Rise from the sword

August 22st.

Cherbourg.

The Allied Supreme Operations Conference Room.

This is a huge room with bright lights on the ceiling. There is a huge round table in the middle. A map of the whole of France is hung on the wall facing the table. A senior staff officer is holding a command pole, starting from Cherbourg and moving all the way. , and finally stopped in a city called Carentan.

"After occupying Cherbourg, after a month of small-scale fighting, we have occupied most of the Cotentin Peninsula, but Carentan, the traffic point in the center of the peninsula, is still in the hands of the German army, forming a salient. In the second battle, our combat mission in the first stage is..."

When the tip of the command pole was pointed at Carentan, the staff officer began to introduce the latest situation on the front line.

Smooth out the salient occupied by the Germans, and then continue to break through until the Cotentin Peninsula is completely occupied.

Sitting at the round table in the meeting room was a group of Allied leaders including Eisenhower, among them was the old fox's old opponent, the famous British Army General Mengge Mary, and some military cadres from the United States.

Everyone looked at the map of France hanging on the wall.

From the map, the Cotentin Peninsula looks like a milk bottle nipple, with a narrow front end and a wide rear end, and Carentan is in the middle of the dividing line between the two.

On the map, the Cotentin Peninsula is full of icons and arrows representing the Allied forces, almost covering the entire peninsula. Only the bottom part is a German icon, arrow, but this also highlights the importance of the city of Carentin.

This is almost a nail inserted into the Allied forces by Germany.

And it is deeply inserted into the hinterland.

If this nail cannot be pulled out, the supply line will be threatened by this nail at any time, and it is impossible to continue the offensive.

"There are fifteen large anti-aircraft towers, surrounding bunkers, and large warehouses. There are twelve divisions stationed here, as well as some servant troops. The total strength exceeds 20, including at least five armored divisions. There are more than [-] tanks in total, and it is very difficult to storm."

The staff officer went on to introduce:

"Fortunately, there is no warehouse here, and the German supplies must be transported from the rear."

"Therefore, we must first cut off the supply line of Carentan, complete the siege, and then concentrate our forces to launch an offensive to annihilate the German army here, thereby occupying Carentan, and then continue to attack until the Cotentin Peninsula is completely occupied."

All the military leaders nodded in unison.

The Battle of Cherbourg gave them a deep understanding of how difficult it is to fight an air defense tower group with a complete defense system.

Although Carentan only has seventeen anti-aircraft towers, they are all large-scale anti-aircraft towers, as well as subsidiary fortresses, and an armored force of more than [-] tanks. Without cutting off the supply line, even if the Allied forces' ability to attack fortified areas improves, Storming, I am afraid it will be another Battle of Cherbourg.

Once the supply is cut off and Carentan's troops are besieged into a lone army, the difficulty of attack will be reduced several times.

"Considering that there are a large number of German troops stationed in Coutances, Saint Nuo, and Bayeux. At the same time, there will be three army groups with a total of 90 troops dispatched here to cut off the German support route..."

The senior staff officer continued to introduce the battle plan.

In fact, most of the people sitting here know the battle plan, but because of the secrecy, several high-level military officials from the United States still don't know, so the staff actually mainly tells them.

After all, these people were sent directly by the president, so they should be taken seriously.

Listening to the senior staff officer's introduction to the battle plan and the current battle situation, Mengge Mary frowned suddenly.

Hearing the retelling by the staff officer again, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Coutances, Saint-Nou, and Bayeux are all cities at the end of the Cotentin Peninsula. Afterwards, passing through the important town of Caen is the core area of ​​France, the French Great Plain, but these three cities are not important. In Ziegfeller In the defense line, these three cities are only edge nodes.

Far less important than Caen.

That Rommel actually stationed a large number of mobile troops in these three cities, no less than Caen, which is a traffic artery in northwestern France and close to the "warehouse". According to intelligence, the strength of these four cities is equal.

After fighting the old fox for so long, the fierce Mary felt very wrong inside.

But when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't think of any problem.

····
at the same time.

Paris.

Inside the combat conference room.

"They will definitely surround and capture Carentan before continuing to attack."

The old fox smiled and spoke confidently:

"I have deployed a large number of armored troops in Coutances, Saint Nuo, and Bayeux. When they surround Carentan, they must send mobile troops to block these three garrisons and support Carentan."

