Bismarck

Manteuffel put away his teaching stick and said, "If possible, we can help them break through the defense line behind the British and French coalition forces from another direction. I also have Guderian's contact information, so there will be no problem with this coordination."

"Well, that's no problem. Although your army's artillery coordinates should be different from ours, you can find... the herald Ms. Bismarck. She is a top artillery expert." Lindemann thought about it, artillery and so on... and finally decided to sell Bismarck.

Although I felt Bismarck's eyes changed as soon as I said this... Are you kidding? Is this the rhythm for me to come to the front?

She glared fiercely at Lindman who looked innocent.

"Ms. Bismarck?" Manteuffel looked at Bismarck, stunned.

"That's right. After you give her the map, leave the bombardment to her."

For the sake of his domestic hamster, Lindemann had no choice but to sacrifice Bismarck and himself.

"Hello, I am Bismarck..." Bismarck stood up with her head held high. She knew in her heart that if she didn't come out, Tirpitz would probably have to go. Well, for her sister, she went!

Ps: 5000 words!!! Two chapters worth!!! Please give me a monthly pass!!! Muah

Chapter 162: Frustration

At 27 pm on the th, General Reichenau, commander of the Sixth Army of the German Army Group B, was anxiously rushing with his troops. Although the Belgians had surrendered at this time, the bridges and roads here had already been reduced to ruins in the war before the surrender. Even if they were not destroyed in the war, they were blown up by the Belgians at the last minute - they were still happy to see the Germans being in trouble.

This resulted in a tragic fact... In this area where there were several rivers and ditches per kilometer on average, the army could only wait for the engineering corps to build bridges bit by bit, and then advance bit by bit.

What's more, only the main body of the army surrendered. There were always a few Belgian stragglers who would rather die than surrender, hiding in the dark with guns, shooting from behind. All the German army had to send troops to clean them up from time to time. Some of them were even shot from behind and had to be dealt with by tanks... This situation further delayed the advancement.

The Admiral looked at the tactical map in the car and found that his speed was really pitifully slow. He pointed to his location and said to the staff officer beside him.

"We have just passed Craycott and are still 70 kilometers away from Dunkirk... This won't do! Messenger! Tell the engineers to hurry up! Also, tell the people at the back not to sit idle and prepare a few more river crossing points!! Also, tell the infantry to prepare to swim across these small rivers and ditches as much as possible and occupy them first!!..."

In the end, the anxious admiral even went to the front line to personally supervise the engineers to build the bridge. He looked at his watch without listening, and was extremely anxious...

"Report! Urgent military information!" Just as Reichenau was getting anxious, a signalman ran over and handed him a telegram. Reichenau, who was furious, took it and read it for less than half a minute before tearing it to pieces on the spot:

"Asshole! Tell the commander in front that if you can't defeat them, don't come back!"

"Yes!"

The signalman saluted and hurried away.

"General. What's wrong?" the chief of staff asked.

"...The vanguard reported that the vanguard of the British 3rd Infantry Division was not only not annihilated, but was also occupied by them on the north bank of the Leith River and beaten back...? Bastard!!......"

In the dark night on the river bank, Reichenau's furious curses were heard...

Almost at the same time, in the town of Berg, 80 kilometers away, Guderian was furious at his men...

"What's going on?! Why aren't you fighting anymore?!"

Guderian, who was in a rage, yelled at one of his regiment commanders: "You should know that you are leading the Grossdeutschland Regiment! Do you know what a regiment named after Grossdeutschland means?! The combat effectiveness of the Grossdeutschland Regiment is equal to that of a division of the other Wehrmacht!! Do you deserve your honorary armband after fighting like this?!... If you can't tell me why, I will kill you right now! Otherwise, you will lose face for this unit!"

"Commander... we really can't attack. This is the canal area plus the castle area, with three castles in a row, and the city area in the past... our tanks and artillery can't penetrate it at all, and bombers can't be deployed in this damn weather... Forcing a crossing of the canal under the firepower of the castles is simply suicide..."

