"General Ron, the problem on your knee isn't particularly serious," a doctor in his mid-thirties said to Ron, who was lying in a hospital bed, "and the bullet didn't hit your knee completely, it just grazed through." Free eBook Download // Only some tendons showed lacerations. Such an injury can be fully recovered after a period of treatment, so you don't have to worry about leaving a disability in the future. ”

After being shot, Ron was quickly taken to the field hospital of the Seventh Army. There, the military doctor gave Ron some simple treatments - stopping the bleeding, bandaging, and then he told Ron that the problem on his knee was one of the most troublesome problems. It's not something that a poor field hospital can handle. So he'd better go back to England right away, where he can get the best treatment. So in the afternoon, Ron was sent to London by a C-47 transport plane.

"And how long will it take for this injury to heal?" Ron knew that although the doctor in front of him was still young, he was already the best surgeon in the United Kingdom and even in the world, and since he said that he didn't have a big problem, then he really shouldn't have any problems.

"Oh, General, this is not in a hurry." Dr. Bellman replied, "You know, the knee is the part that is stressed, so it is also slow to recover. To fully recover, generally speaking, it takes at least 4 months, and of course it has a lot to do with the individual's constitution. ”

"Ah, it's going to be four months." In four months, Ron thought, it would be October. "Well, Falais can't catch up, that's the festival of aviation! Hundreds of tanks are exposed on the road and fight casually, where will such a good thing be found in the future? Ron knew that in the original history, the Allied air power was in Falais, and more than a hundred tanks were killed in one go, and now with the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing, the results will definitely be even more brilliant.

"Is there a way to go faster?" Ron asked.

"General, are you worried that the battle will be delayed?" Dr. Bellman saw what Ron meant, "I didn't make it clear enough just now, in fact, you can be discharged in a week's time." However, you will have to use a wheelchair for at least one month. Generally, after a month you will be able to walk with the help of crutches. I suppose you can command combat in a wheelchair, right? ”

Commanding a battle in a wheelchair, Ron hadn't done anything like that. However, when you think about it, there is nothing impossible. The officers of the air corps are still somewhat different from the officers of the ground forces of the general army. They don't need to travel long distances with the troops, and even if they want to change airports, they can only take a plane at most. Therefore, the slightest inconvenience in his actions did not have a great impact on his command. But in the last week, there is really no way to directly command the troops.

Dr. Bellman saw that Ron was in a good mood and didn't talk to him much, and he soon left the room. So the only people left in the intensive care unit were Ron, Scott, and a nurse in her thirties.

"This lady," Ron said, "can you ......?"

The nurse had apparently taken care of a number of high-ranking officials, and she knew that it must be something that Ron had to talk to about military secrets. So she smiled and walked out, carefully closing the door.

"Scott, I probably won't be able to take care of the troops for a week, and I'll leave these matters to Painton's temporary agent. You have to emphasize to him that when you sit in this position, you don't have to drive the plane to the battlefield every day, and don't run down to sweep the floor when you have nothing to do! In addition, during this time, if there are any new situations, you can also help me pay attention to them. ”

"Okay general." Scott replied......

……

During the few days that Ron stayed in the hospital, the fighting on the front line continued uneventfully. The Americans took advantage of the time when the storm had passed, repaired one or two more floating docks, and more supplies were brought ashore. With the restoration of supplies, the Allied offensive began to resume.

By July 7, the British, supported by bombers, had finally captured Caen, and Ron's long-awaited airfield for the 21st Attack Wing had finally arrived. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't move, Ron would have wanted to run over and have a look. However, Scott told Ron that the team might not be able to transfer for the time being, because the road near the airport was damaged by both sides. As a result, supplies such as fuel and ammunition cannot be transported to the airport by road.

In the attack on Caen, in order to suppress the German armored forces, the British used a large number of heavy bombers, which they almost used as artillery. As a result, the whole of Caen was blown up to the point where there was hardly any place intact. Almost all roads were blown to the ground.

