That night, the Germans launched an attack on the bridgehead positions controlled by the 82nd Airborne Division. The Germans first bombarded the bridgehead with 150 mm howitzers and 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, but the shelling did not last long, probably due to the effect of American and British night bombers constantly dropping bombs on any location that emitted flashes.

Because the U.S. military was well prepared, and the artillery fire was not well prepared, even the barbed wire was not able to destroy too much. In addition, after nightfall, the U.S. forces kept firing shè flares at the front, resulting in the German sappers failing to complete the marking of the minefield. Therefore, the mines planted by the American army were not cleared, and as a result, the American army easily repelled the first round of German attack. After that, the Germans launched two more attacks, but the Germans were also not fully prepared. As a result, both attacks were also repulsed.

Compared with the situation of the Americans, the problems of the British are much more troublesome. Due to omissions in prior intelligence, the vicinity of the place where the British landed was full of German garrisons. These German garrisons were not large, and were generally only battalion-level troops. But it made it difficult for the British. Until the evening, the British army did not reach their target, but the British army, which was already very tired, naturally could not continue to advance towards the target, so they had to stop and build fortifications and prepare to spend the night. The Germans seized the time to build the fortifications.

These series of delays made it more difficult for the British 1st Airborne Division to capture the Anheng Bridge. The British had already lost hope of capturing the Anheng Heng Bridge by surprise attack, and now they could only rely on a strong attack. And the Germans had already built a strong defense at the bridgehead. As a result, the next day, after the British arrived at the bridgehead, they only sent scouts to take a look, and then gave up the idea of taking the Anheng Heng Bridge in one fell swoop. Then, after an hour of fire preparation by a group of Mosquito bombers, the British attacked.

The Germans dragged out several Type 41 150mm 6-barrel rocket launchers lying in ambush on the other side of the bridge and fired a chord at the British paratroopers, causing the British to lose nearly a company of troops. Although the British Typhoon attack planes successfully suppressed these rocket launchers, the momentum of the British attack was contained. As a result, after about an hour and a half of attack, the British Airborne Forces, lacking heavy weapons, had to temporarily retreat and wait for support.

……

At a time when the British Airborne Forces were struggling because of the lack of heavy weapons, the British 30th Army, which had a lot of heavy equipment, was also worried. Originally, the British thought that the German troops on this road were at most a little armored personnel carrier or something, and it was impossible to stop their advance. Unexpectedly, in the first town they arrived, they were met with unexpected problems.

There were no German garrisons in the town, and the town had just woken up from its sleep early in the morning. Some residents opened their doors and stepped out to start their day. I don't know who was the first to glance out of town, but they saw troops of the British 30th Army approaching the town along Route 96.

The distance was too far for the townspeople to tell where the troops were coming. So, the cautious residents hurried back to their homes and closed the doors. But in the attic, behind the curtained windows, eyes were full of anticipation, looking at the approaching troops.

The vanguard of the British army was getting closer and closer to the town, and the townspeople could already clearly see the rice flags flying on the British tanks, as well as the British soldiers sitting in motorcycles and driving Bren machine guns.

"It's British! It's the British! A citizen cheered.

"Ah, it's the British! We are liberated! More citizens cheered.

As if in a juggling, before the eyes of the British, the otherwise empty streets were suddenly filled with joyous crowds, singing, dancing and cheering at them in a language that the British soldiers could or could not understand. Route 69, which had only two lanes, was immediately blocked by a crowd of joy. The Churchill tanks of the 30th Army could only honestly slow down and finally stopped.

As soon as the merry citizens saw that the British tanks had stopped, they immediately climbed up, put flowers into the barrels of the tanks, and put the wreaths that had been urgently woven on the heads of the soldiers, and some citizens took out their treasured wines, pulled the British tankmen, and shared them with them. As a result, some of the tankmen got drunk and drove the tanks into the ditch on the later march.

The jovial citizens held off the British for half an hour, and it was just a small town.

Of course, it was not only the enthusiastic Dutch people who stopped the British army's progress, but also the strong resistance of the German army.

