No longer rushing to the bridge, the attack of the chariot battalion suddenly flowed, and the cooperation between the chariot and the infantry became very tacit. Two or three chariots formed a small squad and fought with the German infantry street by street, house by house, from the ground to the inside to the roof, although the French women often screamed when they pierced the walls, but the end result was that the Germans were unable to resist and retreated. Near twelve o'clock in the afternoon, the Germans, besieged in several monastic churches, came out with white flags and demanded surrender.

"Surrender?!" Looking at the Germans in front of him who were embarrassed but pretended to be calm, the acting battalion commander Song Desheng was very surprised, he had not been begged to surrender by others, and when they fought the Russians and the Japanese before, they had never surrendered to him.

"We accept your surrender, but you must obey our orders." Before Song Desheng could speak, Zhang Yannian, the political commissar on the side, agreed to the request of the Germans, although Baledik was occupied, but the German counterattack elsewhere would come soon, and it was a wise choice to end the current battle earlier, and then prepare for the attack of German reinforcements. Although Zhang Yannian's collar badge indicated that his military rank was higher than that of Song Desheng, the Germans still looked at the commander Song Desheng, and they hoped that Song Desheng would dispose of the captured personnel in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

"Yes, on this condition, you must obey our orders, which is a prerequisite for surrender." Song Desheng said. He looked at the puzzled Germans and explained: "I don't want you to do any coolies, I just ask you to restore this city that has been destroyed by the war." Although it was sabotaged by both of us, the result was that you lost, so ......"

The Germans returned to the monastery surrounded by the regiments with the conditions of the final victory of Song. Five minutes later, they decided to surrender. At this time. Gray streams of people poured out of monasteries and churches, according to statistics. There were more than 4,300 of them.

"So, where is your brigade?" The highest officer of the captured German army was the commander of the 86th Brigade of the 171st Division, which had two brigades, but only the 171st Brigade was stationed in Baledik.

The hapless German Major General, who had been wounded in the forehead by a stray bullet during the battle, now had only a simple bandage, and endured severe pain to deal with the questioning of a Chinese captain. Despite the defeat of his own side, he still maintained the dignity of an officer and politely replied: "Your Excellency, according to the Geneva Prisoner of War Treaty. I have the right not to answer your questions. ”

"Really?" Song Desheng glanced at the clerk recorded by the battalion headquarters, and then looked at Germany, who was a little convulsive because of the pain, and smiled: "General, if you refuse to answer, then I think you will probably not live to Christmas." We are not obligated to treat the injury on your forehead, and the doctors of 171 will be helpless because they do not have any medicine even if they want to treat it, and your forehead will fester, and then sepsis, and the doctors will eventually have to amputate your head, which is what they do best. Checkmate. You can go now, I'll get your graveyard ready, and I'll find someone who can cooperate with me to answer these little questions......"

With the words of the translator, the Germans seemed to twitch even more. He looked at Song Desheng with some trepidation, then at the translator, and finally said: "The 172nd Division was transferred last month......

"Where?" Song Desheng immediately asked the interpreter to ask. The eyes were fixed on the blue eyes of the Germans.

"Tune in to ......, God. I really don't know where they were transferred. The German said bitterly, "Maybe to Metz." Maybe it's somewhere else, not in Baledique anyway, not in the Saint-Dizier area. Now there is a shortage of people everywhere, and God knows where they will be. ”

After several rounds of cross-examination, the Germans were finally unable to tell where the 172nd Division was, and Song had to let him go. Facing the results of the interrogation of the Germans, Song Desheng, Zhang Yannian, and Wu Peifu, who had just come up, were a little confused, according to reason, the division is the basic establishment unit of the German Army, and there are few records of split use, the 171st Brigade is here, then the 172nd Brigade should be nearby.

"Aircraft reconnaissance found that the Germans had increased their troops here from Champagne Chalons and Metz, but because of the inconvenient transportation, even the nearest Champagne Chalons would not arrive until the evening or even tomorrow morning." Wu Peifu said the news from the rear. "The 31st and 32nd divisions have already held back the German army in Saint-Dizier, and the Lignon Barois behind us is also under the supervision of the 2nd Brigade, and the 9th Army in the adjacent theater is also attacking. By the way, and the French to the west of Saint-Dizier will also immediately launch an offensive to cooperate with us, and they will soon receive the news that Baledik has been captured by us, which is simply ......, and it is simply impossible for the Anglo-French army to achieve such a great victory with such small casualties. ”

Wu Peifu has every reason to be proud of the current achievements, with the example of the British and French in the past, breaking through the German defense line for 16 kilometers and occupying an important city behind enemy lines, the price paid should be more than 100,000 people, and now, all the casualties of the whole army add up to less than 2,000.

Wu Peifu is proud of the current achievements, but in Song Desheng's opinion, although his side occupied Baledik, many damaged chariots can be repaired, but the chariot battalion lost eighteen vehicle groups, almost one-third of the battalion's combat strength; Moreover, after fierce fighting, many combat vehicles were damaged, and ammunition, diesel fuel, engine oil, and spare parts had to be replenished by arriving from the rear. If German reinforcements arrive in the evening and the offensive begins at dawn tomorrow, there is not much time left for oneself to prepare.

"So the enemy will come from the west?" Zhang Yannian interjected that although he didn't care about the military, he still participated in the discussion.

