70

Just as France built the Maginot Line in preparation for a re-invasion by Germany, Belgium also built forts along its border in preparation for war with Germany.

The Ebang Emal fortress that was created was so complete that it was nicknamed the Little Maginot Line.

It was expected that, with good positioning, excellent defense, and sufficient armament, it would be possible to survive for at least a day even if subjected to a large-scale attack by the German army.

However, there was a serious problem at Fortress Evin-Emal that even the Belgian army was unaware of.

"Stupid Belgians. "How can you be so stupid?"

"Isn't this the level of just begging for someone to kill me?"

"Well, wouldn't it be a good thing that we would be more comfortable thanks to you?"

The blueprints had already been leaked to Germany because the outsourcing required for the construction of the fortress had been outsourced to a German company.

Therefore, even before the invasion of France, Germany was able to figure out in advance what the weaknesses of Fortress Evin-Emal were, where the entrances were, and which areas to attack first.

At 4 a.m. on May 10, 1940, the start date of Operation Sickle,

Gliders carrying German paratroopers Fallschirmjäger flew over the Evin Emmal fortress.

Even as paratroopers jumped from gliders and landed on the roof of the fortress, the Belgian army was completely unaware of the German invasion.

It was nice to cover the roof with dirt and weeds for camouflage, but the problem was that no one had thought of installing land mines on the roof.

Thanks to this mistake made by the Belgian military, which was ignorant of military science, the German paratroopers were able to freely roam the rooftops.

The paratroopers who descended on the fortress acted as they had learned in training. They immediately concentrated their attack on the fortress' turrets and bunkers.

Bombs were inserted into holes such as entrances, battlements, and ventilation shafts, and then detonated. Only then did the Belgian troops realize that they had been attacked.

An alarm was belatedly sounded and the Belgian soldiers inside the fortress took action, but the previous explosion had already caused many casualties.

To make matters worse, the smoke from the explosion blocked visibility.

"I can't see because of the smoke!"

"Damn, where am I again?"

"Aisle 3 is blocked!"

"Same goes for number 4!"

Coughing, shouting, and commands were mixed together.

From the moment the German troops were allowed to descend, the fate of the fortress was virtually sealed.

The German soldiers were busy laughing hard as they watched the Belgian soldiers losing their senses.

The moment the Belgian soldiers found an unblocked entrance and were busy trying to get out to the ground, a paratrooper carrying a flamethrower on his back appeared.

"Eat this, you Belgians!"

The Belgian army literally 'melted' under the flames of Flamenwerfer 35.

Contrary to what is depicted in the movie, the soldier hit by the high-temperature flames of the flamethrower died instantly without even having time to scream. In an instant, a lively scent filled the hallway.

It took about 3 hours for the Ebang Emal fortress, which was thought to be able to survive for a day, to be completely neutralized.

On the 11th, the fortress was completely occupied by the main German army, which crossed the border into Belgium.

The Belgian army was greatly shocked when the Evin-Emal fortress fell into the hands of the enemy.

But the bigger problem was that the Evin Emmal fortress was not the German army's main target.

The occupation of Ebang Emal Fortress was a diversionary operation aimed at fooling the Allied forces.

The German army's main attack was taking place along the axis leading from the Ardennes Forest to Sedan.

***

The role of Army Group B, which was tasked with the offensive mission in Belgium and the Netherlands, was to be a tribute attack, but thanks to the allocation of a huge amount of troops and equipment, it advanced rapidly, crushing the defensive line of the Belgian-Dutch army, and before we knew it, it was Jean Boulud in Belgium. (Gembloux) was reached.

"No matter what happens, we have to protect Jangbulu. Only then will we be able to win this war."

"Hold on to your worries. "I'm sure Lieutenant General Friu can do it."

When Army Group B reached Jeanboulou, the French immediately launched an interception.

The French army, which had not yet figured out the German army's intentions, mistakenly assumed that Army Group B was the German army's main attack, and deployed Lieutenant General René Friou's 1st Army, one of the most elite units in the French army, to stop it.

