Chapter 551 The storm is coming (two-in-one chapter)
It’s night! It’s midnight or early morning.
Hu Biao and other six people once again ran for 45 kilometers before returning to the artillery position and rendezvousing with Lieutenant Don Collier and others who were waiting for them there.
What a guy! In less than 12 hours, I traveled more than 90 kilometers back and forth.
In addition, for almost 20 hours before, not only did they not get a good rest, but they were also constantly fighting and preparing for missions.
Under such circumstances, even Hu Biao and the others who had strong bloodlines felt very tired due to their extraordinary physiques.
With a look of exhaustion on their faces, even Lieutenant Don Collier could tell by looking at them that these guys were exhausted.
After thinking of something, Lieutenant Don Collier raised his head and glanced at the sky. He could clearly see that there was no moonlight in the sky tonight.
Instead, there were dark clouds lingering, and it seemed that a heavy rain was about to come.
After hesitating for a moment, he discussed it with Hu Biao:
"Second Lieutenant Hu, how about we stay here for a few more hours? Because this will not only allow you to take a rest, but also avoid the upcoming heavy rain.
When it doesn't rain tomorrow morning, it won't be too late for us to continue setting off.
According to our previous reconnaissance, there are no German troops nearby, and it is relatively safe here; and even if heavy rain damages the road, with the passage and towing capabilities of our tanks, there is no need to worry about your truck getting stuck on the road."
To be honest, what Hu Biao wants to do most right now is to lie down and have a good sleep.
Even if there is no comfortable big bed, even if you sleep on the hard ground in the open air, you are still looking forward to it.
As a result, after hearing what Lieutenant Don Collier said, even the last concerns in his heart were immediately dismissed, and he quickly nodded in agreement with such a statement.
He immediately ordered Qingtian, the team cook, to prepare some serious food for them, so that they could fill their bellies first.
And because of the existing German artillery positions, they did not have to sleep in the open.
After a large number of German soldiers were killed, there were enough field tents here to accommodate them.
In this way, Hu Biao and others first ate a meal of captured German cans to fill their already hungry stomachs; not to mention! Hu Biao and others were very lucky.
Because in addition to some vegetables they seized, the canned goods they also seized were canned pig head cans from Germany.
As we all know, among the military cans during World War II, the soldiers’ canned beef and the German canned pork were definitely among the best.
But compared to the canned beef sold at the Little Devil's House, and the canned Spam luncheon meat sold by the soldiers, these things are much better.
Especially when Qingtian put all the canned pork into a military pot, added water and stewed it in a large pot with some vegetables.
It may not look that good in terms of appearance, but it tastes really good.
In this way, Hu Biao and the others had a hearty meal.
In fact, while these people were waiting for the food to be stewed, they soaked their feet in hot water, which somewhat relieved some of the physical fatigue of the past few days.
Finally, around 1:30 a.m., Hu Biao got into a one-man tent.
He pulled a dirty blanket over his body, and as soon as he closed his eyes, a loud snoring sounded from his mouth.
This loud snoring sound was transmitted out and merged with the surrounding snoring sounds to form a loud chorus.
So much so that the girl Ye Yu had to plug her ears with cotton after tossing and turning a lot, and then she fell asleep.
At this point, except for 2 open posts and 2 hidden posts in this camp, everyone else has entered the dream.
By the way! If everything goes well, they will get up in about 5 hours, finish breakfast as quickly as possible, and start returning to the safe regimental headquarters not far from Omaha Beach.
By then, because of Hu Biao's outstanding performance in recent times, he will also be recommended by Lieutenant Don Collier.
Of course, thanks to the death of that damn Lieutenant Decker, the position of company commander of D Company became vacant.
Just as Hu Biao expected, he might be able to get a promotion order soon.
The problem is that among the system's consistent tasks, there is no such thing as saying that everything is normal; therefore, a more difficult task is coming for them.
Regarding this, Hu Biao and the others, who were sleeping soundly at this moment, still knew nothing about it.
Compared with the new mission they are about to face, the Tiger tanks and the 45-kilometer forced march they experienced before are just appetizers.
By the way! After 12 midnight, the current date is June 19, 1944...
******
After Hu Biao and others entered into the sweet dream, some bad things that they didn't know about were constantly fermenting.
At 2:03 in the middle of the night, in the dark English Channel.
At this moment, there were still a large number of ships with their bright headlights on, and they were constantly shuttling and sailing among them.
Speaking of such a scene, it is actually not unusual at all.
Because up to now, the Allies' huge landing force has still not succeeded in capturing and controlling a large port.
