According to the arrangement of the German General Staff, the Allied forces that landed at Portchran were temporarily reorganized into the 3rd Marine Combat Group. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The 3rd Marine Division, the 40th Infantry Division, and the 55th Infantry Division were the main German units assigned to the battle group, and the 5th Tank Regiment, the 4th and 6th Airborne Regiments of Greater Germany, and two regiment-sized field artillery groups, and the 7th Royal Guards Tank Regiment, the 6th Tank Regiment of Greater Germany, and several infantry units were added to join the landing operation; The Irish Army consisted of the 19th Infantry Brigade, the 2nd Marine Regiment, the 2nd Airborne Battalion and the 1st Airborne Commando Group, with the addition of the 1st Armoured Brigade and a number of landing operations.

The landing on Portkren was part of the overall operational plan, and with the formation of the 3rd Marine Division, Lieutenant General Maxi Wetek, commander of the German 29th Infantry Corps, was also ordered to serve as commander of the battle group. Early in the morning, the German general, accustomed to wearing old-fashioned monocles, arrived with his staff aboard the light cruiser "Leipzig" to the northern waters of the Coen Peninsula and went ashore with the second landing force.

As soon as the scheduled time arrived, the allied fleet supporting the landing operation began to launch a large-scale artillery bombardment of the British front, and its main forces included the battlecruiser "De Fllinger" and its sister ship "Lützov", which had been imposing in the previous battle, as well as a German heavy cruiser and two Irish heavy cruisers, and according to the normal firepower output of each ship, the shelling that lasted for 20 minutes was equivalent to three or four hours of ammunition projection by a regimental heavy artillery group, and the destructive power can be imagined.

While the Allied fleet was still bombarded, General Weitek was already at an observation post in the forward position, using the artillery mirror to observe the real-time situation of the British front. So far, the coalition landing on Porte Clen has been going on for more than four hours, and the landing force has reached 50,000 troops, and the process seems to be smoother than the landing of the 2nd Marine Cluster in Abersoch the day before, but due to the terrain conditions on the coast of Porte Cran, even if the coalition fighters firmly grasp the battlefield air supremacy in this area, it is difficult for the landing speed of the follow-up troops to be greatly improved, and what worries the commander and his staff is even more worrying is that the aerial reconnaissance report shows that a large number of British troops are rushing to the aid of the Cohen Peninsula by land. This meant that the coalition landing force had to break the stalemate before the second night, or they would likely be driven overboard by the flood of British troops.

The endless rolling thunder finally subsided, and the smoke and dust in front of the sight filled the air, and the heavy shells fired by large battleships could easily destroy field fortifications, provided they were accurate enough to fire. If we were lucky, this heavy shelling had opened a gap in the British front, but whether this was the case or not still needs to be verified by the attacking troops.

After looking at the watch, one of the staff adjutant said to General Weitek: "The end of the shelling is half a minute earlier, and it is only 11 o'clock sharp. ”

This subtle episode did not seem to affect the general's mood, and he calmly ordered: "Send the signal to attack!" ”

On a frontal front with a width of nearly 8 kilometers, the coalition forces gathered more than 400 combat vehicles, nearly 300 artillery pieces and more than 39,000 soldiers. Seeing the rising red flares, the officers took a deep breath and then blew the charge whistle in their mouths.

"Forward!"

On the steel chariots, the commanders leaning out of the cabin lowered their raised right arms forward. With the loud roar of the engine, the green smoke on the rear of the chariot dispersed, and the inducing wheels pulled the tracks to rotate, and the wet ground was immediately marked with deep marks. The bodies and turrets of these vehicles are painted with their own logos and tactical numbers, and the German and Irish armies are distinguished by iron crosses and shamrock motifs, and they have a high degree of similarity in their exterior outlines, and many of them are identical, the most powerful heavy tanks are lined up in several inverted V-shaped battle formations, medium and light tanks fill the middle space of the V-shape, and behind them are tracked or half-track transporters without turrets, which look like arrows when viewed from above. It is responsible for the heavy task of tearing through the enemy's battle line.

"Forward!"

At the orders of the infantry officers, heavily armed coalition soldiers climbed out of the trenches and followed the chariots into enemy positions. Many of them had fought in France or Egypt, had been exposed to bullets and bullets, and had even been in close contact with bullets and shrapnel, and these valuable experiences made them not as nervous as their buddies who had set foot on the battlefield for the first time, but most of them were cautious about the coming battle when they heard that the friendly troops who had landed in advance had been beaten by the British last night. Today's German army still prefers the traditional field gray, so their camouflage field uniforms are green spots on a gray background, while the Irish army has a yellow spot on a green background, the two are easy to identify, and the weapons equipped by the officers and soldiers of the two are also very recognizable in terms of appearance characteristics, the only thing that does not distinguish is the ammunition used in standard firearms - the standard is exactly the same.

