"What is the essential difference between an airborne unit and a paratrooper unit? Quite simply, they landed in different ways - the former landed directly by plane, and the latter arrived at the target location by plane and then parachuted in. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Got it? ”

Private Jon Coleman sat with his back against the wall of the trench with a cigarette in his mouth, his yellow-green camouflage-painted German ear protector steel helmet resting upside down on the ground, a Hubert-II bolt-action rifle similar in appearance to the Lee Enfield MK-II was placed diagonally beside him, and a wooden-handled grenade was stuck in his right boot. This young Irishman in his early twenties, his face was sweaty and muddy, which became a natural camouflage makeup, and the Irish Army's field uniform was covered with mud and sand, and his armband was mainly patterned with a parachute and a rifle, indicating that he belonged to the Irish Airborne Forces, and his mouth was a southern Irish accent that the Irish could still understand, but it was a headache for the Germans who knew the Irish fluently.

He was asked a German soldier of his age, with a steel helmet still on his head, but the buckle was unfastened, and his sleeves were rolled up to reveal a pair of strong forearms, and an MP30 submachine gun that seemed to smell of gunsmoke was still lingering in his arms. After listening to the Irish, the German soldier really had an expression on his face that seemed to understand whether he understood or not.

Coleman deliberately slowed down: "In our own words, paratroopers are battlefield angels, flying infantrymen, and when the paratroopers jump from their own airfield to the enemy's airfield, there are already paratroopers there. ”

The German soldier said in Irish with German words: "That is, you do not use parachutes, and you fight more in a way that is closer to that of ordinary infantry?" ”

Coleman thought hard for a moment, and a grammatical German phrase popped out of his mouth: "Infantry on a plane to the battlefield." ”

"That's great!" The German soldier winked at him and said, "Heroic battlefield vanguard." ”

Coleman thanked him lightly for the polite compliment. After a fierce battle, the perception of honor and fame by the living often changes inexplicably. This is located in the north of the Cohen Peninsula 64 Heights, despite the heavy shelling of the Allied warships, in the face of the Allied attack, the British troops still put up extremely stubborn resistance, the German 48th Grenadier Regiment attacked three times, paid nearly 1,000 casualties but failed to take, and then received reinforcements from the German 201st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Irish Airborne Commando, the fourth onslaught was finally successful. The British army was exhausted and could not quickly organize a counterattack, and the coalition forces were also too depleted to pursue the retreating remnants of the British army.

According to British prisoners of war, the British troops stationed on the high ground suffered no less than 2,000 casualties, most of which were due to the artillery fire of the Allied fleet.

The blood of 3,000 soldiers is enough to stain this highland, which covers an area of slightly more than one square kilometer.

As the battle for Heights 64 came to an end, the allied landing force's offensive that day successfully achieved the set goals. Less than five hours before dark, the landing force, with the exception of some of its forces pursuing and destroying the British troops trapped west of Abersoch, had already focused its main energies on organizing the defence -- the new front stretched from Nafée Beach, 10 kilometres east of Portkran, to Cape Lambertrog, 3 kilometres east of Abersoch, and the distance between the two places was about 9 kilometres in a straight line, which could be said to be the narrowest point running through the central part of the Cohen Peninsula. The 200 square kilometres west of the Cohen Peninsula will become a strategic stepping stone for coalition forces to attack the British mainland.

Because of the bitter lesson of the previous night, few coalition forces from top to bottom dared to take it lightly, and more than 100,000 soldiers raced against time to build positions, trucks transporting ashore goods from the landing beaches to various places without stopping, British vehicles captured in the battle also came in handy, and some armored personnel carriers that had no combat mission for the time being were also "misappropriated." There was only one goal: to complete the defensive deployment before the British counteroffensive began.

Heights 64 are located 11 kilometers from Portchran, making them the forward base of the new Allied front. The surface soil of this mountain pack is shallow, the top of the mountain is rocky, and although the ring defensive position constructed by the British army was badly damaged by artillery fire, it still saved a lot of time for the allied officers and soldiers to rearrange the defense.

"Some people doubt that this world was not created by a certain creator, but look at this place, the west side slope is steep, the east side slope is gentle, and the natural shape of the fort, who can say that this is not a gift from the Creator to the British?"

Standing at the highest point of Heights 64, a German colonel said to his staff officer. In the second and third rounds of the attack, the number of British soldiers defending the high ground had been reduced to about 400, but they managed to block the German grenadier attack with favorable terrain. In addition to this, the British mortars hidden in the woods on the southern slope also caused problems for the Germans, and it was not until the German field artillery arrived and cleared the threat with precise suppressive fire that the subsequent attack became more successful.

