My new story already has some chapter posted. If you want to read it, it's called "Old Bloodlines."
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12-March-1918
Urban combat in Lyon was over, at least in the central and eastern sectors we had secured, in addition to sending some patrols to secure the east in case they had managed to give the order to the troops from the Alpine and Besançon fronts to retreat, and to delay those withdrawals.
Meanwhile, urban combat in the western part of Lyon was still continuing, although the French defenders were far fewer than in the eastern part. It was simply that we had a shortage of men to continue the multiple advances needed to expel the French troops from the city.
In addition, of course, there was the matter of controlling the population of Lyon, which, not knowing its official numbers, was one of the great French cities of the south, so there were too many people for only a few thousand men to take total control of the place, especially when cities were usually avoided as bombardment targets, since it would be an enormous waste of ammunition unless enemy forces had entrenched themselves inside.
So we joined the attacks, trying to establish perimeters around the city to prevent enemy forces from entering it and forcing us into urban combat, although my troops were much better trained than most enemy forces in that kind of fighting. It was still urban combat, where a well-positioned soldier, simply by luck, could end the lives of highly trained troops.
So it did not take long before we got moving. Using the few men I had who knew how to speak French, we deciphered how the French panzers worked and took them to the front after filling them with ammunition. Of course, the men using the equipment had barely had a couple of minutes to familiarize themselves with the weapons.
But they were armored vehicles, and what mattered far more was that they caused fear by showing themselves in the streets than that they caused the most serious casualties, since much of the French equipment left a lot to be desired if we compared it with my armored cars, which had a periscope and a much wider margin of mobility, allowing better maneuvering and letting the gunners hit their targets using the vehicle's internal machine gun.
But the French equipment fulfilled the role of frightening and soaking up French bullets, since they should not have anything at hand that could penetrate their own armor, as all the heavy military equipment was in those warehouses. So we simply began moving through the streets of Lyon, crossing the river and beginning to fight to expel the French as soon as possible.
So at least after almost an hour of intense exchanges of fire, we had managed to make the forces that maintained control of that part of the city begin to flee, and I quickly sent my men to finish them off using the vehicles, refueling them with a little French fuel and securing the outskirts and the roads.
Although I wanted to close my eyes, since the adrenaline stopped pumping and I suddenly felt the fatigue once everything had calmed down, we still had to wait for the German troops to finish arriving to reinforce us before we could begin sleeping.
So it took us three more hours to continue defending the city of Lyon until finally the first German vanguard had arrived, with a few hundred German troops marching hurriedly to replace us.
''Who is the officer in command of this group?'' said a Hauptmann of the Sturmtruppen who was panting while taking out his canteen.
''Here I am'' I said, covering my mouth with my hand, drawing the attention of the German soldier who was still panting heavily.
''Finally. I do not know how the hell you managed to penetrate so deeply, but we are managing to reach your positions. Many of the other members of our regiment stayed behind reinforcing the positions your men had fortified, so the encirclement is being strengthened'' the Hauptmann said after taking a long sip from his canteen.
''Yes, I imagined as much. Are they coming with you?'' I said, looking toward the rear to see if the rest of my men had come with them so we could begin reorganizing for another advance.
''No, they stayed behind. The American presence is very intense. It is estimated that two American armies are in the area and they are striking to try to break our attempted encirclement. For the moment, the offensive continues westward to distract the American troops coming down to stop the advance'' the Hauptmann said while moving the gas mask he wore around his neck.
''I understand. How many more men are on the way? Because what I can see is far too little to even hold the city in case of a serious enemy offensive'' I said, observing the soldiers who had just arrived.
''More companies are coming, it is just that you advanced too quickly. We can barely keep up with you. We used the few trucks we had and horses to try to match the speed at which you moved, but with the little we have, we cannot simply bring the entire division to Lyon'' the Hauptmann added, sweat visibly running down his cheek.
''I understand. We have some French trucks they used to supply their lines. We can use them to transport more men to the front, because my men have not stopped fighting for more than half a day and I need them to rest a little if we want to continue our offensive in the south and close the encirclement completely'' I said, pointing toward the train station, where there was French equipment that could be used.
''Good, we will do everything within our reach to speed up the arrival of reinforcements, but for the moment we depend on your men to maintain control of the city'' the Hauptmann said while signaling to some of his men where they had to go.
Within minutes, it did not take long before we saw some French trucks leave the city toward the north to begin helping with troop movement, since apparently, by advancing so quickly, we had left the vanguard troops far behind and, although they were supposedly already arriving, they would do so in small groups of a few hundred, which would leave us quite exposed.
We quickly began fortifying ourselves in the most important buildings of the city and watching all the important roads, beginning to fortify the defensive points on the outskirts of the city while waiting for the first attempts to retake it.
As the hours passed, another group of German troops of a few hundred had arrived. They had been left to the north so they could walk the last stretch, while we also began observing American and French patrols moving around the outskirts of the city.
