The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Ten past ten.

The Goering Panzer Division finally caught up with an infantry regiment.

The reason is that the U.S. military's rout happened to be on top of the transportation team that was reinforcing from the rear...

If they are just pushed together, there may not be a big problem. This road in Sicily is a main road and is wide enough for three cars to pass.

The problem is that the American soldiers shouted at the transport team: "Go back, go back...the Germans are coming!"

The U.S. troops in the transport team quickly turned around and tried to drive the car back. It was conceivable that dozens of cars turned around on the road. The cars collided and got stuck, blocking the road. Gotta die.

The US military colonel hurriedly directed the personnel to clear the road and even pushed the cars blocked on the road off the road.

But while they were busy, German armored vehicles and several No. 2 tanks drove up, and without saying a word, they followed the American troops and gave them a good beating.

The Panzer II is a light tank of the German army, characterized by its high speed. In the early days of World War II, it was the main force of the German "Blitzkrieg".

However, it only had 30MM thick armor and a 20MM cannon. Its defense and firepower were obviously weak at this time. However, because of its superior mobility, the German army used it as a reconnaissance vehicle.

At this time, it is just right to deal with the US infantry division. As soon as the machine gun comes up and is aimed at the US military, it fires a row of shells... The "No. 2" tank KWK30 20mm machine gun (modified from the Sulotong anti-aircraft machine gun) has a rate of fire of 50 rounds per minute, but automatic firing is generally not used because the fired shells will quickly fall on the same target, causing a huge waste of shells.

The gunner usually fires three rounds in bursts, targeting cars. After each round of bursts, the car can often be blown up into pieces or even hit the fuel tank, bursting into a ball of flames.

The U.S. military immediately launched a counterattack, but soon discovered that the light weapons in their hands could not pose a threat to the armor of the No. 2 tank, even though the armor was only 30MM.

Then, the No. 2 Tank accelerated its speed and rushed forward. The cars blocking the front were either smashed into two pieces or pushed to the side of the road. The No. 2 Tank was not only safe and sound, but also fired missiles at the surrounding U.S. troops along the way. Bullets and artillery shells... In the end, the tank even ran out of ammunition and had to use its tracks to crush it.

Of course, this is very dangerous for the No. 2 tank, because the US military can blow it up with cluster grenades or explosive packets.

It's just that at this time, the US military no longer has the courage to fight them... The 1st Infantry Division is a new recruit. They are trained more on how to follow the tank and advance towards the enemy when their own equipment is superior. They are not trained at all. Know how to deal with enemy tanks rolling over you.

Of course, what's more important is that they don't have the courage to rush toward enemy tanks with grenades.

In this battle, three German armored vehicles and five Panzer II tanks captured more than a thousand U.S. troops and seized more than 70 cars. However, most of these cars were pushed to the side of the road by the main force of tanks following behind. A pile of scrap metal... Compared to attack speed and timing, these cars are nothing worth mentioning.

The results of the 39th Mechanized Infantry Division, which attacked Catania on the other side, were even more shocking.

The 39th Mechanized Infantry Division placed a light tank company in the front as the vanguard...

Mechanized infantry divisions also have tank companies in their establishment, but fewer of them are equipped with tanks.

According to the establishment of the German army, theoretically the armored division should have four armored battalions, each battalion has 84 tanks, so the division has a total of about 350 tanks (including battalion headquarters and regiment headquarters tanks).

But in fact, due to the limited number of tanks, the average armored division only has two to three armored battalions, which is about 200 tanks.

A light armored division generally only has one armored battalion with about 84 tanks.

As for the mechanized infantry division, the number of tanks and equipment is less than one armored battalion, usually two light armored companies or incorporated into a medium tank platoon as fire cover when necessary.

Of course, the actual organization of the German army is actually quite chaotic.

For example, although some divisions are armored divisions in terms of organization, they should have three armored battalions due to insufficient tank supply, but only one armored battalion is actually in place. Although the 1st Light Armored Division is a light armored division, it has sufficient tanks due to its early establishment. , already has three armored battalions.

The 39th Mechanized Infantry Division has two armored companies, one light and one medium.

The light armored company is equipped with 21 Panzer II tanks.

It makes sense for the commander of the 39th Mechanized Infantry Division, Major General Colin, to put the light armor company at the front...The Panzer II tank is fast, and its firepower and defense are sufficient to deal with British infantry and logistics forces. It occasionally encounters a few British tanks. You can also rely on the rocket launchers in the hands of infantry to destroy them.

So these 21 tanks were divided into three lines of 7 tanks each, each line carrying 20 vehicles, 15 of which were loaded with infantry, and the other five were filled with ammunition and supplies, all the way from Enna to Catania Non-stop, killing gods and killing Buddhas... The main force of the British army and even the armored divisions have reached the Mount Etna area, so the rear is full of engineers building roads and transportation, as well as artillery and medical personnel providing artillery support to the front line. etc.

How could these British people have thought that such a tank unit would suddenly appear from the side? The Germans were killing them all the way, and there were almost no troops that could stop them for a moment.

Then reports flew to Rommel's headquarters like snowflakes one after another: destroying an enemy artillery position; wiping out an enemy transport team; capturing more than 200 enemy wounded soldiers and more than 500 medical personnel...

In the end, I didn’t even mention what unit the enemy was because it was too troublesome to distinguish them, so I simply reported the equipment, supplies, and number of people.

Montgomery couldn't help but be shocked when the news reached him. Judging from the direction of the German attack, he knew that the target of the German army was Catania.

Catania would undoubtedly be in great trouble if it were occupied by the German army, because its coastal road is the most important transportation channel for the British frontline troops, and it will strangle the British army's transportation line.

Not only that, Catania, as the second largest city in Sicily, has hundreds of thousands of Italians.

If these Italian people are on the side of Italy, then that's it. At worst, they will bombard Catania with naval guns and level the city.

But the problem is... this city has been liberated by the British army. Not only was it liberated, the Italian people in the city also warmly welcomed the British liberators. Montgomery also specifically asked news reporters to report on it at length.

Now, if the Germans retake the city...