Chapter 558: Layer upon Layer Blocking (4) [two-in-one chapters]
Under the protection of the division's security company and a group of elite SS soldiers, Otto Baum walked all the way through the heavy rain and arrived at a location where a battle had just occurred.
Adding up the front and back, it's just over a kilometer.
However, he walked for a total of 20 minutes. Under the raincoat, the originally straight and handsome SS uniform was completely soaked by the rain.
Even during this process, the security company commander under him was holding an umbrella above his head.
Even so, he was still completely soaked, and the beautiful boots under his feet were all covered in mud.
After arriving at the latest battlefield and seeing the small but extremely fierce post-war tragedy, the acting division commander couldn't care less about such trivial matters as his clothes getting soaked.
This is at a crossroads, and the only commanding height is a small hill about 10 meters high.
As Otto Baum walked silently, at this crossroads, he saw some very shocking situations.
A Panther tank weighing 44.8 tons was overturned directly in the center of the intersection, next to a huge crater.
Among them, a tank group of 5 people was dragged out from the escape door at the bottom of the tank, and 3 people were directly shocked to death...
Now the rescuers were placed on the roadside, only covered with a tattered raincoat, so they looked indescribably shocking at this moment.
(It was previously written that a Leopard tank only weighs more than 20 tons. I will correct it here.)
With Otto Baum's rich combat experience, he could tell a lot just by looking at every detail on the battlefield.
For example, from the depth and range of the crater, we basically know that the opponent should have converted a 150 mm caliber artillery shell into a mine.
They had done this kind of thing a lot on the Eastern Front battlefield before, and they used this tactic to harm quite a few of Maozi's T-34 tanks.
Even the KV-2, Maozi's heavy tank.
What they didn't expect was that such a tactic was very enjoyable for them to use at the time, but now that it fell on them, they felt indescribably depressed.
The reason is simple. As the Allies continued to intensify their strategic bombing of the mainland, many arsenals were destroyed during the bombing.
Well-made equipment such as Tiger and Panther tanks are increasingly difficult to replenish.
It can be said that the Panzer IV tank is better, but the loss of every Tiger and Panther tank will make the German officers at the division level feel distressed.
And right next to the Panther tank with its tracks pointing upward, not far away, there was only a pile of charred remains of a Panzer IV tank.
Surrounding these two tanks, at least 20 infantrymen fell down.
So much so that under the erosion of the rain, the large amount of water on the ground at this intersection was now obviously blood red.
The air was filled with a strong smell of blood that even heavy rain could not wash away.
Based on all the above reasons, the German soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield seemed to be very depressed.
Overall, the expression on their faces.
In addition to the tired look on their faces caused by marching under heavy rain for a long time, there is also a look of fear that cannot be hidden; under Otto Baum's keen observation, these people can also be seen facing the roadside from time to time.
The night kept looking around.
He seemed to be worried that a fatal bullet would be fired at them at some point.
As for the culprits who caused all this, most of them are now missing.
The only person left behind was a man who was still clutching a broken-edged table knife in his hand after he died in the battle. Specifically, it was a German stick that cooks used to remove bones.
Because this guy who is already dead is very likely to be a cook.
The reason why among the attackers, this guy who was suspected to be a cook was left behind.
The biggest reason was that when he was ambushing the Metropolitan Armored Division, his left leg was shot in half by a machine gun bullet at the knee.
After losing the ability to move, his Chinese comrades were unable to evacuate quickly with him due to the arrival of a large number of personnel from their own side.
In the end, he had no choice but to stay here.
However, if we follow Western tradition, in such a desperate situation, even the bravest warrior will choose to surrender decisively.
In exchange for a chance to be treated decently and survive after treatment.
But God knows! What are the thoughts in the minds of these Chinese soldiers, and what kind of structure are they? It is as if surrendering and being captured is a matter of course, which they regard as the greatest humiliation in life.
Judging from the bullet casings scattered on the ground, the cook who refused to surrender should have fired all the bullets from the M3 submachine gun in his hand first.
Then facing the approaching German soldiers, he fired all the magazines of the M911 pistol as a secondary weapon.
In the end, they even had a brief but intense hand-to-hand fight with this sharp knife.
During this time, this ridiculously tough cook was hit by at least seven or eight bullets, and even more injuries from bayonets, gun butts, and engineer shovels.
The dense wounds on his body are the best proof of the above...
