Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 66: Seaport

Leaning against the cab window of the Opel truck, Sergeant Hansen Aubrey was holding his Kodak camera enthusiastically, taking pictures of the small city monument in the downtown square. www.geiliwx.com

"That is the iris symbol of the French royal family. This city has hardly changed since it was built in the time of Louis XIV." Krueger was sitting in the driver's seat, poking his head from the front window of the driver's cab. Obliquely looked at the monument. The yellow-brown granite stele, with a bronze iris head on the top, and five or six signs of various materials with bronze screws on the stele, which are the records of major events or famous people in this small city over the years. The history and glory of this city.

"Graveline is a very famous city." Seeing the sergeant retracted his arm, Kruger stepped on the clutch to engage the gear, and the Opel truck slowly circled the small city square. , And then turned into the street leading to the dock area.

"Is it famous, I've never heard of this city." Sergeant Aubrey carefully closed the camera flap and fastened the holster buckle.

"Senior Kruger, you seem to have a lot of research on history."

"Before joining the army, I studied European history in the History Department of the University of Cologne." Kruger put one hand on the steering wheel, and drove this two-ton truck proficiently on the narrow streets of the ancient city.

"Oh, I only read middle school. I originally wanted to go to university, but my family didn’t have any spare money to pay for my tuition. In the end, I could only enter a mechanical processing factory in my hometown. Don’t look at me like this. I'm a skilled mechanic." Sergeant Aubrey put the camera in the glove bag on the seat, and then took out two apples from it.

"Kruger, why do you think of being a soldier, college students are rare among soldiers. You can go to military academy and become an officer after graduation."

"I couldn’t find a job. History was too unpopular. The professor was planning to stay at my school, but the position was finally taken over by someone else. Then I had a fight with my family and ran into the Army directly. Recruitment office. Anyway, a lot of things have passed in the middle, and now I am here." Kruger didn't want to talk too much about himself. He took the apple that the sergeant handed over and wiped it on the sleeve of the uniform. Then he gnawed loudly.

"Oh, it's difficult for everyone these years. You said that this city is very famous, is there any story?" Aubrey gnawed the little apple in two or three bites, and threw the core out of the window. .

"Graveline, there was a famous naval battle named after this city in a strait not far from this city." Kruger chewed on an apple. Puffed his cheeks and answered.

"Battle of Graveline?" Aubrey tilted his head and said he had never heard of it.

"Yes, the Spanish Invincible Fleet is here in a decisive battle with the British Navy, and in this naval battle, the entire army is finally destroyed."

"Oh, so I understand. I have heard people tell this story, but I didn’t expect it would be here. I have to take more pictures, it’s very memorable. No wonder this small city is built so strong The city wall, this should have been a military fortress originally." Aubrey realized that he was not ignorant and felt very happy.

The truck has left the city and passed through a strong stone arch. I opened a concrete highway bridge and turned my head to look at it, flanked by a six-meter-high brick wall and a wide moat.

"This was all built in the 17th century. If you look down at this city from the sky, you will find that this small city is actually a huge double-layered bastion." Kruger threw the core out of the window. Then shift gears.

The truck began to accelerate, and the canal pier of the inner harbor could already be seen from this position. The Opel truck turned right at the T-shaped intersection, drove straight ahead for about one kilometer, turned two turns, and passed two guard posts. Only then drove on the highway in the dock area.

The dock area in front of me has completely turned into a messy barracks. There are German soldiers wearing army uniforms and navy uniforms everywhere. Most of these people are logistics support personnel, and some are guards and anti-aircraft artillery units. Everyone is busy, and the flow of people and all kinds of transportation are constantly shuttled on the road between the wharf and the various warehouses.

Kruger honked his horn vigorously. Seeing that the other party didn't move, the history graduate of the University of Cologne stuck his head out of the car window, leaned out the window with his left hand and slapped the door of the truck, yelling at the guy blocking the road.

"Hurry up and remove this pile of rubbish. There are important supplies in my car, which will be shipped soon."

