Chapter 540: The MTY Armored Bridge-Laying Vehicle
Although Erwin had detected the crisis, he did not raise an alarm.
He believed that raising an alarm would be pointless. It would only inform the soldiers that Charles' tanks could cross the anti-tank trenches, causing panic among them.
Though panic seemed inevitable, he hoped they could hold out for as long as possible.
Thus, the battle proceeded in an orderly fashion. Soldiers, following orders from the command post, fired at the advancing French forces. They hoped to apply pressure on the attacking enemy with a barrage of bullets, but most of them were blocked by the tanks' armor and had little effect.
Amidst the dense gunfire, Erwin sat on a step for a moment, deep in thought, then stood up and ran toward the rear.
He found the command post of the infantry artillery regiment. The regiment commander was a young major named Benjamin.
By this point in the war, due to heavy casualties, senior officers on the front lines had gradually become younger and of lower rank.
Before Erwin could speak, Major Benjamin spoke first: "Colonel, our artillery has suffered heavy casualties. We need support from higher command."
"There will be no support, Benjamin," Erwin said with a firm and cold tone. "We can only fight with the equipment and personnel we have left, with the goal of holding out for three days until reinforcements arrive."
"But we only have 12 guns left," Benjamin said, his eyes filled with fear.
What truly terrified him was not just the enemy's tanks, but their artillery.
The amount of ammunition fired during the earlier bombardment suggested that the French needed at least ten artillery regiments.
Even if the enemy's tanks couldn't cross the anti-tank trench, the German artillery regiments would be wiped out by the French bombardment.
Erwin didn't say much more. He led Benjamin along the trench for a while and then popped his head up from the trench, pointing to several spots among the enemy forces.
"Do you see those tanks? And here, over there as well. Order your soldiers to aim at them and prioritize destroying them!"
Erwin was pointing to the tanks carrying steel frames.
"What is that?" Benjamin asked, curious.
"You don't need to worry about that," Erwin replied. "All you need to do is aim at them and fire. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Colonel," Benjamin replied, his face pale.
As the commander of an artillery regiment, he knew this order was essentially a death sentence.
The enemy's artillery was watching them closely. As soon as they fired, their position would be exposed.
However, the 77mm infantry guns were specifically designed for this purpose: to destroy enemy tanks!
Thinking about this, Benjamin braced himself and led his men to the gun positions to begin firing.
Erwin, however, remained optimistic about the 77mm guns' response. He noticed that the rocket artillery bombardments appeared to come in large quantities, often firing hundreds of shells at the same area.
The German 77mm infantry guns, scattered across various parts of the battlefield and in limited numbers, were not as easy to suppress with the French rocket artillery.
Even if they could be suppressed, it would waste a lot of the enemy's ammunition.
Yet, what happened next once again caught Erwin off guard.
The 77mm guns had barely fired a few rounds, only managing to destroy two tanks, when an eerie, tearing sound, like the ripping of cloth, filled the air.
The rocket artillery shells had apparently split into several groups, each targeting a specific spot. The scattered German 77mm guns were either blown up or had to retreat quickly into deeper cover, too afraid to show themselves again.
What was going on?
Erwin furrowed his brow. These rocket shells were coming from high on the opposite mountainside, which meant the rocket artillery could be used as infantry guns too!
Erwin's guess was correct. These were army rocket artillery units.
They had been disassembled and moved to high ground and the forest to construct defensive positions aimed at the German positions.
While the mobility of these army rocket artillery units differed from vehicle-mounted rocket artillery, their tactical usage and organization were completely different.
Vehicle-mounted rocket artillery, as Erwin had understood, was designed for large-scale bombardments of enemy targets. These units typically fought in regimental-sized formations, with smaller units being rare.
Army rocket artillery, on the other hand, often dealt with dispersed infantry guns, machine gun positions, and sometimes had to bombard small units of infantry on the offensive.
Thus, these units often operated in companies, with 3 to 4 guns targeting a single objective.
They, too, relied on quantity over precision, but their smaller, more targeted bombardments improved bombing efficiency.
At that moment, Erwin realized that they were going to lose this battle.
Charles' new equipment had already neutralized the German artillery, their most relied-upon asset, and those bizarre "steel frame tanks" seemed to be used to cross trenches.
Erwin thought he had made adequate preparations for the battle, but it turned out that Charles had made far more extensive preparations.
Erwin even felt it was unfair. Both sides had prepared, but why had Charles' preparations been so much better, able to suppress Erwin from beginning to end?
However, after thinking it over, Erwin couldn't help but admire him.
Erwin's preparations had been traditional and visible—such as artillery blocking roads and anti-tank trenches.
They were all old tactics, with only the anti-tank trench offering something slightly new.
On the other hand, Charles' preparations were full of creativity and targeted solutions: new rocket artillery to break the blockades, and steel frame tanks to cross the anti-tank trenches.
Charles had always been one step ahead of Erwin, and how could he not keep dominating the situation?
As Erwin watched helplessly, the French "steel frame tanks" began to slow down. They slowly moved up to the anti-tank trench and, with a "clanking" mechanical noise, extended their steel frames.
The frames grew longer and longer, soon crossing over the anti-tank trench. Then, the support points lowered, and an arched steel bridge was built over the trench.
The entire process took just a few minutes, and a bridge was in place—one sturdy enough for tanks to cross.
The same thing happened repeatedly at the anti-tank trenches. One by one, the French built dozens of steel frame bridges.
The German soldiers, witnessing this miraculous scene from the trenches, immediately understood that they could not stop Charles' forces. Their faces turned pale in fear, and even the gunfire grew less intense.
Some soldiers turned back and shouted to Erwin, "What should we do to stop them, Colonel?"
Erwin had no words. How could they stop them?
All they seemed to have left were rifles and bayonets!
...
That was the Soviet-designed MTY armored bridge-laying vehicle, specially developed for armored units.
The reason this particular bridge-laying vehicle was chosen was because it was simple, reliable, and easy to operate. It required almost no advanced technology and could be mass-produced in a short time.
(Soviet equipment generally had such characteristics, though the downside was that performance specifications were somewhat lower.)
Tanks rolled over the steel frame bridges, crossing the anti-tank trenches smoothly. The French soldiers followed closely behind, advancing toward the German defensive lines.
And Erwin could only watch this unfold helplessly.