Chapter 324 France Don’t Cry IX

Six No. 3 assault guns drove forward slowly in the gradually dissipating morning fog. Behind these six assault guns were several Sd.Kfz.231 8-wheeled heavy armored reconnaissance vehicles. 200 SS infantrymen. Some of these infantrymen came off those 8-wheel armored vehicles, and some were soldiers of the 11th Motorized Infantry Company of the "Grossdeutschland" banner. The 11th Motorized Infantry Company, together with the 640th Assault Artillery Company, which had just transferred to the "Grand Deutschland" banner before the Battle of France, is now the sharp knife of the "Grand Deutschland" banner.

Rudolf Ribbentrop, who was on the battlefield for the first time, was both excited and nervous. He kept sticking his head out and looking ahead. The houses in the small village ahead can be vaguely seen. It is a French village. This is already the land of the French Republic, and it seems to be loosely guarded!

"Rudolph, don't stick your head out!" Gustav Schwarzenegger's loud voice suddenly rang out. "The enemy may have a sniper!"

Upon hearing this, Rudolf Ribbentrop quickly retracted his head and followed the assault gun honestly. It turns out that there are a small number of French soldiers stationed in the village ahead, and it should be the outpost of the French army on the Sedan-Mause River line.

45 minutes ago, they had a firefight with the 17th Motorized Reconnaissance Company of the "Grossdeutschland" flag force. The Motorized Reconnaissance Company only had five wheeled armored vehicles, and it was difficult to attack the French troops defending the village. Therefore, the 640th Assault Artillery Company and the 11th Motorized Infantry Company were responsible for "attacking the enemy".

The "Grossdeutschland" flag force equipped with 6 No. 3 assault guns has a very powerful attack capability, because the No. 3 assault gun not only has a 24-caliber 75mm cannon, but also has armor steel up to 80mm thick on the front. . Such firepower and armor could be considered extremely powerful in 1940, and the French infantry divisions had almost no anti-tank weapons that could deal with this assault gun.

"Oh my God, this is a tank, a German tank! Am I dreaming?"

Private Francois Bernard of the 12th Company of the French 306th Infantry Regiment poked his head out from behind a low wall, took a look at the battlefield shrouded in mist, and immediately exclaimed.

"Old Bolshevik, are you dreaming? This is a forest area." The company commander, Lieutenant Morrow, leaned against a low stone wall, smoking a cigarette and speaking in a mocking tone. The 306th Infantry Regiment of the French Army was a second-line force that was expanded after the start of the World War. Most of the officers in the infantry regiment were older reserve officers, and most of them were right-wing in their political stance.

The composition of the soldiers in the army is complicated. There are basically no passionate young people, they are all elderly uncles. I have a family, a career, and all kinds of thoughts that don’t want to go to war. Bernard, who was called the "Old Bolshevik" by Captain Moreau, was the leader of a left-wing trade union before the war broke out. Although he was not a Bolshevik, he was also an anti-war element. After being drafted into the army, he kept complaining and never trained well.

Lieutenant Moreau really wanted to discipline this union leader, but there were people on top of him, and he was very familiar with various military regulations (he was a union lawyer), and he was not afraid of a country bumpkin Lieutenant at all. Grape) training.

"Captain, you will know after you see it for yourself!" Private Bernard said in a trembling tone, "They are really tanks...and there are many of them, at least 10 of them!"

His vision was not very clear in the mist, and he mistook the wheeled armored vehicle advancing with the tank for a tank.

"Ten cars?" Lieutenant Morrow put out his cigarette butt and continued to say some mocking words. The rumbling sound of the motor had already reached his ears. This French officer in his thirties, who had participated in the operation to occupy the Ruhr area, suddenly looked ugly. He quickly got up and turned around, half-kneeling on the ground, and carefully poked out half of his helmeted head to take a look.

"Oh God! What kind of tank is this?" the French lieutenant exclaimed. "It looks bigger than the Charles D1 tank! Moreover, some of them look so strange...it seems like there is no turret!"

"No turret?" Private Bernard asked, "Are there any cannons?"

"Rumble..."

This question was quickly answered, six No. 3 assault guns opened fire! After only one round of fighting, the screams started behind the stone wall where Lieutenant Moreau's company was stationed. It turned out that a 75mm shell penetrated the stone wall, killing and injuring a large number of people.

"Damn it!" Lieutenant Morrow also screamed, "It's a 75mm cannon!"

These are 6 moving 75mm cannons protected by steel armor! And the anti-tank weapons possessed by Lieutenant Moreau's company are only a few anti-tank guns!

