Rise from the sword

Chapter 604
Caen.

A city in northern France, belonging to the Normandy region, in the central part of the Cavados department, on the banks of the Orne River.

Because of the flow of the Orne River and the excavation of the Caen Canal, this is an important town in France with a developed economy and convenient transportation. The railway and road connect the surrounding areas. Naturally, it has also become a transportation hub for the German army.

Soldiers and supplies need to pass through here.

same.

Because of the existence of these two natural river barriers, the Orne River and the Caen Canal, Caen is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Around Caen, the terrain is flat and suitable for the construction of field field airports.

So Caen is also a strategic city.

At the beginning of the Overlord Project, the two old hooligans in Britain and the United States knew it very well.

Caen must be taken as soon as possible.

Therefore, in the Overlord's battle plan, after the troops quickly captured the beach, the vanguard needed to occupy Caen as quickly as possible and build a field airport, relying on this to continue advancing.

According to this combat policy, at the beginning of the battle, the army aviation unit first carried out a large-scale bombing of Caen, and then sent paratroopers to establish a bridgehead north of Caen and on the east bank of the Orne River, so that the landing vanguard could be at an advantage. Take Caen.

But plans never keep up with changes.

Before Operation Overlord, the two rogues released intelligence smoke bombs. The main German defense force on the west coast of France was attracted to Calais, and the Normandy defense force was empty, thinking that the vanguard could land quickly and expand further.

However, the difficulty of large-scale landing was beyond the imagination of the two rogues. Even though the German defense force was weak, the landing force failed to make any quick breakthroughs, and the whole was stuck for a whole day.

Every second counts in army combat.

Because of this day, the Germans strengthened Caen's defenses and had a day to build a sufficient position, which led to the one-day-late landing force being firmly blocked.

For a long time afterwards, Caen was in a stalemate.

The two hooligans have superiority in troops, supplies, and absolute air superiority, but they have been attacking for more than ten days in a row, but they just couldn't take Caen, and the attacking troops suffered heavy losses.

The Germans resisted very tenaciously by virtue of their pre-built solid positions and their familiarity with the terrain and environment.

However, the life of the Germans is actually not easy.

The total loss of air supremacy meant that before any troops arrived in Caen, they would have to be wiped out by the two rogue air forces. A large number of heavy machinery was blown up on the road, and less than [-]% of tanks, armored vehicles, etc. could reach the front line.

The supply convoy can only operate at night, concealed during the day, and its efficiency is greatly reduced. Even so, at least one-tenth of the supplies reaching the front line will be lost.

Both sides are consuming and suffering.

Although what happened in Caen was far beyond expectations, which made the two high-ranking gangsters very angry. They cursed at Montgomery, who was in charge of commanding the battle, and the combat staff, but they were not panicked.

The landing has been successful, and more and more troops arrived at the beaches of Normandy through the artificial port. The coalition forces also have more and more troops, and their combat effectiveness is getting stronger and stronger, and their own side has absolute air supremacy.

The Germans fought on two fronts. The western front did not have many troops. The lack of troops and supplies would only make it weaker and weaker.

Sooner or later, victory is yours.

But plans never keep up with changes.

At the end of mid-June, that is, more than ten days after landing, taking advantage of the bad weather and the period when the two artificial ports were unable to unload supplies, the Germans suddenly rose up and pulled out more than 2000 tanks, thousands of armored vehicles, and thousands of doors. Cannons of more than [-] calibers, under the command of Desert Fox, launched several waves of lightning raids on the Western Front.

In this move, not to mention the complete annihilation of more than a dozen divisions, it also regained a large piece of land that was lost in the past ten days. If it weren't for the German air force's crotch support and the support of two rogue naval naval guns, I am afraid that the coalition forces could not be directly driven back to the sea. , strangled the Overlord Project to death.

Affected by this battle, Montgomery, who was attacking in the Caen area, had to retreat in a big step, giving up the territory to his old opponent, and leaving behind several divisions.

But after all, the two hooligans have profound backgrounds.

Although I don't understand where the tanks and armored vehicles of the Germans came from, but after the weather cleared up, with the support of the overwhelmingly superior air force and navy, the two hooligans quickly stabilized the site, and then organized dozens of divisions to attack again. .

This time, however, a month has passed.

People should treat each other with admiration for three days, let alone one month?

With the support of sufficient materials, at this time, the entire west coast is covered with reinforced concrete fortresses. Due to the huge amount of work and high construction requirements, the anti-aircraft tower group has not been built for the time being, and it is even just a plan.

But for small fortresses, there are sufficient materials of all kinds, coupled with the new standardized modular construction method, sufficient construction machinery, and quick-drying cement, the difficulty of construction is actually very low, as for the workers.

France really has no shortage of workers.

Especially for skilled workers who have built a good industry, there are a lot of them at their fingertips.

After all, France has that. The main fortification group stretches for hundreds of kilometers, and there are nearly a hundred large permanent fortresses. There are hospitals, kitchens, power stations, and even factories inside. The construction period is as long as 12 years. Budget Maginot Line.

Although it didn't play its due role at all, there is really no shortage of construction workers and engineers trained for such a huge project.

Because the loss was too fast, most of these people were in mainland France.

With sufficient food, medicine and other basic livelihood materials, it is not difficult to mobilize these Frenchmen. Even after helping others to work, these people are grateful and grateful, work extraordinarily hard, and give out good person cards.

I mainly rely on black bread to satisfy my hunger, and I still can’t get enough to eat. After several years of hard life, suddenly there is a job that allows you to eat and drink, and even have meat, and can buy medicines, clothes, and even scarcity. of fuel.