"It's no use honking your horn anymore! These boxes are full of pyrotechnics. What do you want me to do, kick them with your feet?" The corporal in charge yelled at Kruger, sticking in his waist. The trailer with its axle fell crooked in the middle of the road, and several soldiers following the car were carefully moving the wooden boxes on the car to the side of the road.

"Damn it, it's a mess here." Kruger reluctantly retracted his head. On the opposite lane on the left is a slowly advancing truck convoy, and on the right is a pile of crates. The truck has nowhere to go at the moment due to the position of the anti-aircraft cannon. Seeing a few military policemen running here in the distance, Kruger took off his military cap and scratched his head, and then put the truck in neutral.

"It’s already pretty good. Last week, I went to Le Havre on a business trip. The situation there was just a mess. The French dockworkers and the German Construction Corps filled the port area, plus a bunch of navy gunboats and The warships and the Marines were all messed up. I didn't do anything for the whole day, I just used it to find people." Aubrey took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth. Then he glanced at the group of soldiers. The fire prohibition sign on the wooden box that was carried, hesitated for a while and then stuffed the cigarette back into his uniform pocket.

"Oh, I thought we were bad enough here. Look at the sergeant. It's Emerald Hill. It looks like it's already loaded." Kruger shouted, pointing to the Inner Harbor Canal, one in his vision. The medium-sized transport ship with its hull painted in dark gray is slowly moving along the straight canal toward the outer port. The hull is pressed so deeply that the red waterline is no longer visible, and what is exposed on the water is the black waterline. ribbon.

"This is going to the outer harbour berthing area. This ship does not need to be loaded with personnel. Look at the pile of anti-aircraft artillery on the deck. It should belong to the third echelon, or it may be the reserve team." During the speech, soldiers passing by. With the help, the road was finally cleared. Dozens of infantry and military police pushed the damaged trailer directly into the open area and tipped it aside, waiting for the engineers to tow it away with a heavy trailer. Kruger patted his horn, waved to the soldiers on the side of the road, and put up his gear. Drive towards his company boarding point.

"Are you aware of the group of soldiers with carts? They are all new faces, with different uniform colors. Did you see the armbands on their arms? They should all be mountain infantry." Aubrey drew again. The cigarette was out, and then the electronic cigarette lighter on the dashboard of the Opel truck was pressed.

"Mountain infantry, they are all elite troops. I hope they can give the British man a hard punch." Kruger looked into the mirror, but did not find the group of infantry, he took it out of his pocket A small cigar, and then took the cigarette lighter that Aubrey handed over, lit the fire.

"Where did I get a good thing, I only got one when I participated in the fortification outside Paris." Aubrey held a cigarette in his mouth. Pointing to Kruger's cigar and said.

"Sent from home, Sergeant, I have half a box left. I can give you two if you want."

"That's right, I'll find you after dinner." Aubrey smiled and patted Kruger on the shoulder.

At this time, the truck slowly drove into a dock berth. The ground was marked with huge numbers. Various types of construction vehicles were parked around. The Opel truck was next to a gray medium-sized cargo ship parked in the berth. Stopped on.

"All come to help unload the cargo. This is a type of cargo. Push the crane over, and you guys will come and help carry the boxes." Aubrey jumped out of the truck and greeted the surrounding soldiers while walking around to the truck. Behind the carriage.

The sergeant climbed onto the carriage and opened the canvas door curtain at the rear of the carport. The two soldiers opened the latches of the carriage tailboard and lowered the hoarding.

"Take these boxes of engine spare parts first. Be careful. The weight is very heavy." The sergeant stood in the carriage and commanded, and two soldiers climbed onto the carriage. Lifting the box laboriously, the soldiers surrounding the carriage hurriedly stepped forward to pick it up.

"This is the last emergency road on the manifest. Drag the crane over, and you two hang the hook. Be careful." The four soldiers climbed onto the truck and removed the tarp bracket from the rear compartment. The bracket and the tarp were folded to the front, and then dragged through the towing rope of the crane and hung on the hanging strap of the cargo. As the twelve-horsepower small gasoline engine banged, several soldiers pulled the tow rope. Carefully transferred the goods from the carriage to the trailer on the side.

