CHAPTER 690: CHAPTER 690: MEZIERES’S PREDICAMENT

"We can land at another position," Major General Brownie suggested. "There’s a bridge about 7 kilometers upstream from here..."

"The Germans must have already prepared for that," Shire rejected the idea.

To destroy or blockade a bridge is not difficult, it only requires some explosives or dispatching an artillery battalion.

Tijani helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "As I said, we should just hold our ground here!"

Suddenly, the whistling of shells filled the air, followed by dozens of shells exploding inside the city one after another.

This caused panic among the city’s inhabitants; cries and screams were heard everywhere, along with faint sounds of wailing and sobbing.

Shire and the others stood by the window, looking out.

The shelling continued intermittently, exploding inside the city.

In no time, Mezieres, which had been in celebration earlier, was filled with smoke and several places were ablaze.

Shire watched the fire outside, contemplating, "So, do you still think staying here will lead us to final victory?"

"What?" Tijani looked confused, then suddenly understood. "You mean the Germans’ shelling is a counterattack? No, no, they can’t get through either!"

"Not a counterattack, Major General," Shire replied, "If they can encircle us in Mezieres, they might even hold the northern defensive line of Mezieres."

"But Mezieres is a transportation hub..." Tijani responded.

"Indeed," Shire replied, "But they can build a railway bypassing Mezieres, which wouldn’t take much time."

Shire then added, "Meanwhile, they can continuously shell civilians to create panic, and the German Army on the west bank of the Meuse River will gather more and more. How long do you think we can hold out under such circumstances?"

Tijani fell silent.

Though the French Army had seized a lot of supplies to meet the needs for a period, the German Army could easily destroy the city with their artillery once they amassed enough.

Shire ordered in a low voice, "Move personnel to the Arden Mountains, including the supplies."

"Yes, General," the staff officer turned to arrange it.

Soon, the people of Meziere City began to move northward to the mountains with their families, while soldiers and vehicles continuously dispersed the supplies from the train station.

If it weren’t for Shire’s continual harassment of the German Army with bombers, the train station would already have been bombed flat by them.

However, this did not mean Mezieres was safe.

As night came, Shire, Tijani, and Brownie were discussing the river crossing plan under the light, and the communications soldier stepped forward to report, "General, German reinforcements have arrived at Sedan, estimated to be an infantry division."

Shire and the others exchanged glances, seeing worry in each other’s eyes.

Sedan is on the same side of the Meuse River. If the German Army fortifies there, the First Armored Army will be trapped and unable to go anywhere but stay here and face shelling.

"If this continues, we might only have to return the same way we came," Brownie said.

"Or, we could launch a preemptive attack on Sedan," Tijani suggested. "I mean before the Germans gain a foothold, they can’t hold off our attack."

"What meaning would that have?" Brownie opposed, "Moreover, once our main force attacks Sedan, the Germans will cross the river to attack Mezieres. If we lose Mezieres, we won’t even be able to retreat."

"So what else can we do?" Tijani became anxious, "Are we really to retreat?"

Brownie said nothing, feeling that this seemed the only option.

The Germans don’t need to capture Mezieres; they only need to shell it into ruins with artillery!

The command post fell silent.

After a long time, Shire sighed softly, "It seems we only have to gamble."

"Gamble?" Brownie and Tijani looked at Shire in unison, does this mean there’s a way?

...

On the west bank of the Meuse River, the disheveled Admiral Nicholas was hiding in a newly built semi-buried fortification, staring at the map under the oil lamp.

He constantly thanked himself for retreating to the west bank of the Meuse River and destroying the bridge in time, otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous.

Admiral Nicholas frowned silently until the staff officer reported that the 107th Infantry Division had reinforced Sedan, he let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Obviously, Shire has no strategy to deal with this situation," Admiral Nicholas analyzed to the staff officer. "His tactics rely mainly on speed, once blocked by my army, he has nothing to fear."

"Yes, General," the staff officer agreed, "This is not Shire’s forte in positional warfare, especially when his armored forces are trapped in an unexpandable city."

Admiral Nicholas nodded lightly.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have turned misfortune into fortune.

Before this, all the glory had been snatched by Erwin and his First Tank Division.

Now, if he can defeat Shire’s First Armored Army here, he will not only regain his honor but also overturn Fajin Han’s perception of him.

Thinking of this, the originally exhausted Admiral Nicholas revitalized and turned his eyes back to the map, ordering in a deep voice:

"Immediately transport a batch of ammunition from the rear under cover of darkness, and bring all the artillery nearby."

"Furthermore, withdraw the 96th Infantry Division to deploy them to Sedan."

"And send communications soldiers to gather all the troops withdrawn from the front lines to defend here!"

Admiral Nicholas’s judgment was:

The west bank of the Meuse River was basically secure. Shire didn’t have the means to cross the river.

The most dangerous point now was Sedan, where the infantry division might not hold off Shire’s attack, thus reinforcing Sedan with another infantry division from the coastal defense line.

As for the coastal defense line vacancies, they could be filled with troops withdrawn from the front lines.

This idea seemed fine on the surface, but Admiral Nicholas didn’t realize that this created a rare breakthrough opportunity for Shire.

...

The sky was studded with stars.

The northern segment of the "C" shaped encirclement of Meziere City near the Arden Mountains and the Meuse River bank.

Originally stationed here was the German 96th Infantry Division, who spent hours building defensive fortifications.

This was not easy considering the terrain where the river water overflowed the embankment and even flooded the houses.

They had to use sandbags to build trenches, hiding in the fortifications while trembling from the cold river water, constantly paying attention to the water level rise and ensuring the ammunition didn’t get damp.

Thus, when they heard about their transfer to Sedan, they all felt a sense of relief.

The soldiers expressed their blessings to the arriving engineering troops:

"The defense line is yours, we have built the fortifications, no need to thank us!"

"Enjoy well, I think the most important thing is to ensure you don’t freeze to death before the enemy arrives."

"Sorry, there’s no place to sleep here, as the ground is all water, you’d better stay standing all night!"

...