"Looks like Hartlepool!"

In the early morning of January 3, the people in the bunker on King Charles Street in London finally determined that the real location of the German army was the city of Hartlepool on the North Sea coast. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"These damn Germans!" The pale-faced British Prime Minister took a big gulp of cigar smoke, "They actually dare to land in winter, and they are not afraid of the wind and waves of the North Sea to sink the ship!" ”

"Mr. Prime Minister," reminded Viscount Brooke, Chief of Imperial Staff, in a whisper, "the weather forecast says that the weather will be clear from January 3rd to January 5th, and the sea conditions in the North Sea will only be 2-3. ”

Winter in the UK and the North Sea is not without good weather, but it is relatively rare.

"And then?" Churchill asked, "What is the weather like after January 5?" ”

"There will be wind and snow from 6 January," said Viscount Brooke, "and the whole of England will be covered with wind and snow and there will be no sunny weather until after 15 January." ”

"The planes of the Germans could not take off?" Churchill asked again.

"It was difficult to fly over England from the 6th," said Viscount Brooke, "but the wind and waves in the North Sea were still not enough to hold back the German fleet. As long as the Germans took control of Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, reinforcements could arrive in a steady stream. ”

The winds and waves of the North Sea can stop the landing, but they cannot prevent the ships from entering the port - storming the beach and entering a harbor where the wind can be sheltered are completely different things. So after the good weather passed, the landing operation could not be carried out, but as long as the Germans controlled a medium-sized port, then the troops could arrive in a big way.

"We can't let them keep coming!" Churchill patted the table and said, "Otherwise, in the spring we will have a hard fight." ”

According to what is now known, the number of German troops landing and parachuting in Hartlepool was at most two divisions - this is the maximum number of aircraft drops and beachhead landings before they took control of the port of Hartlepool.

Although these two divisions must be the elite of the elite and can still be supported by the German fleet in the North Sea, it is still impossible for only two divisions to break through all the way to London. But if the Anglo-American forces ignore Hartlepool, then the Germans will continue to arrive. By the spring of '43, when the weather improved, it was when London was attacked.

"They won't be coming, we'll drive them all into the sea before then!" The Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces in Europe, Lieutenant General Stilwell, swore an oath. "We have enough strength, there are millions of troops on the island of Great Britain, even if 20 German divisions land, it will definitely be defeated!"

20 German divisions will also be defeated? That's because you haven't seen how good the Germans are! Qiu Fatzi glanced at the American lieutenant general who didn't know the height of the sky, took a puff of his cigar and said, "But we still lost the most critical 24 hours." ”

Now there were not many regular troops around Hartlepool and Middlesburg, and the two cities would probably be lost, and then the Germans would gain a deadly foothold in England.

"You have to fight back as soon as possible!" Viscount Brooke also knew the seriousness of the matter.

"We can send out armored units to counterattack, they have enough attack power." Lieutenant General Stilwell, chief of staff of Allied European Command, advised, "The U.S. 2nd Armored Division is now fully equipped and ready to be deployed." ”

The U.S. forces in Britain now have two armored divisions on their books, but one of them is currently only rifles. The 200 M10 tank destroyers arrived at the end of December to equip only one division, so Eisenhower gave them all to General Patton's 2nd Panzer Division. In addition, the 2nd Panzer Division received a sufficient number of towed artillery and horses (horses were given by the British), as well as a small number of trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles. Now it is about a mechanized unit that "burns horse manure", which is somewhat similar to the Japanese mecha army.

However, in the British mainland, where long-distance mobile operations are not required, the problem of burning horse manure is not very large.

"The US 2nd Armored Division can be transported to Coventry by train," said Viscount Brooke. "Then there is about 300 kilometers of road maneuvering."

The railway to Coventry is still operable, but further north it has become difficult to navigate due to days of bombardment, and it has to rely on road maneuverability.

"How much time does it take?" Churchill asked directly about the time of the arrival of the armored forces in Hartlepool.

"Today the troops are loaded during the day, they can reach Coventry at night, and tomorrow they will unload their vehicles during the day and let the sappers build roads and build pontoon bridges, so that tomorrow night the troops can maneuver towards Hartlepool." Viscount Brooke pondered, "You may need to take cover during the day the day after tomorrow, so that the troops will arrive in the morning or noon of the 6th."

In addition, our Praetorian Panzer Division, the 1st Panzer Division, and the 6th Panzer Division can be dispatched later, and they will all arrive on the 7th-8th. ”

There were now three British armoured divisions on the island of Great Britain, each with one armoured brigade and one mounted infantry brigade (motorized infantry brigades could not afford to sustain them) - like Patton's 2nd Panzer Division, which was also mechanized by burning horse manure.