"This is the last volume, and immediately load it on the No. 6 paving vehicle. Pay attention to the direction indicated on the label. All the locks must be checked to one side. Move quickly." The sergeant shouted loudly while standing in the carriage.

"Got it, head."

"Don't worry, we've done it many times." The soldiers agreed, and then pushed the pallet toward the engineering vehicle parking area.

"Now there are more and more new equipment, and our work is getting more and more complicated. I hope that they are really on the battlefield, and these guys will not be too bad." Aubrey jumped out of the car and faced Kruger, who was standing by, said with a smile.

"The mission of our engineering company is very heavy. I heard from the company commander that this time may be more dangerous than the French one. We may have to directly participate in the battle." Kruger watched the soldiers operating the crane in the distance. , Hoisted that layer upon layer of something like a sandwich cake onto a strange Mercedes-Benz four-ton semi truck. The soldiers opened the mouth of that piece of cake, and then hung it around the top of a semi-circular skid on a bracket at the rear of the truck, looking like a door curtain with a strange pattern.

"It’s like this thing. It’s called a military fast road. It looks like a chain armor. These hexagonal aluminum alloy plates are connected in series with steel rings. It is said to be able to withstand a weight of forty tons. A car can pave 80 meters of road. I have seen the data of our landing area. The widest beach is only 70 meters deep. This distance should be enough." Aubrey dropped the cigarette **** in his hand.

"I was responsible for the material transfer when I landed. This kind of road is very useful." Kruger turned his head and said to Aubrey.

"In addition to this kind of road paving, we also have bulldozers, motorized cranes, tractors, trench digging vehicles, and we are also responsible for setting up temporary oil depots and refueling points. The forty-eight rubber oil sacs are allowed to be filled before landing. We can only tank it on the ship when we land. The two armored engineering companies also carry minesweeping vehicles and heavy half-track tractors, armored refueling vehicles and motorized steel bridges, assault boats, and mechanized pontoons. Those two construction engineering companies I brought a bunch of forklifts, road rollers and bulldozers, compressors, pneumatic picks, air hammers, concrete mixers, dozens of vehicles and various explosives. Look at this list, we will have all the engineering equipment before midnight tonight And tools and materials on board.

The goods must also be arranged in the order of the list, not to be disturbed. There are only four cranes on this ship. We have to install a few temporary booms. The order of unloading after arriving at the destination must also be strictly in accordance with the plan. A slight error will mess up the entire process. When the time comes, the guns will rain. It's really hard to do. "Aubrey took out a stack of papers from his pocket, frowned and looked at it.

"Don't worry, Sergeant. After all, we have been preparing for a month. We have done everything we can. Before that, I think we should consider how to reach the beach safely." Kruger said. Comforted with a cigar.

"This question, no matter how much I think about it, it's useless. I'm just a platoon mate. When it comes to how to get to the beach safely, I think you can see the answer now." Aubrey stared at Crewe. Grid looked behind ~IndoMTL.com~ Kruger quickly turned around. He was immediately stunned by the sight in front of him. On the distant sea, several huge warships were lined up in a column, The majestic demeanor of speech slowly approached the breakwater of the outer harbor. Kruger quickly took out his personal telescope from the glove bag around his waist.

Then he clearly saw in the camera that a huge red-bottomed iron cross navy flag hung on top of the tall mast of the first battleship.

"The navy's main fleet! Sergeant, the large fleet!" Kruger exclaimed excitedly.

"It's a battleship. I have only seen photos in magazines before."

The huge knife-mounted bow of the leading battleship plowed the sea easily, huge swells hit the gray hard hull, and the snow-like droplets gleamed like diamonds in the sun. Light.

"What is that thing?"

Kruger adjusted the focus in confusion, and on the huge naval mast of the leading battleship, there was a vaguely black cloth hanging on it. Perhaps it was a naval custom, Kruger thought to himself. (To be continued.)