America's best tank general, George. Major General Patton was dismissed by Stilwell at the height of the Battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

And at the same time, the best tank commander of the UK, Paresi. Major General Hobert's life came to an end.

His 11th Panzer Division was no match for the German Panzer Group, which consisted mainly of 2 heavily armored battalions and 1 destroyer tank battalion.

Because the British 11th Panzer Division had just been transferred from the Irish front and had not been restructured as necessary - after the protests in London, the war machine, which had been working efficiently, seemed to have slackened overnight, and many people in the army and government were busy fleeing to Canada, even those who had no way to escape were not on the battlefield. The storm of protests in London also spread to other major cities in the UK, and even the UK's railway system was briefly attacked and disorganized.

The Churchill tanks and tank destroyers, which were supposed to be delivered to the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough front on the 13th, were not loaded until the 16th, and only God knows when they will be shipped.

As a result, on the morning of the 16th, the 11th Panzer Division had only 55 Churchill tanks/tank destroyers in operation. They faced more than 80 Tiger tanks, and another 45 Rhino tank destroyers with no less firepower than the Tiger.

However, the reason for the rapid collapse of the 11th Panzer Division of the British Army was not the bounty of the armored forces of both sides, but the collapse of the fighting spirit of the British officers and soldiers. The 11th Panzer Division has not encountered the Tiger on the island of Ireland, nor has it not fought battles with a huge disparity in strength. But they always managed to hold out until the end, and even if they were forced to retreat, they were defeated but not defeated, and they never collapsed at the touch of a button like today!

When the cluster of Tiger tanks appeared violently, the thousands of British troops on the battlefield who did not know who they were fighting for and what they were fighting for, were shaken. The tanks refused to advance, the soldiers dragging the anti-tank guns also refused to enter the position, and the infantry who had just finished deploying retreated. The officers, who were supposed to urge the soldiers to fight, did not stop this passive avoidance of war, and many of them were even ready to join in.

Probably only Major General Hobert refused to give up, and he first gave the order to counterattack in a fit of rage. Seeing that there was no one to execute, he simply stopped a Churchill tank destroyer that was retreating, and then got into the compartment himself, and forced the crew members to drive the vehicle with a pistol and launched a charge!

This near-deathly act of bravery evoked the courage of some people, and sixteen tanks/tank destroyers and hundreds of officers and men launched a near-suicidal charge. However, in the face of overwhelming German armored clusters, such a charge made no sense.

In less than 10 minutes, all sixteen tanks/tank destroyers, including the Churchill tank destroyer driven by Hobert, were smashed to pieces by the Germans Tiger and Rhino tank destroyers. The infantry that followed the charge was also covered with grenades fired from the short-barreled guns of 44 Type 4F tanks.

After the heroic death of Major General Hobert, the British 11th Panzer Division, like the 3rd Infantry Division, ushered in a moment of total collapse.

When the news reached the Anglo-American command in Darlington, Admiral Montgomery did not immediately call in his staff to discuss countermeasures, but locked himself in his office and began talking on the phone with Viscount Brooke, who was far away in London.

"Viscount, we have been defeated, the troops do not have a little fighting spirit, they cannot fight at all...... Both the 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions collapsed! ”

In the telephone, Montgomery told the Chief of the Imperial General Staff about the crisis on the battlefield - the call had actually been negotiated in advance, and Viscount Brooke had called Montgomery as soon as the turmoil in London had subsided, and told him to call him as soon as he faced a setback in the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough campaign.

"How many troops can you muster?" Viscount Brooke on the other end of the line asked.

"If you retreat right now, you should be able to gather 5-7 divisions." Montgomery replied.

"Are they all British divisions?" Viscount Brooke said, "I want the British division, as many British divisions as possible!" Let the Americans go to war with the Germans, do you understand? ”

Montgomery was silent for a moment, then replied, "Then leave 2 American divisions behind, so that at least 6 divisions can be withdrawn." ”

"Yes," Viscount Brooke said on the phone, "leave the Americans alone, and retreat with your troops." ”

Montgomery seemed a little surprised, and there was silence for a while, and then he asked, "Viscount, where are our men going to withdraw?" ”

"To Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield!" Viscount Brooke said, "You personally take a division to Liverpool, where there are many supplies and equipment that must be mastered. I'll go to Liverpool to meet you...... Remember, you're saving Britain! We can't let this country turn into the Russia of 1917!