While the French army and Army Group B clashed at Jean Bolou, Army Group A, which was in charge of the main attack, rushed towards Sedan.

At 8 a.m. on May 13, the German attack to break through Sedan began.

The core of the French divisions responsible for the defense of Sedan was the 55th Infantry Division. The division itself was a second-tier division composed of reservists called up during wartime, but the problem was the artillery.

As long as the 55th Infantry Division's artillery was intact, the German army's assault on Maas was virtually impossible.

If the enemy artillery had attempted to cross the river rashly while the enemy artillery was intact, artillery shells would have rained down on their heads.

The Germans immediately called in their air force.

There was no other way than the air force to destroy the enemy artillery located at a distance where tank gun attacks could not be effective.

A total of about 750 Hs123, Ju87 Stukas, He 111, and Ju88 bombers took off from the runway.

A short time later, bombers appeared overhead the French 55th Division.

"Oh my god, how many cars is that?"

The French soldiers' faces turned pale when they saw the German bombers covering the sky completely black.

In their eyes, it seemed as if all the bombers the Germans had were mobilized.

Even before the air raid alarm went off, everyone rushed towards the air raid shelters and trenches.

"I come first! "I came first!"

"Get out of my way, you bastard!"

"Keep order! "Go in one by one!"

The soldiers, who were in a state of panic, ignored the officers' orders to maintain order and fought with each other to get into the shelter first. In the face of death, there was no class, no discipline, no anything.

There is only a desperate struggle for survival.

The good news is that most of them succeeded in evacuating to air-raid shelters and trenches before the bombing began.

However, even though soldiers could avoid them, the weapons placed on the ground were not. This was especially true for large and heavy cannons.

"Drop the bomb!"

"Aim for the target accurately. "For each bomb that misses, 10 more allies die."

As soldiers evacuated to air-raid shelters, bombs were dropped on artillery pieces left on the ground.

"Push!"

"Pull!"

"backwards!"

While bombers were pounding the French positions, engineers, who were considered the worst branch of the Army along with artillerymen, worked hard to build pontoon bridges.

The engineers sweated profusely as they carried heavy iron blocks weighing hundreds of kg.

There was no rest for them until the pontoon bridge was completed.

Infantry and tanks can cross the river only if there is a pontoon bridge, so what is the need for rest time?

In contrast to the engineers who worked hard to build floating bridges, there were also those who completed their missions with just a few simple operations.

The tank crews of the No. 4 Bridge Tank were the main characters, and all they had to do was drive a tank with a huge bridge attached to the top of the fighting compartment instead of a rotating turret equipped with a tank gun, approach the river, and lower the bridge.

"Someone is showering with sweat, but in just 5 minutes, they finish what we've been working on for hours..."

"If I had known it would be like this, I would have gone as a tank soldier. "Damn it."

"There, is there some small talk? "Don't you move quickly!?"

Under the envious and jealous gaze of the engineers, the tank crews of the bridge tank put the tank in reverse.

As soon as a bridge was created, the waiting infantry began to move.

Infantry and light tanks crossed the bridge first, followed by halftracks pulling heavy anti-tank guns second.

When the engineers' pontoon bridge was completed, the infantry could also cross the river through it.

As time passed, bridges crossing the Maas River began to sprout one after another.

While the Germans were crossing the river, the artillery of the French 55th Division was virtually destroyed in an hour and a half bombing raid.

What the French soldiers who came out of the air-raid shelter after the bombing saw was the cannons turned into scrap metal and the German army advancing across the river.

"It's the Germans!"

"The Germans are coming!"

"Everyone run away!"

The trusted artillery was destroyed, and to make matters worse, when the Germans crossed the river, the poorly trained soldiers of the 55th Division quickly fell into a state of panic.

In addition, all communication lines were cut off due to the bombing, making it impossible to communicate with other units.

"Don't run away! "You cowards!"

