The British troops stationed in North Yorkshire were completely stunned, they were not a critical place, so it had been a neglected corner since the outbreak of the war. The pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info was not bombed by the Germans, and not many British troops were deployed to the coastline of North Yorkshire.

The North Yorkshire Coastal Defence Command is now in charge of the defense of North Yorkshire, and in addition to the local county divisions in North Yorkshire, it is a coastal artillery command (with five coastal artillery battalions), an air defense group (equivalent to an anti-aircraft artillery division), a native militia command, and an infantry brigade garrisoning Middlesbrough.

Among them, the Yorkshire Division was originally a militia, also known as the Home Army. Before the outbreak of war, a county division usually consisted of 2-3 regular battalions and a bunch of native battalions, and the North Yorkshire Division was also formed in this way. However, the current North Yorkshire Division is no longer the one before the war, after the Battle of France, the county divisions of the British Home Army were all reorganized into regular armies, with names similar to the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions. At the same time, the British formed a new county division and recruited a group of elderly middle-aged men to make up the numbers.

The current North Yorkshire Division was formed at that time, and now has two urban brigades (Hartlepool and Middlesbrough) and 12 regiments or battalions - these regiments and battalions are in fact a kind of formation, with the units at the lower level being companies and the units under those two city brigades being battalions. According to German standards, the units under the jurisdiction of this county division should be two infantry regiments, several independent infantry battalions or cavalry battalions, and artillery, engineering, baggage, and reconnaissance units directly under the division headquarters.

After the start of the Irish campaign, the possibility of invasion of the British mainland was already very high, so the British set up local militia headquarters in various counties, and began to organize more unreliable militias - all old men who were worthy of being grandfathers and women who volunteered to defend the country, often called "so-and-so volunteers". The North Yorkshire Native Militia Command commanded more than a dozen volunteers.

In addition to the unreliable militia county divisions and the even more unreliable volunteers, there are three more reliable units under the command of the North Yorkshire Coast Defense Command, one is the North York air defense group; three shore artillery battalions under the jurisdiction of a North York Coastal Artillery Command; One was attached to the 5th Brigade of the 160th Division. These units were regulars, trained and the backbone of North Yorkshire's defence.

However, on the night of 2 January and in the early hours of 3 January, most of the troops under the command of Major General Scott, commander of the North Yorkshire Coast Defense Command, were thrown into disarray, both in the regular army and in the unreliable militia.

Especially in Hartlepool, near the coast, almost all the troops reported being besieged by superior German forces and had to be immediately reinforced!

"How many German airborne troops are there? Why are all places under attack? Major General Scott was furious at his headquarters at Middlesbrough, and there was a faint sound of gunfire in his ears from time to time.

"Call the Eastern Coastal Defense Command! When can they send reinforcements? The Germans are definitely going to land in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool! He shouted at his chief of staff, Colonel Kent, "Call the Coastal Air Command again and ask them to send planes to search the waters off North Yorkshire!" ”

"Commander, there's a problem with the phone! We have no way to contact the Eastern Coastal Defense Command and the Coastal Aviation Command! A few minutes later, Colonel Kent reluctantly reported, "It may be that the German paratroopers have cut the telephone line, and we have lost contact with many units in Hartlepool." ”

"Hell! Use a telegram to contact the Eastern Coastal Defense Command and the Coastal Aviation Command! Send someone to check the line again! "Major General Scott ordered loudly,

"Boom! Rumble! Boom ......" The loud sound of shell explosions suddenly came from outside the headquarters.

"What's going on? Is this the Germans firing artillery? Could it be that their fleet has already arrived? Major General Scott was taken aback, "Go find out!" ”

"Yes!" A staff officer hurriedly ran out of the headquarters to investigate what was going on, and not long after he went out, the North York Coastal Artillery Command called and reported that it was most likely an 8-inch howitzer battery under the jurisdiction of the Shore Artillery Command that was shelling the city of Middlesbrough! This company is deployed near Hartlepool Beach, and I don't know why it started bombarding its own people?

"Hell!" Major General Scott almost jumped, "It was the German paratroopers who captured 4 8-inch howitzers!" It must be taken back now! Order the Hartlepool Brigade to recapture or destroy those 4 8-inch cannons at all costs! ”

"But Commander, we can't get in touch with ......"

"Use wireless telegraphy, and if it doesn't work, send a signal corps!" Major General Scott gave the order in a fit of rage.

It turned out that Skorzny's plan to lure the enemy was successful, they first tricked half of the platoon, eliminated them all, changed into British clothing, and then obtained the password by interrogating the prisoners of war, and finally succeeded in raiding the British artillery position outside Buckstown, capturing four 8-inch cannons.