"Our goal in this battle is to annihilate one of the three blocking forces."

The old fox is worthy of this title.

From the very beginning, he never thought of sticking to Carentan. After the Battle of Cherbourg, this fox knew very well that the meaning of sticking to it was not great.

Although the anti-aircraft towers have been improved, the Allies have also strengthened their attack methods. The anti-aircraft towers are not invincible. If they are passively attacked, they will be breached one day, and Carentan has no warehouses.

With the help of strong fortifications, the purpose is to consume the vital forces of the allies and reduce the consumption of their own troops.

Then,

As long as the end is the same, the means don't really matter.

The Allies thought that the garrisons of Coutances, Sanno, and Bayeux would support Carentan, but he did the opposite, and mobilized Carentan's mobile troops to support one of these three places, annihilating the alliance Army blocking force.

According to intelligence, the strength of the Allied blocking forces in these three places is about 30 each.

The garrison of 22 troops in Carentan, including five armored divisions and more than 2000 tanks, can be done with the 15 troops and [-] tanks stationed in Coutances, Saint Nou, and Bayeux.

Annihilating 30 Allied troops and abandoning Carentan is completely acceptable.

With superior armored forces, it is more beneficial for the Allies to occupy the Cotentin Peninsula and enter the battle on the French Great Plain.

······
the next day.

That is August 23rd.

noon.

South of Carentan, Perrier region.

The 60st Armored Regiment of the 60st Armored Division of the United States, more than [-] tanks, and more than [-] armored vehicles are advancing at high speed to the rear of Carentan. The tracks rolled up mud and dust, forming a long trace behind.

"Slow down and spread around."

After soaring more than ten kilometers all the way and approaching the German-controlled area, the head of the regiment ordered the troops to slow down:

"Watch out."

At this time, they were already 128 kilometers away from the anti-aircraft tower, and the maximum range of the dual-mounted 25 high-level dual-purpose guns on the anti-aircraft tower exceeded 26 kilometers. The power of that thing, even if he was driving the latest m[-] Pershing heavy tank, It is also dead in one shot.

So we can't go any further.

In case the Germans came to a saturated bombardment, not to mention his battalion, even his [-]st Armored Division couldn't bear it.

Cherbourg has already had countless troops to prove this.

He has to spread around, wait for the air force and navy to suppress the anti-aircraft towers, and then continue to attack.

Just as he was thinking in his heart, while looking at his watch, waiting for the air force and navy to attack first, suddenly.

"Spotted enemy tanks."

A shout sounded in the communication channel:
"To the southeast, there are more than 30 No. [-] tanks, three kilometers away."

As the most elite armored division in the United States, the 26st Armored Division is not only equipped with the most cutting-edge M[-] Pershing tanks, but also the quality of the soldiers is top-notch. The Germans who were hiding and slowly approaching were discovered at the first time. armored division.

"Meet the enemy!"

The head didn't hesitate at all.

The enemy only has more than 30 tanks, while he has more than 60. Although the enemies are all cutting-edge No. [-] tanks, his Pershing is not weak. The [-]mm artillery is enough to penetrate the Panther tank at a distance of one kilometer.

He can completely annihilate these thirty vehicles.

Moreover, the soldiers of his First Armored Division were no worse than the elite Germans.

Of course, if he has a Sherman in his hand, even if it is a Firefly equipped with a 17-pound gun, he has to consider retreating. Whether the strengthened Panther or the British 17-pound gun can penetrate the new Panzer V tank is anyone's guess. No bottom.

According to intelligence, the front armor of the new No. [-] tank has been increased by ten millimeters to [-] millimeters, the bevel angle has not changed, and alloy armor has been used, greatly increasing its defense.

Both sides acted in the same way, driving toward each other at high speed.

Plan to have a head-on collision.

"Send a report to the division headquarters."

The head of the [-]st Armored Division naturally also reported to the division headquarters.

When the distance between the two sides was close to [-] kilometers, the regiment leader saw a No. [-] tank on the opposite side stop, the barrel was raised, and then, boom, the muzzle burst into a strong wind, and then, a Panzer beside him Xing tank exploded.

This is the scene where the ammunition depot was killed.

