Volume 2, Chapter 13
The Germans did not continue to chase the British soldiers. Rather stopping at the edge of the smoke, then after a brief pause, retreated. Then the silence of the battlefield enveloped the men.
The smoke gradually started to dissipate, revealing the bodies of British soldiers everywhere. Their numerous guns scattered upon the dirt. Then, the sounds of injured British soldiers calling for help came in scattered directions. And abandoned on the battlefield were seven of the Matilda II"s, having been firmly stopped in front of the German positions.
Colonel Glenn looked at all this in frustration, feeling that his future was bleak after this loss.
“Colonel, please allow me to report to you.” A military doctor came over.
“What are the casualties from the gas attack? What? How could the casualties be so low then? Are you sure it was a gas attack?” Colonel Glenn asked eagerly.
“Colonel, I don"t know what to say, I checked all of the affected soldiers and found no signs of ulceration and burns. Furthermore, all the injured soldiers only reported throat and eye pain. After washing, the symptoms started to slowly disappear. Therefore I doubt that the Germans used poison gas, but rather a stimulating material. So afterward the I checked the soldier"s clothes and after some a.n.a.lysis, I think it was… ”
“Pepper, ha ha ha ha!”
Xu Jun was having a hearty laugh, “Adding pepper to the smoke bombs, ha ha ha ha. The effect is just as predicted. They still think it was poison gas! I guess the horrors of the Great War was still fresh in their minds."
“Deputy Führer is really a genius, to have the ingenuity to come up with this method." Dorgen said with a look of admiration."
“My beloved Deputy Führer, your tactics allowed for us to completely defeat the British, the soldiers are all cheering for you.” Randolph said excitedly. "We fought back the British and even seized seven of their tanks haha. And we only lost a few dozen soldiers, this is simply a great victory." This is simply ingenious tactics.” Müller said proudly.
“You earned yourself a real medal.” Hans said meaningfully.
“Oh, no, it was all because of our brave soldiers and the foolish tactics of the British commander. I just came up with a despicable trick, that is all. Unfortunately, we cannot eat pepper stew sausage for some time." Causing all who heard it to burst out in laughter.
“It was your tricks that allowed us to repel the British and win, General.” Hans said then looked at the woods next to the field, and the coming sunset. “The 78th Motorized Artillery Regiment should almost be here.”
Then in the distance, he could hear a shout. “Those German tricksters!” Xu Jun and the officers that could understand English could not help but chuckle. The sun slowly fell, and the curtains fell on Xu Jun’s first battle in this world.
Night soon fell, and both sides stopped all of their action. The British and the Germans began to patrol and guard against the enemy. Keeping a watchful eye over the 1,200 meters of open land between their positions.
The German soldiers were cheering and laughing merrily, frying some food over a pan, the sizzling sounded in the dusk. Boasted about how many British they had supposedly killed during the battle and sharing stories. However, most of the talk was about their new young, smart, n.o.ble commander. The soldiers now believed that he could lead them to complete victory over the British, leading them to destroy all the enemies and bring a quick end to the war.
Where was the new, young commander? The French during World War I were certainly experts at trench warfare. They had dug artillery shelters, field kitchens, medical centers in the trench-work. But now the trees had covered some of that ingenuity.
Xu Jun was now sitting in the previous artillery shelter, that was until before the artillery guns were relocated. Muller found a tarp cover of a truck and covered the top of the shelter. Setting it up into a temporary field command station and officer canteen.
Xu Jun was sitting on top of an ammunition box and sipping coffee under a large tree. Next to him was a table and a map laid across it. Nearby were the other officers that were eating their dinner and joking among each other.
Now, Xu Jun could finally relax and work to sort out the situation. Overall, the situation has begun to improve, at least the British army is currently unable to threaten their positions.
The rest of the 78th Artillery Regiment finally arrived. Although Slumm did not fulfill his promise of twenty minutes, instead taking over an hour. But because he finally brought over the much-needed artillery, and the British attack has also been repulsed, so Xu Jun did not go out and embarra.s.s him.
Slumm quickly explained the situation. Originally, he issued a joint meeting to decide the fastest path to the battlefield. The team identified on the map, the road that branched off the main road that led to the southwest. And with that road, they should have been able to meet up with the main force. It was not until thirty minutes later, that they realized that this was incorrect. They didn"t expect that this dirt road had a slight curvature. It originally led towards the southwest, but soon turned southward. The result was that they were brought to the south of the battlefield.
They tried contacting the main force, but for whatever reason, they could not reach them. Furthermore, they did not know the situation on the battlefield. Afraid to run around aimlessly, so they stopped and waited for instructions.
Xu Jun decided to pardon the 78th Artillery Regiment. This was mainly due to that fact that they already became the laughingstock of the division. After the incident, the 78th Regiment received the nickname, the "lost lambs".