Battle of the Third Reich

The Fifth Infantry Division of the British Army was not a grass-fed unit filled with rioters, but a well-trained regular army. Surviving officers and soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Division after the war have been emphasizing this point. If you have read this chapter, please move to: Chinese. Read the latest chapter but when they were attacked by the Germans that night, they did not behave much differently from the crowd.

The camp of the Fifth Infantry Division is a slender flat ground that relies on hills. On one side is an intercity highway, and on the other side is a hill that is more than 200 feet high. It stretches for five or six kilometers. How many trees, not counting the steep slopes are covered with various wild flowers and plants, and it looks very pleasing during the day.

Due to the great loss of materials and materials of the infantry division after heavy German artillery bombardment, all the 5th Infantry Division was mobilized to carry out self-rescue operations. Throughout the night plus a day time, officers and soldiers have been busy rescuing personnel, counting supplies, and moving Transfer equipment to clean up the wreckage and consolidate the dead body

Many people only ate a portion of the fighting dry food at noon. Fortunately, the municipal government organized a voluntary volunteer service team to send hot water and drinks to the troops, otherwise they would not even be able to supply basic fresh water supplies.

The logistics unit of the division was taken away at the train station. They lost most of the transport vehicles, including the equipment and medicine of the entire field hospital and all the field cooking vehicles.

Although four carts of flour and rice were finally saved, and one cart of canned food seemed to be in large quantities, in fact, it was only enough to support the basic ration of two infantry divisions for two days, and strict limits were also required, otherwise one day , These tired and hungry soldiers can consume all the food for you.

Logistics is always a key element of a war, and this is the essence of the German Blitz. The German team is best at breaking through a bit and making deep roundabout enemies, attacking the enemy’s material storage and transfer hub, and eliminating the enemy’s rear command. The ultimate goal of the system is to cut off the supply of the enemy and destroy the organization and morale of the enemy in the shortest time.

A soldier will consume more than 2,000 calories per day, and this consumption will double if he enters a combat state. Therefore, feeding a soldier is the first element to continue the combat effectiveness of the troops, followed by ammunition distribution and rear fire support.

If the soldiers are starving. The rate of decline in combat effectiveness is unimaginable for ordinary people. Combat is a very physical and mental activity. Soldiers can only exert their normal combat ability if they have enough energy. Can win the final victory. All the battles ultimately point to a tragic ending.

Although the 5th Infantry Division of the British Army has not yet reached the desperate situation of depleting food, everyone can feel the crisis caused by the lack of supplies. Before the subsequent supplies arrive, they can only rely on these existing food supplies. Japan, these numbers are obviously not enough. The officers have reminded the soldiers to prepare for starvation. This made the already depressed morale shrink even more, and the soldiers began to worry about their future involuntarily.

After a long day of fatigue, the soldiers finally had a hot meal at dinner. The field kitchen used a borrowed large pot to cook a pot of risotto on the bonfire. The chefs could not get better things. They The only canned lard, mushrooms, and corned beef on hand can be stewed with rice, but I did not expect that the something made was unusually delicious. Perhaps because of hunger, the soldiers quickly put the whole pot The chowder was swept away, and after eating, fatigue felt like tide. Many people were too lazy to take off their uniforms and fell asleep on the camp bed that was planted in the tent.

In all fairness, the Fifth Infantry Division is indeed a trained regular unit. The planning of the entire camp fully complied with the standards in the British Army's combat manual. It did not cut corners and was completely satisfactory. It can be used as a model. The engineering unit spent a whole day building a camp where two infantry divisions can be stationed. This is a remarkable achievement no matter from what aspect.

The infantry division battalions carried their field tents on their own. This is a rare event in a series of tragedies that is fortunate, because the troops do not have to sleep in the wilderness. In accordance with the regulations, the infantrymen dug drainage ditches and air defense bunkers around the tent, and filled thousands of five-pound burlap bags with the excavated soil. These earthen envelopes were used to build circular shooting fortifications and artillery bunkers, covered with a canvas roof, erected a flagpole, and hung a rice flag.

For security reasons, the ammunition was concentrated, and the engineers specifically used the dirt bag to make a circle. A pile of ammunition was built, and the boxes of bullets and mortar shells were stacked on top of each other to form a square pile of ammunition.

