CHAPTER 207: CHAPTER 207: GOD, WE’VE BEEN DUPED!

The German Army howitzer positions were a mess, with howitzers overturned by tanks everywhere, and groups of German artillerymen squatting on the ground surrendering.

Colonel Brown simply ordered them to surrender their weapons and then blow up the cannons before letting them go.

Western European countries are relatively humane towards prisoners of war, and their combat principles somewhat reflect the "knight spirit."

In their minds, combat is one thing, fighting the enemy for the nation with all their heart and soul is expected, just like knights bleeding for the emperor, it’s a kind of honor, a spirit.

But if the defeat cannot be reversed and the outcome cannot be changed, then one should surrender. After surrendering, they are no longer fighters and should treat each other kindly.

...

Berlin Wilhelm Street, German Army General Staff Headquarters.

Fajin Han was meticulously mobilizing every available unit, all directed towards the same goal: reinforcing the areas of Tram and Rhodes.

"These are Shire’s elite troops!" Fajin Han paced back and forth behind his desk, speaking as he walked: "They have been fighting under Shire’s orders since the Battle of the Marne, they know Shire’s tactics and his equipment. If we can encircle and eliminate them, it’s akin to cutting off Shire’s right arm!"

There’s one thing Fajin Han didn’t say; he hoped to capture some prisoners so that he could learn about Shire’s new tactics and equipment from them, which could potentially advance the German Army.

This was particularly important to Fajin Han; he even thought those two so-called "specialized artillery divisions" of France were no longer significant.

If possible, it wouldn’t matter if they broke through first; Fajin Han was very willing to exchange them for Shire’s First Tank Brigade.

"We must block them, Shire’s troops, at whatever cost!" Fajin Han muttered.

Colonel Moritz understood.

Shire’s troops held immeasurable strategic value to the German Army.

Perhaps Shire himself hadn’t realized this, which was why he dared to send this unit into a risky encirclement.

Suddenly, a signalman reported with a horrified expression: "General, Shire’s troops have defeated our First Tank Regiment, two tank squads (battalions) were nearly annihilated, and Colonel Mateo bravely sacrificed himself!"

Fajin Han abruptly stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and looked at the signalman in astonishment: "No, this is impossible!"

How could the "Mark I" without cannons instantly defeat the First Tank Regiment that had cannons?

Colonel Moritz said nothing, he hurriedly stepped forward and seized the just-decoded telegram, quickly scanned it, then raised his head to look at Fajin Han: "General, it’s true, Shire deployed new tanks!"

"New tanks?" Fajin Han was stunned with a blank expression: "But why didn’t we hear anything about it? It’s a tank, it takes at least an hour to travel from Rhodes to Samok, how did no one notice?"

Moritz pondered for a while, then speculated: "Perhaps Shire intentionally concealed its presence, deliberately drawing our attention to the ’Mark I’, then suddenly deploying the new tank to catch us off guard..."

Before he finished speaking, Colonel Moritz froze on the spot, thinking of something else.

Fajin Han understood too; he and Moritz exchanged a glance, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.

"My God, we’ve been tricked!" Colonel Moritz exclaimed: "He made us believe he only had ’Mark I’, leading us to misjudge that the French Army would only break through from Tram or Rhodes... no, no..."

Colonel Moritz walked helplessly to Fajin Han: "We should recall the troops, Shire will break through from Cape Town Region, just as we initially thought, they will attack from both sides..."

Fajin Han shook his head lightly, looking resigned: "It’s too late, Moritz, Shire has deceived us, he succeeded once again!"

Moritz took out his pocket watch, checked the time, glanced at the map, and sighed deeply as he nodded slowly.

Fajin Han was right; from the moment Shire broke through the Rhodes Defense Line, the German Army had urgently dispatched reinforcements to both flanks, for the last hour and a half.

This means it would take another hour and a half to recall these troops.

This time would be enough for Shire’s troops to bypass Samok and reach Lorca Town directly.

...

The actual situation was much faster than they imagined.

Because the "Shire A1" tank had a more advanced suspension system, it could reach a speed of 13 kilometers per hour and travel continuously for over 30 kilometers without needing maintenance.

This was largely due to its lightweight design; the same tracks supporting the 8-ton "Shire A1" compared to the 17-ton "Mark I" were quite different.

Moreover, during the First Tank Brigade’s journey, there was still tank-infantry coordination: sidecars rode ahead to scout terrain for the tanks, placing small flags on muddy or rigid ground as a warning.

(Note: Some road bridges were paved with uneven stones; if tanks passed quickly, the tracks crashing into the stones could break.)

The reconnaissance aircraft participated as well, dropping "intelligence bottles" constantly: indicating small enemy groups ahead, German supply convoys ahead, German combat engineers ahead...

The sidecar units struck first, defeating and capturing as needed, repairing bomb craters when time allowed, making the path smooth for the following "Shire A1" tanks.

As for the "Mark I" tanks, Colonel Estiny commanded them to gather at the road intersection in Samok Town, empty their fuel tanks, and set fire.

Their final mission was to block the rear to prevent enemy pursuers from catching up quickly.

...

Lorca Town, directly behind Cape Town Region.

Major General Tijani led the Second Specialized Artillery Division here and successfully joined the First Specialized Artillery Division.

Amidst the soldiers’ cheers, the dust-covered Major General Kristen found Tijani, and the two shook hands tightly.

Kristen led Tijani into the temporarily constructed anti-cannon tunnel, this was an enemy-controlled zone, and he dared not be careless.

Before entering the tunnel, Kristen glanced at Tijani’s troops, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

Before the battle, Kristen looked down on Tijani.

He didn’t believe that someone like Tijani, who became a major general through relationships, could accomplish anything on the battlefield.

Now, seeing that his unit included over thirty "Saint Chammon" and CA-1 tanks, he couldn’t help but see Tijani in a new light.

"Well done, General Tijani!" Kristen said apologetically, "I abandoned all my tanks, not bringing a single one!"

Tijani replied awkwardly, "If it weren’t for Shire’s troops, we wouldn’t even have made it here, let alone with those tanks."

Then he added, "Actually, I should have left them for the enemy; they seem to be hardly better than ornaments!"

Tijani thought, at least ornaments could be pleasing to the eye, but these tanks could be deadly.