Imperial Elite

Chapter 57 Flesh Mill

After the Teutonic offensive north of Paris achieved a decisive breakthrough, the Battle of Paris became a complete nightmare.

Although General Henry committed his general reserve, the addition of the two colonial divisions only managed to maintain part of the defenses between District 19 and District 18.

No one knew where the Teutons had gotten so many Stormtroopers, until Marshal Henry realized something was wrong.

The Stormtroopers, acting as the vanguard, have already torn apart the Gauls' fragile defenses with flamethrowers and grenades.

Artillery that was not originally supposed to be on the front lines was now being deployed to the front lines, using overwhelming firepower to destroy the Gauls' already weak defensive fortifications.

In some areas, the Teutons even used poison gas shells to bombard the city of Paris during their offensive, using deadly gas to open up pathways for their troops.

Within fifteen minutes of the gas release, the Storm Assault Team, wearing gas masks, will launch an attack amidst the choking fumes. Even if the defenders are determined to resist, their fighting power will be greatly weakened by the chaos caused by the gas, and they will be overwhelmed by the Storm Assault Team.

However, deploying artillery and poison gas to the front lines was not the only aspect of the Teutonic Army's operations.

In this attack, the Teutons also deployed a large number of trucks to enhance the mobility of their troops. After breaking through the barricades, the rapidly advancing cavalry and the Teutonic troops riding in trucks gave the Gauls no time to reorganize their defenses.

In addition, the Teutonic Air Force, which had almost controlled the airspace over Paris, launched a large-scale air raid in the area, with Teutonic fighters relentlessly attacking the Gallic troops in the region with machine guns and bombs.

Ultimately, this completely destroyed the morale of these militiamen who had never received any proper training and only knew how to stay in the trenches or fortifications and fire at any Teutons that came into their sight.

Even though they were in their own city, some people, driven by fear, still abandoned their weapons and fled the battlefield.

As the morale of the defending troops collapsed, the Teutons destroyed the Gauls' defenses in the 20th arrondissement in just a few hours, crushing the last resistance of the 20th National Guard in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

With the commander of the 20th arrondissement of the National Guard in Paris, a colonel who had received three medals in Verdun, taking his own life by shooting himself near the walls of the Paris Commune, the Teutons had almost completely taken control of the 20th arrondissement of Paris, except for a few scattered troops who were putting up intermittent resistance like the heartbeat of a dying man.

The Stormtroopers, who could now clearly see the Eiffel Tower, did not stop there to build defenses or clear out the remaining stragglers. Without even taking a break, they charged into the 11th arrondissement, the heart of Paris.

The vanguard has already begun fierce fighting with the defenders in the Bastille Square, which was once the Bastille prison.

If the Teutons occupied the 11th arrondissement, they would be able to sever the land links north of Paris, along the north bank of the Seneca River. The Bastille, where fighting had already broken out, was not far from the Paris City Hall and Notre Dame Cathedral, and a little further east were the Place de la Concorde and Les Invalides.

The speed of the fall caught General Henry off guard, forcing him to personally call the commander organizing the eastern defenses and request that he immediately ask Joe to lead his armored forces back to the almost completely destroyed northern front to help them rebuild their defenses.

When Joe learned that the Teutons had now broken into District 11, he was shocked.

Because a little further south in the 11th arrondissement is the Gare du Gare de l'Est, and if the Teutons occupied this area, not far to the east would be the racecourse they used as a temporary supply point.

If the Teutons had captured the racecourse, Joe's Paris task force, while not immediately paralyzed, would have lost a quarter of its supplies and its fastest supply line from the Gare du Nord to the Eastern Front.

It was still a loss that Joe's Paris task force could not afford.

Within just a few hours, the Teutons had broken through to the heart of Paris. This news prompted Joe to berate the Gauls for their incompetence in his car, and he immediately began to withdraw troops to prepare to return to the northern front to put out the fire.

As Joe withdrew his troops from the front lines to prepare for a counter-offensive in District 11, he also told the commanders on the eastern front that his own tank force was not enough and that he needed the support of infantry units.

Otherwise, even if he destroyed the Teutonic strongpoints, his small number of infantry would be completely unable to recapture and defend the areas occupied by the Teutons.

The Gauls quickly responded, offering troop support. Unlike the Paris National Guard who had previously cooperated with Joe, whose morale was high due to the defense of Paris, this time Joe would be fighting with a group of experienced troops.

After several days of preparation, troops transferred from other places to defend Paris have finally entered the city, and Joe only needs to go to the Gare du Luís de Paris to meet them.

