Compared with the current German Air Force and British Air Force over Britain, the current anxiety of the Battle of Gibraltar is actually not such an important matter. The failure here would at most cause some setbacks for Germany, which was at its peak, and the victory of the British Air Battle was related to whether Germany could win this war. Lin Wei was concerned about chaos. In fact, since he knew that Goring already knew the truth and falsehoods of the British mainland, he should fully believe that Goring could handle this kind of matter. However, Lin Wei had always been so uneasy about Goring, mainly because of Goring's Lin really has no shining point in history. In Germany's war, Goering always seemed to play a holding back role. Compared with Göring's status as an air force combat hero during World War I, Göring's performance in World War II was simply terrible.
what to do? what to do? Lin Wei anxiously walked back and forth in the room, making his already somewhat confused head become even more like a ball of paste. Feeling that he couldn't think of any solution, Lin Wei could only sit aside and sigh.
"General Lampard, the British resisted fiercely, and this attack failed again!" Following the words, General Wei Gang, dressed in military uniform, walked in from the outside and saw Lin Wei with a bitter look on his face. General Wei Gang was stunned and advised, "There is no need to be so anxious. After all, we can get a steady stream of supplements, but the British cannot, they are already surrounded!"
"Yes!" Lin Wei did not point out General Wei Gang's misunderstanding, but he was not in the mood to explain, so he could only give a perfunctory sentence.
The Fortress of Gibraltar has been operated by the British for hundreds of years. Under the joint attack of the two strongest armies in Europe, it is still firmly controlled by the British. On the surface, all the fortresses on the ground have been destroyed. , it seems that the German and French forces can already declare victory. But only Wei Gang and the others knew that victory was still far away.
Lin Wei's weakness made General Weigang silent. After a while, he said, "If the German Stuka dive bombers can be transferred from fifty to one hundred, we can easily clean up those who are still resisting on the mountain." The British artillery!" The high-intensity battles in recent days have pushed Germany's many artillery to the limit. The "Gustav Railgun", "Karl Cannon" and "Gangma Cannon!" have destroyed thirteen British 381 millimeter cannons, but at this time, they are of no use, because the seven cannons above and below are hidden in places where they cannot hit at all, and even if they are still there, these ultimate German weapons cannot destroy them, because now these German cannons The cannon couldn't fire even a single shell. The design life of the barrel of the Gustav railgun is only 150 rounds, and the Karl mortar is a little higher, only 200 rounds. The shells they fired in the past few days have far exceeded the life of the barrel. All the spare barrels Lin Wei brought from Germany have been used up.
After listening to General Wei Gang's words, Lin Wei didn't say a word and just placed the information he had just read in General Wei Gang's hands. After hurriedly reading it, Weigang already knew that under the current circumstances, the German Air Force was unable to support the battlefield in Gibraltar. Although France and Germany suffered a complete defeat in this war, as the chief of the General Staff of France, General Weigang still had vision. , of course we can know the importance of the air battle between Gibraltar and Britain.
After reading the battle report of the Battle of Britain, General Wei Gang frowned and said, "It seems that things are a little difficult to handle. I didn't expect that the British air force was so strong. They didn't send the air force to help us fight in the first place!" Anyone can hear the resentment in his voice.
Of course Lin Wei heard the implication and said without thinking, "It seems that the Imperial Air Force has never discovered that the Royal Air Force is so strong. Could it be that the British did not use all their strength in previous wars?" Lin Wei Wei Gang's relationship with Britain and France has reached a point where he can provoke it anytime and anywhere. It seems to have become Lin Wei's instinct, so he naturally accepted Wei Gang's words.
General Wei Gang reluctantly gave up. Of course he knew that instead of gossiping here, it would be better to find a way to break the deadlock now. But how easy is this? The front line faced by the German and French forces was inherently short, and the British soldiers on the defensive side did not need to consider the safety of their flanks at all, because they had no flanks to begin with. As the attacker, the German and French forces were in bad luck. Even the British, who were not good at the army, could make the short front invulnerable. There was no other way to break through the British position except to attack by force.
However, such a forceful attack is the last method that any country's army is willing to use. The high casualty rate makes all commanders feel a headache when facing such a giant fortress. Therefore, what faced General Weigand was basically a dilemma. Either fight with the British army regardless of the consequences like the Battle of Verdun, or play positional warfare with the British army using artillery, machine guns, and barbed wire. The point is, neither option is what Germany and France want.
"What a headache!" General Wei Gang said helplessly, "The 42nd Division has already lost 2,134 soldiers. If this continues, the 42nd Division will fall from the ranks of the French army. Disappeared!"
"Prince Eugen's division also lost one thousand and fifty-four people!" Lin Wei said without thinking. Every soldier who died was like a knife in Lin Wei's heart. This was the first division Lin Wei formed. Who wouldn't feel bad for the army to be involved in this kind of meat grinder-style combat
"I wonder how much damage the British suffered?" General Wei Gang said.
