Chapter 1210 Will You Definitely Win?

"Prepare for collision! Hold on tight..."

When Colonel Otto Skorzeny of the 1st Air Assault Brigade of the German Wehrmacht heard the loud roar of the captain of the plane, he quickly grabbed the armrest beside the seat and made a cross on his chest with his other hand.

As soon as he finished making the cross, the landing gear of the plane hit the hard ground with a "bang". Although Skorzeny held the armrest tightly and fastened his seat belt, his body was still shaken off the seat, and then sat back heavily, which was equivalent to a solid beating on the buttocks, and he gasped in pain.

However, when he found that the plane he was riding did not disintegrate, but was gliding forward bumpily, he no longer cared about the pain in his buttocks and cheered loudly: "Long live victory! Hi! Hitler..."

The plane was still gliding, which meant that the landing was successful! The successful landing of the ZSO523 air assault transport plane meant that "Operation Columbus" was more than half successful!

The ZSO523 plane that Skorzeny was riding on was the first to drop from the sky, and its smooth landing was just the beginning. Then one after another landed on the five flat landing sites where flares were constantly rising.

At the edge of the landing site, some German paratroopers had already been waving red flags vigorously, including the Frenchman Mitterrand. He had always been working with Brandt, and now that the Brandt group had been disbanded, Brandt returned to being a platoon leader and was assigned the task of waving red flags to welcome the landing troops.

A giant plane roared as it slid on the gravel ground for a distance, and finally stopped less than 100 meters in front of Mitterrand. The French patriot watched in amazement as the lower half of the giant nose of the plane slowly split from the middle, and finally split into two, as if a monster had opened its bloody mouth.

Then, a scene that shocked him even more appeared. A tank destroyer weighing about 20 tons, which Mitterrand had never seen before, actually rumbled out of the open "mouth" of the plane.

Now Mitterrand's mouth was almost as big as the plane opposite him... The Germans actually transported tank destroyers to Newfoundland by plane! !

And Mitterrand, who had served in the army, saw at a glance that these two tank destroyers were very powerful - its gun barrel was very long, with a caliber of about 75mm, and it should have a strong armor-piercing ability.

In addition, there were two black searchlights on the top and front of the tank destroyer. Mitterrand guessed that this was the legendary night vision device, which could be used to see distant targets clearly at night.

It is said that in the Battle of Moscow, the Germans relied on the help of night vision devices to achieve a decisive victory in the night tank battle. If the Americans did not have the same equipment, they would be in trouble tonight.

"Colonel, all 50 ZSO523s used by the 101st Air Assault Battalion landed successfully, 11 of which were damaged to some extent during the landing process, and 2 Type 4 tanks and 1 E-25 were stuck and temporarily unable to leave the cabin."

On the plane that was temporarily used as the headquarters of the 1st Air Assault Brigade, SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny was listening to the report of the chief staff. At this time, he saw Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger limping in.

"Gustav, what's wrong with you?" Skorzeny asked.

"My seat belt broke when the plane landed just now, and I fell a little," Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzenegger said a little embarrassedly. "It's okay, just a minor injury... I didn't expect the plane to be so bumpy when landing, and many people were slightly injured. There may be some equipment damaged, so I must check it carefully later."

"Will it not affect the battle?"

"No," Schwarzenegger smiled, "Minor injuries will not leave the front line! And we are a mechanized unit, we don't need to march on foot."

"Okay," Otto Skorzeny nodded, "Then quickly gather your people, check the equipment, and then enter the position. There will be a fierce battle tonight!"

Although the American counterattack troops have not yet been dispatched, Skorzeny, a veteran warrior, knows without thinking that there will be a bloody battle tonight!

...

"What? What? The Germans are airborne in Newfoundland? What...what does this mean? Is Newfoundland their main attack direction? Can anyone answer me?"

Just as a bloody night battle was brewing on Newfoundland, US President Truman asked loudly in the Cabinet Meeting Room of the White House.

The question he asked sounded a bit naive, at least President Roosevelt would not ask it. Because no matter where the Germans' main attack direction is, Newfoundland cannot be lost.

"Mr. President," Secretary of War Wallace took over the question at this time, "The Germans' airborne landing in Newfoundland only means one thing: we will defeat them there and win a decent peace!"

Truman didn't dare to believe Wallace's judgment, and glanced at General Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the US Army: "George, what do you think?"

"Mr. President," George Marshall said firmly, "We will definitely defeat the Germans in Newfoundland."

