"Shelling! Hide ...... quickly."

With a shout, George. Major General Patton was thrown into the snow in England, and his big nose was bumped on the icy snow, and then a loud "boom" was heard, followed by a few sporadic bangs. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This is a "German" class armored ship anchored at the mouth of the Tiz River bombarding with 283mm main guns, not bombarding Patton, but bombarding British troops digging trenches 2000 miles ahead.

The Anglo-American forces had already reached the German bridgeheads on the island of Britain - Middlesbrough and Hartlepool. Both port cities had been completely occupied by the Germans, and now the Germans had fortified their perimeter of the cities, and several large ships had sailed into the Tiz River to act as floating batteries.

Montgomery, who was cautious in his use of troops, did not dare to attack immediately, but chose to dig trenches on the periphery of the two cities to set up an encirclement, preparing for positional warfare. It was also requested that 305mm train guns be mobilized to the Middlesbrough-Hartlepool front.

General Patton's 2nd Panzer Division was also useless, and it seemed that there was no chance of a field battle with the German tank corps, and Montgomery did not agree to use the tank group to attack the outer Middlesbrough.

So I had to go to the front line near Middlesbrough to smell the smoke, but unfortunately I was always knocked down by a timid big guard.

The somewhat annoyed general jerked away the guards who were pressing on him, and got up with a big shout: "Bastard! Coward! What was there to be afraid of the shells of the Germans? Did we come all the way here just to hide from Nazi shells in the snow? You coward, you should go back to the United States and hide under your mother's bed......"

While he was cursing, an American Jeep sped nearby, and a somewhat old-fashioned and sluggish-looking three-star lieutenant general came down from it. Lieutenant General Stilwell.

"George, you're cursing again, that's not good!" Stilwell was a little angry, "If you let the war correspondents poke your actions out, you won't want to command the 2nd Panzer Division anymore!" ”

Patton's bad temper was well known in the American Expeditionary Force, not only could he curse, but he would also beat people when he really lost his temper. On a few occasions, it was discovered by reporters accompanying the army and reported it, causing a lot of trouble.

"To hell with those goddamn war correspondents!" Patton shouted, "I don't believe that the German generals on the other side who always win battles are all good-tempered, we people are generals, not chaplains, how can we not scold?" We have to make the soldiers below afraid of our bullets that are better than the enemy...... All of this was taught in the military school, Joseph, have you forgotten everything? ”

Stilwell shook his head repeatedly, although he had a lot of opinions about Patton's fiery style, but he also had to admit that the Second Panzer Division brought out by Patton was definitely a good unit - you can't be a good gentleman to be a general.

Stilwell waved his hand: "Okay, okay, let's say a few words, if you have this strength, you can save it to fight the Germans!" ”

"What? Going to fight the Germans? Barton immediately lost his temper and asked with a smile, "Montgomery finally figured it out?" ”

"It's not Admiral Montgomery who figured it out, it's that London's pressure has arrived!" Stilwell lowered his voice, "The Germans issued a Cairo Declaration with some deceptive conditions......"

"I see, the British will soon surrender. So what do we do? Do you want to make peace with the Germans, and then go to the Pacific to concentrate on fighting the Japanese devils? Bigmouth yelled loudly.

"George!" Stilwell let out a sigh of relief, then looked around and found no British friends.

In fact, all the generals and colonels in the American Expeditionary Force knew that the British mainland could not hold on to the British mainland -- could it be seen that West Point had not spent all these years in vain? The current British mainland is no longer a springboard for the United States to counterattack Europe, but a bargaining chip for the United States and Germany. If the Germans had not agreed to betray Japan, Roosevelt would have ordered the collection of troops and return to China.

It's just that everyone understands it in their hearts, but they don't say anything, only Barton, a big mouth that can't be controlled, is poisoning everywhere.

"Now we have to fight an exciting victory!" Stilwell quickly turned the subject to the issue of the war, "George, do you have any ideas?" ”

"Must attack immediately!" "Immediately, immediately, preferably in five minutes, preparations for artillery fire began," Patton said. Leave the German battleships on the Tiz River alone, and don't wait for the 12-inch train guns that don't know when they'll arrive. ”

"But in this kind of war, the losses will be very large." Stilwell shook his head.

"Hey, what time is it now? How can you still care about losses? ”

Barton looked at Stilwell with some annoyance, he knew that this guy was very stubborn, and although he asked for advice on his lips, he would certainly not listen.

