Chapter 249: The End of France (19)

Just as the French soldiers were struggling in this hellish desperate situation, the tanks behind them finally arrived. At this time, the 12 B1 heavy tanks that were specially taken care of by the Hunter destroyers had all been destroyed 300 meters away, and the German army also paid the price of a Hunter being blown up.

Now there are only four Hunters left to face dozens of Soma 35 medium tanks and Renault 35 light tanks rushing over.

Fortunately, when these tanks rushed to 200 meters away from the German position, they were blocked by their own infantry on the ground. These infantry either lay on the ground to avoid German bullets or fell to the ground and screamed.

The French tanks could not directly run over these infantry, and the tank commanders did not have the courage to stick their heads out and shout at the infantry to make way in the dense firepower of the German army, and the infantry might not listen even if they said so; they had no choice but to use their tank guns and machine guns to bombard and strafe the German positions on the spot.

The tank guns of the Soma 35 medium tank are 47mm SA 35L/34; the Renault 35 light tank is equipped with 37mm SA 18L/21. It is not difficult to see from the data that their tank guns are all short-barreled guns. These guns were originally low-velocity guns to support infantry in destroying fortifications, and are not suitable for fighting against enemy armored forces.

As a result, the two salvos of the Hunter destroyer destroyed 7 French tanks. At this time, several flashing flares were seen rising from the rear of the French army.

Looking at the French army retreating like a tide, David did not feel relaxed at all, and shouted loudly. "Check your ammunition! Be careful of the enemy's artillery fire! Send the wounded to the rear!" These guys will definitely not give up so easily. It is obvious that they are retreating now to another round of artillery fire.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, there were bursts of low whistling sounds in the sky, and those experienced veterans and officers loudly ordered the surrounding soldiers to retreat into the foxholes quickly.

"Boom boom boom--" Countless explosions sounded on the German positions, one after another, with a terrifying momentum.

David, who was huddled in the foxhole, spat with disdain. "81mm Brandt mortar."

As mentioned earlier, the Renault FT-17 designed and produced by the French during World War I was hailed as the "first tank in the modern sense"; and the Mie 27/31 mortar improved by the French after World War I has influenced the mortar design of countries around the world since its debut.

A few years later, many countries in Europe and the world produced and manufactured Mie 27/31 mortars under license or simply plagiarized them, and its 4mm caliber became the mainstream caliber of European infantry mortars. Every mortar during World War II had more or less Mie 27/31 mortar colors, and some were copied. Its design influenced even the standard mortars of Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, China and even the Soviet Union. The mortars produced and equipped by these countries are based on the technical parameters of the mie 27/31 mortar.

The mortars fired round after round, as if they would never stop, and were completely saturated attacks. Some shells exploded near the foxholes where the German soldiers were hiding, and the high splashing soil even buried half of the foxholes.

The German soldiers huddled in the foxholes, covering their ears, waiting for a shell to end their lives in the artillery fire and the shaking of the earth, or to survive this bombardment again. Some people are unlucky and some are lucky. A timid person on the battlefield may not survive, and a warrior may die in the next second.

This is an absolutely fair world. God is responsible for deciding everyone's life and death, and everything is based on luck. People who hide in foxholes and dare not even fire a gun may survive, and veterans who bravely kill the enemy may also have their heads smashed by bullets.

Suddenly, a violent explosion sounded in the distance. David was startled and almost jumped up. However, the raging shell fragments above his head dispelled his idea.

"Damn it!" David couldn't help cursing and punched the wet pit wall. The explosion came from the bunker of a Hunter destroyer. He estimated that a mortar shell happened to fall on the roof of the destroyer. The top of the destroyer was only 10 mm thick, which might have caused it to explode.

In this way, they only have three destroyers left. The next time they deal with the French tank attack, they may have to rely on the Panzerfaust rockets in their hands.

The current Panzerfaust rocket has been upgraded to Panzerfaust 100. As the name suggests, the effective range can reach 100 meters. And the armor penetration depth reaches 220mm. Let alone the French medium and light tanks, there is no tank armor in the world that can withstand the frontal attack of Panzerfaust 100. Even if the Maus is alive, it will be easily penetrated.

But in order to ensure the hit rate, they usually fired the iron fist from 70 to 80 meters away, and this distance of 70 to 80 meters would easily allow the enemy to rush to the front and engage in hand-to-hand combat. At that time, they would be destroyed by the French army, which was several times larger than them, without the advantage of numbers.

Just as he was thinking about countermeasures, the explosions outside the foxhole gradually became sparse; David estimated that the French army was preparing to launch a second attack, so he stuck his head out and looked in the direction of the explosion.

Sure enough, the tank destroyer had become a pile of fire and was burning fiercely. It seemed that the crew inside had not escaped. "Prepare for battle!" Along with his order, sharp whistles spread throughout the position.

The soldiers took off the mud on their bodies and looked out. The surroundings were in a mess. A large number of trees were blown off and fell to the ground in all directions, becoming invisible obstacles.

The French troops on the opposite side had already rushed to a place less than 200 meters away from them. However, it seems that these guys have not learned their lesson. The coordination between tanks and infantry this time is even more chaotic. The tanks and infantry were mixed together, and the entire formation was like a dish of unmixed salad, mixed and noisy, slowly pressing over.

"Fire!"

The dense gunfire resounded again on the German positions. The German soldiers kept firing, firing, desperately firing their ammunition at the enemy.

David sighed helplessly when he learned that his mortar soldiers were annihilated, and ordered to increase the machine gun firepower. In the last round of attack, each group of six machine guns fired at the same time. This time he ordered 12 machine guns to fire at the same time.

In an instant, more dense bullets were fired at the attacking French army, and each machine gun was madly harvesting the lives of French soldiers. But this intensive firepower did not shake the determination of the French soldiers. They ignored their friendly soldiers who were shot and fell to the ground, and continued to shout and charge towards the German positions. It seemed to prove to the enemy that the French soldiers were not all cowards. They had the same firm fighting will and courage as the German soldiers on the opposite side.

The French tank firepower was all concentrated on the remaining three Hunters.

Finally, the three Hunters could not withstand the bombardment of many tank guns and exploded one after another.

The French tanks immediately became arrogant and stepped on the accelerator to rush towards the German positions.