The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After getting in touch with Colonel Paul, things went much smoother than before... At least Qin Chuan and others got a few accurate defense maps of the Maginot Line. The disadvantage was that the text on these defense maps was in French, so Qin Chuan had to ask Paul to find a French person to translate it.

Obviously, these defense plans were captured from the French when the German army occupied the Maginot Line. They are much more accurate than the random drawings in the hands of the German army... The German army occupied the Maginot Line with a kind of contempt, Ridiculing or being arrogant, they think that the French have worked hard to manage the Maginot Line for more than ten years and invested countless manpower and material resources, but in the end they were broken through by the Germans without firing a single shot and having no effect at all. This is a complete joke. .

In addition, the German army had been on the offensive for a while and even occupied the entire France, so they took it for granted that the Maginot Line was a waste. They did not need to care about the defense of Maginot at all, because no enemy would ever reach here.

So, as Colonel Paul said, the German army mainly used this place as a training base for new recruits. Of course, they did not bother to draw any maps. There were only a few local sketches. It is difficult for you to make mistakes everywhere. The sketches are pieced together into a complete map. On the contrary, the map captured from the French was much more complete.

From the map, the Maginot Line of Defense is 390 kilometers long from Longiyong to Belfort, connecting the Metz Fortress area, the Saar area, the Lauter Fortress area, the Lower Rhine Fortress area all the way to Belle in northeastern France. Blessed area.

Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan, led by Colonel Paul, visited the Metz Fortress area.

"Objectively speaking!" Colonel Paul and the two introduced while walking in the spacious passage of the underground fortification: "This line of defense of the French should be called art. They always have a bit of romance, right? Like a French woman!”

Having said this, Colonel Paul couldn't help but laugh a few times, then looked at the map, and continued: "In front are the command post and rest room, as well as storage rooms, ammunition depots, rescue stations, power stations, ventilation rooms, etc. Did you know that they even built an electric train in the fortifications, through which troops and ammunition can be easily transported to any point on the defense line?"

In fact, Colonel Paul didn't need to introduce it at all. Qin Chuan and Colonel Slaine also had a map in their hands. They could clearly see the various facilities and specific data in the fortifications.

"God!" Colonel Slain exclaimed: "The French are simply crazy. They almost built towns underground!"

"You're right, Colonel!" Paul replied: "They are underground towns. These towns have independent underground power supply equipment and fuel reserves. They have kitchens, wine cellars and even dental equipment, from prisons to morgues. , everything on the ground can be found here. We calculated that these towns can survive independently for three months when they are cut off from the outside world. Then these towns are connected to each other and become one. City! But it can’t hold on for so long now!”

"Why?" Colonel Slain asked.

"Because we have basically exhausted the reserves here!" Paul spread his hands: "You know, at the recruit training base, they all need food and supplies, especially fuel for power generation... They have been requisitioned and distributed from the beginning. To the armored forces!"

Qin Chuan was a little shocked by what he saw in front of him.

What Qinchuan saw was not what Colonel Paul saw. Qinchuan observed more about its defense system...the underground fortifications were combined with the ground fortifications, and the ground fortifications were combined with the surrounding environment such as swamps and highlands. Each highland and every Each bunker is built at a key point of defense, and most of these bunkers have 3.5-meter-thick reinforced concrete, and some are even 300MM-thick steel plates.

The disadvantage of reinforced concrete fortifications is that if they are bombarded by artillery fire, small pieces will be chipped off by the artillery shells. If the artillery shells are large enough and strong enough, the fortifications may eventually be destroyed.

But the 300MM thick steel plate... and the outside is still at an angle. If a shell hits it, it will ricochet and be bounced away. Even if it doesn't bounce away, because of the plasticity and strength of the steel plate, it can withstand more shells.

More importantly, these steel plates, called "armored towers," can also rotate like a tank turret, which means that it does not need to be modified at all and can directly turn the turret toward France.

It is conceivable that when the French designed this "tower", their purpose was to solve the problem of sight lines and blind spots of firepower in the bunker. They did not expect that it could be used by the enemy to turn to France.

If the Chinese Volunteer Army used tunnel warfare to block the US military's attack on the battlefield to resist U.S. aggression and aid Korea, then this Maginot Line of Defense... is undoubtedly a luxury version of tunnels.

Therefore, a piece of equipment or a line of defense cannot itself be said to be wrong or the cause of its failure.

For example, the Germans also have rocket launchers, but they use them in the wrong way and in the wrong direction. On the battlefield, they are completely unable to exert the power of the Soviet "Katyusha" rocket launcher.

Similarly, the French have a luxurious version of tunnel fortifications, but the method of using it is "absolute defense". It is not a combination of offense and defense like the Volunteer Army's tunnel warfare... The Volunteer Army often has surface positions occupied by the enemy, but there are still volunteers stationed in the tunnels. Then cooperate with the ground troops inside and outside to attack the enemy outside the tunnel to form a defense on the move.

What's worse is actually that the French neglected training because of the Maginot Line, and turned themselves into an army that can't fight except for defense, so there will be no other result except destruction.

"The first thing we have to do is to replenish the supplies here, including fuel, food, ammunition, etc.!" Qin Chuan said: "In addition, we also need a lot of maintenance workers to repair all the facilities here, such as power stations, ventilation systems, and of course And electric trains, all of them running!"

"Of course!" Colonel Paul replied, but he hesitated and then said awkwardly: "But..."

Both Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan knew what was causing trouble for Colonel Paul. Lieutenant General Lu Manlin occupied the position of commander. If they wanted to carry out such a large-scale maintenance and supply plan, it would not be possible without his cooperation. of.

In other words, what this requires is the full cooperation of Lieutenant General Lu Manlin. If Lieutenant General Lu Manlin is in vain and sends a few troops to deal with it, it is almost impossible to get the Maginot Line of Defense into normal operation in a short time. It's impossible.