New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

When Boynton swooped towards the convoy, the convoy had also seen the fleet.It's just that at such a distance, the convoy has no time to avoid the attack of the aircraft group.But the half-tracked quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft gun still turned its barrel and fired wildly at Poington's fighter plane.However, there is still a big gap in the firepower of these four 4-gun guns compared with the six 20mm rotary-bore guns of the P-81.In addition, the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns at that time were still quite primitive, and the height and direction had to be cranked by hand.It is often difficult to keep up with the movement of enemy aircraft.

Like now, although the 20mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun fired, most of the shells fell behind Boyington's fighter plane.And once Boyington fired, the slow-moving self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was almost impossible to dodge. The combined rate of fire of the six rotary guns is as high as 6 rounds per minute.The dense rain of bullets immediately smashed the half-track vehicle into pieces.

At the same time that Boynton killed the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, several other planes also opened fire thinking about their targets.The entire convoy was beaten into a dead snake, and one car after another caught fire.But among them, Rommel's inconspicuous barrel car was spared.At least in the first round of attacks, no one noticed the barrel truck.

Now the enemy plane has completed the first round of attack and is climbing, preparing for the second round of attack.At least Rommel was safe until the enemy swooped down a second time.His barrel car carefully bypassed the burning sdkfz2342 "puma" 8-wheeled armored vehicle and approached the drain on the side of the road.Obviously, the people in the car planned to jump into the gutter to hide before the enemy plane turned back.

Just as the barrel truck stopped next to the gutter, the sdkfz2342 "puma" 8-wheeled armored vehicle not far from him suddenly exploded.After being hit and caught fire, the 50mm artillery shells stored in the car exploded.The shock wave caused by the explosion lifted the barrel car weighing only 700 kilograms, and then buckled it upside down in the gutter.

……

"What? Marshal Rommel was attacked and injured?...What about the counterattack tomorrow morning?"

"The marshal said that the counterattack cannot be delayed, and it must start tomorrow!"

……

The news of Rommel's injury undoubtedly further damaged the morale of the German army, but it is impossible to give up the counterattack in preparation for this.After paying so much on the road to Caen, the Germans had to fight anyway.

After nightfall, the tanks at various assembly points began to move. They left the woods and began to advance along the road.Wittmann's Tiger had undergone emergency repairs, was also put into battle, and appeared again in the attacking queue.The so-called dressing up and going into battle is really real.Tracks that had been blown up in the air raids, as well as damaged road wheels, were hung on top of the tanks for additional defense.Today, Tiger tanks can no longer provide the near-absolute security they once did.The armor-piercing power of the British 17-pound gun is quite amazing. Even with ordinary armor-piercing ammunition, it can easily penetrate the Tiger tank at a long enough distance.The American 76mm gun also has a considerable chance of directly penetrating the front armor of the Tiger tank at a distance of 800 meters.So these days, Tiger Tank crews always like to hang some gibberish on the outside of the Tiger's armor for a little extra defense.Although they know that even so, they still can't prevent the attack of the "Firefly" 17-pound gun, especially when the "Firefly" 17-pound gun uses gold coin bullets-tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullets. The 88 guns are comparable, and this cannot be solved by stacking a few road wheels on the front armor.

In front of the tank group, German engineers were busy clearing the road.The British retreated some distance during the night and temporarily disengaged from the Germans.The Germans soon discovered that the British had planted a large number of anti-tank mines on the road before retreating.Clearly, the British were prepared for a possible armored assault by the Germans.Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to take such an approach-the landmines planted would not only become an obstacle for the Germans, but also an obstacle for the British to act in the future.But this approach also proved one point to the side, that is, the strength of the British on the beachhead, especially the armor strength is very limited.Otherwise, the British must have preferred to use their own armor to crush the German assaults, rather than laying a large number of mines that would interfere with everyone's right of way on the roads that everyone wanted to use.

If you insist on the assault, you may still not be able to achieve your goal after paying a heavy price, but if you do not launch an assault, it will be difficult for the Germans to use the main force to defend Cherbourg due to the restraint of the British army.And once Cherbourg changed hands, the German army would have no possibility of driving the enemy into the sea.And this also means that Germany is once again caught in the dilemma of fighting on the east and west, and the final failure is only a matter of time.So, if you think about it from the point of view of the Nazis, and more specifically, from the point of view of Hitler, it is very obvious what decision to make.