But Bigmouth Patton still said to Stilwell: "The Germans also have convoys, and their strength in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough is growing every day!" And the time is on their side, as long as it drags on until after the spring equinox, once the weather improves, it will not be easy for us to even escape. Therefore, it is better to fight late than early, and if I had been asked to command, the offensive would have started long ago...... Joseph, now we must not count the losses and not think about winning or losing. ”

"Don't think about winning or losing?" Stilwell, who served as the head of the department at West Point, was stunned when he heard this, can he still win or lose in a war?

"That's right," Barton nodded, "Lose early, run away...... If we drag on here for another 2 months, then it will not be a matter of losing the war. ”

The spring equinox will be delayed for another 2 months, and the polar night will change to polar day, and the North Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Norwegian Sea will also have many good weather. At that time, the German fleet and planes would reoccupy the seas and skies, and the hundreds of thousands of American troops trapped in England would not even have a place to run.

Therefore, no matter if you lose the battle and win the battle, you have to get a result as soon as possible!

Patton's words were the last word, and Stilwell could understand it if he thought about it, but he didn't dare to say it to Montgomery if it was politically incorrect.

"So...... If we start attacking right away," Stilwell asked, "how should we fight?" ”

Barton raised his hand and pointed straight ahead of him, saying, "About five kilometres ahead is the most important rail/road bridge over the Tiz River, and the choke point between Hartlepool and Middlesbrough." It was from there that the German Tiger tanks had moved south to threaten the rear of the defenders of Middlesbrough, forcing them to retreat.

If we are going to launch a counteroffensive, then the first thing should be to recapture the bridge and cut off road traffic between Hartlepool and Middlesbrough. Then we dragged the 5.5-inch cannon up the embankment of the Tiz River along the road (the road leading to the bridge), and then advanced a few kilometers downstream along the embankment to shell the German battleships at the mouth of the Tiz River...... I have consulted the officers of the British coastal artillery, and now it is not a German battleship anchored at the mouth of the Tiz River, but a 10,000-ton pocket battleship, with relatively thin deck armor, and there is a certain chance that it can be damaged with a 5.5-inch cannon. As long as the pocket battleships of the Germans were gone, we had the opportunity to counterattack with overwhelming forces and firepower.

If, of course, the Germans transferred their Hindenburg-class battleships to the mouth of the Tiz River. Well, hehe......"

Although General Patton could not speak, he still had rules for fighting, so his plan was quickly adopted by Admiral Montgomery.

On the afternoon of January 9, in the midst of a snowstorm, two infantry brigades (actually one regiment) and one armored brigade of the British, as well as one tank regiment of the Americans, began to advance from both sides of the Tiz River in the direction of the bridge.

……

On the north bank of the Tiz River, the town of Stodonk is in the way of the main road leading to the bridge over the Tiz River from the northwest. When the Germans occupied the bridge on January 3, they took the town and used it as a forward stronghold.

On January 9, when the Anglo-American offensive began, Otto. A reinforced company-sized cluster under the command of Captain Skolzny (1 paratrooper company reinforced with 1 platoon of self-propelled anti-tank guns, 1 platoon of recoilless guns and 1 platoon of combat engineers) is stationed here.

They arrived from Hartlepool on 4 January and spent several days setting up the defenses. Many of the town's fortified buildings were converted into defensive strongholds, and mines were laid outside the town and anti-tank traps were dug.

"Tanks! Captain, that's the Churchill tank of the British...... No, why is there no turret? ”

"It should be a Churchill tank destroyer! The British also learned from us, turning the Churchill tank into a tank destroyer, and our Tiger tank can meet its opponents. ”

After the artillery preparation of the Anglo-American forces was over, Otto. Skorzny and the platoon commander of the self-propelled anti-tank gun platoon, Heinrich. Lieutenant Eyler, together with him, climbed to the second floor of a church that had just been bombarded by artillery, raised his binoculars and began to observe the situation at the front line.

About four or five kilometers from the town, dozens of tanks were forming in formation, and hundreds of infantry were forming behind the wide tank bodies.

The tanks that appeared in the eyepieces of the telescopes of both men looked quite large, not much smaller than the German Tigers. At a cursory glance, Lieutenant Eyler found 2 models, one seems to be an M4 medium tank, but the barrel is much longer, and it should be a specialized anti-tank model. Eyler was somewhat surprised by the other tank, which looked like a Churchill tank, but instead of a turret, a cannon that appeared to be a 75mm level 1 was mounted directly on the body. And this cannon has a long barrel, apparently also a model designed specifically for tanks. (To be continued.) )