"What?! Another position has lost contact!" Montgomery looked at the combat staff in surprise.
This is already the seventh lost position. Thinking about the battle, losing contact with the forward position is equivalent to losing that forward position. In other words, it was just noon, and the Germans had already captured 7 points of Montgomery.
Positioned.
According to Montgomery's expectation, it would take three days to lose the seven positions. However, the combat effectiveness of the German army clearly exceeded his expectations. In other words, the combat effectiveness of his troops was even lower than he expected.
A lot.
"Assemble the guard company. In addition, notify everyone in our division headquarters to prepare for transfer." Montgomery squinted and looked at the enlarged map on the wall and said coldly: "We can't stay here any longer."
Listening to Montgomery himself saying that he wanted to withdraw, his adjutant was almost frightened. You know, last night, when Montgomery led them to build fortifications overnight and set up scattered positions, he even ambitiously ordered that no retreat was allowed and demanded
The troops must hold on for at least a week.
But now, only halfway through the first day, the cooking team at the division headquarters is still preparing lunch, and there are still six and a half days left before the scheduled deadline. As the division commander, Montgomery has decided to run away?!
Once the division headquarters escapes, even if the frontline troops don't realize it for a while, they will find something wrong sooner or later. By then, the morale of the defense troops will be devastating.
Moreover, the current location of the division headquarters is on the back of a small hill. Last night, Montgomery had personally arranged to establish 17 scattered peripheral temporary blocking points centered on this hill.
Although there is no time to dig complete trenches and build standard positions, those blocking points all have terrain advantages to rely on. Logically speaking, the blocking effect will definitely not be bad.
In addition, the division headquarters just made contact with the military headquarters in Dunkirk this morning, and it is fully aware of the chaos in the rear. At this time, can the 3rd Division of the Expeditionary Force hold the sniper line established centered on this hilltop?
It has become the key to whether the entire British Expeditionary Force can have time to withdraw to the mainland.
With this area, not only Montgomery, but also his adjutant and all the combat staff of the division, everyone believed that it was absolutely no problem to gain three or five days. And these three or five days were the entire expedition.
The key to whether the French army, including the main force of the French army in the Dunkirk area, can escape from the German encirclement.
According to Commander Brooke's reply to Montgomery this morning, all the coalition troops in the Dunkirk area have lost all morale and their morale has been shattered. Once the German troops are allowed to rush in front of them, perhaps this will lead to the largest surrender since the war began.
!
All hopes were pinned on the 3rd Division of the Expeditionary Force and Montgomery and his command team.
Until the sun rose today, Montgomery was indeed confident and ready to become the savior of the coalition forces, determined to turn the tide and help the building before it collapsed!
But Montgomery's fantasies and ambitions only lasted for one night before they were shattered by the facts before him.
From the fall of the first position to the loss of contact with the seventh position, not a single remnant escaped back to the rear line, and all the defensive forces on the lost position were eaten clean by the Germans.
Of course, all of these troops would certainly not be wiped out. The most likely possibility is that they chose to surrender after witnessing the powerful firepower of the German army. Or perhaps, they struggled to resist for a while before surrendering. But in any case,
The lack of this group of troops has caused the combat effectiveness of the 3rd Division to drop by more than 30 percentage points again. This is the crisis before us!
Ordinarily, the division headquarters is located at the very back of the blocking line, and there are ten strategic blocking nodes in front of which the troops are dispersed and garrisoned, standing between the Germans and them. In terms of threats, there is still some distance to go.
"Division Commander, how about... we wait until there are only three blocking points left on the front line before retreating." The adjutant reminded in a low voice: "If we withdraw too early, let the front line troops know, it will affect
Their morale is reduced, thereby reducing their resistance."
The adjutant thought very simply. Even though the German offensive was fierce and the advance was extremely fast, they were still far away from the division headquarters. As long as the three "inverted V-shaped" blocking node positions outside the division headquarters remained, the German troops
It is impossible to appear in front of them all at once.
In other words, until the enemy situation is discovered at the "inverted V-shaped" blocking point, the division headquarters is still safe. Then it is better to stay and command the frontline troops and stabilize the morale of the troops. Worst case, they can escape at the last moment.
"Stay?" Montgomery snorted coldly, rolled his eyes at the adjutant and said: "The German troops you see now are still infantry. The infantry is advancing so fast. Once their armored forces join, we can still withdraw.
?”
Shaking his head, Montgomery seemed to be explaining to the adjutant, but also seemed to be analyzing for himself: "If we really wait until the last barrier of the division headquarters is attacked before withdrawing, if they cannot withstand it for a long time, then the division headquarters may
They will be overtaken by German tanks during the evacuation..."
Montgomery has considered the worst possible situation. Although these situations may not happen in the worst direction, it is not impossible. And as long as there is a slight possibility, Montgomery will treat it with 120,000 yuan of caution.
This has been his usual conducting style for many years.
The adjutant who understood the division commander's character did not argue, but he couldn't help but remind Montgomery: "But division commander, even if we evacuate to the rear and to Dunkirk, what will happen..."
The adjutant did not say the rest. But Montgomery knew that the adjutant wanted to remind himself that the outcome would be nothing more than being annihilated in another place.
"This is not something you should consider!" Montgomery paused, then looked directly at the adjutant in a cold tone and said: "We have blocked the German army here for more than 24 hours, and we have given the coalition forces unexpected good news. Besides, we have blocked the German army here for more than 24 hours.
, the 10 blocking points left behind can at least resist for more than 12 hours. We have done enough for the coalition forces!"
At this point, Montgomery no longer had the awe-inspiring aura he showed last night. At this time, the adjutant felt more of a sinister aura about the general.
Under the gaze of the adjutant, Montgomery slowly revealed a hint of his heart: "The Third Division is a unit with outstanding merits. As its division commander, I have the obligation to prevent it from being wiped out by the Germans here. So...
.....I have to take it with me to catch the flight back to China!"
It seemed that, with no hope of stopping the attack, the division commander, who had always seemed selfless before, began to think about a way out.