The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The second wave was the B26 Predator medium bombers of the U.S. Army Air Forces. They carried out low-altitude precision bombing of German positions under the cover of fighter jets and attack aircraft.

Then came the B17 "Flying Fortress" heavy bomber and the B24 "Liberator" heavy bomber.

Shells and bombs fell on the "Atlantic Wall" one after another. The shock waves caused by the series of explosions made Qinchuan feel like he had been hammered, and even the huge "Tiger" tank was trembling.

Moreover, the bombing was getting heavier and heavier. Just when you thought it was going to stop, there was another black bomber outside the perforation, and the "rumble" of the engine was followed by another deafening bombing.

Two hours later, the bombing finally ended, and there was an eerie silence.

The bunker where Qin Chuan was located was lucky not to be blown up, but a cement board in the corner was still knocked down. Looking out from the perforation hole, the wreckage of the "Sherman" tank that was originally parked in front was gone, and the eyes were filled with layers of overlapping craters.

After resting for a while, and after his hearing returned to normal, Qin Chuan ordered through the flash phone: "Report the casualties!"

"15 people were killed in a row, and 2 committed suicide!"

"Seventeen people from the Second Company were killed, and one committed suicide!"

"Five people were killed in the third company and three are missing!"

…

The so-called missing people are those who couldn't stand the bombing and ran away from the fortifications... In this case, the bodies are often not found, so they can only be reported missing.

Qin Chuan was a little stunned when he heard the report. You must know that the 1st Infantry Regiment is a unit that has experienced hundreds of battles. Its psychological quality can be said to be very good, but there are still cases of disappearances and suicides. In addition, there are also Many people could not help but tremble or talk nonsense in the hours after the bombing, which shows the intensity of the bombing.

From this aspect, it seems normal that the coastal defense division cannot withstand this kind of bombing by the Allies.

Then, Qinchuan obtained the tank losses from General Strike... 5 "Tiger" tanks were completely destroyed, 3 "Tiger" tanks were seriously damaged and lost their combat effectiveness, and 5 more "Tiger" tanks were damaged due to malfunction or They were slightly injured and temporarily unable to fight. Only two vehicles were able to participate in the battle.

Eleven Leopards were lost, and other tanks also suffered heavy losses in this kind of Allied bombing. In addition, the artillery unit was roughly estimated to have lost at least one-third.

Fortunately, General Strike ordered the tank crews to take shelter in the fortifications as soon as the bombing began.

In the words of General Strike: "The tank crew cannot play any role in this situation. They cannot control whether the tank will be blown up by the enemy. There is no point in continuing to stay in the tank!"

Therefore, although the tank suffered heavy losses, the casualties of the tank crew were not large.

"They are coming!" Someone shouted.

Qin Chuan stuck his head out and looked out from the perforation, and sure enough he saw another batch of landing craft coming from the sea.

However, this battle was very different from the previous one... There were only a dozen or so sparse landing craft, and there were very few American soldiers disembarking from each landing craft, only seven or eight.

In other words, less than a hundred American soldiers came up.

After landing, they built individual fortifications on the beach to hide themselves while searching for wounded soldiers and skirmishers, and then transported them back on transport boats.

Qinchuan seemed to understand this tactic of the US military... One of its purposes was to transport wounded soldiers and stragglers back. More importantly, they were used as pre-war observation posts, that is, to evaluate the effects of bombing or guide air power or The naval guns carried out the next round of bombing.

Simply put, the bombing did not end there.

Colonel Slaine obviously saw this, so he said to Qin Chuan on the phone: "You are right, Lieutenant Colonel. If they can't break through our defense line, they will find a way to use artillery shells and bombs to kill us." Blow up. Everything..."

This is also one of the reasons why Qinchuan opposes sending armored troops to the front line.

Sure enough, half an hour later there was another series of overwhelming bombings. Although this bombing only lasted for an hour and a half, the casualties caused to the 21st Armored Division were no less than the last time, because almost all the tanks were buried by the kicked up sand. , and even found several cases that are unimaginable...

The tank was not hit, as shown by its intact armor. But the turret detached from the hull and tilted to one side.

The mechanic concluded: "It was shaken off the hull by the shock of a shell or bomb."

The bombing finally stopped when it got dark... It is difficult for bombers to accurately bomb designated targets at night.

When everyone breathed a sigh of relief, Qin Chuan received a call from Rommel.

"Come to my headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel!" Rommel said, "It's time to make the next step!"

Qinchuan knew what the "next step plan" Rommel was referring to, which was the strategy Qinchuan had mentioned before...withdrawing to the "Maginot Line" for defense.

Qin Chuan's guess was correct. When he arrived at Rommel's headquarters and moved to Clecy, Rommel spread his hands and said, "You are right, lieutenant colonel. Whether the armored troops are deployed on the front or in the rear, it will matter. Unable to stop the Allied attack!"

Qin Chuan personally experienced the consequences of being deployed on the front line, and deploying in the rear...

"Did something go wrong with the reinforcements?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Yes!" Rommel nodded: "The 18th Armored Division was blocked by Allied air power on the way to reinforcements. They lost half of their tanks before they reached the front line. The other half was also due to the bombed road. And we can’t make it on the road!”

After a pause, Rommel asked Qin Chuan: "So, Lieutenant Colonel. What should we do next?"

Qin Chuan did not answer but asked: "What does the head of state think of the Allied attack?"

"Führer?" Rommel couldn't help but laugh: "He told us over and over again that the Allied attack on the Brittany Peninsula was a feint, so let us be prepared to defend the main Allied force in Calais! In addition, he also gave strict orders No soldiers are allowed to be transferred from Calais, that is, no reinforcements are allowed!"

Rommel shook his head in disbelief and said: "It's hard to imagine what this battle would have been like if we hadn't seen through the British's tricks!"

"It's time to tell the head of state the truth!" Qin Chuan said.

"You mean..."

"Yes!" Qin Chuan said: "Everything, and then tell the head of state the situation we are facing now!"

Telling everything to Hitler was almost equivalent to telling the British Intelligence Service.

But it doesn't matter even if the British Intelligence Agency knows the truth at this time, because the Allies have been deceived and are deeply trapped in the quagmire of Normandy.