The first time it was blocked by the Germans was in a very ordinary Dutch town, and Route 96 passed through the center of the town. When the town came into view of the British, everything seemed so ordinary, and everything was normal except that there was no crowd to be seen in the town. In fact, this is not surprising, because when the common people can't see who is coming, they will always hide in the house first and not come out. As soon as the British approached, and as soon as the Dutch people saw that it was their great savior, the British Army, they would immediately rush into the streets for a carnival.

The British relaxed their jǐngti under such speculation. Their lead motorcycle had already driven into the town, and their tanks had already driven to the entrance to the town. At this moment, a mutation suddenly occurred.

There is a wooden shed on the left at the entrance to the town, and there is a cattle pen next to it, in which two nǎi cows are also raised. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a large hole was immediately burst into the wall panel on one side of the wooden shed, through which an armor-piercing projectile pierced and hit the side of a Churchill tank that was walking in the front.

It turned out that in this shed, there was an ambush of a 40-mm anti-tank gun of the Pak-75 type! The distance between this gun and the Churchill tank is only about 150 meters, and at this distance, even if it hits the front of the Churchill tank, the PAK-40 anti-tank gun can easily penetrate the Churchill tank, let alone from the side.

With the sound of the cannon, the whole town immediately became a hell of fire and bullets. From the windows of the houses on both sides of the road, the barrels of guns sticked out, and the chainsaw-like sound of the MG-42 machine gun rang out. The motorcycles that entered the town first were immediately knocked to the ground, and most of the occupants on them were shot to death instantly. There were also a few British soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit, hiding behind motorcycles, trying to return fire with Bren light machine guns. But the Germans quickly threw grenades, and the town's resistance ended immediately.

At this time, a fire also flashed in a house about 500 meters away from the British army on the right side of the entrance to the town, which was stacked with debris and forage, and then in the British ranks, a firefly tank exploded, and the turret with a long barrel even flew straight out. Then a chariot knocked down the planks and fences in front of it from the utility room - a long barrel with a brake, sloping front armor, and it was a Leopard tank.

The Leopard fired another shot before the British tank could turn its muzzle. The cannon accurately hit a Firefly, turning it into a flaming flare. At this time, Germans also appeared in the fields on both sides of the road. Dressed in camouflage uniforms and covered with weeds, and with iron fists of bazooka in their hands, the Germans launched another round of attacks on the British marching column.

During this round of attacks, several more tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed. But the British finally reacted at this time, and some tanks that had not yet been hit opened fire one after another. Several tanks spotted a spot where there was not much difference between the elevation of the road and the ground, and even drove down the road in an attempt to launch a roundabout attack.

The wooden shed where the PAK-40 anti-tank gun, where the first one to fire, was hit by several shells, this wooden shed collapsed, and the cannon inside was also dumb. The British soldiers, who had recovered their strength, also began to fire with their Lienfest rifles, Stern submachine guns, and Bren light machine guns at the Germans who were firing with iron fist rockets at their tanks. The German soldiers had just fired their rockets, and often before they could hide, they were hit by several bullets and knocked to the ground.

Only the Leopard tank, several shells fell on its front armor. But these shells, whether it was a 4-mm shell for the M75 tank or a 57-mm shell for the Churchill tank, jumped away from its thick upper head armor. And this unscathed Leopard tank still played a death roll call against the British tanks one by one.

At this time, the M4 tanks that had driven off the road began to outflank from the side. That Leopard tank of the Germans also saw them. The Germans knew that the Leopard tank, with its weight of more than 40 tons, had gained a frontal defense capability that surpassed that of the Tiger tank, and the means relied on were actually just to tear down the east wall and make up for the west wall. Its flanks were extremely weak, and it was even inferior to the T-34/85, which was 10 tons lighter than it. Once you are attacked from the side, it will be very dangerous.

The Leopard began to quickly reverse and turn its turret to the right, which was the direction of the roundabout M4 tanks.

