As for the Airborne Forces, this one is even simpler. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The Allies had built thousands of dummies, and these dummies also contained bombs inside.

During the deception, the dummies were dropped off in batches by transport aircraft to the rear of Calais...... The bomb inside the dummy exploded when it landed, so that the Germans could not find out that it was a hoax for the time being, they thought that the enemy airborne troops must be hiding, they didn't see it, they just didn't find it.

In addition to this, the Allies also confuse the real with the fake...... In these fake airborne troops, a regiment of airborne troops was really airdropped.

These airborne troops, whose mission was to confuse the German army, covered up in the shadows to encircle and annihilate small groups of German troops, and in many places used loudspeakers to play pre-recorded guns and artillery sounds to create the illusion of fierce battles.

When Rundstedt heard the "enemy situation" coming from the direction of Calais, he excitedly said: "Look, I said that the enemy will definitely land from Calais!" This proves my analysis correct! ”

Therefore, when Rommel sent another telegram requesting an urgent transfer of troops to reinforce Normandy, Rundstedt responded unceremoniously: "Marshal, while you are still worried about the Allied landing in Normandy, the main force of the Allied forces is already attacking Calais!" ”

"I don't believe that's true, Your Excellency, Commander!" Rommel replied.

"You have to believe it!" Rundstedt replied with a heartfelt voice: "But we found a huge Allied fleet in the direction of Calais, and a large number of airborne troops landed in the rear of Calais, and our men even engaged in a fierce battle with them!" ”

Rommel was confused at the time, although he still firmly believed that the Allies would land from Normandy, but as the saying goes, "seeing is believing", there should be no problem with the information reported from the front.

But Rommel still felt that something was wrong, because it was completely unreasonable: if the Allied attack was always aimed at Calais, then why attack Normandy with small forces? With the intelligence capabilities of the Allies, it should be clear that they have strengthened the defenses of Normandy, and any small or non-main force attacking it is tantamount to suicide...... What was the strategic significance of the Allies?

The more Rommel thought about it, the more wrong it became, but he couldn't convince the prejudiced Rundstedt.

"You know what?" Rommel said indignantly to his adjutant: "I really want to do nothing, let the Allies teach these stupid and arrogant guys a lesson!" ”

Rommel could not wait to rush back to Paris before commanding the operation, because, as mentioned before, Rommel knew that the main battlefield should be on the coastline, and if the enemy could not be forced back into the sea within 24 hours, then the German army had no hope of victory.

So he contacted his old subordinates in Paris first, and then through him, the 21st Panzer Division, and ordered the 21st Panzer Division to reinforce Normandy immediately.

Rommel was right to do this, because, despite the passage of several hours, the Allied landing force had weak control over the defensive line, both on "Omaha" and on other beaches......

There are three reasons for this.

One is that the beach is full of mines and obstacles, and there is not much space left for the landing force, and in addition, there are problems with the training of the US troops, so the landing action is very slow.

The other is that the Allies have been thinking about a storm in two days and cutting off the Allied communication and supply lines, so the Allies did not go all out after seizing the German coastal defenses, but spent most of their energy on unloading supplies...... And this was made very difficult by the first point, and the Allies only managed to deliver 100 tons of supplies to the shore in half a day.

The most important thing was a "floodplain" that Rommel had created behind the German coastal lines......

Perhaps Rommel's intention in creating this "floodplain" was to prevent the Allies from landing in the area, but it did not cause much trouble for the airborne...... The new 1st Division was successfully airborne here.

It can even be said that the "floodplain" also helped the Allies to successfully occupy the beachhead: because of the "floodplain", the Germans thought that there would be no airborne troops behind them, so they were defenseless, and who knew that the new 1st Division would be airborne here.

The real trouble caused by the "floodplain" was that it turned the area more than ten miles behind the German beachhead into a muddy "swamp...... For this, in fact, even Rommel himself did not expect, because it was not good for the defense of the German army, and the German army also needed to transport supplies to the beachhead.

Of course, this "swamp" is not entirely formed by the "floodplain", and part of it is caused by the heavy rains in the past few days.

This "swamp" may not have had much impact on the Zoaf Corps, because they did not have much heavy equipment in their hands, and they still rely on bicycles to maneuver...... There is nothing wrong with riding a bike on dirt roads, and in extreme cases it can be done by pushing it or even carrying it on your shoulder.

The problem is that the main forces of the Allied forces are the American army and the British army, especially the American army, which is armed to the teeth and must have tanks, cars, and artillery.

They won't be able to move an inch.

Eisenhower was very distressed by this, and he thought that he had prepared enough information about the battlefield environment before the war and thought it enough, and now he found out...... They and all of them made the mistake of focusing on the beachhead and ignoring what was going on behind the beachhead.

As a direct result, the Allied offensive was very slow, because they had to build roads to advance at the same time, and the roads had to be built by tanks...... The US Army hardly dared to imagine how to fight the enemy without tanks, which they considered to be pointless in the slaughter of the enemy.

It was at this time that the German 21st Panzer Division came up.

The 21st Panzer Division was already lurking in the forest just a few kilometers from the coastline......

Rommel used his three Panzer Divisions as follows: two for coastal defense, and one for camouflage and concealment in the rear so that reinforcements for the beachhead could be readily available.

The two armored divisions used for coastal defense had clearly been routed by the Allies, and they mostly did not play much role because they fought in the dark.

Only the 21st Panzer Division remained intact.

The 21st Panzer Division, Rommel's veteran unit that fought against the Allies in Africa, was almost completely wiped out in the African theater. The division had 16,000 soldiers and 127 tanks, many of whom still wore tropical African uniforms due to shortages.