The destruction of the 1st Company of the 7th Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment was only a snapshot of the many battles that took place in the Dover theater of operations on the night of the 21st. On this bloody night, the British front-line defense on the Dover front received a heavy blow.

These units, which had been used as outcasts to delay the advance of the German army, had been prepared by the command of Dover Command from the time they were dispatched, and they were all mentally prepared to lose in the defensive battle. In fact, the combat effectiveness of these units is not weak, and there are many elite units such as the Royal Tank Regiment, but most of the infantry units are not fully formed, and there is a serious shortage of officers and equipment, but Dover no longer has the ability to reorganize and replenish them. It is impossible for this kind of unit to have combat sustainability, and it will only increase the workload of the command department in street fighting, and it is better to deploy all of them to the outer defense line as a one-time defensive force to consume the strength and morale of the German army.

These infantry units are destined to not get reinforcements, they can only rely on the three fragile defensive lines that were hastily constructed, the strength of these scattered defensive positions is not high, and the intensity of firepower is not satisfactory, even the Dover command does not want these peripheral defense lines to be too fragile, so it loses the meaning of delaying and depleting the German army, so it is still very expensive in terms of weapons and personnel arrangements, such as taking out the elite infantry tank battalion, which is half of the existing strength of the first armored division, However, these bulky and bulky tanks are completely unsuitable for street fighting, and they are also a chicken rib in the core of Dover City.

These units lived up to expectations, not being defeated by a German surprise attack, and the British soldiers relied on their rudimentary equipment to put up a desperate resistance to the swarming German troops. Some of the British units fought so tenaciously that even the Germans were willing to come forward to bear witness to them. Some small positions occupied an excellent terrain advantage, and even made the attacking German infantry units suffer a lot for a time. But after all, the disparity in power between the two sides is too great. All resistance and efforts were soon drowned out in the fierce fire of the German army.

By midnight, the British Army's first line of defense on the outskirts of the Denver area had been wiped out, and only a handful of troops had been able to break away from the exchange of fire with the Germans and retreat to the second line of defense in the rear.

Most of the defending troops were annihilated by the Germans in the firefight, and the Germans had a certain advantage in most of the battlefields, either in terms of strength or quality. Large numbers of British soldiers were killed on their positions, and many did not even see what their killers looked like.

Night combat is a brutal mode of warfare, and in some ways it is more brutal and bloody than most daytime combat. Because of the impaired vision, many battles are fought at close range, and the hits and weapons of both sides are multiplied, and hand-to-hand combat is two to three times more likely to break out in daytime combat.

The officers and men of Britain and Germany have shown their own skills to fight each other, and this is a war of life and death, not a playhouse-style exercise. Most of the German soldiers were veterans of dozens of battles and had a wealth of battlefield experience. They skillfully used the weapons in their hands to kill the British soldiers who had only undergone complete soldier training and had no combat experience.

In the periphery of the Battle of Dover, many of the battles on the British positions eventually turned into a one-sided massacre, and some British soldiers were forced into a nervous breakdown by the tragic situation at the scene halfway through the battle, and the insane soldiers launched indiscriminate attacks on all the characters who approached him, causing a lot of unnecessary damage to both the enemy and the enemy.

During the night's fighting, the German infantry reaffirmed that the infantry shovel and the grenade were two very good hand-to-hand weapons in trenches. The bayonets they were given were somewhat too short in comparison, and it took a long time to become proficient in using such short daggers. There are also some professional fighting skills, but anyone can do it with an axe and a hammer, especially some soldiers from peasant families, this is simply their natural skill, these infantry are very good at using these weapons in hand-to-hand combat, and kill those British soldiers to the ground.

The British infantry was defenseless against the rampaging Germans. It's like a Roman soldier in the Black Forest who was attacked by a Germanic barbarian, armed with a long javelin but not knowing how to parry, watching as the barbarian picked up his tomahawk and cut off his own head.

Hand grenades were slightly less effective in hand-to-hand combat, because the British army was no longer well equipped, and a steel helmet per person was still available. That ugly saucer-shaped helmet actually has good performance, at least it can withstand a hammer from a German barbarian, sometimes a grenade breaks the wooden handle and can only leave a dent on it, but the Germans will not only greet you on the head, they will also use that thing to call your face, this guy is not something ordinary people can bear, the two sides usually win or lose in a second or two, but the outcome is often the German barbarian holding up the blood-stained M24, and the British soldier with a face smashed and full of broken teeth under his feet.

The British positions were built in a really hurry, they didn't have time to dig out regular land trenches, but could only dig out ordinary infantry trenches, these ditches that were not even communication trenches in the past were shallow and narrow, and there were no basic planks or wicker parapets, not to mention any anti-artillery holes and covered bunkers, from the perspective of defensive warfare, this kind of fortification was completely unqualified, this thing can only play a limited role in the body of the soldiers, and it can not play any protective role in the heavy fire bombardment of the enemy. A single large-caliber infantry cannon could blow up such an entire trench.

However, in this night battle, the Germans seldom bombarded such trench positions with heavy artillery, which were limited in number and where they were needed more, they were used to bombard some ring bunkers and semi-fortified positions, and these light infantry field positions were sufficient to rely on the existing weapons of the units.

Due to the lack of supplies and equipment, and the lack of time, the British infantry simply set up a barbed wire fence around the position, and more often than not, there was no barbed wire. Because the commander did not know the direction in which the enemy was coming, and only had a rough concept of arc defense, the result was that the front-line troops could only set up positions on the side facing the road and facing away from the village according to the standards stipulated in the military regulations, or set up bunkers on the hills near some key roads, so many British positions were directly set up in the wrong direction of defense.