And to save the country, we must master some troops, and only in this way can we protect the island of Britain! Do you understand what we're going to do? ”

Obviously, Viscount Brooke did not intend to accompany Churchill to Canada as a duke, he thought that England was the place he should be, and that he had something to do for it.

"Yes, I understand, Viscount, I listen to you."

Viscount Brooke was so pleased with Montgomery's answer that he then received a call from Admiral Alexander, who was in Belfast.

"Harold," Viscount Brooke asked on the phone, "the battle of Hartlepool-Middlesbrough has been lost, and I have ordered Montgomery to gather his forces and retreat. ”

"God, the empire is over, isn't it?" Harold. Alexander's voice sounded a little shaky.

"The empire is not over!" Viscount Brooke said in a deep voice, "The empire still has a future, as long as we soldiers can step up at a critical moment. Harold, are you willing to step up? ”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and then Harold. Alexander's slow but firm voice: "I do! Viscount, I am willing to fight for the empire to the last breath. ”

"Okay, send your men to take control of all the British ships in Belfast Harbour." "Take care of your army in the meantime, and pick some reliable troops and transport them to Liverpool." ”

"Liverpool? You say Liverpool? Alexander seemed to be taken aback.

"Yes!" Viscount Brooke replied, "It will be Liverpool." ”

"What are you doing there?"

"Go fight the civil war!" Viscount Brooke said, "There will be a civil war, and the British Bolshevik Party is ready, and we must be prepared!" Right now...... We're going to be the Wehrmacht in 1918! Harold, do you see what I mean? ”

"Understood, I understood! We, the British Army, will also work hard for the future revival of our country, just like the German Army in those days. ”

……

Faced with an inevitable defeat, the British Army was ready to learn from the Wehrmacht in 1918. is sharpening his knives, ready to fight.

The British Bolshevik Party, on the other hand, was preparing for a great uprising in London as it was learning from the Russian Bolshevik Party of 1917.

The optimistic Lieutenant General Stilwell was sent by Montgomery to the vicinity of Stodonk to command two American divisions to hold their positions......

Montgomery told Stilwell this, saying, "Lieutenant General, the key now is to stop the German panzer clusters and the German paratroopers at Stodonk. If they attack Stodonk, our 2 divisions and yours 2 will be surrounded. The defeat in the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough battle was irretrievable.

So I hope that the American troops will be able to hold off the Germans near Stodonk and hold them off for at least 48 hours so that our reinforcements will arrive. I hope that you will personally go to the Stodonk front to supervise the battle, and that the two British divisions east of Stodonk will also be under your command, and I think that this is the only way to ensure the success of the operation. ”

His words certainly can't deceive General Patton, and most of them can't fool Eisenhower in Edinburgh, but Stilwell is an honest general who is easy to deceive, and he also has an overly optimistic character, which dooms him to a tragic fate in this time and space.

"Lieutenant General...... Don't we really need to think about retreat? ”

By the time Lieutenant General Stilwell drove from Darlington to the U.S. Army headquarters near Stodonk, Bradley already sensed something was not quite right.

"No, not yet." "The situation is a bit grim, but the front is still going to be maintained," Stilwell said. On my way to Stodonk I had just asked the British officers who had been withdrawn from the front, and according to them, the attacking Germans were at most a divisional cluster. There may be 100-150 Tiger tanks, and I think we can deal with them. ”

There are so many Tiger tanks!? Bradley was an expert in infantry, but he also knew how powerful the German Tiger tank was. The Soviet military adviser told him that 1 Tiger tank can fight at least 10 T-34 tanks!

Bradley reminded: "Lieutenant General, the 2nd Panzer Division now has just over 60 M10s, and ...... The guns used by the M10 tank also had a hard time penetrating the Tiger tank. ”

"No problem," Stilwell waved his hand, "and we can penetrate it if we get closer, and we have quite a few anti-tank guns." He paused, and then added, "We must hurry up now, we may still be surrounded temporarily, but the British will organize a counterattack after 48 hours, as long as we hold out for 48 hours, the victory will be ours." ”

Just hold on for 48 hours? Bradley suddenly remembered Patton's words, Stilwell's optimism was a disease!

It seems that he has to have someone find out the clothes that General Patton left behind for the common people...... (To be continued.) )