When the two met, Li Qiwei was very grateful for Li Junhao's help when he was in Myanmar before! He showed that it was precisely because he learned the most advanced airborne combat theory from Commander Pansen and was supported by a large number of new equipment that he was able to serve as the commander-in-chief of this airborne operation!

It can be said that during the one-year period that the 82nd Airborne Division was in the Indo-Burma Theater, although it had not experienced any actual combat, its mastery of the tactics of airborne operations was far beyond that of the past, and it was definitely the most advanced in the world at present.

After the 82nd Airborne Division returned to China, it was divided into two, and after replenishing the source of troops, the new 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were formed. Previously, the two divisions were transferred to Britain and formed the First Airborne Army of the Allied Expeditionary Force with the 6th Airborne Division of the British Army, and Lieutenant General Li Qiwei became the commander of the group army with an absolute advantage.

Li Junhao knew that connections in the army were extremely important, and the relationship between old superiors and old subordinates was definitely unusual, so he was very willing to maintain a good relationship with Li Qiwei, so he pointed out some key points to the other party in the Normandy battle that began later, which convinced and moved Li Qiwei.

——

In addition to meeting with Li Qiwei and catching up with the old days, Li Junhao spent most of his time guiding the staff officers to revise the beach-grabbing and landing part of the "Overlord" operation plan so as to give better play to the strengths and combat effectiveness of the naval and land units.

At present, the vast majority of the contents of the "Overlord" plan have been put in place.

At present, the Allies have concentrated 86 divisions (2.87 million) of army troops, more than 5,000 tanks, more than 9,000 naval ships, more than 15,000 aircraft, and more than 3.2 million military personnel involved.

The first step of Operation "Overlord" was a landing operation, and the location was chosen in the Normandy area of northern France, which was mainly to avoid the "Atlantic barrier" built by the German army on the Atlantic coast of western France, thousands of kilometers from Norway to Spain. The German army defending on the Western Front had two army groups, B and G, more than 500 small and medium-sized surface ships, 500 air force aircraft, and 59 army divisions, of which only 6 divisions were deployed in Normandy.

According to the original plan, the first wave of attack forces was divided into four main parts: airborne troops, air attack aircraft groups, beach-grabbing units, and surface fire support ships.

The Airborne Forces are the Allied First Airborne Army led by Ridgway, and they will be the first to enter the battlefield.

The air attack aircraft group consisted of more than 2,000 bombers from the British Royal Air Force strategic bomber unit and the US Eighth Air Force, and their mission was to carry out air raids and bombardment on the German coastal artillery positions and fortifications before the beach-grabbing force landed, and try to reduce the German defensive firepower.

The composition of the beach-grabbing force: the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions of the US Army, followed by the 29th Infantry Division; The British 3rd and 50th Infantry Divisions, the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division, and the British 7th Armored Division followed. Their task was to seize the beach and land on the five beachheads in Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, and Juneau, and establish a safe landing ground as soon as possible to create conditions for the follow-up troops.

The surface fire support ships consisted of seven battleships, two shallow-water gunboats, 24 cruisers, and 74 destroyers, which formed five naval artillery fire support groups to provide naval artillery fire support for the five beachhead landing forces.

Now that the US Marine Corps has specialized units participating in the war, it is necessary to change the beach-grabbing units, which is not as simple as simply changing the number of the troops, but also readjusting and optimizing the coordination of the various units in the entire beach-grabbing operation in accordance with the requirements of the new commander-in-chief of the landing operation, General Pan Sen......

Fortunately, it is not too difficult to adjust the first wave of beach-grabbing troops, but it will take some time. The naval and land forces have already departed from the United States and are expected to arrive in more than a week, plus three days of rest and recuperation, the staff officers of the headquarters need to adjust the plan and arrange it in place within 10 days, and the time is very tight!

Li Junhao actually admires these staff officers of the headquarters very much; although he himself already has the advanced command skills of the army, navy, and air force, and is also proficient in the command of airborne operations, landing operations, and three-dimensional operations, he is all from the perspective of a commander.

——

On June 29 and 30, the naval and land troops that had been transferred to participate in the war arrived in Britain, and the troops of the five armies did not all come, because many troops in the huge strength of the Allied forces could be directly mobilized, and only seventy percent of the main force came, plus five special operations brigades, and even so, the total strength reached 250,000 people.

The number of troops mobilized by sea and land is much more than the seven army divisions in the original battle plan!

The reason why Li Junhao did this is, firstly, to "fight the rabbit with all his might", and secondly, to let more newly-organized troops experience the real beach-grabbing landing battle -- with the beginning of the allied army's overall strategic counteroffensive, the naval and land forces will basically wrap up the follow-up landing battle in the future, and it will not hurt to see more!

According to the newly compiled battle plan, the five main brigades from the First Army of the Navy and the Army, plus two special operations brigades, were responsible for the landing operations at the two beachheads in Utah and Omaha, and after the landing ground was established, the three infantry divisions of the US Army, the 1st, 4th, and 29th, followed up and attacked Saint-Lo and Carentin as the right flank forward of the Allied forces, which was the main direction of attack; Its follow-up forces were the main force of the US 1st Army.

The 3rd and 5th Armies of the Navy and the Army were equipped with three special operations brigades to land on the beachheads at Gold, Sword, and Juneau, and after establishing landing grounds, the British 3rd and 50th Infantry Divisions, the 7th Armored Division, and the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division followed up as the left flank of the Allied forces to attack in the direction of Caen in lower Normandy; This was followed by the main forces of the British 2nd Army and the Canadian 1st Army.

After that, the battle was not a matter of land and sea, the US 1st Army, the British 2nd Army, and the Canadian 1st Army formed the 21st Army Group, as the first echelon of the Allied forces, under the command of British Army General Montgomery, to attack in depth.

Subsequently, the U.S. 3rd Army, which was directly under the command of the Allied Expeditionary Force, as the second echelon, entered the battle along the passage opened up by the first echelon, rushed out of the Cotentin Peninsula, crossed the Brittany Peninsula, and outflanked the German army in Caen in a fierce battle with the British army, completely crushed the German resistance, and took advantage of the victory to occupy France and Belgium......

——

On July 3, Eisenhower, commander-in-chief of the Allied Expeditionary Force, announced that "D-Day" would be July 5!

The atmosphere of the war immediately became stronger, the generals returned to their posts, and Li Junhao got on the LCC-12 "Stuart" amphibious command ship.

(End of chapter)