Chapter 16: Bearing Wall
"You have a way to deal with them?" Captain Three-Fingers Basil asked.
"Yes..." Qin Chuan looked around and requested, "Sir, I need paper and a pen."
Basil nodded to the side, and a staff member opened a bag to take out a notebook. Basil elegantly pulled a pen from the pocket on his left chest and handed it to Qin Chuan... It was often said that German officers maintained the habit of learning even during combat, and at this moment, Qin Chuan started to believe it.
Qin Chuan took the pen and notebook, flipped to the middle, and quickly sketched a rough layout of the school on a blank page. He then handed it to Basil and said, "Sir, the school uses brick walls as load-bearing walls, especially this central one..."
Qin Chuan pointed to the prominent main wall in the middle of the sketch and said, "If we destroy this main wall..."
"The whole building will collapse?" Basil looked at Qin Chuan in surprise.
"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan replied. "It may not collapse entirely, as there are other load-bearing walls, but at least the middle part will. This would not only bury the British soldiers under the rubble but also trap their tanks underneath, rendering them immobile. At that point, we can break through their defensive line."
Basil gave Qin Chuan a look of approval, then returned his gaze to the sketch, pondering for a moment before nodding and saying, "Excellent suggestion, Private. You should come with me."
Basil led Qin Chuan along the street, turned a corner, and after passing through some rubble, entered a building.
As soon as they stepped inside, Qin Chuan realized it was the German temporary command post because several radios were buzzing with Morse code, and communication officers were shouting into telephones.
Basil brought Qin Chuan before a man wearing a wide-brimmed officer's cap with a pistol strapped to his belt. The man was standing sideways to Qin Chuan, staring intently at a map on the table, seemingly troubled by the British defensive line in front of him.
Basil stood at attention and saluted the officer, saying, "Major!"
Qin Chuan then realized that this officer was his battalion commander.
The major lifted his head and looked at Basil with a puzzled expression. Frowning, he said, "Lieutenant, the troops are scheduled to attack in a few minutes. Shouldn't you be at the front, directing them?"
"Major!" Basil explained, "My soldier has some ideas about attacking the enemy's defensive line. I thought you might be interested in hearing them."
"Oh?" The major glanced at Qin Chuan standing beside Basil, then returned his gaze to the map on the table. "If you have suggestions, go ahead. I'm listening."
Basil nodded toward Qin Chuan and handed him the notebook.
Qin Chuan, holding the notebook, approached the major, but he noticed that the major wasn't even looking at him.
Feeling a bit awkward, Qin Chuan continued, "My idea is this... our attack should focus on the school. It's the enemy's high ground. We can use snipers to cover a few anti-tank guns and target the school's load-bearing wall. This will bring it down..."
"Hmm!" The major responded absentmindedly, but soon realized what Qin Chuan was saying. He looked up in shock and asked, "Did you just say... we could bring down the school?"
"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan replied.
"How would you do that?" The major clearly hadn't paid full attention to Qin Chuan earlier.
"With anti-tank guns, sir. Targeting the school's load-bearing wall!" Qin Chuan answered.
As he spoke, Qin Chuan handed the notebook to the major and pointed to the location of the load-bearing wall. "Here. We should focus our fire on the lower-middle section, and conveniently, it's exposed directly down a street, so we can attack from a distance where the enemy's tanks and firepower, due to the building's obstruction, will have difficulty threatening our anti-tank guns!"
The major carefully examined the sketch in the notebook, then asked, "Are you sure this will bring it down?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Qin Chuan nodded.
Qin Chuan had studied engineering... An archaeologist must understand some basic engineering principles to avoid unforeseen dangers when entering tombs or caves for excavation.
The major's furrowed brow slowly relaxed. He looked at the sketch, said, "Very well," and then glanced at his watch before giving orders to his staff, "Order: Delay the attack by twenty minutes. We have a better plan!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Lieutenant!" The major then turned to Basil and said, "Your soldier has done well. I'm entrusting your unit with the task of bringing down the school. I'll coordinate with the anti-tank regiment to provide the necessary support."
"Yes, sir!" Basil accepted the mission with a salute.
As they left the command post, Basil voiced his concern, "I hope you're right about this. If we can't bring down the school, you know what kind of responsibility we'll bear?"
Qin Chuan shook his head, "No, sir."
"Dereliction of duty, understand?" Basil said.
Qin Chuan was taken aback. That was no small charge... But it made sense. The major had originally planned a different attack strategy, but it was completely overhauled based on Qin Chuan's suggestion. If it failed... it could affect the entire unit's, or even the entire army's, offensive.
The thought sent a chill down Qin Chuan's spine. "Dereliction of duty" was a serious offense, one punishable by execution. He could end up dead not from the battle but from his own comrades because of a failed plan.
But there was no turning back now. Qin Chuan had to stick with his plan.
The German forces moved quickly. Anti-tank guns were soon brought into position across from the school, just as Qin Chuan had instructed.
This was partly due to the high mobility of the German anti-tank guns... The PAK 36 anti-tank gun weighed only 4 kilograms and was mounted on large, pneumatic tires. It could be easily maneuvered by two or three soldiers.
However, Qin Chuan was concerned when he learned from the gunners that they were short on ammunition... One of the biggest issues in desert warfare was supply, and the PAK 36 anti-tank gun had a particularly awkward problem: its ammunition was much heavier compared to other supplies like rifle bullets, and it couldn't penetrate the enemy's "Matilda" tanks... The PAK 36's penetration depth was only 6mm at a distance of 500 meters, which was less than half the thickness of the "Matilda's" front armor.
As a result, many units, especially artillery units, had already requested that the logistics teams send fewer or even no PAK 36 shells. They preferred to exchange those shells for howitzer rounds or 88mm flak gun shells.
But the battlefield has a way of proving its importance at the most unexpected times. Just when everyone thought it was unnecessary, it became crucial.
In the end, the anti-tank regiment managed to scrounge up only fifty-three shells, and that was after searching everywhere.
This meant that Qin Chuan had only fifty-three shells to bring down the school.
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