Two illumination flares burst simultaneously, like two white suns appearing in the sky, illuminating everything on the field. In sight, the French Somua S-35 tanks, with their massive hulls and elegant turrets, seemed disproportionately large, like extinct dinosaurs. French designers were fond of creating unique weapons, which in future terms would be called "alternative."
Another type of tank appeared in front of the German positions, with equally disproportionate turrets and hulls, and covered all over with circular rivets. This was the Renault FT-17 light tank, which had been in production since 1917 and was considered a "perennial tree" in international arms sales. In the two decades since the end of World War I, it had appeared on every continent, participating in well-known or unknown conflicts such as the Russian Civil War, French suppression of Moroccan tribal uprisings, and the Spanish Civil War. As the German armored scythes swept across the Western Front, the "first army power in Europe" still equipped as many as 1560 of these outdated tanks!
In addition to these French tanks, thousands of French infantrymen were also illuminated by the "holy light." From a distance, they looked like a large group of tan ants tempted by food, with bayonets in front like sharp teeth, gleaming but only effective up close.
"Young men, aim at the Somua - those big tanks! Cannon number one, target the one on the right, cannon number two, target the one on the left! Ready..."
On a small hill about 200 meters from the frontline, two 88mm anti-tank guns were already prepared for battle. As the chief artillery commander of the Führer's Guard Flag Detachment, Pet commanded every combat order personally, a skill that Logan, who lacked artillery expertise, couldn't match.
At this moment, Logan stood shoulder to shoulder with his deputy, Stephenberg, holding binoculars instead of a weapon - they had become spectators of this battle!
"The Renault FT-17, an old relic left over from the last war, armed with a machine gun or a 3.7cm cannon, crew of two; the Somua S-35, a new tank developed and produced just a few years ago, powerful firepower, thick armor, long range!"
"Eh? You seem to know a lot about French tanks too! Is it because of your uncle or your uncle's fondness for this?" Logan joked.
Stephenberg put down his binoculars and scratched his nose. "Oh, Lieutenant... it's probably just my personal preference! In fact, I'm interested in all kinds of weapons, land, air, and sea! That's why I couldn't wait to join the military academy right after high school!"
"Hehe, well, I'm also very interested in all kinds of women, tall, short, fat, thin! Oh, and white ones and even whiter ones, tender ones and even more tender ones!" Logan shamelessly joked. Those who knew him knew he was just trying to lighten the mood, but those who didn't might mistake him for a pretentious pervert! (Well, maybe he was a bit of both)
"Eh? I'm not very knowledgeable about women, but interest... is quite normal, right?" Stephenberg said, trying to save face.
"Hehe, then we can discuss it more when we have the chance... But back to business, what do you think of our Panzer IV, the Brits' Matilda, and the French Somua S-35, which one would be more formidable in a one-on-one situation?" Logan asked.
Stephenberg thought for a moment before replying, "From what I know, our Panzer IV is almost on par with the Somua S-35, as for the Matilda... if it's the Mark I, of course, the Panzer IV and the Somua S-35 are more powerful! As for the Matilda Mark II... the rear armor is relatively weak, but head-on... our Panzer IV would have a hard time gaining the upper hand, and so would the Somua S-35! The final result may depend on luck - whoever finds the opponent's weak spot first!"
"So... even though the Panzer IV is currently the best tank in Germany, it still can't fully meet the needs of the battlefield, and the appearance of stronger tanks is only a matter of time!" Logan recited a bit of military history to himself, even though he wasn't much of a military enthusiast compared to those from his time. The names Tiger and Panther were still renowned, but unfortunately, these two excellent tanks appeared too late and in quantities far from enough to change the course of the war.
Stephenberg seemed to intentionally avoid this speculative topic that far exceeded his scope of duties and changed the subject, "Uh... looking at the current situation, we should be able to defeat the British and French soon and end this war! Besides, as long as we have the Stukas' support, even more Matildas wouldn't be a problem!"
"Stukas..." Logan thought. While the screaming death bringers were indeed first-class in dealing with ground targets, they couldn't operate like tanks around the clock. On a night like this, even with illumination flares guiding them, dive bombers would find it challenging to be effective!
After thinking it over, his thoughts still somewhat unclear, Logan decided to focus his attention on the French tanks in front of the positions.
"Those Somua S-35s are about... 1500 meters away?"
"Yeah, approximately! Maybe even less than 1500 meters!"
"How thick is the frontal armor of those tanks?"
"Uh... it seems like they used casting technology for both the hull and turret. The hull is said to be 4 centimeters thick, and the cast turret should be even thicker, maybe up to 6 centimeters!" In an era where intelligence technology was not yet developed enough, Stephenberg's words were mostly speculative.
"That's enough!"
"Enough?"
"Yeah, you'll see! Our 88mm guns are enough to penetrate their armor!" Logan, the pseudo-expert, said confidently. This time, he was quite sure.
Pet, who was already quite burly, stood next to one of the 88mm anti-tank guns, wearing his old helmet with the brim worn shiny. Although the French tanks fired intermittently in their direction, their shells didn't pose much of a threat to the SS troops on the positions.
"Fire!"
With the command from the artillery commander, the two 88mm guns, with their tall carriages and long barrels, roared simultaneously, and even people ten meters away could feel the ground tremble beneath them.
Through the binoculars, as the light from the illumination flares gradually dimmed, the earth seemed poised to return to the embrace of darkness. At this moment, two huge fireballs suddenly rose from the wilderness! The two tanks, which had just been slowly advancing, were instantly engulfed by these terrifying explosions. The shells that hit them were so powerful that they didn't even move an inch due to inertia!
As the gunfire dissipated, everyone seemed to be in awe of this astonishing display, forgetting their own mission. It wasn't until two seconds later that the German small-caliber anti-tank gun crews deployed on the positions realized what was happening and began firing at the Renault FT-17 light tanks, which were smaller in size and had weaker armor.
At a distance of approximately 1500 meters, the armor-piercing rounds fired by the Pak 35/36 37mm anti-tank gun were like scratching an itch for thick-skinned tanks like the Matilda, but for the Renault FT-17 light tanks with only 22mm of frontal armor, they served as quite an efficient "can opener." One could see those tanks, painted in yellow-green camouflage, being hit one after another, bursting into flames. The infantrymen, however, remained incredibly brave. Under the flickering flames, their Adrian helmets shimmered with a dark blue hue – they kept advancing!
Boom... Boom...
The two 88mm guns fired once again. As anti-aircraft guns, their rate of fire was evidently faster than that of ordinary artillery. At such a distance, the gunners once again demonstrated remarkable accuracy: two more Somua S-35 tanks were instantly turned into scrap metal from their compact mechanical state!
Meanwhile, the 37mm gun crews on the position were also engaging in precise fire at a considerably high rate. In just a short while, the number of French tanks still operational on the battlefield plummeted drastically!
Seeing this scene, Logan said to Steinfelberg, "There's no doubt about it now."
"Yeah, it's really hard to imagine that the victorious nations of over twenty years ago would fall so low. This is the sorrow of France, and also the sorrow of Britain!" The lieutenant's tone was filled with both gratitude and anticipation as he spoke.