Hearing the commander of the eastern defense line pat his chest and tell him, "It's all good, just go ahead. This time, the troops are definitely experienced," he felt relieved that he would finally no longer have to be a battlefield babysitter.

After Joe led the twenty-three tanks and three companies that had been withdrawn to make emergency resupply at the racetrack, he arrived at the Gare du Luís de Paris and found that the troops who arrived there were indeed experienced.

The problem is that they have too much experience.

As they approached the Gare de l'Est, Joe heard a loud singing voice from afar. Judging from Joe's limited musical knowledge and his complete lack of understanding of Gaulish, the song sounded very much like "La Marseillaise".

He was still in the mood to sing, and even sang quite well, before entering the war zone and about to go into battle.

Joe felt that the Gauls were indeed reliable; the troops that came were indeed experienced and well-trained, which relieved him of much pressure.

Then, when Joe saw the troops lined up neatly in front of the Gare du Gare de l'Est, he realized that he had been too naive to have thought the Gauls, who were in the same trenches as the Brittany, were reliable.

At this moment, lined up in the square were a group of veterans with graying temples, wearing old and even somewhat faded military uniforms, as well as some disabled veterans who looked like they were missing an eye or couldn't stand up straight.

Faced with such an obviously "experienced" unit, Joe had a lot to say, but at this point in time, he couldn't say anything.

However, this is no longer a time for picking and choosing, or perhaps Joe never had any power of choice to begin with.

Here, Joe met the commander of the unit, an old colonel with gray hair who looked like he was buried up to his eyebrows. He finally understood what was going on with this unit whose average age seemed to be over half a century old.

Due to their crushing defeat in the last war against the Teutons, the Gauls' elite professional army was crushed like a Chihuahua in front of a heavy truck by the massive army assembled by the Teutons' terrifying mobilization capabilities.

Having learned their lesson, the Gauls began to reform their national defense mobilization system, and these forces, known as the Territorial Army, were formally established.

At the same time, the law stipulated that Gallic men had a 20-year military service obligation, including 5 years of active duty, 4 years of military reserve, 5 years of territorial military service, and 6 years of territorial military reserve service. After the outbreak of war, due to the rapid depletion of manpower.

The veterans who appeared before Joe now were retired soldiers from the Territorial Army who had answered the call and returned to the army to take on a lot of logistics, transportation and engineering construction, guard prisoner-of-war camps, serve as fortress reserves, and defend parts of the "peaceful" war zone.

This was intended to free up the younger, more capable lads to "kick the Teutons' asses hard."

So from a certain perspective, this territorial army unit is indeed experienced and well-trained.

Due to the time constraints, after understanding Joe's explanation of the Paris Task Force's combat methods, although the old colonel seemed to have some objections to the Paris Task Force's tactics, he didn't say much. Instead, he indicated that he would instruct his troops to cooperate with Joe's Paris Task Force in combat.

Joe immediately led his troops toward the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

In any case, the most urgent task now is to halt the Teutonic advance.

Before Joe and his Paris detachment had gone far from the Gare du Luís de Paris, they encountered a Teutonic army rushing toward the Seine River.

The good news is that although this cavalry unit, dressed in black and adorned with skull insignia, is very formidable.

After both sides crossed the street corner, and after a very brief moment of hesitation, the cavalry charged toward Joe's Paris detachment and the territorial troops.

But times have changed. The dense barrage of bullets from the 40mm rapid-fire cannon on the Royal Fist MK-5 tank easily crushed the cavalry charge.

The bad news was that as the cold treads rolled over the shredded flesh on the street and past that corner, the Stormtroopers in the stairwell began attacking the Paris Task Force with all the weapons they had.

From that moment on, Joe quickly realized that the battle in Paris had turned into a bloody battle as brutal as the Somme.

Even the armored forces, having lost their mobility, could only advance and fire, break through the Teutonic's makeshift defenses, and then cover the gray-haired territorial troops as they drove the Teutons out with bayonets and bullets.

Alternatively, after a failed attack, they could retreat under the cover of tanks, and then launch another attack after a round of artillery fire from assault guns.

Meanwhile, as the resistance in the 11th district continued, in addition to the territorial army's graying old men, Joe was also able to gather the Paris National Guard who had been cut off and surrounded by the Teutonic rapid attack and help them reorganize their defenses.

However, just as in the Marne River basin in the east, the Teutons committed a large number of troops to the eleventh and twentieth districts and deployed artillery in the street fighting.

After Joe stabilized the defenses of District 11, his two tentative counterattacks yielded little result.

In Joe's first counterattack, the Paris task force had just entered the Teutonic-controlled area.

The Teutons then launched poison gas bombs into the area.

