Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 454: Rome Rebellion (6)
"Listen everything to me, and say it again. Don't stay on the beach after you get ashore. Everyone dashes forward with me and builds a line of defense on the spot after reaching the coastal road." Lieutenant Doyle held the side of the landing craft. Yelled loudly to the soldiers on the same boat.
"Understood, sir." The soldiers answered in unison.
"I don't want to see the funny drama on the beach in Sicily. It happened before my eyes again. You all know what I mean."
"Understood, sir." This time the soldiers answered a little messy, and there was some laughter.
"Very well, prepare for the last three minutes." The ensign freed his hand and raised his wrist to check the time.
"Don't take it lightly because there is no enemy defending on the coast. I don't want to see any comrades who have lost their lives in this place." Doyle raised his head and looked at the sky above his head. The sky was clear and warm. The sun shone on the azure blue sea, the landing craft roared and swayed forward, the spray from the bow and side of the ship wetted the soldier's clothes, and the wind was filled with a smell of fishy sea water.
There was no machine gun shooting or artillery fire. Looking through the observation hole on the armored springboard, the Italian fishing village on the coast was peaceful and quiet, and it was impossible to believe that a war was going on here.
The first wave of landing craft is fast approaching towards the beach. A red plume of smoke suddenly rises on the beach. The signal is from the assault team that landed in hiding twelve hours ago. The red smoke means that the advance team has completed its mission. The two adjacent fishing villages, Cinuo and Nettuno, were already under German control at this time.
"This group of guys are obviously showing off to us, and it seems that there will be no fighting this time. But we can't get over it. After landing, according to the original plan, immediately set up machine gun positions on both sides of the road." Er turned around and put the pistol back into the holster.
At this time, there was a scream of engines in the air. Four Messerschmitt 109s lined up in a fingertip formation, passing over the head of the landing craft from a height of more than 100 meters. The fighter jets swayed in front of the infantry. The wing quickly flew towards the beach. This is the air force that came to support from Sardinia. In addition to the fighter group serving as air cover, the landing force can also get air fire support from a medium bomber wing on the island when needed.
Lieutenant Doyle stepped on two boxes of grenades, leaned out to the side of the ship, and raised a red signal flag high in his hand.
"The company commander saw the signal, and he is waving at us." The platoon officer said while holding the telescope.
"Okay, let's wading ashore, remember what I said earlier, take your own equipment, and check each other when you disembark." Lieutenant Doyle jumped out of the ammunition box and reached out to support the ship's side.
At this time, Anzio is not the future holiday destination. It is still an ordinary Italian fishing village. The village is not large in size. There are only more than 300 residents in the village. Because of the lack of fuel and the blockade of the French navy, Fishing boats can only dock in the port most of the time in the past few weeks. The fishermen lost their daily livelihoods, and many people dragged their families and ran to Rome to try their luck.
The seabed near Anzio is very flat. The German army chose a 3.5-kilometer-long coast from Anzio to Nettuno as the landing area, because the two fishing villages originally had a row of shallow water jetties. After the German engineering unit was reinforced on the original foundation, it was fully able to meet the needs of the landing force in the initial use.
The French navy also deliberately towed several floating docks from Marseille, and after they were fixed on the shore, they could be used to unload some heavy equipment, such as a French B1-bis tank company that followed to join in the fun.
The French are very satisfied with the performance of this tank in the war and are preparing to resume production of this expensive equipment. It is said that the French Army plans to sign a purchase order for seventy B1-bis models with Schneider. Reconstruction of the 1st and 2nd Reserve Armored Divisions that were hit hard by the Germans in the European War.
The two forces fought very tenaciously at the beginning of the war and caused quite serious casualties to the light armored forces of the German army. The firepower of the tanks No. 1, 2, and 3 equipped by the German army at the time was very important for these heavy armored beasts. It can only be regarded as tickling.
However, the rigid command of the French army command made these tanks exhausted on the entire front. The German army quickly discovered and destroyed the French logistics supply unit. In the face of the rapid interspersed German blitzkrieg, the French armored division was organized After being broken up, these heavy tanks either became the targets of the German Stuka and heavy artillery after they ran out of the last drop of fuel, or they fell into the hands of the German infantry after running out of ammunition and food.
The topic is far off, let’s take a look at the German landing troops. This time the German troops are still involved in the African Army that was the main force when landing on Sicily. Germany’s return to Africa has become inevitable. No one dares to stop the apostle of God. . The British needed the German army to help maintain the line of communication between Europe and Asia. Of course, they had to pay some compensation for this. The German colonies were divided by European countries. Now when it comes time to return these lands to their owners, the British are ready to return the German East Africa first. Land, where the German flag will be raised again.
The German African Army currently has two infantry divisions in its establishment, the 26th and 31st Infantry Divisions. These two conventional infantry divisions are nothing special, but they will be motorized after they arrive in Africa. Reorganization.
The armored unit of the African Army is temporarily incorporated into the 21st Armored Regiment. This is a unit that was formed in January this year. It is composed of the 7th and 35th Reserve Armored Battalions of the National Defense Forces. The original army commander The Ministry is preparing to form the 20th Armored Division on its basis, but because the German infantry units are being reorganized, the infantry, artillery, and engineering units needed by the armored division are not yet available for the time being. Given that there is nothing threatening the African side. The goal of the German army, so temporarily this armored regiment was incorporated into the African military organization.
This is a brand new tank regiment, with 229 tanks of various types. Because of the late compilation, the main vehicle model of the unit is the 38T-E/F tank made in the Czech Republic, with a total number of 122. There are as many as eleven. At the same time, this regiment also has 31 early-stage No. 4 vehicles, which are sufficient to cope with the attack of enemy heavy tanks. As for the remaining 75 vehicles, all are light tanks such as No. 1 and No. 2. It's a bunch of fast running crispy skins. Part of the German armored units are changing, but the 21st Armored Regiment is obviously out of turn for the time being.
The 38T tanks of the first battalion and two platoons of the second company of the 21st Armored Regiment were finally sent to the docks of Anzio by naval engineers before lunch. They were originally prepared to follow the first batch of tank landing ships to land. Yes, but the Navy is not prepared to let those big ships run aground. The water level on the beach is too shallow. The Navy is worried that the 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 universal landing ships. If the design is successful, they will become naval ships jointly equipped by Britain, Germany and France. This is a considerable deal.
"You can't go from there, it's this way, in this direction." A military policeman stood on the track of the tank and pointed to the map in the captain's hand and said loudly.
"I can understand the map, sergeant, you see that I have already drawn the marching route on it."
"No, no, no~IndoMTL.com~You don't understand what I mean, Mr. Lieutenant, you still have to take a detour. The French blocked the road ahead."
"French?" The German lieutenant's eyes widened.
"French..." The military police shrugged.
"Well, French...then which way should I go." The lieutenant reached out and covered his forehead.
"Here." The military police pointed at a fork in the road.
"Here? Okay, thank you, sergeant." The lieutenant nodded in thanks to the military police, and then he held on to the hatch of the control tower, turned and reached out to the tank captain in the rear car.
"That direction! We need to take a detour." The captain said while pressing the throat communicator.
"I wish you a good journey, and see you in Rome." The military police sergeant jumped out of the tank and stood by the road to salute the company commander.
"Thank you, let's meet in Rome!" The lieutenant bowed his head and returned a military salute, then waved his arm forward with great momentum. "Tank, go forward!". (To be continued.)