The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Therefore, if naval guns are used to provide fire cover for ground troops, a problem will arise... The target is obviously the enemy, but due to the fluctuation of the sea water or the recoil of the cannon, the sea water oscillates, and the shells will fall into pieces. Fall on one's own head.

Therefore, in this era, the role of naval guns on the battlefield is more about firepower preparation... The US military often does this kind of thing in the Pacific battlefield. Before attacking an island, the US military has not yet landed, so the naval guns can be rest assured. It doesn't matter if the naval gun has a large error. As long as it can hit the island, it will be considered as hitting the enemy. After bombarding him for several days and nights, the fortifications on the island will be turned upside down. At this time, the US military will begin to land.

Once the army lands ashore, the fire cover will be implemented more by air power with a much higher hit rate rather than naval guns.

The current situation of the US military is in this embarrassing state.

It was dark at this time, and fighters and bombers were unable to provide effective fire cover. All they could do was use naval guns... and the unreliable hit rate of naval guns put the US military on the beach itself at risk, even if the enemy broke through. The naval gun will basically be ineffective within one kilometer before entering the beachhead, because it is certain that it will accidentally injure one's own people.

This is why General Patton was "uncertain."

At the same time, it is also the basis for the implementation of Qinchuan's plan to lure the enemy... Because naval guns have a problem of large errors, the US military will inevitably push the cordon a few kilometers away from the perspective of its own safety, because only in this way can it ensure that it has a sufficient response. The time can also ensure that the naval gun will not accidentally damage friendly forces.

Qinchuan's guess was correct. General Patton designated the five kilometers in front of the beachhead as a warning line. If there was any sign of trouble... that would be when the naval guns would come into play.

From Patton's point of view, this is correct. If there is sufficient ammunition, why not use artillery shells to keep the enemy out and ensure the safety of the US military and the beachhead? !

Then, there was a cracking sound in the palm grove, like a tree being knocked down by a tank, and then there was a faint "rumbling" sound of the tank motor in the sea breeze, and occasionally there was a "clucking" sound when the track and the transmission wheel were rubbing. "Voice.

"They are coming!" A US military lookout who was standing on the guard tower looking into the distance with a telescope stuck his head out and shouted a warning downwards.

Because the beach is low-lying and has no high ground, in order to observe the distance, the US military could only use local materials to build more than a dozen sentinel towers using palm tree trunks. These sentinel towers served as artillery observers for naval guns.

"How far?" General Patton asked.

"About four kilometers!" the lookout replied, "I'm not sure!"

It is indeed not easy to determine the distance of the target in the dark night, but of course artillery observers have their own methods... The method is to calculate the distance between the two sentry towers in advance, and then use the triangle based on the angle at which the two sentry towers see the target. Theorem can calculate the distance to the target.

It wasn’t long before the observer yelled, “4.6 kilometers!”

"4.6 kilometers!" The correspondent immediately reported the data to the warship.

General Patton gave the order: "Let go!"

"Boom boom" loud noises were heard, and dozens of warships spit out large artillery shells 4.6 kilometers in front of the beachhead. The shells carried whistling sounds from far to near, crossing the beachhead, and bright lights flashed across nervous and frightened people. The American soldier's face was smashed into a palm forest four kilometers away.

There was a violent vibration, and a wall of fire rose up outside the beachhead. The heat waves from the wall of fire surged toward the shore one after another.

General Patton ordered in the firelight: "Fire!"

In an instant, all the American troops fired their weapons. Howitzers, mortars, rifles, and machine guns all roared, pouring bullets and shells into the palm grove.

After a while, everyone stopped under Barton's order, and the surrounding area suddenly became quiet. Only a few palm trees in the jungle fell down in the light of the fire, and some screams and wailing could still be heard faintly.

"We blocked them!" the lookout shouted: "I didn't see anyone attacking us, they should have retreated!"

"Hey!" The American soldiers couldn't help but cheered.

However, at this moment, several more artillery shells suddenly hit their position and set off a patch of sand nearby.

"Quiet! Stop the idiots!" General Patton shouted angrily: "They are staring at us in the dark!"

At this time, the US military is like a frightened bird. As long as there is a little movement, they will make an extreme self-protection action... fire a large number of artillery shells into the jungle, and sometimes dispatch B17 to throw a bomb indiscriminately deep into the jungle. to destroy suspected enemy artillery positions.

What they didn't know was that there was only one company of German troops in the jungle. They dug individual bunkers in advance and divided them into several parts to hide in the jungle. Then they used loudspeakers to play the pre-recorded sound of the armored troops advancing downwind. Simulate attack after attack.

This directly resulted in the U.S. military's beachhead being almost bombed into a scorched earth... At dawn the next day, the U.S. military saw that the first few kilometers of the beachhead were filled with overlapping craters, and the palm groves had long since disappeared. No trace was left, leaving only sections of broken wood and tree roots that had been blown into jagged shapes. But strangely, almost no bodies were found.

Montgomery was a little relieved when he heard that the direction of the US military was being attacked "violently" by the German army, because this meant that his guess was wrong, and the German army's target was not Syracuse... At this time, Montgomery would rather be on his own guessed wrong.

Because Montgomery knew what it would mean if Syracuse was attacked. Syracuse stored tens of thousands of tons of ammunition and supplies needed by all the British troops. If these supplies and port equipment were destroyed, it would not be a problem of transportation being cut off. It was a matter of the British army not having enough supplies to continue fighting on the island.

"Where is the Australian 6th Infantry Division?" Montgomery asked.

"There are still two kilometers to Catania!" De Guangan replied: "The enemy has blown up bridges, destroyed roads, and laid a large number of mines. We can't move even an inch!"

"Bring the 7th Armored Division back!" Montgomery ordered: "Decircle from Bronte to Catania to cooperate with the 6th Infantry Division's attack!"

"Yes, sir!"

At this time, Montgomery no longer dared to attack the port of Messina. He only hoped to retreat step by step to protect Syracuse.

Looking at his watch, he saw that there were still two hours until dawn. Montgomery couldn't help but relax a little. As soon as it got dark, the British army could suppress the German armored forces with their air superiority.

However, at this moment, the communications soldier reported: "General, Pumolo has discovered the enemy!"