"It's possible that the west and the north will come at the same time." Song Desheng said this, and Wu Peifu next to him also nodded. "Our problem now is that although we have taken Baledik, we have only temporarily occupied it because we do not have a large reserve, and we may not be able to hold it once German reinforcements arrive. Hasn't the division commander replied to the telegram yet? ”

Song Desheng said the crux of the problem, that is, this attack was originally a test of the armored division, and neither the General Department nor the 11th Army had made a campaign plan. Then the General Directorate will send the entire armored division and no less than one corps of infantry, but judging from the current situation. This is obviously not possible. How to fight next depends on the attitude of the General Headquarters. If it is supported, then the reinforcements can be quickly transported by rail, and if it does not support ......, why will the General Command not support it?

Although Song Desheng was only a lieutenant-level officer, he still saw through the general situation, so as soon as he took Baledik, he sent a telegram to the division commander Li Yinpei, but after a long time, the division commander's telegram did not reply.

"No telegram yet." Zhang Yannian replied. "It's likely that we fought too fast and didn't know how to deal with this matter. So the division commander did not know how to call back. ”

"Commander Duan means we must hold Baledik!" Wu Peifu did not fully understand the difference between the purpose of the General Headquarters and the 11th Army Command, and he believed that the purpose of the two was basically the same: that is, to defeat Saint Dizier and give a little color to those who looked down on the Chinese Expeditionary Force. "The 31st and 32nd divisions are storming Saint-Digitier, maybe we can take Saint-Digzier tonight, we must stop the Germans here, otherwise the sacrifice of the soldiers will be in vain!"

The attitude of the 33rd Division and the entire 11th Army was very clear, and the 9th Army next door also launched an attack on the Germans at its request for accommodation, and it can be said that the situation of the entire front was favorable to the capture of Saint-Dizier. But with Song's victorious understanding, it is impossible to take Saint-Dizier in a short time, although he occupied Baledik. But St. Dizier was not completely surrounded by himself, it was connected to Vitri to the west, and even if it was besieged, the city was not the same as Baledic. After several years of garrison, it was run as a fortress by the Germans and was surrounded by several tributaries of the Marne.

Unless it is to mobilize more than 280 heavy artillery. Then more than 100,000 troops attacked regardless of casualties, and Song Desheng felt that it would be captured by the 11th Army. Actually, before starting the offensive. Song Desheng had such an idea, but at that time, everyone was enthusiastically looking forward to the battle. That's why he reserved his opinion. Now it is different, the arrival of German reinforcements is imminent, and even if the 2nd Tank Battalion and the 331st Brigade fight here to the last man, as long as the support of the General Department is unfavorable, Saint-Dizier will not be able to take it, and everything will eventually return to the front, except that the camp of the expeditionary force prisoner of war is crowded with German prisoners of war.

"Brigade Commander Wu, the armored troops are waiting for orders from the division headquarters, not the 11th Army!" Song Desheng emphasized. "If our forces cannot be strengthened, then even if we all die here, the problem of Saint-Dizier will not be solved. Besides, defending at Baledik was not necessarily the best way to hold the enemy back, and with sufficient accurate information, we could ambush the Germans who came to reinforce them - you know, this is a mountainous area, and there is no better place to ambush the enemy. I suggest that small forces be sent to reconnoiter the terrain to the west and north at once, and perhaps we can do something more. ”

Listening to Song Desheng's subordination, Wu Peifu was very helpless, the plan of the 11th Army Headquarters seemed to be based on floating sand from the beginning, and the attack of the armored forces was experimental, but what was the purpose of this test, he and the army commander Duan Qirui did not know. And making a more ambitious battle plan based on this experimental offensive has a lot of variability in itself, but the fat that has reached the mouth is about to fly, and anyone who looks at it feels heartache.

It is precisely because of this that when Baledik and several people were discussing the future combat strategy, there was also a discussion in the headquarters of the 11th Army, but the people who discussed it were only Duan Qirui and Xu Shuzheng.

"Again, what does Lin Zhoumian mean?" Holding the telegram from Nancy, Duan Qirui felt a little ridiculous, why did such a smooth operation have to be terminated? It's rare that Beiyang was really raised by his stepmother, and he is not allowed to make meritorious contributions?

"This ......," Xu Shuzheng frowned as he looked at the telegram. At first, he hoped that his army would break through the German defense, and then hoped that the 331st Brigade would occupy Baledik, but now that everything was as he wished, he thought that he must hold on to that side, so as to wait for the 31st and 32nd Divisions to take St. Dizier. Of course, this is just Xu Shuzheng's personal thoughts, Duan Qirui doesn't think like this, he wants to take down Baledik from the beginning, and then beat down the isolated Saint Dizier.

In fact, the two of them had a wrong understanding of the last telegram from the General Directorate, Xu Shuzheng believed that the 'camera act' only allowed the 11th Army to use the existing resources to fight a small war with the German army, while Duan Qirui believed that since they had already 'acted with the camera', now that we have created such a favorable situation, the General Department should invest more resources in completely taking Saint-Dizier.

As Duan Qirui's cronies, Xu Shuzheng couldn't say that Duan Qirui's idea was too wishful thinking, but he still stood in Duan Qirui's position and made suggestions. After a long groan, Xu Shuzheng said: "Marshal, what our army can do now is to ask the 9th Army to cooperate closely with us, and at the same time strictly order Wu Ziyu to hold on to Baledik, even if the last person is killed, he must not retreat, and finally go to Nancy again and ask the General Department to strengthen our army in order to take Saint Diziye." ”

"What if Lin Zhouji still doesn't agree?" Duan Qirui asked with a calm face.

"That...," Xu Shuzheng thought of a way, how he saw Colonel Bertrand hurrying outside the window, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he replied, "Maybe with the help of the French, don't they just need a victory?" (To be continued......)