At a distance of more than 75 kilometers, the [-]mm artillery with [-] times the diameter and the tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectile easily penetrated the main armor on the front of Pershing.

Immediately afterwards, nearly ten No. [-] tanks on the opposite side made an emergency stop and then opened fire. Fortunately, this time, only five Pershing tanks were destroyed, and the remaining shell missed a hit.

But even so, the head of the United States stared wide-eyed.

"how is this possible!"

One and a half kilometers away, the German Super 75 gun penetrated Pershing. There is no doubt about this.

But at such a long distance, shooting a tank in high-speed motion maintains such a high hit rate.

This made it difficult for the head of the American delegation to accept.

He is also an old tanker, and he knows how difficult it is to shoot a moving target at such a distance.

It is absolutely impossible to rely solely on the skills of the members of the tank team. That is to say, the fire control of the new German No. [-] tank has also been greatly improved, far more advanced than the Pershing under his ass.

He felt something was wrong.

Armor capability is only one of the important indicators for tanks. If it is not accurate, it is useless no matter how thick it is.

This battle, I'm afraid...

A shadow cast over him.

"Captain, the enemy tanks have started to surround our wings."

It wasn't until the deputy commander reminded him that the team leader reacted and responded quickly.

"So fast!"

During the response, the regiment leader discovered that the enemy's new No. [-] tank cross-country was much faster than his Pershing, which made the shadow in his heart even bigger.

He made a decisive decision:
"Air support requested."

·····
"Go to the Perrier area and support the [-]st Armored Division."

Cherbourg, Allied headquarters, a staff officer giving orders:
"Where they encountered the elite armored units of the Germans, they were fighting hard."

After hanging up the phone, Eisenhower asked:
"what happened?"

"During the siege of Carentan, the 200st Armored Division was attacked by more than [-] new Panzer V tanks and fell into a bitter battle."

The staff officer wiped his forehead:
"The performance of the new German tanks is much better than expected, especially the fire control system, which has been greatly improved. The First Armored Division requests support."

More than 200 vehicles!

The fire control system has been improved.

Eisenhower frowned, but soon relaxed again.

Intelligence errors, this is a trouble, and there are more than 200 Panzer V tanks in the Perrier area, indicating that the Germans may have more Panzer V tanks than expected, but judging from the overall battle situation, this is not a big problem.

Today, the Allies still hold the absolute advantage.

So what about the strength of the No. [-] tank, one can't deal with it, the other two, three, if it can't do it, add the air force, the Allied air force still has an absolute advantage in the front line.

It's nothing more than a bigger loss.

Half an hour later, after the attack aircraft that took off from the front-line field airport arrived, another urgent telegram arrived at the Cherbourg command room.

"General, the various attack fleets were ambushed by German fighter jets and suffered heavy losses."

"There are more than [-] German fighter jets on the battlefield. The two sides are currently fighting fiercely and cannot support the ground troops."

"what!"

Eisenhower frowned again, and the frown was very deep.

Although the British mainland has been bombed, it is because the bombers are too high to be intercepted by jet fighters, and the Allies lag behind the Germans in jet fighters. Of course, they are now catching up.

But on the Siegfeller line of defense, the Allied air force has always had an absolute advantage, and the Germans didn't even send out reconnaissance planes.

Why did they suddenly send two thousand fighter jets to compete for air supremacy?

He realized that something was wrong. It seemed that the Germans were planning something.

On the side, the old fox's old rival, fierce brother Mary also frowned, lost in thought.

At this time, another piece of breaking news came in:
"The Germans at Carentan are out, all, and they're attacking in the direction of Bayeux."

"Caen's victorious army is dispatched, to"

Eisenhower froze for a moment, then got up abruptly, and ran to the map on the table. At this moment, drops of cold sweat dripped down his forehead continuously.In the end, it left a series of marks on the floor.

Also came with the mammoth Mary.

This fierce general of the British Empire finally understood at this moment where the bad feeling in his heart came from.

It wasn't that there was a problem with the German's arrangement, but that the opponent was the Desert Fox. Although this guy was good at defense, he rarely defended hard. What this guy was good at was sports and annihilation.

The two generals shouted at the same time:

"They are not trying to stick to Carentan, but intend to annihilate the blocking forces in the direction of Bayeux."

