It is unrealistic to rely on artillery to completely destroy the enemy’s tanks.
For one, the battlefield is too wide, and the artillery density is insufficient to provide full coverage.
Secondly, the hit rate of indirect-fire artillery against moving targets is pathetic; one can only rely on area saturation to try their luck.
Therefore, despite suffering heavy blows from the German Army and incurring significant casualties, the majority of the US tanks managed to break through the German Army’s defensive fire line and were constantly closing in on the German Army’s defensive positions.
Fortunately, Crown Prince Wilhelm never expected the artillery to take care of the enemy’s armored forces.
The recent shelling was merely to disrupt the enemy’s offensive rhythm and buy time to deploy anti-tank forces!
Utilizing the time bought by the artillery, the German Army soldiers quickly brought out various anti-tank weapons, set them up in their respective positions, and aimed their guns and muzzles at the enemy tanks.
In just a few minutes, the well-trained German Army was ready, waiting only for the commander’s order to destroy the enemies locked in their sights.
But Crown Prince Wilhelm was in no hurry to open fire: “Stay calm, do not fire, wait until the enemy is closer!” The German Army did not have many anti-tank guns; their primary anti-tank weapon was the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr anti-tank rifle.
This rifle had a caliber of 13.2 mm, a length approaching 1.7 meters, and weighed 18 kilograms, which could be described as very cumbersome.
But the extra-long barrel and large caliber provided stronger kinetic energy and destructive power!
This anti-tank rifle could penetrate 20 mm of armor at a distance of 100 meters, capable of dealing with almost all tanks of the World War I era.
However, due to the rapid decay of kinetic energy, its armor-piercing power became inadequate when the distance exceeded 150 meters.
Therefore, to effectively destroy the enemy, they had to let them get close before firing.
The charging US troops did not know they had already been locked on by the enemy.
Seeing that the German Army positions were quiet, they assumed the German Army had been scared off by their massive tank offensive.
After all, if it were them, seeing so many tanks charging over, they would also be scared witless.
“Look, I told you, our enemy is vulnerable!” The US commander watching from the rear breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this scene and began to feel smug again.
Heh, what “world’s strongest army”?
I think this German Army is nothing special after all!
But these tanks are truly useful; I must report this to the superiors later and have them produce more back home.
In the eyes of the Americans, a large part of the reason why the British and French could tangle with the German Army on the Western Front was their possession of a large number of tanks.
During World War I, the British and French deployed thousands of tanks on the Western Front, while the German Army had only a few dozen.
The disparity in armored strength between the two sides was immense, causing the Allied Powers’ armies to consistently enjoy an asymmetrical advantage.
Just as the Americans were secretly feeling pleased with themselves, the British and French military observers on the side frowned.
Quiet, too quiet!
The German Army positions exuded an unusual silence, making them instinctively feel that something was wrong.
Although the German Army had few tanks, their anti-tank means were not few.
If not for the previous battle, they might have thought the German Army had been scared out of their wits and had abandoned their positions to flee.
But judging from the fighting spirit and morale shown by the German Army in that previous battle, the possibility of such a situation was minimal.
Since they had not fled, then the silence on the other side must mean they were up to no good.
Just as the observers from the two countries were hesitating about whether to warn the Americans, the German Army opened fire.
With a loud boom, a shell fired from a concealed underground bunker, accurately hitting the leading US tank.
The front armor of the tank melted instantly like a snowflake; the shell punched a hole in the tank’s face and drilled into the interior.
The driver died on the spot, and the explosion’s shrapnel killed another crew member.
The tank, which had been imposing just a second ago, lay on the ground like a dead dog, motionless in the next.
This cannon shot was like a signal; suddenly, the German Army positions opposite erupted with gunfire and artillery fire.
The anti-tank rifles produced by Mauser, the 37mm anti-tank guns produced by Rheinmetall, and the 13.2mm anti-tank heavy machine guns produced by the Augsburg-Nuremberg Machine Factory were all desperately pouring their firepower onto the enemy tanks.
Due to the very close distance and the fact that the German Army had already marked the firing parameters, their hit rate was surprisingly high.
The US tanks charging in the front were hit one after another, turning into piles of scrap metal emitting black smoke.
The tank crew members who were lucky enough to survive crawled out of the tanks in panic and fled in the opposite direction without looking back.
The infantry, having lost the cover of the tanks, became living targets for the German Army and were mowed down in droves by the German Army’s machine guns.
The tank crews in the rear, seeing that the situation was bad, panicked and turned around to try to escape, forgetting that their own infantry was following behind them.
This resulted in massive friendly fire, and many US soldiers who could not dodge in time were crushed to death by the tracks of their own tanks.
The emotion of fear spread rapidly across the battlefield.
Seeing that their own tanks could not protect them at all and were even thinking of running away, the already low-morale US troops collapsed as well, each of them fleeing towards their own positions at a speed faster than they had come.
The tank crews who were driving their tanks to escape discovered in horror that their speed could not even keep up with the infantry running on two legs.
Seeing that the German Army had already dispatched elite Stormtroopers, ready to pursue them.
These people could not care about anything else; they even abandoned their tanks and joined the ranks of the fleeing infantry.
This scene, let alone the US troops, even left the German Army a bit dumbfounded.
Are the Americans really that fragile?
It’s only been a few rounds, and they can’t hold on anymore?
Back in the day, on the Verdun battlefield, they fought this kind of war against the French for nearly a year; both sides fought until the sky went dark and the ground was soaked in blood, yet neither side retreated.
General Gallwitz’s expression completely broke; he seemed to glimpse the silent mockery of the British and French.
He immediately wanted to order the disciplinary squads to execute all these retreating soldiers.
Fortunately, he was dissuaded by his subordinates; otherwise, the soldiers who died at the hands of the Americans might have been more than those who died at the hands of the German Army!
“Crown Prince Wilhelm, the enemy’s morale has collapsed; this is a good opportunity to pursue, send troops to counterattack!” Seeing the enemy in such a pathetic state, General Max von Boehn, commander of the Seventh Army, was eager to try, even wanting to lead troops to assault the enemy’s positions and take back the positions lost last month!
“No need, the enemy’s troop strength is still substantial; a counterattack now would be hard to achieve results and would only increase casualties for no reason.
The blood of Germany’s sons has already flowed enough in this war; we cannot add more unnecessary casualties.
We must preserve some vitality for the future of Germany!” “Apologies, Your Highness, it was my lack of consideration.” Hearing Crown Prince Wilhelm’s words, General Max lowered his head in shame.
But Crown Prince Wilhelm’s next sentence made the dim flame in his eyes reignite: “A daytime counterattack would be intercepted by enemy artillery and machine guns, but we can conduct a night raid.
Have your men prepare for battle; tonight, we will give the Americans a grand gift!”