I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

The development and design of tanks don't necessarily require everything to be strong. The other meaning of everything being strong is that everything is mediocre.

Tank design needs to be targeted, and the German Army's "Upper Silesia" tank has this feature.

Its goal is very clear; the opponent is the French Army's "Shire A1".

In the meeting organized by Major General Luca at the 7th German Transport Office, there was such a discussion:

"This tank needs very thick armor? No, that would only slow it down. On the battlefield, it will be easily defeated by the 'Shire A1', just like the A7V!"

"To avoid this, its speed must reach at least 12 kilometers per hour, and in extreme conditions, it can be even higher!"

"The armor thickness only needs to block ordinary bullets; after all, the French don't have anti-tank rifles."

"The cannon needs to penetrate the front armor of 'Shire A1', have a high rate of fire, and most importantly, it must have a rotating turret like the 'Shire A1'!"

...

After repeated discussions and multiple verifications, the "Upper Silesia" tank was finally formed:

Armor thickness of 14MM, which can only block ordinary rifle bullets.

Speed of 12 kilometers per hour, and in extreme conditions can reach 16 kilometers per hour, preventing the possibility of being circled and shot like the A7V tank by the 15 kilometers per hour "Shire A1"; at critical moments, it may take the initiative with a speed of 16 kilometers per hour.

The cannon is a 57MM rapid-fire cannon, capable of penetrating the 25MM front armor of the "Shire A1" from 300 meters away.

Two heavy machine guns, one at the front and one at the back, are used to protect the tank itself and to attack trenches.

(Note: The front machine gun of Upper Silesia is very reasonable. It is equivalent to the modern tank's directional machine gun. Using the cannon to deal with enemy infantry trying to approach the tank is clearly inappropriate, and this is when the machine gun plays a role. The rear machine gun is less reasonable. Rear safety can be completely solved by infantry coordination. However, during World War I, the concept of tank-infantry coordination was not mature, so such designs were understandable.)

If the "Shire A1" tank had not made any modifications and had just encountered the 1st German Tank Division, it would probably be Shire's first defeat, and a devastating one at that.

This is not because the "Upper Silesia" has a larger cannon caliber, but because of the tactics adopted by Major General Nicholas based on the situation of our tanks compared to the enemy's.

Major General Nicholas compared the detailed data of the "Shire A1" when he got the tank and finally concluded:

"Although the cannon caliber of the 'Upper Silesia' tank is larger than the 'Shire A1', its armor thickness is far inferior to the 'Shire A1'."

"Therefore, their respective penetration distances should be similar; we won't gain any advantage."

"Our tank's advantage is the machine gun, equipped with K bullets."

"Once the 'Upper Silesia' passes by or even circles to their rear, the machine gun can attack their weak side and rear armor!"

...

The battlefield of Combray soon verified Major General Nicholas's idea. At this time, the tanks of both sides had just passed by.

The two machine guns of the "Upper Silesia" had already turned to the sides and suddenly started firing when they approached, creating a series of "clanking" sounds as the side armor of the "Saint Chammon" was hit by a row of K bullets at close range.

To reduce weight, the side armor of the "Saint Chammon" was weakened to 15MM, which happened to be the thickness that the German K bullets could penetrate or not.

Therefore.

Some "Saint Chammon" tanks slowly stopped, and the personnel inside might have been torn apart.

Some "Saint Chammon" tanks continued to move forward and fire as if nothing had happened.

This was the most terrifying thing. Tank crews, shrouded in smoke and noise, had no idea what was happening or realize the danger. They continued to fire shells one after another, the gas generated from the shells filling the entire tank cabin, making it difficult for them to see the target ahead.

In the rear, Major General Kristin, advancing with the infantry, was shocked to find that the main weapon of the German tanks was actually machine guns!

These can penetrate the side armor of the "Saint Chammon" and, of course, the 13MM thick side armor of the "Saint Chammon M21", and even more so the 8MM rear armor.

They couldn't move forward; that would be suicidal!

Without hesitation, Major General Kristin shouted orders loudly: "Stop advancing, organize defense!"

He ultimately disobeyed the offensive command and switched to defense.

It was originally very difficult to achieve this, especially switching from an offensive state to defense.

Fortunately, the "Saint Chammon M21" was slow, and soldiers could easily catch up to them and relay Major General Kristin's orders.

Soon, the "Saint Chammon M21" tanks moving forward at full speed like snails slowly stopped, forming a defensive line in front of the infantry, with machine guns and 37mm cannons aimed at the German tanks fighting the heavy "Saint Chammon".

Then, the infantry rushed forward to fill the gaps between the tanks, setting up mortars and preparing grenades to resist the German tank assault.

"Boom boom"

"Boom boom boom"

...

The 37mm cannons of the "Saint Chammon M21" started firing.

To everyone's surprise, it actually penetrated the German tanks.

Several German tanks slowly stopped under the artillery fire, with two of them hitting the ammunition depot and exploding instantly, their turrets being blown off, rolling a few times in mid-air amidst the fire and smoke, then falling back to the ground, with tank parts and fragments scattered around.

This boosted Major General Kristin's confidence to shout while waving his command sword: "Fire, destroy them!"

Bullets and shells rained down on the enemy tanks, terrifying the German tanks and causing them to abandon the assault on the defensive line and instead use their mobility advantage to shoot at the heavy "Saint Chammon" tanks.

This tactic was smart; it would deter the French rear forces because shells could easily hit friendly tanks mixed with the enemy.

However, the heavy "Saint Chammon" seemed to be no match for the German tanks.

They moved slowly, had weak external perception, did not have turrets, and could not attack the enemy in time.

Just like the situation when the "Shire A1" circled the AV7 tanks, one after another they were destroyed by German tanks.

They "died peacefully," as they were destroyed by machine guns rather than cannons. The process did not involve explosions or flames, at most some inconspicuous smoke from the craters.

Sometimes, survivors wearing gas masks could be seen escaping from the tanks, with smoke billowing out as soon as the hatch was opened, but most of it was smoke from the firing 75mm cannons.

Hardly any of the heavy "Saint Chammon" tanks escaped; one after another, they were destroyed during the assault by German tanks, with over a hundred tanks lost, and only 7 managed to return.

This was thanks to the defensive line organized by Major General Kristin in the rear; otherwise, even these 7 wouldn't have made it back.

In fact, this was also due to the Germans lacking experience in their first battle, unaware of what stood before them, "Saint Chammon M21", and being intimidated by the temporary defensive line organized by the French using tanks and infantry.

If the Germans had driven the "Upper Silesia" tanks to charge forward recklessly under a hail of bullets, the turretless "Saint Chammon M21" would not have been able to stop them. Once the defensive line was breached, the two heavy machine guns of the "Upper Silesia" tanks would have been able to carry out a one-sided massacre of the French Army.

Major General Kristin deeply understood this, and seeing the German tanks retreat in triumph, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Only he knew that the urgent order just issued pulled everyone back from the brink of death!

But this was only the beginning; what to do next?