"Fight back! "This is the country where you were born and raised!"

The officers stepped forward and tried to calm the soldiers, but the orders did not work as the soldiers were so scared that their only intention was to run away.

Three days after the outbreak of war, the French army was slowly collapsing.

***

"The weather is amazing. "It's perfect weather for a picnic."

Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, bathing his whole body in the sunlight shining down on the ground. The deputy who was waiting immediately lit a cigarette.

The taste of a cigarette smoked in the warm sunlight was truly amazing.

It tasted even better, especially since I had just heard that my unit had succeeded in crossing the Mas River.

Among German officers, the vast majority of whom were Junkers, Rommel, who came from an ordinary middle-class family, suffered considerable discrimination and cold treatment from a young age because of his origins.

"The world has improved a lot. A commoner becomes an officer. "I'm so dumbfounded."

"It's hard to imitate a noble when you're a commoner."

Not only seniors and juniors, but also classmates with the same enlistment date were often discriminated against based on their origins.

Even instructors who were supposed to prevent and mediate disputes between cadets participated in condoning or promoting conflicts among cadets.

Rommel, who participated in World War I, became a celebrity after his outstanding performance in the Battle of Caporetto, where he defeated five regiments of the Italian army with one battalion and took 9,000 prisoners.

However, the Order of Merit, which should have been originally awarded to him because he was a commoner officer, was awarded to another noble officer.

He was later awarded the Order of Merit, but he never forgot the humiliation. He couldn't forget.

For Rommel, who had been discriminated against because he was from a commoner, Hitler, who was also from a commoner's background, was an extremely welcome presence.

Hitler also thought highly of Rommel and promoted him whenever he had the chance.

In the end, Hitler even considered promoting Rommel to general, but was ultimately unable to achieve it due to the desperate opposition of Wehrmacht seniors, including Rundstedt.

Even now, promotions are fast enough, but the captain has gone too far.

Although the promotion to general was canceled, Hitler appointed Rommel as commander of the 7th Panzer Division and gave him priority access to various new equipment.

Rommel repaid Hitler's expectations of trusting him and entrusting him with important responsibilities, and immersed himself in training and studying armored operation doctrine every day to enhance his reputation.

Although Rommel was an expert in the field of infantry, he was almost a stranger to armored forces, but once he set his mind to achieve his goal, nothing was impossible for him.

When the Western Front finally began, Rommel, who had been sharpening his sword for a long time, was given the opportunity to run wild to his heart's content.

The 7th Panzer Division, of which he was the division commander, stood at the forefront of Senior General Hermann Hort's 15th Panzer Corps and was given the task of crossing the Maas River.

Rommel personally organized a convoy and trained his officers to establish a crossing operation.

As the division commander jumped up and down, the officers under him also had no choice but to run around until the soles of their feet burned.

After much effort, the 7th Panzer Division succeeded in crossing the Maas River before Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps.

"Hurry, gentlemen! "We must get Onge before the sun sets!"

But Rommel was not satisfied with this.

As soon as the crossing of the Maas River was completed, he advanced toward his next target, Onge.

A major criminal record was needed to flatten the noses of the abominable Junkers.

To achieve great results, you must advance faster and further than others.

Rommel, who was watching the procession of soldiers rushing to the front line aboard the 38(t) command tank, soon gave instructions to his driver, Sergeant.

"Boss, let's leave too."

"Didn't you hear me clearly?"

"Let's leave too. As a division commander, you can't just stay in the rear. "You have to set an example yourself."

"Yes?"

Looking back at the crew whose expressions were frozen by the sudden order, Rommel shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what the problem was.

"Why are you so surprised? "You're not trying to say that you're scared of becoming a soldier, are you?"

"Well, that's not it…"

Rommel smiled kindly at his subordinates who were stuttering after being hit hard.

From the subordinates' point of view, it looked like the Grim Reaper was smiling.

"I won't tell you twice. Let's leave quickly. Victory is calling us!"

