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12-February-11-March-1918
The weeks continued passing with relative calm. Only the usual patrol fights in no man's land continued taking place quite naturally every day, where many of those who participated in those fights died, in addition to several being captured, depending on the situation.
The flu continued spreading through the camps as expected, but it seemed to be doing so at a much slower rate than it would have naturally, since there were sick men, but not to the point of overflowing our hospitals for the infected, in addition to taking many harsher sanitary measures to defend the rear.
For the moment, no infection had been reported outside of combat or some cities and towns near the German army camps. So for the moment, it seemed we had everything under control, but that was temporary, since the clock kept ticking and ticking against us while the disease spread.
The spring offensive was about to begin and its preparatory attacks had already started, such as the ceaseless bombardment of enemy positions. All available information on the Entente had been used, especially from the combat aircraft that had been operating heavily in the previous days in order to detect where the artillery positions were and pour heavy fire onto their batteries.
Apparently, many of the first days were focused on that: destroying enemy artillery and their ammunition reserves that were within reach of our artillery. In fact, one explosion was so great and massive that we managed to hear the artillery explosion that woke up everyone who could still sleep despite the enormous noise made by our artillery firing without rest.
Things like that were common to hear: enormous explosions whenever an ammunition warehouse exploded and completely destroyed the enemy's ability to fire its artillery. Only after hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pieces had been destroyed, since information was scarce and we had to ask the aircraft pilots what they had observed, did the constant bombardment against the French and American trenches begin.
So the days of sleeping peacefully, if one could call it sleeping in a tent while the cold was still terrible because of the winter temperatures, had ended, and only the artillery pieces could be heard bombarding the French positions without cease.
From time to time, I directed several movements in Dijon to observe how the situation stood, and the French trenches that could be observed from our observation points were being shattered by the constant pounding, in addition to noticing frequent French patrols that went out during the gaps between impacts to try to repair the most important parts of the trenches so that, in case of an attack, the defenses would not be easily overcome.
So it went day after day, with artillery fire never stopping its pounding and explosions being frequent, while we dedicated ourselves to observing those things.
Thus we waited while March slowly arrived.
Finally, after a long wait, while we continued dealing with the flu problem, the great offensives began and we watched as hundreds of thousands of soldiers prepared for the offensive while we also did the same as the other armies, since we had a very important role.
Although we did not have tanks like some armies that already had their own gigantic tanks, which I very much doubted would serve to fulfill the duties of a tank, considering how bad the German tank was.
But what we did have was around 100 armored cars, each with two machine guns mounted on the right and left, which would allow us to easily eliminate any kind of infantry we encountered along the way.
In addition to almost 400 trucks to transport infantry, allowing several thousand of our men, once the trenches had been penetrated, to begin leading the vanguard and cut off any French attempt to put up a blockade, unless they already had second and third trenches behind their main defensive line.
Which, because of the time available, they should not have, since the last German offensive ended in November, so the time to dig deep trenches and establish dense defensive systems was not enough for there to be many rear defensive lines, considering they had to build them.
So when the moment came, positioned in the ruins of Dijon as our base of operations, we watched as waves of German soldiers began marching toward the French trenches once the artillery ceased its incessant firing after several weeks of uninterrupted bombardment.
Curiously, this offensive did not begin in the morning or afternoon. It had begun in the middle of the night, starting the strategy that was to be tested: sending trained and veteran troops using infiltration and assault tactics.
In the middle of the night, tens of thousands of soldiers carrying sub machine guns and rifles began their advance against the first French defensive lines, which were completely destroyed, where they found almost no opposition, since apparently all the defenders who were in shelters had either died or had their shelters collapse on top of them.
After that, it did not take long before we saw them take the second trench, although enemy artillery fire soon fell over no man's land, trying to block more troops from reaching the positions that were necessary while we prepared everything for our moment to shine.
A second wave of troops was sent even with artillery fire falling on them, since many exchanges of gunfire or lights in the night could be heard from the third trench.
So we simply waited and waited, listening to the artillery fire.
After long minutes of uninterrupted combat, a messenger arrived with the news we needed.
''Oberst Karl, you are ordered to advance against the French positions as stipulated by the plan and open the breach our forces have created'' said a messenger, bringing a letter.
''Understood, we mobilize immediately'' I said, signaling to my men, who mounted the cars, trucks and horses before we began moving.
The first to take the lead was the cavalry, which went to find the best path for the vehicles to move through, in addition to preparing it for their passage. Thanks to the fact that I had invested a great deal in making the wheels thicker and giving them a design with more traction, we managed to move through the muddy terrain with difficulty, but we managed to cross no man's land relatively without problems, observing the bodies of the dead that had still not been collected, or their remains.