The steady and mature staff officer advised: "Sir, judging from the intelligence information we have, the British heavy chariots should be able to climb up from the slowest slope on our right, and ordinary trenches and barbed wire belts are estimated to be of little effect, so the British will place the horses here." My idea was that it should not be a problem to fill the gap in the front with the rejection of horses as much as possible, to lay a large number of mines in the rear of the rejection zone, and to resist the impact of dozens of British tanks with the anti-tank guns deployed on the positions. ”

The history of horse rejection can be traced back to the era of cavalry, and the warfare of the industrial age gave birth to a large number of new weapons, traditional weapons were either eliminated or given new forms. Later in the last war, the French army riveted steel plates and bars to make iron horses to act as anti-chariot barriers, and although this did not help them turn the tide of defeat, it still played a tactical role, and countries followed suit after the war. The rejecting horse used by the British army today is made of three steel plates of a certain thickness and length, which can be enhanced by punching long steel nails at the grounding end or fixing them with concrete.

The German colonel nodded, "I think the same as you." One of the great advantages of chariot units is the speed of their attack on the battlefield, think about how ancient armies dealt with the enemy's cavalry? Put obstacles in their way, slow them down, kill them with bows and arrows and spears. ”

The staff officer said in a pleading tone: "Then I will contact the command and see if they can bring us a batch of anti-tank obstacles before dark." ”

Without thinking, the colonel replied: "Go ahead!" They were well aware of the military value of Heights 64, and they should do their best to meet them as long as they were useful for defence. ”

After the staff officer left for a moment, the colonel picked up his binoculars. About three kilometres east of here, British soldiers were found, and they had set up makeshift positions on the low stone walls of the roads and pastures, with small reinforcements arriving in small groups, but no vehicles or artillery had been found. With the Coalition in the air, the enemy's massive troop movements would have to wait until after dark, and there was no sign of how they would deploy the offensive, and the only thing that was certain was that the British would not allow the Coalition forces to gain a foothold on the Cohen Peninsula.

Turning to the wings, to the north of Heights 64 is the seaside town of Nafei, with its double W-shaped bay and winding open sandy beach, which is one of the more suitable locations on the Coen Peninsula for beaching. One of the reasons why the coalition forces chose Abersoch and Portkelen was that the British had a strong defensive deployment in Fenner, and if the coalition forces attacked directly from the beachhead, the British troops stationed on and around Heights 64 would definitely pose a very big threat to them. Now that the British troops stationed in the town of Fena had been driven away, the Germans were stationed with a brigade, and the remaining buildings and ruins were very good defensive supports, and various obstacles were being erected at the intersections into the town. The anti-tank used by the coalition forces was similar to that of the British, and was bolted to facilitate transportation, allowing soldiers to use simple tools to splice or disassemble prefabricated steel bars and bolts.

In addition to rejecting horses, another of the more common anti-chariot barriers was called "dragon's teeth" by the British, and as the name suggests, they are cone-shaped concrete pourers with roots buried deep in the ground, and exposed parts can block the passage of chariots. In the southern and southeastern parts of England, the beachhead line was dotted with large and small horses, dragon's teeth, and minefields beyond the naked eye, and with a dotted array of forts, artillery forts, and bunkers, the Channel defense line became the largest project of the British Empire since the beginning of the 20th century. North Wales' defence system is much weaker by comparison.

To the south of Heights 64 are flat fields, where a few of the once lush pine forests have been razed by the war, and there is flying dust everywhere as far as the eye can see. If each person is responsible for a one-meter-wide area, half a day is enough time to dig a trench of standard specifications on the soft grass, and tens of thousands of troops can build a ten-kilometer-long battle line, and it is not difficult to complete two trenches, three trenches and corresponding communication trenches, not to mention that several trench excavation vehicles with strange shapes have been transported to the front line, although they are not enough to complete the trench excavation work independently, they can greatly increase the speed of the troops to build fortifications, and use the time saved to improve the defense system.

A few minutes later, the staff officer returned to the colonel and reported in a tone of neither joy nor sorrow: "The command has promised to deliver 200 sets of rejected horses and 1,000 dragon teeth within two hours, and we can send the soldiers in advance to select a good position to excavate the base." ”

The colonel put down the binoculars and turned his head to look at his subordinates: "Very good, this matter will be fully entrusted to you, how about it?" ”

The staff officer did not shirk, but held his head high and said: "No problem, leave this task to me!" ”

The Colonel looked satisfied, and looked solemnly to the east, which was the direction of the English hinterland. The two armies have been fighting here for a day and a half, and the overall losses of the British army on the ground battlefield are more than those of the coalition army, especially today's battle, which has dealt a great psychological blow to the British officers and men, but the advantage of the British is that they can continuously mobilize reinforcements, and perhaps the next few days will be the biggest test for the coalition landing force.

(End of chapter)