New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

Rommel was celebrating his wife's birthday at his home in Germany when news of the Allied invasion came.

"The Allies landed?" Rommel asked. "Where?"

"Yes, Marshal, in Normandy!" said a voice anxiously on the phone.

"Okay, I see." Rommel put down the phone and turned around.Seeing his wife and children standing there looking at him with concern.

"Ah, Lucy. Sorry, something happened on the front line, I have to go back." Rommel said.

Lucy looked at Rommel, she knew that if it was really just "a little situation", then Rommel would never put down the phone and would go back to France immediately.She understood that something big must have happened, maybe the Allied forces had already started landing.When her husband came back to celebrate her birthday yesterday, she was grateful but also worried about him.Doesn't it mean that the front line is under a lot of pressure?Why are you free to come back?At that time, Rommel told her that due to the weather, it was impossible for the Allied forces to land in the near future.Lucy could clearly feel that Rommel had become more relaxed than before.But now, that stressful, anxious feeling returned to him again, even heavier than before.

But she didn't say much, she just walked to the closet silently, took out Rommel's coat, put it on him, and handed him the general cap.

Rommel put on his military uniform and cap, took another deep look at Lucy, and then walked out.His new lieutenant followed closely behind him.And outside the door, a car was already waiting for him there.A combat staff officer was also standing beside the car.

Rommel got into the car and asked the staff officer: "How is the specific situation?"

"Marshal, the Yankees and the Britons landed in Normandy." He opened his leather bag, took out a stack of maps, put them on his lap, and tried to unfold them. "Look, Marshal, since 6 o'clock this morning, the Americans have landed here, here, the British have landed here, here, and the Canadians have landed here."

"Where are they going now?" Rommel asked.

"The Americans have broken through the beachhead and advanced here, and these landing points have been connected together." The combat staff officer replied.

"How did they progress so fast?" Rommel frowned.

"According to reports from the front, the enemy has used a very powerful bomb. This bomb can destroy any fort in an instant. And the smaller attack aircraft can carry it."

Hearing this statement, Rommel could only shake his head. The Allied Forces have such a great military advantage, and they still come up with such cheats from time to time, which makes people live!

……

On Sword Beach, the resistance of a section of the German 21st Panzer Division had been crushed.Speaking of which, this time the British army broke through the defense of the German 21st Armored Division very dramatically.When the U.S. bomber fleet appeared, the British army, which was fighting lively, immediately began to retreat.The retreat of the British army frightened the Germans.The effect of the large series of fuel-air bombs launched by the U.S. military just now seems to have really left a deep impression on the Germans. When they saw the U.S. bombers coming, and the British began to retreat, the first reaction of the Germans was It's that big bomb again!

The Germans understood that if they disengaged from the British at this time, the deadly bombs of the Americans were about to drop.The Germans don't know whether the tank can withstand this kind of bomb, but the attached infantry can't withstand it absolutely.Therefore, at this time, the Germans are faced with two choices. One is to leave the fortifications, attack the British, and stick to the British, so that the Americans cannot use that terrible bomb.It’s just that the problem is not small if you do this. Just relying on the fortifications, they blocked the British attack. Now they chase out and attack the British. Considering the balance of power between the two sides, I only have a dozen tanks here and a few hundred people. , ran out to attack, isn't that courting death?

The second option is to simply retreat.It's just not so easy to withdraw safely.Breaking away from the fortifications, retreating all the way, being chased all the way, it is really hard to say how much you can escape.However, after consideration, the commander decided to retreat quickly.In any case, it's better than waiting to die.

As a result, as soon as the British retreated, the Germans also ran away.Then, the British did not go to capture that fortification, probably, um, probably because they were afraid of being accidentally bombed by the Americans.

In short, with the retreat of a certain unit of the German 21st Armored Division, by noon, the entire beachhead had been connected together.The Allies also temporarily halted their offensive and turned to consolidating their positions.This is because there are very few things that can be transported up on the beach, and there are other heavy equipment that cannot be transported for the time being.Long Buzai once said that what determines the success or failure of a landing is the 24 hours after landing.If the Allies were not pushed into the sea before the heavy equipment arrived, the Germans would undoubtedly be defeated.

Now, due to the effectiveness of fuel-air bombs, the Allied forces took the beachhead in just one morning after landing, which means that the Allied forces can push the defensive circle farther and build a stronger beachhead .

