013-11-28

Ideally, a retreat would be best done entirely at night, but in reality it is difficult to do so. Because the Germans had weakened the forces on the left and right flanks too much for this doomed counteroffensive, it was difficult for the Germans to hold back the Allied offensive on both flanks. In addition to the Americans, the British, and the Canadians, now the Polish army and the French French team are also engaged in the battle.

On the South Road, in just one day, General Leclerc's 2nd French Panzer Division captured Le Mans, well, the Le Mans famous for its 24-hour endurance racing, almost in the middle of the march. However, the Germans did not show much stamina here, and consisted entirely of light infantry, and the defenders, who did not even have a single No. 3 assault gun, were expelled from Le Mans after facing the French Panzer Division equipped with Jīng Liang. However, after the Germans fled, the ecstatic French people who rushed to celebrate after hearing the news caused a lot of traffic jams at Le Mans, which slowed down the speed of the French 2nd Panzer Division.

But the situation is better in the north. Montgomery's 1st Polish Panzer Division's offensive was rather unsmooth. This was not because the Polish army was not good at fighting, in fact, although Poland was defeated by the German blitzkrieg at the beginning of the war, some Polish troops showed good combat effectiveness. Their defeat was more due to tactical ideological backwardness and political stupidity. Now, after receiving weapons and training with the assistance of the United States and Britain, the combat performance of the Polish 1st Panzer Division is actually quite good.

It's just that on the northern front, the terrain is not very ideal, there are a lot of woodlands and hills, which not only limits the use of weapons such as tanks, but also limits the use of air power. Under the cover of the woodland, the Germans resisted steadily, and the situation seemed to be good. However, Marshal Kruger knew that the soldiers were approaching their limits, and it was only a matter of time before they collapsed.

Krueger again telegraphed Hitler and asked to retreat. But Hitler categorically disagreed, and not only did he not agree to retreat, but even demanded that Krueger continue the offensive at all costs.

"Fight like a soldier and don't be scared into a coward by the enemy." In the message, Hitler said this to Field Marshal Kruger. He even quoted Shakespeare's line from Macbeth: "I will still lift up my mighty shield and do my last strength." ”

"Huh, Macbeth? That's a brilliant metaphor, isn't it? Will every tyrant and tyrant behave like this when faced with the end of the day? Field Marshal Kruger threw Hitler's telegram on the table and said to his chief of staff in a tone that was rare for vitriol.

"Marshal, you have to speak...... Be careful......" The chief of staff was a little nervous when he heard such outrageous words as "tyrants and tyrants".

"Oh, nothing to be afraid of." Krueger laughed, "To say that the sentence he quoted is really good, it inspires me." You know, my defeat is inevitable, I have committed irreparable mistakes, and for my own sake I have succumbed to the wrong orders and led the soldiers to a desperate situation. But now, I can't go wrong anymore. I know that I may not end well, but 'I will still hold up my mighty shield and do my last strength', ah, what a beautiful sentence, it almost goes to my heart. Inform the troops, continue the retreat as planned! ”

……

"The Germans are already retreating. We must complete the encirclement as soon as possible. In addition, we should slow down the German retreat with constant air strikes, and in this regard, General Ron and General Li May are experts. Do you guys have any thoughts on this? General Bradley asked.

"General, if we want to encircle as many Germans as possible, we'd better blow up the bridges near Mar del Plata. It would be more difficult for the Germans to retreat. Ron said.

"It's going to be a problem for us to do the next thing." General Bradley said, "I'm worried that the Germans will blow up these bridges when they get out." ”

"General, we can try to blow these bridges into general xìng damage, not permanent xìng damage." "Let's say we're blowing up a section of the approach part of the bridge, or we're going to make a big hole in the deck every once in a while. Such damage, in our hands, can be repaired in a few hours. It's the same with the Germans, but I don't think the Germans have much of a 'few hours' to wait for right now. Besides, if he fixes it, we can blow it up again. ”

"General Leemay," General Bradley turned to Leemay, "how do you think this is feasible?" Obviously, when it comes to issues like bombing, Li Mei's authority is still higher than Ron's.

"General, you should remember that before that, we had an example of a jīng real attack on a bridge." "It's technically easier to hit the deck than it is to hit the piers. Of course, the possibility of accidental damage to the bridge pier cannot be completely ruled out. ”

"How big is this possibility?" General Bradley continued to ask.

