There are benefits to religious belief. At least these young people are naive. They will definitely go to heaven after death, so they have much less fear of death.
As the largest port in southern France, the Germans attach great importance to the defense of Toulon. They have built a large number of densely packed bunkers in strategic locations outside Toulon. The largest caliber coastal defense gun on the Toulon fort is 340 mm.
This was originally prepared by the French for the "Richelieu" class battleships, but now it is used by the Germans to deal with possible Allied fleets.
This level of defense can only be broken from the inside, so the role of the Resistance Army becomes even more important.
With two hours until dawn, the guerrillas left the apartment as planned and prepared to launch an attack on the German troops.
It was about four in the morning, which is usually the darkest hour before dawn.
There was no one on the street. The guerrillas walked along the street and used the cover of the buildings to cautiously advance towards the port. The Germans had patrols in the city. Through preliminary investigation, the guerrillas had already grasped the pattern of the appearance of German patrols.
In order to increase the success rate of the operation, Louis even obtained German military uniforms as camouflage, and only two sets were allowed.
These two sets of military uniforms are now worn by Louis and Henry, because they are the only two people in the entire team who can speak German. If they accidentally encounter a German patrol, at least they will not be unable to understand the language.
Henry walked at the front of the team. His missing eyes would not arouse the suspicion of the German army. The German army stationed in Toulon was a second-line force. Some soldiers even participated in the last world war. It was normal for them to be over fifty years old.
The previous reconnaissance was still very effective, the Germans were not very vigilant, and the journey was uneventful. The guerrillas successfully arrived at the planned attack position. Further ahead was the German checkpoint, which they could not bypass and could only attack by force.
The Germans were indeed very relaxed. Two German soldiers were smoking and chatting at the checkpoint, and the salty sea breeze carried the sound intermittently.
"——We are much better here, but things are really miserable over there in Normandy. I heard that the Southern Africans dispatched tens of thousands of bombers at one time——"
"——I have a relative in southern Africa who is very rich. He sent a telegram to my uncle, hoping that my uncle can also go to southern Africa——"
"Shh, let's not talk about this topic -"
It can be heard that the Germans strictly block news about southern Africa.
At the same time, the morale of the German army was really low.
This is normal. It is no longer two years ago. The North African battlefield was completely defeated, the Russian direction was retreating steadily, Italy was completely defeated, and the Allies opened a new battlefield in Normandy. It was bad news from almost all directions.
Although the German high-level officials strictly blocked it, it still could not prevent the morale of the military from fluctuating. After all, the battle lines did not lie. Although Propaganda Minister Gobert boasted in the newspaper that Germany was winning, the battle lines were getting closer and closer to the German mainland. The Germans were not stupid. On the contrary, they were affected by
The level of education is relatively high.
In Toulon in June, it was still a bit cool at night. Bennett was very excited all night and wore a little few clothes. Now the sea breeze blows, and his throat feels a little itchy.
Although Bennett tried his best to control it, his body's natural reaction was still uncontrollable, and the suppressed cough could be heard very clearly in the dark night.
The German soldiers chatting not far away also heard it.
The German soldier reacted quickly. He threw away the cigarette and immediately raised his rifle and shouted sharply. The sound of pulling the bolt and loading the bullet came from the machine gun fort made of sandbags next to him.
Bennett's face turned pale, he was confused for a moment, and his whole body began to tremble.
"It's me, we caught two sneaky guys-" Henry walked out openly and greeted them leisurely.
This situation is normal. Even if there is a curfew, there will always be people who violate orders. The German patrols can catch them every day. Some are seeking medical treatment for illness, some are thieves, and of course there are rebels. Guerrilla activities are very frequent in southern France.
.
"Why are you bringing it back? It's better to just deal with it on the spot -" Henry's military uniform had an effect, and the other person immediately relaxed.
"These two guys robbed a rich man and got a lot of good things." Henry smiled triumphantly and unabashedly, and the other person immediately became enthusiastic.
Southern France is relatively wealthy, especially port cities like Toulon. For hundreds of years, the French have set out from Toulon to North Africa to plunder wealth, and the city has grown and developed as a result.
In a few words, Henry and Louis led two guerrillas to approach the German checkpoint. The clothes in Louis' hands perfectly covered his Kimberley. On the surface, it looked like he had gained quite a lot.