However, burning horse manure is burning horse manure, and the tanks and assault guns of these 3 British armored divisions are still in place. Not only were there enough in number (there were more than 200 in each division), but there were no crushing tanks with thin skin and insufficient firepower, all were Churchill 4 tanks and Churchill 4 assault guns.

Now Britain was facing the same problem as Germany at the end of its rope - it no longer had enough strength to provide a large amount of mechanized equipment to its troops, so it had to go the heavy and small way, and developed the Churchill 4 assault gun, equipped with a 17-pounder gun and heavily armoured!

"1 American armored division, 3 British armored divisions, and how many infantry divisions?" Churchill asked, thoughtful.

"There is currently a North Yorkshire Division ......"

"This division doesn't need to be counted," interrupted the fat man, "they won't last a few days." ”

This judgment was correct, the North Yorkshire division is now half broken, and the remaining troops will also collapse in the next 24 hours.

"There's the 52nd Low Rifle Division, they're on foot from Newcastle, and they'll be there tonight." "There are also the 15th Scottish Infantry Division and the 51st Highland Infantry Division and the 1st Infantry Division, which are on their way from Fort William and Manchester to Hartlepool, and will be able to arrive about the 10th." In addition, there were units of the 5th Infantry Division at Middlesbrough, Scarrob and York. ”

"4 armored divisions, 5 infantry divisions!" Qiu Fatman's fat face had a little brightness again. "9 divisions can definitely defeat 2 divisions of the Germans!" He thought for a moment and asked, "Who is going to command these 9 divisions?" ”

"A British commander and an American chief of staff can be arranged." Viscount Brooke suggested that "Admiral Montgomery could be appointed commander of the army group, and as for the chief of staff, ......"

"I'll go myself!" Stilwell's eyes lit up, "I personally serve as the chief of staff of this combined army. ”

……

Whoa...... Poof.

With a loud thud of a heavy object falling into the water, the bow gangplank of the tank landing ship was lowered.

"Rudolph, can you move?" An officer on the landing ship waved a small flag in his hand at Rudolph, who was poking out half of the turret of the Tiger tank. Feng. Ribbentrop shouted.

"Of course it works!" Ribbentrop then shouted to the driver of his car, "Adolf, get the car moving, we're going to land on English soil!" ”

"Yes, Captain."

A already spinning Maybach HL210P35 petrol engine (this engine is also better than the model used in the Tiger E, although it produces the same power, but is more reliable) immediately roared and began to run at high speed, sending up to 650 hp of power to the driving wheels. Driven by the driving wheels, the tank's tracks began to roll, and the body slowly moved forward, and soon rushed through the bow gangplank onto the sand filled with the smell of gunpowder.

The battle on the beach was over, and there were not many British troops guarding the beach, and soon after the German marines began to seize the beach, the German paratroopers who had parachuted behind them rushed to flank them, and the British troops of more than 1,000 and less than 2,000 were soon wiped out.

But the battle for Hartlepool wasn't over yet.

A shrill whistle suddenly reached the ears of little Ribbentrop, and he hurriedly followed the sound to see a Marine sergeant major waving a striking red flag to direct traffic. In the direction of his red flag, huge signs were also erected that read: Tanks / assault artillery, forward!

That must be the road to the battlefield! Thinking of this, Captain Ribbentrop hurriedly instructed the driver to change the direction of the vehicle and follow the route indicated by the signs and the red flag - it was the route to the Tiz River.

The River Tiz is south of the city of Hartlepool, and the beach where the little Ribbentrop and their landfall are on the back side of the city of Hartlepool. Now the 7th Paratrooper Division is fighting the British in the streets of Hartlepool, and most of the urban area has been captured, only the port area has not been taken, but there is no need for the help of the marines.

So General Halder's mission to the 1st Marine Division was to cross the Tiz River and advance towards Middlesbrough. A key bridge over the Tiz River has been captured by soldiers of the 7th Paratrooper Division, a sturdy rail-road bridge that can fully withstand the weight of the Tiger G.

Through this bridge, Ribbentrop's 516th Heavy Armoured Battalion could penetrate directly to the southwest of Middlesbrough, blocking the main route of communication north to reinforce Middlesbrough and Hartlepool - that is, completing the siege of Middlesbrough.

Once Middlesbrough was occupied by the Germans, the Germans would have two medium-sized ports on the island of Great Britain. (To be continued.) )