"Prepare for a collision! Hold on to ......"

The 1st Air Assault Brigade of the Wehrmacht Brigade Otto. Hearing the roar of the loud captain of the plane, the SS colonel Skorzny quickly grabbed the armrest next to the seat and made a cross on his chest with his other hand. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

As soon as his cross was finished, the landing gear of the plane hit the hard ground with a "boom". Although Skorzny grabbed the armrests and fastened his seat belt, his body was still shocked out of the seat, and then he sat back down, which was equivalent to a solid blow on the buttocks, and he gasped in pain.

But when he found that the plane he was flying in had not disintegrated, but was taxiing forward in a bumpy manner, he could no longer ignore the pain in his butt and shouted loudly: "Long live victory!" Hi! Hitler ......"

The plane is still taxiing, which means that the landing has been successful! The successful landing of the ZSO523 air assault transport aircraft means that "Operation Columbus" has been more than half successful!

The ZSO523 aircraft that Skorzny flew in was the first to fall from the sky, and its smooth landing was just the beginning. Immediately after that, one after another, they landed on the five flat landing fields where the flares were constantly raised.

On the edge of the landing site, some German airborne troops were already waving red flags vigorously, including the Frenchman Mitterrand. He had been operating with Brandt, and now that the Brandt cluster had been disbanded, Brandt was back as a platoon commander and was assigned the task of waving a red flag to meet the airborne troops.

A giant airplane motor roared and glided across the gravel ground for some distance before coming to a stop less than 100 meters in front of Mitterrand. The French patriot watched in amazement as the lower half of the plane's giant nose slowly cracked from the middle and split in two, as if a monster had opened its bloody mouth.

Then a scene that made him even more stunned appeared, a tank destroyer weighing more than 20 tons, which Mitterrand had never seen before, actually rumbled out of the open "mouth" of the plane.

Mitterrand's mouth was about to open as wide as the plane across from him...... The Germans actually transported tank destroyers to Newfoundland by plane!!

And Mitterrand, who served in the army, saw at a glance that these two tank destroyers were very powerful - its barrel was very long, the caliber was about 75mm, and it should have a strong armor-piercing ability.

In addition, there are two blacked-out searchlights on the roof and front of the tank destroyer. Mitterrand guessed that this was the legendary night vision device, which could be used to see distant targets at night.

It is rumored that in the Battle of Moscow, the Germans relied on the help of night vision devices to achieve a decisive victory in the night tank battle. If the Americans didn't have the same equipment, they would be out of luck tonight.

"Colonel, all 50 ZSO523s used by the 101st Air Assault Battalion landed successfully, of which 11 aircraft were damaged to some extent during the landing, and 2 No. 4 tanks and 1 E-25 were stuck and temporarily unable to drive out of the cabin."

On board the aircraft, which was temporarily used as the command of the 1st Air Assault Brigade, Otto. SS colonel Skorzny is listening to the report of the chief staff officer. At this time, he saw Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger limping in.

"Gustav, what's wrong with you?" Skorzny asked.

"The seat belt broke when the plane landed just now, and it fell," Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger said with some embarrassment. "It doesn't matter, it's just a small injury...... I didn't expect the plane to be so jolty when it landed, and many people were slightly injured. There may also be some equipment damaged, so be sure to check it out later. ”

"It won't affect the battle, right?"

"No," Schwarzenegger smiled, "a minor injury will not leave the line of fire!" And we are still a mechanized army, so we don't have to march on foot. ”

"Okay," Otto. Skorzny nodded, "Then quickly gather your men, check the equipment, and enter the position." There's going to be a pitched battle tonight! ”

Although the Americans' counterattack force has not yet been dispatched, a battle-hardened general like Skorzny doesn't need to think about it to know that there will be a bloody battle tonight!

……

"What? What the? The Germans were airborne on the island of Newfoundland? This...... What does this mean? Is Newfoundland their main focus? Can someone answer me? ”

While a bloody night battle was brewing on the island of Newfoundland, US President Harry S. Truman was asking questions loudly in the cabinet room of the White House.

The question he asked sounded a bit childish, at least not that President Roosevelt wouldn't ask. Because no matter where the Germans are attacking, Newfoundland cannot be lost.

"Mr. President," Warsecretary Wallace then took up the question, "the Germans parachuted on Newfoundland meant only one thing: we would defeat them there, and win a decent peace!" ”

Truman didn't dare to believe Wallace's judgment, and swept his gaze at General Marshall, chief of staff of the US Army: "George, what do you think?" ”

"Mr. President," said George. Marshall said categorically, "We can certainly defeat the Germans on Newfoundland." ”

"Sure?" Truman was a little skeptical. For more than five years, people who have said such things have been largely trampled to the ground by Germany.

