Within a half hour the Group had reached the position of their scouts.

Seeing the situation with his own eyes, Langlade considered again and still decided to use the same tactics. Everyone got ready for the upcoming battle. Protective sheeting was laid around the gunners and drivers slits. You could never be too careful. The tanks separated into flanking groups waiting for Langlade to give the order. Gunners ready? Ready, came the reply from around the Group. Fire. The rolling thunder of shots being fired sounded across the field. The rattle of machine guns from both sides drowned out all thought. Langlade could see dirt being kicked up around the nests. Langlade knew that each shot missed could spell trouble later on. When the dust settled, about half of the foxholes were destroyed. He gave the order to advance. The rumble of the tanks harmonized with the bullets and shells being fired, and the carefully orchestrated formation drove across the field towards the enemy. It must be extremely unnerving to have a 33 ton hunk of steel that shoots shells 76mm across heading towards your position. Multiply this by at least 10 and you get a situation no infantry member wants to be facing. The Germans werent suicidal in any way, and after firing a few defiant shots - which were answered with pleasure they retreated back, thus giving Langlades Tactical Group a breach in enemy lines. After making one last radio message before they bridged the gap, the Group passed behind enemy lines. When the battle finished, Langlade experienced this feeling of relief that shouldnt have been accompanied with this seemingly easy battle. But when Langlade reflected on why he was so relieved, he realized that it was because an easy first victory not only opened the way into the enemy flank, but it also increased the morale of his men and decreased the morale of the enemy. Langlade knew that leaving fallen comrades behind definitely wasnt an easy decision by the Germans. If he could, no man, dead or alive, would ever be left behind on his watch. He hoped that the good omen of this first victory meant that he wouldnt have to make these hard decisions. The Group proceeded with haste until dusk, and when they reached a fairly large copse of trees and undergrowth Langlade gave the general order for rest, and fires popped up all around the now camouflaged vehicles. He could hear men chatting while they ate their rations from their mess kits. Men were smiling and laughing, and soon a group of friends started singing La Marseillaise, and the whole body of men joined in singing the patriotic and well-written anthem of our great cause. If it werent for the blasted warthought Langlade. To any person who, god-forbid, didnt know about the war, this would have been a cause to rally against the German suppressionists as the song so valiantly calls for: Aux armes, Citoyens. After a little while when the flames of the multiple campfires had died down and most of the men gone to sleep, Langlade stayed up and considered their situation. They were approaching the town of Vittel, which was probably not very well defended, considering that the defeat of the German infantry

had only happened a couple of hours earlier, and there was no way the message could have traveled so fast. Langlade decided that the next morning they would advance and take Vittel, thus giving them a base to fall back on in the worst case scenario. The last thing that Langlade wished for was a fighting retreat, as that meant heavy losses. Langlade decided to call it quits for the day and got into his sleeping bag to get rest. Tomorrow would be a long day.