Soon after, the division headquarters of the German 7th Parachute Division contacted Skorzny and others, and also sent an airborne artillery company to use the captured four 8-inch cannons to bombard the city of Middlesborg, 15 kilometers away, causing great confusion.

At this moment, the Hartlepool Brigade stationed in Hartlepool was simply unable to launch a counterattack to recapture the four precious cannons.

Because the German 7th Division of paratroopers has already captured most of the city - although the weather conditions are not suitable for airborne, the combat effectiveness of these tens of thousands of elite paratroopers is still very impressive. A few thousand of the Hartlepool Brigade and the Hartlepool Volunteers alone could not resist it.

When four 8-inch cannons began to bombard the city of Middlesbrough, fierce street fighting was taking place around the brigade headquarters of the Hartlepool Brigade. The commander of the Hartlepool Brigade, an elderly colonel (with the permanent rank of captain) who had fought in World War I, is now back as a company commander and is leading his brigade headquarters in a fierce battle with German paratroopers who have appeared out of nowhere.

And he commanded 7 infantry battalions and 1 artillery battalion (coastal artillery and anti-aircraft artillery were not under his control), except for 2 infantry battalions and 2 artillery batteries (with 12 25-pounder guns) deployed on the beach, all of them were besieged!

As for the Hartlepool Volunteers, most of them did not live in barracks, but militiamen who went home to live. When the Germans were airborne, they all slept at home. At this time, it was impossible to organize at all, and only a small part of the people spontaneously went into battle. But these disorganized and undisciplined resistances were just as dangerous to the British as the Germans in Hartlepool!

Because in the dark light, the unorganized volunteers could not distinguish who was British and who was German, and often fired indiscriminately, making the already chaotic battlefield even more chaotic. In many places, there have even been exchanges of fire between the Volunteers and the "regular militia".

In the early morning of January 3, 1943, I arrived in Hartlepool in the midst of this chaos. And along with the morning sunshine came the huge German fleet, which almost covered the sea off Hartlepool!

……

"Boom, boom, boom......"

"The angel announces to Maria that she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Answer: Pray that the Lord will bless you with humility and that all things will be done according to the Lord's will......"

Rudolph. Feng. Ribbentrop sat in the captain's seat of a Tiger G-tank, and the rumbling of artillery and the chanting of an Austrian were constantly heard in his ears.

The sound of artillery came from outside the tank landing ship, and the two battleships Gneisenau and Schlieffen and three other Deutsche class armored ships were shelling the beachhead of Hartlepool, that is, Rudolph, with their main guns. Feng. Where the tank company led by Ribbentrop would soon land.

At the same time, eight 8-inch howitzers in the harbour of Hartlepool and at the mouth of the Tiz River (on the south bank of the Tiz River is Middlesbrough) were desperately firing back. Shells continued to fall on the perimeter of the landing ships, stirring up a column of water more than 10 meters high.

The Austrian who recited the sutra was the gunner of the Tiger G-tank, named Friedrich. Hearst, a devout Catholic, is now reciting the Aria of the Virgin. Probably to ask the Virgin Mary to forgive him for his imminent sins and bless him to go to heaven later in life?

While this Hearst was chanting endlessly, the artillery fire of several German battleships and armored ships on the sea had already swept the beach where the British troops were stationed several times. The mine-sweeping ships also cleared the sea near Hartlepool Beach.

The first wave of infantry landing craft on the beach took advantage of the rising tide and began to rapidly attack the beach.

These infantry landing craft are B-type landing craft with a light load displacement of 6 tons, equipped with a 230 hp diesel engine, with a maximum speed of 8 knots, which can carry half a platoon of officers and soldiers or 3.6 tons of cargo.

The first 40 landing craft to rush to the British coast were lined up in two rows, spaced no more than 10 meters laterally, almost shoulder to shoulder, towards the beachhead. At a distance of twenty or thirty meters from the shoreline, the bottom of the ship rubbed against the bottom of the sea. Then the rectangular bow gangplank was lowered sharply, and the German marines of the brigade jumped into knee-deep water like dumplings, and struggled to the sea, staggering towards British land.

At that moment, the remaining British firepower on the beach also opened fire, and strings of machine-gun bullets rolled through the beachhead like tongues of fire, sweeping the German soldiers who were wading into the water. However, the rest of the people did not hesitate at all, holding their weapons, firing back while fighting back, and striving forward.

Behind them, several T2 fire support ships were already approaching the beachhead, and the rocket launchers and 88mm high-level dual-purpose guns installed on them were also in full fire, once again enveloping the British garrison in a rain of fire and bullets. (To be continued.) )