The large number of landing troops requires a huge amount of supplies for every day's operations.
Therefore, the current Allied forces have no choice but to use landing craft and ferries to continuously transport supplies to various beaches day and night.
Then use cars and other means of transportation to continue transporting to various front lines.
Damn it! Those soldiers with deep pockets can afford such a material transfer method, but Guo Jia would have gone bankrupt long ago if it had been replaced.
In the above situation, only landing craft can be used to transport supplies.
It is estimated that only by conquering large port cities such as Cherbourg can the situation fundamentally improve.
This is also the biggest reason why Hu Biao and his team received the armed reconnaissance mission, because the Allied forces have already launched an attack plan against Useburg.
A large amount of equipment and troops are being assembled towards the outskirts of Cherbourg.
Once during this process, the offensive force is defeated by a large-scale German armored force, and if someone comes up on the flank, it will have a great impact on the entire subsequent battle plan of the Allies...
Looking out the window into the blinding night, Bruce Jones, a private and a lieutenant commander in the navy.
After pouring a sip of scalding coffee into his mouth, he suddenly showed a very hopeless expression.
Mainly because in such a midnight time, not only was he unable to have a good rest, but he had to drink strong, bitter coffee to refresh himself and cheer up for the task he was performing.
Bruce Jones, the captain of a Cleveland-class light cruiser in the Private Navy series.
Considering Germany's famous submarine force, if it passes through the anti-submarine nets at both ends of the strait and enters the English Channel, it will pose a huge threat to the material transport troops.
The Allies prepared a large number of escort troops for this purpose to escort the convoys transporting supplies.
Perhaps this is the reason why poor Major Bruce Jones has never had a good rest since the start of Operation Overlord, and he is now mentally exhausted.
After drinking a cup of bitter coffee, he still felt a strong sense of tiredness.
To this end, he said to the first mate beside him:
"Hey! Lieutenant Mark, help me keep an eye on this place. I need to go to the deck to blow the sea breeze now. I hope the cold sea breeze can make my damn mind clearer."
After hearing this, First Mate Mark, who also had heavy dark circles around his eyes, nodded and said:
"You go ahead, Captain, although according to my experience, except for a bed, any other method will not be effective and will not solve the fundamental problem."
Under such teasing, Bruce Jones walked to the bow of the ship.
I don't know if it was because he was too sleepy, but the captain and captain stood behind the bow. Although he always felt that something was wrong tonight.
But his head is now severely shut down. What is the unexpected reason?
Finally, after a huge ups and downs on the bow of the ship almost caused him to fall to the deck, Major Bruce Jones suddenly woke up:
It's the weather here in the English Channel that has changed and become worse.
Damn it! Such a big wind and wave, even a thousand-ton light cruiser like theirs is heaving violently.
So if the target is changed to those landing craft and ferries with limited tonnage that can be described as pocket-sized, wouldn't the environment on the sponge at this moment be a huge disaster?
After thinking of this, Bruce Jones magically became energetic amidst the great panic.
Immediately, he planned to run back to the command room to contact the headquarters and suggest that they immediately stop such a material delivery mission, which was tantamount to asking the pilots of the landing craft to commit suicide.
Subsequent material delivery can only wait until this storm subsides.
As for during this period, due to the lack of supplies, those army units that have already landed in Normandy will suffer heavy losses in the German counterattack.
In this case, he, a small navy lieutenant commander, can't take care of that much.
Because sacrificing a small number of people to achieve more things for a few people is not at all in line with the spirit of freedom and freedom in Uncle Sam's family.
It is a pity that Major Bruce Jones has no way to provide such a suggestion to the Allied Command.
Because when he started running, a ferry, driven by huge waves, uncontrollably collided with the light cruiser he was on.
Immediately in this violent collision, poor Second Lieutenant Bruce Jones lost his balance at his feet and was thrown far away in the impact.
He bumped directly into a naval gun and fainted to death on the spot with a bloody head.
That is to say, one of his sailors reacted in time and grabbed him by the collar, otherwise the poor major would have been thrown into the sea.
At the same time, on land in the Normandy region.
A heavy rain that had been brewing for some time had already started falling suddenly, and it was so heavy that people could only see a few meters away.
"What the hell! There were so many tents, how could I choose one that was leaking?"
When a stream of cold rain hit his face and head, Hu Biao woke up with a jolt.
It's just that he was a little too tired, and after instinctively complaining, he just moved his position slightly to get rid of the leaking hole in the tent, and fell asleep again.
He didn't even realize what such a heavy rain meant to him and the entire Central Continent team, and what it would bring...
Time: 4:17 am.
