Battle of the Third Reich

The time was close to five o'clock in the afternoon, and the sunset reflected the whole sky in the west. All those who participated in the battle clearly remembered the beautiful scenery they saw on the Cambodian Highway 5 that evening. Those clouds as bright as blood.

On Saturday, November 9, 1940, at 5:16 pm Tokyo (Hanoi) time, this is the time recorded in the history of French warfare. The peripheral security forces of the French and Siamese troops discovered each other almost simultaneously. Trail.

The Siamese army received French army education. The infantry tactics were exactly the same as the French army. They had reconnaissance units on both wings of the army. Of course, because of the limitation of conditions, they could only be some walking infantry.

A Siamese infantry squad has almost twelve people and is equipped with a "Siamese Six Six" light machine gun that imitates the Danish "Madison" light machine gun. In addition to the two machine gunners, there are three machine gun ammunition players in the squad. Each person carries a metal carrying case with five 25-round magazines. Theoretically, this light machine gun carries 600 rounds of ammunition, which is enough to support a low-intensity battle.

The first to find the trace of the French army was an infantry squad of the 35th Infantry Battalion. The squad leader was Babu Teng, a superior soldier from Chonburi.

Lian Li had already determined that he would be promoted to corporal next month and enter the enviable sergeant class. The level of strictness within the Siamese army is unimaginable in other countries. They almost copied the rules of the Siamese tradition, only the outer layer of the Western military system was applied.

Babupeng squad leader comes from the bottom farmhouse, and has not read many books. It is a military that he joined in order to improve his family’s social status, because Siam is now a military dictatorship, so that the status of soldiers is promoted in society. Very high.

As a squad leader, Babu Peng obtained a German-made Mauser short rifle. Although it is a good old product, the previous masters have maintained very good maintenance. He hates this task now, and thinks it is the vice platoon leader Pomba in the communique. This time Lien’s promotion was limited. Babu Teng dropped the position of cousin of the deputy platoon leader, but he didn’t look at what his cousin was. He had been in the army for two years, but he still has guns. Not sure.

Because the back is against the sunset, the light is good for the Siamese army. The infantry are lined up in a march and walk on the wilderness covered with knee-high grass. It has some western flavor.

"What sound?" Babu Peng reached out and stopped the team in the back. He crossed the rifle and started listening. Unlike the noisy sounds of people and horses on the road in the distance, a rhythmic roar was heard in the ears.

"It sounds like a tank." Babu Peng identified the source of the noise, which was the roar of a large engine. He had seen the Vickers tank of the First Armored Battalion of the Eastern Legion. Compared with the sound, it is now obvious. Is the bigger guy.

While Babu Peng was still hesitating whether to give an alarm, the enemy made a choice for him first. A whole team of three-color camouflage behemoths lined up in neat rows and roared out of the sparse shrubbery.

"Enemies!" the Siamese high-class soldiers screamed loudly, then crouched instinctively. This movement of the squad leader Babupeng saved his life. Just when he was short, he was facing the French tank in their class, and launched a parallel machine gun at the infantry on the ridge.

The red tracer struck a dazzling fan surface, and the Siamese soldiers had no time to react. They stood there like wooden stakes, one by one being dropped to the ground by bullets.

The firing took three seconds, which was longer than three years for Babu Teng. He could feel the bullets flying over him and overhead, sending out a buzzing sound like a bee flapping his wings. He also heard his team The wailing and screaming of soldiers in the area, the horrible sound of bullets hitting and tearing the human body. He felt the warm liquid pouring on the side of his face. He knew it was human blood, and even knew where the blood came from. That should be the rifleman who was right behind him, a 17-year-old recruit also from Chonburi, with a very delicate and delicate baby face. I don’t know if it was a girl, what is his name? But Babu Peng found that he couldn't remember it.

"Go forward! Charge! Destroy those godly Siamese!"

Lieutenant Vaeli stood in the car's turret excitedly shouting. Beside the lieutenant was the tank squadron under his command, a full fifteen am35 light tanks.

