On July 17, the Allies launched their second attack on Caen. The first ones dispatched were heavy bombers. 500 heavy bombers dropped 2,500 tons of bombs in just 40 minutes. The navy also bombarded Caen with all its strength.
Cover the movement of ground troops.
The tank troops in southern Africa were unable to play their full role because the Caen road was severely blocked. The first wave of attacking troops was the British army.
Yang Smuts made suggestions to Montgomery before the war began, hoping that Montgomery could send real British troops to participate in the battle. After all, compared with the British and Indian troops, the British army's fighting will was relatively tenacious.
One thing to say is that despite the various delays of the British government, the British are still very good. They have shown great patience and courage, especially the Royal Navy. Cunningham is really a very outstanding naval general.
The performance of the British Army was much worse than that of the Royal Navy. On the one hand, this was because the British army was complex and difficult to command; on the other hand, it was also because of the selfishness of the British government, which was particularly prominent in the North African campaign.
Montgomery rejected Young Smuts's suggestion, which may also have something to do with Winston's request.
After Roque's reminder, Winston realized that there was a big problem with the Conservative Party's fundamentals. If the people's resentment against the Conservative government continued to increase due to heavy casualties in the army at this time, Winston would be in danger of death.
Let go of the blame.
Therefore, both Winston and Montgomery were doing everything possible to reduce the casualties of the British troops.
There is no problem with the British and Indian troops. These are the cheapest consumables in the UK. The British government only needs to issue a blank check to India, and the Indians will continue to send troops to Europe to participate in the war.
Just before Operation Overlord was launched, Winston sent British Foreign Secretary Eden to personally go to India and meet with Emperor Liver together with Wavell and Mountbatten. Eden solemnly promised Emperor Liver that the British government was working on the basis of India's
To contribute to the war, consider giving India more autonomy after the war.
The meaning is obvious. If India goes all out to support the British Empire, then after the war is over, Britain will be merciful and may give India the same autonomous status as Australia and Canada.
This is what the Gan Emperor wants.
The Liver Emperor is indeed a very human being.
If it were Rock, at this time, the lion would not say anything, what kind of autonomous status is it, and it would be completely independent in one step.
Emperor Gan doesn't want to be independent at all. What he wants is unchecked power, and he doesn't want to break away from the protection of Britain. Britain hopes that India will have money and strength to contribute, and Emperor Gan hopes that Britain will come and leave as soon as it is called.
In other words, Emperor Liver hoped that Britain would continue to build railways in India and continue to allocate large sums of money to maintain India's colonial rule.
At the same time, Emperor Gan hoped that the British would return administrative and management rights to the Indians, and simply leave the diplomatic and military affairs to the British. To put it bluntly, they would leave the sugar-coating behind and fire the cannonballs back.
This is of course the most ideal state. This is how southern Africa moved towards independence step by step.
The problem is that Emperor Gan didn't even think about how to use it after he got the power.
Emperor Gan is really easy to fool. Britain has gone back on its word on this issue many times, and Emperor Gan is convinced every time.
Naturally, this time it was the same. In addition to getting more troops, Aiden also got more food.
History is always surprisingly similar.
During the last world war, the Indians donated all their grain crops to the British. As a result, more than 20 million people starved to death. It was a terrible tragedy.
This year, India was first hit by drought, followed by floods. Coupled with the impact of the war, crop yields were already severely reduced. Now more food is being shipped to the UK——
We still don’t know how many people will starve to death in India this time.
Due to various factors, Montgomery would definitely not send real British troops to attack, so the British and Indian troops would be responsible for the attack.
Montgomery still had confidence in the British and Indian troops and vowed that the British and Indian troops would definitely be able to complete the mission.
Yang Smuts was very curious, what can you Montgomery do that even Kitchina and Rock couldn't do?
Then Montgomery launched his big weapon: the Supervisory Team!
Speaking of combat supervision teams, here is a fact that needs to be clarified. Throughout World War II, various countries had combat supervision teams, but such a thing as setting up machine guns behind the stormtroopers to supervise operations never happened. The scenes in some film and television works are simply slander.
.
Only France had actually shot at deserters, and that was during World War I.