Since Joe hadn't anticipated that the Teutons would use poison gas against armored units, there were no gas masks prepared in the vehicle. At the same time, the sealing of any tank was not very good, so the attack ended hastily.

However, Paris was, after all, the capital of the Gauls, and as an important railway hub, the Gauls soon sent gas masks to Joe's troops.

Although the consequences of using a gas mask in an already stuffy vehicle are basically the same as wearing a face mask in a sauna.

But war is not a picnic, so it is naturally not so easy and carefree.

After launching another attack, although the problem of poison gas was solved, the Teutonic 77mm field guns were not so easily dealt with.

After losing an assault gun, destroying a Teutonic 77mm field gun, and recapturing a block, Joe ordered a halt to the attack to prevent further losses and because it was getting late.

By this time, the Teutons had controlled nearly a quarter of Paris, and a large area north of the Seneca River and east of the Saint-Martin Canal had been occupied by the Teutons.

The Teutonic advance was so terrifying that Joe dared not even withdraw his troops to the North Station for rest. Instead, he ordered the tanks to disengage from the Teutonics on the front line and resupply them with ammunition and fuel behind the front line.

They were ready to push their armored forces to the front lines to stabilize the already precarious defensive line should the Teutons launch an attack.

Although Joe knew that having the tanks make round trips in Paris and then not having them repaired and maintained in time after such intense fighting would greatly increase the probability of these tanks breaking down in the next battle.

But Joe doesn't care about that now.

Because it seemed they had discovered that Joe's Paris task force wouldn't be fighting at night, so on this night...

The Teutons did not follow the usual practice of defending at night and continuing the battle after dawn.

Instead, they launched continuous nighttime attacks on the Gauls' canal defenses, attempting to break into District 19, which was now guarded by colonial troops.

These small-scale attacks were a major headache for Joe and the Gallic commander in charge of the defense of northern Paris.

With such platoon-level attacks, Joe only needed to send out a small squad of chariots to easily defeat the Teutonic attack.

Even the Gauls' militia might have a chance to withstand an attack of this magnitude, so Joe usually wouldn't react to an attack of this scale.

However, the Teutons did not launch just one attack, nor did they launch attacks in just ten locations.

Instead, they launched these small-scale, high-frequency attacks continuously along the entire contact line. If they could capture the buildings controlled by the Gauls, that would be ideal, and the Teutons would immediately send troops to occupy those buildings.

After a period of rest, send out the same number of troops again to attack the surrounding area. If that doesn't work, try again in a different location after some time.

Furthermore, the officers of the Paris National Guard were almost all students still undergoing training at military academies.

These officers were extremely inexperienced and often mistook these small-scale attacks for the prelude to a large-scale attack, frantically sending messengers to nearby Paris detachment combat groups to request support.

Often, by the time the armored units of the Paris task force arrived, the Gauls would have already withstood the small-scale attack on their own. Even if the Teutons captured a building, they would immediately abandon it and retreat upon seeing the tanks arrive, leaving the tank units to waste ammunition on the empty building.

This method of attack disgusted Joe, but he was helpless against it. The Gauls couldn't hold out in street fighting, and he knew nothing about the situation outside Paris.

Although I had countless times wanted to concentrate my troops outside the city and give the Teutons a good kick in the back, instead of wrestling with them in the mud pits of street fighting.

But faced with this situation where the Gauls would be completely unable to hold their line without armored support, Joe could only curse them from inside the car, calling them utterly useless.

If they continue to be so incompetent, then Paris really won't be able to hold on!

Just when Joe felt that Paris might not be able to hold out if things continued like this, the Teutonic officers in the Teutonic command post outside the city were also cursing Joe's armored force for being too much of a hindrance.

Without Joe's armored force, they would have broken through the defenses in eastern Paris yesterday, and the front line should have advanced to Les Invalides today.

However, although they have now entered Paris, they are blocked by two rivers in the northeast corner of the city.

Furthermore, this offensive was itself a probing attack launched by the General Staff with the attitude of "going all in even if there's no chance of success."

Before they actually broke through the defenses in Champagne, no one could have imagined that they would arrive in Paris so easily. Therefore, the troops deployed in this offensive were all elite forces capable of rapid mobilization and deployment.

However, their numbers were truly small; occupying the northeastern corner of Paris was already the limit of what this force could achieve.

After the offensive has reached its limit, the chances of winning a direct confrontation with Joe's armored forces in urban warfare are really slim.

From a purely military perspective, now that the offensive has reached its limit, the task of this hastily assembled Paris combat group should not be to continue the offensive and engage in a bloody battle with the Gauls in the city of Paris.