The talented students of the Saint Cyr Military Academy were extremely excited at the moment. He once thought that he would never have the opportunity in his life to ride on the battlefield with his beloved tank.

This lieutenant once served in the Fifth Breastplate Cavalry Regiment. At that time, he was a second lieutenant. He commanded an armored company composed of twelve h35 tanks and fought against German tanks on the banks of the Somme. As a result, the cavalry brigade was in tenth. Two hours later, it was surrounded and annihilated by the Germans.

Fortunately, he and his crew lived to the moment of surrender, when only two tanks remained intact. The second lieutenant was put in a prisoner of war camp in Compiègne, but he was not ill-treated. Every day he worked with other officers in the brigade to figure out how to peel the potatoes.

Waelly thought that his career had ended, and he waited for the end of the war to exchange captives before taking off his military uniform. No matter if they fail or win, the French will never need them. He even thought about his future path, maybe he could pull up his fellow villagers in several camps of war and open a restaurant in partnership.

He felt that France might be defeated because the prisoner of war camps continued to expand, but he did not expect that the failure would come so fast, nor did he think that France had signed an alliance treaty with Germany after the defeat.

This is really a fact that makes people such as Vaeli unacceptable, so during those days, the war dead officers and the faces of his subordinates circulated in his mind day and night, and Vaeli felt that they were in Question yourself whether their sacrifice is worthwhile.

Vaeli could only try to convince himself with President Betten's words. The death of these people brought permanent peace for France.

What makes Vaeli gratified is that the superior is not prepared to abandon these prisoners of war, they will be reorganized and continue to serve the Republic. Not only was Vaeli not ordered to retire, he was even promoted to the first rank, was transferred to the newly formed mechanized cavalry regiment, and continued to serve as captain of the armored squadron.

But this time he is not driving the familiar h35, but a brand new am35. This is a light tank designed by France for Belgium. There is really a long story about this tank.

35 experience can be called bumpy, it was originally designed as a cavalry tank, used to be assigned to the Belgian cavalry unit. It is an improved version of the French Renault am34 tank. The Belgian originally ordered fifty vehicles, but due to the nationalization and reorganization of the Renault factory during delivery, there was a delay in delivery.

At this time, the Belgian government was worried that the armored weapon trade would cause excessive interpretation by Germany. A group of left-wing politicians tried every means to prepare for this sale. The result really made them succeed. They reduced the order to eighteen for the reason that the tank's climbing ability was weak, and then asked the French to cancel the order directly because of the slow delivery of the French. .

The unit price of this tank is 360,000 French francs, and Belgium will pay a penalty of 4 million francs to the Renault factory for this. After Renault’s arms department was nationalized, because Renault had already prepared the materials for the Belgian list, and the accessories and molds were also prepared, France suggested that the Belgian government continue this order and hand it over to the restructured am factory. The number was reduced to thirty-five cars, which was almost equivalent to liquidated damages.

However, because the production priority of this tank is ranked last, the monthly output is very small. When the war broke out, they all added up to less than 22 vehicles, so that when Belgium surrendered, they had Only six were obtained.

At that time, am increased production speed. The army needed all available tanks. When Germany occupied the factory, it was found that there were fifty new am35 tanks parked in the warehouse.

The German Army did not like this light-weight gadget, and simply returned it to the French. At the beginning, France did not know what to do with it. It was obviously not possible to give it to the Belgian Army. Betan finally decided to use it by himself. This is all a kind of tank.

With a big stroke, President Petain sent it with the French soldiers to a cargo ship bound for French Indochina. This is actually a small tank with very good performance. It is equipped with a 47mm tank gun and can destroy all currently known light tanks. The armor is slightly weaker, but it is also 25mm, which can be carried. Most light anti-tank weapons.

The most outstanding is its mobility. This armored vehicle, originally designed as a cavalry tank, has an amazing road speed of 42 kilometers per hour, which is enough for the old driver to use it to drag. (To be continued.)