Chapter 335: Compression

Compared to the high degree of mechanization of the German armored forces, most of the German army’s other units seemed to be only a little

Compared to the high degree of mechanization of the German armored forces, most of the German army’s other units seemed to be only a little bit stronger than they had been during the First World War. They still had to carry their weapons and heavy luggage and walk on muddy roads. They still used old-fashioned bolt-action rifles, and even two people had to share one bar of soap.

Although the German army had widely used armored cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and even warhorses, expanding the army by 1.5 million men at once was still a number that the military-industrial enterprises could not handle. Many weapons had to be taken from those that had been previously eliminated but had not yet been disposed of. Many individual pieces of equipment had to be of various substandard quality.

There were never enough vehicles. At the beginning, it was required that all artillery units be equipped with trucks to tow their large-caliber cannons, but this plan was clearly unable to meet the needs of the military expansion. Later, it became that the 150mm cannons were towed by vehicles, while the 75mm mountain guns were all transported by pack mules.

At the beginning of the military expansion and war preparations, the Army High Command had required that more than half of the soldiers in all units be equipped with automatic or semi-automatic weapons, which meant that the proportion of MP-44 assault rifles and G43 semi-automatic rifles had to be about fifty percent. But later, because of the rush to mobilize troops, the shortage of MP-44s had to be made up for with G43s. The shortage of G43s had to be made up for with the MP-38/40 submachine guns that had been eliminated in the past. In the later stages, there were not even any MP-40s left, so they had to continue to use the Mauser 98K. Most of the light infantry of the current Army Group I, and almost all of the rear garrison troops, were now using the Mauser 98K rifles that had been phased out by the other main forces.

But fortunately, because the German light industry had been supplemented by half of Poland and other regions, the number of military uniforms and tactical vests was still sufficient. Although the quality of the tents and some canvas products was not reliable, the quantity had met the requirements of the German army’s expansion, to the point where many units were now being issued with camouflage uniforms for use in the coming spring.

The German factories were working overtime day and night. The number of vehicles produced was not even enough to fully equip the several army groups fighting on the front line, let alone the second-line units following behind. Many second-line units only had vehicles equipped down to the battalion level, which meant that in an infantry battalion, only the battalion headquarters had a few vehicles.

More units retained the ancient formation of cavalry. And these cavalry were more accurately described as infantry who moved forward at high speed on horseback, rather than traditional cavalry. These soldiers used a large number of horses for no other reason than to be used as fast infantry following behind the armored forces.

Of course, some of the equipment problems mentioned earlier were much better for a main infantry division like the 7th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Friederici. For example, his unit was equipped according to the earliest standards with heavy firepower like the 150mm cannon and its matching towing vehicles, as well as the MP-44 and G43 rifles in the hands of the infantry.

And as a key reserve panzergrenadier unit being cultivated, this infantry division had one regiment equipped with armored cars and assault guns, making it almost like an ace unit among the German infantry divisions. Because of so much excellent equipment, when the 7th Division attacked the French army, it made the French defenders opposite them very depressed.

Friederici was at this very moment inspecting one of his artillery positions. The two 150mm cannons here were desperately pouring ammunition on the Anglo-French coalition forces in the distance. Two German soldiers were controlling the firing angle and direction of the cannon, while more soldiers were moving the shells back and forth.

Speaking of Germany’s 150mm cannon, it could be considered an epoch-making product that had drawn on the strengths of many others. The barrel of this cannon was actually a masterpiece designed by Soviet designers, which had been brought back to Germany by Akado’s spies thanks to the cooperation between the two sides at the time. Of course, the Germans had tried every means to reduce the weight of this cannon, not even equipping it with a gun shield, and had reduced the weight of this cannon to three and a half tons in one go.

However, this modification was also accompanied by some unsatisfactory aspects. For example, the caliber was reduced, which led to a decrease in the range of this cannon, down to only 11.2 kilometers. Although the range was slightly less, its advantage was in being more mobile and flexible. These new German howitzers had rolled forward with the troops all the way, and had rarely fallen behind.

Coupled with the support of Germany’s massive and effective railway transport lines, all of the German army’s heavy weapons had kept up with the pace of the attacking forces in the early stages and had not fallen behind at all due to their own inconvenience of movement. Now, these easily movable cannons had left an indelible shadow on the hearts of the Anglo-French coalition forces.

“News just received. The 2nd Battalion has already begun to cross this area. The four StuG IIIs of the independent armored battalion are covering the 1st Battalion’s frontal assault, Colonel,” the division’s chief of staff said, pointing to a field map. “The British troops opposite have abandoned this hill and this area without returning fire, and have also left behind more than a dozen of their 25-pounder cannons.”