Instead, it should gradually shift to a defensive posture to prepare for the next large-scale offensive.

However, given the sensitivity of Paris as the capital of Gaul, the political significance of occupying it now is no less than its military value.

Therefore, the General Staff ordered the Paris Battle Group not to withdraw and to maintain its presence in Paris.

Of course, since the Paris battle group was to be able to continue fighting in Paris, the General Staff was prepared to provide the Paris task force with some additional support.

However, the movements of the Lucia on the eastern front were not quite right, and at the same time, the Bunitania in the Somme direction did not relax their offensive.

Therefore, the General Staff could not spare a large number of infantry units; at most, it could only provide the Paris Task Force with two or three elite divisions for support.

However, due to the importance of Paris, the Teutonic General Staff was prepared to pull out all the good stuff they had hidden away and go all in.

Use overwhelming quality to solve the problem of the excessive number of Gauls in the Battle of Paris.

The Paris battle group has been saying that the Bunitas' armored forces are too troublesome, that they can't defeat them with sufficiently agile infantry, and that they can't defeat them with artillery.

Why not just reinforce the Paris battle group with armored units as well?

During the Battle of the Somme last year, the Teutons captured some Bunitania tanks that had been abandoned due to mechanical failures. After towing back the tanks that had been destroyed by artillery for repairs, the Teutons now had their own armored forces.

Meanwhile, after the General Staff handed over the prototype to the Seventh Transportation Office for research and imitation, the Teutons also obtained their own tanks.

Because these tanks were developed by the Seventh Traffic Division, they were called 'A7V'.

Of course, just as the early Teutonic Industries copied Bunitania's industrial products pixel by pixel, this tank named 'A7V' is also a copy of the Royal Fist MK-1 tank.

However, due to time constraints and heavy workload, the 'A7V' tank eliminated the left and right side turrets, retaining only the design of mounting a heavy cannon at the front of the vehicle and a machine gun turret on the roof.

Apart from that, the Royal Fist MK-1 tank retains almost all of its original shortcomings.

So after the tank was delivered to the troops, the Teutonic armored forces had a lot of complaints about it. They said that apart from being large, slow, having poor visibility, small space, and high fuel consumption, the tank was actually pretty good. But since you all have a prototype, why can't you just copy it? If you really can't, come and take a look at mine. I don't need optimization, just a one-to-one copy will do.

Given the armored forces' strong objections to the twenty A7V tanks that served as their main force, the Teutonic General Staff dispatched an armored train to Paris to provide support in order to resolve the issue completely.

Meanwhile, the Teutonic General Staff also prepared a large amount of poison gas on this armored train for the troops attacking Paris.

If the biggest problem preventing the Teutons from occupying Paris was people, then as long as there were no people, there would be no problem.

While the Teutonic General Staff dispatched the best mobile forces they could muster to Paris.

Bonitania and Gaul also made significant diplomatic progress.

Perhaps fearing that the huge loans extended to Gaul during the war would turn into bad debts, the United States of America formally declared war on the Teutonic Empire and made commitments to Gaul and Bonitania after a vote in Parliament with an overwhelming majority of 432 votes in favor and 88 votes against or abstaining.

They will send expeditionary forces to the Old World at a rate of 200,000 men per month to fight against the Teutonic Empire.

Meanwhile, under diplomatic pressure and assurances of postwar reconstruction in Bunitania and Gaul, the provisional government of Lucia promised to launch a large-scale offensive on the eastern front as soon as possible, attacking the Teutonic Empire's vulnerable homeland from the east.

Therefore, the Provisional Government of Lucia began to form "assault battalions" with the most fervent patriots and military academy students as the spearhead of the next offensive, hoping to inspire and humiliate the ordinary soldiers who refused to fight with their spirit of sacrifice and heroic deeds, and force them to follow up with the charge.

After all, the soldiers were tired of the brutal three-year war and formed a "Soldiers' Committee" on the front lines, openly defying the officers' orders.

Furthermore, the left-wing parties were spreading anti-war ideas in the army, advocating "peace, land, and bread," which led to an increasing number of deserters. Soldiers refused to attack and even held parties with German soldiers on the front lines, bringing the entire Lucia front to the brink of collapse.

Without forming new troops, the provisional government would find it difficult to launch a large-scale offensive by relying solely on these demoralized old troops.

At the same time that the assault battalion began to be formed, a legendary female soldier named Maria, who had been granted permission by the Tsar to fight like a man and had won many medals in the war, also stepped forward and said, "Let's form a combat force composed entirely of women and use our example to put men to shame!"

The provisional government also began to form the 'First Lucia Women's Assault Battalion' for propaganda purposes.

