Bismarck

In the bridge command room, which was illuminated red by the fire on the hull, Rear Admiral Thomas was unwilling and helpless and burst into tears...

But it was useless to say anything now. Tirpitz started to counterattack, and the 105mm secondary guns also joined in, making the firepower of Tirpitz more intensive. The remaining British torpedo boats were in danger of hiding in the concentrated fire of the 150mm secondary guns... As for the British fleet itself, all the destroyers had lost their combat effectiveness, and the heavy cruiser Sussex following behind had begun to sink uncontrollably - although her remaining two front main guns were still desperately firing at the demon, but... her deck quickly sank into the cold sea water...

And just at this moment, several German torpedo boats rushed out from the flank. Their excellent seamanship and powerful machine gun fire directly made a group of British torpedo boats unable to raise their heads. In the distance, a rumbling sound was also heard from the retreating fleet. It must be other German torpedo boats attacking the retreating fleet...

"Keep firing! The Royal Navy expects everyone to do their duty!" Major General Thomas turned on the intercom, his voice almost crazy with anger. The British flagship began to fire frantically at a maximum rate of three rounds per minute at a distance of fifteen thousand meters. The Tirpitz seemed to be hit by two shells, causing several sparks to explode, and there seemed to be a fire point... However, the actual losses of the fully protected Tirpitz were completely negligible (if it was focused on protection, it might be more seriously injured @Hiei who capsized in the ditch), and it also angered the terrifying giant (cang) beast (shu). You know, for long-range bombardment, large-caliber artillery is actually much more accurate than medium-caliber artillery... Another round of salvos came down, hitting the already scarred London-class heavy cruiser Devonshire directly in the middle. The boiler room seemed to have exploded after being hit, and a large hole was blown in the middle of the battleship, and even the armor of more than 3 millimeters was rolled up... Five minutes later, the Devonshire heavy cruiser, which had turned upside down, finally sank into the icy North Sea. In front of it, in addition to a few balls of oil, there were also the wreckage of several destroyers and torpedo boats burning... Major General Thomas of the Royal Navy of the British Empire and his Second Cruiser Division, the Sixth Destroyer Squadron, the Third, Ninth and Fourteenth Torpedo Boat Squadrons, were all killed

At this time, less than a quarter of an hour had passed since Thomas and his men launched their charge, and there was still a full hour and forty minutes before the Germans launched their general attack... The terrifying 380mm cannon was pointed back at Nieuwpoort, and the end of the British th Infantry Division was approaching...

ps: Thank you for the correction, big sister~ Midnight is coming, new chapter is here~ Ask for monthly tickets and rewards~~~

ps: I am planning to open another book about World War II. Do you have any recommendations for topics that I can use for reference?

Chapter 166: General Offensive (Part 1)

When Rear Admiral Thomas and his warship sank to the bottom of the sea, the British fleet, which was already afraid of the Tirpitz, lost all its fighting spirit, and the destroyers that had lost their combat effectiveness turned around and retreated. However, they were too close to the Tirpitz, and before they could escape the bombardment range, they were destroyed and sunk without exception under the destruction of the 380-caliber cannon...

Unfortunately, three German Navy torpedo boats were sunk in the fight, but this seemed insignificant compared to the British losses.

"Tell other units to leave one torpedo boat to rescue the wounded, and the rest to keep moving forward. We must reach Dunkirk immediately!" Lindemann looked at the devastated sea and turned to the communications officer.

"understand!"

"What time is it now?" Lindemann asked the navigator.

"22:30 p.m."

"The army will not launch the general offensive until midnight. There is enough time. Let's turn back and go to the designated bombardment location!" Because Tirpitz had moved a lot from his original position to meet and pursue the British fleet, he had to go back now to clear the fortress obstacles before the general offensive was launched.

"Yes!"

At around 23:, Tirpitz arrived at a coast only a few dozen kilometers away from Dunkirk. All the British fortifications were covered by the main battleship guns!

Outside Dunkirk.

Several 81 mortars of the army infantry were set up in the positions behind the Yser River embankment and the warehouse. Mortars can only be used to kill personnel and cannot even bring down bunkers with thicker earth piles. They are usually inconspicuous battalion-level artillery, but at this time, there is a general beside him who is personally setting the artillery parameters, and the person handing him the shells is a major general!

