What the Germans used to bombard Paris was a giant cannon called "Kaiser Wilhelm".

The caliber of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" giant cannon is 8 inches, that is, 203 mm, the caliber of this artillery is not as good as the "Great Beretta", but the firing range is far beyond the "Great Beretta", the German army used the train to transport the "Kaiser Wilhelm" to the front line to carry out long-range strikes on Paris, fortunately, the number of artillery is insufficient, the firing speed is not fast, and the accuracy cannot be guaranteed, so Paris did not suffer greater losses.

In order to prepare for a surprise attack by the air force of the expeditionary force, the Germans placed the "Kaiser Wilhelm" in the woods, and also arranged anti-aircraft machine gun positions around it.

The Air Force of the Expeditionary Force did try to find the artillery positions of the Germans, but did not find them.

The losses inflicted by "Kaiser Wilhelm" on Paris were insignificant, and like the strategic bombing of military facilities in Germany by the Air Force of the Expeditionary Force, the damage inflicted by "Kaiser Wilhelm" on Paris was more of a psychological blow, and the actual losses in Paris were not much.

When the British and French forces stabilized the defensive line, the German offensive faced great difficulties, limited to Germany's domestic production capacity, although the German army had A7V tanks, but the production was seriously insufficient, the German army lacked an effective way to break through the British and French positions, and the brilliant attack method at the beginning of the campaign also lost its effect, the German army still sent elite squads to try to penetrate the positions of the Anglo-French forces, but the elite squads that did not carry heavy weapons were in front of tanks and heavy machine guns.

As the number of casualties continued to rise, by April 9 the Germans had effectively ceased their offensive, and it was Ludendorff's birthday, which Ludendorff had hoped would take place on this day to enter the city in Paris, but now it seems that everything has become a fantasy.

Also on April 9, the British and French forces were ready to counterattack.

Roque and Pétain had spoken several times before the counterattack began, and when the two met on April 1, it was determined that a counteroffensive against the Germans would be launched on April 9.

As in Roque's plan, the British Expeditionary Force and the French troops were to attack Reims from Laon and Champagne Chalons respectively, encircling all the German forces in the Great Funnel.

In order to capture Reims as soon as possible, the ace combination of the 1st Panzer Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division was dispatched, and these two units were to serve as the vanguard of the attacking force, and the 1st Panzer Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division were 12 British Infantry Divisions and 4 Southern African Expeditionary Force Infantry Divisions, and on April 9, according to the agreement with Petain, the British Expeditionary Force launched an attack on the German army.

In the 1st Panzer Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division, the "Muscat Pirate Regiment" commanded by Hank was the vanguard of the vanguard, and their task was to clear the obstacles for the tank troops and cooperate with the tank troops to attack the German positions, and the Muscat Pirate Regiment was actually equipped with 20 tanks, which were also included in the battle sequence.

"- We are the vanguard of the whole corps, so we have only one task, to advance to Reims as fast as possible, everyone only carries the necessary weapons and ammunition, do not bring anything unrelated to the battle, carry as many grenades as possible, if you encounter a strong position of the German army, do not storm it, find a way to bypass it, let the tank troops deal with them, I hope we can still drink together after the battle, this is our last stop, let's work together and send the Germans back home!" Hank is so murderous that he has now also changed into a combat suit and wears a steel helmet with a gas mask underneath it.

The Germans will use poison gas bombs Hank doesn't know, anyway, the tank units of the British Expeditionary Force are carrying poison gas bombs, and Hank filed the bullets with a file last night last night, filing the warheads of each bullet into an irregular shape, so that after the bullet hits the target, it will cause a similar killing effect as a dummy bullet.

To hell with the Battlefield Pact!

"Send the Germans home!"

The officers of the Muscat Pirate Regiment were roaring, they all knew the significance of this battle, if they could successfully surround the German army in the Great Funnel, then they would destroy all the living forces of the German army, and even if Ludendorff was stubborn, the German civilians would consider ending the war peacefully.

As for whether the German troops in the encirclement could be successfully annihilated, the officers and men of the Muscat Pirate Regiment never doubted this question.

The officers and men got up at three o'clock in the morning, assembled at four o'clock, ate at five o'clock, and prepared to leave at six o'clock, by which time the artillery units of the expeditionary force had completed a half-hour fire attack on the German positions.

"Let's go, hyena!" Hank slapped the tank's cold armor and screamed, "Hyena" is Hank's nickname for the "Hussar" tank, no way, the appearance of the "Hussar" tank is indeed a bit ugly in Hank's opinion.

"Shut up, damn Yankee!" The officer sitting in the tank started the tank while scolding, and the tank engine spewed out clouds of smoke as if coughing, and the rusty tracks "creaked" and squeaked and moved.