But in the meantime, our vanguards on the outskirts quickly drove them away, killing those who showed themselves too much.
While that continued, we remained somewhat cut off regarding the American counteroffensive, but luckily the reinforcements continued arriving and by nightfall there were already around 6,000 troops who had entered the city with their respective officers, so we rotated duties to begin resting, since we had been in operations for more than 20 hours and at least I was already exhausted. I did not want to imagine those who had been fighting much more actively.
So it did not take long before we fell asleep in a matter of seconds, taking some buildings considered safe from artillery attacks, such as important buildings, churches and hospitals, to avoid being woken abruptly.
So we managed to rest the whole night without many inconveniences while the offensive continued.
The sound of gunfire woke me, as it did many others. I began to hear sniper shots from above, which meant my men were firing from the highest tower of the local cathedral.
When I got up, I saw the clock and it seemed I had slept close to 6 hours, which was more than enough if we wanted to continue the offensive.
''Oberst… Oberst… which one of you is the Oberst of the Baltic soldiers?'' a Leutnant arrived shouting while descending the steps toward the church basement.
''Here. What is happening?'' I said while stretching a little and beginning to put on my uniform.
''The Americans are preparing to carry out an offensive against Lyon. It has been confirmed by the OHL that the troops that tried to stop the advance in the north are diverting to recover Lyon, and there is already fighting on the roads we control to try to encircle us, so we have to support the defense or evacuate'' the Leutnant said, showing me a letter while extending it toward me.
''Let me see'' I said, taking the letter and beginning to read the message that had been sent. ''Well yes, the American counteroffensive had ended and it seems they diverted against us, so we have to move to stop the American offensive that is moving through the French countryside trying to cut our supplies'' I said, observing the message.
''Yes, so we need those vehicles of yours rolling as soon as possible, since there is too much infantry on the outskirts of our positions and they could be overrun. If that were to happen, we will be in serious trouble if we are trapped inside the city'' the Leutnant said, looking somewhat nervous at the thought of being trapped in the city.
''Good, we will go out as soon as possible to support the defense. Reinforcements from the reserves should still be arriving anyway. There were many reinforcements ready to be sent to the front, in addition to Austro-Hungarian armies that were in the area'' I said, signaling for my men to get up, since all of them were already awake.
Putting on yesterday's uniform, we began to prepare. We refueled our vehicles with French fuel. Luckily, there was an abundant amount of gasoline for our trucks.
Meanwhile, our armored vehicles used diesel, since they had another type of engine, because carrying the heavy armor meant they had to use a much more efficient fuel to match the performance of other vehicles. So as soon as we filled our fuel tanks, it did not take long before we moved out at the same time as all the other scattered troops who had been replaced by troops from Army Group Crown Prince.
Driving north, reaching our garrison post, we found the group of troops we had left behind and quickly took them with us while heading north toward Mâcon.
It was the area the German vanguard had taken to secure the roads. Although it had delayed the arrival of reinforcements to Lyon, they had ensured that our supply line was not just a single road that could be easily cut with a strong offensive.
Now there was ground that could be used to fall back, and upon arriving, it did not take long before we found ourselves in the city of Mâcon with the German forces in the area. I had given a quick disguise to the French tanks my men were using, covering the French flag and painting an Iron Cross to mark them as German equipment.
So although I raised some suspicion among the soldiers when our vanguard arrived, they quickly ignored us and let us pass while the troops prepared against the Americans, since with binoculars it was possible to observe that there were many concentrations of American troops.
''Oberst Karl, at your service'' I said, saluting the highest-ranking officer, who was observing the American forces with binoculars.
''Right, you do not use insignia… well, we have something quite curious with the Americans. We have placed machine-gun nests and tried to entrench ourselves a little, digging some defenses in the little time we had, but it seems the Americans do not plan a conventional war'' the officer said, lowering the binoculars and staring at me.
''I doubt we will see artillery. Surely they are preparing something to attack, so we have to hold until more troops manage to pass through'' I said, beginning to observe with my binoculars.
''Yes, but we surely will have a little more time, since the American troops only arrived a few hours ago. Preparing the artillery to strike us should take a bit more time, between preparing the ammunition and properly hiding their positions. That should give us some… shit, they are already coming'' the officer said when he saw a lot of American troops beginning to deploy across the field, moving against us.
''Eh… either they have the artillery ready or these men are trying to apply some kind of more mobile strategy'' I said, lowering the binoculars and taking out my rifle.
''Enemies advancing. Position the machine guns and open your offensive'' one of my officers shouted, and the armored cars quickly began moving while the panzers positioned themselves to fire their cannons.
''Well, whatever it is, if explosives do not fall on us, we only have to shoot until we run out of ammunition'' I said, climbing onto the roof of one of the houses using a fallen wall and aiming toward the American advance, just as my forces began deploying to counter the American advance.
''What are you doing standing there? To your posts!'' the German officer shouted at his men, who had stayed waiting for orders.
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