The infantry division has lost 70% of its ammunition reserves. These are the backup ammunition carried by the companies themselves, that is, the amount of ammunition for the two combat bases. They can't support it for a long time. Especially for the artillery losses, the original division artillery regiments and battalion artillery losses were very serious. Especially for the ammunition, they did not even reach a base. In particular, heavy artillery ammunition was almost turned into ashes in the station.

The commanders of the division were very worried about this. They contacted London three times, but the communication was intermittent. Finally, they finally contacted the Kent Command post. The commanders asked the Kent command post to pass on their report. They repeatedly emphasized the danger of the current situation of the troops. If ammunition and food supplies cannot be obtained in time, once the Germans land on Folkestone within 48 hours, the defense lines of the 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions will likely collapse within a day.

As a result, that night, in the face of a surprise attack by the German armored forces, the Fifth Infantry Division failed to hold on for even half an hour and fell into a total collapse within 15 minutes.

The attack on the infantry by the armored forces is called crushing, not only literally, but also spiritually. The British infantry had never thought that they would be attacked by German armored forces on the mainland. They only set up standard field garrison camps instead of combat positions. Therefore, the soldiers only dug some air defense trenches and individual bunkers. No trenches or anti-tank trenches were dug in the periphery. No one made similar suggestions, because no one would take them, and they might even be regarded as mentally abnormal.

Because the British army up and down thought that the threat came from the sea, their combat position should be on the seaside, and this is just a temporary camp, maybe it will become a long-term future, but that is the future. Officers and soldiers are confident that they can defend the enemy on the beach, and this camp will never be used for combat.

When the German vanguard tank fired its first shot, the entire number 24 and 24 tanks at the front of the attack began to spray bullets at the British camp. The terror rate of the mg machine gun made the gun sound coherent, sounding like a Large circular saws or similar machinery roared. Tractors with long flame tails splashed on the British tents beside the fence like multicolored meteor showers. The tracer torn the canvas tent, penetrated the human body, lit the sleeping bag and the mattress Soon, several fire heads were burning, and the pungent smoke began to diffuse in the camp.

The first British unit to respond was a night guard post outside the camp. This is a machine gun bunker equipped with two Vickers machine guns. The original task was to assume the night air defense alert of the camp. Of course, no one expected them to use that. What planes were hit by the two broken guns, but they could use the tracer to attract the attention of the Luftwaffe a little, and at the same time they could issue air defense warnings to give the camp more reaction time.

The guard post has actually noticed the approaching German troops. The roar of the tank engine and the harsh friction of the track bearings were very harsh at night, but no one thought it would be the enemy’s army. The Germans were learning on the other side of the strait. Dog planer, of course, the armored vehicles that appeared in front of me were of course their own. I was able to see the reinforcements at the most difficult time, and the soldiers on the outpost were very excited. A sergeant on duty picked up the phone and prepared to inform the headquarters of the situation. As a result, the group of tanks opened fire suddenly in a second, and the soldiers on the sentry watched dumbfounded that the unlucky sentinel was overturned to the ground by a machine gun, and then the greasy tank ran over the poor man.

The people at the sentry froze for more than ten seconds before waking up. They almost thought they were dreaming. Up to this point they were still not clear what the identity of the fired tanks was. The sergeant hurriedly reported to the superior what they saw using a wired telephone. The result was a panicked boss who scolded his head and shouted his face.

German machine gun bullets have been flying around in the camp. The basic tank No. 4 used their short-barrel artillery to cover the camp. The 75mm high-explosive grenade set off a fire and rain storm in the center of the camp. Torn and shredded in the explosion, the fierce storm lifted the sleeping soldiers in the tent, and then smashed hard into the burning fire.

The commander of the battalion had been anxiously corrupted on the phone. He first complained incoherently, inquiring why the post did not send an alarm early, and he wanted to send everyone in this security post to the military court. He then ordered the sentry to fire back immediately and must block the enemy's attack.

The British sergeant tried hard to suppress the urge to throw away the microphone in his hand. This command was equivalent to letting himself and his brothers die, without seeing the black pressure on the opposite group of tanks, letting themselves use what to prevent the other's actions. However, the order still has to be executed. The alarm problem is already a trouble. It is a violation of the superior order and it will not be returned when the enemy attacks. That's a matter of opinion. (To be continued.)