Silently looking at all the traces of the battle on this small battlefield, Otto Baum let out a sigh after looking around completely.
He knew that the small number of blocking troops caused them far greater trouble than imagined.
What if, due to the troubles of these people, the 17th SS Armored Division was unable to arrive outside Cherbourg Port in time and launch an attack before more reinforcements arrived.
Then the performance of the entire 17th SS Armored Division in the Normandy region will be reduced to a big joke.
After lowering his head and thinking for a minute or two, out of admiration for these heroic Chinese opponents, he turned to the guard company commander behind him, who although it was useless, had been trying hard to hold an umbrella for him.
With a somewhat sad expression, he explained like this:
"Okay! We have to admit that this Chinese soldier is another warrior, a warrior worthy of our admiration, just like his two colleagues who died in the battle before.
Send a barrel truck to load his body and bury his body with his two former comrades. He deserves such treatment."
The guard company commander, who had blond hair and handsome facial features, nodded quickly after hearing this.
Shouldn't it be said? These officers of the SS who were devoted to the Führer did indeed do many notorious things because of their wrong values.
But at least one thing is that they can still give the most basic dignity to opponents who are worthy of admiration.
In the following time, someone would naturally transport the body of this powerful cook, Qingtian, more than 10 kilometers back, and bury it next to Zhui Feng and Mang.
Of course, there was also the half-cut table knife that was conveniently attached to the armed belt and was just an ordinary item.
Seeing that his acting division commander, Lord Otto Baum, finally spoke, he didn't have to worry that his questions would interrupt the other person's train of thought.
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
A major who was in charge of commanding the vanguard finally had the courage to ask Otto Baum for instructions in a weak tone:
"General Otto Baum, please allow me to make a suggestion.
Continuously traveling in such bad weather was originally a huge physical and mental test for the soldiers, not to mention having to constantly fight against these harassers.
A day has passed since setting off in the morning, and now all of the soldiers under his command are a little exhausted.
How about we stop to have something to eat tonight, then have a good night's rest, and wait until early tomorrow morning to start our journey again? Maybe the rain will stop early tomorrow morning, and we can make up for the lost time. .”
"No, Hankison! The more these Chinese soldiers try their best to stop us, it means there is something wrong with it.
It even explained that the top Allied forces became nervous after discovering our whereabouts, and they desperately mobilized their troops to march towards Cherbourg.
On the one hand, a death order was issued, asking these Chinese soldiers to fight to the death at all costs to slow down our advance; then whoever arrives faster may be destined to win the attack and defense of Cherbourg Port, and even the war in Normandy.
Therefore, not only can we not rest tonight, we must also move forward as quickly as possible.
As for hard work, this kind of thing is actually relative; since these Easterners can endure such high-intensity combat, then I believe that the outstanding young people of the German nation will be able to persevere in the same way."
After hearing this, the major named Hankison nodded very solemnly, but still asked a key question:
"Good general, the soldiers of the SS will not let down the great head of state.
But the soldiers may not be afraid of death, but what should they do when faced with the elusive Chinese soldier attackers who are like rats in the sewer, and the various landmines they have planted?
In the past 4 hours, we have only advanced a distance of about 5 kilometers.
According to intelligence, there are still 25 kilometers of almost the same bad road ahead. Only by crossing the hilltop where one of our artillery positions used to be, the road conditions will be better.
In order to advance this 5 kilometers distance, even if we do not count the equipment that can be repaired quickly after the track is broken.
So far, we have lost 2 Tiger tanks, 4 Panzer IV tanks, and 3 armored vehicles.
In addition, compared with the losses in equipment, the losses in personnel were more terrifying; according to statistics, we lost 97 people and suffered 162 casualties.
The vast majority of these injured personnel had their feet pierced by an insidious bullet mine; although such injuries were not fatal, they had a great impact on morale.
Now the soldiers in the vanguard are afraid to walk if they don't see the footprints on the ground; similarly, it is very unsafe to move forward while sitting on a tank."
After hearing the above data, Otto Baum couldn't help but take a breath of cold air in his mouth.
In fact, this was the first time that Otto Baum clearly understood that the blocking tactics of the Central Continent team actually caused such heavy casualties to them.
In the past, he always thought that the opponent's harassment tactic of planting simple mines and running away with a bunch of bullets was just disgusting.
But the overall casualties caused to them were only about a hundred or so.
The result? Not to mention the loss of 9 armored equipment, the infantry unit alone had lost 260 people.
