I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France.

Matthew took out the joystick to start the tractor, and got into the tank to prepare for battle amid the rumbling sound of the engine.

The first generation of tanks was very awkward. The machine gunner was almost at the same level as the driver in front of the tank. The driver could only observe the front through the palm-sized observation hole in his head. This is why someone drove the tank into the trench and got stuck before.

"Boom boom!" The first sound was still the sound of artillery.

Unlike before, this time it was not only the artillery of the 6th Army that was firing, but also the artillery of the 5th Army was firing fiercely in the direction of the Germans.

There were artillery sounds one after another outside, and the "rumbling" sound of the engine inside. In addition, Matthew could not hear any other sounds through the thick steel plate.

After waiting for a few minutes, Matthew saw the signal flag in front waved in the observation hole... This was a signal sent to him by the infantry. They tied the signal flag to a long curved pole so that they could stand on the side to command the tank to stop or move forward.

Matthew stepped on the accelerator and pulled the joystick, and the tank "rumbled" along the slope.

After driving out of the bunker, Matthew was shocked by what he saw. The front was shrouded in white smoke and dust, and the Marne Bridge was wrapped tightly and only the outline could be vaguely seen.

Is this Charles' plan?

Matthew cursed inwardly. In this guy's plan, did he consider the driver's vision problem?

If it weren't for his familiarity with the terrain in this area, he couldn't even drive the tank onto the bridge!

But Charles was right about one thing. The tank was very safe in the sound of artillery. The shells exploded almost in front of Matthew, and then gradually extended forward. Matthew carefully controlled the speed to follow the shells. He could even hear the sound of gravel hitting the steel plate.

Then, he was surprised to see a tank next to him being blown into a fireball by artillery fire, and it was even moving slowly.

Matthew suddenly realized that not only tanks, but also many infantrymen might be killed by artillery fire, the French artillery fire!

Matthew's mind was a mess, and his breathing gradually became rapid. He felt like he was sleepwalking on the edge of a cliff, and only when he woke up did he realize how dangerous it was.

The signal flag indicated that the tank would stop and move forward, sometimes steadily and sometimes bumpy.

Yves, who was hiding in front, fired the machine gun. The already turbid air in the tank cabin was filled with smoke and the choking smell of gunpowder, which made Matthew's breathing difficult and further blurred his vision.

Indistinctly, Matthew saw a Maxim machine gun leaning on the trench and several German bodies, and suddenly realized that the tank had crossed the trench dug by the Germans and even the trench.

At this time, Matthew was relieved, which meant that there were no obstacles ahead that could "bind" the tank.

Matthew was familiar with every inch of land here. He knew where the road was, where the hard ground was, where the quagmire that could trap the tank and make it unable to move, and he could even roughly guess where the enemy's headquarters was.

He felt like a fish escaping into the sea, and he felt free!

In order to verify his idea, Matthew stepped on the accelerator to accelerate, and at the same time, he turned the steering wheel, and the tank changed direction at a large angle with a "boom".

Machine gunner Yves turned around and looked at Matthew, his eyes full of doubt. He shouted with all his strength amid the noise and gunfire: "Are you off track, Matthew?"

"Believe me!" Matthew answered loudly, with confidence in his tone: "We are on the right path now!"

...

Kluck set up his headquarters between two hills on the north bank, and with him were five M field guns that followed.

The reason why the headquarters and artillery were deployed here was to take into account the French army's advantage in artillery.

Other French weapons may not be good, but the performance of the 75MM field gun is quite excellent... It is equipped with a hydraulic recoil mechanism, and the maximum firing rate can reach an astonishing 30 rounds per minute.

Ironically, this mechanism was invented by the Germans, but Krupp Company did not like it and refused to use it at the time. The inventor had no choice but to sell the patent to France.

With the absolute disadvantage in the number of artillery and firing rate, Kluck could only deploy the headquarters and artillery in the blind spot of enemy artillery fire.

Another benefit of doing this is that the artillery can block the bridgehead so that the enemy "armored monsters" and infantry cannot pass through the Marne Bridge.

"Artillery ready!" Kluck gave an order, and the well-trained artillery immediately loaded the artillery with shells and prepared to fire.

The French artillery was bombarding the bridgehead. Kluck believed that the "armored monster" that defeated the first regiment would soon appear at the bridgehead, and then they would be blown up to the sky.

Suddenly, Kluck vaguely saw a little black shadow in the telescope.

The black shadow was not obvious, and it only flashed in the smoke when the flames from the artillery fire were about to disappear.

Kluck was startled, and he recognized that it was the French "armored monster". They were not about to cross the bridge, but had already crossed the bridge, under the cover of artillery smoke!

"These bastards!" Kluck turned his head and ordered the artillery: "Fire, fire now!"

"Boom boom!" The artillery fired shells one after another, followed by another batch.

Kluck raised his telescope and looked towards the bridgehead. He realized with horror that it was too late. The "armored monsters" had already jumped beyond the range of the artillery. All the shells hit them behind them.

"How did they get through the trenches and trenches?" Kluck was puzzled. In the previous battle, these guys clearly couldn't cross the trenches, but now they walked on flat ground.

No one answered him because no one knew the answer.

The German soldiers guarding the front line were once again scared off by the "armored monster", while the French army, led by the "monster", stabbed into the German flank like a sharp knife.

"Aim at those guys!" Kluck anxiously ordered the artillery.

However, it is not easy for field artillery to hit moving targets, and they rely more on the number of shells to cover an area in batches.

The enemy's "armored monster" dispersed after passing the bridgehead, leaving the German army's limited five guns at a loss as to which target to hit.

The battle-hardened Kluck remained calm in the face of danger. After thinking for a while, he issued two orders:

"Guard Battalion, organize defense at the valley entrance!"

"Artillery, concentrate on marking two hundred meters in front of the valley entrance!"

The valley entrance is between two hills, and the narrowest part is only more than thirty feet. Once the "armored monster" breaks into the valley entrance, it is inevitable to be covered by artillery fire.

But just as the guard battalion and the artillery were ready, a "crackling" sound suddenly came from the ridge trail behind the side, and then an "armored monster" appeared behind the defense line. It paused in the eyes of everyone's astonishment, and then quickly swooped down along the slope of the ridge, and there was a faint cheer of "Yo He".

The tank rushed while spitting out flames crazily, and more than a dozen artillerymen were shot and fell to the ground on the spot.

The other artillerymen ran away, they didn't want to stay here and wait for death, how could human flesh fight against this "armored monster"?

The guard battalion was frightened by this sudden change and hurriedly withdrew from the defense line to protect Kluke...

"General!" The commander of the guard battalion suggested: "Retreat, this place can't be defended!"

What he meant was: If you don't leave, you will become the highest-ranking commander of our army to be captured or killed!