"Yes!" Marshall's answer was remarkably affirmative, "We have 250,000 ground troops on the island of Newfoundland, and they are very well equipped with a large number of tanks and tank destroyers. If these forces were to confront Germany's powerful armored forces on the continent, they might not be opponents. But on the island of Newfoundland, it was impossible for the German Airborne Forces to have tanks and armored vehicles. ”

Before Marshall could finish his words, one of Truman's military adjutants walked into the White House cabinet room and handed Truman a note. When Truman took the note, his face suddenly became solemn.

"Admiral," he asked Marshall, "if the Germans send tanks to Newfoundland, will our men still be able to win?" ”

Tanks sent to Newfoundland?

Everyone in the conference room was stunned, Marshall took the note from Truman's hand, read it carefully, frowned, and said: "The Germans have put in a very large transport plane that can land on the terraces of Newfoundland, probably an upgraded version of the Me323. And some of our men saw tank No. 4 and an unknown large tank destroyer appear near the German airborne area on the island of Newfoundland!

I think probably the Germans used their giant transport planes to deliver the tanks to Newfoundland! ”

"What now?" Truman asked.

What else can I do? Peace talks can't be talked about, of course, only to fight to the end!

"Reinforcement to Newfoundland!" "The 18th Airborne Corps has three divisions left unused and can be immediately put into the Newfoundland battlefield," Marshall said. In addition, armoured crews could be urgently deployed from various armoured divisions on the mainland to Newfoundland, so that new armoured clusters could be formed using Newfoundland's stockpiles. ”

Marshall had already anticipated that the Germans would blockade the shipping lanes and ports of Newfoundland, and that it would be difficult to maintain sea transportation.

"The Navy can send aircraft carriers to reinforce the Newfoundland battlefield." Chief of Naval Operations Ernest Murphy. King went on to say, "Admiral Mitchell's Task Force 56 is currently between Bermuda and the East Coast, and will soon be on the battlefield in Newfoundland. ”

Because Halsey was living in a VIP concentration camp at Belvedere, Nimitz resigned. So the original commander of the 5th Fleet, Spruance, was promoted to the joint commander of the Pacific-Atlantic Fleet, and the 3rd Fleet and the 5th Fleet (the two main fleets of the U.S. Navy) below were vacated, of which the commander of the 3rd Fleet was given to Admiral Kincaid, and the 5th Fleet was given to Admiral Mitchell.

The composition of the main forces of the 3rd and 5th Fleets is also different, with the main forces of the 3rd Fleet being battleships and heavy cruisers, including several old battleships, the Alaska-class, and the newly wealthy 2 Iowa-class (USS Illinois and USS Kentucky). The main task of this fleet was to support operations in the Caribbean - although battleships were no longer the hegemon of naval warfare, they could still play a role in landing and anti-landing operations.

The main force of the 5th Fleet is the Essex-class aircraft carriers, and the task of the fleet is the Atlantic-Caribbean mobile warfare, which is actually a mobile fleet, which is used for decisive battles at sea.

Because the Joint Chiefs of Staff had judged that the Germans might attack Bermuda, the 56th Task Force, the main force of the 5th Fleet, lurked in the sea southwest of Bermuda under the leadership of Admiral Mitchell.

"Are we going to use Task Force 56 planes to support operations on Newfoundland?" Truman asked.

"Nope." Ernest. Kim shook his head, "The task of the 56th Task Force is to strike at the main force of the German Navy!" As long as we can sink seven or eight large German aircraft carriers, we can win a decent peace. ”

It's time for a decisive battle at sea again!

Truman couldn't help but frown at the thought of this. No matter how you look at Newfoundland, the Allies have the upper hand, even if the Germans airlift 200 tanks/tank destroyers up, it is the American army that has a better chance of winning.

But the opposite is true in the Atlantic, and the advantage seems to be on the side of the Germans! There are quite a few aircraft carriers, and there are jet planes on board, and there are also terrible missile ships!

Can the U.S. Navy win?

Seeing Truman's hesitation, Ernest. "Mr. President, Task Force 56 will be fighting the German Navy under the cover of land-based aviation, so there is enough certainty that it will win," King said.

Moreover, as long as the 56th Task Force approached Newfoundland, the Germans could not launch a large-scale landing operation. Their airborne troops on the island of Newfoundland could not last long without reinforcements from the landing force. So victory must belong to the United States! ”