I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 948 Mine Clearance Tank
Richthofen raised the nose of his plane and climbed to a height of 3900 meters. He was startled by what he saw: black dots of other planes flying in all directions.

It's located in the east, west, and south, much like an army encircling the enemy.

They were densely packed like swarms of bees, numbering at least three or four hundred, and from a distance it was impossible to tell whether they were "camel" or "spot" formations.

Richthofen judged that both models were likely to exist, since the French army did not have that many "Sniper" variants.

Because the enemy aircraft were at an altitude of about 5000 meters and were covered by clouds, the German fighters did not detect them for the time being.

Richthofen knew something was wrong; he knew why the enemy planes were doing this.

Enemy planes surrounded the German aircraft from three sides, compressing their space, and then used firepower to drive the German fighters to one direction.

If they succeed, German warplanes will be crammed together with no room to maneuver, and even a small evasive maneuver could result in a collision with friendly aircraft.

French fighter jets could easily hit one or even several planes by simply firing a burst of bullets at the "dense center".

Without hesitation, Richthofen took out a signal pistol from the storage compartment, skillfully loaded it, and pulled the trigger into the air.

A red signal flare slowly fell from the sky.

The other aircraft, which were at around 2000 meters, immediately understood what was happening and began to climb and engage the enemy in formation.

(Note: During World War I, radios were not carried on airplanes; communication and warning signals relied mainly on hand signals and signal flares.)
However, Richthofen suddenly realized something was wrong; all the fighters were desperately pulling up, scrambling to gain altitude advantage before the enemy arrived.

"Come back!" Richthofen shouted, gesturing as he did so. "Lower altitude!"

But no one listened to him; fighter jets flew past him one after another, whistling and whistling through the air.

Eventually, they flew to 4500 meters and gradually disappeared into the distance, where they soon collided violently with an oncoming group of enemy aircraft.

The battle began, and the sky was filled with the roar of engines and the "rat-a-tat-tat" of machine guns.

Then one after another, fighter jets plummeted to the ground, trailing black smoke.

Richthofen sighed inwardly, realizing that the German aircraft had forgotten at the last moment that the Fokker triplane was not suitable for fighting the enemy at altitudes above 4000 meters.

Admittedly, altitude advantage is very important in air combat.

However, if the fleet consists of hundreds of aircraft, it would be better to forgo altitude advantage in order to maintain the most suitable combat altitude.

Otherwise, triplanes would suffer the consequences of losing their maneuverability.

It was clear that the French air force knew this and successfully lured the German aircraft to this altitude to engage in combat.

After hesitating for a moment, Richthofen gritted his teeth, raised his hand and waved it forward, leading the way as he piloted his fighter plane to climb into the fray and join the battle.

……

One plane after another fell from the sky, some French and some German, but it was clear that there were more German triplanes.

They left long trails like meteorites, some turning into fireballs in the air, others exploding into fragments, with parts falling to the ground like rain.

Below, Tijani stood on an armored vehicle, holding up binoculars to observe the sky, carefully tracking the flight path of the German triplanes.

He put away the binoculars after a long while.

"That guy guessed right again," Tijani muttered to himself. "He didn't even leave his office, yet he knew German aircraft weren't suited for high-altitude combat. What a strange fellow!"

Having said that, he turned his gaze to his troops and coldly ordered, "Advance!"

"go ahead!"

"go ahead!"

The orders were relayed, and the prepared tanks began to move, belching black smoke and making a rumbling noise as they drove toward the minefield.

...Inside the trenches of the Saarbrücken Line, a German lookout cried out in alarm: "They're attacking! They've moved!"

"Ready to fight!"

"Ready to fight!"

Major General Bernhard shouted as he raised his binoculars, still unable to understand how the French dared to defend the minefield.

Even without artillery, the French army had tanks, and even "Charles B2s".

However, no tank can run over landmines repeatedly without any restraint. After several explosions, their tracks will be blown off, and then they will become scrap metal.

Suddenly, a soldier shouted, "God, what is that?"

Following the soldier's directions, Major General Bernhard adjusted the angle of his binoculars, and a strange tank entered his field of vision.

That should be the "Shire B2", but a roller-like device protrudes forward from the front of it. The roller is equipped with an iron chain, and when the roller rotates, the iron chain continuously whips the ground.

(The top three images show mine-clearing tanks converted from Sherman tanks during World War II.)

then……

"Boom boom"

"Boom boom boom!"

……

Landmines continued to explode to the astonishment of Major General Bernhard and the German soldiers. Occasionally, bounding mines would bounce off the ground, scattering steel balls that struck the tank armor with a series of popping sounds.

After a long while, the soldiers finally cried out in alarm:
"Mine clearance, that's a mine clearance tank."

"That's another of Charles's inventions; our minefields are nothing compared to his!"

"It can easily detonate our landmines, including anti-tank mines."

……

Others looked at Major General Bernhard and cried out in despair, "What should we do, General?"

Major General Bernhard understood the meaning of the shout; he was clearly saying, "Run, General! We can't beat them! It'll be too late if we don't run now!"

Bernhard thought the same thing; he even had an urge to turn around and run away.

Charles was so impressive. How could he deploy so much amazing equipment on the same battlefield, making this seemingly impregnable defense line, which hundreds of thousands of German soldiers had worked hard for months, seem insignificant and even a joke in front of him!
What else can rival the Ciel?
However, Bernhard's sense of duty as a soldier forced him to suppress this idea!

"Calm down!" he commanded loudly, encouraging the soldiers with words he himself didn't believe:

"We still have anti-tank guns, we still have defensive lines, and we still have rifles in our hands."

"Reinforcements are on their way; they should be here in half an hour."

"Look, the gunfire behind us has stopped, which means we have eliminated the enemy paratroopers. We will soon receive artillery support."

Bernhard knew that it wasn't that the gunfire from behind had disappeared, but rather that the sounds of tank engines and exploding mines were masking it.

"Stop them!" Bernhard shouted hysterically. "Victory belongs to us!"

The German soldiers shouted in response: "Victory belongs to us!"

But before he could finish speaking, a volley of mortar shells came hurtling down, sending German soldiers screaming as they fell.

(End of this chapter)