Major Brownie cautiously poked his head out from the trench and looked across the Marne River.
The 6th Army, under Gallieni's command, launched an attack on the German Army's flank... But it could no longer be called the "German Army's flank". By the time the 6th Army had assembled, the German Army had already redirected their defenses towards them. What was initially the flank had become the front, and the direction of the Marne River had become the flank.
The German Army's approach was evidently correct.
The Marne River blocked the 5th Army's path, with only one bridge, the Marne Bridge, available for crossing. The German Army only needed to dispatch a regiment of several thousand men to defend along the river, leaving the hundred-thousand-strong French 5th Army to do nothing but watch from the other side.
"This is the battle plan!" Major Gard personally gave orders to Major Brownie's unit: "General Gallieni will command the 6th Army to launch an attack on the enemy's flank. They will rush to the Marne Bridge and attack the northern end of the bridge. Your tank battalion will cross the Marne Bridge as quickly as possible to support their attack and pincer the enemy. Understand?"
"General!" Major Brownie immediately raised a concern: "The enemy has dug trenches and set up machine guns on the other side of the bridge. Our tanks might get stuck in the trenches and be unable to move!"
Major Gard looked at Brownie with an incredulous expression: "Major, I didn't order you to drive the tanks into the trenches. You only need to stop in front of the trenches to block the German bullets, allowing our troops to continuously advance across the bridge and kill the enemy!"
"Yes, General!" Major Brownie replied.
Although he responded affirmatively, Major Brownie had no confidence in this attack plan.
He nervously held up his binoculars and carefully observed the enemy defenses. At the northern end of the Marne Bridge, the Germans had built a circular fortification with at least ten Maxim machine guns.
These water-cooled machine guns were not like the French Saint-Étienne machine guns that would overheat after firing a hundred rounds or malfunction due to their complex structure.
The Maxim machine guns would pour bullets at the tanks at a rate of about 500 rounds per minute.
If the tanks stopped as Major Gard suggested, they would face machine gun fire from all directions, and the enemy artillery might have already targeted the bridge. A barrage of shells would blow up the tanks and the following troops!
Could the 9mm steel armor of the tanks withstand the continuous strafing of the Maxims?
Could they endure the bombardment of large-caliber artillery?
Clearly, this battle plan was unworkable. Only a fool like Major Gard would be so confident!
The 6th Army launched an assault on the enemy lines amidst the sound of artillery.
They used the old tactics of advancing in dense formation with rifles affixed with bayonets, charging towards the enemy lines. The soldiers' bright red trousers were visible even through the thick smoke of the battlefield.
They wore covers over their caps to hide the red parts, but it was of no use. The German machine guns and rifles rained bullets on them, and rows of French soldiers were mowed down into pools of blood.
The soldiers were brave, charging forward through the hail of bullets, stepping over the bodies of their comrades, and crossing barbed wire. Some soldiers even laid on the barbed wire, becoming "bridges" for their comrades.
But it was futile. Bullets mercilessly took the soldiers' lives, and there seemed to be an invisible wall in front of the enemy lines, firmly blocking the tide of the 6th Army's advance.
Before this, Major Brownie might have believed there was no problem with this approach. This was war, and in war, death and sacrifice were inevitable. All of this was normal.
However, after working with Shire, he couldn't stop questioning everything!
Was this really meaningful?
If the same thing could be achieved with fewer sacrifices, or even victory, was it still necessary to proceed this way?
"Major!" Someone near Brownie could no longer hold back and said, "Major Gard's battle plan will get us all killed!"
"Yes!" Someone immediately echoed: "To him, this might just be a command error, but to us, it's..."
Life, the loss of life!
Each person's life is unique and invaluable to the soldiers, but the generals don't care at all!
They don't even want to spend a little more time thinking about the feasibility of the battle plan. All they know is to order the soldiers to advance, attack, and kill the enemy!
Major Brownie saw that Major Gard had put away his binoculars. It seemed he was about to order the attack!
"This fool!" Major Brownie hurriedly crouched and ran along the communication trench.
Major Gard noticed Brownie's actions and angrily shouted at him: "Return to your position, Major! We're about to attack!"
Major Brownie was the commander of the tank battalion, and without him leading, the attack could not proceed.
Major Brownie pretended not to hear. He crouched and ran to Major Gard and said, "General, now is not the time!"
Major Gard's face darkened: "That is not for you to consider!"
"General!" Major Brownie explained: "Look over there, the attack of the 6th Army has been repelled. They are retreating and cannot form a pincer attack with us... We should wait for their next offensive!"
Major Gard glanced over the opposite side. Indeed, the assault was at its end, and the battlefield was filled with the corpses of French soldiers and the cries of the wounded. The surviving soldiers were risking their lives to crawl back under the machine gun fire.
"Do what you're supposed to do!" Major Gard ordered sternly: "I know when to launch the attack!"
"Yes, General!"
Major Brownie realized that Major Gard had accepted his suggestion; he just wouldn't admit it for the sake of his pride.
On the way back, Major Brownie did not return to his position. He turned a corner in the communication trench and quickly ran in the direction of Davaz Town out of Major Gard's line of sight.
He ran faster and faster, sprinting as soon as he emerged from the trench, almost at the speed of a hundred-meter dash to Shire's place.
The door was ajar but not locked. Major Brownie pushed it open and rushed in. The room was empty, and his heart sank.
They must have left, Major Brownie thought.
At this moment, he heard a faint sound coming from the basement. He immediately understood and rushed down the stairs, pounding on the door and shouting:
"Shire, it's Brownie. I need to talk to you! Please open the door!"
Dejoka hesitated upon hearing the voice. He thought for a moment. Could Brownie be here to take Shire to the front lines to command the tanks?
But Dejoka still opened the door. After all, the major had a gun, and opening the door would be easy for him.
Major Brownie burst through the door, gasping for breath, and asked: "Is Shire here?"
Dejoka, with a look of caution in his eyes, said: "I won't let you take him to the battlefield. He is only seventeen, Major!"