“It seems their logistical supplies have run into problems, and their resistance is not as stubborn as it was a few days ago,” Friederici said with a frown, watching a 150mm cannon in the distance fire another shell. He pressed his eyes to the front of the scissor periscope and looked at the hill that had been hit in the distance.

About a dozen or so seconds later, perhaps after seeing the explosion there, he straightened up, looked at the map in his chief of staff’s hand, and then pointed to it and said, “Tonight, advance to here to make camp. Send a telegram to corps headquarters. Tell the general that according to the current situation, we need to immediately send out reconnaissance units to confirm the night movements of the British defenders.”

On the other side, in the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force’s 1st Armoured Division, a group of officers were sighing in front of a map with worried expressions.

They had retreated all the way from Brussels to here, pursued by the German infantry and armored forces in a complete rout. Along the way, they had lost hundreds of tanks and armored cars. As a result, they had run all the way to the present but had still not been able to shake off the German army behind them.

What frustrated them the most was not the rapid pursuit of the German soldiers, but that their own fuel and ammunition were about to run out. The large amount of ammunition and fuel that had been stored in northern France had become the spoils of war for the German Army Group A, and that seemingly safe transport line was now an area under German control. The British forces were now more vulnerable than at any time in the past.

“Division commander, Lord Gort has ordered us to continue our retreat, but we are not infantry! They can just pick up their legs and go. What about us? What do you want us to retreat with, without fuel?” a tank regimental commander complained.

“That’s right, division commander! We’ve already lost a regiment of tanks! If we lose another batch of tanks now, we’ll have given half of our own equipment to the German army!” another armored regimental commander, who was now a commander without an army, said. The tank unit in his hands had already been lost to the German army, and only a few hundred tankers were left to follow him as infantry in the retreat.

“If we had known the current situation at the beginning and had abandoned half of our tanks early on, at least the remaining tanks could have retreated to France! But now it’s too late! Even if we concentrate our fuel now, it’s only enough for a little over a hundred tanks to retreat to France. What are we supposed to fight the German tanks with?” the chief of staff also began to curse. “Those stupid Frenchmen are really the Germans’ allies!”

Now the German tanks were already attacking the southern region of Belgium. The 5th Light Panzer Corps was sweeping through southern Belgium, and Rommel’s armored forces were also actively coordinating the attack to the north. The current Anglo-French coalition forces were in a state of continuous retreat. They were routing toward their long-chosen retreat point—Dunkirk.

If you can’t imagine a road to hell, then just look at the retreat route of the Anglo-French coalition. Both sides were piled high with mountains of supplies. Because of the lack of ammunition, cannons and guns were just abandoned. Everywhere there were Allied soldiers who had to wait for the German army to come and capture them because of hunger. Sometimes, in order to save fuel and materials, Gamelin had to order entire regiments to surrender to the German army.

At least 500 tanks were abandoned on the roadside due to lack of fuel and repair parts, which made the German army’s heart pound. If it weren’t for the fact that Army Group A had acted quickly enough, this equipment might have completely destroyed Army Group B.

At the beginning, the Anglo-French coalition would still use hand grenades and explosives to destroy the abandoned tanks. Later, there were so many that they couldn’t be destroyed, and hand grenades had also become a resource that could not be wasted. So those tanks and armored cars were just abandoned there, at most with some parts removed.

In fact, the main reason was that the advance speed of the German frontline troops had far exceeded the expectations of the Anglo-French coalition. The German infantry had advanced frantically with cars, mules, and even bicycles, and had been closely following the retreat of the Anglo-French coalition. So many pieces of equipment had been left to the pursuing German army because the Allies had not had time to destroy them.

Friederici’s 7th Infantry Division had once captured 12 abandoned British tanks. These tanks were neatly parked on the side of the road. Their engine compartments had all been opened, but the engines and other equipment were still inside. It was clear that the British engineering troops had wanted to dismantle these parts as spares, but because of the attack of the German soldiers, they had hastily abandoned this plan.

The officers of the British 1st Armoured Division cursed for a long time but could not come up with a decent countermeasure. They had no choice but to abandon another 30 tanks and continue their retreat in the direction of Dunkirk.

And Colonel Friederici continued to lead his 7th Infantry Division in close pursuit. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to the English Channel. Once the Anglo-French coalition forces were encircled, the German soldiers would be able to easily annihilate these troops, which were short of ammunition, medicine, and fuel.

The strategic core now before the German generals was very simple, nothing more than two words—Compression!