The Rise of the Third Reich

Chapter 1212 The Powerful US Army

"121 paratroopers? Stopping a large number of American tanks here?" Brandt looked at his superior and smiled bitterly: "Lieutenant, it seems that we will die in Newfoundland."

"Don't worry, there will be armored forces to support us." Brandt's superior patted his chest and assured, "ZSO523 transport planes have sent us a lot of tanks and tank destroyers. With them, the Americans are no match!"

"That would be great." Brandt still didn't think much of the Nazi invasion of Newfoundland, but he nodded to deal with his superior.

"No problem," the company commander said with a smile, "the tanks and tank destroyers that support us will arrive soon, and we will also be sent some supplies and additional weapons."

The tanks, tank destroyers, supplies and additional weapons that the company commander mentioned arrived soon. There was 1 No. 4 H tank and 1 E-25 tank destroyer... It was so few that it made people a little panic, but there was no way, who asked Admiral Hipple to only take out one assault battalion for defense? The assault battalion had only 14 operational E-25 tank destroyers and 15 Type 4H tanks. It was not easy to send one tank and one tank destroyer to Brandt's company.

The number of tanks and tank destroyers that came to support was a little less, but the supplies and weapons and ammunition sent were satisfactory. Three American Dodge trucks arrived with the two tanks/tank destroyers.

Two of the trucks each pulled a 57mm anti-tank gun - weapons captured from the Americans. The carriages were also loaded with many 57mm shells, 50 anti-tank mines, 50 anti-infantry mines, 2 M2 Browning large-caliber heavy machine guns and thousands of machine gun bullets, as well as 2 60mm mortars and more than 100 shells.

The contents of the other truck stunned the German invaders - it was a whole truck of US Army K rations. It was captured from the air force base occupied by Brandt and others. These rations were packed in large wooden boxes with the "KS" logo on them.

The boxes contained marching rations for 12 people for one day. Including butter, biscuits, cheese, sugar, jam, instant coffee, chocolate, chewing gum, canned ham, canned luncheon meat, canned beef, milk slices, cigarettes, can openers, spoons, napkins, matches, etc. These delicious things were packaged in brown, green and blue boxes, with full portions and very good taste, much better than Germany's field rations - although the current supply situation in Europe is much better than in history, it is still far behind the United States.

After enjoying a box of American rations (a box has 36 rations, which is for 12 people to eat for one day, but Brandt's people don't care so much, they take out one for each person and eat well), the Germans, who have recovered their strength and enthusiasm, began to deploy defenses.

Brandt's platoon was placed in the middle of a 2-kilometer-long defensive zone, with 36 officers and soldiers plus a 57mm anti-tank gun and a 60mm mortar (the 57mm gun and the 60mm mortar did not have a dedicated gun crew, but were assigned to paratroopers trained in artillery) guarding a front line of about 700 meters. The two tanks/tank destroyers were not commanded by Brandt, but were controlled by the company commander and placed behind the main defensive position with a platoon as a reserve.

Although it was called a defensive position, there were actually no fortifications, just some foxholes and two artillery bunkers made of sandbags for the 57mm gun. The 60mm mortar was placed behind the main position to serve as supporting firepower. As for the 100 mines, they were buried in the front of the 700-meter-wide defense line.

In addition to a 57mm recoilless gun, Brandt's soldiers also had some Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade launchers that could be used to deal with American tanks. These "Iron Fists" are the latest model of Iron Fist-150, with an effective range of up to 150 meters and an armor penetration depth of 220mm. In other words, within a range of 150 meters, German paratroopers are not afraid of any American tanks.

While the German paratroopers were hastily setting up their defenses, dozens of kilometers away, on the road, the American armored forces marching with headlights on formed a marching team that could not be seen at a glance. Major General Morris Ross, commander of the 16th Armored Division of the US Army, sat in a jeep and said proudly to an adviser wearing a Soviet Red Army uniform (because the US Army was extremely lacking in experience in mechanized warfare, Roosevelt introduced many Soviet advisers when he was alive): "The Germans must not know that we have deployed so many tanks on Newfoundland, otherwise they would never dare to throw down the paratroopers. This is good, my tank troops can sweep those paratroopers who don't have much heavy equipment, and they are sure to lose this battle."