The smoke that enveloped the fields had not yet cleared, and the coalition fighters on standby at high altitude swooped down on the ground. When they passed through the smoke clouds floating over the British defense line, the cobweb-like trenches and the steel helmets flowing like water flowing to the forward positions were presented in the pilot's sight, the British ground anti-aircraft fire response was slightly slow, after the first group of coalition bombers dropped bombs, a series of bullets rose from the ground into the air one after another, and anti-aircraft guns of various calibers soon joined them, weaving a seemingly dense anti-aircraft fire network at medium and low altitudes, and many highly skilled and courageous coalition pilots ventured through the fire net, Makes the bombing strafing as effective as possible.

As the number of oncoming bullets grew, the commanders of the vehicles at the head of the platoon had to change their stance, retract their heads back into the turret, and look at the outside through the viewing window or through the viewing glass. In both the German and Irish armies, command vehicles at the platoon level and above are equipped with radio transceiver equipment, which can not only receive orders from superiors, but also command wingman operations, and in such a large-scale offensive, it is difficult for senior commanders in the rear to make meticulous arrangements for front-line operations, and at this time, it is often those battalion and company officers who play a key role.

"Please pay attention to the companies, I am the 'fierce dog' Geman, hold the throttle, keep the current speed, don't rush to open fire, the enemy's gun fire does not pose any threat to us at this distance, but beware of mines, we are approaching the enemy's preset minefield, don't expect the shells to clear the mines."

The radio signal came from a majestic "Teutonic Knight", and in the cockpit of the chariot, the five members of the team performed their duties, and the thick armor provided them with the best protection on the battlefield, even as they got closer to the enemy position, and the sound of bullets or shrapnel hitting steel plates was constantly heard outside, their faces remained confident and calm.

Suddenly, there was a particularly dense roar from the outside of the chariot, and the major commander who was sitting in the commander's position, that is, the self-proclaimed "fierce dog" Geman, looked at the mirror with his eyes close to his eyes, and said in an uplifting tone: "Our barrage shooting has begun, and it is very accurate, very beautiful!" ”

Hundreds of meters behind this German heavy tank, a number of self-propelled guns mounted on the chassis of the tank with a fixed fighting compartment are firing in a stationary state, most of them are equipped with medium-caliber short-barreled guns, which can not only fire rapidly like field rapid-fire guns, but also follow the tank units to the enemy's positions, destroy the enemy's forward fire points or even suppress the enemy's field artillery groups with high-explosive or armor-piercing shells.

After these self-propelled guns stopped for firing, the infantry of the first echelon quickly overtook them, advancing immediately after the armored assault group. In the event of a fire from enemy field artillery, the infantry had to stop and take cover, and there was bound to be a gap between the armored assault group and the follow-up infantry, as was the case with the British attack on the coalition landing force the night before. On the forward positions of the British army, the soldiers who had received regular anti-tank training were ready to use grenades, explosives, incendiary bombs and other anti-tank weapons against the lone coalition tanks, and the field artillery in the rear also carried out blocking and firing at the front of the positions as scheduled, but the coalition forces far more tactical study of the armored troops to break through the defensive positions than the British army, which was struggling to defend. After entering the minefield and showing damage, the German heavy tanks at the head of the platoon began to slow down, except for a few unlucky, most of the mine-struck tanks were only blown off tracks, damaged transmissions, and could still fire at the British positions, and the rest of the tanks were adjusted into several columns, so as to minimize the losses through the minefield, and the medium and light tanks and armored transports behind were also concocted. After passing through the minefield, the armoured clusters realigned again, and medium and light tanks began to speed up, with infantry jumping from moving armoured transports to cover their vehicles at close range, while others firing or throwing grenades through the car's firing holes. In this way, although there are very few vehicles that are damaged by infantry anti-tank weapons when approaching or crossing the British trenches, after the tanks break through the British positions, the armored infantry immediately enter the trenches and clear the British infantry in the trenches with the help of the tanks and armored transports, so as to consolidate and expand the breakthrough effect of their own tanks.

"Attention of all companies, 'Fierce Dog' German has already stood on the British position, and crushed a machine gun with a track, each company slows down after entering the British position, pay attention to the use of rear machine guns to guard against the attack of the British infantry, if it is ignited by the enemy's incendiary bombs here, you can pray sincerely!"

While the German major, dressed in armor uniform, was contacting his company platoon commanders by radio, his gun commander was constantly pressing the pedal with his right foot, using an electric motor to drive the turret to rotate horizontally, and his left foot constantly touching the firing pedal of the coaxial machine gun, and the bullets mixed with tracer bullets swept through the British positions, sending the British soldiers who were holding their heads or trying to become anti-tank heroes to heaven. However, the German veteran who was on a killing spree did not get carried away and became excited, but reminded the "senior commander" of the rank of major: "We are like breaking into an anthill, and there are too many enemies to count, so let's pray that our main infantry will arrive as soon as possible!" ”

(End of chapter)