Arriving at the first trench, we noticed that many of the shelters had collapsed, so many Frenchmen had died without even being able to defend themselves. Placing large beams over the trenches, we created an improvised bridge.
Our vehicles quickly began to cross and afterward we repeated the same thing at each of the trenches while every vehicle crossed that zone.
That was one of the most complicated parts, when we had to move through the inclined sections, but it was the only way to cross with our vehicles, since the whole area was full of trenches and it was only a matter of time before French reinforcements tried to stop our advance.
After almost an hour of operation getting our vehicles across, we began moving.
The armored vehicles began advancing and we observed how the German troops were already looting and taking French prisoners, who would undoubtedly be infected with the flu virus, so care had to be taken in handling them.
''We are through. Accelerate, accelerate, we have to advance as soon as possible'' I said, hitting the roof of the armored vehicle while hanging from one of the doors.
''You heard the Oberst, quickly'' one of my men said, and some soldiers mounted my vehicle, as many others did with the others, and we began driving as fast as the engine allowed in the direction of Beaune.
We quickly passed the French camp near Dijon and began entering the French lines.
And although we were starting with a considerable delay because of having to get out of the mud, we recovered a great deal of ground by using the French roads as we advanced, while I observed how our columns moved along the road and the riders followed us closely.
''Contacts, French soldiers'' someone shouted, pointing into the darkness.
''Soldiers in retreat'' another shouted.
''Flares!'' I shouted, drawing the pistol and raising it into the air, firing a round. It did not take long before four more crossed the air and we observed how French troops who had escaped were in the middle of the road.
The machine guns of the vehicles soon began to roar and, in a matter of seconds, we began clearing the roads, leaving a pile of bodies scattered while we continued on our way.
''Have some leutnant stop to capture prisoners'' I shouted, opening the door of the armored car and hanging from it while watching how the bullets cut through the air and hit the Frenchmen who began scattering everywhere.
A cavalry unit separated and began pursuing the French, so we simply continued firing at the troops in front of us while we kept driving at a steady 50 km/h.
At that speed, it did not take long for us to reach the target village and we soon fired flares and began a fight to take the train station, where a large part of the vanguard officers and a French garrison were located.
''Take defensive positions in that area and that one'' I said, pointing to buildings that could be used as defensive posts.
''You accelerate. I doubt they have anything that can penetrate the armor of the car'' I said, giving one of the cars a few hits, and it began driving forward while the French soldiers entrenched themselves in the train station.
''Ernst, take yours and surround the area. Position yourself with the vehicles on the other side and begin applying pressure'' I said, looking at Ernst, who climbed into a truck while his men began carrying out a flanking maneuver.
''Alexander, move through the side streets with your men and try to establish contact with the men at the train station. You should not take long to receive reinforcements'' I said, looking at Alexander, who climbed into the armored vehicle and began moving through side streets.
The sound of machine-gun fire could be heard throughout the area. Luckily, it seemed the village had been evacuated, so the desperate screams of a civilian population could not be heard, only those of the French troops being subjected to an overwhelming amount of fire.
The explosions of grenades were soon heard while the train station and the nearby warehouses slowly began to be besieged by our troops, and the French soon surrendered after a few minutes of being completely surrounded, handing over their weapons.
''Subdue them quickly. Have one company stay behind to guard the village and when the German vanguard arrives, have them follow us with fuel. Ask for as much as they can provide'' I said, looking at one of my hauptmanns, who nodded.
''Quick, refill. Nobody knows when we will have time'' said one of my officers, who was in the trucks unloading fuel barrels and beginning to refill our vehicles.
''Now we have to push toward Chalon-sur-Saône. If we move quickly, we can trap the French forces that should be retreating from Besançon'' I said, looking at a map by the light of a burning house.
I closed the door of my vehicle and it did not take long before we set off toward the area we wanted to reach.
We continued driving at high speed using the French roads, stopping to fight small units we encountered along the way, quickly crushing those small groups while the sun began to rise.
After crushing several groups that were in retreat, it did not take long before we reached the city we had as our destination, and it seemed to be in total chaos with the amount of troops arriving, so it seemed the advance at Besançon had been successful and had forced many troops to withdraw from the front.
''What are you waiting for? Hard on the accelerator, I see nothing that can penetrate the armor. Move'' I shouted, observing the defenses with binoculars just before the machine guns began striking French marching columns that were arriving from the front.
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