……

Now that the bunkers along the coast have been breached, the attack aircraft and light bombers of the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing no longer have to circle the beachhead. Sometimes the paratroopers thrown behind enemy lines act as flying cannons.The frequent movement of paratroopers behind the enemy can also delay the time for the enemy to launch a counterattack.However, in fact, because Long is not there, how easy is it for the Germans to launch a counterattack immediately?

At this time, the rear of the German line was full of British and American paratroopers.

Of the paratroopers who were dropped, the British fared best.The British [-]st Airborne Division was accurately dropped on the left flank of the landing area.According to the plan, they successfully took down the planned target - the Pegasus Bridge.And soon got in touch with the British troops who landed, and joined forces victoriously.

The two American airborne divisions did not fare so well.Unlike the RAF, the US Army Aviation rarely operates at night.As a result, the navigators of the US military are far inferior to the British military in their ability to navigate at night.Coupled with the complex situation on the ground, coupled with the interception of enemy artillery fire, the troops were scattered everywhere.For example, the 101st Airborne Division was scattered in a very large area, which made it impossible for soldiers to gather until now.However, it was a wrong attack. The Germans found that there seemed to be paratroopers of the Allied forces everywhere. They greatly overestimated the number of paratroopers, so that they sent a large number of troops to deal with these stragglers, which greatly interfered. Their counterattack on the Normandy beachheads.

However, the power of the paratroopers is too scattered, and the lack of firepower also makes it difficult for the paratroopers to capture the planned bridge hubs.Now, the attack aircraft of the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing will go to provide fire assistance for these paratroopers to attack and destroy.

……

Arthur was flying with his wingmen towards an area on the south side of Normandy.There is an important bridge here. According to the combat plan, the 101st Airborne Division will be responsible for capturing this bridge.But the number of paratroopers near here is too small, less than 60 soldiers are concentrated, and there are nearly a battalion of German troops on the bridge.Without the support of heavy firepower, with such a small number of people, it is almost a dream to capture the bridge.Fortunately, the U.S. Army has a strong army aviation force. With them, this task is not impossible.

"Number 1, pay attention to your 11 o'clock direction, that is the bridge!"

Arthur pressed the stick lightly, causing the plane to do a slight side-slip and point the nose at the target area.

The Germans placed two 20mm caliber 4-barrel anti-aircraft guns at the bridgehead. In the tentative attack launched by the paratroopers just now, these two guns played a huge role.This high rate of fire weapon inflicted horrific casualties on American paratroopers.Some unlucky soldiers were even cut in two by this thing.However, when facing the air, facing a strong armored attack aircraft, the deterrent effect of this weapon is far inferior to the 37mm anti-aircraft gun.

Seeing the U.S. aircraft swooping over, the two anti-aircraft guns began to fire from a long distance.This approach shows that the people who control these anti-aircraft guns are all new recruits (river crabs). If firing at such a long distance, besides exposing yourself, what good can it do?While avoiding the enemy's shooting with light side slides one by one, Arthur firmly covered the enemy's anti-aircraft guns in his shooting aura.

……

Thanks to some success, Ron was soon at leisure.In fact, not only was Ron free, but even the bombardment fleet had nothing to do.Ron, who was free, went to the wide front deck to get some air together with his staff officers.At this time, several tugboats were towing a very strange thing that looked like an oversized cement box, and they were sailing not far from Ron's command ship.

"What's that?" Scott asked, pointing at the thing.

"Oh, that's probably the cement caisson used to build the artificial harbor," Ron replied.

artificial port.It was a project under the responsibility of British Rear Admiral Tennant.It is planned to build two artificial ports, code-named Mulberry A and Mulberry B.According to the plan, the Allied Forces first built 146 hollow concrete caissons, each 61 meters long, with eight different sizes according to the depth of sea water at the sinking place, with a minimum displacement of 1772 tons and a maximum displacement of 6044 tons.There is a crew cabin in the caisson, as well as 2 anti-aircraft guns.There is a buoy for floating and a sea valve for sinking. After opening, it can sink to the designated position within ten minutes.The caisson is not self-propelled, and will be dragged across the strait by a tugboat and sunk on the 5.5-meter isobath one nautical mile offshore, forming a breakwater about 9000 meters long.Then the Allies can use it to build port trestles.Thereby solving the problem that it is difficult for the Americans to send heavy weapons.