The German side also had a bad understanding of these positions. The reconnaissance map and photos in their hands were from two days ago. Some paratroopers risked their daylight to reconnoiter the area, but they were only able to demarcate the positions in a superficial way, and it was completely unknown how they were arranged. Moreover, the German paratroopers did not dare to go too deep into the British line, so they only mastered the position and size of the first line of defense in the British outer line, and for the second and third lines, the Germans only obtained the initial layout plan at the Kent command post. In practice, this will inevitably be biased, so the troops can only rely on their own search and reconnaissance during the operation.

This is a relatively taboo issue in war, and the army is equivalent to crossing the river by feeling the stones, and it is very easy to fall into the trap of the enemy. However, the German command grasped the essence of the British defensive forces, they did not have time to lay any traps with their troops, and the German troops only needed to maintain the speed and intensity of the attack, disrupt the deployment of the other side, cut off the connection between the positions, and use the simplest and crude way to destroy the enemy's first-line defense. If the morale and determination of the British to resist are defeated, then the second and third positions behind will definitely be solved. Facts proved that Bock's thinking was indeed very reasonable, and the battle that night did go smoothly according to his expectations.

Before the start of the raid, the German infantry quietly moved to the known British positions by night, and advanced covertly towards the British positions in infantry squads. The German infantry would stop for a moment after reaching the first line of barbed wire, which was often the optimal range of enemy machine-gun fire. Each infantry squad in the German army was issued with a bolt cutter in a holster. It can be hung on a belt around the waist, and this equipment is generally kept by the deputy squad leader. All known barbed wire fences can be cut. The German infantry cut through the barbed wire, the machine-gun crew would stay by the barbed wire first, and the infantry group began to move forward covertly.

At this point, it depends on the luck of both sides, if the British sentries do not detect the Germans, the German infantry can even touch the British trenches directly. However, under normal circumstances, the squad leader of the German commando team accepted it when he met it. After reaching an estimated distance, lead the whole squad to lurk and wait for the order of the rear troops to attack.

When the order to raid was given, the Germans would first place a series of flares over the heads of the British positions, and then the heavy machine gun squads of each company would begin to carry out cross-fire suppression, and these MG34s with heavy gun mounts existed for this purpose. German mortars then joined the ranks of suppression. If the battle went well, then the German front-line commandos began to charge at the British positions.

The machine guns of each squad will provide fire cover at this time, suppressing all the enemies who dare to take the lead, the infantry may also throw a wave of grenades, and then some people will jump into the trenches, and the other half will attack the enemy position in depth outside the trench.

When the infantry breaks through to the enemy position, the machine gun team will continue to advance, they will occupy the position at the top of the trench, set up machine gun fire points, the role of the machine gun is to block the intersection of the trench and the communication trench, cut off the enemy in the trenches, and prevent the enemy rear reinforcements from entering the battlefield through the communication trenches.

Wait until the machine-gun crew enters the trenches, and then it's time for bloody melee combat. In addition to bayonets and infantry shovels, the German soldiers actually carried their own self-defense weapons. By order of the Führer, the German soldiers participating in the landing cluster were allowed to privately purchase and hold pistols. The army was originally going to start implementing this order again in October, but thanks to the Führer's proposal, the landing cluster was given priority and was used as a pilot to see how well it would work in real combat. However, the order also specifically states that soldiers are prohibited from buying and wearing officer-style weapons, because this is related to the military class system, the dignity and authority of the commander, and no one is allowed to destroy it.

The salaries of the German soldiers were not too high, but they could not afford to have more oil and water in peacetime, and after fighting the French campaign, everyone received a bunch of combat bonuses and combat subsidies. The evil German arms dealers swarmed like sharks smelling fish, handing out leaflets, offering a bunch of discounts, holiday sales, annual rush purchases, not only installments, but even mail orders.

As a result, most of the ordinary infantry in the landing force bought a piece to be inserted into the waist or intercostal defense, which almost became a fashion, and even caused a trend of soldiers comparing with each other, and some brand weapons with excellent performance and beautiful shape were sought after in the army. These are soldiers with combat experience, they know what it means to be practical, and things like gold-inlaid jade hollow filigree are generally not popular with big-headed soldiers.

In the hand-to-hand combat that night, many German soldiers used their beloved matching guns, which made many British soldiers who fell under the muzzle of the guns blind, and the Germans even gave the soldiers pistols, which was completely fraudulent and unfair. However, in the midst of the brilliant victory, another problem arose, and in the chaotic night attack on the position, there were dozens of cases of accidental injuries and killings by one's own pistols, and these undeserved tragedies attracted the attention of the German landing group command, who wrote a special report for this purpose, asking the high command to formulate new regulations for close combat in this regard.

Of course, in war, accidental injuries are very common, and there is no way to eliminate them, so we can only strengthen the combat regulations and try to avoid them. The Germans have always paid special attention to this aspect of the problem, and they have even changed their combat tactics in order to avoid similar problems. For example, the German army's street fighting tactics are different from those of other countries, and the German army after entering the street battle will definitely not engage in interspersed detours, just to avoid the occurrence of oolong incidents, and their own roundabout troops and assault troops exchange fire and cause accidental injuries.

The Germans were even willing to put a Nazi flag on their tanks, knowing that they would expose their whereabouts and avoid being attacked by their own air force. In contrast, the Americans are much worse, whether in North Africa or in Europe, American GIs are often bombed by those over-excited and bad-eyed air cowboys. (To be continued......)