Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2211 Dare to Bet
第五山地师是在“海狮计划”彻底失败后组建的部队，拥有第85山地步兵团、第100山地步兵团、第95摩托化侦察营、第95反坦克营、第95工兵营和第95通信营，总兵力14000人。

In terms of strength alone, the Fifth Mountain Division is similar to the 15000rd Division with a total strength of 143. The difference is that the 143rd Division has an additional artillery regiment, which has a stronger attack capability.

As before, the battle broke out first in the air, with the South African Air Force and the Luftwaffe fighting fiercely for air supremacy.

The Southern African Air Force stationed on Crete went all out, sending nearly 150 fighter planes to provide air cover for the 143rd Division.

The German Air Force also came out in full force. Although it was slightly inferior in aircraft performance, it was clearly superior in number.

The fighting was fierce, and the Southern African Air Force lost 14 fighters on the first day of the air battle.

German losses were 27 fighters, and 6 bombers.

At the same time as the air battle broke out, the 143th Mountain Division launched a ground attack on the [-]rd Division's position.

The equipment of the Fifth Mountain Division is still good. The whole division is equipped with nearly 500 machine guns, more than 100 mortars, and 68 towed artillery pieces.

The crux of the problem is that most of the towed artillery equipped by the Fifth Mountain Division are light artillery, and there are only 16 heavy artillery.

Except that the 143rd Division has no armored units, the number of machine guns and artillery is basically the same as that of the local troops in southern Africa. The artillery equipped are basically large-caliber heavy artillery.

Starting at ten o'clock in the morning, the Fifth Mountain Division launched three consecutive attacks on the 143rd Division.

The 143rd Division has strong fortifications. All three attacks of the 500th Mountain Division were repelled. Nearly 143 German soldiers were killed in battle. The casualties of the [-]rd Division were almost negligible.

The battle went smoothly, but Tao He and Yu Hong were very worried.

After occupying western Crete, the Germans were trying to get heavy weapons, including tanks, onto Crete.

For light infantry, the 143rd Division was pretty easy.

The 143rd Division would have had a hard time coping with the addition of tank units.

Of course, the difficulty is not very great. The 143rd Division has 75 anti-tank guns. If the German armored forces want to break through the 143rd Division's position, I am afraid they will have to pay a huge price.

"The key is not in the front, but in our flanks. Refer to the lightning tactics of the Germans. They are very good at turning around. Once our flanks are attacked, then we may be in danger of being surrounded." In Pombia, Anthony Jones He Lu Sheng had a solemn expression.

When the time came to June, all the British troops on Crete had withdrawn, and only the southern African troops were still fighting.

From Heraklion to Pombia, the southern African army has deployed three lines of defense. It is not easy for the Germans to capture the entire island. The key is how determined the Germans are.

"Our engineering troops have destroyed all the bridges and roads in the mountains. It is not easy for the Germans to make a detour. Even if the detour is successful, the Germans have to worry about whether they will fall into our siege." Anthony Jones has the determination of a strong man to cut his wrist. The southern Africans had no scruples about fighting the Germans on their territory.

The advancement of the armored forces is heavily dependent on transportation. After the outbreak of the European War, both Poland and France were restrained in the face of the German attack and did not carry out large-scale damage to the infrastructure. As a result, the German army drove straight in.

Southern Africa has no psychological barriers in this regard.

The road is blown up and rebuilt.

The same goes for bridges.

The bridges built after the war will be more beautiful and stronger than the ones that were blown up before, and the old ones will not go away and the new ones will not come.

Destroying infrastructure is only one aspect. The southern African army implemented a thorough scorched-earth policy. When withdrawing from Heraklion, all the supplies that could be taken away were taken away, and all the fire that could not be taken away was burned out, not even a single screw. Leave it to the Germans.

Things like leaving all heavy weapons to the Germans after the complete defeat of the Greek army will never happen in southern Africa.

Germany's blitzkrieg also relied on war to support war, otherwise Germany's strength would not be able to support the increasingly large military expenditure.

Do you know what the first thing Germany loots when it takes over a new area?

Not food, not steel, but gold.

Americans are still doing business with Germans.

However, Americans do not recognize the mark, nor the rand and the pound, but only gold.

The Germans searched for gold and even dentures.