"Sure?" Truman was a little skeptical. In the past five years, people who have said this have basically been trampled to the ground by Germany.

"Yes!" Marshall's answer was very affirmative. "We have 250,000 ground troops on Newfoundland, and they are very well-equipped, with a large number of tanks and tank destroyers. If these troops are on the European continent and Germany's powerful armored forces Confrontation may not be an opponent, but it is impossible for the German airborne troops to have tanks and armored vehicles on Newfoundland.”

Before Marshall could finish speaking, one of Truman's military aides walked into the Cabinet Room of the White House and handed a piece of paper to Truman. Truman took the note and looked at it, his expression suddenly became serious.

"Admiral," he asked Marshall, "if the Germans sent tanks to Newfoundland, would our men still be able to win?"

Tanks sent to Newfoundland?

Everyone in the conference room was stunned. Marshall took the note from Truman, read it carefully, frowned and said: "The Germans have invested a very huge amount of money, and it can be used on the platform of Newfoundland." The giant transport plane that landed may be an upgraded version of the Me323, and our people also saw the No. 4 tank and an unknown large tank destroyer appearing near the German airdrop area on Newfoundland!

I think it was probably the Germans who used their giant transport planes to transport the tanks to Newfoundland! "

"What now?" Truman asked.

What else can be done? If the peace talks fail to reach an agreement, of course the only option is to fight to the end!

"Send more troops to Newfoundland!" Marshall said. "The 18th Airborne Corps still has three unused divisions that can be immediately put into the Newfoundland battlefield. In addition, armored vehicle crews can be urgently transferred from various armored divisions in the mainland to land on the island. Newfoundland Island, so that the inventory of vehicles on Newfoundland Island can be used to form a new armored group."

What Marshall said was that it was actually expected that the Germans would block the waterways and ports of Newfoundland, and it would be difficult to maintain shipping.

"The Navy can dispatch aircraft carriers to reinforce the Newfoundland battlefield." Chief of Naval Operations Ernest King continued, "Admiral Mitchell's 56th Task Force is currently between the Bermuda Islands and the east coast and can soon Arrival at Newfoundland Battlefield.”

Because Halsey was admitted to the VIP concentration camp at the Belvedere Palace, Nimitz took the blame and resigned. Therefore, Spruance, the original commander of the 5th Fleet, was promoted to the joint commander of the Pacific-Atlantic Fleet, and the following 3rd Fleet and 5th Fleet (the two main fleets of the U.S. Navy) were vacated. Commander 3 Fleet was given to Admiral Kincaid, and Commander 5 Fleet was given to Admiral Mitchell.

The main composition of the 3rd Fleet and the 5th Fleet is also different. The main force of the 3rd Fleet is battleships and heavy cruisers, including several old battleships, Alaska class and two newly wealthy Iowa class (USS Illinois). and the USS Kentucky). The main mission of this fleet is to support operations in the Caribbean - although battleships are no longer the dominant force in naval battles, they can still play a role in landing and anti-landing operations.

The main force of the 5th Fleet is the Essex-class aircraft carrier. The mission of this fleet is Atlantic-Caribbean mobile operations. It is actually a mobile fleet used for decisive battles at sea.

Because the Joint Chiefs of Staff had previously judged that the Germans might attack the Bermuda Islands, Task Force 56, the main force of the 5th Fleet, was lurking in the sea southwest of the Bermuda Islands under the leadership of Admiral Mitchell.

"Are we going to use Task Force 56 aircraft to support operations on Newfoundland?" Truman asked.

"No." Ernest King shook his head, "The mission of Task Force 56 is to attack the main force of the German navy! As long as we can sink seven to eight large German aircraft carriers, we can win a decent peace."

It’s time for another decisive battle at sea!

Truman couldn't help but frown when he thought about this. No matter how you look at Newfoundland, the Allies have the advantage. Even if the Germans airlift 200 tanks/tank destroyers, the US military has a greater chance of winning.

But the situation on the Atlantic is exactly the opposite. The advantage seems to be on the German side! There are quite a few aircraft carriers, and there are also carrier-based jets, as well as terrifying missile ships!

Can the U.S. Navy win the fight?

Seeing the hesitation on Truman's face, Ernest King said: "Mr. President, Task Force 56 will fight the German Navy under the cover of land-based aviation, so it is confident enough to win.

Moreover, as long as the 56th Task Force approached Newfoundland, the Germans would not be able to launch a large-scale landing operation. Their airborne troops on Newfoundland could not last long without reinforcements from the landing troops. So victory must belong to the United States! "