This can be regarded as the most luxurious artillery team lineup, or in later words, the All-Star Game.

After Kuchler, who was originally from the artillery, skillfully set the parameters, the commander of the artillery group next to him, a major general, carefully held a conventional 81 mortar shell and carefully loaded it into the barrel, then released his hands holding the shell.

Everyone immediately squatted down and covered their ears... With a "bang" sound, a puff of green smoke came out of the mortar muzzle. A few seconds later, a small explosion of fire broke out in the warehouse area occupied by the British at the L-shaped corner...

Of course, the British would ignore this level of artillery fire. They symbolically fired a series of machine gun attacks, but when they saw no one rushing forward, they quickly ceased fire.

"Very good, it seems that my artillery skills have not deteriorated much, haha." Seeing his artillery shells accurately hitting the target through the artillery periscope, Kuchler smiled.

"These British people, wait until the Tirpitz's naval guns come over, let's see how long you can hold out."

The Admiral has already learned about the situation of the naval battle. The British fleet has been defeated, and now the Tirpitz is making final preparations for the bombardment.

He said to the artillery major general behind him: "This is the parameter. Fire more rounds of smoke bombs and grenades! It's not easy to observe at night. Make the smoke thicker and more obvious. Let's go back to the headquarters. I still have to coordinate firepower with the Tirpitz..."

"Yes! General!" The major general watched his superior leave quickly, then ordered his subordinates to begin the action.

"Boom boom boom" a series of artillery fire sounded again, but this time what surprised the British was that the explosion produced not shrapnel but smoke.

Could it be that the Germans wanted to launch an attack under the cover of smoke?

Suddenly, all the fortresses were put on alert, and the British were ready to give the attacking German army a head-on blow.

The explosion of the shells did not stop, and several more plumes of smoke rose from the British positions. Just when the British were extremely nervous, the attack finally came, but it did not come from the ground, but from the sky...

A moment after the smoke rose, a bright flash broke out on the northern sea level. Since the speed of the shells was faster than the sound, the initial round of shooting did not attract everyone's attention. It was not until the 800-kilogram shell whizzed down and hit the fortress accurately that the shocked British realized they were being bombarded.

A shell hit the warehouse at a nearly vertical angle, piercing through the reinforced roof, the second-floor slab and the floor, and then into the basement, exploding directly inside and killing all the soldiers hiding there.

The explosive power of this shell is definitely different from the mortar used by the Germans just now!

The experienced commander immediately determined that this was the result of heavy artillery, but where did the heavy artillery come from? !

Before the panicked British could do anything, a second round of horrifying fire came down from the northern sky, dragging a brilliant tail of flame.

This time someone finally saw it clearly.

"It's a battleship, a German battleship!" A soldier shouted. On the beach more than ten kilometers away, under the illumination of the muzzle flames, a huge battleship suddenly appeared, fiercely pouring out ammunition. (Obviously it's a cute hamster...)

The entire warehouse area instantly turned into a sea of ​​fire...

"Very good! The navy is so accurate! This accuracy does not need to be corrected at all!! Keep shooting!!! Also, tell the infantry to get ready. We will start the attack when the 380 firepower shifts in fifteen minutes!!...Hahaha! Good job! The warehouse that poses the greatest threat at the corner of the riverbank has been blown away...This is well done!!"

From time to time in the headquarters, Admiral Kuchler's excited screams could be heard...

Because it was a fixed target and the target was very large, Tirpitz's naval guns were at maximum firing rate almost from the beginning.

In the first round, one bullet directly hit the target. After correction, the second round engulfed the entire warehouse in flames.

"This is the main stronghold of the British. If we can get rid of them, we can move forward." The army liaison officer said with a smile on his face. Seeing this scene made all the soldiers, including him, feel relieved. "Once we reach the beach, the British will be finished."

"Don't worry. They won't last more than fifteen minutes under the bombardment of 380mm naval guns." Lindemann said, touching Tizi's head beside him. She was in control of all the bombardment this time, and the effect was great. He was very satisfied.

In nearby buildings, behind riverbanks, in the bushes... the rested German commandos were preparing to cross the river, and the firepower group and bridge engineers behind them were also nervously preparing their heavy weapons and bridge-building materials...