However, these events happening across the ocean and on the Eastern Front have no immediate impact on Joe, who is currently engaged in fierce fighting in Paris.

Because the Teutons had ripped a large hole in the front line.

Therefore, the overall defensive line of the troops was stretched out. In order to prevent the further collapse of the battle line, even Joe, who wanted to concentrate the use of armored forces, now had to reluctantly disperse the armored forces and act as a fire brigade on the battle line, plugging gaps everywhere.

Fortunately, this kind of firefighting force wasn't limited to Joe's Paris task force. After Jean-Pierre had a hard time holding off the Teutonic attack in the 19th arrondissement, he made a suggestion to the commander on the northern front.

The National Guard troops in the 19th arrondissement of Paris have now largely adapted to the rhythm of fighting the Teutons. The soldiers know when to fire and when to throw grenades without the guidance of their sergeants.

Without further training, the combat effectiveness of these militia units is basically at its peak, so why not select some non-commissioned officers and junior officers from these units?

How about forming a commando team to provide support to the positions under the most attack and pressure when the positions are under attack?

He did just that when he was commanding the 1st Battalion of the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

This is why he was able to hold out until reinforcements arrived each time.

Jean-Pierre's suggestion was accepted, and the Paris garrison began to select some non-commissioned officers and junior officers to form a battlefield fire brigade-like assault team to deal with the Teutonic attack.

This approach greatly reduced Joe's stress, allowing his Paris task force to finally stop running around and even have time to perform field maintenance on the tanks. At the same time, Joe finally made contact with the 56th Squadron in Brittany.

Then Joe learned that during the time he was deployed to Paris, they had been unable to contact him due to poor communication conditions.

However, three pilots have already earned the title of ace in routine missions to protect the airport and ensure the safety of the airspace around it.

Although they flew around Paris every day and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the dozen or so pilots in the squadron all wanted to know what Joe wanted them to do when he sent them to Paris.

Upon seeing the finally arriving flight squadron, Joe could only say, 'You've finally arrived! But it's too late!'

If this squadron can reach Paris before the Teutons break into the city, then Joe can send them to break through the Teutonic blockade and find places behind Paris, such as command posts or supply centers.

He could still lead his company and the hound squad to cause trouble for the Teutons by using their speed, but now the entire Paris task force could only act as a fire brigade in the city of Paris, grinding meat with the Teutons.

Even if this squadron managed to sneak into the Teutonic command post or logistics center, Joe wouldn't dare to drive recklessly out of the city.

However, it's clearly not a good idea to just have a squadron like this come along and then let them sit on the sidelines and watch the scenery.

So Joe, let them do their best to scout out the Teutonic movements around Paris. If they can take some photos, that would let him know if the Teutons have built any fortifications outside the city, or any supply points. If they can find the Teutonic command post, that would be even better.

The 56th Squadron felt that this task was indeed quite challenging, but not impossible.

Thus, starting on the sixth day after the outbreak of the Battle of Paris, the 56th Company began to launch frequent reconnaissance operations in platoon-sized units into the Teutonic-controlled areas outside Paris.

This action naturally provoked strong resistance from the Teutonic Air Force. Soon after discovering that it was difficult for a squadron to penetrate the airspace controlled by the Teutons, the 56th Squadron began to conduct reconnaissance of the Teutonic-controlled area outside Paris in the form of an entire squadron, with the cooperation of Gallic pilots.

At the same time, Joe finally got his big toys: self-propelled guns modified from MK-1 and MK-2 tank chassis, as well as the modified infantry fighting vehicles.

Due to the constraints of urban warfare and the threat from Teutonic artillery units, the tanks of the Paris Task Force could only serve as firing nodes, like nails driven into the front line, to stabilize the front and prevent the Teutons from finding any vulnerable spots and further expanding the front.

Given the size of the Paris task force, maintaining the current front line as a fire brigade is already the limit of their capabilities. If the front line is stretched further, the exhausted armored units may find themselves unable to attend to all aspects of the situation.

This led to a further stretching of the battle lines, ultimately resulting in a complete collapse.

Now, with these self-propelled artillery pieces, Joe can finally begin to launch attacks and try to shorten the battle lines.

With large-caliber artillery at his disposal, Joe no longer needed to find a way to bypass the buildings that blocked his field of fire before attacking the artillery that blocked the road.

Once the location of the Teutonic artillery is determined, have these big guys destroy the buildings that the artillery is using for concealment, and then send the artillery into the air.

Then, infantrymen can ride in infantry fighting vehicles and launch attacks under the cover of tanks.

(End of this chapter)