The 14 divisions and three regiments in Normandy resisted step by step, and their retreat target was the mountains of northern Italy. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

There were not many German troops in France, but there was one thing that was very special, and that was all kinds of mines. It has reached 8 million, excluding the 4 million used on the coast, and on the way to retreat, Germany can calmly bury 4 million, and the Anglo-American coalition will slowly go to demine!

……

Caen is a small town located in the rear of Normandy, thirty-five kilometers from Normandy, and is now guarded by the 12th SS Panzer Division, which is referred to as the 12SS and the full name of Rommel Youth Panzer Division.

The whole division is mostly 15-17 years old, in order to ensure nutrition, these soldiers are supplied with one liter of milk a day, the British and American forces gave this division the nickname "doll division", and the result is that this doll division is a head start for the British and American forces.

The task of the 12SS Panzer Division was to hold back the Anglo-American forces, to buy enough time for the defenders who had retreated from Normandy, to set up a defensive line fifty kilometers east of Caen, in fact, they were already the most prominent German troops, but for the sake of the entire retreating force, they had to hold on to the small town of Caen.

On August 25, 1941, the Anglo-American forces spent a hard day at the landing ground on Normandy Beach. Subsequently, the British 2nd Army, consisting of British and Canadian troops, met the 12th SS Panzer Division (Waffen-SS "Rommel Youth" Panzer Division) at Caen without preparation.

The Anglo-American army's plan to break through the southern defense line and occupy the ancient French city of Caen on the first day fell through, and they encountered an elite division. This unit was the 12th SS Panzer Division, which had been trained as a counter-force.

In the weeks leading up to the attack on Normandy, the British and American forces had derided the 12th Panzer Division as a "doll division", but for the Anglo-American soldiers fighting against the 12SS Panzer Division, they were faced with a fanatical force of well-trained teenage boys.

British and Canadian forces had to engage the 12th Panzer Division in a six-week war of attrition. The 12th Panzer Division not only prevented the British and American forces from occupying Caen, but also prevented the British and American forces from reaching Falaise on time, thus delaying the formation of the Falaise encirclement and avoiding the total annihilation of the two German armies.

As the threat of Anglo-American landings in northern France grew, Führer Rommel deployed the 12th Panzer Division to Normandy on 1 July 1941.

The division arrived by train from Belgium to its destination between the lower Seine and the Orne rivers, and arrived in high morale and equipment, after which the division commander began to study the terrain of the defense zone and begin preparations for defense.

The 716th and 352nd Infantry Divisions were deployed along the coastal line from the mouth of the Seine to Bayeux for first-line defense, which had the common characteristics of infantry divisions on the Western Front - low morale and disrepresentation.

The 21st Panzer Division, which was responsible for supporting these two divisions, was clearly not taken seriously by the battle-hardened unit in Africa, and was only equipped with Type IV tanks, and even a lot of captured "Soma S.35 tanks were used to recharge."

The commanders of the 12th SS Panzer Division were the 34-year-old Captain of the Frieze-Witte Brigade (equivalent to the Wehrmacht Major General) and the 33-year-old Kurt Meyer (i.e. "Panzer Meyer") Flag Captain (equivalent to the Wehrmacht Colonel), who were under the command of General Marcos of the 46th Army.

Once the landing began, the only forces he could rely on were the troops deployed on the second line, in particular, the 12th Panzer Division in the Normandy area.

In order to gather more information for the next step of the 12th SS Panzer Division's defense, Witt and Meyer drove to the English Channel coast.

Here they found that the 716th Infantry Division had a very loose arrangement of defenses on the first line of the coast, and there was a lack of fire cover between the defensive points, and behind the coastal artillery bunkers and heavy machine-gun positions, there were very few anti-tank weapons.

Most of the bunkers are still under construction, and even those that are finished are not enough to withstand heavy bombers and large-caliber naval guns. Witte was confident that in the face of these weak fortifications, the landing of Anglo-American troops on the site would be successful.

Subsequently, under the cover of a joint naval and air attack, the British and American forces will soon launch an offensive inland. After a detailed study of the condition of roads and bridges in the coastal zone, Witte came to this conclusion:

"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 between the mouth of the Orne and the Seine, and deployed most of his combat forces to the northwest and west of Caen.

Everything was ready, and the 12th SS Panzer Division awaited this upcoming battle. The soldiers continued to train and strengthen their defenses, digging out hides for tanks and various vehicles to avoid losses from air strikes.

Just one day before the landing, the division had completed its pre-battle preparations west of Caen, with the 12th SS Panzer Division having more than 20,000 troops in the Normandy area.

Although the division's armored units are not fully staffed, the infantry weapons are very sophisticated, infantry light weapons include: 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.

The division's heavy firepower should not be underestimated; There are 12 88 guns, eight 105 guns, four 150 self-propelled heavy howitzers, and even more so other small-caliber guns.

After months of intensive combat training, the morale of the officers and men was high and confidence in the coming battle. Just before the Anglo-American coalition launched the largest amphibious landing in history, the team leader (equivalent to the Wehrmacht Private First Class) Jocken Rekoff wrote in his diary:

"Everyone was waiting for the expected Anglo-American landing, we all realized that the decisive battle was about to begin, and we were all looking forward to our first battle, and the Anglo-American forces were planning to destroy our division, the one they called the 'Cream Kids Division'.

But we are not afraid of them at all, and sometimes the thought of the upcoming battle makes our blood boil.

Although we were at a disadvantage, we believed in our battle-hardened commanders, who felt so confident when they saw them shooting with us in the mud with bazookas, machine guns, that what really scared us was the Anglo-American bombers that were buzzing over our heads and dropping tons of bombs. ”

……

Thanks: Funeral Qin reward of 500 starting coins (to be continued.) )