The regimental commander, who was covered in dust and had a bandage on his arm, gnashed his teeth and explained to his superior unwillingly, "...and not only that, we are now short of ammunition and troops. We only have half the ammunition, and only two companies out of the three battalions can move...Commander, I want to fight in too...but this damn place...the enemy is in a good position, and we are powerless...the casualties are already heavy."

At this point, the German major general's eyes also turned red, after all, the casualties were all his men...

Guderian was silent, he knew that what his subordinates said was true... In order to maximize the impact of the blitzkrieg, he knew clearly that he was out of touch, but he could only grit his teeth and rush forward desperately. He had no time to wait for follow-up troops - if he stopped, the British and French forces on the opposite side would have time to organize a defense.

In fact, he had no intention of executing the Führer's previous order to stop the attack, not to mention that he had the "Mustache Guards" under his command, a SS freak who could completely ignore this order.

But...even if he allowed his men to continue the attack, or even if they resumed the attack now, not only had they lost the initiative, but the troops had suffered heavy losses and really had no way to continue the attack!

Whether it is the 20th Infantry Division, the Grossdeutschland Regiment, or the Adolf Hitler Guards, they have all suffered heavy casualties at this point... And according to intelligence, the British and French forces are becoming more and more concentrated, and the defense will become more and more difficult...

Although it is only 5 kilometers from here to Dunkirk, the terrain of the canal and the castle, the density of troops, and the desperate struggle of even the French... And the most important thing is that although the superiors said that the motorized infantry in the back would arrive soon, Guderian was fighting his own battle and he knew very well that the rear of their entire army was now defenseless (although historically, the French army's counterattacks against the German army always ended in failure for various reasons), and the distance was too far, and it would be good if those troops could arrive in a week...

"...Forget it, let your troops rest first. I'll see how the 1st Armored Division of Brookkerk is doing over there..."

Guderian sighed and waved his hand to let his subordinates go first.

Looking at his exhausted and devastated subordinates, and the town riddled with bullet holes and corpses but still standing, Guderian, who was in dire straits, soon received news that the 1st Armored Division had also suffered heavy casualties in front of Bruckkerke. Guderian could not help but feel angry...

Between them, the two divisions of the French First Army were under great pressure from the two German armies on both sides, desperately protecting the safety of several roads within a range of 20 kilometers in the middle. However, they did not know that under the tacit understanding of the British, the British Expeditionary Force, led by Montgomery's Third Infantry Division, had already driven cars to abandon their allies and escape on their own (Brooke, commander of the British Second Army, commented on Montgomery: Poor allies, they didn't even know that they were holding a poisonous snake in their arms)...

At the same time, in the east embankment area of ​​Dunkirk beach, since the port facilities had been bombed into ruins, Colonel Tennant, the highest commander of beach loading and dispatching, was in charge of pushing the cars with tires removed into the sea, throwing sand and stones into the cars, and finally nailing wooden boards on the top of the cars to make a temporary pier. The British army troops that arrived at the beach one after another, under the coordination of the retreat coordination group headed by Lieutenant Colonel Jack Clauston, took over the defense of the beach positions that arrived earlier in an orderly manner, and then watched the troops that had arrived earlier to guard the beach walk onto the pier in neat formations, take various small boats to transport personnel, and finally transfer them to transport ships or even destroyers in the open sea to return to Britain...

The west wind blew on the beach, and the dark clouds in the sky provided a natural camouflage for the British and French forces. The cigarettes of the British and French forces waiting in line for evacuation lit up the stars in the dark night like fireflies... On the other side, the lighthouse of Dunkirk Port still shone with the light of hope in the dark night, showing the direction of the British fleet on the sea... In the farther city, the billowing smoke from the previously bombed refinery covered the sky above the entire beach, laying a black cover for these sparks of the free world... From time to time, there were several loud noises on the sea in the distance. They were the night bombers of the German Air Force, panicking like headless flies because they couldn't find a place... Lieutenant General Ramsay, who had just climbed ashore on the beach, watched several soldiers orderly carry two stretchers onto the rowboat that carried him up, and then the sailors on the rowboat carried the hope of survival to the distance...