Henry was very experienced and was still several meters away. He threw a pack of cigarettes over first, and when the other party was rushing to pick it up, Henry suddenly started.
Veterans know very well that in close combat, life and death can be determined in an instant, and at this time, the rifle does not have a dagger to use.
Although Henry also carries a gun, the sound of gunfire will expose the operation at night, so it is better not to use it. There is still an hour before the operation is launched.
The guy who took the cigarette was unprepared and was stabbed in the chest by Henry. His face was full of disbelief. He threw away the cigarette and grabbed Henry's hand tightly. However, he fell limply two seconds later, leaving only unconscious twitching.
As soon as another German soldier stood up from the machine gun fortress, Louis threw him to the ground. Two other guerrillas also jumped on him, cutting him to pieces.
What Henry didn't expect was that there was a third person at this post.
As soon as Henry dealt with the sentry, a German soldier walked out from the corner next to him, buttoning his buttons as he walked. Seeing the situation here, the German soldier's first reaction was not to pick up the gun, but to grab the whistle on his chest.
Henry raised his hand and shot.
At this time, it didn't matter whether the gun went off or not. If the whistle sounded, it would still alert the German troops.
In the quiet early morning, the gunshots were extremely loud.
There is still an echo——
Thank God, at this time, the sound of aircraft engines could be heard in the sky. These were bombers carrying out bombing missions against military camps and forts.
The greatest threat to the Allied fleet from the Toulon Germans came from the two 340 mm naval guns on the fort with a range of 22 kilometers.
These two naval guns were prepared for the "Richelieu" and were captured by the Germans with the turrets still attached.
The Germans directly hoisted the naval gun with the turret to the fort, built a bunker around the turret, and covered the bunker with sandbags. Unless it was directly hit by a large-caliber artillery shell or an aircraft bomb, it would be difficult to destroy it.
Just because it's difficult to destroy doesn't mean it's impossible to do anything about it.
The aviation force has many methods. They can use incendiary bombs, smoke bombs and even poison gas bombs. Naval guns are actually very difficult to operate. On warships, the ammunition supply system is used to automatically feed ammunition. The Germans have no way to change the ammunition supply.
The system is also mounted on a turret, so the threat is limited.
Compared with the gunfire in the city, the bombers in the sky are obviously more threatening.
With the appearance of the bombers, Toulon came to life almost instantly. Countless searchlights were turned on instantly, frantically searching for the bombers.
Anti-aircraft guns of various calibers also fired wildly. Regardless of whether they could shoot down the bombers, at the very least they would bring huge psychological pressure to the pilots.
Of course, the German counterattack was only to this extent. Since Toulon was not a major battlefield and the Germans did not deploy fighter jets in Toulon, the bombers were unscrupulous. The first wave almost clung to the sea and rushed straight towards the fort.
"Go, go, go - kill all the Germans!" After Henry fired, he realized that his action had been exposed. At this time, he had no other choice but to go all out and create as much trouble for the Germans as possible.
The Germans were also shooting wildly. The MG42 had a unique ultra-high rate of fire, and the gunshots sounded like a chainsaw, so the MG42 was also called the mustache chainsaw.
This night, there were hundreds of guerrillas cooperating in Toulon. They were divided into more than thirty teams and scattered in Toulon. Their tasks were different. Some teams were tasked with attacking ports, some attacking forts, and some had no specific tasks at all.
The mission is to randomly create chaos in the city to disrupt the German defense deployment.
When Henry led his squad to attack the port, he was determined to die and had no intention of surviving.
The German counterattack was much weaker than expected.
At the same time that Henry was exposed, Shen Ming and his commandos had successfully broken into the port on a submarine.
Louis did not brag. With his superb skills, he successfully drove the submarine into the port without triggering the mines, and even easily passed through the German protective net.
Almost immediately after the Italian Navy frogmen successfully attacked Alexandria, the navies of various countries strengthened the defense of the military port.
The same goes for Toulon. While the bottom of the water is densely covered with mines, there are also three protective nets equipped with early warning facilities inside and outside the port. If an Allied submarine accidentally touches the protective net, the early warning system will be directly triggered.
