My new story already has a chapter posted. If you want to read it, it's called "Old Bloodlines."
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11-March-1918
Without stopping, while our vehicles continued moving us in the direction of the battle, we managed to capture many small villages along the way, leaving small garrisons that would watch the area and stop any Frenchman who tried to pass through the encirclement. As long as it was not a regiment, a small and trained group could stop them by firing from the houses and delaying the French retreat.
After having captured the last villages, we finally began to observe the city of Lyon, which was our final objective. This city was an important railway hub in the south, and its fall, or simply the delay of trains, could cause heavy logistical congestion that should allow Army Group Crown Prince to finish the envelopment maneuver against the French and close the encirclement against the troops of Besançon and those located in the Alps.
So I estimated that, if everything went well, we would be breaking the front, capturing or at least compromising in very disadvantageous positions more than half a million French troops who were static in the area, waiting for orders.
With our advance, in addition to denying passage, we also cut any telegraph cable we managed to see, so we could also be causing some information chaos among those who could not report what we were doing to the troops that still had not fallen back from the front or that were still occupied with the Sturmtruppen attack.
''Lyon… I do not see it heavily defended'' I said while climbing onto the roof of the armored vehicle and looking through my telescopic sight, making magnification adjustments to see what was on the outskirts of the city, in addition to the fields of crops that left us quite exposed on the road we were on.
''Nothing on my side, Karl. From the looks of it, since the city is so far behind the combat front, it may not have any real defenses beyond the troops passing through. It is still an important logistical node that allows the movement of men'' said one of my Jägerkommandos, who was imitating my actions, observing through the sight of his rifle.
''It is too good. If we take this city without many problems, we will have given the French an enormous problem for their retreat, since we block much of their railway system here'' I said, continuing to observe, noticing a train departing toward the east.
''Whatever we do, we have to do it soon. The tanks are at 30%'' one of my men said, having opened the fuel compartment and inserted a rod to measure the fuel level.
''Tsh, that means the advance ends here until we receive supplies. Although we want to keep leading the advance, we cannot go any farther. Good, we lose nothing by trying. We enter the city quickly, strike where it hurts, the train station, and try to take the police station. With that, the resistance should die quickly anyway. We still have almost 4,000 men with us'' I said, climbing down from my position to hang onto the vehicle's door.
Observing the city, I kept looking at what places we could use to fortify ourselves inside the city while waiting for the prince's reinforcements.
''Good, Hauptmann, I want that building secured with a machine gun facing the city's main road. I want one company to take that tall building, which must be an apartment building. Since it is so tall, surely we will be able to control several streets, and one company to take the church and cathedrals in the center. Good places for snipers. Beyond that, use your training and adapt'' I said, getting into the vehicle and closing the door.
The driver pressed the accelerator and, looking through his slit, began driving us straight into the city, and for a long time we could see there was no resistance. Passing through the streets, many of the inhabitants reacted with surprise. More than one dropped what they were carrying when they saw vehicles marked with the Iron Cross moving through their streets.
Although panic began spreading quickly while the men on the trucks soon began firing at the policemen and soldiers who were in the middle of the streets, looking at us completely surprised by our presence and having failed to react.
But ignoring the reactions of the civilians, we soon continued onward while we advanced deeper and deeper into the city. I managed to see that troops were dismounting from some vehicles and beginning to secure one of the buildings I had ordered secured, violently entering it to secure the place, and I could already hear gunshots.
With little resistance offered by the troops in the area, we had reached almost the center of the city. Another group of troops began taking positions inside the churches, securing the city center.
''And now what?'' I said, scratching my face with my finger when I saw that we had reached the city hall directly without having to cross the bridges or rivers that ran through the city.
I got down from the armored vehicle and saw that a group was crossing the Rhône River eastward to reach the train station and take it.
With a group of men, we began walking toward the city hall and the policemen at their posts had drawn their pistols, but they stayed looking at one another without knowing what to do when they saw hundreds of German soldiers dismounting from vehicles armed with rifles and submachine guns.
As we walked, the policemen left their revolvers on the floor while raising their hands, and my men did not miss the chance to subdue them.
''Did anyone bring a flag?'' I said, looking at my men, who were as puzzled as I was that the resistance so far had been nonexistent.
''I think I have one in my vehicle'' one of my officers said, returning and, getting into a truck, pulling out a German flag.
Entering the city hall, we fired a few shots to subdue the policemen inside and the few soldiers, in addition to finding some French officers who were beginning the preparations for what seemed to be a defense and were reviewing the maps to see where they should build the next trenches and how to stop the German offensive.
