The transport fleet was getting closer and closer to the coast. A huge sound of artillery fire exploded not far away. The bullets from the heavy machine guns were fired at the landing fleet as if for free, hitting the ship with a ping-ping-pong-pong sound. People feel all the time how fragile people's lives are in war. It would be false to say that they are not nervous at this time, and these elite soldiers are certainly no exception, but their honor as German soldiers does not allow them to retreat and can only move forward bravely. To say the least, a military court would not let them retreat!
The soldiers have even felt that the important moment is coming. They are less than three hundred meters away from the coast. People are counting silently in their hearts. When the landing begins, they will use their entire life's strength to Come for a chance to win and survive.
Boom..., some transport ships have been loaded with obstacles set up by British soldiers in the shoals, and some unlucky transport ships were damaged by the cannonballs tied to the obstacles. However, none of this can stop the German army's determination to land now. As long as there is a slight chance, the German army will strive for victory as much as possible.
Three, two, one, while the soldiers were silently counting how long it was until they docked, the transport ship had already begun to prepare for landing, and some soldiers had even heard the sound of the ship rubbing against each other.
With a bang, the ship's plank that had been blocking the British soldiers from shooting was opened. At the same time, the soldiers jumped into the sea like tigers descending from a mountain, and kept swimming to the shore. Some lower-level officers shouted, "Quick, quick, quick..., don't Stand back, this is a figure that only the bravest can complete!”
Guderian, who was in the command post on the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and a group of officers who were commanding the landing operations this time, were staring unblinkingly at the movement on the beach. The exposed veins in their hands showed that they were now How nervous I feel. If possible, they might even sympathize with the current mood of those soldiers.
The British army did not give up resistance because they could not prevent the German troops from landing. They still have a chance, that is, to annihilate the German landing soldiers on the beach, or to wait for British soldiers from other areas to come to support. In any case, it is still somewhat difficult to give up resistance now. It's too early to tell. The winner has not been decided yet. The German soldiers rushed to the beach with all their strength, and what they responded to was the Maxim machine gun in the British fortifications. The Maxim machine gun's rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute set off a death storm. Row after row of German soldiers seemed to They were laid down on the ground, in the sea, and on the beach like wheat. In just a few minutes, Germany paid the price with the deaths of thousands of soldiers.
Guderian's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at them. These were the best soldiers in Germany. When he selected them, he did not prepare them to die, but to fight for victory for Germany. Seeing these best soldiers How could Guderian not feel distressed by the worthless death.
When the German soldiers refused to retreat, the combined fleet did not stop. Instead, it continued to use heavy artillery to support the landing German soldiers, which relieved a certain amount of pressure on the German soldiers. But this was not enough to kill the unobstructed German soldiers in the open field. Although there were some obstacles for German soldiers to hide, more soldiers were still hit by dense bullets and lay on the ground forever.
"We can't go on like this, otherwise our soldiers will die and we won't be able to rush forward. We must call the air force to solve the problem!" Guderian shouted. At the critical moment, Guderian still thought of providing armor for the Battle of France. A group of Stuka dive bombers cleared the obstacle. People hurriedly contacted the Air Force. The Second Air Force in northern France was responsible for providing air support to the landing troops. To a large extent, the Air Force's intensity in participating in this operation determined the success or failure of the landing operation.
In fact, the Stuka dive bomber wing came here almost every half hour to conduct bombings, but now Guderian can't wait so much. Although the battleship's main gun is extremely powerful, it is not very accurate. So done. The machine gun bunkers of British soldiers are now the most dangerous enemies, and to deal with these small bunkers, Stuka dive bombers are the most suitable choice.
After a while, with the support of the Stuka dive bomber wing, the German landing force, which was suppressed on the beach after landing, finally ended the passive beating that made Guderian feel palpitating, and finally stood firm on the beach. Heel. Provide a small landing site for German follow-up troops. Seeing that the early landing troops had achieved gratifying results, Guderian left and ordered, "The full-scale landing begins!!"
This time was not a tentative landing of hundreds of transport ships, but thousands of transport ships dispatched at the same time. They braved the artillery fire of the British army and sent a total of 100,000 landing troops to the beach. Now the German army no longer uses them. Worried about being driven overboard. But they are still at a disadvantage. The total number of British troops in the Dover area exceeds 200,000, but the total strength of the German landing force is only 150,000. Not to mention the three-to-one offensive and defensive advantage, they are still numerically weak. one party.
