Chapter 1216: A Tough Fight

"Bombardment!"

I don't know who suddenly shouted in the ears of Airborne General Hipple. Admiral Hipple, who was commanding the operation on a high ground near Grays Harbor, immediately left his temporary headquarters, a circular heavy artillery position ( Only the position, no cannons (this is a reserve position for a 203mm howitzer) jumped out, stood on a well-achieved high ground and headed south.

In the southern part of Concepcion Bay, in the darkness, a burst of yellow light suddenly flashed, like lightning, the sky in the south suddenly lit up, and then there were muffled thunder-like sounds one after another, followed by bursts of The sound of the train approaching resounded in the sky. It was the frightening sound made by the 240mm artillery shells flying through the air. The shells fell to the ground, and the entire Grays Harbor shook. Looking from a distance, the place where the shell fell looked like a volcanic eruption. The smoke column mixed with fire rose high and reached half the sky. Within the scope of the power of the explosion, the buildings occupied by the German army were like paper. They were completely wiped out from the world in one fell swoop, leaving only a huge crater.

It was the 240mm heavy artillery deployed by the US military on Bell Island that fired. There were 12 guns in total, which was not too many, but it was very accurate!

Bell Island is located inside Concepcion Bay, more than 20 kilometers from the entrance of the bay, and about 20 kilometers from Port Grayson, all within the effective range of 240mm artillery shells.

The Americans deployed 12 M2 240mm cannons there for the purpose of blocking the entrance to the bay with firepower and supporting operations on the west coast of Concepcion Bay. Grays Harbor was originally their expected target. They had already measured and calculated the various elements. Now they just had to rely on the various elements to attack. Naturally, it was extremely accurate.

Fortunately, the rate of fire of the 240mm cannon was not very fast, and the shells did not fall very densely, which gave the German paratroopers on the battlefield the opportunity to move or simply jump into the huge crater to escape. But the giant shells that fell from time to time still shook the German troops attacking Grays Harbor to stagger. Everyone looked panicked. As long as these American cannons were not destroyed, Grays Harbor would not be occupied by the Germans!

Not far away, near the Grays Harbor Airport, German artillery was also roaring. There were 4 Schneider 1 mountain guns, 32 Brand M1 mortars, and a dozen captured 128mm and 90mm anti-aircraft guns, forming a The sizable artillery group was also firing very vigorously. German shells landed on the docks and beaches of Grays Harbor in areas still controlled by the Allies, creating a dense, relatively small flash of light. It looked like the Allied defenders there were not going to fare well either, and were probably suffering heavy losses by now. If the US heavy artillery on Bell Island can be suppressed, there should be no problem in occupying the entire Grays Harbor.

Hipple turned around and shouted loudly at Chief of Staff Kirk, who had followed him to the heights: "Let our people stop the attack and withdraw most of the troops from Grays Harbor...wait until daybreak."

After dawn, Me264s and Br.810s carrying remotely controlled weapons will fly to Newfoundland to assist in the battle, and Fokker 636s with rockets will follow. By then the American 240mm cannon will no longer be so arrogant.

Colonel Kirk said to Hipple at this time: "Admiral, Major General Haidt just reported that the blocking group encountered an American armored division. It was a hard fight. I'm afraid it won't last 24 hours."

Hipple frowned: "How long can you hold on?"

"We can hold on until dawn at most," Hipple said. "If the American offensive is more determined, they will collapse within an hour."

"What? An hour? Are American armored divisions so powerful?" Hipple is a general of airborne troops, not a general of armored forces. Moreover, he has been at the headquarters since the beginning of the war and has never been on the battlefield. He is facing the American armored forces. I didn’t know much about the division, and thought it was similar to the Soviet tank division.

"Of course," Colonel Kirke has rich combat experience and has also studied the situation of the US armored forces. "Their armored divisions imitate ours, and are more mechanized than ours. They also have heavy tanks similar to Tiger tanks, which are very difficult to deal with."

Hipple felt that the matter was a bit serious, frowned and said: "We have to transfer the 102nd Assault Battalion, the 103rd Assault Battalion and the 104th Assault Battalion to Major General Haidt."

Among the troops that parachuted to Newfoundland, there were 5 air assault battalions, which were actually airborne combined battalions with very strong combat effectiveness. Now three of the five battalions have followed Skorzeny and have taken the Port of Carbonir, and are currently clearing the area around Port Carbonir. Hipple planned to take out two of them, plus the 102nd Assault Battalion in his own hands, and send them to reinforce Haidt's blocking group.