"What's the situation now?" A very familiar voice came from behind Colonel Tennant, who was busy arranging the rescue on the east dike.

"Your Excellency the Vice Admiral is back!" Tennant quickly turned around and saluted, without stopping his report: "It went smoothly! Since the demon warship was driven away, there has been no obstacles until now. In addition, I pieced together a few anti-aircraft guns they towed back and organized two anti-aircraft gun positions. With God's blessing, the effect of this weather... Look over there!" Tennant pointed to the distance, where there was a faint sound of something exploding: "The Germans came to bomb several times in the afternoon and evening, but they didn't bomb the right place. The Germans on the periphery were basically blocked at the edge of the city... Since we repaired the temporary pier at three o'clock in the afternoon, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated... Now I am organizing the construction of more piers so that more people can get on the ship and go home at the same time."

"Good!" Vice Admiral Ramsey smiled and nodded. "In addition, the superiors told us a good news. As long as we can hold out for 24 hours, three or four battleships will come to reinforce us! So we must hold out for 24 hours, that is, until midnight on the 29th! Can you do it?"

"No problem!! Admiral Goth has already evaluated it today. We still have five divisions of troops behind us that can come and take over the position. There is an urban area and a historical castle belt here! Those castles can even withstand dive bombers!! And in this weather...it is absolutely impossible for the Germans to capture this place in 24 hours!"

"That's good! Then we will definitely win!" Seeing his subordinates reporting exciting good news, Lieutenant General Ramsay clenched his fist and said, "God bless the king! We will definitely be able to successfully lead everyone out!!"

...?

"The Third Torpedo Boat Squadron is calling urgently! We have found the battleship Tirpitz and the torpedo boats coming out from the mine belt we temporarily laid this afternoon on the Nieuwpoort side! They have suffered heavy casualties and said they will do everything they can to hold back that terrible demon. We need to be prepared in advance..." Just as the two were happily chatting on the East Embankment, the telegraph operator who had come ashore with Ramsay ran over with an anxious look on his face, and the first thing he said was bad news...

The west wind blew, and the two people who were so excited before were stunned in an instant...

ps: Historically, there was a lot of controversy about the order of the mustache to suddenly stop the attack, but in fact, it is very likely that the resistance to the subsequent advancement was too great, so they had to stop and rest... The specific situation is @大姐头, 666

Asking for monthly ticket

163: Artillery Support

Nieuwpoort, a port city in western Belgium, is also the easternmost point of the British-French Allied Forces' Dunkirk beachhead. With the powerful firepower of 14000 16-inch heavy mortars, 4.2 72-pound field guns, 25 ​​48-pound anti-tank guns, and 2 Bofors anti-aircraft guns, the 54 officers and soldiers of the British 5rd Infantry Division, relying on the 5-meter-deep Yser River, the canal with artificial sluices opened to release floodwaters, and the criss-crossing ditches like a maze, firmly nailed this stronghold and controlled the surrounding area within a radius of kilometers.

The German troops tried desperately to charge forward, but were beaten back again and again by the fierce firepower, suffering heavy casualties.

The two sides began a difficult attack and defense across a river - the British had a clear advantage.

"This damn place is too difficult to fight!"

After another fruitless attack, seeing his men returning in disgrace, General Küchler, commander of the 18th Army of the German Wehrmacht, was so angry that he threw his telescope aside and sat down on an ammunition box in the trench.

"This is a depression, and it has been soaked by floods. The soil is too soft, and we can't drag our heavy artillery up here, so those buildings are difficult to deal with..." The Chief of Staff of the 18th Group Army sighed as he looked at the artillery positions behind him.

