Anti-Japanese War: My equipment is infinitely refreshed

In the military command room in the British Isles filled with tension and dispute, a fierce war of words between Lieutenant General Patton and Montgomery was taking place.

Lieutenant General Patton had a firm look on his face, with unquestionable determination in his eyes, and he said loudly: "We must open up a second battlefield and land on the European continent." In his opinion, this is the perfect time to pursue the victory and expand the results of the war. If they can successfully land on the European continent, the Allies will be able to take the initiative strategically and rewrite the course of the entire war, so he can't wait to push this plan into practice.

However, Montgomery frowned and expressed a different opinion in a serious tone: "The most urgent task is to get rid of the German troops in the British Isles first." In his view, the German troops that landed on the British Isles were like thorns in the side, threatening the security of the mainland at all times, and had already caused considerable trouble to the British army's daily defense, logistics supply and many other aspects. Only by completely eliminating them first can subsequent combat operations be carried out without any worries.

At first, Lieutenant General Patton did not refute Montgomery's proposal, but a thoughtful look appeared on his face. After all, no one could deny that the German army landing on the British Isles was indeed a tricky existence. It had already caused a lot of trouble to the current situation, and the trouble caused was real.

However, Lieutenant General Patton's immediate response made Montgomery frown even more, his face full of displeasure.

It turned out that Lieutenant General Patton agreed to let the British army deal with the German troops alone. The implication was obvious that the US army did not intend to participate. This made Montgomery very unhappy. He felt that the US army was deliberately avoiding responsibility and throwing all the problems to the British army, which naturally aroused his strong dissatisfaction. However, considering that the British army was extremely dependent on the assistance of the US army in many aspects such as military equipment and military support, even if there were many complaints in his heart, he could only swallow them for the time being and remain silent helplessly, but the frustration continued to accumulate in his heart.

But when Lieutenant General Patton further proposed to open a second front, Montgomery expressed his opposition without hesitation. He knew very well that if he wanted to open a second front, he would have to draw a large number of troops, weapons and equipment, and various combat resources from other battlefields where fierce fighting was taking place. In this way, other battlefields would probably be weakened and unsustainable, and eventually they would have to give up. The British Empire had already lost a lot of interests in many previous wars, and now it was hoping to gradually recover them in subsequent battles. If it easily gave up other battlefields now, how could it recover the damaged interests? This was a matter related to Britain's vital interests, international status, and voice, so he could not agree to Lieutenant General Patton's proposal anyway, and the contradiction between the two sides took root and became more and more intense.

Montgomery thought that it was not impossible to open up a second front, but he just needed to wait for a more appropriate time. When the situation in other battlefields became clearer and the outcome was decided, he could then concentrate his forces to land on the European continent, find the weak links of the German army and give it a fatal blow. This would ensure a higher success rate for the operation and protect Britain's interests to the greatest extent, and try to make up for what had been lost before.

But how could Lieutenant General Patton approve of his plan? You know, the purpose of the U.S. military's intervention in the European war this time is to seize the opportunity in this chaotic and complicated war situation, to reap the entire European continent as much as possible, to try to gain the greatest benefits from it, and to further consolidate its influence and status in the international arena. If we really wait until the other battlefields are decided, it will undoubtedly give the British Empire an excellent opportunity to recuperate and recover. At that time, Britain will inevitably gain more initiative in the subsequent distribution of interests, strategic decision-making and many other aspects with its profound heritage and recovered strength, which is obviously not in line with the interests of the U.S. military. Recalling the last war, the U.S. military suffered a great loss in many key links. This time they will never foolishly repeat the same mistakes again, so Lieutenant General Patton is thinking about opening up a second battlefield as soon as possible, seizing the seemingly fleeting opportunity in front of him, and never wanting to let it go easily.

