Werner and the others were destined not to see the Americans swim back to the United States, although it was tempting to annihilate one infantry division and one armored division.

However, Qin Chuan knew that the American army was already ready for the beachhead.

It is true that one infantry division and one armored division of the US army could certainly not withstand the attack of one armored division and one mechanized infantry division of the German army.

However, the U.S. military has a powerful naval and air force: the United States has the most powerful air force in the world and the second largest navy in the world...... At this time, the U.S. Navy was still nominally second, and the first was the British Navy, but in fact, the British Navy could no longer compete with the U.S. Navy.

The reason is as mentioned before, the United States has a strong industrial capacity, and it can mass-produce a large number of advanced warships and aircraft carriers in a short time, while Britain has long had this capability, and of course it is only the first on paper at sea.

It is conceivable that if the Germans launched an attack on the beachhead where the American troops were stationed, they would pay a heavy price even if they could defeat the American troops.

This is not what Qin Chuan wants, nor is it what Rommel wants.

This time, Montgomery guessed the German target...... That is, what Montgomery said to Eisenhower about Siracusa.

Of course, Eisenhower wouldn't have believed Montgomery and certainly couldn't trust Montgomery.

Because if Montgomery believed in it and transferred the warships and warplanes in the direction of the British army and prepared them, the US military would be doomed.

However, of course, Qin Chuan will not let the US military make it so easy.

The Germans drove the US 1st Infantry Division all the way back to the sea, and the main force turned around and headed straight for Syracuse, leaving only a few small units to hide in the palm grove in front of Trapa Harbor.

General Patton was personally commanding the beachhead, after all, this was already the last position of the American army, and at least in the eyes of the American army, the situation was dire...... The enemy was in a palm grove, and the Americans were building fortifications on an open beach, where there was not even a place to dig trenches, so the Americans had to make sandbags and put thirty tanks together, and then add mines and barbed wire to build a simple line of defense.

But General Patton knew that such a line of defense would not be able to stop the German attack at all, that German artillery would turn mines out of the sand, tank tracks would easily run through barbed wire and sandbags, and bazookas would smash dozens of "General Grant" tanks with problematic firing ranges.

The only thing the US military can rely on or survive on is the dozens of warships on the sea behind it.

"General!" The communications man handed the phone to Barton.

Eisenhower's slightly nervous voice came from the other end of the line: "Can we stop them, Joe?" ”

Patton looked out into the darkness of the palm grove, and a sea breeze blew and the palm trees swayed with the wind, like a giant army rushing towards the American troops guarding the beachhead.

"Who knows?" Barton replied, "But I'll do my best!" ”

Eisenhower on the other end of the phone nodded: "Don't let them come, remember, we have the shells, we do everything we can to ensure the supply of ammunition, and the defense line will be handed over to you!" ”

"Okay, Ike!" Barton put down the phone, knowing that his friend was timid.

It's normal to be timid, because the responsibility for this matter is too great...... As the supreme commander of the Mediterranean theater, Eisenhower was in principle responsible for the victory or defeat of the entire battle.

But that's not the worst, because victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, and there are no victorious generals on the battlefield. What's more, everyone knows that American generals, including Eisenhower, originally supported another set of battle plans, that is, Patton's battle plan for a direct attack on Messina.

It was Montgomery who insisted on rejecting this plan for his own selfish purposes, and proposed the current set of traditional, incorruptible, and laissez-faire plans for the enemy's reinforcements to Sicily...... A considerable number of American generals believed that Enner's German army had been reinforced from Italy across the Strait of Messina, and that if the United States had attacked the port of Messina from the beginning, Sicily would not have had a few more divisions of German troops.

So, Eisenhower's responsibility for the whole campaign was not great.

However, if the Germans broke through the American lines and occupied the beachhead, then things were in trouble.

This is not only a question of position, but a question of the US 45th Infantry Division and the 2nd Armored Division having no way back.

Behind it was the sea, and although there were many warships and lifeboats, there were more than 30,000 people in two divisions, and there were German machine-gun fire behind them......

To make matters worse, the remnants of the 1st Infantry Division, which had been routed and scattered in the jungle, and the 3rd Infantry Division in the direction of Palermo had no way to retreat.

At that time, a large number of American soldiers will be killed or will have to choose to surrender, which is definitely a great tragedy for the US military.

And all of this was caused by Eisenhower, because he agreed to this plan that was obviously unfair to the US military, and the US military and civilians would vent all their anger on Eisenhower, and Eisenhower would completely become a "traitor" and a "traitor."

Patton took a cigar and put it to his nose and sniffed it, but he did not dare to light it, knowing that the Germans were in the palm grove.

What are they afraid of?

Patton thought that they were worried about the fleet behind the American army and the large-caliber naval guns on the warship.

But even Patton himself was not sure if the guns would be able to hold off the German attack...... At this time, there was a general military view that naval artillery was not suitable for fire cover on the opposite shore.

This may sound ridiculous, because in modern movies, naval guns bombard the shore at every turn, and then blow up the bunkers and cars on the shore to the sky in an instant.

But it makes sense......

The naval guns are on the warship, the warship is at sea, and the sea water is constantly fluctuating, especially when the warship fires its guns, its huge recoil force will also make the warship shake violently on the sea surface.

Therefore, aiming at a target on a warship is not the same thing as aiming at a target on shore:

The artillery on the shore can control the error within 100 meters according to the adjustment, that is, all the elements are correct, and the shells may deviate from the target by 100 meters after the artillery is fired.

In the same situation with naval guns, that is, all the elements are right, but the shells may deviate from the target by one kilometer after the guns are fired, and in addition, the distance and speed of the target are not accurately grasped in actual combat, and it is normal for the shells to deviate from the target for several kilometers...... This is also the reason why naval battles often require a salvo of shells, and at the same time a volley of shells is fired, and it is by luck that it hits.

ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS OF BRITISH BATTLESHIPS, THE AVERAGE HIT RATE OF HITTING A 15-INCH (381MM) MARK1 NAVAL GUN IS ONLY 2.17%, THAT IS, ONLY TWO HITS ARE FIRED IN A HUNDRED SHELLS, AND THIS IS ONLY A HIT.

Because of this, most of the naval guns of modern warships use extended-range guided shells...... There is no way, the hit rate of traditional naval guns is too unreliable.