In the following time, the southern end of the Arnhem Bridge became a large construction site. All the personnel in D Company began to work as coolies.
In order to survive the fierce battle that follows, no one dares to be lazy.
The members of the Central Continent team are like this, Jack and other veterans are like this, and so are the new recruits of the army.
Of course, the scruples of the new recruits towards the Chinese officers of the Central Continent Team, their fists as big as casseroles, and their overwhelming soles also accounted for a considerable part of the reason.
Under the command and leadership of the veterans of the Central Continent Team, they waved the engineering shovels in their hands and began to reinforce and transform the bridgehead position.
Taking into account the huge threat of saturation bombardment of the 150mm howitzers of the German divisions on the position.
Hu Biao and others directly demolished the nearby unoccupied residential buildings and public facilities, and used the dismantled wood, steel and other materials to reinforce the shell-proof holes.
Anyway, now they have the reputation of being soldiers. From now on, when the Dutch, the owners of those houses, come back to scold them, they will also be scolded by soldiers.
In short, with the hard work of everyone, the defenses at the southern end of the bridge were gradually improved.
Even under the leadership of the translator, a considerable number of DIY mines such as bullet mines, grenade mines, and mortar mines were deployed at the front of the position.
Two armored vehicles with ZB60 heavy machine guns were carefully formed as the firepower core of the position...
Perhaps it is because of the passage of time that D Company has become more and more prepared for defense. These guys felt a lot more relaxed when they were busy working, and they did not forget to brag.
It can be regarded as adding some more fun to the boring busy time.
For example: In the previous battle, Delo, who seemed to have finally gotten rid of the curse of being shot in the butt, was bragging to each other with Tiedan, who had been hanging on the church for a long time.
Bragging about how awesome he was in previous battles.
Seeing such a scene, Hu Biao had no intention of stopping it. The reason was very simple:
According to his experience in many system missions, once entering this defensive mode of holding the position, it represents the beginning of rapid attrition of the team.
If there are no accidents, these guys in front of me will die in various postures and methods in a short time.
Only if you can't think of it, they can't do it.
So what's the point of bragging before they die...
Perhaps because of strengthening the defenses and being too involved in bragging, everyone in D Company didn't know what was happening in the surrounding areas.
These things are related to their fate in subsequent tasks:
First, the troops of the British Airborne First Division finally set off.
I don’t know what the senior officials of the British army were thinking when they formulated the battle plan. Among the two brigades under its jurisdiction, only the first brigade began to attack the Arnhem Bridge.
The remaining 2nd Brigade stayed in place, it was said that it was needed to guard this airborne site.
More troops and supplies can arrive one after another in the follow-up time.
So after a lot of trouble, the gentlemen of the 1st Paratrooper Brigade started to take action. As a result, they ran into the hurriedly approaching German troops.
After a fierce fight, only the second battalion successfully broke through the blockade and rushed towards the bridge.
During this period, they came with the attitude of liberators. Along the way, they found that the locals in Arnhem ignored them and stayed away from them.
Finally, the 2nd Battalion arrived at the northern end of the Arnhem Bridge before nightfall and took over the defense task at the northern end.
As for the other combat units of the 1st Brigade of British Paratroopers, they decisively chose to stay on the spot at nightfall and did not continue to fight or advance.
The second point is that the British 30th Army, the main force in this battle, is led by General Brian.
It was only after it was confirmed that the 1st Parachute Division had successfully landed did the order for the entire army to set off was issued. Overall, today's progress was quite smooth.
The third point is in the area at the southern end of the Arnhem Bridge.
There is currently a battalion of German troops marching towards this side; this is an ordinary motorized infantry battalion and does not carry tanks, self-propelled artillery and other heavy equipment.
Originally, they were able to arrive in the evening, help the original defenders of a company, and hold on to their position for the next eight days.
The plan to let the Allied forces seize the bridge many times and open up contact with the 1st Parachute Division ultimately came to nothing.
The result this time? As soon as they arrived at the Degun Motorcycle Camp, they saw the Stars and Stripes flying in the wind in the sunset.
Immediately, they launched an attack on D Company's defensive position.
As a result, they didn't even get close, and the simple mines caused about ten casualties.
Therefore, in view of the fact that night is coming soon, and because the soldiers have been traveling for a long time during the day, they are exhausted.
A major battalion commander of Degun issued an order to talk about it tomorrow.
The fourth point, in the evening, is more than 30 kilometers away from the Arnhem Bridge.
The only eleven people left in the German stick team were sitting around under a big tree, smoking cigarettes and chatting intermittently.