Everyone has to work hard.

Even if I can't eat, it's caused by this group of people.

In this way, there is no shortage of materials, equipment, and workers. The construction of the fortifications is very fast. When the two hooligans come again, they will be greeted by a series of reinforced concrete fortresses built at strategic points, as well as well-equipped armored units. division.

Although the two rogue air forces still have an absolute advantage, it is impossible to rely on the air force alone to win the war at this time and the technical conditions at this time. Moreover, after being supplemented with air defense weapons, the Germans are not without air defense capabilities.

The two sides fought again on the west coast.

The two rogues have strength and air superiority, but the new rogue, the German, is not bad either. He has a supply advantage and an armor advantage, and the armor has sufficient anti-aircraft firepower and is more familiar with the terrain.

Yes, this time, in terms of the number of tanks, the new German hooligans really have an advantage, and even have a certain advantage in terms of quality.

The new No. [-] tank is much better than Xie Mantou. What's more, at this time, the new version of No. [-] and No. [-] tanks are also on the scene, but these tanks are first supplied to the Eastern Front, and there are not many Western Fronts.

But on the whole, the paper data of both sides is [-]-[-].

But Desert Fox is obviously superior in command.

The old fox is well aware of his own strengths and weaknesses, so he gave full play to his home court advantage, relying on the concrete fortifications built at various strategic nodes to defend, focusing on defense, and resolutely resolutely refrained from advancing aggressively.

During the period, continue to work hard, build fortification groups, and build air defense towers.

Faced with this hedgehog style of play, Montgomery was dumbfounded.

On the west coast of France, the terrain is flat and suitable for armored troops to enter, but to attack, you must win those key nodes, such as Caen, Cherbourg, Montbourg and other places.

But in these places, there are a large number of reinforced concrete fortresses, 128, 150 and other long-range artillery, hundreds of heavy artillery, thousands of 20, 40, 88 and other caliber anti-aircraft gun barrels, and even 12-inch coastal defense guns.

More hedgehogs than hedgehogs.

When Montgomery, an old opponent, attacked, the old fox hid in the fortifications, and the tank troops also hid, only the anti-aircraft armored vehicles were exposed, relying on the position to defend.

And the old fox is not completely passive defense. He has eight armored divisions in his hands that are not full of personnel, but are fully equipped. .

With this move, the new German hooligans and the old British and American hooligans played a two-to-one, or even three-to-one battle loss ratio.

Brutely dragging the battle situation into a complete stalemate.

Of course, the new hooligans are actually having a hard time. More than three years of war, the Sixth Army, Kursk, etc., the number of battles added up, the number of army casualties exceeded 200 million, and the human resources were not as good as before.

Nowadays, a large number of children aged seventeen, eighteen or even fifteen or sixteen have entered the army, which is evident.

Because of the inferior force, the old fox could not completely drive the enemy into the sea.

Although the battle loss ratio is good, these victories also forced the last human resources in the country to be squeezed out. Even because of sufficient equipment, weapons, and cars, even some senior workers, skilled workers, and even engineers were forced to work hard. participated in the war.

Of course, it is only a small range and a small quantity now.

Not everyone is blind and short-sighted, and there are still some people who try their best to prevent this kind of thing from happening, but as more and more weapons are dragged out of the warehouse, more and more advanced, since August, there have been too many to be used up. Filled with large and small domestic warehouses.

The scale of this kind of thing is also getting bigger and bigger.

In such a situation, the two hooligans were so angry that they jumped, but they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue to attack, and then telegram after telegram, asking the allies on the Eastern Front to step up efforts to contain the enemy and share the pressure.

As for the top boss who always makes troubles, the guy who always likes to command troops indiscriminately.

At this time, this man's attention was not on the Western Front at all.His main concern was the Eastern Front.

His Fox Marshal and the Air Marshal brought in such a large-scale support, which greatly increased their importance in his heart. Although he was dissatisfied that the Western Front could not win and that the old British and American hooligans could not be driven into the sea, he did not take too much control and let the two Man continued to play, but turned his attention to the Western Front.

and two other things.

This also allows the old fox to get rid of the restraint of the high-level, completely free to play, and formulate the most suitable tactics.

······
"marshal."

At this time, on a certain coast of the North Sea, in a hidden plain, the busy Marshal Kesselring received a message from a staff officer:

"The head of state asks you, when will the bombing be possible?"

"He asked for it to be done as quickly as possible."

"It would be best if the fleet took off within three days."

Bombing the United States is one of the things that the head of state is most concerned about at this time. Obviously, the head of state is very angry that the Yankees meddled in this matter, so he hopes that the consequences will be serious.

"You reply to the head of state."

Kesselring replied without raising his head:

"Because there are more bombers than expected, the more time it takes to prepare, the larger the scale of the bombing."

Orders cannot be disobeyed, but skillful persuasion can be used appropriately.

Of course, this is also true. Originally there were only 180 bombers, but since August, the scale has suddenly increased by more than three times, and the number of aircraft in the fleet has reached more than 600.

Each requires fifteen crew members, or 9000 people.

In order to mobilize so many crew members, Kesselring tried his best, because his own pilots were really running out. In the end, to make up the numbers, he even recruited pilots from other countries.

And in order not to attract the attention of the British and American hooligans, he had to keep it secret. Everything was done quietly, so the preparation speed was very slow.

Half an hour later, another message came:
"The head of state asked when exactly it would start and on what scale."

"Reply to the head of state."

Kesselring replied with a smile:

"It will take another 33 days and the bombing will start in early September."

"The bombing scale is [-] tons."

(End of this chapter)