***

Not long after Rommel's 7th Panzer Division crossed the Maas River, the 1st Panzer Division of the 19th Panzer Corps commanded by Guderian also crossed the Maas River.

However, the French army was not yet without opportunities.

Although it suffered heavy damage from air raids, most of the French defense facilities were intact, and there were sufficient men and equipment.

"Company, move forward!"

The French Army's Hotchkiss H39 tanks rushed towards the German troops who had just entered Sedan.

A fierce battle took place between the German army, which was trying to advance forward, and the French army, which was trying to drive the enemy back across the Maas River.

"French tank at 11 o'clock, armor-piercing bullet!"

"Loaded!"

The 35(t)'s 37mm main gun burst into flames and hit an armor-piercing shell on the front of the French tank, but the shell ricocheted off with a yellow tail.

On the other hand, when the Hotchkiss H39's main gun fired, a hole was created in the 35(t)'s frontal armor.

Wounded tank crews crawled out of the Czech light tank whose armor had been pierced.

"Okay, push it like this!"

The firepower of the Czech-made 35(t) tank and the Hotchkiss H39 were almost on par, but the defensive power of the Hotchkiss was better due to its slightly thicker armor.

The French tankers, full of confidence, increased their speed and charged towards the Germans.

The Hotchkiss H39, which was charging past the smoking 35(t), suddenly burst into flames. He was hit by something flying from the side.

"Car 4 is hit, Captain!"

"what?! "Is it an anti-tank gun?"

Even if you don't know about the front, if you target the thinly armored side, you could defeat Hotchkiss with a 37mm gun.

However, contrary to the French tankers' expectations, it was not the anti-tank gun that destroyed the tank. It was a smaller, lighter weapon than that.

Suddenly, another H39 was hit by an enemy bullet and exploded. This time, I was hit from the front rather than the side.

Only after two more tanks were destroyed did the French tank crews realize that they had been attacked not by an anti-tank gun but by a completely new type of weapon.

This is because the enemy infantrymen discovered through the observation window were seen carrying strange weapons that I had never seen before. It was a weapon with an object that looked like a cannonball at the end of an iron pipe.

"What on earth is that toy-looking thing?"

The French army did not know about Panzerfaust. Not only had I never heard of it, but a similar weapon did not exist in the French military.

The German soldier who discovered the Hotchkiss H39 fell to the ground and aimed the Panzerfaust.

When the button was pressed, the warhead attached to the end of the launch tube was fired and flew toward the enemy tank.

"no!?"

Thanks to its penetration power of 140mm, the warhead penetrated two Hotchkiss H39s in succession.

The two tanks that had been pierced through the sides exploded one after another, emitting black smoke all over their bodies.

It was a sight I couldn't believe even when I saw it in person.

Two tanks being pierced almost at the same time. Even though I didn't know the name of that strange weapon the Germans had, I could tell right away that its power was truly enormous.

The coaxial machine gun mounted on the rotating turret spewed fire, but the German soldier holding the Panzerfaust quickly dodged.

When another H39 was destroyed after its armor was pierced by a Panzerfaust, the French tank commander, who had been confidently shouting to charge just a moment ago, was overcome with fear.

"Back up, back up! Retreat first! "If you stay here, you'll be attacked by those guys!"

"Oh, I understand!"

The driver, who was embarrassed at the same time, hurriedly put it into reverse gear.

Tanks with limited visibility were at risk of being hunted by German infantry armed with new anti-tank weapons.

The only way was to retreat, reorganize, and then lead the infantry to attack again.

A 35(t) appeared from the side of the retreating H39 and rotated its turret.

I was so concerned about the enemy infantry that I forgot about my original enemy. Realizing his own mistake, the tank commander hurriedly turned the turret.

"Damn it, it's the enemy! Enemy on the flank-"

Before he could turn the turret halfway, the German tank crew opened fire on the main gun.

The Hotchkiss H39, which had a hole in the side of the body, remained silent. As time passed, no one came out of the tram.