Time passed slowly, the night was getting darker, and the Germans were trying to rest and replenish after a day of fierce fighting. As an archipelago, Cape Verde www.biquge.info has a total of 15 islands, including Sant Antang, San Nicolas, Sal, Boavista, Fogu, Santiago, etc., but except for Chur Island, which is relatively flat, the rest of the islands are mostly rugged and mountainous. Due to the shortage of manpower and the fact that the only airfield was located on Chur Island, the German garrison was mainly located on Chur Island, and the remaining larger islands continued to be administered by the Portuguese authorities, who only moved their inhabitants to other islands or to Portugal.

Thus, while the Collins regiment was engaged in a fierce battle with the Germans this afternoon, the remaining islands were occupied without bloodshed. After going ashore, the U.S. military and the Portuguese civil affairs officials were very embarrassed, and they didn't know how to deal with each other: for the Americans, Portugal was still a neutral country after all, and it had always had a decent relationship with the United States. For the Portuguese, after all, they "leased" the Cape Verde Islands to the Germans as a military base (although the Germans only used part of it), and it makes perfect sense for the Americans to come to the door now.

In the end, the two sides reached an agreement: the American troops did not ask the Portuguese about the situation of the German troops, and the latter did not express their views on the arrival of the American troops, and maintained a peaceful situation with each other, and the islands managed by the Portuguese civil administration agreed to the presence of American troops, and the latter said that they would restrain the behavior of the troops. As for the question of what to do with the German-held islands that the US forces have captured, both sides have avoided talking about it, but several leading officers of the Army's 5th Division believe that the US troops stationed in the same position as the Portuguese authorities can form a situation similar to that of the German army at present.

Although Collins thought that it was possible to use the 3rd Division, the commander of the 5th Division, Major General MacDonald, did not think so, and after listening to the telegram sent by Collins, he set up the headquarters of the 5th Division on the island of Sant Antang in the northwestern corner of the Cape Verde Islands, and sent Admiral Devers a report full of optimism: After a fierce battle in the afternoon, our troops controlled 90% of the territory of the Cape Verde Islands, successfully landed on the Sal Island, where the Germans were stationed, and established a solid beachhead, preparing to launch a full-scale attack tomorrow and strive to take it as soon as possible.

His idea was simple: the Cape Verde Islands would be taken by the 5th Division independently, and the division, which had been damaged after the battle, could be pulled back to rest, and then the 3rd Division would be stationed there. The news that Ridgway had fought a battle in Bermuda and won the post of army commander and was promoted to lieutenant general made the officers very hot-eyed, and he also wanted to do the same in Cape Verde -- Bermuda was only regaining lost territory at best, and Cape Verde could be regarded as a counterattack to expand its territory, and he believed that the bigwigs of the Joint Staff Committee could see clearly what was at stake.

Therefore, he sent a telegram of encouragement to Collins, and told him that tomorrow he would find a way to send the other two regiments to cooperate with the attack, and relieve the pressure on Collins.

On the forward position of Sal Island, the large-scale exchange of fire has long been silent, only the cold guns and cold artillery are still going on, Collins, who received the telegram of encouragement from the division commander, has improved his mood, and several main officers of the regimental headquarters have inspected the entire beachhead defense line, affirming the action of his subordinates to build a defensive line so quickly, on the artificial dock behind him, the sappers and baggage soldiers are still trying to transport supplies and equipment, and there is a dock on Sal Island itself, However, it has become dilapidated under the attack of naval guns.

Collins was satisfied with the overall progress and operational norms, and although the regiment suffered setbacks in today's battle, the morale of the regiment as a whole remained at a high level, and the soldiers also brought into full play the level of training in peacetime, and in many links they even performed better and more in place than in training -- for example, the emergency field fortifications were repaired faster and more at a higher level than usual, and when they heard that more troops would come to support the regiment tomorrow, officers at all levels were full of confidence.

There was only one thing that bothered Collins: although most of the wounded soldiers who were attacked by the German steel ball bullets during the day were rescued, they basically lost their combat effectiveness, especially the bloody scene when they were rescued, which frightened some people, and the medical staff was short of manpower and could not take care of it at all, so they had to let some logistics soldiers help take care of it. There was a wailing and groaning in the camp, and several military doctors told him with heavy faces that many soldiers had a large number of steel balls and iron pieces embedded in their bodies, and that if they were not removed soon, there was a risk of complications in the future, and that such operations should at least be carried out on hospital ships.

