Reborn South Africa as a police officer

The 8th Infantry Division is a unit composed entirely of officers and soldiers from southern Africa. The division has 1.8 people and is equipped with three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. Strictly speaking, it belongs to the mountain infantry division.

When the first batch of landing troops launched the landing operation, the temporary pier had not yet been built, and heavy equipment such as tanks and heavy artillery could not go ashore, so the landing troops were all pure infantry divisions. Their task was to open up landing sites and defend against possible German forces. counterattack.

Although heavy equipment cannot go ashore, the firepower of the landing force is still very strong. In addition to traditional machine guns and mortars, the 8th Infantry Division also has 110 amphibious tanks from the Marine Corps. Among the troops, except for the 7th Armored Division of the British Army, it is the most powerful armored force.

At six o'clock in the morning, the transport ship of the 8th Infantry Division arrived at Sword Beach under the cover of the fleet. This is the easternmost beach among all the five landing sites. Cannes, the shipping center in northern France, was seized for a long time. Cannes is only about 15 kilometers away from the beach of the sword.

In order to better provide fire cover for the landing troops, the Air Force dispatched "Super Sky Fortress" and close-to-ground support aircraft, and the Navy sent 15 destroyers to arrive at a distance less than 1 kilometer from Baojian Beach to conduct close-up operations on the German fortress on the shore. Shoot from a distance.

The Germans still attach great importance to defense work. As early as 1942, Mustache ordered the construction of a 4000-kilometer-long defensive position along the Atlantic coast. This line of defense was called the "Atlantic Barrier."

The "Atlantic Barrier" project was huge. Germany dispatched a total of 26 people, invested 1300 million tons of concrete and 12 tons of steel, and built defensive positions at about 15000 key nodes in an attempt to prevent the Allied forces from landing on the Atlantic coast.

This plan is similar to the idea of ​​the Maginot Line, which is to defend the enemy from outside the country.

However, Mustache did not accept the lesson of the Maginot Line. When the Germans attacked, the Maginot Line did not play any defensive role. Instead, the elite French troops ignored the defense from other directions because they wanted to defend the Maginot Line. attack.

When the French built the Maginot Line, their national strength was not bad and they had a sufficient budget.

When the Germans began to build the Atlantic Wall, the Russian battlefield was in a state of stalemate, and the North African battlefield was retreating steadily. Therefore, the Germans simply did not have enough ability to complete the plan. By the time of Operation Overlord, the Atlantic Wall was only less than half completed. Only 68% of the project on the coast of the Channel has been completed, and only 18% in the Normandy area.

The 8th Infantry Division was lucky. The German defense force on Sword Beach was very weak. The 155mm coastal defense guns on the coastal defense turrets were even camouflaged with telegraph poles, so the amphibious tanks of the Marine Corps easily landed on the beach. The losses caused by the sporadic German counterattacks were not even as large as those caused by wind and waves.

The British 8rd Infantry Division, which landed on Sword Beach with the 3th Infantry Division at the same time, was not so lucky.

The task of the 3rd Infantry Division is to land on the west side of Sword Beach, then advance to Juno Beach, and join the Allied troops who landed on Juno Beach to build a huge landing field.

Unlike the steel landing craft of the 8th Infantry Division, the landing craft of the British 3rd Infantry Division are made of wood, and the effect against wind and waves is very poor. Not long after the landing craft set off, 20 landing craft were lost due to the strong wind and waves, and nearly 700 British soldiers Army missing.

Because there is no suitable port supply, the Allied officers and soldiers must carry as much combat supplies as possible, and be prepared that there will be no supply in the next few days, or even a week or so.

When each soldier boarded the landing craft, he carried various combat materials weighing more than 30 kilograms. This caused many British soldiers to sink directly to the bottom of the water after falling into the water, unable to escape at all.

Even if it is not overturned by the wind and waves, the landing craft will face the threat of German mines and shallow sea obstacles.

These mines were ordered by Rommel. Compared with the fort, the mines are more concealed, not easy to be found, and the defense effect is better. Not long after the battle started, the British army had a tank landing ship, a destroyer, and Two minesweepers were sunk by German mines.

Minesweeper sunk by mines—

It's also amazing.

Fortunately, the third division of the British army arrived at the beach, but the tragic fate has just begun.

The German army's defensive strength in the Normandy area is seriously insufficient. There are only 6 divisions in the entire area. Except for the relatively elite German 21st Tank Division, the other five divisions are all second-line troops with seriously insufficient training and morale.

