The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Therefore, the alliance between Britain and the United States is not a monolithic one. Although Eisenhower, the supreme commander, was ordered to coordinate the relationship between the British and American armies... objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with Eisenhower's previous approach. If the relationship between the two armies was to be coordinated so that they stood on the same front, the British army would inevitably take advantage and the American army would suffer.

Only if the US military took a step back, both sides could reach a consensus on a certain point. Otherwise, the two sides would not give in to each other, and the British and American armies would have to fight each other first.

Therefore, even if Eisenhower was called a "traitor" by the US military, he had to withstand the pressure.

However, this kind of unity of the interests of the British side that relied on the US side's compromise also had a bottom line, that is, on the basis that the fundamental interests of the US military were not violated... that is, when the US military was basically not in danger and could win, then the US military landing conditions were more difficult and the benefits were less acceptable.

Before this, the situation was indeed like this.

Eisenhower believed that the German army on the island had only one armored division and three infantry divisions, and this armored division was likely to be in Messina, the main attack direction of the British army. The US army itself had one armored division and three infantry divisions, plus the British army had strong naval and air forces, so this landing battle was basically a sure win.

But now the situation suddenly changed, and Eisenhower suddenly found that the German army was not as weak as he imagined, and there were three German divisions running out of the Enna direction alone.

And an infantry division of the US army was deeply trapped in the mountains in the direction of Palermo, and an infantry division was defeated by the German army in Enna with heavy casualties. There was only one 45th Infantry Division with weak combat effectiveness and the 2nd Armored Division on the beach, which had lost most of its tanks and had no time to unload the tanks.

There is a saying that "husband and wife are birds of the same forest, and they fly away separately when disaster strikes."

Britain and the United States are "birds of the same forest" tied together by interest relations. If they win the battle, there is no problem, but if they lose the battle and even the US military can't protect itself, then it is impossible for them to help the British defend.

If he did so, Eisenhower would not only be a "traitor", but could almost be called a "traitor".

So Eisenhower ordered the US task force used to assist the landing and even all US air forces to suspend all tasks.

The task force, which was originally used to patrol the Tunisian Strait to prevent the German fleet from suddenly crossing the strait, returned to the port of Trapa and completed the ship gun test firing to be ready to provide fire cover for the beach troops at any time.

The 10th Air Group of the United States, which was originally used for bombing and providing fire cover for various troops, except for a part of it continuing to provide air firepower for the 3rd Infantry Division, all returned to Banterelia Island or Malta Island, and the long-range bombers as far away as Tripoli or even Benghazi were ready to attack.

Of course, these were the results of Eisenhower's consultation with Patton... At this time, Eisenhower had abandoned Montgomery and chose to work with Patton to formulate a battle plan.

As Eisenhower said: "Since the beginning of the war, we have been led by the British with British interests. Now, it is time to consider American interests!"

Eilinghower and Patton's plan is very clear, that is, once the German army launches an attack on the US beachhead, they will use the navy and air force to bomb the area outside the US beachhead into a sea of ​​fire to stop the German army's advance.

This plan is completely feasible... The US military's ammunition and firepower are not a problem to achieve this. The reason why its landing troops are short of ammunition and equipment is not because the US military lacks ammunition, but because the port is too small to transport a large amount of equipment and supplies ashore in a short time.

In fact, the US military did this in the Battle of Sicily in history...When the US military just landed, the German Goering Division launched a counterattack on the US beachhead, and the under-equipped US military was also defeated and almost drove the US military into the sea.

However, the US military used naval and air forces to block the fire two kilometers in front of the beachhead, and the Goering Armored Division suffered heavy losses and had to retreat.

This time, Ellinghower also used this tactic to set up a battle formation and wait for Germany.

At 9:50 p.m.

That is, 50 minutes after the counterattack was launched, a tank company of the Goering Armored Division accidentally broke into the artillery position of the 25th Artillery Regiment of the U.S. Army.

It should be said that the U.S. Army escaped very quickly, thanks to their high degree of mechanization, cars and jeeps everywhere, and because the communication equipment was very complete, so as soon as the retreat order was issued, the U.S. Army of the 1st Infantry Division fled like a tide, leaving the German army with a pile of almost useless ammunition and supplies, and some U.S. troops stationed on the high ground who had no time to retreat.

But the 25th Artillery Regiment of the U.S. Army obviously did not receive the order to retreat, and because their artillery positions were built in the woods... The U.S. Army had advanced equipment, and the bulldozers pushed into the jungle casually, and one flat and hidden artillery position after another appeared.

But because of this, the retreating U.S. Army and the 25th Artillery Regiment did not notice each other.

Until a German tank company of 21 tanks drove into a fork in the road in an attempt to outflank the U.S. troops, they were shocked to find a row of howitzers standing in front of them.

When the American soldiers saw the tanks driving into the position with their headlights on, they shouted: "Hey, you're on the wrong road, this is the artillery position!"

The American soldiers didn't see the tanks clearly under the light of the headlights, so they took it for granted that they were their own tanks.

The German soldiers' answer to them was: "Fire!"

The "Boom" tank fired a row of shells at the cannons in front of it. Several shells hit the car full of ammunition, causing a big explosion in an instant.

Before the American soldiers could react, the tanks fired rows of machine gun bullets. The bullets flew everywhere in the darkness with bright lines, hitting the groups of American soldiers who had escaped from the tents and fell in piles. .

Then, as the commander gave the order, the tanks rumbled in and used machine guns to kill American soldiers as they advanced... These American soldiers are artillerymen, and they are also long-range howitzer artillerymen. Their specialty is to follow the instructions provided by their superiors. The Zhuyuan who fired artillery were almost the same as the untrained common people in close combat.

In other words, even if ordinary infantry breaks in, they can easily defeat this artillery unit, let alone a tank company that breaks in.

Then, with a "creeping" noise, more than 60 large-caliber artillery pieces from an artillery regiment were knocked down and rolled under the tracks.