After realizing this situation, the faces of the two generals turned pale.

It is conceivable that the 30 troops in the direction of Bayeux, while wholeheartedly defending against the German attack in the direction of Bayeux, suddenly encountered the attack of more than 2000 tanks of the Carentan German army in the rear, and they might be fragmented in an instant.

Moreover, at this time, the Allied Air Force was unable to support in time because of the blocking of the German Air Force, and the rest of the troops were too late.

"It's a big trouble."

Eisenhower fell to the ground directly.

Even if Carentan is obtained, but with the loss of 30 troops, the Allied forces will not be able to continue their offensive in a short time.Moreover, based on Cherbourg's experience, even if Carentan is stormed, there will be absolutely no loss of 30 yuan.

"Don't notify the President just yet."

After all, he was the commander of the Allied Forces on the Western Front. Eisenhower quickly recovered and notified the staff while mobilizing troops to make amends.

Difficult as it was, things hadn't reached the point of no return.

Mr. President is not in good health, so don't notify him until the result is out.

······
The third day is August 23rd.

The Pacific Ocean.

Guam.

"We have already entered within [-] kilometers of the opponent's Guam."

A staff officer reports to Nimitz.

"understood."

Just as Nimitz nodded, he heard the communications officer shout:
"There is a communication from the other party."

Everyone looked over at the same time.

"They told us to leave immediately, otherwise."

The communications officer paused.

"Or sink immediately?"

Nimitz sneered and said directly.

"Correct."

The communications officer nodded.

"Keep going."

Nimitz said: "Strengthen vigilance and expel all approaching aircraft."

"Yes."

······
Guam.

"They're moving on."

At a distance of 250 kilometers from Guam, an early warning aircraft patrolling at an altitude of 8000 meters reported the movement of the American fleet.

"emission."

The Guam commander ordered without hesitation.

Following his order, 5 minutes later, on the Guam position, accompanied by a sudden rise of smoke, a huge missile soared into the sky, leaving a string of white traces in the sky, going straight to an altitude of [-] meters, and then heading towards the United States. Fly in the direction of the fleet.

Immediately afterwards, every 15 seconds, a huge missile rose into the air. As the missiles lifted off one by one, after the [-] missiles were lifted into the air, white traces were all over the sky.

Looking from the ground in Guam, it is really beautiful.

"Start booting."

At the same time, in the cabin of a bomber flying at an altitude of 1 meters, the navigator turned on the missile guidance equipment.

······
The Iowa was headed for Guam at high speed.

Inside the bridge.

The radar operator stared at the radar screen tightly, not daring to blink.

According to intelligence, there is an early warning aircraft on the other side, equipped with radar, flying at an altitude of nearly 100 meters, and can detect a fleet more than [-] kilometers away. He needs to find this kind of aircraft, and then guide the fighter jets to shoot it down.

But after staring at it for nearly 10 minutes without blinking, he didn't find any suspicious traces.

Although thanks to various means, the radar equipment in the United States has been improved, but it is still not 250:8000 to find an early warning aircraft 01 kilometers away at an altitude of 30 meters.

Suddenly, a bright spot appeared on the radar screen, which shocked him. He immediately concentrated his attention, quickly calculated the speed and distance of the bright spot, and shouted at the same time:

"Enemy plane found."

But as soon as the words fell, the radar operator was stunned.

"how can that be!"

He muttered to himself.

He wiped his eyes, carefully checked the radar screen again, and calculated again. After finding that there was no mistake, he fell into a daze again.

At this point, there are more and more dots on the screen.

"what's the situation?"

A group of big shots, including Nimitz, surrounded them.

"enemy."

The radar operator hesitated and said:

"The plane was traveling faster than the speed of sound, about two and a half times the speed of sound."

Thanks to the desperate American spies and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the intelligence agencies, the performance of the American radar has been improved at this time, and flying objects of Mach [-] can be detected.

"Two and a half times the speed of sound?"

Nimitz was also taken aback, then stood up abruptly, with a solemn tone:

"Ready to fight, enemy missiles are coming."

Although he lacked intelligence, Nimitz was keenly aware that this must be the enemy's missile, but he did not expect that the opponent's attack would be so decisive without any hesitation, and the performance of the missile was actually so strong, with a flying speed of [-]. By Sonic.

