The Third Reich: I Became Emperor

Eight hours after the Battle of Crossing the River was launched, the first large steel floating bridge was finally built. This steel floating bridge can fully support the passage of Type 54 medium tanks.

As for tanks like the Tiger, forget about crossing the bridge for the time being. At most, the Panther tanks can barely pass through. The Tiger tank soldiers who got the news were completely speechless.

Originally, they wanted to kill everyone, but now it seems that this wish has been shattered. They can only wait for the engineers to repair the bridge before they can fight. Before that, they will all be spectators.

"Bastard, does that mean we can't catch up with this battle?" a captain shouted

"In about five hours, we will be able to build a steel pontoon bridge that can accommodate 50

-ton tanks."The commander of the engineering battalion in charge of building the pontoon bridge explained. This is a pontoon bridge that can accommodate 40-ton tanks, and the engineering battalion has put all its efforts into building it. In order to allow the Type 54 tanks and Leopard tanks to pass, they have already thought of all the ways they can think of.

So the Tiger tank can only stand aside and wait for the engineers behind to find a way to build a heavier pontoon bridge, or wait until they have repaired the bridge before considering crossing the river.

Upon hearing this news, the tank soldiers of the 701 Heavy Tank Battalion had very interesting expressions. They originally wanted to cross the river and kill everyone, but now they can only help here.

""Captain, can I apply to drive a Panther tank? If that doesn't work, I can drive a Panzer IV tank." A Tiger tank commander asked intently.

""Okay, the infantry is short of people, how about I apply for you?" The battalion commander on the other end of the radio said unhappily.

After the pontoon bridge was successfully built, the newly formed 18th Armored Division's Type 54 tanks passed through the pontoon bridge one after another, providing great cover for the crossing troops.

"Damn it, where is the air force? Why hasn't it provided support yet?"On the north bank, a US major shouted loudly.

They were completely suppressed, and any counterattack was ineffective. They could only watch the German army break through their defense line after line.

Unfortunately, they could not wait for reinforcements. Before launching the crossing operation, Marshal Rundstedt had already asked the air force to delay the arrival of US reinforcements.

Marshal Catherine also knew the importance of the battle. In order to buy enough time for the crossing troops, she concentrated 500 J5 jet fighters and 200 Il-28 bombers to fully support the crossing troops and bombed the US positions on the north bank on a large scale.

Especially when it was discovered that troops in the rear had begun to reinforce, a large number of bomber troops were concentrated to bomb the US reinforcements.

Without air force cover, the reinforcements had no way to deal with the bombing of aircraft. Even if they had anti-aircraft guns, they could not catch up with the jet bombers and could only watch them bomb.

Seeing that there was no hope for reinforcements and being bombed again, the reinforcements directly stopped marching and carried out anti-aircraft fire. They would attack and wait until night to start marching, but it was too late by then.

To be honest, the combat effectiveness of the US troops defending the north bank was not weaker than that of the Germans. In fact, they were slightly better equipped than the Germans, and their logistics were even better than the Germans. This was recognized and beyond doubt.

As for the disadvantage, it might be that most of the Germans were elite soldiers who had experienced many battles, while the US troops were mostly recruits with weak fighting will. They would often choose to retreat when one line of defense was broken through, and they did not have the courage to fight to the death.

This was due to the lack of combat experience and excessive reliance on weapons and equipment. They believed that artillery would lead the way, tanks would charge, and infantry would clean up the battlefield. If that didn't work, the air force would bomb and clean the ground first, tanks would charge, and infantry would follow.

Over time, they felt that weapons and equipment could overcome everything, and the requirements for individual combat effectiveness were low. In addition, this group of US troops had not experienced tough battles and had little willpower. Facing the fierce German army, they didn't know what to do except retreat.

If it were the Russians, they would definitely fight to the end under the guns of the supervision team, and their willpower would be much stronger than that of some German troops.

"What to do? I can't hold it, so I can only retreat."

"No retreat, you must hold your ground"

"Without airplanes, how can we defend"

"Damn it, where are our tanks? Why haven't they appeared yet?"

In a building, several American soldiers were arguing with fear on their faces. Some wanted to withdraw, but the superior disagreed.

"The enemy is too numerous. We are no match for them. Let's retreat, Lieutenant."

"My orders were to hold my ground."

"If we don't withdraw, we won't be able to leave."

"Boom!"At this time, a shell from the T-54 tank flew over and directly blew up the dilapidated building. The few people who were arguing just now were directly buried by the collapsed building.

"Goal accomplished, moving on"T-The Type 54 tank commander said on the radio, start the tank again and charge forward, and the infantry following behind him were cautious and alert.

""Pay attention to your surroundings and beware of enemy snipers." The German infantry lieutenant whispered.

Street fighting is still very dangerous, and this is only the first line of defense. It will take a long time to completely capture the entire city.

"Da da da!"Just a few steps forward, a machine gun position opened fire fiercely, and countless bullets hit the Type 54 tank, all of which were bounced off, leaving only traces.

""Boom!" When the T-54 tank turned its gun and prepared to fire, a shell hit the flank of the T-54 tank directly. The imagined explosion did not happen and the shell was bounced off.

But the crew members in the T-54 tank were dizzy and the commander quickly realized:"Be careful, there is an enemy tank, find the enemy quickly.""

"Damn, what kind of tank is this? Why can't it penetrate?"The M4 tank commander saw this scene and shouted in surprise.

If he knew that the M72 armor-piercing shells of the early M4 tanks could only effectively penetrate the 80mm frontal armor of the Panzer IV at 100 meters.

But the T-54 tank���Homogeneous steel armor, 120mm on the front, 80mm on the sides, 45mm on the back, 45° on the front, 200mm at the thickest part on the front, 108mm on the sides, 5mm on the back.

So the early M4 tank armor-piercing projectiles could not penetrate the T-54 tank.

"Found it, six o'clock, ready for armor-piercing shells."Soon the T-54 tank driver found the hiding place of the M4 tank, and the gunner began to turn the gun muzzle.

"Fire!"With the commander's roar, a shell flew directly towards the M4 tank.

""Boom!" A huge explosion sounded, and the M4 tank that was originally showing off its might was directly blown into scrap metal.

"Well done, keep pushing forward." Seeing the enemy destroyed, the T-54 tank commander ordered:

"yes!"