What's worse is that in order to enhance the destructive effect, the bombs dropped by the British used time-delay fuses. This will allow the bomb to burrow deeper into the ground before exploding. This setup increases the bomb's impact on the bunker, but it also greatly increases the damage to the road. A 500-pound bomb using an instantaneous fuse can only blow a crater of less than half a meter on average ground and a crater 20-30 cm deep on paved pavement. A 500-pound bomb using a time-delay fuse can easily blow a 15-2 meter deep crater on paved roads. A Lancaster bomber can dig hundreds of such large pits in one go, and the efficiency of digging pits is enough to dwarf even those werewolves in the Kremlin, and it is absolutely impossible to dig and not fill. Especially after the storm, in order to prevent a possible German attack, the British bombarded various roads with a large number of bombs equipped with such fuses. As a result, these roads are full of craters, large and small, and from the aerial photos Scott brought, they almost look like the surface of the moon.

"Faint!" Ron dropped the picture on the hospital bed and leaned back on the rocked bed, "These Brits, didn't they think about using these roads in the future when they dropped the bomb?" …… Scott, do you know how much time it will take for these roads to be repaired? ”

"General," replied Scott, "the most important roads will be reopened in three or four days, but the capacity of these roads is limited, and we may not be able to share much, and according to the above arrangement, we will not be able to transfer until more than a week later." ”

"Also, General, we got a message." Scott went on to say, "The Germans have changed commanders. ”

"Who's replaced? Rommel or Rondstedt? Ron asked.

"It's Rundstedt, General. The Germans put von Kluge in his place as commander-in-chief of the Western Front. ”

Von Kluger: This person Ron had heard of it before. He had a good record in Russia before. is an experienced commander. However, Ron also knew that by now, it would not make much difference who the Germans replaced. Rundstedt was also a commander, and he could not accomplish any of the tasks he could accomplish, whether it was the replacement of Kluger, the attack or the Manbugun, or the successful holding off of the Allied Marshal Catherine in northern Italy. When there is not much difference in strength between the two sides, the level of the commander may be decided. But when the difference in strength between the two sides is so large, unless there is favorable terrain, such as the mountainous terrain in northern Italy, no matter how high the level of the commander is, it can only be difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Moreover, changing generals in battle has been a taboo for soldiers since ancient times. Because the new generals need time to understand the situation on the battlefield, and the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, it is likely that people will come to the door before you can figure it out. Kluge used to do well on the Eastern Front. However, the battlefield environment on the Eastern Front was very different from that on the Western Front. Taking the air as an example, on the Eastern Front, although the Soviet Air Force occupied a clear advantage, because the Soviet Air Force was a short-legged air force, their range of activity was very limited, so it was not able to cause too much trouble to the German army's campaign force deployment, and it was difficult to concentrate too many at once. Moreover, although the Soviet army's ground attack aircraft are very useful when directly attacking tanks, vehicles and other targets, they have a limited bomb load and a very limited ability to destroy roads and other things. Therefore, the German army can calmly mobilize troops and organize offensive and defensive attacks a little further away from the battlefield.

But on the Western Front, the situation was completely different. On the Western Front, on the ground the Germans would not encounter heavy tanks that could compete with the Tiger tanks, even if they were Fireflies, which could be penetrated with a single shot. Like the IS-2M, there is no metamorphosis with a head and a 122 mm caliber gun that makes the Tiger's short 88 impossible to penetrate at zero distance. But in the air, the Allied air power, which had absolute air superiority, was a long-legged air force, and its range of activity could not only cover the entire battle area, but even strike as far as thousands of kilometers behind the German lines. Under their suppression, the Germans could hardly carry out large-scale maneuvers during the day, and it was also impossible to concentrate tanks for large-scale use in accordance with the classic tactical requirements of the "blitzkrieg". Only a dozen, at most a few dozen tanks, plus a few hundred infantry, for some short tactical assaults. I believe that when Klug went to replace Rundstedt, the old marshal would definitely mention this to him. However, the difference between what you get from others and what you feel is huge. It is likely that Kluge will still use his experience on the Eastern Front to command the operation. In addition, the important reason why Hitler replaced Rundstedt was that he thought Rundstedt was too conservative and did not dare to attack. Klug, who replaced him, will certainly be under more pressure. This can also easily lead him to make bad decisions.

But these things don't need to be too much of Ron's heart. At least, until he was discharged from the hospital, he was in charge of those matters.