Sonic!
Before he had time to feel emotional, Nimitz quickly commanded the fleet to line up, fired jamming bombs, and turned on the jamming instruments.

Two and a half times the speed of sound, that is, more than 850 meters per second.

The radar found the missile at 150 kilometers away. Excluding the time wasted by the radar operator's calculations and repeated confirmations, the missile was only [-] kilometers away from the fleet.

Less than 2 minutes left.

After all, it is the elite core fleet of the United States. Following Nimitz's order, a chaff jamming bomb was launched into the sky, and a large cloud of chaff was sprinkled in the sky.

All radar jammers were also turned on.

No time to lament the quick response of the American fleet, looking at the chaff cluster in the sky, Nimitz sighed.

The American fleet is indeed outdated, and missiles are the future of naval warfare. When I go back, I have to talk to the president about the need to further strengthen technical research and development, and invest more funds and research forces.

·····
"what?"

Thirty kilometers away from the fleet, the observer of a reconnaissance plane suddenly noticed a bright light above his head, which seemed to be a rocket. He was about to take a closer look, but before he could react, he saw the light flash past and disappeared behind him. in view.

At this time, the missile had entered the terminal and began to descend in altitude, so it was discovered by the reconnaissance plane, but the speed still exceeded Mach [-], and it was difficult for pilots who were accustomed to the speed of propeller aircraft to react.

·····
After half a minute.

The Grand Fleet of the United States, inside the bridge of the flagship USS Iowa.

"coming!"

A staff officer holding a telescope pointed to the distance and shouted loudly.

Everyone looked, in the distance, a shining flame quickly approached, like a shooting star.

At this time, the missile was [-] kilometers away from the fleet, with an altitude of [-] and a speed of Mach [-]. It continued to reduce its altitude and speed. After all, it was impossible to maintain the highest speed at low altitude.

"shooting."

The air defense commander made a decisive decision and ordered the anti-aircraft guns to start firing.

But at this time, the air defense system on the American Grand Fleet is aimed at propeller aircraft, which can handle aircraft with a speed of up to [-] kilometers per hour.

And even if it starts to slow down, the missile's flying speed is 700 kilometers per hour, that is, 30 meters per second, and [-] kilometers, but it takes less than [-] seconds.

Before the anti-aircraft guns had adjusted their pitch, the first missile pierced directly towards the deck of the CV16 Lexington class.

Because it is an armor-piercing warhead, the one-ton high-explosive warhead penetrated the deck and passed through the hangar, and exploded directly in the power cabin. Boom, the explosion fireballs shot out from the Lexington.

This shot not only destroyed the Lexington's power compartment, but also detonated the fuel tank. A raging fire burst out of the Lexington, and the entire ship began to burn.

It did not sink, and the watertight warehouse has done a great job.

At this moment, other ships had no time to rescue Lexington, because the second missile was already approaching, and the third and fourth missiles were already visible to the naked eye.

On the flagship's radar screen, dozens of bright spots visible to the naked eye raided at [-] times the speed of sound.

second piece.

After passing through a dense chaff area, he missed the target and plunged into the sea.

The dense chaff in the sky still has a disturbing effect.

After all, the missiles at this time are only at the technical level in the mid-70s, and the radar technology is inferior. The high-density and large-scale physical interference of chaff has some effects even on missiles in the 21st century.

The third one.

Hitting a destroyer, the impact speed of Mach [-], plus a one-ton armor-piercing warhead, blew up the Fletcher-class destroyer to pieces on the spot and sent it to the bottom of the sea, all of this.

The fourth bomb hit the bow of the USS Missouri, cutting off part of it, leaving a gap. The blast wave directly pushed the bow of the ship into the water. Fortunately, the captain ordered water injection in time to maintain balance, and the thick armor also blocked it. Most of the shock waves had little damage and were only slightly injured.

The fifth missed again as it passed through an area of ​​dense chaff.

The sixth bomb hit a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, directly blowing the front turret away, and the entire ship lost speed, began to capsize, and slowly plunged from the bow to the bottom of the sea.

The seventh one hit the flaming Lexington class again by coincidence.

"withdraw."

Nimitz finally panicked:
"spread."

