Chapter 561 We won!

Lieutenant General Ives pointed his baton behind the German defense line on the map and spoke in a brisk tone:

"The focus is on the German artillery!"

"We all know that the German artillery has the advantage, and the French army only has 75MM infantry guns. Their range is far from enough to compete with the German army."

In the Somme area, the Allied artillery had the upper hand because the British concentrated thousands of artillery pieces of various calibers.

The congressmen nodded one after another. They seemed to have seen the tragic scene of French soldiers being blasted into the sky by German 105MM artillery.

…

"Swish swish"

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

Amidst the roaring sounds, the rockets headed straight for the German 105MM artillery position with bright lines.

They were landing craft equipped with rocket launchers. They were traveling down the Somme River. They were at the back of the team, but because they had a range of 8 kilometers, they were the first to attack the enemy.

The 12 modified landing craft were equipped with a total of 120 rocket launchers, and all 1,440 rockets they carried were fired within a few minutes.

Rows of rockets, carrying the breath of death, roared across the sky amidst the roar of the engines, leaving long trails in the sky.

The explosion sounded immediately, deafening, and the fire and smoke instantly swallowed up the entire sky. The German artillery and corpses that were blown up into the sky shuttled back and forth in the light and smoke.

Occasionally, there are artillery shells detonating, they explode like mushroom clouds, and the flames jump like living creatures, licking all the combustible things around them.

On the north bank of the Somme, Haig, who was watching the play with a gloating mood, was frightened by this scene.

"What is that?" Haig exclaimed: "The French blew up the German ammunition depot? But they don't have artillery with such a long range!"

The staff officer saw it clearly and reported: "General, those are rockets."

"Rockets?" Haig looked confused, put away his telescope and looked sideways at the staff officer: "You mean the rockets used by Charles in Namur? It actually has a longer range than the German 105MM artillery!"

"General." The staff officer pointed to the rocket launch site, where there was still a large area of ​​smoke that had not dissipated: "That should be the Somme River."

"Somme?" Haig looked shocked. Rockets could actually be launched in the river?

Then he realized that it was a ship. That bastard Charles had put rockets on the ship and fired them at the enemy!

…

In the Paris House of Representatives, Lieutenant General Ives's baton was stroking calmly and leisurely at the front of the German defense line.

"The Germans would build anti-tank trenches here, wide and deep enough to stop any tank trying to get through."

"The Shire used bridge erecting vehicles to quickly cross trenches in Namur, but that doesn't work here."

"The German army has aimed a large number of artillery at the tank trenches. They will destroy all vehicles approaching the anti-tank trenches, including bridge erecting vehicles!"

The faces of the congressmen were ashen. Ciel must not know this, so he launched a counterattack so rashly.

…

The "Shire A1" tank "clacked" from the landing craft to the shore.

The Germans didn't notice at all. The sound of artillery coming and going and the dense rockets covered up all the sounds.

Due to heavy rains in recent days, the river water surged, and the landing craft did not lower the landing board until it reached hard ground. 12 tanks drove off the boat one after another.

Around them were groups of French soldiers on amphibious landing ships. As soon as they landed, they jumped off the ship and stood in front of and behind the tanks holding rifles in their hands.

Major General Christian personally led the team. After he got off the boat, he looked forward vigilantly, then glanced around, took out the revolver in his waist and ordered: "Advance!"

The tank made a "rumbling" sound and led the soldiers forward in an orderly manner, getting faster and faster, and soon rushed into the enemy's artillery position.

The German artillery, which had just been "washed" by rockets, was still unable to recover.

Some of them ran back and forth to rescue the wounded, some used telephones to communicate with observers, and more were busy adjusting the muzzles of their guns under the command of officers in an attempt to launch a counterattack at the rocket launch site.

Suddenly, a group of enemies emerged from the dim sky, and they were also enemies equipped with tanks. They broke into the artillery position and killed them randomly like tigers rushing into a herd of sheep.

The grenades roared, and the flying bullets knocked down the artillerymen who had not had time to pick up their rifles in a pool of blood.

The tank slammed into an artillery piece, and its tracks ruthlessly ran over the gun body that fell to the ground, making bursts of wailing sounds like steel breaking.

Flames erupted from the tank's muzzle, blasting an ammunition truck in front into a ball of fire. The nearby German troops were violently thrown into the air in a bright fire.

…

Paris House of Representatives.

Lieutenant General Ives shook his head, with a deep smile on his face:

"Gentlemen, it's too late."

"No one could have imagined that Charles would choose to attack, choose to attack at this time."

"Now, the only thing that can save France is the British army. Only if they cross the Somme in time to reinforce the south bank and fill the gap, the Germans will not be able to overwhelm our defense line like a flood."

There was a panic in the conference room, and the MPs were whispering among themselves.

Then someone stood up and called: "What are we waiting for? Make a decision, we should unified command!"

Another meaning of "unified command" is to hand over command to Haig.

The councilors nodded, thinking this was the best option.

Gallieni looked pale. He knew that the members would pass this resolution, and it was useless no matter how much he objected.

Because most people have believed what Lieutenant General Ives said.

The staff handed out ballots to the members of parliament, and collected them one by one after filling them out. Finally, the votes were counted while they were being read out on the podium.

The situation was just as Gallieni had thought. Most of the members of parliament chose "unified command", and it was a one-sided advantage.

However, just as the counting was coming to an end, Lieutenant Colonel Fernan suddenly pushed open the door of the parliament and shouted to Gallieni in an excited tone: "General, we won!"

The members of parliament "wowed" and turned their eyes to Lieutenant Colonel Fernan at the same time. Even the staff who were counting the votes stopped what they were doing.

"What victory?" someone asked.

Lieutenant General Avis was stunned, and then said confidently: "It must be the reinforcements of the British army. They beat back the Germans!"

Gallieni stood up and looked at Lieutenant Colonel Fernan involuntarily. He also wanted to know the answer.

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan clenched his fist and waved it in front of his chest: "It was Charles, General, Charles' counterattack defeated the Germans! The Germans collapsed across the board, and our army advanced 5 kilometers in one breath, 5 kilometers!"

The venue was in an uproar, is this possible?

Under this situation, the counterattack was actually won, and it also advanced 5 kilometers?

Lieutenant General Ives's smile froze on his face, no, this is not true, there is no reason for this result!

Galieni laughed "Haha": "I knew that this little guy would not let me down!"

He walked a few steps and stood at the edge of the audience, proudly puffed up his chest and looked down at the parliamentarians below, his voice was crisp and powerful but full of sarcasm: "Gentlemen, you can continue to vote, hand over the command to the British!"