Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 122: The defeat is like a tide (Part 1)

British Army Superior Abu Gail Fromm panting ascending the steep slope, over this mountain beam, behind it is an empty terrace, there is a backup airport for the Royal Air Force, although it has been abandoned , But the trenches and fortifications previously excavated are still there, allowing him to have a temporary shelter. Baidu search for Geli Literature Net

The superior soldier grasped the grass roots of the weeds on the **** hard, pushed his tired legs hard, and climbed tenaciously. As long as he climbed over this mountain beam, he would be saved. That was his only way to survive. . Fromm upturned the straps of Lee Enfield's rifle again. This heavy rifle was now more weighty. And his marching backpack. He felt like he was carrying a solid iron block on his back. My shoulder was sore, the arm band blocked the blood circulation, and my arm felt a little numb.

A sharp scream passed by, sounding like some kind of high-speed flying insect.

"God, they have caught up." A soldier screamed. The British soldiers who were climbing the **** were in a panic. The frequency of climbing alternately with hands and feet began to increase, and some soldiers began to unload. Equipment, backpacks, rifles, bullet bags, and infantry spades, everything that was thought to slow down one's escape was abandoned, and all kinds of equipment and weapons were thrown everywhere on the hillside.

Fromm is not going to abandon his rifle. He keeps in mind what the squad leader said, don't throw away your equipment at any time, otherwise you will regret it. Although he didn't know what the regret was about what the squad leader said, he still decided to listen to the veteran's words. For a soldier who participated in the First World War, he was justified in being able to come back from the battlefield alive.

The squad leader was not as lucky as last time. Just fifteen minutes ago, a 20mm machine shell cut the 49-year-old sergeant commander into two paragraphs, not as in the novel. After struggling for a long time, the veteran died almost immediately.

It happened so quickly that Fromm feels a little unrealistic to this day. The gray German tank roared out of the night like a legendary monster, and the British infantry was completely defenseless. The outer line of defense of the temporary camp was in vain. The checkpoints and machine guns were broken at the touch of a touch. German infantry followed the tanks and drove straight along the road, wantonly attacking all British targets they encountered. These scenes are like nightmares, so it feels incredible.

Folkestone’s defensive force is very impressive. Originally, two battalions of army units were stationed here, as well as a naval coastal artillery battalion, with two 233mm shore defense guns and 24 25-pound army howitzers. The firepower is extremely fierce.

Folkestone is also a very good commercial port, and it surpasses the Port of Dover in terms of scale. The two places are less than eight miles apart. From a geographical point of view, if Dover is the key to England, then Folkestone is the doorknob of English, the two complement each other, they are horns and support each other.

The terrain of Folkestone is different from that of Dover, which is full of ridges. He is on a gentle hilly area. There are many wide terraces, the city is built on a slope, and it stretches to the sea with a large slope. At the port is a natural beach, and on both sides are towering ridges and mountains like Dover and St. Margaret’s beaches. White cliffs.

Because of the sufficient level of land, she is more suitable as a trading hub than Dover. It has a railway dispatch center and marshalling yard in the city. It is an important transit station for the British coastal railway. Trains from Dover Transition from here and enter the main north-south railway system. Direct access to London and northern British towns.

There are also two medium-sized military airports and a radar station on the outskirts of the city, which are responsible for the area air defense mission in the Dover area. However, after the war, as the end point of care for the Luftwaffe. Folkestone’s airport and radar station were bombarded day and night, and the repair speed of the airport could not keep up with the speed of the Germans' destruction. Coupled with the targeted hunting of fighter units by the Luftwaffe, the Royal Air Force eventually retreated across the board. The two bases were abandoned. The radar station was completely destroyed, according to the Germans. There are no two stacked stones on that piece of land.

The coastal fortress was severely damaged. Two heavy artillery was destroyed in their artillery fort. Fortunately, the coastal artillery responded in a timely manner. Most of the howitzers were transferred to the air defense tunnel, which was able to survive, but The loss is still unavoidable. There are only 20 artillery pieces left, but the ammunition reserves are sufficient, enough for these artillery to last for a while.