At that time, France was supervising the war against the Foreign Legion, so there was a mutiny by the Foreign Legion.
The status of the British and Indian troops within the British army was not as good as that of the Foreign Legion to the French. Therefore, Montgomery did not hesitate to send the supervisory team to set up machine guns. If the Indian soldiers dared to escape during the charge, the supervisory team would really shoot.
The Indians did not expect Montgomery to be so ruthless.
The Germans were still capable of resisting, so the first wave of attacks naturally failed. When the Indian soldiers were defeated like a tide, the British officer commanding the team blatantly ordered to fire.
The machine guns equipped by the British army are still the Vickers machine guns used in the last world war. This type of machine gun is now seriously outdated and lags behind the general-purpose machine guns equipped in southern Africa and the German MG42. It is still very efficient at killing deserters.
High.
After the machine gun sounded, Yang Smozi closed his eyes in pain. Although he already knew that the current United Kingdom was no longer the British Empire, when this scene appeared in front of Yang Smozi, he still couldn't
Accept this fact.
"All soldiers who escaped are traitors to the United Kingdom and must be decisively eliminated!" Montgomery did not realize there was anything wrong with this. During the Battle of the Somme, countless British troops lined up in neat formations and rushed towards the Germans.
Even if the British were fearless in their machine gun positions, what reason did the Indians have to avoid fighting?
Asylum from the British Empire was not easy to come by.
Everything has a price.
"Even if they are bound to die, please make their death more valuable." Yang Smuts hated this kind of disregard for human life. What is the difference between this German prisoner of war camp?
"Do you mean to send tanks to cover their charge? No, no, no, you don't understand. Infantry-tank coordination is too complicated for them. They don't know how to cooperate with tanks." Montgomery didn't waste time.
The wave attack force has been completely wiped out, and a second attack must be organized immediately.
Yang Shimozi turned around and left without even saying hello.
When the British army began to attack, southern Africa was also ready to attack.
The 8th Infantry Division was leading the battle, and cooperating with them was the 77th Division from the Kingdom of Congo.
As a Southern African Union country, the Kingdom of Congo sent approximately 13 divisions to join the expeditionary force. These troops were deployed in North Africa, Europe, and the Balkans and were active.
The 77th Division is a light infantry division with 18,000 officers and soldiers. Except for technical arms such as officers and artillery, they are all composed of Congolese.
The commander of the 77th Division was Louis, a Belgian-Congolese from the coastal city of Kabine, who graduated from the Nyasaland Army Academy and made no secret of his hatred of the Germans.
"I have a good idea. We can launch the attack at night. The night will provide the best protection for our soldiers." Louis is good at taking advantage of the skin color of the soldiers, which is a huge advantage.
"No, we are mountain troops, best at fighting the enemy on ruins." Xie Jianye had no intention of letting the 77th Division take the lead. The Southern African army cannot always follow behind to take advantage. If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight.
"Okay, if there are prisoners, let us deal with them." Louis' attitude was not very firm. If Xie Jianye asked his troops to attack, Louis would obey the order and of course cooperate.
In short, it is to play a supporting role. Louis knows that the combat effectiveness of the 77th Division is quite different from that of the 8th Division. Among other things, in addition to having no armored troops, the 77th Division also has half the number of heavy artillery compared to the 8th Division.
There are even fewer technical arms such as precision shooters and skilled machine gunners. Both of these require a lot of training to cultivate. The Kingdom of Congo does not have this strength.
Almost at the same time that the British army began to attack, the 8th Division also launched an attack on the German positions.
Different from the chaotic Indian soldiers, the 8th Division adopted standard infantry-tank coordination. Each tank was equipped with an infantry squad, and it also advanced on the landing point of the artillery shells, giving the Germans no chance to easily counterattack.
After many days of bombing, the Germans in Caen also suffered heavy losses. During the period when the Allies were preparing for the second offensive, the Air Force would conduct routine bombings of Caen every day.
Now the Air Force has learned wisely and changed its bombs to instant fuzes to reduce damage to roads and buildings.
The German army also changed its tactics, adopted a deep echelon defense, used a large number of 88mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns, and used favorable terrain to continuously organize counterattacks.
This method is very effective when facing Indian troops.
