"The area around the ancient city of Caen will have a special temptation for enemy attacks!" The terrain around Caen, especially to the north and northwest of the city, was ideal for tank combat. After a successful landing on the Normandy coast, Caen will become the main battlefield. Therefore, he deployed the 12th SS Panzer Division in the area between the mouth of the Orne and the Seine, and placed most of his combat forces northwest and west of Caen.

Everything was ready, and the 12th SS Panzer Division awaited this upcoming battle. The soldiers continued their training while strengthening their defenses. In order to avoid losses from air strikes, they dug out shelters for tanks and various vehicles. Just one day before the landing, the division completed its pre-battle preparations west of Caen.

The 12th SS Panzer Division had more than 20,000 soldiers in the Normandy area. Although the division lacked armored units, the infantry was very well armed (infantry light weapons included: Kar98k rifles, G43 semi-automatic rifles, StG-44 assault rifles, MG-42 general-purpose machine guns, MP-40 submachine guns, M24/43 wooden-handled grenades, "Iron Fist" 30 anti-tank grenade projectiles, "Tank Killer" rocket launchers, etc.), RPGs now have no hunting suits, because of Allied air strikes, these weapons are not convenient to transport to the Normandy area.

After nine months of intensive combat training, the morale of the officers and men was high and confidence in the upcoming battle. Just before the Allies launched the largest amphibious landing in history, Team Leader (the equivalent of Wehrmacht Private 1st Class) Jocken Rekoff wrote in his diary:

"Everyone was waiting for the expected Allied landing. We are all aware that the decisive battle is about to begin. We're all looking forward to our first fight. The Allies are planning to wipe out our division, the one they call the 'Cream Kids Division.'"

But we are not afraid of them at all. Sometimes after thinking about the coming battle. We're all going to feel the blood pumping. Although we were at a disadvantage, we believed in our battle-hardened commanders, and when they saw them shooting with us in the mud with bazookas, machine guns, they felt very confident. What really scared us was the Allied bombers that 'buzzed' over our heads and dropped tons of bombs. ”

A communications officer, Walter Kruger, Commando Group Commander of the 2nd Class (equivalent to a Wehrmacht major), also had confidence in the 12th SS Panzer Division:

"Not only are they well-trained, they are also very disciplined and have a strong fighting will." Like most officers, he realized that the tide of the war in northern France depended heavily on the performance of several armoured divisions, including the 12th SS Panzer Division.

On the evening of June 5, when the telephone rang, the commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division, the commander of the Frieze-Witte Brigade, and the officers of his staff were sitting by the fireplace in a house in the town of Tyrilles. Witte learned by phone that Allied paratroopers had already appeared in the rear of the Normandy coastal defense. At the same time, the report also states:

"The enemy's air force is active, but the sea is calm."

It was about 1:30 a.m. on June 6. Kurt Mayer was woken up. The Allies may have really started to attack. Less than an hour later. Units of the 12th SS Panzer Division were alerted. The leader of the 26th Regiment, Oswald Beck, described:

In the early hours of the 6th, Cliff Squad Leader II (equivalent to Wehrmacht Corporal II) burst into our room and shouted: "Follow me, boys, get out, get out!" The enemy landed. ”

The correspondent on duty ran in front of us. Shouting as you run. The Americans and the British landed. By 3 o'clock we had everything ready. But then the order came, and we were to return to the barracks and await further instructions. ”

Just a few days before the Allied landing, the General Command of the Western Front assigned the 12th SS Panzer Division to the command of Army Group B. Despite the fact that each unit of the 12th SS Panzer Division was combat-ready in its respective alert area. But in the face of all kinds of chaotic and contradictory alarms, the General Command of the Western Front did not give the 12th SS Panzer Division and Panzer instructors the right to move freely.

How could Li Mo let them go out in broad daylight to be bombed by the Allies, it was absolutely impossible, an armored division without the cover of the air force was a dish, Li Mo's intentions were certainly not something that these children could understand, as long as they could faithfully carry out the order.

Even when the Allied landings began on June 30, the General Command of the Western Front refused to allow the Panzer Divisions to take free action, but tacitly approved of their approach to the battlefield. According to the memories of the 12SS soldiers at that time:

"All day of June 6, the 12SS Panzer Division was in place, without moving a single step, and in the evening, the order came, and the order of the General Command of the Western Front was to let them attack the Allied paratroopers in front of them.

The tank columns of the 12th SS Panzer Division had to make their way through the crowded and narrow roads of the Normandy area, under the cover of night. Then the forward troops exchanged fire with the Allied paratroopers, and the tanks of the 12SS quickly went up to support, but fortunately, the night was good at night, and the visibility was okay, after all, it was a full moon state!

The Allied paratroopers were indeed very elite, but they lacked heavy weapons, and under the combined attack of our armored divisions and infantry, the Allied paratroopers suffered heavy casualties, many of which were either killed or taken prisoner, and some took advantage of the chaos to escape to the beachhead.

Since the troops defending the beachhead were also flanking the Allied paratroopers, the entire space area was full of gunfire, explosions and shouts, and the night gave us good protection, not letting those damn Allied planes make trouble, and the result was that our several divisions wiped out the three elite Allied paratrooper divisions in one night, and only a few fish slipped through the net. ”

Before dawn the next day, the 12SS Panzer Division received an order to retreat to Caen. They first reached the southwest of Caen. During the afternoon march, the 12th SS Panzer Division was constantly attacked by Allied aircraft. These attacks disrupted their marching columns, thus slowing down the advance considerably.

Captain of the 25th Regiment, 13th Company, 1st Platoon, Martin Bessel (equivalent to Wehrmacht First Class Corporal), said: "We have encountered great obstacles in our advance. Allied air attacks brought death, terror and chaos everywhere".

Their regimental commander "Panzer Meyer" jumped out in time before a bomb blew up his command vehicle. Meier himself described it: "The march to Caen was a journey to death. A group of 'Spitfires' began to dive and attack from the back of our column. Their rockets and machine guns, like scythes for mowing grass, knocked down many of us.

A soldier was lying on the road, a bullet broke his artery, blood spurted out of his throat like mist, and it wasn't long before he died in my arms. At the same time, the ammunition truck was also detonated, and for a time the flames soared into the sky and debris was scattered. But within minutes of the airstrikes, the roads were cleared. We can't stop, we have to move forward!"

…… (To be continued......)

PS: Acknowledgements:

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