"You mean to launch a counter-offensive at the River Somme?" Fajin Han asked, "Have you considered that the advantage of defense is much greater than offense?"

Fajin Han did not yet understand the principle of "offense over defense"; he was more inclined to what he saw in front of him: wave after wave of the British Army launching charges, only to fall under the German Army's machine guns.

He was worried that if the Germans launched a counter-offensive, this scenario would happen to the Germans.

Colonel Erwin seemed to see through Fajin Han's thoughts, he analyzed:

"General, during the maneuvering battle with the British in Antwerp, I found that the British barely had any capability or tactics to counter tanks."

"I mean, although they are equipped with tanks, they only consider offense and not defense."

"I believe they have the same problem in the direction of the River Somme."

Erwin wasn't very confident about this, as he had been stationed at the Liege Fortress recently and had no conditions to understand the situation on the Somme battlefield.

Fajin Han asked back, "What do you mean?"

Erwin replied, "Anti-tank rifles, anti-tank trenches, anti-tank mines, and elastic defense tactics."

As he spoke, Erwin handed over a neatly organized file from his briefcase to Fajin Han.

Fajin Han opened it up, each entry came with a diagram, clear and easy to understand.

Colonel Erwin analyzed:

"I think this is caused by the different combat intensities between the British and French forces."

"Since the war began, the main force opposing our army has always been the French Army. Under the leadership of the military genius Shire, they grew rapidly, and their equipment and combat theories are relatively mature and systematic."

"However, the British Expeditionary Force has been conserving its strength all along. The only large-scale battle they have fought is the Battle of the Somme."

"In addition, the British are stubborn and arrogant, causing their equipment and tactical theories to remain relatively outdated."

Fajin Han nodded while flipping through the file.

Colonel Erwin listed these anti-tank tactics that the British indeed did not have, including on the Somme defense line.

Especially the elastic defense tactics, which Shire applied to the 6th Army Group, astonishing the German officers.

Even Fajin Han exclaimed:

"So, armored units can be used this way!"

"Germany must also learn this tactic so that fewer troops can defend longer lines."

"We need more tanks; maybe only this tactic can block Shire's maneuvers!"

...

Thus, both the French and German Armies would understand these tank offense and defense tactics, but the British still maintained a superior attitude, thinking they were the strongest nation in the world and did not need to learn from others, using the same old tactics.

However, Fajin Han remained cautious, saying expressionlessly, "The British also have tanks, Colonel."

Colonel Erwin was very confident about this:

"The British tanks are vulnerable, General."

"We know how to deal with these tanks without a rotating turret."

"Moreover, we have upgraded our tanks; the British 'Whippet' is just a pile of scrap metal in front of our new tanks."

Colonel Erwin was referring to Germany's LK2 tank.

(The two images above are of the LK1 and LK2 tanks, the major improvement being the change in the shape of the frontal armor to increase its defense capability, and the rear of the hull changing from square to a beveled cut to reduce the side target area. The entire evolution process took just over two months.)

Fajin Han said again: "They have more troops, Colonel. Britain has at least 15 divisions there. We have only 8 divisions north of the River Somme."

Their manpower is almost half of that of the British.

"I know, General," Colonel Erwin replied, "But we have tanks. In the face of tanks, more manpower just means higher casualties. I admit this might cause us considerable trouble in clearing the corpses!"

Fajin Han was silent for a moment: "But they also have artillery. The British are equipped with new 152MM caliber cannons and have stockpiled a large number of shells, enough to blow all your tanks to pieces."

Colonel Erwin responded calmly, "Then we wait for them to launch their offensive and then counter-attack."

Fajin Han suddenly understood.

The British tactics were very rigid; they always poured large amounts of shells on the German lines before an attack, sometimes for hours, sometimes for days.

After this long artillery preparation, their ammunition would be nearly exhausted while the soldiers would surge forward like a tide, wave after wave.

If the Germans launched a counter-offensive at that moment, the steel defense line constructed by tanks would brutally clash with the British soldiers' flesh.

Fajin Han could almost see the field covered with corpses.

...

The northern bank of the River Somme roared with artillery.

In the half-buried frontline command post of the British Expeditionary Force, loose soil fell from the gaps in the logs overhead under the artillery vibrations.

Haig glanced anxiously at the calendar on the table; it was turned to February 23rd.

For three days and nights, the artillery had bombarded continuously, and today was the planned day of the attack.

Haig had lost interest in observing the German positions after the bombardment because he knew it was useless.

Every time, the German positions seemed to be bombed to rubble with no one surviving, but as soon as British soldiers stepped onto the positions, heads and black muzzle points would immediately emerge from the wasteland.

Sometimes, Haig didn't know how to fight this battle.

Like Shire, with maneuvering tactics?

No, there was no place for maneuvering between the clear enemy and friendly lines at the River Somme.

Even Shire would be helpless in such a battlefield, Haig thought.

"General," the staff officer reported, "There are deserters from the South African Legion, over 300 of them."

If there were only a few deserters, the staff officer wouldn't even report it, as it was too common.

Haig gritted his teeth. Those bastards, escaping at the last moment before the assault, didn't they know this would be devastating to the troops' morale?

Haig didn't hesitate, giving a cold order: "Drive them to the battlefield!"

"Yes!", the staff officer turned and issued the order.

Soon, a group of over 300 men was driven into the no man's land between the lines under the gunpoints of their comrades, some even without rifles.

Behind them, British officers waved their revolvers and shouted to their subordinates:

"This is the cost of desertion. Remember it."

"They will die on the battlefield, but as deserters."

"No honor, no dignity, and no compensation. Everyone will know they're cowards!"

...

Gunshots rang out as German soldiers shot the deserters one by one like target practice.

Some panic-stricken deserters tried to return to the trenches but were shot down on the snow by prepared British soldiers.

The British needed these deserters to rush forward, to fall under the German guns so they could locate the German firing points!

The battlefield is a place where humanity is invisible.