Chapter 167: General Offensive (Part 2)

In contrast to their calmness and tension, on the other side of the river, on the other side where half the sky was red, with flames shooting into the sky, the British were suffering in purgatory-like torment.

The buildings that had previously caused heavy casualties to the German army and left them helpless were now like paper-made ruins under the attack of the 380 heavy artillery. It seemed that various weapon parts and human body parts were blown into the air, which made the German army at the starting position behind feel very relieved...

Of course, there were also some unlucky people who were too excited and ended up in tragedy... Just when the commander of the 18th Army was lying in front of the shooting hole in the bunker and screaming with joy, a Bren light machine gun that had been made into a fried dough twist actually flew across the river and hit Admiral Küchler's telescope a few dozen meters in front of it, and then somersaulted several times on the ground. Although no casualties were caused, the splashing dirt and clods of dust splashed all over the head and face of an artillery general.

Looking at the screaming person spitting sand on the ground, a group of officers in the command center desperately gritted their teeth and closed their mouths to hold back their laughter, until they were all deprived of oxygen...

The British 4th Infantry Division faced a catastrophe...

Nieuwpoort is just a small town, with a population of no more than 80 and an urban area of ​​only five or six square kilometers. 105% of the houses are bungalows, and they are brick and wood structures. Even the warehouses in the warehouse area are made of bricks... Although they have been reinforced and defended by reinforced fortifications (under normal circumstances, a direct hit can destroy such a house), the 150MM artillery has basically no problem. Even a 127mm artillery that can blow up such a house with one shot can barely withstand the reinforced fortifications. However... What about the 0.8 high-explosive bomb with a charge of 380 kilograms, a shell weight of tons, and a killing radius of meters for a single shell?

The warehouse area that had been plundered by the fire of hell, the fragmented and bloody things between the ruins seemed to give an answer that was hard to bear to look at. And further behind the warehouse area, Satan's flames had spread to the city and deep positions...

But just when the British thought they could take a breath, intensive 150-meter artillery bombardment hit the poor cannon fodder who had lost their hiding place... In the face of the terrifying firepower, trenches, bunkers, sandbag fortifications, civilian shelters, artillery positions... were reduced to rubble, and no matter whether it was the various obstacles set up by the river or in the blocks, or the various mines buried, in the face of intensive and fierce artillery bombardment, they either exploded or tilted to one side. Even the ships on the west bank of the river that were sunk by the British in various postures on the river bank and shoals to serve as anti-landing obstacles were soon riddled with holes in the artillery bombardment.

Fortunately, all the local residents have been evacuated, so Bismarck and Tizi don't have to worry about killing civilians...

As the pointer pointed to twelve o'clock, as if it had been agreed upon in advance (in fact, it had been agreed upon in advance, and the watches had been checked in advance), the battleship's 150 main guns also began to extend their firing to the rear.

At the same time, countless gray shadows suddenly rushed out from behind the river bank, in the ruins, and in the trenches... They either rushed to the river carrying various river-crossing tools to prepare to swim across, or carried various heavy weapons to find cover and start shooting.

Suddenly, the dull sound of artillery fire was mixed with crisp gunshots, submachine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, grenades... The climax was reached almost in an instant.

The army's general offensive has begun!

Seeing this, the British soldiers who had luckily not died in the bombardment hurriedly collected the weapons that had luckily not been destroyed. A 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun that remained in a basement in the warehouse area stretched out from a gap in the wall, followed by two other light machine guns, "boom boom boom..." and "da da da...", and began to fire wildly at the river and the beach on the east bank where the German army was preparing to cross the river.

Several German soldiers who were charging bravely suddenly exploded, and a blood mist filled the sky along with tissue fragments that scattered all over the ground, dyeing the road of the charge red.

A fragile human body would be torn apart in front of a 12.7 caliber machine gun, let alone a 40 caliber anti-aircraft gun?

The scene was suddenly horrific.

After the first one fell, several more German soldiers fell under the fierce and intensive fire of the 40mm anti-aircraft guns, and their bodies were not intact. Even if they hid behind the bunkers, they could not withstand the shooting of 40MM armor-piercing shells and high-explosive shells.