"It's already June, and we still have to stay in Crete for at least three weeks." Lu Sheng resolutely carried out the order of the headquarters, one month at a time, and one day less.

"No problem, we can easily complete this task." Anthony Jones is not worried, and the Southern African Union troops are not easy to bully.

It's really not easy to bully.

The Southern African Union troops, although the infantry still use Lee Enfield, light machine guns have been distributed to the squad level, each company has an independent firepower platoon, and a batch of heavy machine guns were added before the war. In the position, the density of machine guns reached 143 per 8.5 meters, which is unprecedented.

The 114th Highland Bulge is located at the forefront of the 143rd Division's position. It is defended by the B Company of the [-]st Battalion of the Cabinda Rifle Regiment.

The commander of Company B, Cruise, is a southern African. He has served in the Umbrella Company for a long time and has rich combat experience. He participated in the Brazilian Civil War and was transferred to active duty after the outbreak of the European War.

Deputy company commander Hamilton is a southern African born in Port Elizabeth. He just graduated from Nyasaland Army Academy last year. In the entire B company, only Cruise and Hamilton, as well as the fire platoon leader Jerome, are southern African.

During the battle in the morning, the German army left at least one hundred corpses in the position of Company B. Only one member of Company B was killed and six were injured.

The soldier who died in battle was an observation post. A shell directly hit his bunker, but the bunker was not penetrated, and the soldier died on the spot.

"Is this how the Germans penetrated Europe?" Hamilton had just graduated when the European War broke out, and he didn't understand the cruelty of war.

In Hamilton's view, the German army's combat effectiveness was really not high, and its tactics were dull, and its firepower was not strong enough.

The fighting will of German soldiers is indeed not bad.

However, in many cases, the will to fight is not the decisive factor, especially for the southern African army that emphasizes firepower superiority.

"That depends on who the German opponent is—" Cruise looked exhausted. Since arriving at the defense line, Cruise has not had a serious rest, and only slept for six hours in three days.

There are never easy victories.

Even if the 143rd Division has strong firepower, sufficient logistics, and air force support, it is still meticulous in building positions.

Cruise is also worried about his soldiers.

African soldiers have one thing to say, although they are obedient, hard-working and fearless, they need the supervision of officers at any time.

Without the supervision of military officers, the efficiency of African soldiers digging foxholes is not much better than that of Indians.

Even if they know of a good foxhole, it will give them better protection when fighting breaks out.

This is very frustrating.

The southern African military tried every means to improve the combat effectiveness of the alliance troops. The logistics level of the alliance troops was almost the same as that of the local troops in southern Africa. A total of three supporters were sent. You must know that there are only more than 100 people in Company B.

The staff officers in the Mediterranean theater also had insufficient consideration.

It was embarrassing that no one in B Company could use a dual-purpose machine gun except Jerome.

The more advanced the weapon, the higher the requirements for the person who wields it.

It is precisely in this aspect that African soldiers are most lacking.

Just chatting for a few words, there was the scream of shells in the air.

The two light infantry battles have basically the same routine. After the artillery washes the ground, the infantry attacks. If they are counterattacked by strong firepower from the defenders, the infantry will immediately stop attacking and continue to call for fire support until all the firepower points on the defenders' positions are destroyed. Lose.

Expect the soldiers to block the eye-catching with their bodies while holding the explosives?

This doesn't exist in Europe.

So many tactics, even if the generals in the European War learned it, they couldn't use it.

You can't ask the interspersed soldiers to remain lurking and motionless with steely will in the face of overwhelming artillery fire and even flamethrower burning.

It is also impossible to require soldiers to maintain a combat posture even if they are frozen into ice sculptures after entering a concealed state.

Let alone require soldiers to use their bodies to block eye-catching eyes, or use their bodies as brackets for explosives.

The soldiers were not that conscious either.

If an officer forces his soldiers to do that.

Maybe the soldiers will shoot directly at the officers.

The same goes for the Germans.

The German army, which had killed all quarters in the European War and was hard to find a worship, finally kicked the iron plate here in southern Africa.

boom--

The violent explosion of the shells stirred up dust all over the sky, and affected the flickering lights in the tunnel. Hamilton immediately covered his teacup with his hand, a cup of tea he had just brewed.