"No lighter than us!" Lin Wei said unconvinced, and then immediately froze on the spot. General Wei Gang seemed to have thought of something. After a while, he said sadly, "I didn't expect that, it seems that I am really old! I immediately ordered to step up the attack!"
"Thank you, General! I will also order the Prince Eugen Division to step up the attack. At this critical moment, we must be the ones who persist to the end, not the British~!" Lin Wei said solemnly.
Since the German and French armies have suffered such huge losses in such high-intensity combat, it is even less possible for the British soldiers, who are far inferior to their own combat literacy and training, to be so relaxed. You know, the German Wehrmacht and the French Army are the two most powerful armies in Europe. Compared with them, the British Army is far behind.
The most important thing is that there are only 10,000 British defenders here, and the probability of casualties is one to three. If 2,000 British soldiers were killed, there would be at least 5,000 wounded. In other words, the British had reached the limit of their defense. Gibraltar has been surrounded by German and French forces on land, and is blocked by Italian and French navies at sea. No medicine or food can be transported by sea. Although it is not ruled out that they have stored enough food, when the war actually comes, food and medicine will decline rapidly.
Lord Gott chose a head-on strategy, hoping that the German and French forces would retreat in spite of the difficulties. He issued an order not to take a step back at the beginning of the war. This was mainly to make Weigang unbearable to endure such heavy casualties. You must know that in During the Battle of France, for a French army with a total of several million, only tens of thousands of casualties caused the French army to surrender. Lord Gott just hoped that the French army would do its job and not do anything. Unexpectedly, the greater the casualties of the French army, the more General Weygand hoped to capture the Gibraltar Fortress to prove the strength of the French army. Lord Gott's calculation was wrong.
Having seen the bluff of the British, Generals Lin Wei and Wei Gang responded immediately and issued orders in the name of the national leader and chief of the general staff respectively: "The total number of British soldiers in Gibraltar Fortress will not exceed 10,000. Now We are close to collapse, and from now on, we must be on the offensive at all times, day and night!”
After the order was issued, General Weygand ordered France to mobilize on the Italian front at the same time. The 43rd Infantry Division of the French Army took over the 42nd Infantry Division. The 42nd Infantry Division was ordered to rest where it was. General Weygand then This shows that he is definitely serious this time.
On July 16, the German and French forces began a full-scale attack. Starting at 8 a.m., the sound of gunfire from the Gibraltar Fortress continued. It seemed that people knew how important this place was in cutting off Britain's lifeline, and they were even afraid of death. Spaniards came to watch the battle, although Spain has not officially announced its support for the German-French coalition. But after Germany and France expelled the British, the news that Gibraltar's sovereignty would be returned to Spain has spread like wildfire. The Spanish were not disgusted with the actions of the German and French forces.
Although many super cannons were no longer usable, the German artillery still tried its best to provide fire support for the attacking Prince Eugen Division. As expected by General Weygand and Lin Wei, the British soldiers were indeed approaching their limit. Compared with the German With France's numerical advantage, the British soldiers, who were already at a numerical disadvantage, immediately felt the pressure increase. The people in the field could not withstand the offensive of the German and French forces and retreated one after another. Although Lord Gott tried his best to provide support, there were only seven 381mm cannons left on the mountain that continued to pour artillery fire on the German army. However, the Prince Eugen Division, which was angered by the casualties in recent days, had really launched real fire. .
The SS once again made General Weygand understand why the hundreds of thousands of troops defending the Dunkirk area were annihilated. Seeing that all the resisting British soldiers were scattered, the soldiers of Prince Eugen's Division seemed to be unable to see the stray bullets flying back and forth on the battlefield. They shouted unknown slogans and faced the flying bullets. The bullet rushed forward.
Arthur Philip watched the soldiers who had followed him for nearly a year fall on the battlefield one after another, his eyes moist. He ordered fiercely, "The leader said that there is no need for prisoners in this battle. The British surrender and all will be shot!"
"Yes, General!" Arthur Philip's order was supported by everyone in the command post. They were also tired of this cruel war. Blood debts were paid with blood. When the battlefield often reached a certain level, Whatever happens, I can't even control myself.
No army can guarantee that no civilians will be harmed in a war. Even the German Wehrmacht, which regards honor as life, and the British Army, which has a gentlemanly demeanor, also carried out similar massacres of prisoners of war or civilians during World War II. Germany's strategic bombing and the United States' bombing of Japan also destroyed the lives of ordinary people on a large scale. Not to mention the cruel Japanese Imperial Army and the Soviet Red Army, which treated itself as cruelly as the enemy (the Red Army officers and soldiers must fight to the end, and anyone captured by the enemy, regardless of whether they resisted beforehand, will be regarded as treason afterwards) Punishment, including being sent to labor camps together with their families. - "Order No. 270 of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR" is harsh enough!). Oh, forgot, there is also our protagonist, the Waffen SS.
(Perhaps during World War II, only the Chinese army and the Ethiopian army did not massacre each other's civilians, but I think this is because the Chinese army and the Ethiopian army could not reach their homeland! If they could, the military disciplines are the same It won’t be good!)
