Chapter 46: The True Power Of Storm Commando Tactics
By relying on the anti-tactics of tear gas, which could only be used once for miraculous effect, the Germania Army quickly passed through the outermost 3-kilometer defense line between Armantieres and Bailleul with minimal losses.
The British Army soldiers, choked by the gas and unable to stand their ground, fled in disarray, leaving behind many bodies, suffering a total loss of over three thousand men.
The sturdy fortifications that the British Army had spent over a month constructing were thus left behind.
At least a dozen trenches were crossed, twenty barbed wire entanglements were cut and destroyed, and three layers of reinforced concrete bunkers were captured or blown up; countless earthworks were rendered useless.
Major Bock’s 1st Assault Battalion took only 2.5 hours to pass through this area. Major Rundstedt’s 2nd Assault Battalion took half an hour longer.
Perhaps outsiders would not grasp the significance of this number, but it is easily understood by comparison – in the first Battle of Ypres on Earth, the German Army took an entire day to advance just 3.5 kilometers of front-line territory on the first day, but chlorine gas alone caused five thousand casualties.
Now, to advance the same distance, the time has been shortened to 3 hours, but the casualty-inflicting effect is only sixty percent – this is obviously because tear gas only has a driving effect and no killing effect. The vast majority of casualties were caused by artillery fire, submachine guns, and grenades.
This result was foreseen only by Lelouch, while Bock and Rundstedt were greatly surprised and even became a little overconfident.
They themselves did not expect to advance so far in just 3 hours.
Seeing that the battalion commanders were becoming a bit proud, Lelouch knew it was time to apply the brakes slightly, so he seized the moment after an attack had just concluded and offered Major Bock a suggestion:
“Commander, the situation has changed, and the progress is better than we expected. Why don’t we adjust the operational plan slightly, and have the entire division push its defense line forward by three kilometers?
We will take an exceptional one-hour break on the spot to provide cover for the follow-up troops, and also take this opportunity to conduct supplementary reconnaissance on the distribution of enemy fire points at the front.”
Major Bock hesitated for a few seconds before accepting the suggestion.
According to the original doctrine for commando tactics, after achieving a breakthrough at a key point, assault units were only supposed to allow a small number of friendly forces to fill the resulting gaps to provide defense for the flanks of the breach, and never to convert a focused attack into a full-scale assault.
But the current situation was clearly very different from expectations. The displacement effect of tear gas was too good; within the 3-kilometer depth of the front line, the enemy was in full retreat, so their side should naturally follow up in full, taking advantage of the opportunity.
“Send a telegram. Our troops will take a one-hour break on the spot, eat lunch first, and resume the attack at precisely 12:00. In the afternoon, we will not interrupt the offensive, and only allow each company to attack in rotation,” Major Bock issued detailed orders.
Lelouch then followed up with a reminder: “We must not underestimate the enemy just because we advanced smoothly this morning. The advantage of using gas to attack the enemy by surprise can only be exploited once.
The range of ‘Smoke Throwers’ is only 3 kilometers, and their redeployment speed is very slow. It will take at least until tomorrow to move them forward and redeploy them for firing. Moreover, the French Army has gas masks, and once the British Army is alerted and borrows masks, they will definitely not fear smoke tomorrow.
Therefore, we will have to rely on sheer strength for subsequent attacks. I have looked at the map, and the straight-line distance between the town centers of the two towns is 13 kilometers.
Our staging area is Nepu Village, 2 kilometers west of Armantieres. This morning, we advanced almost 3 kilometers without shedding blood, so we are now 8 kilometers from the town center of Bailleul. The next 6 kilometers are field defenses, and the final 2 kilometers are the urban area of Bailleul, where urban warfare may occur…”
Major Bock, who was just taking a bite of black bread, immediately took a drink of water and interrupted, “Do not consider urban warfare. Today, we will first break through the outer 6 kilometers of field defense zone as much as possible. Tomorrow, we will bypass Bailleul City and merely encircle it without attacking. There is no need to completely capture a small town like this. We do not use this railway, so we do not need to capture the train station; it is enough to prevent the enemy from using the railway.”
Lelouch, hearing the battalion commander’s decisive orders, pondered for a moment and felt greatly enlightened.
Their objective was to cut off the enemy’s railway line, not to use it themselves. Different combat objectives naturally lead to different attack methods.
The assault battalion was small but elite and should not be consumed in urban warfare. Even if urban warfare were to occur eventually, it should be fought by the follow-up main forces, while the assault battalion should focus on infiltration.
After the assault battalion soldiers had a hasty lunch and a short rest, the follow-up main friendly forces had fully reinforced the lines, and the assault battalion was soon engaged in new attacks.
And thanks to the full reinforcement of the lines by friendly forces, the changes in the enemy-friendly front line became very clear. The German Army could quickly count the changes in front-line coordinates and re-plan its fire preparation.
Therefore, before the afternoon’s attack, the German Army conducted another half hour of fire preparation, with a rather high density of bombardment.
After sustained heavy shelling, the assault battalion truly began its attack.
The enemy’s first-line positions, once again pounded to ruin, were soon spearhead breached by the assault battalion in a manner similar to the morning’s assault.
A trench and two lines of barbed wire were successively torn open at several small points, and then the follow-up troops of the assault battalion swiftly and discreetly poured in through the breaches.
Submachine guns led the way, and a large number of grenades were concentrated on the Z-shaped trench corners, forcibly tearing through the British Army’s defenses.
…
Meanwhile, at the British 3rd Army Corps Headquarters inside Bailleul City.
Lieutenant General William Putney, the Corps Commander, had his telephone ringing non-stop all morning.