The infantry battalion was hit harder. The German Air Force destroyed the barracks on the outskirts of the city. Stuka accurately attacked the surrounding bunkers built along the intercity highway, even if the garrison meticulously painted and hung the bunkers. On the camouflage net, the Luftwaffe did not hesitate to blow the semi-concrete bunkers into pieces together with their camouflage as if it had a perspective function.

The Germans attacked the material warehouses in the city, and burned all the military supplies stocked in the warehouses with hidden gas bombs. At the same time, they caused serious fires in the city, the two most prosperous blocks in the city center. Was burned to the ground.

The citizens began to gang up and flee the city. At this time, the garrison themselves were in a state of desperation, unable to control the situation at all. When they turned around and started to appease the people, they found that only half of the residents were still in the city. The remaining half have already embarked on the road north.

What worries the garrison is that the half of the people who left included the entire wealthy and upper class of Folkestone. The resources they took accounted for more than 80% of the city’s material reserves, while the remaining half of the residents were burdened with living materials. Was naturally pressed onto the local government and the garrison.

This is the situation faced by the British Army’s 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions when they arrived at Folkestone. Passenger trains carrying them entered the central railway station. Soldiers were arranged to live in nearby barracks. Engineers and logistics soldiers began to live in With the help of railway workers, they began to unload materials and equipment from the train.

Although the Fifth and Sixth Infantry Divisions occupy the designations of two division-level units, each division is actually composed of a light infantry brigade and an artillery battalion. Each infantry division has a total of about 8,000 personnel. Among them, more than two thousand people are logistic units of various battalions and brigades, more than one thousand people are brigade artillery companies and anti-tank artillery companies, with eight six-inch howitzers and twelve 2-pound anti-tank guns, and the remaining four thousand The men are riflemen, divided into four infantry battalions. Each infantry battalion is also assigned a battalion artillery platoon and an anti-tank platoon, equipped with four 18-pound infantry guns and three 2-pound anti-tank guns.

This is the newest infantry division in the UK after the Battle of Dunkirk. These two infantry divisions are composed of the original troops left behind and the newly recruited reserve troops. They are already rare elites in the existing British army. Most of these soldiers have undergone more than one year of technical and tactical training. Also joined many veterans who had participated in World War I. These reserve veterans have valuable combat experience. Although they are only from World War I, experience is experience, and they are better than rookie soldiers who have never seen blood.

Due to the large number of personnel and equipment, these two infantry divisions are not until midnight. Still busy unloading trucks and relocating troops, the German heavy artillery bombardment began. The first round of the heavy artillery group, which had already determined the shooting parameters, overturned the concrete forts at both ends of the harbor. There was a whole section of fifty meters long. The breakwater disappeared on the surface of the sea, along with an anti-aircraft machine gun company and searchlight platoon attached to the seawall.

The train station was hit in the third round of shelling. The artillery and logistics soldiers who were busy towing heavy artillery were still wondering about the loud noise in the distance, because no one heard the sound of planes flying in the sky , The air defense alarm did not sound, obviously this is not an air strike.

While the soldiers were still guessing whether an accident occurred, several large-caliber heavy artillery warheads slammed into the crowd with the whistle of a train. Then came the second and third waves of bombardment. When the British soldiers reacted, everything was irreversible. The station and marshalling yard became a volcanic crater jetting flames. Ammunition continued to explode due to the high-temperature barbecue. The tracer was flying in the air like a bolide, and the large-caliber grenade exploded. Fireballs tens of meters high came out, throwing all kinds of steel shrapnel and debris into the air several hundred meters, and then hit the heads of officers and soldiers who organized fire fighting around the station like a rainstorm.