Some British soldiers did want to surrender on the battlefield, but after soldiers from Prince Eugen's Division shot several surrendering soldiers within their sight, no more soldiers surrendered.
"Hey, buddy, that British guy just now seems to be surrendering!" said the German soldier who continued to attack behind the tank.
"Really? You should know that I don't understand English!" The second German soldier replied after firing a shot.
The Battle of Gibraltar was like an endless whirlpool, constantly swallowing up the soldiers between the three countries. The battle on the mountain was even more cruel. The German super artillery had always targeted the British artillery on the mountain as its main target. But unexpectedly, after learning that there might be a tunnel dug by the British in the mountain, General Wei Gang asked Lin Wei to order the ancient The Stafford orbital bombardment hits one place, hoping to blow out a hole in the mountain. The standard for Gustav's design is that it must successfully penetrate seven meters of concrete and mountains. He was definitely qualified for this task. After thinking about it, Lin Wei agreed to General Wei Gang's suggestion.
Two days ago in the morning, with an earth-shaking loud noise and huge rocks rolling down Mount Gibraltar, Lin Wei was surprised to find that the Gustav railgun had really penetrated the mountain of Gibraltar, revealing the scene inside the mountain. . The British's passage inside the mountain has been exposed to the German and French forces. So starting two days ago, the battle between the French Army and the British defenders on the mountain turned into a battle for the interior of the mountain.
However, Lin Wei soon discovered that the French Army soldiers who were in a hand-to-hand combat situation did not have the weapons at hand to face this kind of battle. Once the two sides entered a hand-to-hand battle, they lost their bayonets and could only hit each other with their rifle butts. Not only is it not efficient at all. And the rifle is really not suitable for the narrow terrain like the cave entrance.
After all, Germany and France are now on the same front. In order to help the French, Lin Wei can only ask the soldiers of the Prince Eugen Division to lend the French soldiers the engineer shovels they carry anytime and anywhere to help the French soldiers train in hand-to-hand combat. Paying attention to the skills, French soldiers quickly fell in love with this weapon, especially Lin Wei. In order to survive the armed SS, he specially customized this serrated engineer shovel from the factory, so that this engineer shovel was more lethal. It has been improved to more than one level.
French soldiers with this kind of weapon will not suffer in hand-to-hand combat. So when the French soldiers on the mountain showed their sapper shovels with murderous intent, the British soldiers only felt a cold air rising from the soles of their feet. As a soldier of the Waffen SS, the engineer shovel is their last weapon at close range, so they are usually kept very carefully. It is polished to a shiny finish, and the serrations on the right side can fully reflect the lethality of this weapon. So from the very beginning of the battle, the scene was in a very bloody state. The French soldier used the engineer shovel to open and close the British soldier's head and upper limbs. As long as he could touch the British soldier's body, the sharp saw teeth could bring out a piece of flesh and blood.
It doesn't matter whether the injury is serious or not, as long as it is touched, it will drip with blood and temporarily lose the ability to defend. Moreover, a large amount of blood loss will greatly reduce the physical strength of British soldiers. The French soldiers with engineer shovels in their hands quickly controlled the entrance to the interior of the mountain this time.
"Just control the entrance of the cave and order the troops to stop attacking! Control the entrance of the cave. Now we need to study it in detail. After all, we don't know anything about it!" General Wei Gang cautiously stopped the attack.
"Yes, General!" The adjutant took a step back, turned around and disappeared into General Wei Gang's room.
Like the French Army on the mountain, today's storming has achieved great results. Under the continuous storming of the German-French coalition, which has figured out the British's true and false reality, the British soon became unable to withstand it. Now the German-French coalition has occupied Gibraltar. One-third of the fortress, although not large, has finally gained a foothold. Moreover, the French army that has gained a foothold on Mount Gibraltar will provide greater help to Prince Eugen's division.
Therefore, when General Weygand ordered the French army to stop attacking, Lin Wei also ordered Prince Eugen's Division to stop attacking at the same time. The German and French armies must maintain highly consistent movements so that they can use their strength in one place.
"Take a rest today. The attack will begin early tomorrow morning. Don't give the British a chance to breathe!" Lin Wei ordered.
"Leader, your Majesty is calling!" Robert C. Crawford came in and said.
"Your Majesty?" Lin Wei opened the telegram from William II with doubts, and then his face became solemn.
"Leader, what?" Robert C. Crawford asked.
"Your Majesty, ask me when the Battle of Gibraltar will end!" Lin Wei said helplessly. In fact, Lin Wei is also thinking about why William II is so anxious about the progress of the Battle of Gibraltar. In fact, it is easy to see that Germany will win this battle sooner or later. It is only a matter of time. Lin Wei really couldn't figure it out.
In fact, William II ordered Lin Wei to step up the capture of Gibraltar not because of anything else but because he landed in England. These two things may seem unrelated, but in fact, if you think about it carefully, they are closely related.