Due to the blitzkrieg's requirement for speed and terrain restrictions, even the lightest 150mm infantry gun among the heavy artillery could not be dragged up. The entire army, including tank guns, had only some light artillery, and its ability to attack and break through was very problematic.

Moreover...the weather factors were even more unfavorable to the Germans, and the clouds in the sky were getting thicker and thicker.

"This is damn weather, the clouds are so low, the Stuka can't bomb accurately, and the JU88's high-altitude bombing, although it sounds scary, is actually just random! When they drop bombs, our people have to stand far away... They might bomb our own people, damn it!"

Admiral Kuchler, who came from the artillery and had a long military experience, was very familiar with fire support, so he knew exactly where the problem lay.

"Look at those ancient castles. They are definitely not as simple as they seem. There must be basements underneath. The British can hide in reinforced basements or bunkers. Our bombing has no target at all, and the casualties to them are minimal. Moreover, our people have to stay far away so as not to be hit by our own planes. But if we are far away, they will take up their positions as soon as we finish bombing. Not to mention that those basements have long been converted into bunkers by them, but we lack heavy artillery now... Damn it..." The admiral sighed unwillingly and punched the wall of the trench.

However, at this time, just as the army was having a headache about these troublesome fortresses, the sky over the northern seas suddenly lit up, attracting everyone to look over there.

First, several bright "light bulbs" flashed in the sky, illuminating a large area around them as if it were daytime. They could be seen very clearly at a distance of more than ten or twenty kilometers. Then, flashes of artillery fire came from the sea in the distance. After a long while, there seemed to be faint sounds of machine gun fire and artillery shelling.

That dull sound... must be from heavy artillery.

"It would be great if we had a gun like that." The Admiral said. Tirpitz's 380-caliber naval gun could easily penetrate these obstacles.

"It's the navy that's fighting the British navy... huh?!" The chief of staff just sighed at first, but suddenly he seemed to remember something...

"General, didn't the Army Group say today that the Navy's battleship Tirpitz will be active in this area tonight? They said we can call them if we need fire support... Do you want to call them?"

"Call the Navy?"

Admiral Kuchler frowned and thought for a while: "I know a little bit about the navy, but the key to infantry and artillery is coordination... If we just talk about bombing it flat, a stubborn position will continue to resist even if it is really bombed flat!"

"...But we don't have any other options right now...After all, it's a fire support. Besides, there's a liaison team sent by the headquarters, so they should be able to coordinate with us, right?"

The Chief of Staff suggested.

Admiral Kuchler said nothing. It seemed that there was no other choice in the current situation.

He turned the cigarette around twice, and when it was about to burn his nose, he took a deep puff of smoke, then pressed the butt against the wall of the trench: "Okay, let's give it a try. Um... let's do this, you go to the artillery command post... never mind, I'm an artilleryman, I'll go and coordinate the firepower myself! You stay here and take charge. In addition, you need to prepare downstairs. We will attack in half an hour, and the main attack point... is at the northern estuary! It will be easier to coordinate the firepower then..."

Admiral Kuchler walked out while giving orders. After jumping onto the command vehicle, he stuck his head out and gave orders: "Transfer the Army Group's Engineering Corps over here! They will be responsible for building the pontoon bridge while I tell the navy to bombard..."

The command vehicle started up quickly and sped away...

On the rough sea, the bridge of the battleship Tirpitz was busy in an orderly manner.

Although the German fleet suffered a blow during the daytime operation and suffered heavy losses, and even the flagship Tirpitz was damaged, but at this critical moment, when the combat mission was tight, they could not leave the front line even if they were injured. All they had was only one goal - to prevent the British from retreating!

The Tirpitz was soon given a new order - to participate in a night attack with the torpedo boat unit to attack the transport fleet in Dunkirk.

The main force...is naturally Tirpitz.

But Feizhai Grape said that he was very tired and wanted to go back to Hong Kong...

In this situation, Lindemann had no choice but to begin to comfort the tearful Tirpitz. He rubbed her head with a smile and softly asked her to hold on.