"Anti-tank gun!" Although he knew it was useless, Lieutenant Morrow still shouted, "Anti-tank gun, ready to fire!" Then he shouted, "Signal soldier! Phone! Bring the phone..."

A few anti-tank guns cannot withstand the No. 3 assault gun, and Lieutenant Moreau's mission is not to stop the German army. His mission was to promptly discover and report the Germans when they "sneak-crossed" the Ardennes Forest. So in this village, there is a telephone line directly connected to the regiment headquarters in Sedan.

…

In fact, the regiment headquarters of the French 306th Regiment now knows that something is wrong, because the outpost battle has begun in full force. On the edge of the Ardennes Forest, several outposts reported being attacked by German tanks and infantry.

Moreover, dozens of German planes are dropping bombs in Sedan to create panic!

Lieutenant Colonel Andre, the commander of the 306th Regiment, was busy directing the transfer of his regiment, and at the same time, he had to report all the bad news he received to the commander of the 38th Division. But he knew it was useless!

Because everyone knows that the French Army is a slow-reacting bureaucracy. Unless it is a place that the bigwigs are particularly concerned about, such as Belgium and the "Maginot Line", the news of other unimportant places is uploaded very slowly-it must be reported step by step, and there will be endless verification and delays. The emergency here in Sedan can be reported to General Gamelin within 24 hours.

This reporting speed was not a problem in 1914-1918. The war at that time was a very slow military operation.

But now, the Germans defeated Poland in 12 days! It took 12 hours to break through the Belgian defense line! After 24 hours, the situation in Sedan might be out of control... Now we can only ask for approval to blow up several bridges on the Meuse River, which is the only way to stop the German breakthrough!

The prediction of the French regiment commander in his forties was obviously correct, and the actual situation was worse than he imagined.

Because it doesn't take 24 hours, it only takes a few hours, and the situation on the Sedan-Meuse River line will change dramatically.

"No enemy aircraft found! No enemy aircraft found! Over!" Rudolf Hessmann, flying in the Fokker Zero fighter, soared in the sky, and 3,000 meters below was the rushing Meuse River!

His squadron is now performing air superiority missions around Sedan - although the air combat performance of the Fokker Zero is comparable to that of the BF-109, this aircraft has an advantage that most single-engine fighters of this era cannot match, that is, the super long range.

The super long range means super long hovering time. The Fokker Zero often stays in the air for 5-6 hours, and has extremely high efficiency in performing air superiority and escort missions. Therefore, this aircraft has become the favorite air superiority fighter of the German commanders on the front line, and the frequency of attendance has become very high.

In the past two days, Rudolf Hessmann has been in the sky for more than 20 hours. Unfortunately, he did not shoot down an enemy plane! Not only did he not shoot down any, he did not even encounter a firefight. It was really boring.

Originally, he thought that as the battle of Belgium intensified, his squadron would have no worries about the opportunity to make meritorious service. But he did not expect that from April 12, Rudolf Hessmann's squadron was transferred to Sedan to perform escort and air superiority tasks.

"Received, Rudolf." Lieutenant Heinz Baer's voice came from the headset, "Keep the altitude and continue to observe."

It's the same old thing! Rudolf Hessmann thought that today might be another boring day. In Sedan, a region far away from the battlefield, it would be strange to encounter French planes.

"Plane found!" Suddenly, Prince Wiesenfeld's excited and trembling voice came, "Unidentified aircraft group found 90 degrees due east!"

Due east? Is that a plane flying from Germany? Rudolf Hersmann also turned his head to search, and immediately found something. At an altitude of 4,000-5,000 meters, a fleet of aircraft that covered the sky and the sun appeared at some point! It was not dozens of aircraft, but hundreds or even a thousand aircraft.

"It's a Junkers 52! And an H-plane..." Prince Wiesenfeld shouted, "That's our plane, the paratroopers! Thank God, they are going to land in Sedan, now we have something to do!"

Landing in Sedan? The old man (referring to Marshal Hersmann) is confused, right? Rudolf Hersmann thought, what's so good about Sedan? Why use precious paratroopers to capture it?

"Pull up, pull up, 5,000 altitude," Lieutenant Baltz's order reached Rudolf Hersmann's ears at this time, "There will be a tough battle today! Good luck to you!"

Just as Rudolf Hersmann and his men pulled up the planes, all the pulled Junkers 52s began to cut the ropes, and hundreds of them began to circle and land, rushing towards their intended targets...