Steel Soviet Union

After encountering this group of defeated Wehrmacht infantry, Wittmann and Enschel needed to face the most realistic question at the moment: How to proceed next?

Fortunately, the 101st Heavy Armored Battalion of the Waffen-SS, the troops led by Wittmann and Enschel, was the closest fully-organized armored unit to the first-line landing site in Normandy. Another armored division in Normandy will have to wait until at least this afternoon before it can rush to the front line and join the battle. I heard that they were also attacked by Allied forces.

Wittmann was puzzled at first. The Allied forces had just landed on the beach and had not yet established a stable foothold. They did not even have a decent position. Where did the air attack aircraft come from?

Then I thought about it, maybe it was the long-range fighter jets and tactical bombers taking off from the British mainland, or it might be the naval carrier aviation force taking off from the aircraft carrier. All in all, the bombs were indeed dropped on the foreheads of friendly troops. This is always irrefutable. As for where these aircraft came from, it seems not so important.

"The task assigned to us by our superiors is to reach the town of Kalivo, storm the Allied beachhead junction, and prevent them from connecting the landing sites. Two infantry battalions of the Wehrmacht are stationed here, but they lack heavy weapons and anti-armor Firepower.

"Once the Allied forces established a landing site on the beach, I guess the first thing they did was to send heavy equipment, such as tanks and armored vehicles, to the beach. Then they would try to expand the landing site and connect them together. This town would be the first to bear the brunt. The target. According to this group of defeated Wehrmacht infantry, they have been escaping for some time and even met us halfway. "

"I guess the town has been attacked now, and we don't even rule out the possibility of falling. In a battle of this level, what can two battalions of defenders do? This is a strategic point, and the Allies will take it even if there are corpses everywhere. The human life was piled on it, and we don’t have other friendly forces to cooperate with us to cover it, so we may encounter big trouble if we rush over like this.”

Wittmann pressed the unfolded combat map onto the side skirt of the King Tiger and started analyzing it on the spot. He pointed at the town marked by a red circle on the map with a serious look on his face. Whether it is necessary to continue to carry out orders from superiors when the situation changes, and whether to report the situation again for instructions, are the issues that Wittmann and Enschel need to resolve as soon as possible.

"I just asked them about the detailed time. It took less than an hour at most from the time they retreated to meeting us. And when they retreated and took advantage of the chaos to escape, there were still several areas on the beach. Block's position was still fighting and had not yet been captured. This was confirmed by several people.

"Assuming that these remaining beachheads can hold the Allies back for at least half an hour, then there will only be half an hour left for the Allies to transport heavy equipment to the shore and assemble troops. Even if the two battalions of the Wehrmacht are two A battalion of pigs could not be captured even if the Allies gave them another hour.”

"I am optimistic about the war situation, Wittmann. No matter how fast the Allied forces advance, it is unlikely that they will capture the town before we arrive. If they enter the town, we will assist the two battalions of the Wehrmacht to capture them. Drive out and hold on until dark before taking action according to the superiors' instructions. If they are attacking the outside, then we will attack the flanks of these allies and cut off their offensive line in order to relieve the town's defense as soon as possible. "

"This is a combat plan that I think is feasible. If you have any suggestions, just tell us. We will get on the road immediately after solving the problem."

The remaining time must be raced against time, and no trace of the little time left can be wasted. Wittmann, who understood this, stared at the map and thought carefully for a while, and finally nodded to Enschel.

"Okay, I basically agree with your judgment, let's do it. But there is a problem, Enschel, if a town fighting breaks out, we don't know how many enemy infantry there are. We only have a battalion of SS on hand. Army infantry, if those Wehrmacht troops fight too badly, we risk being overwhelmed by the enemy in street fighting, you know what I mean."

What Wittmann was worried about was that if he arrived on the battlefield and faced the situation where the enemy had already rushed into the town and was engaging in street fighting with the two battalions of the Wehrmacht, then his side would inevitably be involved in the meat grinder of street fighting. risks of.

If this is an open field and the battlefield terrain is conducive to the deployment of armored forces, it is okay. If there are fewer infantry to cooperate, then there will be less. At worst, they can directly attack at full speed at high speed and penetrate the group of allied troops. The siege of the town will be natural. As soon as everything fell apart, our mission objectives were naturally achieved.

But if the armored forces are unable to launch the meat grinder of street fighting, and the Allies have a strength advantage, there will be a steady stream of follow-up support troops. Wittmann was worried that rushing into the town would be equivalent to rushing into hell. After the cooperating infantry suffered heavy casualties, they would sooner or later be buried alive by the Allied infantry surrounding them from all sides.

Street fighting is different from mobile combat in the field. Tanks that cannot be deployed at all can be extremely easily destroyed without infantry cover in street fighting.

Let alone an anti-tank gun, even if a cluster grenade is stuffed into the cracks of the tank tracks or thrown on the heat dissipation window of the power cabin, the King Tiger, with a combat weight of nearly 70 tons, will still be blown up and unable to move.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, there were wounded Russian soldiers who jumped from upstairs onto the foreheads of German tanks with explosive packets in their hands. Their desperate madness was really scary. Wittmann did not dare to say that the Allied troops who came from afar also had the Russians' desperate will to defend their own territory, but the reason why they must not underestimate their opponents was still obvious.

Enschel, who has been working with Wittmann for a long time, naturally knows what Master Wei means.

To be honest, Wittmann’s worries are by no means alarmist. This is a real situation that is very likely to happen. If the situation on the battlefield was really like this, Enschel knew clearly that his side would either lose the town and retreat, or be pinned down in the town and buried alive by the incoming Allied forces. There was no other possibility.

But now that the situation has come to an end, you have to go up even if you don't want to, and it's not up to you. Enshel, who regards honor and loyalty as sacred things despite the overwhelming military orders, will not allow himself to do anything cowardly.

No matter what happens next, even if he dies today, he will still have a place in the graveyard in the town.

Thinking of this, Enschel, who had already made up his mind to die, turned his head firmly and said those extremely classic words to Wittmann.