Although the number of infantry in their unit is far more than the 1,200 estimated by AT, the actual total number reached 1,893.
But such a consumption rate still sounds very scary.
Damn it! If this situation really develops, it is no longer a matter of whether the 17th SS Armored Division can arrive at the Port of Cherbourg on time and then launch an attack on the flank of the soldiers.
Instead, after arriving at the port of Cherbourg, they still had the problem of not having enough strength to launch an attack due to the huge losses.
A powerful SS armored division, even if it is just the remnants of an armored division.
As a result, they were beaten like this by a small force composed of Chinese soldiers. For the personnel of the 17th SS Armored Division, it was simply a huge shame.
Thinking of such a serious consequence, Otto Baum couldn't help but shudder.
Fortunately, he had some solutions to these problems in his thinking just now; it was just that he had not yet decided to do so at that time.
The current dire situation can be said to have made Ah make up his mind.
Thinking of this, Otto Baum paused for a moment before speaking to the major:
"I remember that General Desert Fox used tanks to drag logs to clear mines on the battlefield in North Africa. It was said that it had quite good results.
Now the team stops to rest for an hour and let the soldiers have some dinner.
Then people will immediately use this method to arrange and try it."
Facing Otto Baum's arrangements, Major Hankison was still not satisfied, but asked: "General Otto Baum, what should we do about the harassment tactics of those attackers?
During the day, their hit-and-run tactics are already difficult for us to deal with, and at night it may be even more difficult for us to face their harassment."
Faced with this, Otto Baum suddenly became confident after thinking of something.
He said lightly: "It's okay! Before I came over, the commander of a squadron of the SS Orningborg unit contacted me and said that it would take at most an hour to reach our location.
It seems that we need to help us deal with those attackers before we let them play a role on the battlefield of Cherbourg."
After hearing the name 'Fort Orning Troops', Major Hankison immediately felt relaxed.
The reason is very simple: at the end of 1943, the famous "Brandenburg Force" was used as ordinary infantry and was put into the defensive war against the Maoist army. Now it has been basically abolished.
But the last remaining elite personnel were poached by the SS.
Then with these elites as the backbone, the SS formed a special force of its own at the beginning of the year. This force was codenamed 'Oningburg Force'.
With some equipment that can be said to be the most advanced in the current era, their ability in frontal combat may be only average.
But under this special environment, it can be said that it is naturally their home field.
When I thought of this, it could be said that since 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the major, who had had enough of the sneak attacks by the Central Continent team, finally breathed a sigh of relief...
******
When the German army stopped to rest for an hour and began to eat dinner.
In an abandoned wooden house about 400 meters away from them, some members of the Central Continent team were also devouring their dinner:
The famous, yet utterly disgusting Spam luncheon meat, paired with some piping hot coffee.
Because everything went smoothly during the blocking operation, these people were in a very good mood.
In addition, in such bad weather, high-intensity fighting will undoubtedly consume more mental and physical energy, and their appetite has also improved.
For a time, even Spam luncheon meat, which they had complained about countless times, was very happy to eat it.
As for the fight so far, three of their comrades have been killed in the battle, and there is also a big liar whose life or death is uncertain.
It can only be said that during the long mission, they have become accustomed to such deaths.
So much so that while eating and drinking, the translator was still in a mood and joked:
"It's over! Not only is the barbecue seller dead, but now even the owner of the fast food restaurant is dead. I don't know how long it will take for this mission to end. Husky, you can't die.
Otherwise, it will be difficult for everyone to have some serious Chinese food.”
Upon hearing this, the husky, who was already fighting with his third can of greasy Spam luncheon meat, suddenly became a little unhappy.
He cursed: "Who are you looking down on? Believe it or not, you are dead and I am still alive and well~"
But after he finished scolding, he remembered something and his expression became serious, and he said: "Translator, I recently practiced the "Basic Body Refining Technique" you wrote silently, and I seem to have some feelings about it.
Why don't you give me some guidance before this battle is over?"
In such a sentence, not to mention the translator, everyone around him became energetic.
Mainly because after seeing that the translator has achieved such good results as he continued to practice, now quite a few people in the Central Continent team, including many bloodline experts, want to have sex for free.
It's a pity that the advantages of the system are so easy to take advantage of.
So far, no one has had the slightest reaction from practicing; or in other words, the only good news is that no one has gone crazy and died because of practicing.
Therefore, when everyone was about to give up, Husky actually said that he had a reaction.