In order to improve the efficiency of demining, in addition to using professional engineers, the Germans also asked many ordinary infantry to help them.It's just that while the British were laying anti-tank mines, they also laid some anti-infantry mines, which greatly increased the difficulty of the work of the engineers. Coupled with the tight schedule and heavy tasks, casualties and accidents continued to occur.

Relying on the practice of not being afraid of casualties, the Germans barely completed most of the demining tasks before the stipulated time.However, if the radish is about to be washed, omissions are inevitable.Therefore, Wittmann saw a lot of tanks on the road that were damaged by landmines and then pushed directly to the side of the road.

This night, British bombers appeared much more frequently than the night before. Along the way, the endless bombing almost never stopped.The efficiency of these bombings under the conditions of black lights and blind fire is not high, and the number of tanks really lost due to bombing is quite limited.But such bombing slowed down the German march.It was 3 o'clock in the morning when they arrived at the site of the planned attack.In another half hour, the influence of the sun will appear.At that time, whether it is the overwhelming bombers or the warships moored in the strait, they will be able to deal a fatal blow to the Germans.

One and a half hours is indeed a little short for the Germans, but it is not completely hopeless.As long as they can cut into the British army's position before dawn and complete the division of the British army, after dawn, the two armies will be in a staggered situation. The British attack aircraft, bombers and battleship cannons will face the danger of accidentally injuring their own people if they fire. dilemma.

Before reaching the location from which the attack was initiated, the Germans had already suffered certain losses.Many tanks damaged by landmines or bombing are actually quite lightly damaged, and they can rejoin the battle with a little repair.But in order to fight for time, these vehicles were mercilessly left on the side of the road.Now, after countless difficulties, the German tanks could finally face the enemy's defenses.

Under the moonlight, the British line of defense was faintly visible.It's not that the British haven't considered transforming some of the German fortifications in Normandy and turning them into fortifications facing the mainland.But these fortifications are not easy to use.Because when these fortifications were built, they considered the situation when the German army launched a counterattack if they were occupied by the enemy.Therefore, from the perspective of the mainland, their positions are quite bad. Basically, the shooting range is extremely narrow.After research, the British determined that these fortifications were basically useless except as anti-blasting holes.Therefore, the British fortifications are basically built temporarily.

Due to capacity constraints, the British were unable to transport a large amount of reinforced concrete ashore.Therefore, the British fortifications are mainly civil structures.Theoretically, the strength of such fortifications is very limited.It should not be impossible for the Germans to break through it, even if it is only an hour and a half.

The British used bulldozers to push out several anti-tank trenches in front of the position, and used the pushed out soil to build tank bunkers.These tank bunkers are actually a thick wall of earth.The height of the earth wall is roughly the same as the height of the m-4 tank.And behind this earthen wall, the British built a wavy road.When the British "Firefly" tank climbed to the crest of the wave, its body was hidden behind the earth wall, and only the turret was exposed.And when it goes down the wave-shaped road to the trough, you can't see anything from the outside.In this way, the "Firefly" tank inherited from its prototype-the m-4 tank's body is too high, and its weaknesses are easily exposed, basically it will not be a problem.However, the advantages of the m-4 series tank turret with small frontal projection and large artillery depression angle are perfectly displayed.

In this way, after obtaining the approximate parameters reported by the observers, the "Firefly" tank hiding behind the earth wall, after getting ready, can quickly drive up the wave crest, expose the turret, and fire at the enemy tank.Once the guns are fired, the "Firefly" tank can quickly drive down the trough and disappear behind the earthen wall.The German tanks trying to counterattack could not find the target at all.

This design actually originated from the war in the Middle East decades later in another time and space.In that war, the Israeli army used similar fortifications on the Golan Heights to block the attacks of enemy tanks that far exceeded their own numbers.At the meeting two days ago, Ron remembered this battle example and brought it up as his own idea.The suggestion was well received by the British.Thus, this tactic that appeared in another time and space until the 70s appeared on the beachhead of Normandy.