The Soviet adviser nodded, and Major General Ross was right. The Germans on Newfoundland were doomed to fail. Even if they dropped 100 or 200 tanks, they could not defeat the US military, which had more than 2,000 tanks/tank destroyers. Even if the Germans could send an armored division, they still could not win.

However, out of "respect" for the German army, the Soviet adviser kindly reminded: "General, the German infantry also has strong anti-tank capabilities. Their Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade launchers are very powerful and have caused great suffering to the Soviet tank troops."

"We are not afraid," Major General Ross turned around and pointed at an M4A3 Sherman tank with a bulletproof grille welded to the front armored steel plate. "We have found a way to deal with the Iron Fist, and... we still have There are many tanks, enough for us to withstand an equipment loss rate of more than 100%!”

Theoretically, the Americans have endless tanks! Because the foundation of the tank industry is the automobile industry and tractor industry. The United States' capabilities in these two aspects far exceed those of Europe. As early as 1929, the United States' automobile production exceeded the 5 million unit mark, while Europe only just exceeded one million vehicles (including half-tracks) in 1944. Production mark. This 5-fold gap determines the United States' huge advantage in producing armored vehicles.

In the past 1944, the U.S. arsenal produced 22,000 M4 series medium tanks, 7,000 M10 tank destroyers, 2,000 M36 tank destroyers, 1,500 M26 heavy tanks, and 10,000 M3/M5/M24 series tanks. Light tanks, 2,000 M18 tank destroyers. If you include the production of M7 self-propelled guns, M12 self-propelled guns and various self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, in 1944 the Americans successfully produced a total of 55,000 tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled guns!

Moreover, the United States also had a total production of tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled artillery in 1943 that was no less than that in 1944. In the first few months of 1945, the United States' arsenals were also operating at full capacity.

Most of these tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled artillery that have been continuously produced still exist, either equipped with troops, or placed in warehouses for backup.

The number of tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled artillery owned by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps (including inventories) has already exceeded 100,000! And every month, 4,600 brand-new tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled artillery roll off the production line.

Faced with so many tanks/tank destroyers/self-propelled artillery, it is simply impossible to defeat all the German troops landing in North America. And the Americans are not afraid of losing equipment at all - they can produce equipment for 10 armored divisions a month, and there are still 200 armored divisions' equipment in stock, so they are not afraid of consumption at all.

Of course, tank soldiers who drive tanks are not that easy to produce. So if all 25 German armored divisions were really sent to North America, most Americans would not be able to bear it. But where can armored divisions be transported to North America so easily? Those are heavily armored units. One division would probably require hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo ships to load them, and it would be a joke to transport them by air.

Even if the Germans barely transported dozens to more than a hundred tanks to Newfoundland using giant transport planes, they were not armored divisions...An armored division not only includes tanks/tank destroyers, but also a large number of transportation, auxiliary and Fire support equipment, as many as 2,000 vehicles of various types! In addition, it also has a large number of spare parts and spare vehicles. Only in this way can the armored division's continued operations be guaranteed.

The current approach of the Germans is to maintain combat effectiveness for 2-3 days, which cannot withstand long-term consumption.

So Major General Ross's confidence is not unreasonable! From the perspective of fighting a conventional war, it is impossible for the United States to lose on Newfoundland.

"Colonel, we defeated them!"

At the same time, outside a forest outside Port Carbonir, a major of the German Airborne Forces was shouting excitedly at Colonel Skorzeny.

Just now, an armored cluster consisting of more than 80 E-25 tank destroyers and No. 4 H tanks started a fierce battle with dozens of American tanks/tank destroyers outside Port Carbonir. With the help of night vision goggles and the powerful anti-tank firepower of the E-25, the battle was fought without any suspense, and victory was quickly won. The Americans abandoned thirty-four blazing tanks and retreated into the urban area of ​​Port Carbonir in panic.

"It seems that the Americans have relied too much on their tanks and tank destroyers," Skorzeny said to the major next to him while holding a night market telescope to watch the retreat of the US military. "They are not behind the mesas around the port. We have to build strong fortifications, so now we can only retreat to the municipal government... But this arrangement is normal. The front of the platform is a cliff, and it is impossible to land on it. Although the back of the platform is relatively flat, how could they think of us. Are tanks falling from the sky behind them?"

He paused and ordered loudly: "Let brothers prepare, we are going to attack Port Carbonir!"

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