The Rise of the Third Reich

"Bombardment!"

I don't know who suddenly shouted in the ears of Airborne General Hipple. Admiral Hipple, who was commanding the operation on a high ground near Grays Harbor, immediately left his temporary headquarters, a circular heavy artillery position ( Only the position, no cannons (this is a reserve position for a 203mm howitzer) jumped out, stood on a well-achieved high ground and headed south.

In the southern part of Concepcion Bay, in the darkness, a burst of yellow light suddenly flashed, like lightning, the sky in the south suddenly lit up, and then there were muffled thunder-like sounds one after another, followed by bursts of The sound of an approaching train rang out in the sky, the frightening sound of a 240mm artillery shell flying through the air. The shells fell to the ground, and the entire Grays Harbor shook. Looking from a distance, the place where the shell fell looked like a volcanic eruption. The smoke column mixed with fire rose high and reached half the sky. Within the scope of the power of the explosion, the buildings occupied by the German army were like paper. They were completely wiped out from the world in one fell swoop, leaving only a huge crater.

It was the 240mm heavy artillery deployed by the US military on Bell Island that fired. There were 12 guns in total, which was not too many, but it was very accurate!

Bell Island is located inside Concepcion Bay, more than 20 kilometers from the entrance of the bay, and about 20 kilometers from Port Grayson, all within the effective range of 240mm artillery shells.

The Americans deployed 12 M2 240mm cannons there for the purpose of blocking the entrance to the bay with firepower and supporting operations on the west coast of Concepcion Bay. Grays Harbor was originally their expected target. They had already measured and calculated the various elements. Now they just had to rely on the various elements to attack. Naturally, it was extremely accurate.

Fortunately, the rate of fire of the 240mm cannon was not very fast, and the shells did not fall very densely, which gave the German paratroopers on the battlefield the opportunity to move or simply jump into the huge crater to escape. But the giant shells that fell from time to time still shook the German troops attacking Grays Harbor to stagger. Everyone looked panicked. As long as these American cannons were not destroyed, Grays Harbor would not be occupied by the Germans!

Not far away, near the Grays Harbor Airport, German artillery was also roaring. There were 4 Schneider 1 mountain guns, 32 Brand M1 mortars, and a dozen captured 128mm and 90mm anti-aircraft guns, forming a The sizable artillery group was also firing very vigorously. German shells landed on the docks and beaches of Grays Harbor in areas still controlled by the Allies, creating a dense, relatively small flash of light. It looks like the Allied defenders there are not going to fare well either, and are probably suffering heavy losses by now. If the US heavy artillery on Bell Island can be suppressed, there should be no problem in occupying the entire Grays Harbor.

Hipple turned around and shouted loudly at Chief of Staff Kirk, who had followed him to the heights: "Let our people stop the attack and withdraw most of the troops from Grays Harbor...wait until daybreak."

After dawn, Me264s and Br.810s carrying remotely controlled weapons will fly to Newfoundland to assist in the battle, and Fokker 636s with rockets will follow. By then the American 240mm cannon will no longer be so arrogant.

Colonel Kirk said to Hipple at this time: "Admiral, Major General Haidt just reported that the blocking group encountered an American armored division. It was a hard fight. I'm afraid it won't last 24 hours."

Hipple frowned: "How long can you hold on?"

"We can hold on until dawn at most," Hipple said. "If the American offensive is more determined, they will collapse within an hour."

"What? An hour? Are the American armored divisions so powerful?" Hipple is a general of airborne troops, not a general of armored forces. Moreover, he has been at the headquarters since the beginning of the war and has never been on the battlefield. He is facing the American armored forces. I didn’t know much about the division, and thought it was similar to the Soviet tank division.

"Of course," Colonel Kirke has rich combat experience and has also studied the situation of the US armored forces. "Their armored divisions imitate ours, and are more mechanized than our armored divisions. They also have heavy tanks similar to Tiger tanks, which are very difficult to deal with."

Hipple felt that the matter was a bit serious, frowned and said: "We have to transfer the 102nd Assault Battalion, the 103rd Assault Battalion and the 104th Assault Battalion to Major General Haidt."

Among the troops that parachuted to Newfoundland, there were 5 air assault battalions, which were actually airborne combined battalions with very strong combat effectiveness. Now three of the five battalions have followed Skorzeny and have taken the Port of Carbonir, and are currently clearing the area around Port Carbonir. Hipple planned to take out two of them, plus the 102nd Assault Battalion in his own hands, and send them to reinforce Haidt's blocking group.