The Leopard turned its turret to the M4s and fired, but the gun missed because it was in reverse. At this time, a 57-mm shell suddenly came from the front, hitting the track on the side of the Leopard tank, and the track on one side of the Leopard tank immediately fell off. The track on the other side was still rotating, so it automatically exposed its side...... nbsp; The British relaxed their jǐngti under such speculation. Their lead motorcycle had already driven into the town, and their tanks had already driven to the entrance to the town. At this moment, a mutation suddenly occurred.

There is a wooden shed on the left at the entrance to the town, and there is a cattle pen next to it, in which two nǎi cows are also raised. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a large hole was immediately burst into the wall panel on one side of the wooden shed, through which an armor-piercing projectile pierced and hit the side of a Churchill tank that was walking in the front.

It turned out that in this shed, there was an ambush of a 40-mm anti-tank gun of the Pak-75 type! The distance between this gun and the Churchill tank is only about 150 meters, and at this distance, even if it hits the front of the Churchill tank, the PAK-40 anti-tank gun can easily penetrate the Churchill tank, let alone from the side.

With the sound of the cannon, the whole town immediately became a hell of fire and bullets. From the windows of the houses on both sides of the road, the barrels of guns sticked out, and the chainsaw-like sound of the MG-42 machine gun rang out. The motorcycles that entered the town first were immediately knocked to the ground, and most of the occupants on them were shot to death instantly. There were also a few British soldiers who were lucky enough not to be hit, hiding behind motorcycles, trying to return fire with Bren light machine guns. But the Germans quickly threw grenades, and the town's resistance ended immediately.

At this time, a fire also flashed in a house about 500 meters away from the British army on the right side of the entrance to the town, which was stacked with debris and forage, and then in the British ranks, a firefly tank exploded, and the turret with a long barrel even flew straight out. Then a chariot knocked down the planks and fences in front of it from the utility room - a long barrel with a brake, sloping front armor, and it was a Leopard tank.

The Leopard fired another shot before the British tank could turn its muzzle. The cannon accurately hit a Firefly, turning it into a flaming flare. At this time, Germans also appeared in the fields on both sides of the road. Dressed in camouflage uniforms and covered with weeds, and with iron fists of bazooka in their hands, the Germans launched another round of attacks on the British marching column.

During this round of attacks, several more tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed. But the British finally reacted at this time, and some tanks that had not yet been hit opened fire one after another. Several tanks spotted a spot where there was not much difference between the elevation of the road and the ground, and even drove down the road in an attempt to launch a roundabout attack.

The wooden shed where the PAK-40 anti-tank gun, where the first one to fire, was hit by several shells, this wooden shed collapsed, and the cannon inside was also dumb. The British soldiers, who had recovered their strength, also began to fire with their Lienfest rifles, Stern submachine guns, and Bren light machine guns at the Germans who were firing with iron fist rockets at their tanks. The German soldiers had just fired their rockets, and often before they could hide, they were hit by several bullets and knocked to the ground.

Only the Leopard tank, several shells fell on its front armor. But these shells, whether it was a 4-mm shell for the M75 tank or a 57-mm shell for the Churchill tank, jumped away from its thick upper head armor. And this unscathed Leopard tank still played a death roll call against the British tanks one by one.

At this time, the M4 tanks that had driven off the road began to outflank from the side. That Leopard tank of the Germans also saw them. The Germans knew that the Leopard tank, with its weight of more than 40 tons, had gained a frontal defense capability that surpassed that of the Tiger tank, and the means relied on were actually just to tear down the east wall and make up for the west wall. Its flanks were extremely weak, and it was even inferior to the T-34/85, which was 10 tons lighter than it. Once you are attacked from the side, it will be very dangerous.

The Leopard began to quickly reverse and turn its turret to the right, which was the direction of the roundabout M4 tanks.

The Leopard turned its turret to the M4s and fired, but the gun missed because it was in reverse. At this time, a 57-mm shell suddenly came from the front, hitting the track on the side of the Leopard tank, and the track on one side of the Leopard tank immediately fell off. The track on the other side was still rotating, so it automatically exposed its side......