Hipple said: "This will have 4 assault battalions, with more than 100 E-25 and No. 4 tanks, which should be able to fight against an American armored division!"

"What about Grays Harbor?" Colonel Kirk asked.

"We can only stop the attack," Hipple thought for a while and said, "Unless we destroy the cannon on Bell Island, we can't take the port... Let's wait until the plane can take off after daybreak."

…

The American armored division had just suffered another minor defeat. It was ambushed by more than twenty E-50 and No. 4 H tanks next to a small lake covered with ice floes, and a leading group was left behind. He picked up 19 destroyed tanks and tank destroyers and fled backwards in panic.

Unlike the previous attacks on the U.S. military while fighting and retreating, this ambush was a real victory. Not only did the U.S. military leave behind many vehicle wreckage and soldier corpses, but they were also driven back two to three kilometers.

Although the U.S. military with strong strength was only temporarily driven back, the German army still seized the rare opportunity to pursue and clean up the battlefield.

"Do the French use HHL anti-tank mines?" Brandt handed an HHL anti-tank mine that looked a bit like a flashlight to Mitterrand who was following him.

"I don't know." Mitterrand shook his head.

"Just put it on the tank armor steel plate." Brandt took out another HHL anti-tank mine, then ran to a lying M-26 tank and placed the HHL anti-tank mine on the armor on the side of the tank. on steel plate. The head of this weird-looking anti-tank mine has three pairs of magnets that can be attached to the tank armor.

Brandt added: "Then pull the fuse!"

After saying that, he suddenly pulled off the friction fuse at the root of the anti-tank mine, then ran a few steps quickly and fell to the ground. With a loud "boom", the M-26 tank, whose front was penetrated by a shell, turned into a ball of burning scrap metal.

Brandt got up from the ground and walked to Mitterrand who was lying behind a damaged M4A3 tank and asked: "Can you use it now?"

Seeing the other party nodding, Brandt pointed to a backpack placed next to the tank's tracks, "There are HHL anti-tank mines in them. Use them to blow up all the tanks here."

"Okay, okay." Mitterrand didn't want to do this job, but he didn't dare to say no to the ferocious Nazi in front of him - in the battle just now, he saw with his own eyes Lieutenant Brandt using FG42 paratroopers It was so brutal to kill three brave American freedom fighters with a rifle.

"Then I'll leave it to you." Brandt pointed at another German paratrooper next to him. "You work with him, and when you're done, go to the lake and wait for me."

After making arrangements to blow up the tank, Brandt took his twenty or so men and continued to search and advance - after more than a dozen battles lasting less than twenty hours, only the remaining members of his platoon were 23 people, including 1 Frenchman Mitterrand. In addition to the heavy casualties, Brandt and his soldiers were exhausted. Counting from the time they boarded the Fokker 42 transport plane, they had not slept for nearly 30 hours.

Although exhausted to the extreme, Brandt and his men still had to carry out the task of cleaning up the battlefield.

Intensive gunfire and artillery fire came from the front. This was the Schwarzenegger cluster that was chasing and defeating the US armored forces and fighting with the Americans. Judging from the sound of gunfire and artillery, it was still the German side that had the upper hand. However, the American resistance is still fierce and beneficial! Brandt and others continued to move forward for less than 10 minutes. In the still dark sky ahead, a burst of light suddenly flashed!

"Artillery attack! Hurry and take cover!" Brandt, who reacted very quickly on the battlefield, reacted immediately, shouted, jumped off the road base, and then crawled on the cold ground. His soldiers were all doing the same, looking for favorable terrain to hide. Before everyone could take cover, American artillery shells were roaring and hitting the ground. However, it was not Brandt and the others who were bombarded, but the Schwarzenegger cluster in front that was chasing the retreating US troops.

"Quickly, retreat quickly, get out of here!" Schwarzenegger was paying attention to the American cannons along the way. When he saw the fire ahead, he immediately used the radio on the command vehicle to give the order to retreat.

After fighting with the Americans for less than a day, what impressed him most was probably the "artillery doctrine" of the United States. The U.S. Army may not have as many artillery pieces as the Soviet Army, but it seems to have a higher level of use. The artillery cooperates very closely with the infantry and tanks (this is because of the advanced wireless communication technology in the United States, walkie-talkies are distributed to platoons and even squads, and the company level can call for artillery support, and firepower is on call), and they fight hard and accurately. !

In contrast, although the Soviet army has a large number of artillery, its use is relatively rigid, its accuracy is not as good as that of the US military, and its coordination with infantry and tanks is even worse.

Obviously, in terms of artillery firepower, the German high command's estimate of the US military was still insufficient.