Chapter 482: The Dunkirk Catastrophe (Part II)

In fact, when Churchill was preparing to retreat at the beginning, it was not only Dunkirk as an option, but the three ports of Calais, Buren and Dunkirk, which planned to evacuate 10,000 people a day. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Why minesweepers, this is to say what good things Britain, France and Germany have done in the sit-down war for most of the year.

Compared with the armed forces of the Anglo-French army and the German army, the army strength is basically the same, at least before the start of the French campaign, everyone thinks so, the air force is inferior, there is no way, who called France did not think much of equipping new aircraft at all, naval power .... Germany has a navy? The one in Germany is called the Navy? Churchill wanted to laugh just thinking about it.

Churchill wanted to laugh, Hitler also had a headache, indeed, to say that the German Navy can wrestle with the British, I don't believe it, originally everyone said that it would be fought again in 45 years, but it turned out to be so long in advance, many ships not to mention keels, the drawings are still in the designer's head, but it has come to this point, the battle still has to be fought, while preparing to rely on submarines such as rapid military weapons, on the other hand, I thought of using mines to block the British sneak attack, not only Germany likes to sneak attack, the British did not do this less, really fighting, really when the British are all gentlemen? I don't know how many mines were laid on the sea from Germany to England.

But not only Germany, but also the British, such as Norway in the north, why Germany wants to attack Norway, an important excuse is that Norway allows Britain to release mines on the sea route, which is similar to the feeling of the Americans running to the Philippines to release mines in later generations, they have to be in a hurry, so the current English Channel is actually full of mines, there are no minesweepers, not to mention ferries, even battleships dare not rampage in the strait at this time, and there are three routes from Dunkirk to Britain, one is the shortest, only 40 nautical miles, However, it was under the blockade of German artillery fire and could not be used; The other route is a little longer, 55 nautical miles, but the British army has laid a number of minefields on the route, which will be difficult to clear and unusable in a short period of time; The last route was the longest, 90 nautical miles, and took six hours, which made the retreat more difficult. In other words, the British blocked themselves with mines, and it is no wonder that Churchill wanted to cry when he saw the mines, who is to blame?

- Dunkirk

The British commander of Dunkirk at this time was Ramsay, and his real command team was only 16 people, and these 16 people were responsible for directing the entire retreat..... There's not much more to say.

Ramsey looked at the harbor illuminated by flashlights in the winter wind, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Goering's plane has basically blown up this place, and the original port is no longer usable." ”

Goering told Hitler that he was able to clear Dunkirk of the Anglo-French forces on his own, and in the first two weeks he had blown up four docks, seven deep-water port berths, and eight kilometers of docks in Dunkirk into ruins.

Colonel Tennant pointed to a breakwater on the sea and said, "The only thing that can be used by ships now is the embankment, but it is made of wood, and it is not very strong, only the lighthouse on the side is made of concrete, and the current is relatively fast, so there will be some danger." ”

Ramsay shook his head and said, "It would be nice to have a way, send a telegram to London immediately, and say that we are ready, please send someone to take away the first batch of logistics troops tonight!" "Why the logistics troops? Don't feel sorry if you suffer any losses, and now it's all in this situation, why do you want the logistics troops? Do you transport seawater?

When Churchill received Ramsay's telegram, he immediately stood up and exclaimed, "What are you waiting for? My gentlemen! Let's go pick up our kids! ”

In the dark night, the British ships cautiously sailed into the port of Dunkirk, a temporary wooden gangplank, because it was a tentative retreat, there were not many people, the construction of the gangplank was also very simple, only eight people could go at a time, everyone who boarded the ship looked at the west excitedly, that is their hometown, and some people looked at the east with reluctance, these people are French and Belgians, they don't know when they will be able to return to this continent again... Maybe soon... Maybe for a long time... Maybe never come back.

"It's full! Walk! Ramsay was not greedy, he knew that he was going to transport three or four hundred thousand troops, not a few hundred more, and the rest of the people who did not get on the ship watched the ship start to leave, and there was no noise, after all, no one could say whether this trip was good or bad.

