novelraw Chapter 706: Revised - 706 Suppression by Bombers
Chapter 706: Revised - 706 Suppression by Bombers
Truk Town.
The French soldiers who had not entered the battlefield stared blankly at the towering flames rising in the forest.
They had thought Shire could lead them to victory in this battle, but never imagined winning in such a way, and never thought the enemy would lose so miserably.
Many had prepared for sacrifice because they heard their opponent was the German First Panzer Division.
"This is Germany’s only armored division, consisting of the bravest and most battle-hardened veterans."
"Shortly after we formed our tank regiment, the Germans also had their own tanks and tank divisions."
"Yes, they are learning from us, and targeting us. They might be our most knowledgeable enemy!"
...
But none of that happened.
Shire only dispatched an armored battalion, and only 32 tanks entered the battlefield.
The soldiers thought this armored battalion was sent out as bait, looking at them with heroic eyes, assuming few would return alive.
Yet...
All it took was a single fire.
The planes flew overhead and dropped bombs, flames soared into the sky within the forest, and all the enemy’s advantages turned to ashes in an instant.
The soldiers exclaimed:
"What was that? Did our planes hit their fuel depot?"
"No, who would be foolish enough to store gasoline on the front lines? That was our bomb, flames from the bomb!"
"Yes, it must be Shire’s invention; he turned the enemy tanks into a sea of fire!"
...
Then, everyone’s gaze focused on Shire in the command vehicle, eyes filled with respect and relief.
Some even started clapping and shouted to Shire:
"Great command, General, a beautiful victory."
"We never thought victory would be so simple!"
...
Shire smiled lightly and nodded to them.
This victory was not simple; the soldiers didn’t realize that if Shire hadn’t noticed something was wrong, the First Armored Division might have been in a fierce battle by now.
Major General Brownie stared blankly at the sea of fire in the forest.
Brownie was mentally prepared; Shire had told him "to use incendiary bombs to ignite the forest."
But he didn’t think an incendiary bomb igniting the forest could inflict much damage on German tanks, which would take time and a process.
But the German tanks could escape the forest before the fire spread.
Obviously, he was wrong.
These incendiary bombs burned at their peak from the start, with no intermediate stage, leaving the German tanks no time to escape.
After a while, he took a deep breath, seemingly just realizing.
He turned to Shire and asked, "General, the enemy might be retreating. Should we pursue the victory?"
"No, Major General," Shire rejected the proposal, "Do you think the Germans are completely unprepared?"
"What?" Brownie was puzzled.
With such a fire, what preparation could they have? Even if they were prepared, it would be as if they weren’t.
At that moment, the sound of shells whistling through the air came from the sky, and shells burst open in the open field ahead.
Brownie understood; the Germans were prepared with artillery.
If they had hurried to pursue just now, they would have suffered heavy casualties under this artillery barrage.
...
The artillery cover was ordered by Erwin.
But the purpose was different; the previous preparation was to bomb Shire’s armored unit, now it was to cover the retreat of the First Panzer Division’s remnants.
The troops were burned too severely.
The flames from the exploding incendiary bombs adhered to people and tanks like glue, hard to shake off.
Some soldiers tried to save their comrades, taking off their clothes to beat the flames, but instead of extinguishing the fire, they made it spread, even igniting themselves, burning several people in a chain reaction.
Some soldiers worried about the tanks catching fire, using branches or covering with soil, but the flames adhered to the soil, spreading the fire everywhere.
More soldiers who caught fire screamed in agony, running around or rolling on the ground.
Once they grabbed something out of pain, they held onto it tightly, ultimately perishing with innocent comrades.
...
Erwin too was burnt severely.
His adjutant caught fire right in front of Erwin, screaming. Without hesitation, Erwin rushed in with two guards to save him. In the process, he and one guard caught fire.
The guard’s hand burned like a dry twig, steaming with heat.
Erwin, enduring the pain, quickly stripped off his entire outfit, narrowly escaping, though his burnt arm still throbbed fiercely.
At that moment, amidst the inferno, Erwin felt a chill: Is this the fire from hell? Why had he never seen or even heard of it? Will everyone die here today?
Then, Erwin noticed the radio was fortunately not burned.
"Order the artillery!" Erwin suddenly reacted and commanded loudly, "Fire immediately and for as long as possible!"
"Yes, General." The radioman responded, passing on the order.
Simultaneously, Erwin ordered a retreat.
Abandon all tanks; they can’t pass through the woods.
The survivors retreated eastward along the forest; as long as they crossed the Meuse River two miles away, they would be safe. Shire’s armored forces could go no further.
...
German shells continued exploding across the open ground, smoke, dust, and forest flames blending into a scene of purgatory.
Major General Brownie was somewhat anxious, reporting to Shire by his side, "General, an enemy infantry division is approaching from the northwest, will be here in about half an hour."
That information came from a communication capsule dropped by aircraft.
Now, either they brave the artillery fire or send a unit to block this approaching infantry division, or detour if necessary.
Shire took out his pocket watch, looked at it, and calmly replied, "Wait a little longer."
Just as Brownie was about to ask "Wait for what," a batch of "Caproni" bombers appeared in the sky.
To be precise, two batches, flying in two directions towards the hidden artillery positions in the forest, dropping incendiary bombs.
Like before, the deep forest erupted once again with towering flames and deafening explosions of artillery shells, shaking the ground.
Brownie understood.
Everything was under Shire’s control.
The bombers had been circling nearby, waiting for the German artillery to reveal their positions with bombardment, then descended to "add fuel to the fire."
Soon, the artillery fire gradually subsided.
The open ground was left with smoke raised by the shells, mixed with the heatwaves and black smoke from the forest fires, rolling continuously as if making the final effort to stop Shire’s armored division from advancing.
But all this was futile!