It did not take long before we found the one who seemed to be the mayor, who had hidden in his office, trying to conceal himself beneath his desk, but we still managed to pull him out of where he had decided to make his hiding place to capture him and try to gather all the authority figures of the city.
While we finished capturing the administrative center of the city, the flag of the German Empire began to wave over the city after all the French flags that had previously flown in the area were lowered.
I stayed observing my men deploying through the area and thinking about what to do now, since I had expected a much more serious defense than simply preparations to defend.
Looking at my watch, I saw it was a little past 10. Considering that the offensive had begun at 00:00, we had already been in the offensive for more than ten hours and it was only a matter of time before fatigue began taking its toll on my men, so the city had to be secured quickly and we had to rest while waiting for the prince's forces to replace us so we could recover our operational capacity to the maximum before continuing on our way.
But although we had secured the area, there were still parts of Lyon that were not yet under our control. To the east we had the Rhône area, where the train station was, surely the military warehouses as well, and to the west we had the Saône River, so we controlled a third of the city.
And we had to take control of this place before reinforcements began arriving en masse.
''You go west, secure the other part of the river and its outskirts, and we will see what we do for the moment'' I said while climbing into my vehicle, and we began moving through the streets after leaving men guarding the area.
Shots were heard to the east, on the other side of the river, and I noticed that the vanguard that had crossed first to reach the trains was in combat.
''Come on, to the train station. We have to secure the place before more enemy reinforcements arrive and make it harder for us to take the city'' I said, climbing into a truck while the nearby troops began to disperse, leaving only a small garrison guarding the place while the prisoners were taken to safe areas.
Crossing the Rhône, the shots began to be heard much more clearly as we crossed the city streets, noticing that people were placing furniture in their windows and trying to barricade themselves because of the occupation, since the streets were empty or filled with people running desperately to their homes.
Hearing the roar of a machine gun, followed by a strong explosion, it seemed the fighting was intense at the train station.
When we finally reached where the fighting was taking place, I observed the train station, where there were a lot of bodies scattered around.
And my eyes quickly focused on a train that had a lot of French panzers as cargo, and the French were desperately defending the train.
We quickly got down from the trucks, jumping and taking defensive positions, entering the surrounding buildings and dragging the inhabitants out to begin using them.
Many shots began to echo while more of our troops began arriving. The cavalry soon began overwhelming the place with numbers and we began forcing the French to seek refuge inside the station.
''Come on'' one of my men shouted, pulling a grenade from his boot and activating it. It did not take long before many grenades flew through the building's windows and the explosions echoed while troops assaulted the facilities.
While chaos echoed in the nearby areas, I approached the train's cargo and began inspecting the panzers.
They had to be Renault FTs. They must have been sent to reinforce the front and there were around 15 of them ready to be sent, although of course, these would never arrive.
There were two models of the tank, one whose main weapon was a machine gun and another with a small cannon, and it must have had a small crew, since I doubted many people could fit inside.
We were in no position to turn our noses up at anything. Given the lack of armored vehicles, we had to use much of the captured French material to continue the offensive, so this would be a good addition as long as it could be used properly, because what mattered more than a cannon was knowing where you were moving, and for that an armored car was better.
''Find something to get them off the train. For the moment, we will use them to reinforce the offensives in the streets'' I said to my men, who soon saw the train station crane and began trying to figure out how it worked so they could start lowering the vehicles.
While the fighting continued, since apparently this was where the French troops were concentrated and the encirclement was being completed, we found the supply reserves near the station, finding a huge French ammunition and food depot, so this would cause many problems for the French if we managed to destroy it or preserve it, depending on the Entente's response to the possibility of losing Lyon.
We also found the fuel reserves.
''Well, luckily it has a bit of everything. Gasoline and diesel. With this, we will be able to continue advancing south, although first we have to secure the city'' I said, inspecting the fuel reserve while the gunfire in the area began to diminish.
When I left the warehouses, I saw my men leading long lines of French soldiers with their hands raised.
So they had finished the conflict in this area.
Thus we began moving west while everything began to be prepared and my men deciphered how to use the French tanks and began preparing them for combat.
And it did not take long before two pieces of news arrived: the forces of the German vanguard were a few dozen kilometers away, trying to keep up with our pace.
But apparently the Americans were launching a counteroffensive force to stop our advance and prevent the front from breaking, and it would only be a matter of time before they reached Lyon.
''We have to secure the west. Thousands of Americans are about to fall on us'' I said to my men as soon as I heard the messages.
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