Although the German army and the British defenders are now successful and defended, the longer the time goes, the more disadvantageous it will be to the German army. You must know that the support of the British army is much faster than that of Germany coming across the sea. Germany must break this situation in a short time. A stalemate situation.
In order to reverse this disadvantage, Guderian knew that now must be the time to use armored groups. Some of the last transport ships carrying tanks entered the beach and landed on it. Since the British army was engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the German army on the beach, and They didn't pay attention to these transport ships. Anyway, from their perspective, they were just another group of soldiers coming up. Unexpectedly, Guderian's transport ships contained Germany's famous armored forces.
As these surface transport ships approached the beach, some British soldiers with good eyesight suddenly felt that there seemed to be something in the sea water, but they did not know what it was. But they knew what it was. A light tank suddenly rushed out of the water, and then hundreds of tanks rushed out of the water like it.
Lieutenant General Alexander, the commander of the British army, never expected that the Germans would actually drive the tank through the water. It's unbelievable. In fact, Guderian also had trouble saying that these tanks were not German Panzer IV tanks at all. The Panzer IV tanks were too heavy and could not be converted into water tanks. Moreover, Germany did not have so many tanks for Guderian to transform into water tanks. Now in The light tank on the beach was manufactured by the Skoda Arsenal in Czechoslovakia.
It stands to reason that Germany should have established a powerful armored cluster after preparing for war for so many years. However, in fact, Germany's armored cluster is not as powerful as seen. Whether it is Britain or France, they do not have as many tanks as Germany. The difference is The key is tactics. Although Britain and France have fallen, the number of Soviet tanks still far exceeds that of Germany.
By the time the war broke out, not only the quality but also the quantity of German tanks could not meet the requirements of armored cluster tactics. This dilemma forced the German army to search for usable tanks everywhere to fill the troops. In 1938, Germany annexed the Czech Republic. Czech military-industrial enterprises were well-known in Europe and designed and produced several quite good light tanks, including the CKD38t. The 38t tank has a total weight of 10 tons, a height of 2.3 meters, an armor thickness of 25 mm, which was later increased to 50 mm. It is equipped with a 37 mm L/48 cannon, two machine guns, a six-cylinder gasoline engine with a power of 150 horsepower, and a maximum road speed of 42 kilometers per hour. . The 38t tank is a light tank with combat effectiveness similar to the Pz3 type, but it is only half as heavy, so it has good maneuverability. However, the 38t armor is riveted, not welded. When hit, the rivets will be knocked off and fly around inside the tank, causing unnecessary casualties. This tank is undoubtedly a timely help to the German army. Before the Battle of Poland, all 4 armored divisions were equipped with Pz38t. The water tank currently in Guderian's hands is modified from the Pz38t tank.
The appearance of these hundreds of tanks caused an uproar among the British defenders. The power of the German armored clusters was obvious to everyone, as evidenced by the fact that they killed France in one month. Therefore, after the tanks appeared, there was an immediate uproar among British soldiers. With the support of more than a hundred light tanks, the German soldiers immediately stabilized their position. Although they were light tanks, they must have exerted great power in the hands of German soldiers.
Many transport ships were driven directly to the beach by the captains and stranded on the beach. The tanks that came down from above were genuine Panzer IV tanks this time, not the kind made in the Czech Republic. The German armored group was finally hidden and transported to the beach by Guderian, and now the German army can finally conduct its own fighting method.
The tank troops that came ashore did not even form a formation, and immediately attacked the junction of the British positions on a battalion and company scale. The German soldiers followed the tanks and rushed towards the British positions. Now the British machine gun bunkers can no longer stop the charge of German soldiers.
The British position does not have any dangerous locations near the coast, and the German armored clusters can be used to their fullest. The British army commander, Lieutenant General Alexander, knew that at this time, the German army's attack was no longer something that British soldiers could resist with their lives. Immediately let the British soldiers at the forefront retreat. A hundred meters behind them, there was an anti-tank trench that had already been dug. Although it is a temporary retreat, as long as the British soldiers hold on here, they will definitely be able to come back and drive the landing German troops into the sea!