The infantry immediately followed.

Hank climbed onto the tank and crouched behind the turret to use the telescope to observe.

The silence of Laon in the early morning, the white mist surrounding the forest in the distance, and the fresh scent of nature in the air would have been a beautiful morning if it weren't for the murderous army advancing.

Not long after the troops set off, a tank broke down.

The tankers climbed out of the tank with great difficulty and repaired the tank with the maintenance crew, and the infantry accompanying the tank attack were at a loss, the weapons were too advanced and not good, and the soldiers were easily dependent on them, as if they would not fight without the protection of the tank.

Hank didn't care about the broken tanks, Roque sent 850 tanks to participate in the attack in order to capture Reims as quickly as possible, and the failure of some tanks would not affect the movement of the troops at all.

The sound of aircraft engines came from the air, and when Hank looked up, six planes flew quickly through the air, and their mission was to seize the airspace of Reims, create as favorable conditions as possible for bombers and ground support aircraft, and ensure the offensive efficiency of the ground forces.

Not far from Laon, the tank unit encountered the Germans, two tanks were destroyed at the beginning of the battle, the tankers had no chance to climb out of the tanks, one of the tanks was enveloped in fire, and then the phlegm in the tank exploded, and the whole tank sparked like brilliant fireworks.

The rest of the tankers were not deterred, and after gathering about 40 tanks, the attack began.

This time Hank didn't dare to crouch behind the turret, he jumped out of the tank and followed behind the tank with the other soldiers, as the commander, Hank didn't actually have to be on the front line, but this was Hank's habit, and Hank didn't want to change.

When marching just now, the tanks did not advance fast in order to cooperate with the infantry units.

Now the tank troops are attacking with all their might, the tankers almost step on the accelerator to the bottom, and the improved "light cavalry" tanks are fully loaded, and the cross-country speed is about 20 kilometers per hour, and in the case of full strength, the infantry units accompanying the attack simply cannot keep up with the speed of the tanks.

Fortunately, in the process of advancing the tank, if the German machine gun position or artillery position is found, the tank can counterattack, and the tank at this time cannot shoot in motion, and every shot needs to stop and aim, so the infantry unit accompanying the attack can barely keep up.

In order to reduce losses during the offensive, the tank units of the expeditionary force did not stop counterattacking during the attack, and they rushed to the German positions as fast as possible, and several tanks even rolled directly over the German machine gun positions in a very arrogant manner.

By the time Hank led the infantry to rush to the German positions, the German positions were in shambles.

"Forward, forward, keep going, hand them over to the rear for the troops—" Hank gasped violently and shouted as he slapped the tanks that were strafing the German troops, and a German soldier rushed out from behind a large tree next to him, holding four tangled grenades in his hands, white smoke emitting from the wooden handles of the grenades.

"Damn—" Hank knelt down on one knee in a position similar to that of a marriage proposal, but Hank held up a Browning high-powered pistol.

Phew-

The bullet hit the German soldier in the face, and the entire head of the German soldier who was howling and hideous exploded suddenly, and the dummy bullet was indeed very powerful.

The grenade in the arms of the German soldier was still smoking.

Before Hank could alert the soldiers around him to the ground, the grenade—the cluster grenade—exploded.

Two Muscat Pirate Regiment soldiers, who did not have time to dodge, were hit by grenade fragments.

"Doctor, doctor, come here, a doctor is needed here!" Hank crawled over and grabbed a moaning soldier and dragged him into the trench.

"Ahem, ahem, I'm fine, Mr. Colonel, send the Germans back home!" Accompanied by a violent cough, blood spilled from the mouths of the wounded soldiers.

"Don't talk, what's the injury?" Hank tore the soldier's clothes apart.

The soldier was not injured in the chest and abdomen, the wound was near the ribs, Hank took out his towel from his satchel and pressed the soldier's wound, looking up for the figure of the military doctor: "Doctor, where is the doctor?" ”

If it was a simple wound, Hank also had the ability to deal with it, and now this situation is obviously beyond Hank's ability.

Soon a military doctor with a Red Cross on his sleeve rushed up, followed by two Indian legionnaires carrying stretchers.

The two Indian legionnaires were so frightened that they jumped into the trench and lay on the ground, not daring to lift their heads.

"Colonel, let it go, he's dead—" The military doctor conducted a brief examination of the soldier and directly determined that the soldier was dead.

Hank gritted his teeth and didn't speak, this kind of thing is actually normal, life and death are really in an instant.

"Forward, keep going!" Hank patted the Medic on the shoulder, ignoring the two shivering stretcher bearers lying on the ground, jumped out of the trench and returned to the tank, and continued to follow the troops towards Reims.

(End of chapter)