Their group also successfully evacuated before the port of Cherbourg fell; then, after a while, they were absorbed by the 9th SS Armored Division.
Because the commander of the team, Gardru Laing, relied on his amazing individual combat capabilities to achieve outstanding achievements in the Battle of Cherbourg Port.
Now in the 9th SS Armored Division, Gardru Lein has also become the commander of an infantry company.
What! The famous ‘Operation Market Garden’ during World War II has officially started today. Of course these people from the modern plane know this.
Therefore, what they are currently discussing is what role they will play in such a large-scale anti-airborne operation.
The main reason is that at this time, their third phase mission has not been successfully triggered.
As he spoke, one of the core members, Erich, suddenly said: "By the way! I wonder how many people are left in the Central Continent team, and what is their specific strength?"
Under such an abrupt topic, the originally heated scene suddenly became dead.
The key is that in the team battle in the first stage of the mission, the Zhongzhou team's blow to their German stick team caused too much damage.
So far, although they have regained some confidence through the battle at Cherbourg Port.
But when I think about the Zhongzhou team, they still have some lingering fears about the crowd tactics of several of them beating up one person here.
Seeing such a scene, Gardru Laing, the commander of the German stick team, suddenly felt something like "the people are in confusion and it is difficult to lead the team", and he felt inexplicably desolate.
However, as the team commander's responsibility, he knew that he could not allow things to develop like this.
Otherwise, in a situation where the third phase of the mission, which is destined to meet, has not yet started, and our morale is so low, what's the point of making a fuss?
For this reason, Gadrul Lain used an exciting tone to cheer up his men:
"You don't have to worry about Team Zhongzhou using the human wave tactic anymore.
Because according to a piece of good news I recently learned, in the blocking battle outside Cherbourg three months ago, the small troops that blocked the 17th SS Armored Division were actually Chinese.
Therefore, there is no doubt that blocking the 17th Armored Division is the second phase of the Central Continent Team's mission.
An armored division of the SS, even a remnant of it, represents a powerful force, and how much does it cost to stop it? You should all know this.
Therefore, after completing the second phase of the mission, the Zhongzhou team may not have as many people as us now."
Frankly speaking, it can be said that Gardru Laing's statement above is very organized and reasonable, and it can withstand repeated scrutiny by the remaining members of the German stick team.
For a time, under such good news, the remaining members of the German stick team became energetic.
The overall morale is rising at a speed visible to the naked eye.
And at this time, the system's voice, which had been quiet for almost three months, finally sounded in the heads of the remaining members of the German stick team:
"Congratulations to Commander Gardru Lain, and congratulations to all members of the German Stick Team, the third phase of this system mission is officially released.
First, participate in the 9th SS Armored Division to counterattack the Allies' Operation Market Garden, and completely capture the north and south ends of the Arnhem Bridge before 1 a.m. on July 26.
If any end of the bridge fails to be successfully captured before this time, the mission in this phase will be considered a failure.
Second, please note that this phase of the task is the last link of this task.
If it fails, the system will randomly kill 5 people as punishment, and all those who died in this mission will not be allowed to be resurrected.
The system will not treat the injuries of surviving personnel.
Third, in this phase of the mission, the activity area of all members of the German stick team is limited to the current rest camp and the area within 30 kilometers around the Arnhem Bridge.
During this period, anyone who leaves this restricted area will be immediately wiped out and will not be allowed to be resurrected afterwards."
Just when the sound of the system fell, a barrel truck drove into the military camp at speed; soon after, the command for everyone to urgently assemble was heard.
There is no doubt that this unit of the 9th SS Armored Division is about to take action.
Thinking that what they have to face now is a Zhongzhou team that has been severely damaged, all the members of the German stick team began to look forward to it one by one.
He didn't notice that the smile on their commander Gardru Laing's face was a little far-fetched.
****
The time was, September 18, 1944, when it was early 6 o'clock in the morning, the sky was only slightly bright.
Location: In Arnhem, the second largest city in the Netherlands, at the southern end of the Arnhem Bridge.
At that time, Hu Biao fell into a shell-proof cave that still smelled of moist earth. He was wrapped in a blanket captured from the German army and slept soundly.
There is no way! The fortifications built by the German army before were lacking in strength and there were too many places where they needed to be extremely strong.
The German offensive troops have already appeared.
So last night, a group of people from Company D used the light provided by the generator and worked until about 2 o'clock in the middle of the night to initially strengthen the fortifications.
And when everyone except the sentry can sleep.
Hu Biao and Yang Dongli, the two company commanders, carried out a final inspection of the entire fortifications with flashlights.
After confirming that there were no major problems, it was already 5 o'clock.
