Chapter 696
The amphibious tank was a solution Charles came up with on the spot.
When Charles laid out the sketch in front of Tijani and Browning, both men were stunned by the idea.
"This is insane," Tijani exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief. "You plan to throw a tank into the water after such a simple modification? And you think it will make it across the river? Have you forgotten it weighs seven tons, General?!"
Charles raised an eyebrow.
Seven tons? That was nothing. When the Americans used a similar solution, they did it with the 33.65-ton Sherman tank.
Major General Browning, who had long since developed a habit of trusting Charles unconditionally, still couldn't quite believe the proposal.
"Are you sure this will work, General?"
"Maybe we should wait for Colonel Estigny's unit."
"I mean, if we're going to count on amphibious tanks, wouldn't it be better to coordinate with Colonel Estigny and launch a joint attack?"
There was some logic to that.
The amphibious tank plan was a surprise assault. Estigny's unit would also carry out a surprise assault, and they were equipped with mechanized infantry and tanks.
In comparison, the latter option clearly seemed safer.
But Charles firmly rejected the suggestion.
"We don't have time, General."
"It's extremely unlikely that Colonel Estigny's troops will arrive and engage by tomorrow at dawn."
"And if we miss this window at dawn tomorrow, we might never get another chance."
Tijani agreed.
"The Lieutenant General is right. The German forces are rapidly regrouping across the river."
"Right now it's nighttime, so deployment is slow. Once daylight hits, the reinforcements will arrive non-stop and reinforce the riverbank."
"So there's only one opportunity—dawn tomorrow."
Browning fell silent.
He had just been in contact with Estigny, who didn't even dare to march in the dark for fear of getting lost again.
So Charles was right—the mechanized regiment had little chance of arriving by dawn. In fact, there was no guarantee they could arrive tomorrow at all.
"We have no other choice." Tijani picked up Charles' sketch from the table and raised it with a resigned look in his eyes. "We can only try this thing, even if it looks..."
He didn't finish saying the words "unreliable."
Tijani knew morale was vital for the troops. If even the commanders lacked confidence in this equipment, how could the soldiers believe in it and win battles with it?
From that moment on, Tijani decided to put his full trust in the project, without hesitation.
Major General Browning hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
However, he pulled out his pocket watch and looked at the time, worry creeping into his tone. "It's already past eight. There are only about ten hours until dawn tomorrow. Is that enough time?"
Tijani laughed. "You forget this is Mézières, General. There's even a shipyard here."
(Above: The Meuse River. Most of the river is navigable, and it is one of Europe's key waterways.)
The shipyard Tijani referred to was the Charles Shipyard. It had once engaged in technical exchanges with the Brest Shipyard, and Wells even held a 10% share in it.
The difference was that the Charles Shipyard specialized in building river vessels for inland waterways—small freighters, yachts, inflatable boats, and cruise ships.
Which happened to be exactly what Charles needed.
Charles entrusted the task to Tijani.
Tijani perhaps didn't anticipate how shocking it would be for civilians to witness military equipment modifications. He marched directly to the shipyard with a hundred tanks in tow, heading there in grand fashion.
The owner, Charles, was terrified. He thought it was because he had once provided boats to the Germans during their occupation of Mézières. Without even packing his belongings, he tried to flee with his family out the back.
But he couldn't escape. A building that had been destroyed during German shelling blocked his path.
In the end, Tijani sent guards to bring Charles back.
Charles was pale and trembling, nearly collapsing to his knees in front of Tijani.
"This wasn't my choice," Charles pleaded with the guards the entire way back. "They forced me. I never wanted to build boats for them, much less help them transport weapons…"
The Meuse connected to Verdun, and many munitions and supplies had been transported upstream from Mézières to Verdun.
"Mr. Charles," Tijani said as he approached.
Perhaps it was panic or the dim factory lighting, but Charles didn't recognize Tijani at first. He kept explaining frantically, his voice fast and teeth chattering.
"This has nothing to do with me, General."
"Please believe me—I was only doing my job…"
"No, I mean, I was just doing business, that's all!"
"Charles!" Tijani raised his voice. "I'm Tijani—remember? We met in Paris!"
Charles froze instantly, staring at Tijani for a moment. Then, as if grasping a lifeline, he enthusiastically shook his hand.
"It's you, Mr. Tijani—I remember you, of course!"
"No, it's General Tijani now. Look, you're a general!"
"Your father, Mr. Wells—how is he?"
"He's well," Tijani nodded.
"If it's you, that makes things easier." Charles forced a weak smile and glanced at the tanks and the heavily armed soldiers surrounding the factory. "Look, I'm willing to cooperate with anything. You didn't need to bring so many men…"
Tijani handed him Charles' sketch and illuminated it with a flashlight. "Can you do these modifications? How long will it take?"
Charles paused. Only then did he understand the real reason for the tanks.
He took a few deep breaths and glared at Tijani—This reckless fool, you almost scared me to death. Couldn't you have called ahead?
Of course, he didn't dare say that aloud.
He glanced at the sketch and confidently replied, "Yes, General. If everything goes smoothly, we can be done in two to three hours!"
The modifications proceeded smoothly.
The skirts were made from the same rubber used in inflatable boats, inflatable and multi-layered.
The disadvantage of multi-layered material was that it took longer to inflate, but the advantage was practicality: if one section was punctured by enemy fire, the rest would still hold, allowing the tank to stay afloat longer—like a hot-air balloon.
Two external propellers were added underneath, using standard yacht equipment.
The reason for using two was to simplify operation: one fast and one slow for turning, requiring almost no additional training.
Rubber and welding were used to seal gaps in the tank chassis to prevent water leakage.
Finally, a small pump was added to remove any water that might seep into the tank or the inflatable skirt.
However, in actual combat, the pump proved nearly useless—because the river crossing took less than twenty minutes.
(End of Chapter 696)