As the sun set and the sky was red, the four German battleships "Hanover", "Hesse", "Bavaria" and "Baden" lined up in the anchorage sea southwest of Corvo Island, and all the main guns were aimed at Flores Island. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 At the northern tip of the island, a large puff of smoke from the bombardment and shelling had cleared, accompanied by the sparse sound of gunfire, and from time to time small clouds of smoke and dust had risen, and the light warships escorting the landing ships were still cruising in the coastal waters, but they were obviously not of much help at this time.

"As Your Majesty expected, the enemy's forces in the port of Delgada are very weak, and both marines and paratroopers have successfully penetrated the port area, and it is expected that the battle there will soon be over."

On the bridge observation deck of the acting flagship Hanover, German Commodore Erich von Manstein spoke with admiration with His Majesty King Joachim I of Ireland in front of him. A little more than a month ago, the 46-year-old army commander was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle of the Third Class for his good performance in the Battle of Edinburgh, but he still lacked enough convincing combat exploits to advance to the rank of major general, and as the war in Britain drew to a close, he would either choose to lead his troops to England to gain merit by sweeping up the underground resistance groups and maintaining law and order in the occupied areas, or apply to go to other theaters - the Azores or the Middle East, the former of which is in a terrible situation, but where the army unit is mainly responsible for the defense of the islands, The strategic position of the latter is not inferior to that of the Azores, but it is subject to geopolitical factors, the troops of the two camps have not yet had the opportunity to engage directly, and the main task of the Allied army is to play a game of cat and mouse with the armed forces of the Great Persian State.

Before Manstein took the initiative to find a way out of his future, a special letter of appointment was placed in front of him. After hours of deliberation, he decided to accept the assignment of the German General Staff to go to the Azores to be at the disposal of the "Hohenzollern genius".

When Manstein arrived on Sao Miguel Island, the Battle of the Azores in East Asia, which had a profound impact on the war situation, had ended, and King Joachim I of Ireland officially took over the Azores theater and the Allied fleet, and the combat situation had changed greatly, but from the perspective of ordinary people, the conditions for launching the island seizure operation at that time were not yet mature, and the land troops should be based on defense and actively prepared. Everyone expected the Confederate forces to land on Flores Island, but few could have predicted the speed of the offensive and the start of the attack at an unexpected time.

All this was an eye-opener for Manstein, who was well-known in the German Army circles.

"Many feared that the more than 3,000 soldiers we had brought ashore before dark would not survive the night, and that they would surely be overwhelmed by the tide of enemies, which was not at all necessary, and that the enemy would not easily move the main forces of the island away from the fortified fortress of St. Cruz. In my estimation, it would be nice to have 10,000 enemy troops in a counterattack tonight. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if General Davis loses his usual composure, or makes the wrong decision under pressure. Natsuki said slowly.

Before the outbreak of the war, relations between Germany and the United States and Britain were in a state of tension for a long time, and military exchanges between the two sides were quite limited, and Manstein was not engaged in intelligence work, so he naturally knew very little about American generals.

"If I were General Davis, Your Majesty, I would concentrate my firepower on a counterattack tonight and annihilate the enemy forces that landed on the island at any cost. Although the troops participating in the counterattack suffered heavy losses from the enemy's shelling, the significance of a victory to lift the morale of the army was too important. ”

Natsuki turned his head to look at Manstein: "General Davis knows very well what kind of army he is facing, and I also know what kind of army he commands. I do not think that the German 2nd Marine Division will be shaken by the destruction of the vanguard, and that the misfortune that befell my comrades will ignite their anger. ”

Perhaps misunderstanding the other party's serious expression and tone, Manstein hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, I have no doubt about your meaning, but only to explain my understanding of this battle. ”

Hearing this, Natsuki looked at the other party curiously, the historical Manstein was resourceful, discerning, and used armored tactics perfectly, so he was firmly among the top ten generals of World War II. I don't know if it's because of his shallow experience and limited comprehension, or because the external environment restricts his growth, the officer standing in front of him at this time doesn't have the demeanor of a famous general as he imagined, but this doesn't make Xia Shu look down on the other party. Gold needs to be smelted, jade needs to be carved, and true celebrities will surely shine in the flames of war.

