Battle of the Third Reich

"All listen to me, and finally say it again. Don't stay on the beach after landing. Everyone rushed forward with me to build a defense line on the coast road." Ensign Dole supported the reinforcement on the side of the landing craft. , Shouting loudly to the soldiers on the same boat.

"Understood, sir." The soldiers answered in unison.

"I don't want to see the comedy on the Sicilian beach. It happened again in front of my eyes. You all know what I mean."

"Understood, sir." The soldiers answered a little messy this time, and there was some laughter.

"Very good, prepare for the last three minutes." The second lieutenant released his hand and raised his wrist to look at the time.

"Don't take it lightly because there is no enemy defense on the coast, I don't want to see any comrades give away their lives in this place." Dore raised his head and looked at the sky above him, the sky was blue and cloudless, warm sunshine On the azure blue sea, the landing craft roared and swayed forward. The spray of water sprayed from the bow and the side of the ship wet the soldier's placket, and there was a slightly smell of seawater in the wind.

There was no machine gun firing or artillery fire. Looking through the observation hole on the armored springboard, the Italian fishing village on the coast was peaceful and quiet, making it impossible to believe that there was a war here.

The first wave of landing craft was fast approaching the beach. A red smoke plume suddenly appeared on the beach. The signal was from the assault team that landed secretly 12 hours ago. The red smoke indicates that the advance team has completed the mission. Nettuno's two adjacent fishing villages are now under German control.

"This group of guys are obviously showing off to us. It seems that there will be no fighting this time. But we can't be embarrassed. After landing, according to the original plan, we immediately established machine gun positions on both sides of the highway." Dole turned around , The pistol was retracted into the holster again.

At this time, a scream of engines came from the air, and four Messerschmitt 109 lined up at the fingertips, passing over the landing craft's head from a height of more than 100 meters, and the fighter swayed several wings in front of the infantry. Then quickly flew towards the beach. This is an air force that came from Sardinia to support. In addition to the fighter group serving as an air cover, the landing force can also receive air fire support from a medium bomber wing on the island when needed.

Lieutenant Doyle stepped on the two boxes of grenades and leaned out to the side of the ship, raising a red flag in his hand.

"The company commander saw the signal, and he was waving to us." said the platoon assistant, holding the telescope.

"Okay, we are on the shore, remember what I said before, bring your own equipment, and check each other when you disembark." Lieutenant Doyle jumped off the bomb box and reached out to hold the side of the ship.

At this time, Anzio was not yet a vacation destination in the future. It is still just an ordinary Italian fishing village. The village is small in size. There are only more than 300 residents in the village. Because of the lack of fuel and the French naval blockade, these weeks Fishing boats can only dock at the port most of the time. The fishermen lost their daily livelihoods, and many people dragged their families into the city of Rome to try their luck.

The seabed near Anzio is very flat, and the Germans chose a 3.5-km coast from Anzio to Nettuno as the landing area, because the two fishing villages were originally built with a row of shallow water piers, waiting for the German engineering units After the reinforcement on the original foundation, it can fully meet the needs of the initial use of the landing troops.

The French Navy also deliberately dragged several floating docks from Marseille. After it was fixed on the shore, it could be used to unload some heavy equipment, such as a French b1-force tank company that followed to join the bustling.

The French are very satisfied with the performance of this tank in the war, and are preparing to resume the production of this expensive equipment. It is said that the French Army plans to sign a purchase order for seventy b1-force s with Schneider to rebuild The first and second reserve armored divisions that were heavily hit by the Germans during the European War.

These two troops fought very tenaciously at the beginning of the war, causing considerable casualties to the German light armored forces. The firepower of the German tanks 1, 2 and 3 equipped at that time was only for these thick armored beasts. Can be considered tickling.

However, the rigid command of the French Command made these tanks exhausted on the entire front line. The Germans quickly discovered and destroyed the French logistics supply unit. In the face of the rapid blitzkrieg of the Germans, the French armored division was broken up. After exhausting the last drop of fuel, these heavy tanks either became targets of the German Stuka and heavy artillery, or fell into the hands of the German infantry after they ran out of food.

The topic is far away, let's take a look at the German landing troops. This time the Germans still invested in the African army that was the main force when Sicily landed. Germany's return to Africa has become inevitable. No one dares to block the footsteps of the God's apostle. The British needed German help to maintain the communication line between Europe and Asia, and of course they had to pay some for this. The German colonies were divided by European countries. Now when it is time to return these lands to their masters, the British are preparing to return them to German East Africa. The land of Germany, where the flag of Germany will be raised again.

The German African Army currently has two infantry divisions, the 26th and 31st Infantry Divisions. These two conventional infantry divisions are nothing special, except that they will undergo motorized reorganization after arriving in Africa.

The African Army’s armored forces have only been incorporated into the 21st Armored Regiment for the time being. This force was formed in January this year. It was assembled from the 7th and 35th Reserve Armored Battalions of the National Defense Forces. It was based on the 20th Armored Division, but because the German infantry units were being reorganized, the infantry, artillery and engineering units needed by the armored division could not be selected for the time being. In view of the fact that there is nothing in Africa that can threaten the German targets So, for the time being, this armored regiment was separately incorporated into the African military system.

This is a brand-new tank regiment, with 229 tanks of various types. Because it is compiled later, the main model of the army is the 38t-e/ type tank made in the Czech Republic, with a number of 121. At the same time, this regiment also has 31 early Type 4s, enough to deal with the attack of enemy heavy tanks. As for the remaining 75, they are all light tanks such as No. 1 and No. 2, which is a group of runners. Quick crispy skin. Part of the German armored forces are changing their outfits, but the 21st Armored Regiment is obviously out of turn.

The 38t tanks in the two platoons of the first battalion of the 21st Armored Regiment were finally sent to Anzio’s wharf by barges before the lunch. They were originally prepared to follow the first landing of the tank landing ship, but The Navy is not prepared to let those big ships take the risk of being stranded. The beach level here is too shallow. The Navy is worried that those temporarily modified landing ships may not be able to use their own power to withdraw to the deep sea.

The German Navy is cooperating with Britain and France to design a series of general-purpose landing ships. If the design is successful, it will become a navy ship jointly equipped by the three countries of Britain, Germany and France. This is a considerable sale.

"You can't go from there, here, in this direction." A military policeman stood on the track pad of the tank and said aloud, pointing at the map in the commander's hand.

"I can understand the map, sergeant. Look, I have drawn the marching line on it."

"No, no, you don't understand what I mean, Mr. Lieutenant, you still have to make a detour. The French blocked the road ahead."

"French?" The German lieutenant widened his eyes.

The "French" military police shrugged.

"Well, French, then which way should I go." The lieutenant reached out and covered his forehead.

"This way." The gendarmerie pointed to a fork.

"Here? Okay, thank you, sergeant." The lieutenant nodded his thanks to the gendarmerie, then supported the hatch of the command tower, turned around and extended his hand to the tank captain of the rear vehicle.

"That direction! We have to go around." The captain said, pressing the throat talker.

"I wish you a smooth journey, and we will see you in Rome." The sergeant gendarme jumped off the tank and stood by the road to salute the company commander.

"Thank you, let's meet again in Rome!" The lieutenant bowed his head and returned a military salute, then waved his arms forward imposingly. "Tank, advance!". (To be continued.)