Although Tizi didn't want to move, as she was exhausted after a long battle, she nodded reluctantly when she saw Lindemann's "appearance" and thought of her sister's words that she would listen to the captain. Of course, Lindemann must have a price to pay, such as returning to the port to take her out to play or something...

Bismarck first smiled and leaned against the door to watch their interaction, then he gently closed the door, leaving them two spaces, and walked towards the fire control room.

There will be another battle in the evening, so let's prepare first.

But why do I feel like my daughter is growing up?

She smiled and shook her head. Seeing the interaction between Tizi and Lindemann, she felt a little, no, she should have missed Lütjens a lot.

I wonder what the captain is doing now... He should be busy in the Navy Department.

Soon, Lindemann dealt with Tirpitz and the night attack began.

In the combat command room, Lindemann, Manteuffel, and Flensburg, representing the three major military branches, scribbled on the map and talked to Top. Top, who was dressed like an old sailor, nodded expressionlessly, then held a cigarette and walked towards a house with a sign that read "Secondary Gun Command Cabin";

At another table, he and Modders were drawing a blueprint, probably an air situation map or something, based on the radar soldier's report. Bismarck was not in the command cabin, but was leaning his hands on the backrest of the main gun director operating position, listening to what the gunner Tirpitz and the Army artillery coordinator who was holding an Army map were explaining. Behind the artillery coordinator stood an Army communications soldier who was looking for a place to extend the radio's antenna.

Outside the bridge, facing the westerly wind, waves and raindrops of the English Channel, a little hamster, wearing a full-body raincoat, with a safety rope tied around his waist, pouting and complaining, was holding a searchlight with a sunshade to illuminate the reefs and mines on the shore, clearing the way for the torpedo boats following behind. Lindemann said he wanted me to guide the artillery fire for the army, but I ended up clearing mines and clearing the way... For this, Lindemann was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties that ceded territory, paid compensation, and invited guests to dinner...

Fortunately, the British only hastily laid some mines in the afternoon, and did not dare to get too close to the German-occupied area (for fear of being attacked), nor did they dare to get too close to their own transport team (for fear of accidental injuries and fear of the range of the Grapes), so there were not too many mines near the shore, and a safe passage was quickly cleared.

However, although the searchlights were equipped with visors to prevent the target from being exposed, and the army was also fighting fiercely, and the air force also risked flying at night in bad weather, organizing some elite pilots to harass us every now and then, it seems that we were still discovered? Well, now there are four British torpedo boats 12 kilometers ahead, and they are coming towards us crookedly in the bad sea conditions...

"Top, the British torpedo boat is coming, 150mm main gun fires flares! 105mm uses HE impact fuse! FLAK36 prepares for medium-range interception! Cover the torpedo boat and rush over!" Lindemann, who was sitting in the command room, opened the microphone cover and issued combat orders to Top in the secondary gun command cabin. An emotionless voice soon came from the microphone: "I know what to do!" Then, with the sound of "clang" from the microphone cover, the light of artillery fire flashed outside the porthole.

"You may sound like you're not allowed to come near me, but you're quite skilled in following orders." Lindman smiled and continued to discuss with the other two on the chart table...

Behind the Tirpitz, the German torpedo boats saw the light signals coming from the front, and like sharks smelling prey, they opened the covers of their torpedo tubes and rushed towards the poor British torpedo boats exposed to the flares in front. The navigation performance, firepower and even defense of the German torpedo boats were stronger than those of the British torpedo boats, and the enemy was in the light and we were in the dark, and there was the cover of the battleships' gunfire, and eight torpedo boats were fighting four...

Just a few minutes later, Bismarck saw in the periscope of the main gun director the German torpedo boats cutting through the waves like hungry wolves, and the British torpedo boats shivering in the wind and rain (the sailing performance of the planing speedboats was not resistant to strong winds and waves, and they could not drive at high speeds, so that course was indeed "shivering"), and he could not help but silently cross himself.