"General, I have had such a discussion with General Li Mei, and we have also conducted some experiments. We believe that if we use some lighter bombs, such as 250-pound aerial bombs, instead of heavy aerial bombs, we will not cause irreparable damage to the bridge even if we hit the piers. Unless we hit it every time we go to drop a bomb. ”

"I don't think our luck will be so bad, right?" General Bradley laughed, "Then go ahead and do it!" Anything else? ”

"We need the details of these bridges, and the more detailed the better...... Ms. Li said.

……

A No. 3 assault gun drove along the road, and after yesterday's battle, there was only one such tank left in the entire company. The company commander was blown away by a British heavy bomber along with his No. 3 assault gun in yesterday's air raid, so now the remaining assault gun has been reinforced to a paratrooper company to enhance the unit's anti-tank combat capabilities.

Now this company of paratroopers was transferred to the Mar del Plata area to protect a bridge and also to ensure the retreat of the German troops. The Americans and French on the southern front were not moving very quickly, but they were still close to these targets.

The commander, Sergeant Fornan, and several other crew members sat on the roof of the car, and the driver opened the hatch above him, revealing his head. Although due to the long bombing and the passage of a large number of military vehicles, the asphalt on this section of the road has long been unknown, and the whole road is flying dust. But in any case, it's still more comfortable to show your head or simply sit on the roof of the car than to stay in the car. And in this way, once encountering a safari enemy plane, everyone can run faster.

Along the way, Vernan was always on the lookout. Because there's so much dust on this damn road. As vehicles pass by, they will raise the dust so high that enemy planes can see it from a great distance. Originally, the No. 3 assault vehicle was low, and the Funan team covered it with a lot of branches or something, even if an enemy plane came over, as long as the enemy could find it before the enemy could find a place to stop, the enemy plane might ignore it as a lump of bushes.

But now that there is such dust, there is absolutely no such thing, and the enemy planes follow the dust, deliberately looking for the place where the dust has disappeared, and sweeping the suspicious target, no matter how well camouflaged it is, it is useless.

However, Fornan's luck was that although he encountered some Allied planes along the way, most of them were heavy bombers, and they would not change their targets for the sake of a single assault gun, and for them, this small assault gun was not even qualified to let them adjust their course. On another occasion, they also encountered several P-51 fighters. At that time, Fornan and his crew spotted the fighters first, so they abandoned the vehicles in a panic and hid. As a result, perhaps because they ran out of ammunition, they did not attack the No. 3 assault vehicle parked on the road, but simply flew away. So Funan's lucky Three Rabbits were able to move on again.

Not far ahead was the bridge, and the soldiers of the paratrooper company had already dug several anti-tank bunkers not far from the bridgehead. In this way, the assault gun No. 3 could maneuver between these several bunkers. Guided by a sergeant, Fornan drove his No. 3 assault gun into bunker No. 1.

"Is there water? We all had to wash our faces, and the dust was so big along the way that I had dirt all over my nose and ears. Fernan jumped off the third assault gun and said to the sergeant.

"Yes, there is water in the river. But we have planted mines there, and I will find someone to take you there, so that you do not step on them. The sergeant said.

At this time, a second lieutenant officer came over, and Fornan immediately raised his hand to salute him. The officer casually raised his arm, which was considered a return salute.

"You're just in time." The lieutenant said, "You see, that road over there, that road leads to Le Mans, and now the Americans and the French have occupied it." If nothing happens, they will be in front of us early tomorrow morning. But it's still early, and we still have time to prepare. Oh," the lieutenant laughed as he looked at Funan's face, "ah, I should have asked Claire to wash your face by the river." ”

Then the second lieutenant turned to the sergeant and said, "Claire, take them to the river, and be careful not to let them step on the mines." ”

Sergeant Claire smiled, "Sir, definitely not. I planted all those mines with my brothers, and I know where they were. ”

Claire led a few people around to the river, the water was very clear, through the water, you could see a few small fish swimming around the pebbles not far from the shore. Farther away, the water is so deep that you can't see the bottom.

Funan threw the towel into the water and watched it soak through the water, when the poignant sound of an air raid suddenly rang out.