The ships had reached the waterline, and the English Channel was much more violent in winter than in summer, thanks to the good weather these days, otherwise the high waves would have made the retreat more difficult.

What the fleet didn't notice was that a group of hungry wolves were watching their backs under the water, and Dönitz personally led the team on the expedition, he left the periscope and smiled, "Sure enough, as Jiang said, they are taking advantage of the night to retreat." ”

"General, do you want to sink them?" The captain next to him asked.

"No, this is just a small head, there are at most one or two thousand people on board, and it is worthless to sink them, we have figured out their route, and immediately gather the wolves, tomorrow night is the day when the big drama will be staged."

When the fleet returned to England, it was already noon, in the shocked eyes of everyone, the embarrassed Anglo-French troops walked out of the ship, countless British soldiers looked at everything familiar around, the fluttering flag representing Britain, thinking back on the course of half a month, excitedly lying on the ground and crying, and some French and Belgians came together, looking at each other and comforting, full of confusion about the future.

At this time in the British Parliament, Churchill was salivating his speech: "My gentlemen, our children are resisting Hitler's fascist thugs on the European continent, they need our help, and now it is the most dangerous time for our British Empire, everyone should join hands and unite, and we must use all our strength to win this war!" In Dunkirk, there are three or four hundred thousand children in need of our rescue, no matter what the ship, as long as we can transport our children from France back to England, we can go to the rescue, no matter which country, which nation, as long as there is still freedom and light in the heart, we should go to the rescue..."

"Woooooo One by one, civilian ships began, and even some rich people's yachts were speeding towards France, and the British were united as never before! Go to Dunkirk! Save our brothers and children! The boats on the Taimuz River, which usually come and go, are gone, and these riverboats, which have not been prepared to go to sea since the beginning of their design, have also begun to sail towards Dunkirk, knowing that the wind and waves at sea are enough to bury their fragile bodies at the bottom of the sea, and what makes Churchill even more excited is that his speech was transmitted to the European continent through the airwaves, and the ships of France and Belgium have also begun to respond to his call to Dunkirk, and even the ships in the hands of the Czechs and Ukrainians who have died have begun to sail towards Dunkirk - defeat Hitler's ambitions! Rescue the Anglo-French forces! Everyone came together with the same thoughts, and these people and ships who spoke different languages and came from different places made Hitler on the French front extremely angry.

"Damn it! Damn Churchill! Damn British! I knew they had bad intentions! Tell Goering! Tell Guderian and Dönitz to unleash all the military forces that can be unleashed! We must wipe out these three or four hundred thousand troops! Hitler roared loudly, his bloodshot eyes filled with violence and madness.

After Hitler issued the order, he couldn't help but think of Manstein, thanks to his persuasion, Guderian's offensive has not stopped, Dönitz went to sea last night, the weather has been good for the past two days, Goering's air force can also be dispatched, Hitler deduced in his heart the situation of these three or four hundred thousand troops to Britain .... It hurts to think about it, how many ships, planes and troops will have to be lost to defeat these three or four hundred thousand troops across the sea?

When Guderian got the news, he was watching the battle from the front, he looked at the British military flag raised high opposite, and slowly spat out a name "Montgomery..."

The British unit that was blocking on the opposite side was the British Third Infantry Division, the division commander Montgomery, which made Guderian extremely angry that the damn Montgomery was surrounded by himself, and he didn't bother to ask whether he was alive or dead, just waiting for the follow-up troops to eliminate this so-called elite, as a result, Montgomery did not stick to the rest of the British and French commanders to wait for help, but immediately made a strategic transfer, first the whole division was divided into 600 military vehicles, and all the military vehicles were coated with a layer of reflective paint, Illuminated by a small light hidden under the rear fender, the driver of the latter car used this light to follow the previous car, while the entire convoy turned off the headlights, implemented strict light control, and quietly withdrew in the night. In order to prevent accidents, Montgomery also set up traffic pickets at intersections and corners where it was easy to get lost, and directed the convoy to march, and through this method, the 3rd Division marched 60 kilometers at night, successfully jumped out of the German encirclement, and ran in front of Guderian, established strong fortifications, and blocked Guderian's attack. When Guderian learned that the third division of the British army was opposite, he almost wondered if he had taken the wrong path, how could the third division, surrounded by himself in the back, run to the front?