The 21st Tank Division was deployed at Sword Beach.

The combat effectiveness of the 21st Tank Division is still good. The British officers and soldiers who arrived on the beach after hardships were suppressed by the crazy firepower of the 21st Tank Division.

The wooden landing craft of the British army could not provide any protection for the British officers and soldiers at all, and the German machine gun bullets could easily tear the British landing craft to shreds.

The British officers and soldiers on the landing craft were unlucky. One bullet could penetrate three or four people continuously and still maintain its lethality.

The British soldiers did not want to stay on the landing craft and wait to die, so they jumped into the sea to escape, which caused a group of British officers and soldiers to drown. Before the battle broke out, the casualties of the British Third Division had exceeded a thousand.

A division of the British army has about 1.8 people. According to the tradition of the British army, if the casualties exceed 20.00%, the troops will retreat and rest, and the morale of the troops exceeding 30.00% may completely collapse.

At this time, the British 3rd Division had no way out, and the officers and soldiers who were lucky enough to reach the beach had no choice but to bite the bullet and launch an attack on the German fortress. Major General Wei An, commander of the British 2nd Squadron, sent a telegram to the headquarters, requesting the Southern African Air Force to give the first Air assistance from the 3rd Division launched an attack on the German beachhead.

This telegram did not attract the attention of the command, because bigger trouble appeared in Gold Beach and Omaha Beach.

It was the 50th Division of the British Army that landed on the Golden Beach. This division was very unlucky when it landed. It lost all communication equipment and lost contact with the headquarters. The headquarters is now confused about the landing situation on the Golden Beach and is planning to leave later. The British 7th Armored Division did not dare to go into battle.

The U.S. Ninth Army that landed in Omaha was sniped tenaciously by the Germans.

In the early reconnaissance of the Allied Forces, the German army's defense in Normandy was weak, and the air strikes were strong. Omaha Beach is expected to have only one regiment, and it is still an infantry regiment composed of reserves, which is not a cause for concern.

Rommel was still very good. Although he had a serious disagreement with Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander-in-chief of the German Western Front in terms of defensive layout, Rommel still sent the elite 352nd Infantry Division of the German Army to Normandy. Defending Omaha Beach was a major regiment of the 352nd Infantry Division.

When the U.S. Ninth Army landed, the weather was equally bad, and the U.S. military suffered heavy losses. During the landing process, 9 landing craft and about 10 officers and soldiers were lost due to strong winds and waves.

The landing of the armored forces was similarly unsuccessful.

After the Southern African Marine Corps was equipped with amphibious tanks, the U.S. military imitated southern Africa and also equipped its troops with amphibious tanks.

Facts have proved that the performance of the U.S. amphibious tanks is far behind that of southern Africa. Among the first batch of 9 amphibious tanks launched by the Ninth Army, 32 tanks sank directly to the bottom of the sea due to the strong wind and waves. Among the five surviving tanks, Two were destroyed by the Germans, and only three reached the beach.

The weather is still the biggest enemy. Not long after the landing battle started, the sky began to rain sporadically, and soon the light rain turned into moderate rain, which brought more difficulties to the landing battle.

For two full hours, no American soldiers washed up on the beach on the west side of Omaha, and the east side only occupied a 9-meter-wide section of the beach. The landing operation can be said to have failed completely.

Among all the landing points, the landing on Juno Beach was not smooth. Due to bad weather and navigation errors, the landing on Juno Beach had to be postponed for 10 minutes, which gave the Germans more time. Prepare.

Fortunately, the defensive force on Juno Beach was also a regiment, mainly composed of Russians and Persians, with poor combat effectiveness, low morale, and backward equipment level, so the Allied forces rushed to the beach smoothly.

The smoothest Utah Beach also made mistakes, and it was outrageous. The Allied landing craft discovered after rushing onto the beach that the landing point was one kilometer east of the intended location.

In short, all kinds of mistakes are flooded in various beachheads.

Compared with the lost British 50th Division and the US 9th Army suppressed by the Germans on the beach, the troubles of the British 8rd Division were nothing to mention. Gavin directly called the headquarters of the 8th Division in Southern Africa. Let the 3th Division send amphibious tanks to assist the British [-]rd Division.

"Should we launch an attack on Cannes according to the plan?" Xie Jianye, the commander of the 8th Division, hesitated a little, wondering if we should continue to attack.