In other words, Collins had to find a way to transport the wounded soldiers as soon as possible, which would undoubtedly take up very valuable manpower, so he thought about it for a long time, gritted his teeth and made a decision, and sent a whole company to assist the medics in transporting the wounded back. He knew that the troops would face a fierce battle tomorrow, and that high morale would help them achieve their goals as soon as possible.

In order to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the night to sneak attack, Collins's troops fired flares from mortars from time to time, and occasionally gathered all the light and heavy weapons that could fire at a specific time to fight for a burst -- this was the moment of firepower learned from the Pacific Theater, and it was said that it was helpful to serve the purpose of striking the grass and disrupting the enemy's infiltration.

However, after all, Sal Island is an island with a radius of 30 kilometers and width, and it is impossible for the flares to cover all the locations, and can only illuminate the most important frontal line.

Half an hour ago, Link, who was commanding in the bunker, received a report from his men: "Sir, the boats report that there are about 75 minutes left to arrive at the scene. ”

"Very good, the time is almost up, carry out the night attack according to the No. 3 plan, and give the recruits on the opposite side a lesson that will never be forgotten."

With his order, four vehicles drove out of a dark passage on the left side of the air defense tower and began to advance towards the US position, preparing to launch a night attack. Two of the four vehicles were Tiger tanks and the other two were Sherman tanks - yes, Link was going to use them for a night attack.

Link's brain was certainly not broken, he knew what he was doing, and everyone was confident that the night raid would be a success. Because these 4 tanks are not ordinary goods, but the highest technology of the German army - the Tiger tank equipped with the Owl infrared night vision device.

After the verification of the use in the African battlefield, infrared night vision devices have been used in more and more German armored units, and the Cape Verdean defenders have obtained two, and unlike the African campaign using the SDK251 half-track armored vehicle as the infrared light projection vehicle, this time the Sherman tank is used as a carrier, with 18 times the magnification, with a maximum detection distance of 2500 meters, and with the Sherman's 500 horsepower engine, even if the battery is not installed, it can provide sufficient shop, The members of the Tiger Tank are equipped with a three-in-one receiver, which uses a cathode radiation tube to convert the received infrared image into a visual image under the action of high voltage (working voltage up to 17,000 volts), and the commander, driver, and gunner can clearly see the surrounding situation at night.

This modified Tiger tank is called the Night Tiger, according to the experience of the African battlefield, but also installed a flame suppressor in the muzzle, which can eliminate the fireworks after the tank shells are fired to the greatest extent, after this transformation of the Night Tiger has become the most handy black gun unit in the hands of the German army, they will soon let the Americans taste the unparalleled suffering.

Another characteristic of the infrared "11 o'clock, Sherman, 1709 meters away......" is that it can provide simple ranging, and with the high quality of the German fleet itself, the observation level has reached a very high level.

With a "bang", an 88mm armor-piercing bullet was loaded, and it was immediately fired.

"Boom", the German army was surprisingly lucky, the first shell accurately hit the position of the turret and the first armor, this Sherman tank hiding behind the defense line never dreamed that it would be so flying, all the crew members were dumbfounded, they clearly remembered that they were armed with sandbags, branches and other prize tanks, how could the Germans find out? Not only did he find himself, but he also hit himself accurately.

They had no idea that in the face of infrared detection, those branches and sandbags were completely invisible, and the cathode ray tube was vaguely like a tank, which was enough for the battle-hardened German armored soldiers.

The sudden destruction of the Sherman tank behind him was like pouring a scoop of water into a boiling oil pot, and this section of the American defense line was boiling, mortars, heavy machine guns, rifles and even Thomson submachine guns rang out, and the poor soldiers thought that the Germans had touched their noses and eyes, and as they opened fire, the whole front began to fire fiercely. The fierce and noisy firing muffled the pace of another Tiger tank, and at a distance of more than 1,600 meters, he used 6 shells to kill 1 Sherman and 1 M10 tank destroyer, and a slightly deflected shell also destroyed a heavy machine gun position.

Collins felt like he was going crazy, and in the next 5 minutes, the entire American defense line was in flames, but the opponent was unmoved, and continued to carry out calm loitering fire on the battlefield, two Tiger tanks used accurate artillery fire to kill 4 Sherman tanks, 2 armored vehicles and 3 M10 tank destroyers in one go, and the American troops did not even notice the shadow of the enemy, and could only roughly determine that one direction of fire came from the left flank of the position, and the other direction came from the right flank.

The mortars fired flares in vain, trying to find the Assassin in the darkness, while the surviving tanks fired rapidly at the direction of the Tiger tank, not to hit the opponent, but to suppress the enemy's fire. (To be continued.) )