This is the first time Guderian has encountered a general who is skilled in the use of locomotive troops, Guderian felt in his bones the danger of the British general who had never met on the other side, you know, he is already at the end of the crossbow, only relying on the strength of the troops and the fear of the British and French forces to the German army to continue to assault, once the British and French forces noticed that the German army is almost out of strength, it is really a big joke.

"Report to the general, a reinforcement has arrived!" An officer ran over with a smile and said.

"Reinforcements? Was it the surprise of the Führer's telegram? Which unit is it? Guderian asked.

"It's the 7th Panzer Division!"

"Rommel?" Guderian walked out with a smile, only to see that nearly a hundred tanks were approaching him, a Mercedes-Benz off-road command vehicle stopped beside him, and a general who was nearly 50 years old walked down and smiled at Guderian "My William, did you think it would be me?" ”

Guderian shook hands with him, hugged him and said, "Great, I lack your strength, look at what you have brought me?" ”

"The Führer knew that you needed strength here, so he specially urgently brought the latest No. 4 to me from the rear, as well as a large number of No. 2, I have seen the geography of Dunkirk, and No. 2 is better than No. 4." Rommel said, pointing to his tank troops. This so-called latest No. 4 is the German product of the Centurion brought by Jiang Cheng, which looks more like Jiang Cheng's original Leopard tank in time and space.

"Okay, there's a powerful guy in front, named Montgomery, you immediately pounce with your troops, be sure to tear his line open, I'll let the artillery unit cover for you, and the air force will support you." Let it go! Guderian cheered for Rommel and said, Rommel looked ahead and muttered, "Montgomery?" Let me see what the guy you think Guderian is capable of, right? ”

Fate is always so interesting, as a new force Rommel, as a new force, spent four hours to crush Montgomery's troops, Montgomery sat in the truck and stepped back, he looked at the German tanks chasing his men around, his heart was full of rage, he shouted "Tell me again!" Which unit is this? Who is the commander? ”

"It's the German 7th Panzer Division! Commander Rommel! The staff officer next to him immediately replied loudly.

"Rommel... The Seventh Division...."Montgomery didn't say anything more about revenge, he grabbed his hand, he was not a good expressive person, when he courted his wife more than ten years ago, everyone else was courting with flowers or rings, only he was courting with a gun against his head, he only knew how to express his feelings in such a clumsy way, and this kind of character also made him prefer to do it rather than say it.

"I'll remember you... Rommel. ”

Guderian's army continued the offensive, and Goering's air force had been fighting fiercely in Dunkirk for a day.

There is an old saying in China, saying that if the king is not secret, he will lose his minister, if he is not secret, he will lose his body, and if he is not secret, he will be harmed. It is a gentleman's prudence and not out. To put it bluntly, it means the importance of secrecy, don't look at Manstein just told Hitler a day or two in advance, but it was enough to change too many things, for Goering, it was to know that someone was going to steal the credit, and even more so that Britain was coming to save people.

There are three or four hundred planes in the sky over Dunkirk at this time, and if anyone in the eastern battlefield comes here, they will feel the luxury of the European battlefield, which is still a battle in the sky for a while, in fact, on this day, Goering has dispatched more than 1,000 sorties of various fighters, and the British and French forces have also dispatched more than 300 combat planes, countless Stuka continue to dive and bomb the retreating and counterattacking British and French forces, the roaring horror sound like the roar of death, Makes everyone feel their scalps tingling.

There were planes falling down in smoke, and in this day, the German air force lost more than a hundred aircraft, almost reaching the losses of the entire French campaign before, while the Anglo-French losses were much smaller, but there were also sixty or seventy aircraft, thanks to the help of the ground forces, Goering looked at the losses, he only felt distressed, he couldn't help but shake his head, thinking of Dönitz ... After watching this great work, I can't figure it out that it's Dönitz's. (To be continued.) )