Allied infantry and tanks tried to break through the defensive positions near the city and managed to drive several "wedges" in some sectors. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

However, the 12th SS Panzer Division, the 21st Panzer Division, and the Panzer Instructor, despite not having enough tanks, still launched an effective counterattack with infantry and restabilized the front.

The troops that had been planned to come for reinforcements had still not arrived, and on the surface they were either held back by the fighting elsewhere or were held in the hands of their superiors for a second landing that did not exist.

This was the reason why Rommel was slow to send reinforcements to Normandy in order to convince the Allies that he had been deceived by them.

Even if Rommel really recaptured Normandy Beach, he would only destroy the two or three hundred thousand Allied troops who landed, or could not destroy them at all, because the Allied forces had more than 13,000 aircraft and thousands of warships.

It was still very easy for the Allies to retreat calmly from Normandy, so Rommel had no choice but to lure the enemy deeper and then gather and annihilate him.

The commander of the 4th Motor Transport Company, Squadron Leader of the 2nd Commando Squadron, Amy Maitre, wrote in the report:

"It has become a principle that replenishment operations for combat units can be carried out only at night, and the infantry and artillerymen, who have almost completely exhausted their ammunition, are eagerly waiting for supplies due to heavy losses in transport vehicles.

At the end of the night's operation, the drivers were dragged out of their beds as soon as they fell asleep, and they had to move quickly. But during daytime operations, they are often gone......"

By 3 September, the total number of personnel losses of the German 12th SS Panzer Division had reached 2,550, and battlefield reports showed that they still had 58 Type IV tanks and 44 Leopard tanks.

A total of 233 armored personnel carriers, armored reconnaissance vehicles and artillery observation vehicles, as well as 17 heavy anti-tank guns, the heavy equipment losses of the division at this time were not very serious.

After spending a few days, the 12th Panzer Division had prepared a new defense, and the battle logs of the 1st Battalion of the 25th Grenadier Regiment recorded some new circumstances:

"The division intercepted a number of radio communications from the opposing side indicating that the Allies were trying to capture Caen within 24 hours.

Because the British planned that the operation, codenamed Epsom, would be carried out by General O'Connor's 8th Army, the plan of action was to break through the junction between the Panzer Instructor and the 12th SS Panzer Division from the west, and then encircle Caen from the flank. ”

Such detailed intelligence was enough for two divisions to prepare for the British attack, and in a short time the soldiers skillfully established a solid defense.

The 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment reported to Meyer:

They have strengthened their former defensive positions, deployed infantry bunkers, machine-gun bunkers and anti-tank guns in the ruins of villages and towns, and bombed houses are equipped with various light and heavy weapons, even a "Leopard" tank;

In piles of rubble or charred furniture, there are often well-camouflaged snipers. The configuration of defensive support points has been carefully selected and camouflaged, mines and anti-tank barricades have been laid on important streets.

The 26th Grenadier Regiment replenished part of the reserves to strengthen the defense, and behind the 26th Grenadier Regiment, tank No. IV of the 2nd Battalion of the 12th Panzer Regiment had already entered tank bunkers and camouflaged.

On the main defensive front, which was not very wide, infantry weapons, tanks and artillery formed a strong defense.

On the morning of September 4, the British finally launched Operation "Epsom". A staff officer of the German 12SS Panzer Division wrote:

"It was already dawn, but there was still silence all around, and Max Usche and I were still near Lorey as the last tank rumbled into the assembly area...... Then the artillery of the British army first began interception firing.

Immediately after that, a large number of British attack planes roared over our heads and fired rockets at Lore, and a hellish battle began.

Our tanks creaked up to the forward positions, and the counterattack went smoothly at first, but was bogged down in the mire by the subsequent British counter-attack.

The British put in a Sherman tank with a 17-pounder high-speed gun, and its shells could penetrate the Leopard at 800 meters.

The battle turned into a duel between tanks...... Some positions in the vicinity of Caen were breached, and the city was gradually surrounded by pincer attacks, and Caen was about to become a trophy for Montgomery.

Everyone around me watched the horrible sight as if they were fascinated. Red-hot steel flew over us with a sharp whistle. Everyone did their best to keep their bodies low, their noses pressed against the damp ground......"

At least 50 Allied tanks were destroyed by the Germans during the daytime fighting, but at the same time the infantry on the front-line defense also suffered heavy blows, and units in some positions with heavy losses had to retreat.

The third squad leader of Jockham Raleiley Caufee, a soldier of the reconnaissance company of the 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment, wrote down this desperate battle during the British attack on Caen:

"The support points were almost untenable, the grenadiers held the crumbling lines, mortar shells exploded on the treetops, heavy machine guns cut the positions like saw blades, and the tanks rushed over and rumbled through the trenches.

It was then that the front began to waver, and it quickly spread. The Iron Fist anti-tank rockets ran out, and in the end several Shermans were hit and smoked, but there were more tanks behind. The grenadiers were left with no heavy weapons, and we had to clutch our rifles tightly......"

In the days that followed, the Allies continued to test the defenses of the 12th Panzer Division, and the German defenses had already been damaged.

On the battlefield full of wolf smoke, there are ruins and broken walls everywhere, and there is a bleak scene. As far as the eye can see, soldiers on both sides can be seen dead, and the destroyed weapons and equipment are like dead beasts, lying lifeless on the battlefield.

Operation "Epsom" was a brutal battle for both sides, and in early September 1941 the Allies were struggling to expand their landing grounds.

But the fighting around Caen had dragged on for too long, and the failure to make decent progress at such heavy losses had made the Allies increasingly aware of the gravity of the situation.

The 12th SS Panzer Division's defenses were so stubborn that even when they were driven out of their destroyed positions, the "boys" held out to resist that the Allied intention to advance into the open area south of Caen was not realized, and Montgomery ended hastily.

No matter how stubborn the defense was, the 12th SS Panzer Division had exhausted its strength, the survivors were exhausted, and most of the German troops around Caen were in a terrible state of despair.

……

[On December 1st, brothers with guaranteed monthly passes, please vote! ] Falling leaves, thank you] (To be continued.) )