Hipple said: "This will have 4 assault battalions, with more than 100 E-25 and No. 4 tanks, which should be able to fight against an American armored division!"

"What about Grays Harbor?" Colonel Kirk asked.

"We can only stop the attack," Shipple thought for a while and said, "Unless we destroy the cannon on Bell Island, we can't take the port... Let's wait until the plane can take off after daybreak."

…

The American armored division had just suffered another small defeat. It was ambushed by more than 20 E-50 and Type 4 H tanks beside a small lake covered with floating ice. A vanguard group left behind 19 destroyed tanks and tank destroyers and fled in a panic.

Unlike the previous attack on the US military in the process of fighting and retreating, this ambush was a real victory. The US military not only left behind a lot of vehicle wreckage and soldiers' bodies, but was also driven back two or three kilometers.

Although the powerful US military was only temporarily driven back, the German army still seized the rare opportunity to pursue and clean up the battlefield.

"French, can you use HHL anti-tank mines?" Brandt handed an HHL anti-tank mine that looked a bit like a flashlight to Mitterrand who was following him.

"I don't know." Mitterrand shook his head.

"Just put it on the tank armor plate." Brandt took out another HHL anti-tank mine, then ran to a lying M-26 tank and put the HHL anti-tank mine on the armor plate on the side of the tank. The head of this strange-looking anti-tank mine has three pairs of magnets that can be attached to the tank armor.

Brandt said again: "Then pull out the fuse!"

After that, he suddenly pulled out the friction fuse at the root of the anti-tank mine, then ran a few steps quickly and lay on the ground. With a loud "bang", the M-26 tank that was penetrated by the shell on the front was completely turned into a ball of burning scrap metal.

Brandt got up from the ground and walked to Mitterrand who was lying behind a damaged M4A3 tank and asked, "Do you know how to use it now?" Seeing that the other party nodded, Brandt pointed to a backpack placed next to the track of the tank, "There are HHL anti-tank mines in it. Use them to blow up all the tanks here." "Okay, okay." Mitterrand didn't want to do this job, but he didn't dare to say no to the ferocious Nazi in front of him - just in the battle just now, he saw Lieutenant Brandt kill three brave American freedom fighters with an FG42 paratrooper rifle. It was so cruel. "Then I'll leave it to you." Brandt pointed to another German paratrooper beside him. "You work with him, and wait for me by the lake after you're done." After arranging the destruction of the tank, Brandt took his twenty or so men to continue searching and moving forward - after more than a dozen or less than twenty hours of fighting, his platoon now only had 23 people left, including a Frenchman, Mitterrand. In addition to the heavy casualties, Brandt and his soldiers were exhausted. If we count from the time they boarded the Fokker 42 transport plane, they had not slept for nearly 30 hours.

Although they were exhausted to the extreme, Brandt and his men still had to continue the task of clearing the battlefield.

Intensive gunfire and artillery sounds came from the front. This was the Schwarzenegger group chasing and defeating the US armored forces and fighting the Americans. From the gunfire and artillery sounds, it was still the German side that had the upper hand. However, the American resistance was still fierce and favorable! Brandt and others continued to move forward for less than 10 minutes. In the dark sky ahead, a flash of light suddenly flashed!

"Artillery! Hide quickly!" Brandt, who had a very fast battlefield reaction, reacted immediately, shouted and jumped off the road base, and then crawled on the cold ground. His soldiers were the same, looking for favorable terrain to hide. Before everyone could hide, the American shells had already whistled and hit the ground. However, it was not Brandt and his men who were bombarded, but the Schwarzenegger group that was chasing the retreating American troops in front.

"Quick, retreat, leave here!" Schwarzenegger was also keeping an eye on the American artillery along the way. When he saw the fire in front, he immediately used the radio on the command vehicle to order a retreat.

After fighting with the Americans for less than a day, the most profound impression he had on him was probably the American "big artilleryism". The number of artillery in the US Army may not be as large as that of the Soviet Army, but it seems to be at a higher level in terms of application. The coordination between artillery and infantry and tanks is very close (this is because the wireless communication technology in the United States is advanced, walkie-talkies are distributed to platoons and even squads, and the company level can call for artillery support, and firepower is available at any time), and the artillery is fierce and accurate!

In contrast, although the Soviet Army has a large number of artillery, it is relatively rigid in use, and its accuracy is not as good as that of the US Army, and its coordination with infantry and tanks is even worse.

Obviously, in terms of artillery firepower, the German commanders still underestimated the US Army.