"Now the elite of the German army have been tied up on the Eastern Front, and there have been loopholes in the Western Front's defense line. We can completely land on the European continent and open up a second battlefield. As long as we can land on the French mainland, France will surrender in an instant, and then we can go straight to the German mainland." Lieutenant General Patton became more and more excited as he spoke, his face full of excitement and anticipation, as if he had already seen the magnificent scene of the Allied forces landing smoothly, France quickly surrendering, and then the army marching straight into the German mainland. Naturally, he would not give up this good opportunity to take advantage of the emptiness of the German Army's Western Front and give the Germans a hard time.

Recalling the thrilling experience in the battle in North Africa, Lieutenant General Patton still has lingering fears. At that time, he really witnessed the terrifying and powerful combat power of the German army. The battle was so brutal that he was forced into desperate situations several times and was almost beaten into jumping into the sea to escape. If it were not for the Air Force's timely dispatch at that critical moment to rescue him from the edge of danger and transport him to a safe area, he would have been buried in the sea and completely finished. So this time when he was arranged to the British Isles, he was holding back a lot of energy in his heart, and secretly vowed to find an opportunity to avenge his previous humiliation and never let the German army beat him so badly again.

He knew very well that if he went head-on with the German elite troops, he would not have enough confidence to win with the strength of the troops he led. Fortunately, the current situation was different. Most of the troops stationed on the Western Front were the German second-line troops. Compared with the elite troops, their combat effectiveness was much weaker. With the existing combat effectiveness of the US military, they were fully confident of winning. So facing such a rare opportunity, Lieutenant General Patton felt that if he missed it, he would be a complete fool. No matter what, he had to strive to open up a second battlefield and implement landing operations.

However, the British army refused to agree no matter what. No matter how eloquently Lieutenant General Patton spoke, Montgomery remained unmoved and insisted on his position. The two sides were deadlocked and neither side gave in. The atmosphere became extremely tense for a while.

"But our advantages in other battlefields are not that great." Montgomery was still thinking about returning to North Africa for revenge. The scene when he was beaten so badly by the German army in the North African battlefield and almost jumped into the sea was like a heavy stone, weighing on his heart and making him feel deeply humiliated. This sense of shame prompted him to find an opportunity to take revenge, so he was so firmly opposed to opening up a second battlefield at the moment and did not want to easily change the established battle plan.

"Your Excellency, don't worry about the North African battlefield. The expeditionary force there is currently besieging Alexandria and is expected to take it soon." Lieutenant General Patton naturally understood what the other party was thinking, but his tone was quite cold, and he spoke with an unquestionable tone, as if telling Montgomery that he didn't need to worry about the war in North Africa, and the US military was capable of handling it. As soon as these words came out, Montgomery felt even more uncomfortable, and his face became even uglier. Hearing this, although Montgomery was very unhappy, he was really helpless. Of course, he knew the specific situation in North Africa, but after all, it was the expeditionary force composed of the US military that was leading the combat operations. Even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, he couldn't say anything more. He could only bite the bullet and praise a few words against his will. This feeling was so aggrieved, as if there was a fire burning in his heart, but he couldn't vent it.

"I wonder where you plan to land, Your Excellency Lieutenant General?" Montgomery suppressed his unhappiness and changed the subject. After all, landing operations are a key link that affects the direction of the entire war. The choice of landing site is of utmost importance and must be carefully considered.

According to the lessons learned from previous landing operations, an ideal landing site usually needs to meet the following three key conditions: First, it must be within the combat radius that can be covered by fighter jets taking off from British airports. Only in this way can there be sufficient air power to provide effective cover for the landing troops and resist enemy attacks from the air during the landing operation, thereby ensuring that the landing operation can proceed smoothly; second, the voyage distance must be shortened as much as possible, so as to reduce the various risks faced by the landing troops during the voyage at sea, such as being intercepted and attacked by enemy ships and being affected by bad weather, and at the same time reduce the loss and difficulty of material transportation; third, there must be a large port near the landing site to facilitate the smooth landing of subsequent large-scale troops and various combat materials, and to facilitate the subsequent steady advancement into the inland areas, thereby establishing a solid beachhead and combat defense line.