"Poor kids, God bless you, rest in peace, Amen..."

At this moment, Lindemann's voice came from the microphone:

"Everyone, pay attention. The 18th Group Army has sent a request for artillery assistance. Please turn on the radio, frequency XXXX.XX..."

Bismarck, Tizi's gunner, and the army coordinator looked at each other and said, "It looks like we'll have something to do soon."

ps: I don't know if this counts as a break, hahaha, please give me a monthly ticket or something

Chapter 164: Attack

The Nieuwpoort port area is located in the northeast of the city, close to the urban area in the south, and about 2 kilometers north of the port area is the turbulent English Channel. Due to the opening of the gates and the destruction of the river embankment, the water surface at the downstream estuary of the Yser River north of the port area has expanded from less than 100 meters wide to more than meters, but this is not the most uncomfortable. What makes the Germans feel most disgusted is that the surrounding land has also been soaked by water and turned into a large muddy pond, which is a nightmare for tanks that require high-speed mobility!

The German soldiers who were unaware of the situation where a tank would sink from time to time expressed great jealousy...

At present, the only place where the German army can effectively mobilize troops and build temporary bridges is the section from the port area to the urban area, which is 600 meters long from east to west and 1000 meters long from north to south. The width is limited by the dock facilities on both sides, so it is still about 25 meters wide, but it is an L-shaped river bend with deep water and fast currents. Moreover, at the bottom of this L-shaped section, the British and French forces in Nieuwpoort concentrated a group of firepower, including 2-pound field guns, 40-pound anti-tank guns, MM Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and light and heavy machine guns. Relying on the solid warehouse areas and intricate urban areas along the river, they frantically blocked a large open area of ​​several kilometers around the port area and farmland.

During the day, the German army tried to rush through this open area with a combination of infantry and tank tactics, but under the tight defense of the British, they suffered heavy casualties and had to retreat and wait for the opportunity.

They waited until dusk before taking action again.

Under the cover of night, with the help of shell craters, remaining buildings in the port area and nearby villages and towns, and small ditches, more and more German troops stealthily moved through this dangerous open area and entered the simple starting position along the Yser River.

But judging by their trousers soaked in mud and their uniforms smelling of gunpowder, as well as the fact that they laid down their weapons as soon as they arrived at the position, and either grabbed their military caps to fan themselves or unscrewed their canteens to drink water in big gulps, it can be seen that these soldiers were already exhausted from walking in the muddy swamp. You know, they were also carrying heavy ammunition boxes, heavy weapons, or all kinds of strange and imaginative river crossing tools. It was indeed not an easy task to cross this few hundred meters of mud...

Behind them were engineers pushing carts - in order not to make any noise, they were pushing and pulling these heavy carts in the mud with their hands, "moving" them towards the river little by little.

On these vehicles were placed all sorts of hastily made tools and components for building temporary bridges: temporarily nailed wooden boards of uniform size, firmly tied sandbags filled with sand and gravel, wooden stakes of uniform length, standard iron tripods with various quick-release latches, and double-headed nails for nailing wood together.

Admiral Kuchler, dressed like the soldiers and covered in mud, personally followed the troops to the river bank with several generals, a staff and several signalmen. They carefully walked around the ruins on the river bank and secretly found a hidden place to hide - in the pitch-dark night, the slightest movement could attract a burst of machine gun fire!

In a corner where they were sure that the light would not be seen by the other side, the group put down the radio, took out the blueprints, opened the artillery observation periscope, and lit the marching lights.

The orderly held up a piece of clothing over their heads out of concern, and then the admiral and his staff began to discuss in this small "combat command center".

Kuchler looked at the markings on the map and said to several of his men, "We are now between the coastline and Nieuwpoort, so go call the battleship Tirpitz and see if you can determine their position. I don't want their shells to hit our own people, so this question is very important. I must have clear location information to determine the tactics to be adopted later! So go and ask now!"