Chapter 845 The frightened bird
There was no explosives at Reims Town Hall.

Ciel wanted to do that, but it was the town hall, in the middle of the city.

There is no point in burying explosives in public, as the Germans could easily find out in advance and all efforts would be in vain.

Not only would it waste precious explosives and time, it would also cause panic in the city hall and even nearby residents. After all, no one wants to work and live on explosives.

However, this did not prevent Charles from spreading the “fake news” that “explosives were buried under the City Hall.”

The benefit was that the Germans hurriedly moved their headquarters out of the city hall.

At least during this period, the Germans were in a state of confusion and lack of command.

Hutier didn’t even know where to set up his headquarters.

School?

Classes were suspended there and the area was far away from residential areas, making it easy for French bombers to “target and eliminate” the area.

Residential residence?

There are many people around and a few gunmen or explosive packs hidden among them can blow the headquarters to pieces.

factory?

They are similar to schools and offer no overhead security.

In the end, Hutier chose a grocery store, which was more than 200 meters away from the residential area and was surrounded by a dozen scattered houses.

Hutier thought the issue had come to an end, but the staff officer kept reporting:
“General, someone said they saw the French burying explosives on Mont Saint-Thierry.”

“It is said that there are some in Mount Behan.”

“There’s also a French military camp, not only are there explosives but also gasoline barrels buried there!”

……

Hutier was stunned for a moment.

These places are fortifications and facilities left by the French army. Since the French army could bury explosives on Mount Momberg, it is possible that they could bury them in other places.

But what can we do?
Let the soldiers dig underground to verify?
In such a large area, who knows where the French army buried the explosives?

What’s more, we can’t even be sure whether it exists or not, so how can we verify it!

Withdraw the soldiers from the position?

This means giving up almost all positions, including the two high grounds in the east and west, which are the two gateways to Reims.

Suddenly Hutier understood, this is what Charles wanted:
He wanted the German soldiers to be terrified.

He hoped that German soldiers would feel their scalps tingling when they stood on any piece of land, wondering if there were explosives under their feet.

Then, when you least expect it, it was suddenly blown into the sky and torn into pieces, and not even a complete body part could be found.

Then, Charles’s troops would be able to capture Reims without any effort.

Thinking of this, Hutier shouted at the staff officer who came to report, completely losing his usual demeanor:

“There’s no dynamite, understand? Not anywhere. These are just rumors spread by French spies.”

“If anyone says something like that again, they will be shot immediately.”

“Also, order the troops to hold their posts. No one is allowed to retreat under any circumstances!”

The staff officer turned pale with fear and quickly responded, “Yes, General.”

However, there is a paradox in Hutier’s order:
If there was no explosives, how was Mount Mombech blown up?
If there were no explosives, why would Hutier and his senior officers move out of City Hall?
Is there a possibility that the person who actually spread the rumor was Hutier, in order to hold the line even at the cost of all the soldiers’ lives?
The German soldiers, who were in a “frightened bird” state, were obviously more willing to believe the latter.

As a result, the 18th Army, known as the “Tiger of the Empire”, began to have deserters. Those who did not flee looked around in panic, trying to find clues of explosives buried under their feet.

They did not realize that under this huge threat, they had ignored the fact that Charles’ troops were getting closer and closer to them.

……

Erwin’s tanks had crossed the Seine.

This was in preparation for the attack on Mézières. As soon as the 17th Army arrived, they would advance at full speed straight to their destination.

Erwin even sent engineers and infantry to build roads to ensure that the tank troops could reach their destination tomorrow.

“We may be blocked by the enemy.” Erwin pointed to the map and said to Manstein: “Here, and here, there is a new defense line built by the French army.”

Manstein replied: “I suppose they are Foch’s troops.”

“Yes.” Erwin nodded: “So we don’t need to worry too much. He may even launch a counterattack against us.”

Foch’s offensive tactics had long been “famous”, even the Germans knew about it.

The reason why he said “possibly a counterattack” was because Erwin knew that Foch had recently changed under the influence of Charles.

“They are not a threat.” Erwin was confident: “They have no tanks, and they don’t have enough time to build a defense line. They will quickly collapse under our offensive.”

“The most troublesome thing is the Meuse River.” Manstein pointed his finger on the map: “Mézières is on the east bank of the Meuse River.”

“Yes.” Erwin smiled slightly, “So I brought the ‘Belt-type Boat Bridge’ with me. It’s a really good thing.”

Manstein and Erwin looked at each other and smiled.

Charles would certainly never have imagined that the “belt pontoon bridge” he invented would be used by the German tank troops and even in the battle to besiege Charles.

Is this considered digging Ciel’s own grave?

Suddenly, a series of violent explosions caused the two men to turn around at the same time.

The German soldiers who were building fortifications stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the sound. Some tank soldiers opened the hatches to check the situation, as they thought they were under enemy fire.

I saw black smoke rising from the direction of Mount Mombeh, which soon covered half the sky like dark clouds before a rainstorm.

“What’s going on?” Erwin frowned.

He had a bad feeling. Could it be that Charles was up to something new?

“Perhaps it was Charles who was attacking,” Manstein guessed. “They used large-caliber artillery? God, this artillery may be larger than the Paris cannon!”

But neither of them thought it was a cannon, but they couldn’t guess what it was other than a cannon.

Just as they were wondering, they heard the radioman behind them shouting, “General, Mount Mombech has been lost. Charles buried explosives there. The noise just now was him detonating the explosives!”

Both Erwin and Manstein looked pale in an instant, and they saw shock in each other’s eyes.

Charles actually buried explosives on the high ground in advance?

This enabled him to instantly conquer the previously impassable Rance Valley…

Erwin turned his gaze to the map, then shook his head solemnly: “It’s over, everything is over!”

“No, we still have a chance,” Manstein said, “We just need to hold on to Reims until the 17th Army arrives…”

“You don’t know Charles, Colonel.” Erwin interrupted Manstein: “If Charles sets a trap, it will be a series of traps. He won’t give us any chances. Do you understand?”

Manstein was stunned: “You mean, he also has arrangements in Reims?”

“Of course!” Erwin nodded affirmatively, but Hutier didn’t realize it yet.

(End of this chapter)