Chinese Warlord From Joseon - Chapter 439



Only Krnovel

Sandworm capture operation 3

De Gaulle’s Foreign Legion was divided into three battle groups.

The 1st Battle Group is an elite force, including 99 new Renaults.

First, he was in charge of striking the center and securing a breakthrough.

When the path opens, the 2nd Battle Group moves.

Infantry armed with rifles and machine guns move straight to support the tanks.

From this point on, the battle really starts to heat up.

So what will the remaining 3rd Battle Group do?

In fact, what truly makes the Foreign Legion stand out is not the armor or the infantry.

It was a special forces unit that included the 3rd Battle Group.

Five minutes before the Benghazi strike.

Charles de Gaulle muttered quietly, overcome by an indescribable emotion.

“We are comfortable. We are rough and tough. We are not ordinary people… We are the Foreign Legion, immersed in a peculiar dark atmosphere…”

De Gaulle memorizes the march of the Foreign Legion.

Originally, it should have been accompanied by a powerful melody, but the march, which was played while standing tall in the wilderness and mumbling, sounded at first like a funeral march.

“Our ancestors died… only for the glory of the Foreign Legion. We too will all disappear. Completely, according to tradition… ”

De Gaulle, who was reciting the march alone, felt a presence next to him.

The commanders approached after hearing the recitation.

There was no sign of remorse on their faces.

It was full of only firm determination and commitment.

The commanders began to sing the marching song all at once without being asked to do so.

The atmosphere of the song, which had been like a funeral march, naturally came back to life.

“Operations in distant places! Facing heat and flames! Let’s forget them together with our sorrow!”

Later on, it really became a choir.

“Even death is too small to forget! Let us forget it together with our suffering! We are the Foreign Legion!”

After finishing his chant, de Gaulle twitched his moustache and sniffled.

The adjutant asked.

“Huh…? Are you crying?”

“Idiot, it’s just sand that got in. Tell everyone to brace themselves. After the 1st Battle Group charges in, the rearguard’s charge should continue smoothly, like flowing water.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“And the remaining 3rd Battle Group…”

De Gaulle looked back at his commanders standing awkwardly on the sand dunes.

Most of them belong to the 3rd Battle Group.

In the growing Foreign Legion, these were comrades who had been with him from the beginning.

“I’m sure you know what to do.”

The commanders nodded without answering.

“Okay, to each their own positions.”

De Gaulle stared at the backs of the scattering commanders, took out his pocket watch, and checked the time.

“You got the idea. I’ll count down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… I’m launching the attack.”

Pufufufu!

With the sound of mortar fire exploding one after another, the French and Chinese armies began to engage in combat.

***

This war was also a battlefield that tested the military doctrines that each country had been honing.

In the Spanish War, the Renault tank, which was deployed for testing, demonstrated its powerful capabilities and ended the war in an instant.

The Petain government’s trust in Renault was so great that they even took prisoner 10,000 Chinese soldiers stationed in Barcelona.

The mobility to cross the Sahara was certainly something to be proud of.

If it had been a British Matilda tank, they would never have dared to attempt a detour of several hundred kilometers.

It was an operation that only the Foreign Legion, full of affection for France, could attempt.

Prrrrrr···.

How many people know that whenever a tram passes over a sandy plain, it makes this strange sound?

Looking at the deep dents left in the place where it passed, it seems possible to understand why the Chinese military named the operation Sandworm.

Because it looks like a huge beast is writhing and churning through the sand.

On a land full of nothing but sand.

The sight of 99 tanks advancing against the blazing sun must have been a rare spectacle.

But the Libyans who witnessed this scene right in front of them had to quickly lie down on the ground before they could feel any emotion.

Simultaneous artillery fire came from the French positions and Renault tanks.

Once again, the city of Benghazi was condemned to suffer.

There was no visible barrier to stop Renault.

He said he was caught in his own trap.

As the city was located hundreds of kilometers from the front lines, the Chinese army did not appear to have established any special defense lines.

But at 10 AM, two hours after the offensive began.

The French 1st Battle Group was just about to approach the city.

The Foreign Legion had to halt its advance when it discovered the sudden appearance of burning dots from the west.

The Black Turtle, which I had only heard of.

A demonic object symbolizing a beast from the Bible.

Overwhelmed by the terrible notoriety, the commander of the 1st Battle Group hesitated.

Even though I was expecting a tank battle, getting hit in the side was unexpected.

If we attack the city like this, it will be possible to capture it, but the rear will be completely disrupted by enemy tanks.

Compared to the Hyunmoo, there is one thing that Renault lacks.

The lack of communication facilities.

If Hyunmu had installed wireless equipment in each vehicle, it would have been possible to communicate instantly from tens of kilometers away.

The Renault tank did not have any communication equipment, so signals had to be sent and received by waving flags from outside.

It was an inevitable choice due to design structural problems and limitations of wireless technology in installing a communicator.

Ultimately, this difference became the turning point of the Second Battle of Benghazi.

“All forces, turn your guns to the left. Enter into a tank-to-tank battle.”

The first division commander immediately sent a signal to all units, ordering them to engage the newly appeared Chinese tanks.

However, due to the unexpected situation, the order was not delivered on time and confusion arose.

A vehicle that turns left to deal with the Black Turtle as instructed by the captain.

A vehicle trying to break through towards the city.

The vehicle that somehow got tangled in the middle and understood the order to retreat and pulled to the rear.

Visibility was already poor due to sand clouds floating in the air.

There, Renault shells loaded with high-explosive bombs poured out acrid black smoke, filling the sky over Benghazi.