Before the war, he had speculated about countless possibilities, including the failure of the American Grand Fleet, but he never imagined that it would fail so quickly and so unimaginably.

He hasn't even seen the enemy yet!
The huge fleet began to turn around, while the missiles were still attacking one after another, heading towards the fleet at a speed of Mach [-].

The anti-aircraft guns are still firing fiercely, and most of the naval personnel are sticking to their posts. It has to be said that after the Pacific War, the quality of the soldiers in the US fleet is very strong at this time.

But in the face of missiles at twice the speed of sound, the air defense system against propeller aircraft is doomed to be useless.

However, the dense chaff caused a lot of trouble to the missiles. The Yankees adhered to the principle of deep pockets, and installed a large number of chaff jamming bomb launch equipment, each with dozens of them. For this reason, a large number of auxiliary guns were removed Ammunition was stored in sufficient quantities, and the chaff in the sky was as dense as snowflakes. More than one-third of the missiles were jammed and missed their targets, and they lost their targets and plunged into the sea.

Coupled with repeated hits on the target, when all [-] missiles were shot down,
The twelve Essex-class ships were all wiped out and sank collectively into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. After all, the flat deck has a large target and a large radar reflection area, so it is the primary target of attack.

Two of the four Iowa-class ships also sank, the remaining flagship Iowa-class was slightly injured, the Missouri was seriously injured, and the deck was almost close to the waterline.

The four Baltimore heavy cruisers were all silent.

None of the sixteen Cleveland-class light cruisers were spared and sank collectively.

Of the 28 Fletcher-class destroyers, only two were lucky and were not shot, and the rest sank.

Even one of the ten submarines was hit by a missile that missed the target, and the remaining nine were unharmed, and many sailors who fell into the water were rescued afterwards.

"General, they have a telegram."

Inside the bridge of the USS Iowa, a staff officer with blood on his face said to Nimitz.

A missile exploded at the front of Iowa, destroying the No. 1000 turret. The 406-ton triple-mounted [-] turret was blown up and disappeared. It also shattered all the bulletproof glass of the bridge. Ammunition depot, or Iowa will die.

"what did they say?"

Nimitz's voice trembled a little.

"they said."

The staff officer also trembled:

"Anything else?"

Nimitz was silent for a long time.

He looked around and saw that the original huge American fleet now only had two battleships and two destroyers left, and they had never even seen the enemy face to face.

"Reply to them, no, we surrender."

Nimitz smiled wryly.

The shore-based air force on the opposite side, the capital ship has not yet participated in the battle, and the entire army has been wiped out. The technological gap is so big! ·····In an instant, Nimitz seemed to be decades older.

"Ask them to help."

After surrendering, Nimitz also broke his cans and directly begged for help.

If it is in time, many sailors can be saved.

······
"Set off."

After receiving the call for help, nearly a hundred seaplanes in Guam set off to search for the surviving sailors.

Although I can't wait to deal with devils.

But after all, my family is not a devil, but a human being.

·····
at the same time.

Europe.

Cherbourg.

"The No.30 Second Army in the Bayeux area has been surrounded. The enemy has used more than [-] tanks to besiege, nearly half of which are cutting-edge No. [-] tanks. General Patton has organized troops to break out of the encirclement many times, but all failed, and the troops suffered heavy losses. .”

The staff officer's tone was mournful:

"Coutances, the reinforcements in the direction of Sheng Nuo were blocked and could not be supported. The troops that originally attacked the Carentan area were also blocked by German ground forces and anti-aircraft towers and could not be supported."

"Army aviation was blocked by the German Air Force, and it was temporarily unable to support the Bayeux ground battle."

Hearing these reports, Eisenhower sat down on the ground, his face pale.

he knows.

Bayeux's 30 allied troops were gone.

I don't know if it was intentional by the Germans. All the troops in the direction of Bayeux are American troops.

Cherbourg fought for three and a half months, and the United States only lost 50 troops. This time, Bayeux, how long has it been?Direct loss of 30 again.

Although most of them were captured this time, the Germans would send the captured soldiers to labor camps to work on construction sites, repair roads, railways, and anti-aircraft towers, which is no different from death.

"Report to Mr. President."

Eisenhower sighed deeply.

I hope Mr. President can hold on.