Because the British Army was being ambushed and was continuously losing ground in large swathes, officers at all levels had to constantly report their withdrawals.
The staff officers of Lieutenant General Putney, while recording incoming information, moved small flagged pieces on the map and sand table, then redrew the front line with a pencil, immensely busy.
Fortunately, as the defending side, Lieutenant General Putney’s perception of battlefield changes was clearer and more timely than that of the opposing German generals.
“We have generally retreated a full three kilometers along the entire front! It appears the enemy is still using the old method of a full-scale attack. We must be prepared to increase the depth of our elastic defense.
The gas surprise attack allowed the enemy to advance too smoothly. I estimate they will be able to advance their entire division and re-establish a complete forward reconnaissance and communication network. Before the enemy attacks again in the afternoon, there may be additional comprehensive fire preparation! This battle will be difficult!”
After examining the changes on the map, Lieutenant General Putney muttered to himself worriedly.
And at this very moment, at the 3rd Division Headquarters of the 3rd Army Corps, located five kilometers east of the city, Major General Henry Rawlinson, the Division Commander, had already made another call for reinforcements and complaints to the Corps Headquarters in the city.
“Commander! The enemy has launched a new offensive! And since 11:30, they have conducted dense artillery preparation again! We have suffered considerable casualties in this round of fire preparation and can barely withstand the enemy’s assault.
I request a slight withdrawal! This situation has never been seen before! How could the enemy organize new large-scale artillery bombardment so quickly, and with such fast-following infantry…”
Lieutenant General Putney, having more experience than his subordinates, quickly pondered the situation upon hearing this and then spoke reassuringly:
“Hold on! Do not be afraid! Today is a special circumstance! The enemy’s ability to quickly reorganize for comprehensive artillery coverage must be due to their smooth advance this morning, allowing them to establish a new stable front line and move forward their observation posts and communication units!
I permit you to leave an additional one to two kilometers of depth. If you cannot hold, withdraw locally, but under no circumstances will you retreat along the entire line as you did this morning! You must strive to make the enemy and our lines interlock like dog’s teeth, making the enemy’s artillery unsure of how far their attacking troops have advanced!
At that point, their artillery threat will still be largely neutralized! They will be hesitant to fire for fear of friendly fire. Then it will be our turn for our artillery to unleash its power unilaterally! As for reinforcements and reserves, I temporarily have no reserves to send you. You must rely on yourselves today!”
The Corps Commander explained the tactical principles in detail, finally calming Major General Rawlinson somewhat, and he was no longer as flustered by the sudden situation as he was at first.
While outsiders might not understand their tactical discussion, any general who had actually commanded trench warfare during World War I would understand.
Why was the artillery advantage of the defending side so much greater than that of the attacking side back then? It was due to poor communication conditions at the time!
When the defending side began to retreat, because of the good communication conditions on their original positions, possibly having laid telegraph and telephone lines, they would know within minutes of losing any piece of ground –
Those who have seen the movie 《Liaoshen Campaign》 later know why certain marshals were so angry upon hearing that their troops had lost ground without reporting it, and would utter harsh words like, “Large-scale troop operations require strict military discipline!”
Because if the defending side loses ground and does not report it immediately, the higher-level army and army group artillery units will not know that the area has changed from our color to the enemy’s, and various rear support collaborations will be disrupted.
If you have telephone lines on your positions, why didn’t you make a call before losing the ground? Although field telephones were not common in World War I, there were other means of communication. In any case, the defending side that retreated in an orderly fashion had an advantage in communication.
In contrast, during World War I, once the attacking side broke through, the rear artillery had no idea where the front-line infantry had advanced to.
When the defending side retreated, they would certainly destroy communication lines, and there was no way to transmit the specific location of the attacking infantry’s advance back to the rear via telegraph; they could only rely on cavalry or bicycles to report progress under artillery fire.
And the timeliness of cavalry relaying messages was very poor; by the time the information reached the rear, the actual front-line control line might have already changed.
Imagine playing a battle royale game where one team’s teammates can report enemy locations via voice chat, while the other team has their microphones disabled and cannot report. How great a tactical and intelligence advantage would the reporting side gain?
And “front-line troops without radios” is equivalent to being silenced and forbidden to report in a battle royale game.
Therefore, the artillery fire preparation in World War I could only be concentrated for a burst before the assault began. After the shelling, the attack would commence, and the attacking army’s artillery would essentially be semi-idle.
The more interlocked and indistinguishable the front lines became, the more the attacking artillery would be afraid to fire, fearing friendly fire. This situation historically persisted until World War II, when radios were sufficiently decentralized to the very front-line troops, and only then did it improve.
Therefore, Putney, judging by his existing military knowledge, believed that “at least the German Army would have radios at the regimental level, and regiments would not be at the very front. Therefore, as long as our army slightly elastic defense, abandoning some positions to make the front lines interlocked again and stir up the water, the German artillery would be rendered useless due to not knowing the precise confrontation line,” and this was not incorrect.
At that time, it would be the British Army’s artillery’s turn to unilaterally slaughter the attacking German troops!
At least, this was Marshal Putney’s calculation, and he also used it to encourage the frontline Major General Rawlinson.
However, it was unfortunately that he encountered the German assault battalion, which was the first to equip portable radios down to the platoon level.
Therefore, at this very moment, the accuracy and speed with which the German Army’s rear division and corps headquarters grasped intelligence on changes in the front-line contact points were no different from that of Putney, the defending commander.
Even if Putney were to implement elastic defense and make the front lines more interlocked, the German artillery in the rear would still precisely know which areas were still in enemy hands and which were already in our hands.
——
PS: New book seeking comments, follow-ups, collections, and votes. Thank you~