When used against real southern African troops, the effect will be greatly reduced.
The key is that the 88mm gun is not powerful enough when hitting the "Leopard" tank.
The frontal armor of the "Leopard" tank is 100 mm thick, and coupled with the external reactive armor, unless the 88-gun cannon is fired at close range, it cannot penetrate the armor of the "Leopard" tank.
The "Leopard" tank pilots are not stupid either. They don't rush forward after setting off. They stop and go along the way and attack any possible anti-tank gun positions. At this time, there is no need to consider civilian casualties. The entire Caen has been
It was razed to the ground by the air force, and civilians either fled or were buried in the rubble.
boom--
A "Leopard" used high-explosive bombs to completely destroy a half-collapsed house. This kind of house is most likely to be used by the German army. It only takes a sticky bomb to render a tank incapable of combat.
Sticky bombs cannot penetrate the car body, but they can break the tracks. If the tank crew tries to repair it, it will give the Germans an opportunity to attack.
So it's better to be careful. It's just a high-explosive bomb and costs only fifteen rand, which is very cost-effective compared to a tank.
"The chimney on the right front, kill it!" The infantry second lieutenant following the "Leopard" used the phone to contact the commander.
In fact, only half of the chimney is left, and the 88 anti-aircraft gun cannot be placed there. However, places like the chimney, like the bell tower, are the favorites of German snipers, so be careful.
The "Leopard" adjusted the turret's aim, and it took two rounds to take out the chimney.
"Brother, your shooting skills still need to be improved!" The captain kept improving, and the commander was not angry on the phone.
"I'm sorry, it's at least 50 degrees inside the car now. Why don't you come in and give it a try?"
The weather in Normandy was bad some time ago and the climate was relatively cool. Sometimes you would catch a cold if you were not careful while sleeping at night.
The weather has completely cleared up in the past few days, and it finally feels like summer. The Army has already changed into summer clothes. The tank crews have no choice. Their working environment is terrible. Several people are crammed into the narrow vehicle at the same time.
The engine radiates heat at any time, and the smoke from the fired shells can kill people even if they don't die from heat.
"Open the lid so you can get some air -" the captain joked. Don't even think about it. If a grenade is thrown in, it will be all over.
"Oh, the road ahead is blocked, I can only send you here, wish you good luck!" The commander is not angry. The task of the tank is to cover the infantry approaching the city, and then it is all up to the infantry to attack.
"Thank you, your mission is excellent, thank you very much!" The captain took off the automatic rifle on his shoulder, checked the magazine, waved to the soldiers next to him, ducked over the tank, and rushed into the unknown city.
Given that the entire city has been reduced to rubble, every next step may contain huge dangers.
"Tom, get up high to provide cover - Louis, carry your canister and stay away from me - Sun, get your grenades ready -" the captain kept giving orders.
Louis is carrying a flamethrower. This thing is very useful in urban combat, but it is too dangerous. If the container storing the fuel explodes, the entire squad will be wiped out.
Hand grenades are the most useful weapon. It is best to have one handy in every house, window, cellar, or even ruin you pass by.
These are easy to understand, but precision shooters are a bit dumbfounded.
Looking at the past, it is all ruins and there is no such thing as a high point.
Even if there was one, they wouldn't dare to go up there. The captain knew to take care of the chimney and bell tower. Don't the Germans know that?
Shortly after entering the city, a soldier accidentally kicked down a stone slab and detonated a bomb behind the stone slab. The soldier's leg was seriously injured and he was unable to continue fighting.
The captain arranged for two soldiers to send the wounded soldiers back. Now the Germans have learned to be smart. The purpose of setting up booby traps is not to kill. This level of damage will seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the entire team.
If he is killed directly, it will probably inspire other soldiers to share the same hatred for the enemy and make them fight more bravely.
This has the best effect. Even if there is a medal to compensate for the bloody wound, it is still daunting. No one wants to be left with a lifelong disability.
"Damn German!" the captain gritted his teeth and hid behind a low wall to observe.
Bah——
There must be a German sniper on the opposite side, and the bullet hit the low wall next to the captain.
The captain took out a smoke bomb and decided to rush over directly.
This decision was a bit risky, as no one knew how many German troops were in the ruins ahead.
