Chapter 694: The Dilemma of Mézières
"We can land at a different location," Major General Brownie suggested. "There's another bridge about 7 kilometers upstream…"
"The Germans must have already prepared for that," Charles rejected the idea.
It wasn't difficult to destroy or block a bridge with artillery; all it would take was some explosives or redirecting an artillery regiment.
Tigani shrugged helplessly. "As I said, let's just stay here and hold our position!"
Suddenly, the whistling sound of shells pierced the air, followed by the explosion of dozens of shells one after another in the city.
This caused panic among the people within the city, and soon there were cries and screams everywhere, mixed with faint cries of pain and sobs.
Charles and his officers stood by the window, looking outside.
The shelling didn't stop. One shell after another continued to fall inside the city.
Before long, the city, which had been celebrating moments ago, was now engulfed in smoke, with several areas set on fire.
Looking at the battlefield outside, Charles thoughtfully remarked, "So, you still think that staying here will lead to our ultimate victory?"
"What?" Tigani looked confused, and then he suddenly realized. "You mean the German shelling is a counterattack? No, no, they still can't get through!"
"It's not a counterattack, Major," Charles replied. "If they manage to trap us in Mézières, they might even be able to hold the defense lines to the north of Mézières."
"But Mézières is a vital transportation hub…" Tigani responded.
"It is," Charles acknowledged. "But they could build a railway to bypass Mézières, and it wouldn't take much time."
Charles added, "At the same time, they could keep shelling the civilians to create panic, and the Germans will continue to gather forces on the western bank of the Meuse. If this continues, how long do you think we can hold out?"
Tigani fell silent.
Although the French forces had captured plenty of supplies to sustain them for a while, as soon as the Germans increased their artillery, they could easily bombard the city to rubble.
Charles spoke with a low voice, "Move the personnel to the Ardennes, along with the supplies."
"Yes, General." The staff officer turned to arrange the orders.
Soon, the citizens of Mézières began evacuating to the northern mountain areas, with soldiers and vehicles continuously dispersing the supplies from the train station.
If it weren't for Charles' continuous use of bombers to harass the Germans, the train station would likely have been destroyed by now.
However, this didn't mean that Mézières was safe.
As night fell, Charles, Tigani, and Brownie gathered around a map in the dim light, discussing the crossing strategy. A communications officer approached with a report: "General, German reinforcements have reached Sedan, estimated to be an infantry division."
The officers exchanged glances, and each saw the concern in the other's eyes.
Sedan lay on the same side of the Meuse River, and once the Germans fortified their position there, the First Armored Division would be completely surrounded, unable to move anywhere, trapped in place and subjected to bombardment.
"If this continues, we might have to retreat along the same route," Brownie said.
"Or, we could rush to attack Sedan first," Tigani suggested. "I mean, while the Germans are still settling in, they won't be able to stop our advance."
"But what's the point of that?" Brownie countered. "Once we launch an attack on Sedan, the Germans will cross the river and attack Mézières. If we lose Mézières, we won't even be able to retreat."
"Then what can we do?" Tigani asked impatiently. "Are we really going to retreat?"
Brownie didn't respond. He felt like retreat was the only option.
The Germans didn't need to capture Mézières—they only needed to destroy it with artillery!
The command center fell into a heavy silence.
After a long pause, Charles sighed softly. "Looks like we'll have to take a risk."
"A risk?" Both Brownie and Tigani looked at Charles in unison. Did this mean there was still a way?
…
On the western bank of the Meuse River, a disheveled General Nikolaus was hiding in a newly constructed semi-buried bunker, staring at the yellowed map under the oil lamp.
He was grateful that he had managed to retreat to the western bank of the Meuse and blown up the bridge. Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.
General Nikolaus furrowed his brow in silence until a staff officer reported that the 107th Infantry Division had arrived as reinforcements at Sedan. Only then did he relax slightly.
"It's clear that Charles has no solution to this situation," General Nikolaus analyzed to his staff officer. "His tactics rely heavily on speed. Once he's stopped from advancing smoothly, he becomes less formidable."
"Yes, sir," the staff officer agreed. "This is not Charles' forte in positional warfare. Besides, his armored division is blocked in a city where it can't deploy."
General Nikolaus nodded.
He suddenly realized that this situation might actually work in his favor.
Until now, all the attention had been taken by Erwin and his First Tank Division.
Now, if he could defeat Charles' First Armored Division here, not only would he gain a sense of achievement, but he could also change Fagginhan's opinion of him.
Thinking this, General Nikolaus, who had been exhausted, regained some energy. He turned his attention back to the map and gave a command:
"Before nightfall, quickly transport a batch of ammunition and artillery from the rear, bring all available artillery here."
"Also, pull the 96th Infantry Division back and send it to Sedan."
"Send a communications officer to gather all units withdrawn from the front lines and station them here!"
General Nikolaus' reasoning was:
The western bank of the Meuse was mostly secure, and Charles didn't have the means to cross the river.
The most dangerous spot right now was Sedan. An infantry division there might not be enough to stop Charles' advance, so he planned to send a division from the coastal defense line to reinforce Sedan.
As for the gap in the coastal defense line, he could fill it with the troops withdrawn from there.
This plan seemed fine on the surface, but General Nikolaus didn't realize that it created a rare breakthrough for Charles.
…
Under the starry sky, on the western bank of the Meuse River, near the edge of the Ardennes.
The original defenders here were the German 96th Infantry Division, which had spent several hours constructing defensive positions.
This wasn't an easy task due to the terrain, where the river would overflow its banks and flood into houses.
They had to pile sandbags to build trenches, and while hiding in the bunkers, they would be freezing from the cold river water, constantly watching the water level rise and ensuring their ammunition didn't get wet.
When they heard that they were being replaced by an engineer battalion, they felt a sense of relief.
The soldiers wished the incoming engineers good luck:
"The defense line is yours now. We've built the fortifications, no need to thank us!"
"Enjoy yourselves! I think the most important thing is to make sure we don't freeze to death before the enemy arrives."
"Sorry, there's no place to sleep here. The ground is all water. You'd better stay standing all night!"
…
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