The German heavy artillery began to shift the target. They began bombarding the barracks and office buildings in the city. An infantry battalion of the Fifth Infantry Division, which had entered the Cheriton Street Barracks to rest, just had time to gather troops. A heavy artillery warhead hit the neatly arranged infantry phalanx. A battalion of infantrymen was killed on the playground. In addition to the poor people in the crater who had been torn to pieces, there were many dead soldiers. There is no trauma. These people were all covered, only wearing low-top leather shoes on their feet. The violent shock wave tore off their military uniforms and shattered their internal organs through their bodies. Acute bleeding and organ failure caused them to lose their lives within half a minute.

The commander hurriedly ordered all the troops to withdraw from the city, but in the panic he could not contact the subordinate troops scattered in the half-sitting city. Eventually when the remaining troops of the two infantry divisions left the city. It was discovered that the two elite infantry divisions that were originally mighty and majestic, now there are only two incomplete infantry brigades left.

Many soldiers lost their way during the retreat. Some troops have disappeared in this city forever. The city government organized citizens to send hot tea and coffee to the army. Both soldiers and civilians watched the fantastic fireworks display in the distance with sad faces.

Throughout the day the next day, the 5th and 6th Infantry Divisions were busy gathering troops and materials. Part of the logistics wagons did not enter the city. Due to the limited space on the platform, they stopped on the transfer branch line outside the city. It was a blessing in misfortune that prevented the two infantry divisions from running out of food on the second day of reaching their destination. In an awkward situation.

Most of these logistic wagons are linens and canned food, which happens to be the most needed things at present. Food and clothing were distributed to the survivors, soldiers and citizens. Everyone felt hope again. As long as they had food and clothing, they had the basic guarantee for survival.

Finally, the city government and council made a decision. They were going to lead the surviving citizens to retreat to a safe rear after tonight. All local administrative power and public property were transferred to the two infantry divisions.

The surviving citizens dare not go back to the city again. Who knows if the frenzied Germans will fire again. The shelling last night scared their courage a long time ago. Anyone who has seen a shell can do it Blew up a block? Here, the smoking craters in the city center are proof.

These civilians were placed in a bunch of houses on the outskirts of the city, many of them were holiday villas for the wealthy. Now their owners may be on the way to flee the United States or Canada. Opening these door locks is not a trick Things that people feel guilty about.

The British infantry division set up temporary camps along the roads outside the city. They used the remaining tents and some simple building materials to build a decent camp.

A battalion of the local garrison was responsible for the perimeter anti-paratrooper patrol. The camp was set in the outskirts of the city, and almost intact was preserved. They also guarded two strategic reserve warehouses, but only after opening one of them was found full In the woolen uniform, the other is piled with barbed wire.

The only thing the British Army does not lack now is the woolen uniforms. As the world’s number one wool spinning power, their uniforms have always been known for their thick and high-quality materials. Looking at the new uniforms in this warehouse, the officers and soldiers quietly turned around. The door was locked again.

The barbed wire fence was immediately used. The engineers chopped down a whole grove and placed a circle of stakes around the camp area. Then a few rounds of barbed wire were wrapped around in a dense loop~IndoMTL.com~ The camp area has become more military, and it no longer looks like a refugee distribution center.

Good news came one after another. The superiors have reconnected with the Kent County Command Post, and the other party told them to rest and relax. London already knows their situation here and is deploying supplies and personnel. At the latest tomorrow day Reinforcements will arrive with supplies.

The officers and soldiers of the two infantry divisions finally breathed a sigh of relief. Most of them were optimistic that the crisis was over, and as long as tonight, everything would develop for the better.

After eating a simple dinner, each infantry battalion arranged night outposts and patrols. The rest of the soldiers got into their tents, because they didn’t close their eyes last night, and today they are busy all day. Everyone was exhausted, and soon fell asleep, and there was a peaceful scene with snoring in the camp.

But the peace before him did not last long. When the moon was dim, the Germans came. . . . (To be continued.) WWW.GEILIWX.COM Happy reading every day