Unless the tunnel is directly hit by a large-caliber shell, the soldiers in the tunnel will not suffer a large number of casualties.

The speed of the 143th Infantry Division was a bit slow, which gave the [-]rd Division enough time to build a position. Opposite the position of Company B, all obstacles had been cleared away, and the machine gunners had a clear view when they were shooting. To ensure that there is no shooting dead angle in front of the position, the addition of high-level dual-purpose machine guns can effectively increase the firepower of B Company. Unfortunately, since the machine gunners have just been trained, they are not familiar with the operation of high-level dual-purpose machine guns, so the effect is not very good.

This is also enough to defend against light infantry attacks.

The Germans are not stupid. They will stop attacking immediately when they find that the firepower points on the position have not been destroyed. The crowd tactics used during the Battle of the Somme will no longer appear.

The Fifth Mountain Division carried limited shells, and the shelling lasted only 5 minutes before stopping.

The German infantry coordination tactics are still very proficient. As soon as the shelling stopped, the German infantry rushed to the front of the position.

The officers and soldiers of Company B were also on guard. As soon as the explosion point of the artillery shell extended to the rear of the position, whistles sounded one after another on the position. The soldiers rushed out of the bunker and entered the position. It is the best to use, regardless of whether the Germans have rushed up or not, first a round of grenades will hit them.

The same is true for the Germans, the first round of attacks is also a grenade.

So every time a battle started, countless grenades were flying over the position.

The Germans obviously suffered a disadvantage. The officers and soldiers of the 143rd Division were protected by bunkers, but the Germans' bodies were all exposed to the shooting range of the machine gun shooters.

The soldiers of the 143rd Division were also equipped with a certain proportion of Nyasaran rifles. General-purpose machine guns using bipods were the most threatening to German soldiers. Usually, the front of the position was completely emptied before a single ammunition box was finished.

Therefore, without the assistance of armored forces, light infantry attacking such a well-equipped defensive position would be death.

Even if it was replaced by the legendary peak light infantry.

German troops are still very effective.

The continuous attack finally had an effect. A German soldier just threw a grenade into the heavy machine gun position of Company B, and the machine gun suddenly misfired.

More than a dozen German troops took the opportunity to charge and successfully broke into Company B's position, fighting hand to hand.

This is again what the Southern African armies do best.

The firepower of the southern African army is not only reflected in various heavy weapons, most southern African soldiers will choose to carry pistols. In the trenches, rifles are too long and inconvenient to use. Obviously, small and flexible pistols are more useful.

Not to mention the shotgun known as the "trench cleaner".

The German soldiers who entered the position of Company B still wanted to completely defeat Company B through hand-to-hand combat.

The officers and soldiers of Company B did not give the German soldiers a chance to fight hand-to-hand.

When a German soldier with an engineering shovel jumped into the trench of Company B.

A soldier of Company B pulled out the pistol at his waist with his backhand, and knocked the German soldier to the ground with two "wow-wah" shots.

Then there is the dense "嘡嘡嘡"——

Most pistols have an effective range of no more than 50 meters.

But it has a much larger attack range than the engineer shovel.

So the menacing German soldiers were very unlucky. Even if they rushed into the positions of the southern African army, they still faced the crushing of asymmetrical battles.

From the 143st to the 20rd, the Fifth Mountain Division launched more than 143 attacks on the positions of the 1500rd Division. The positions of the [-]rd Division were still not breached. The Fifth Mountain Division suffered heavy casualties, and nearly [-] soldiers died.

At this point in the battle, the 143th Mountain Division was already unable to attack, and did not know how to break through the [-]rd Division's position.

This is only the Southern African Union troops, not the more powerful Southern African local troops. Marshal William Lister should be very confused.

Since the outbreak of the Battle of Crete, the German army has suffered successive setbacks, and Marshal Wilhelm List is under great pressure.

"Project Barbarossa" is imminent, and Mustache needs to end the Battle of Crete in the shortest possible time.

In fact, Mustache has postponed the time to attack Russia, and now the situation is getting more and more serious for the Germans.

Information obtained by the German army indicated that if Germany did not launch an attack on Russia before mid-June, then Russia would launch an attack on Germany.

The authenticity of this information has not been confirmed.

But Mustache didn't dare to gamble.

(End of this chapter)