Thinking that this was a long-lasting battle, Hu Biao and Yang Dongli quickly took the time to rest.
However, he felt that he had only slept for a short while, and there was a burst of urging in his ears: "Old Hu, wake up quickly, there is something wrong~"
At such a sentence, Hu Biao woke up like a conditioned launch.
With the force of the waist pole, his whole body bounced up.
As a result, his body bounced up, and his head hit the steel beam used to reinforce a bulletproof hole, causing his eyes to be filled with dangling gold stars.
"What the hell! What's going on? If something like this happens so early in the morning, the omen is not good."
Hu Biao suddenly began to curse...
In the following time, Hu Biao rubbed his forehead while running to pick up the telescope and looked towards the front of the position.
In the dim light of the early morning, I saw a company of German soldiers scattered across a rather wide front.
Holding the weapon, the cat bent over and pressed towards this side.
Because in the exploratory attack yesterday evening, they suffered losses from the simple mines in front of the position, so they were in front of this company of German soldiers.
Now there is still about a squad of engineers, exploring the road little by little in front.
Under the busy work of these engineers with professional equipment, the simple mines deployed by Hu Biao and others yesterday were easily eliminated one by one.
Far from being as effective as blocking the 17th SS Armored Division on a rainy night.
But it’s normal to think about it. That night was completely due to the right time and location, and it was only on the side of the Central Continent team that the miraculous result occurred.
The scene in front of us is a normal state, and mines are always just an auxiliary means in battle.
As for further away, Hu Biao faintly saw a German artillery position.
As well as the German stick troops of the other two companies, they are also currently ready for battle and seem to be able to enter the battlefield at any time.
However, based on Hu Biao's understanding of the German gun-mounted infantry battalions during World War II, he didn't have to worry about the artillery positions attached to such battalions.
Because among the infantry units at the Degun Battalion level, there are only six 80mm mortars as battalion support firepower; the maximum driving range of this thing is 2.4 kilometers, and its power is not bad.
In addition, including the companies, each company has three 50mm mortars for a total of nine.
But this kind of 50mm mortar has a maximum range of only 500 meters. The power of the shells is just stronger than the Japanese grenade, so there is no need to worry at all.
Just like the saying that Hu Biao often shouted:
When they held their position, they were hit by large-caliber artillery fire many times. Who do you think a small pipe like this is?
Based on the above, these attackers in front of them can be regarded as an offensive force that is not worth mentioning among the many scenes that Hu Biao and others have experienced. D Company is fully confident in holding its position.
Seeing this, Hu Biao shouted with confidence:
"Warehouse manager, you're damn dead, hurry up and kill those German engineer soldiers."
As a result, after the words were spoken, there was no response for a while; until Lang Qing couldn't stand it anymore and said: "Old Hu, the warehouse manager has been dead for three months, and now there is probably grass growing on the grave."
The head is high."
Well, it was only at this time that Hu Biao realized that the warehouse manager failed in the last rainy night blocking battle.
But you can't blame him for this! He shouted so smoothly before.
With this thought, Hu Biao changed his order again: "Lang Qing, Xiling, and Fei Falcon, from now on, you three will temporarily serve as snipers. First, kill these German engineers for me.
Bacon, company commander, your mortar platoon should not be in a hurry to fire. Wait for the opportunity and destroy the opponent's mortar position first.
Others, please don't worry. What we want is to hold on for a longer time, not how many opponents we want to kill.
Now stay in the trenches and have breakfast first."
Under such an order, Lang Qing, Xi Ling, and Fei Falcon, three personnel with "Basic Rifle Use Proficiency", immediately changed into a 98K rifle captured yesterday and began to temporarily serve as snipers.
Then, when the three of them pulled the trigger almost at the same time, three German engineers more than 500 meters away were shot in the head, heart, neck and other vital parts, and fell down in response to the gunfire.
Instinctively, the remaining engineers threw away the tools in their hands and lay directly on the ground.
However, when Feifan and the other three people pulled the bolt of their guns and reloaded a round of bullets, the action of lying down to reduce the number of targets did not save the lives of these German engineers.
Like hitting a fixed target, the remaining German engineers were killed one by one on the spot.
Faced with this situation where manual demining could no longer continue, the German side could only start shelling.
The artillery position of the battalion began to show its power, using mortar shells one after another to continuously bombard the front position of the position.
After a lot of hard work, three relatively safe passages were finally opened.
Finally, when the time reached around 8:30 in the morning, after Hu Biao and the others had finished their breakfast for a while, the battle really started.
About 200 German soldiers, under the cover of mortars and multiple machine guns, rushed towards the position.