Therefore, Natsuki explained with extra patience: "The same tactics may be the key to victory in the hands of a wise commander, but it can lead to defeat in the hands of a mediocre commander." General Manstein, Jim Davis's military abilities are far inferior to yours, and his troops are no match for the elite German army. Got it? ”

Manstein was so clever that he understood at once, and then replied respectfully: "I understand, Your Majesty!" ”

As he spoke, the night grew dark, and the gunfire on the northern tip of Flores Island subsided. According to Natsuki's battle plan, the landing Irish paratroopers and German marines were to organize a defense on the spot after seizing the port of Delgada, and the minesweeper units of the Allied Navy also launched simultaneous operations, striving to penetrate the sea route to this place in the shortest possible time, so that more troops and supplies could be transported ashore. If the progress of the mine clearance operation is not as expected, the Allied forces can still transport reinforcements and war supplies through the landing ground north of the port of Delgada, and the efficiency is closely related to the counterattack of the American and British defenders, and the possibility of a landing halt in the event of fierce fighting cannot be ruled out.

As night falls completely, Steve Quinn and his companions are regrouping by the ruined docks. There were 45 people in the platoon when they boarded the plane and set off, and now there are only 29 people in the inventory, but the reduction is not all attrition, and there are always some people who are separated from the team due to objective or subjective reasons in every airborne operation, and as a result, they have to find their own troops while fighting in battle. With enough time to recuperate, these stragglers will be able to return sooner or later, but the American and British defenders on Flores Island don't seem to be planning to let the attackers gain a foothold. As soon as the line of sight was dark, their artillery quickly bombarded the landing beaches of the Allied troops and the port of Delgada.

As soon as they heard the screech of shells breaking through the air, the exposed Irish airborne troops and German marines hurriedly searched for cover. According to the established battle plan, after the capture of the port of Delgada, the German troops should build a defensive line on the periphery of the port as soon as possible, and hold their positions with the support of the navy and air force, and the officers and men of the 5th Airborne Battalion of Ireland should remain in the vicinity of the dock as a mobile reserve.

In the past few years of occupation of the Azores, the Germans have spent a lot of money to build the "fortress of the ocean" from the perspective of military defense, and the port of Delgada has also built new breakwaters, docks and warehouses, and the scale of the port area has expanded, but the construction of various houses is still not more than 100. Three months ago, American and British troops landed here and destroyed half of the port area in battle, and now the Allied fleet and air force are bombing indiscriminately and repeatedly sweeping, and there is not a single decent building in sight in the entire port area, and the rubble piles and bomb craters can be used as battle shelters, but they are not ideal for hiding from enemy shelling. As a result, the Irish and Germans near the docks rushed into the coastal fortifications and infantry trenches built by the Germans and refurbished by the American and British troops, waiting for the artillery bombardment before deploying.

The Allied bombardment and bombardment continued for a week, causing large losses to the American and British troops on the island, and the artillery deployment position and range of the artillery were not violent, and as soon as these guns were fired, the flashing artillery flames immediately exposed their positions, and at this time, the Allied bombers flying from Corvo Island were still hovering in the north of Flores Island, although they could not carry out dive bombing and low-altitude strafing at night, their attacks were still quite threateningand, in order to facilitate direction finding at night, the Allied Navy deployed two submarine hunters outside the port of Delgada and ordered them to turn on their searchlights at the calculated positions during the day, and the Allied planes used these two searchlights as a reference to record the relative angles of flying over the defenders' artillery positions, so that they could calculate a more accurate bearing, and then guide the Allied fleet to carry out suppressive fire -- a scientific method that had rarely been used on the battlefield before, and which could not be thought of and used on a whim. Without sufficient theoretical research and prior preparation, I am afraid that the result will be that the tiger will not become an anti-dog.

As the rumbling of artillery came from the sea, the artillery fire of the American and British troops quickly stopped, and the soldiers of the German 2nd Marine Division quickly left the temporary shelter near the dock and rushed to the predetermined defensive position.

The powerful firepower of the Allied navy not only effectively suppressed the artillery fire of the defenders, but also made their combat troops deeply afraid, and at nearly 9 o'clock in the evening, the American and British troops who had engaged in the counterattack advanced from the rear to the periphery of the port of Delgada 5-6 kilometers away. The Confederate light ships that wandered the coastal waters were like a group of efficient life harvesters, slaughtering the defending officers and men with fierce artillery shells, not to mention flesh and blood, and even the armored fighting vehicles could not survive the stormy Allied naval fire......

(End of chapter)