The Allied forces launched landing operations on five beaches at the same time. The purpose was to join the Allied forces who had airborne in Normandy in advance to build a huge landing field and create favorable conditions for subsequent attacks.

Now except for the 8th Division in Southern Africa, almost all the Allied forces participating in the war are progressing slowly. If the 8th Division rashly launches an attack on Cannes, the flanks will be exposed to the Germans and will be besieged by the Germans. .

As the landing operation unfolded, Lundstedt and Rommel finally determined that the landing point of the Allied forces was Normandy instead of Calais. The German counterattack would come at any time.

"Organize the defense on the spot and wait for progress in other directions." Gavin did not rush forward. If the German counterattack swarmed in, the 8th Division would not be able to withstand it.

At the moment in 1944, Germany deployed 179 divisions and 5 brigades in the Russian battlefield, 13 divisions in Norway and Sweden in Northern Europe, about 21 divisions in Italy, and 35 divisions in the Balkans.

In France, Belgium, and the Netherlands along the Atlantic coast, the German army deployed a total of 60 divisions, of which 23 divisions were deployed in Calais.

Now Lundstedt is transferring the German troops deployed in Calais to Normandy for support. The elite German armored division under Rommier is also speeding up. If the Allied forces cannot complete the construction of the landing site as soon as possible, they will die. very ugly.

Therefore, Gavin is not able to support the British 3rd Division now, because all the attention of the Allied Air Force is on the attack on the French communication line.

The failed air strike last night did not affect the morale of the Allied Air Force. Today, the Allied Forces sent a total of 2600 combat aircraft to attack key targets in France. The German reinforcements and the French railway were the key targets.

The jet fighters sent to the British mainland from southern Africa also fought with the team this time, and finally appeared in the sky of France.

Compared with the ugly Me-262, the southern African jet aircraft has a smoother shape and more advanced performance, and its practical ceiling has reached an unprecedented 15000 meters, which is enough to form an overwhelming advantage over all the main fighters of the German army at this time.

It's disappointing that the first time the southern African jets took to the battlefield, they didn't encounter German jets, not even a German piston fighter, it seems that the Germans have given up completely French sky.

It doesn't work if you don't give up.

When the "Overlord" operation began, the Allied forces could send 13000 aircraft to Normandy to fight, while the German air force deployed throughout France had only 400 fighter jets.

This battle is impossible to fight, [-] vs. [-]. The Allied forces are all cutting-edge fighters produced in recent years, and the most advanced fighters of the Germans are in Russia. The combat strength of the two sides is seriously asymmetric.

Ground forces are also asymmetrical.

When the British 3rd Division landed, the German 21st Tank Division would have been able to fight back.

But at this time, the commander of the German 21st Tank Division went to Paris for something, and was not in Normandy at all. The chief of staff had no right to mobilize troops, so he had to send the only 24 No. 4 tanks in his hand to Sword Beach.

Although the No. 4 is not as advanced as the No. 5, it still has an advantage when dealing with the amphibious tanks of the British and American armies.

The problem lies in the configuration of troops. The chief of staff has no right to send troops, so the 24 No. 4 tanks did not even accompany the infantry, so they went to Sword Beach alone.

At this time in Normandy, although the battle on the ground was intense, the victory was already decided in the air. The Luftwaffe did not dare to attack, and the Allied fighters were overwhelming.

Not long after the 24 No. 4 vehicles set off, they were besieged by the air forces of the allied countries. First, fighter jets dived and strafed, then dive bombers attacked in turn, and finally encountered the southern African amphibious tanks that went to support the British 3rd Division, and the entire army was wiped out.

"Order the troops to defend on the spot. We have to wait for our friendly troops to catch up, and our transport plane. Why haven't we delivered the heavy equipment yet?" Xie Jianye hopes that the transport plane can bring the artillery that the mountain infantry needs most. It doesn't matter if there is no airport. , can be airborne, and the airdrop capability of the Southern African Air Force is still very strong.

Of course, it can only be a small-caliber artillery that is lightweight and suitable for use by mountain troops.

Heavy artillery is not good, and I am afraid it will become a pile of scrap iron if thrown down, and the supply of artillery shells is always a big problem before the proposed dock is built.

"The transport plane is busy transporting the second batch of airborne troops, and the American airborne troops are also in trouble." Chief of Staff Blomfield's expression was indescribable. After many battles, the American airborne troops still failed to turn around. .