The large number of anti-tank weapons equipped by the British army caused the German military, which was caught off guard, to suffer considerable losses. Especially those Anti-tank Gun, which pose a fatal threat to the German military tanks. As for those Anti-Tank Rifle, it is almost impossible to penetrate the front armor of German tanks. Of course, once the side armor is hit, it will still be easily penetrated.
Fortunately, after the initial discomfort, German armored forces also realized his own threat. This caused them to begin to pay attention to the threat of British anti-tank weapons during the battle. Destroy the British Anti-tank Gun before it can fire. In this case, losses will undoubtedly be effectively reduced.
With the assistance of German armored forces, the British army's peripheral defense line deployed outside the city of Rouen failed to have much effect at all, and was quickly broken through by German military.
After taking down the British army's outer defense line, German armored forces stopped the attack and retreated to the rear to rest. The task of continuing the attack into Rouen city was left to the infantry.
When General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff got the loss data of Armored Forces, they both couldn't help but frowned. In this battle, Armored Forces suffered very heavy losses.
1st Armored Division, 24 tanks were destroyed. 8th Armored Division, 17 tanks were also destroyed. You know, this was not damage caused by a malfunction, but was directly destroyed by Britain people. With the continuous improvement of technology, the reliability of tanks has been greatly improved. However, the enemy is not idle either. The vigorously developed anti-tank technology undoubtedly poses a great threat to German armored forces.
"General Ludendorff, when fighting on the Eastern Front, Armored Forces's losses were not so great, right?" General Kluck asked.
Lieutenant General Ludendorff shook his head. "On the Eastern Front, almost none of our tanks were destroyed by the Russian army. They were all damaged due to malfunctions and other reasons. But now, our tanks are directly destroyed by Britain people. It can be seen that Anglo-French Allied Forces already has weapons to deal with our Armored Forces."
General Kluck nodded. "So, when our Armored Forces is put into use, it will not achieve the same victory as Eastern Front."
"Yes, General. And you should be more careful when using Armored Forces." Lieutenant General Ludendorff added.
"However, the role of Armored Forces is still irreplaceable. At least, with the assistance of Armored Forces, we easily broke through the British army's peripheral defense line. The infantry will be responsible for the next attack on Rouen city." General Kluck said.
After seeing the power of Britain's anti-tank weapons, General Kluck was even more unlikely to send Armored Forces into street fighting.
"Yes, General." General Ludendorff nodded. Under such circumstances, he certainly would not ask Armored Forces to participate in street fighting.
Subsequently, General Kluck and Lieutenant General Ludendorff discussed and decided to attack Rouen in two groups. Among them, 1st Army Corps attacks from the north, and 8th Army Corps attacks from the East. The two legions each sent three Infantry Division to participate in the first round of attack.
Although 1st Army Corps has the largest number of troops and is well-trained, it can be called the strongest legion of German military. However, 8th Army Corps's combat effectiveness is not weak either. In terms of equipment, 8th Army Corps has the best equipment among all German military legions. Training is also the strongest. This makes 8th Army Corps's military strength not as good as 1st Army Corps's, but its combat effectiveness is not weak at all. Especially for street fighting, 8th Army Corps is the earliest unit among German military to specialize in street fighting training.
Several Infantry Division of German military only launched a charge and then invaded the Rouen urban area. Subsequently, fierce street fighting began.
"Da da da!"
One of German military's General Purpose Machine Guns was set up on a roof and kept firing at the positions held by the British troops. The British soldiers on the position could not even lift their heads under the suppressed firepower of German military.
Under the cover of machine guns, German military's infantry launched an attack on British positions.
"Grenade Launcher, launch!" a second lieutenant platoon leader ordered.
Soon, the grenadiers launched an attack, and one Howitzer hit British positions one by one. The explosion sounded, and the British soldiers on the position were knocked upside down by the explosion.
Snipers also occupied favorable terrain and began to kill British soldiers.
Under tactics like German military, the British troops defending this street suffered heavy losses and were completely suppressed.
Following this opportunity, the German military soldiers immediately launched an attack and rushed to a place less than twenty meters away from the British defense line.
"Grenade, throw it!" Following the officer's order, more than twenty grenades flew towards British positions.
Continuous explosions sounded, and the British troops on the position suffered heavy losses from the explosion of German military's grenades. The remaining troops were also confused.
Before they could react, German military had already invaded their position.
"Bang bang bang!"
Soldiers from both sides were in close combat, and German military's submachine guns and pistols played a very powerful role in such a battle. The British soldiers were killed before they could even fire their rifles.
This allowed German 8th Army Corps's three Infantry Division to advance quickly after entering the Rouen city and clear out the remaining enemies in the city. On the other hand, German 1st Army Corps, although their advancement speed is very fast, their casualties are also not small. At least, compared with the casualties of 8th Army Corps, it is undoubtedly much greater.
This surprised General Kluck. After learning about 8th Army Corps's street fighting tactics, he couldn't help but sigh, 8th Army Corps has really become the benchmark for German military. All other legions need to learn from 8th Army Corps. General Kluck even pointed out that after this war is over, each legion of German military needs to be reorganized and trained based on 8th Army Corps. Only in this way can the combat effectiveness of German military be raised to a higher level.
In this case, it is undoubtedly good news for Oscar. This means that his influence will expand to the various legions of the German Army, which will undoubtedly be very helpful for him to further control the military.
German military was in Rouen city with overwhelming force, and British Expeditionary Force 1st Army Corps was beaten into a state of embarrassment and suffered heavy losses. Not only were a large number of positions lost, but the casualties of the troops were also staggering. This shocked British Expeditionary Force 1st Army Corps Commander General Haig. He became even more pessimistic about the upcoming battle situation.