The Germans are indeed less vigilant, and the current protective net does not have high technology such as video surveillance. When Allied submarines penetrated Toulon, all three protective nets were destroyed. After such a long time, the Germans actually
None were found.
The German defense of Toulon is tight on the outside and loose on the inside. If the Allies try to launch an attack on Toulon from the land direction or from the sea, the Allies may suffer huge losses.
Internally, it is very easy. The German troops deployed in the Port of Toulon only have one battalion. Not only are they not full of troops, but their weapons are backward. They are all equipped with bolt-action rifles. Advanced weapons such as MP38 and 44 have not yet reached this second line.
force.
In the entire Toulon, the German army deployed only 6 battalions.
Even expanding the scope to the entire southern France, the 19th Group Army stationed by the German army only had a total of 8 infantry divisions, 1 tank division, more than 120 tanks, more than 200 aircraft and more than 30 ships.
The only main force among them is the German 11th Armored Division. This armored division is not a main force. There are only more than 100 tanks in total, and most of them are old-fashioned Type 3 tanks. There are only a few Type 4 tanks. There is no need to think about the Type 5 tanks.
In contrast, the Allied forces had nearly 400 tanks and nearly 5,000 combat aircraft in the first wave of attack forces alone. The Allies had an absolute advantage in terms of both quantity and equipment level.
When the gunfire rang out, Shen Ming and his commandos were not actually ready to attack.
At this time, there was definitely no time to follow the plan step by step. After the gunfire sounded, Shen Ming led his commandos and rushed to various key locations according to the predetermined plan.
The so-called key locations refer to the explosives placed by the Germans at key locations in Toulon Port. There are more than 60 locations in total.
Once so many explosives are successfully detonated, the entire Port of Toulon will be completely paralyzed, and it will take at least two or three months to provide supplies.
The good news is that the German detonation technology is relatively backward, and all explosives need to be ignited manually, which leaves room for the commandos to perform.
The Germans also have patrols in the port, but the number of patrols is not large. Each patrol has only three or five people. It mainly serves as an early warning.
In addition to precision shooters, the weapons equipped by the commandos are all automatic assault rifles that can exert maximum power at medium and close ranges. This assault rifle can adjust the rate of fire and can fire continuously, single-shot or three-shot bursts.
Shen Ming's shooting performance was excellent. Although there was no scope on the assault rifle, after the first tracer bullet determined the trajectory, he successfully knocked down a German patrol soldier with three consecutive bursts.
Tracer bullets are really useful at night.
There are actually side effects. The enemy can also determine Shen Ming's position through tracer bullets.
After eliminating the unlucky patrol, the commandos rushed towards their mission target as quickly as possible without Shen Ming's orders.
In order to better complete the attack mission, the headquarters also took great pains to build a training ground in Algiers imitating the Port of Toulon. Shen Ming and his commandos had trained in the training ground for more than half a month. They were not prepared for the mission. The key links have long been familiar to me.
Along the stone-paved pier plank road, Shen Ming quickly advanced towards the port building. When passing by the entrance of the transportation company, a large group of German soldiers suddenly rushed out from the transportation company.
Shen Ming didn't have time to adjust, turned the muzzle of the gun and pulled the trigger continuously, and the bullets were scattered like water.
The German soldiers in the second-line troops had never experienced such a scene. This might even be the first battle they encountered, but it was such a cruel scene.
More than a dozen assault rifles opened fire at the same time, and the harvesting efficiency was very high. After Shen Ming replaced the new magazine, all the enemies on the other side fell down, and there were no casualties on this side.
It cannot be said that there were no casualties. When machine gunner Massie was lying down and shooting, his elbow hit the stone slab and got a bruise. This made Massie very uncomfortable.
It's just a bruise, not even a broken skin, but the pain is much higher than a broken skin. This kind of bruise will take several days to heal.
If the skin is broken, then Marcy will be eligible to receive a medal.
Even if Shen Ming wants to apply for him, he doesn't have enough confidence now.
Of course, as long as the commandos can successfully complete this mission, there will definitely be no shortage of medals, and everyone will have the opportunity to obtain them.
After wiping out the German troops in the transportation company, Shen Ming continued to charge towards the port building.
The Germans were indeed unprepared. The German officer in charge of port defense was blocked in the bedroom by the commandos before he even put on his clothes.