Location: Behind a conference room in the secure Allied headquarters in the rear.
Uncle Sam's five-star general, the famous General Eisenhower, while yawning widely, gave himself a cup of coffee first.
After finishing his coffee, he asked the generals who had already filled the conference room:
"Okay, everyone is here now, right?
Now that everyone is here, Smith, please introduce the situation to everyone and let everyone know why we urgently woke everyone up for the meeting at such a time."
Under such instructions, his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Smith, held a report in his hand and began to speak to the generals present:
"Dear generals, I have to inform you of bad news.
Starting at around two o'clock this morning, strong winds above level 8 suddenly blew in the English Channel, causing the waves to reach a height of 1.8 meters. It can be said to have caused a devastating blow to our material delivery process.
It's just up to now, after some preliminary statistics.
After a collision between a light cruiser and a ferry, both suffered serious losses. In addition, 1 large landing craft, 1 oil tanker, 3 barges, 7 trawlers, and more than 60 small landing craft were sunk.
.
In fact, about 800 landing craft were blown ashore in the huge waves and suffered various damages.
To make matters worse, according to our urgent inquiry to the meteorological department, they said that such bad weather will last for at least 5 days.
In other words, the planned 20,000 vehicles and 100,000 tons of materials have no way of delivering these critical items in time."
After saying this, he finally made it clear to everyone the reason for convening this emergency meeting.
At this time, Eisenhower, who had finished the entire cup of coffee, also started to speak: "Everyone, now I want everyone to talk about what the Allied forces should do next in the face of this bad news.
what to do.
What to do with the attacking troops, and how to deal with possible German counterattacks?"
Under such a series of questions from the five-star general's mouth, all the big shots present could not help but frown heavily.
Indeed! This is a big trouble.
There is no need to doubt the combat effectiveness of German sticks. The fact that Guo Jia's troops were beaten into dogs before is the best illustration.
Now that they are able to achieve such good progress in the war, on the one hand, millions of soldiers have joined the Allied forces, giving them an absolute advantage in terms of military strength.
On the other hand, it wasn't because the addition of soldiers gave them powerful firepower that could crush German sticks.
The key is that most of the combat effectiveness of the soldiers who can use cannons but never use guns is based on strong fire support and density.
Once there is a shortage in material supply, fire support will be reduced or even eliminated.
It can be said that these soldiers are nothing.
Therefore, the current crisis can be said to be huge, and even if they are the ones who landed, they may be driven into the sea.
At the thought of such a possibility, the big shots present all shuddered.
For this reason, these big shots had to cheer up and discuss such an issue; they knew that they must come up with a response plan as soon as possible.
Like in the old days, it was totally unacceptable to spend a long time worrying about a trivial matter.
In this way, the efficiency of these big shots suddenly became incredibly efficient.
Finally, they studied until around 6 a.m. and came up with a preliminary response plan, which looked roughly like this:
All attacking troops immediately stopped advancing and built fortifications on the spot.
In order to deal with the German army, it is possible to take this opportunity to launch a counterattack plan; as for the attack, we will wait until this terrible weather has passed and the supplies have returned to normal.
Of course, there are also exceptional troops among them.
That is, the troops attacking Cherbourg must not stop here, but must continue to increase their efforts and launch more violent attacks, and must take Cherbourg in the shortest possible time.
Because if you have a port like Cherbourg with a large deep-water terminal and strong material handling capacity in your hands.
Then next time we encounter a similar situation, we can also use large freighters to transport supplies to avoid embarrassing situations like this again.
怆愯瘽璇达纴鐩铓嶆湕畇簲扉涔︽涶濂界敤镄刟pp锛屽挭鍜阒呰hurt
Of course, in view of the information obtained by a small force of armed reconnaissance yesterday evening.
We must also make relevant preparations for the German armored force that may attack the Cherbourg offensive force from the flank.
All threats must be nipped in the bud.
It's just that the bad weather at hand has not only caused huge troubles to the transportation of supplies on the sea; at the same time, it is a huge danger for the air troops to even take off.
It was impossible to concentrate air forces and launch an air attack of any scale against that German armored force.
The only option is to detach a force and prepare to defend that German armored force; but if you do this, you will not have enough troops to attack Cherbourg.
For this reason, the Allied Command decided to immediately mobilize the nearest armored unit to support the attack.
It's just that it may take some time for this armored unit to pass by, so other units are needed to help buy more time.
In view of this, let the troops along the way block it as much as possible.
At this point, the decision made by the Allied Command was passed through the radio as quickly as possible and sent to the many subordinate units.
I don’t know how many people’s lives have been changed by this.