The first division commander belatedly tried to attract attention by firing a yellow flare, but the urgency of the scene did not allow time to pay attention to flares or anything like that.

The Chinese military in Benghazi did not stay still either.

Anti-tank guns hidden throughout the building opened fire one after another.

Originally, the 2nd Battle Group should have been deployed at this point.

We had to engage in full-scale street fighting and destroy the hidden Chinese troops.

However, due to the confusion in the command structure of the armored force, Renault’s main force was still wandering around the outskirts of the city.

So, the 2nd Battle Group had no choice but to wait vaguely.

puck!

The Chinese tank fired its gun, probably thinking that we were within striking distance.

But the shells were unusual in that they didn’t explode.

The Chinese were throwing iron pellets that did not contain gunpowder.

“What is this?”

Looking at that sight, the first division commander briefly ridiculed the Chinese army’s poor technology.

Are you saying that since you don’t have the technology to load high-explosive bombs, you’re just shooting useless scrap metal?

But when Renault, which was advancing right next to them, was hit by a flying projectile.

When technicians had to watch as the steel plate armor they were so confident in was pierced like a sheet of paper, rendering them inoperable in a single blow.

It was only then that the First Division commander realized that the Chinese artillery shells were not mere hunks of scrap metal, but armor-piercing shells specially designed to maximize efficiency.

The principle behind the tank’s invincible penetration power is simple.

This is because of the shell’s impermeable defense.

This is thanks to the welded armor that cannot be penetrated by gunpowder explosions or anything like that.

The French military manufactured expensive, high-powered bombs to destroy the tanks.

The Chinese military’s direction was different.

If it had been a normal armor-piercing bullet, it would not have been able to penetrate the armor, unlike what we just saw.

The hardness of the armor-piercing bullet would not have been able to withstand it and it would have bent or bounced off first.

However, the Black Turtle’s armor-piercing bullet penetrated Renault’s heart without any interference.

It was clear that some special alloy had been used to increase the hardness of the core.

Gurrrrrrung···!

Moreover, it did not end with a simple suspension of operations.

The Renault was usually loaded with more than 50 shells.

The spilled fuel and high explosives met, causing a fire to break out in an instant, and the explosions accelerated in succession.

“Blood, avoid it!”

I shouted late, but the flames had already spread out of control.

Before I knew it, a black shadow was approaching in front of me.

The first division chief felt that the current situation was truly ironic.

“I thought the operation was ruined because of those guys who didn’t understand orders and retreated… Now, you guys are our hope, damn it… At least we avoided the worst-case scenario of the battle group being annihilated.”

Would the outcome have been different if the fight had taken place in a properly controlled environment?

The captain shook his head quietly.

The difference in accumulated experience is too great.

To begin with, most of the 1st Battle Group were not from the Foreign Legion.

It was a unit that the French government, dissatisfied with Britain’s independent operations, forcibly inserted into the Middle East under the pretext of the Foreign Legion.

Given that, perhaps it’s only natural that things are such a mess.

“Retreat.”

A red signal was sent up, but it was not expected how many Renaults would notice the order.

***

Armored units deployed with fierce momentum.

But de Gaulle was half in doubt.

If nothing else, defeating the Soviet armored forces head-on in Central Asia was no easy task.

De Gaulle’s goal from the beginning was not to win the tank war.

I couldn’t help but be flustered by the miserable sight of Renault returning home, groaning.

I wasn’t feeling very good though.

De Gaulle bombarded Benghazi day and night for three days.

But the city did not collapse.

This is because the point of impact itself was unclear in the first place.

There was no such thing as a defensive battery in Benghazi.

There were no trenches, no barbed wire, no mines.

All that remained were armoured and infantry units.

Unless the enemy is crushed by an all-out war, it is nothing more than an empty bombardment with no goal to achieve.

“General, here is a telegram.”

As bad as the defeat was, it was bad news.

British commander Montgomery’s telegram was full of profanity.

It was an unbearable humiliation to see an attitude like a superior scolding a subordinate.

?···You mocked the British army by calling them pirates, but I can’t even say that you look good. What are you going to do? Because of your unit that arbitrarily left the operational radius, our supply line has been completely disrupted. Do you understand what I mean? For the time being, I won’t be able to send even a single grain of food to you little rats!?

I wonder if they think we won’t see each other again.

However, the content is too much for a commander of a foreign country.

“Of course, I’m not worried. I know the French people’s eating habits very well. If there are no snails, they’ll eat scorpions. If there’s no cheese, they’ll eat mud. I believe they’ll survive just fine.”

Did you send the telegram just to insult me?

De Gaulle clenched his fist without realizing it, but the main point could be read in the last part.

“P.S. There will be a full-scale offensive by the Royal Armoured Division at an appropriate time, so if you survive until then, the Foreign Legion should also cooperate. That’s all.”

If you hit Benghazi from both sides, you still have a chance.

To stop the British advance from the west, a significant portion of the troops stationed in Benghazi would have to be withdrawn.

And de Gaulle has not even attempted a real operation yet.

Special operations of the 3rd Battle Group that staked the honor of the Foreign Legion.

Their ability to conduct operations in harsh environments could potentially change the course of this war.

This is an operation that takes advantage of the characteristics of a vast but sparsely populated desert.

An operation to secretly infiltrate the city of Benghazi, which has no proper defense line, and create a street fighting situation within the city.

It seems more like an espionage operation than a war, but it is an operation that only the Foreign Legion can carry out.

De Gaulle was not at all discouraged.

The only thing that burned more and more passionately was the love for the great French.