If we carefully weigh and select the above conditions along the 480-kilometer coastline from Würzingen in the Netherlands to Cherbourg in France, there are three areas that are relatively suitable choices, namely the Constantine Peninsula, Calais and Normandy.

After further in-depth and detailed comparative analysis of these three regions, the Constantine Peninsula was excluded first. This is because its terrain is relatively narrow, which is not conducive to large-scale troops launching combat operations here. Once the troops land here, it is easy for personnel and equipment to be overcrowded and chaotic. There is no way to quickly and effectively organize a powerful offensive and advance smoothly to the inland areas. Its limitations are really too great.

Calais and Normandy each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of Calais is that it is the closest to the UK, with a distance of only 33 kilometers between the two. From the perspective of sailing distance alone, it is very ideal, and it is geographically close to the German mainland. From a strategic perspective, it seems to have a great advantage, which is convenient for subsequent rapid attacks on the German hinterland; however, its disadvantages are also obvious. The German defense force deployed in the Calais area is the most powerful, and the garrisons are all elite troops. After a long period of careful construction, the fortifications here are complete and extremely strong, and it is extremely difficult to break through. In addition, there is no large port near Calais, and there is a lack of inland transportation lines. This is undoubtedly an extremely unfavorable obstacle for the landing troops to further develop combat operations in the depths after landing.

Although Normandy is farther from the UK than Calais, it also has many significant advantages. First, the German defense in the Normandy region is relatively weak. Compared with the impregnable defense in Calais, the defense pressure here will be much smaller, which is undoubtedly very beneficial for the landing operation; second, the terrain of Normandy is relatively open, which can accommodate 30 divisions of troops to carry out combat operations at the same time, and there is sufficient space for the troops to carry out flexible and diverse tactical arrangements and steadily advance; third, it is only 80 kilometers away from Cherbourg, the largest port in northern France, which provides great convenience for the transportation of subsequent large troops and a large amount of combat supplies to land, making it easy to quickly consolidate the beachhead position and then further expand the combat range inland.

"Normal is Normandy." Lieutenant General Patton shook his head slightly, thought for a while, and said in a firm tone. In his heart, after comprehensive consideration, Normandy is undoubtedly the most ideal landing site at the moment. As long as they can successfully land here, subsequent combat operations will have a good start, and there will be more hope of moving towards victory.

Among the many issues in preparing for the second front, logistics is undoubtedly the most important, and it is the key to the smooth implementation of the entire combat plan. However, the only thing that needs to be solved is the logistics problem, which did not make Lieutenant General Patton feel panic or anxious. On the contrary, he seemed particularly calm and composed.

Since they had made up their minds to open up a second battlefield, they had to make full preparations and they would never fight an unprepared battle. As for solving the problem of logistics support, Lieutenant General Patton had already had a good idea in mind, which was an artificial port.

In conventional combat thinking, ports are natural hubs for the distribution and transfer of materials. For large-scale landing operations, their importance is self-evident. But what if there is no ready-made port near the combat area? The answer given by Lieutenant General Patton is to create a port, relying on manpower to build an artificial port that can meet the needs of logistics and transportation.

This is not a fantasy. With the strong industrial strength of the US military, it is too easy to realize such a vision. The strong industrial base, advanced engineering technology, and sufficient human and material resources of the United States all provide a solid guarantee for the construction of artificial ports.

Facts have proved this point. In subsequent practical operations, building an artificial port is indeed a relatively easy thing to achieve. It is precisely because of such a strong backing that Lieutenant General Patton was so confident when facing the key issue of logistics, as if everything was under control. He firmly believed that with the powerful measure of artificial ports, he could perfectly solve the problem of logistics and transportation and lay a solid foundation for the smooth progress of the landing operation. (End of this chapter)