Optimism quickly recovered among the French, although the anti-aircraft guns in the concrete pillboxes took a toll on them. But these losses are almost negligible compared to what has been achieved, at least in Xiafei's opinion.

"Well, yes, our offensive has made decisive progress, and we have ordered our troops to speed up their attack, and I think we can break through their lines before sunset today."

The fact that their own front had just been broken through by the enemy, and that they had penetrated the defensive line to a depth of 5 kilometers, had already caused some German generals to worry.

After all, with such a large-scale armored force, no one else had ever withstood such an attack before, except for Prince William in the Battle of Verdun.

The outcome of that attack was well known, so they still didn't have strong confidence in the already strong and specially modified line.

But the German commander, General Falkenhain, did not see it that way.

"The purpose of our second line of defense is to weaken the French as much as possible, so we must fight and give them the final blow before sunset!"

These are the words he said when he issued orders to his generals. The purpose of the first two lines of resistance was only to delay the progress of the British and French armies, and the third line of defense was really the place to deal a blow to them.

As he said, the situation on the battlefield is in a state of stalemate.

The German second line of defense was not built on a flat front like the first, but was mostly built on a series of small hills that could be covered by mutual fire, or fortified villages between the hills.

Some of the deep caves under the limestone have been expanded into underground shelters, and the criss-crossing barricades of iron piles and barbed wire, basements, underground single bunkers and passages make the Somme section "one of the strongest and most complete fortifications in the world".

German soldiers could huddle in a good system of fortifications and look out over the entire battlefield. And their strong reinforced concrete fortifications withstood the shelling of the French, both mortars and 75-mm self-propelled guns. As for the 12-kilogram bombs dropped by the "Benlei-type attack aircraft" in the sky, they could not have caused them more serious damage.

But the ability of the armored group to attack is unquestionable, first of all, the infantry who were driven out of the concrete bunkers could no longer withstand the bombs from the sky and the almost endless artillery fire on the ground. They quickly returned to the cement bunkers on the hills of the second line of defense and took refuge deep underground through the communication trenches that crisscrossed the ground.

Without infantry fire, the anti-aircraft guns in the concrete pillboxes were silent due to more dust on the battlefield. After all, how unrealistic it is to rely only on observation from the bunker to engage in stubborn fighting.

Due to the lack of blocking, the march of the armored units of the French army accelerated. The situation developed rapidly, and soon several French divisions occupied several narrow breaches. Behind them, the French armoured fighting vehicles swarmed in, and in front of them was a third line of fortified and defensive fronts.

But at this time, the French made a fatal mistake.

The front commander of the French army, Robert. General Nivel believed that it was necessary to wait for the follow-up infantry units to climb the hills and attack the concrete reinforced pillboxes that were shooting tongues of fire in all directions, otherwise the armored forces in front would not be able to advance quickly.

As the time ticked by on the battlefield, the French soldiers in the MPM armoured fighting vehicles were ordered to leave their tanks and clear the fortified villages abandoned by the Germans. This order seems to be so that they don't have nothing to do while they wait for the follow-up infantry.

The arrival of the infantry was slow, they had only two legs. The four-wheel-drive jeeps that would have allowed them to reach quickly had to carry back and forth the heavy cement slabs needed for the "fast front".

But when they got to the front, they didn't have a chance to rest, they had to climb the slopes of the mountains covered with barbed wire and mines. And brave the seemingly ubiquitous machine-gun fire and mortars from above to climb those sloping hills.

There is no doubt that the French soldiers were brave. In the first month of the first battle between Germany and France, French soldiers would even line up in flamboyant, dense formations, singing the "Marseillaise" to attack the German machine-gun-ridden positions.

Therefore, in the small hills of the Somme, they will also move forward without fear.

The gray uniforms of the French soldiers rushed into the hills like a wave, and then fell in pieces under the roar of machine guns and mortars. With the reinforcement of the first line positions and other German soldiers who had lost their positions, the fire on these hills was fierce.

Even with the support of the mortars and 75-mm guns of the French fire support battalions, and the effective coordination of the attack aircraft and fighters hovering in the air, the offensive did not make much progress.

On the hillside, however, the corpses of French soldiers were everywhere. Or the occasional visible swinging, beckoning the arm of the medic. Now the gray corpses had spread all over the hillside like a lawn, and the soldiers of the attacking force had to step on their bodies as they advanced.

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This absurd pause was not stopped until Xia Fei knew about it. Due to the delay in his accommodation on the battlefield at this time, he knew that the offensive had been interrupted for nearly an hour.

"There is no need to storm those hills, only to cut off their rear roads with infantry, and what awaits them is only surrender. Our armored forces cannot stop, and the follow-up attack force is rapidly catching up, so they must advance immediately, without waiting for the infantry to capture those hills. Immediately forward, our armored forces must immediately advance! ”

Believing that under the attack of his own army's air power and massive armored fighting vehicles, the German soldiers had completely collapsed, and severely blocked the request of the French attacking force for a little reorganization and replenishment of ammunition forces.

He believed that his goal was imminent, and that two of the three lines of defense on the opposite side of the Somme had been breached. If the third line of defense was breached, his theory of maneuver would be justified in the first place, and even his armored forces would be able to rush in from this breach, striking from all sides behind the fragile lines of the Germans.

Then this battle will be won, not just a breakthrough on the front, but a breakthrough in the entire campaign, and at the same time the initiative of the war will return to the French.

Xia Fei's long-term plan obviously did not get the consent of the front-line generals. They were simply afraid that when they attacked, these resistance hubs would become a threat.