I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 889: All-Out Assault

Haig chose to push forward despite everything, as he couldn’t bear the cost of failure.

Pershing’s repeated objections, Shire’s judgment, the latter even issued warnings to the public through the newspapers.

All of these were ignored by Haig.

If he conceded defeat now, he, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, would lose face.

...

The Walterine Forest, southwest of Saarbrücken.

Major General Tonyo and his 21st Infantry Division were stationed at the forest’s outskirts, most of his troops were local recruits because the Colonial Army was unruly lately.

However, Major General Tonyo was unalarmed by casualty concerns.

His mission was simple: build a defensive line encircling the forest to prevent Germans from launching a counterattack, thereby safeguarding the supply line behind.

Upon arrival at their destination, Major General Tonyo immediately ordered the digging of trenches, setting up barbed wires, and planting landmines.

He distanced his defensive line more than three hundred meters from the forest zone and placed firepower points on the high grounds according to the terrain.

He said to his staff:

"The forest will be the enemy’s best cover, the trees will be their best concealment and shelter."

"If we are too close to the forest, we are susceptible to enemy ambush."

"The Germans’ Storm Assault Team often does this!"

The staff unanimously agreed.

The visible no man’s land of over three hundred meters between the forest and the defensive line would leave Germans with no place to hide; once they step out of the forest, they would be hindered by barbed wire and landmines, then shot down by British firepower.

But human plans can’t match divine destiny.

Major General Tonyo was inspecting the frontline and was using every bit of time to patch defensive loopholes and strengthen firepower at key points.

A communications soldier ran to him along the communication trench: "General, the higher-ups ordered us to enter the forest and attack the Germans."

Major General Tonyo thought he misheard. He stared at the communications soldier in astonishment: "What did you say? Are you sure this isn’t a joke?"

"No, General." The communications soldier handed him the telegram: "It’s Admiral Haig’s order."

Major General Tonyo took the telegram and read it back and forth three times, then turned his gaze to the front of the position.

There, full of barbed wire and landmines, was arranged by the British Army itself.

The original picture was Germans charging out and being blown apart, but now it turned into the British rushing up against German fire to clear obstacles.

Even if they successfully crossed this no man’s land, they would still have to enter the forest to fight with the Germans hidden in the dark...

Major General Tonyo said nothing and turned to head to the command post. He decided to argue with Haig and tell him this task was impossible to complete.

He even thought of the reason:

"Most of my troops are recruits; their training was for trench warfare with no knowledge or training for jungle warfare, let alone combat experience."

"Under this circumstance, sending them into the jungle to attack the German defensive line is simply a death sentence."

"It will be of no effect, please reconsider."

However, he couldn’t talk to Haig as the command post’s phones were overwhelmed, and everyone received orders passed by the staff: "Execute resolutely!"

The greatest addition is: "We have no choice. If we don’t do this, the frontline troops won’t get fuel and ammunition. Act quickly, take them down!"

Eventually, the battle to attack the forest began.

The German Army didn’t make it too hard for the British Army, seemingly worried that being too fierce would deter the British from entering the forest, thus only using a few machine guns to interfere with the British clearing barbed wire and landmines.

But entering the forest was the British Army’s nightmare.

The prepared German Army wore cloaks made of woven branches, hats with straw, hid their machine guns in bunkers, some even fired at the British from high caves.

While the British Army, when the gunfire sounded, saw only their comrades falling one by one without knowing where the bullets came from.

The forest turned into a vast mouth devouring countless British soldiers entering it.

The only benefit was that the British outside couldn’t see the corpses or the battlescene, not knowing what went on inside.

...

The snowy Saarbrücken front line.

Tank division commander Colonel Monty called for artillery support repeatedly over the phone.

"We need to use artillery fire to sweep the enemy positions," Monty shouted amid gunfire, "There are landmines and barbed wire everywhere, or half of our tanks will be damaged or broken down because of this."

Anti-infantry mines could break the tracks, anti-tank mines could penetrate the chassis, barbed wire would jam the bogie wheels making them immobile.

But the artillery replied: "We can’t do it, Colonel, as soon as we gather, we will be suppressed immediately by German artillery fire."

Monty looked into the sky, the German bombers were circling overhead.

Those were the legendary planes equipped with radios, allowing them to instantly relay the positions of the British artillery back.

Hence, the German Army could suppress the British artillery with far less artillery fire.

Helplessly, Colonel Monty gritted his teeth and had to issue the order for a fierce attack.

The tank tracks clattered and the engines roared thunderously, exhaust pipes spewed black smoke, soon condensing into fog in the air.

The tank battalion massive and majestic like an iron ocean surged towards Saarbrücken city several kilometers away.

The "Independent" lead the way, robust and heavily armed, fitting for a vanguard role.

However, the so-called "robust" is relative to the "Whippet," its frontal armor reinforced only reached 35MM, still less than the reinforced 45MM of the "Shire A1."

"Boom boom," several "Independent" tanks hit mines and stopped subsequently.

The "Independent" was immature equipment forcefully mass-produced, its 31.5-ton weight even exceeded the 25-ton weight of the "Shire B1."

Even British soldiers themselves complained: "Heavier weight yet much weaker armored protection, less firepower compared to the ’Shire B1’, what caused such disparity?"

Everyone knew at heart; it was Shire’s technology.

The weight and technology asymmetry of the "Independent" manifested in another aspect, its track strength didn’t keep up, using beefed-up "Whippet" tracks, making it easier to break from landmine explosions.

Observing this situation with binoculars in the rear, Monty immediately recognized the mistake. He turned and ordered: "Pass on the command, slow down the ’Independent’, let the ’Whippet’ lead."

The "Independent" is a heavy tank, can’t let them all be destroyed by landmines.

The signal flags quickly transmitted the command forward.

But this still didn’t help.

When the "Whippet" surged ahead, the German artillery fire rang.

Firing were the 77MM infantry guns.

To be exact, they were 37MM anti-tank guns.

The Germans invented a new tactic using 77MM infantry guns to cover the firing of anti-tank guns.

The former fired louder, with a higher barrel, even created smoke and dust, obscuring the low-profile anti-tank guns’ position from the British.

All the British felt was tank after tank being destroyed, some lit aflame like blood-red fireballs.