In the dense charge formation, a cloud of blood mist burst out from time to time. This anti-aircraft artillery stronghold was like the scythe of the god of death, reaping the young lives of the soldiers!

The river crossing operation was delayed! !

"Calling Tirpitz, calling Tirpitz! There is an anti-aircraft artillery firing point at the corner, requesting artillery support!!" On the Tirpitz, the radio brought by the Army's artillery coordinator received an urgent call from the German front artillery observation team.

The anxious mood was transmitted to Bismarck through the radio. At this moment, delaying for even a second might mean the sacrifice of many people.

"Received! Artillery support will be here soon!" Bismarck, who was sitting on the main gun director, replied coldly, then hung up the radio receiver.

In fact, Bismarck had seen it before they called, and... before they called, she had slightly modified the direction and angle of the 105 secondary guns' firing...

Almost at the moment the microphone was hung up, the secondary gun opened fire.

20 seconds later, the British army's remaining 40 Bofors fire points were covered by eight 105 high-explosive bombs, and even the two light machine guns that were firing were silenced.

"What accurate artillery support..." The artillery commander in front and Kuchler, who came a little later, saw the Tirpitz's artillery response speed and effect, and couldn't help but be a little dumbfounded...

However, this was their own artillery fire! Under the artillery fire controlled by the cat and mouse sisters, the morale of the German commandos was greatly boosted. They quickly crossed the Yser River with simple swimming tools and seized the beachhead.

When encountering a difficult stronghold, call for artillery support and do not charge. This is the information all commandos receive when they go to the front line. This is indeed the case. Under the joint mental monitoring of Bismarck and Tirpitz, the battle situation on land is almost always within their field of vision. Basically, as soon as the radio receives a message that support is needed, artillery shells will immediately fall from the sky to clear the obstacles in front of the commandos...

Such precise artillery support was almost the same as the one in Danzig, and all the commandos felt flattered.

Relying on the almost on-call artillery cover of the 105mm gun, the commandos gradually opened up the situation, and the German engineering corps also began to build simple bridges to facilitate follow-up troops and even tanks to cross the river for reinforcement.

As the German army's follow-up troops continued to reinforce, the German army began to attack in sections. The British army in the rear tried to retake the position with artillery fire and counterattacks, but under the induction of Bismarck and Tizi, as well as the army's call, they were beaten by waves of 150 or even 380... Finally, at about :, the German engineers built the first simple bridge. With the rumbling sound of the tracks, the German armored divisions that swept across Europe drove across the pontoon bridge and began to fight. The British th Infantry Division was doomed to fail...

ps: I have a training class in the afternoon and can't go back until nine in the evening, so I will update it first. Please give me a monthly ticket

Chapter 168: Division Destruction

In a simply fortified house at the western end of Nieuwpoort.

This is the temporary command post of the British front-line troops. It is close to the front line of defense and camouflaged among the residential areas. It was originally very safe, but now - everything in the house is trembling in the rumbling of artillery fire. The landing point of the shells is getting closer and closer, and the German offensive will come sooner or later.

As its temporary owner, the commander of the British 4th Infantry Division was holding the radio receiver and reporting to his superiors at the top of his voice.

"The 4th Infantry Division calls the Expeditionary Force Headquarters! The bombardment from the German battleships is too strong, Nieuwpoort is about to collapse..."

"Hold on! You must hold on! The 3rd Infantry Division, the 50th Infantry Division, the 42nd Division, and the 5th Infantry Division are still on the way and have not yet completely withdrawn to the beachhead!! If you retreat now, the beachhead will collapse... You must understand the seriousness of this consequence! It is one o'clock in the morning, you must hold on for another hour! Just one hour!! You can retreat after one hour!! "

Admiral Gott's urgent response was soon heard on the radio, along with the chaotic background noise from the command center - there was also panic there.

The rumbling of the artillery made all the British and French troops on the beach nervous. Although they didn't know that the Thomas Fleet, the last line of defense at sea, had been annihilated and the Tirpitz had begun to bombard the British defense line, from the sound of the shells exploding, they were closer to the beach than ever before. In addition, the officers coming in and out of the command center had solemn faces, and the troops, which had just stabilized, began to panic again.

“··· ···”

After a moment of silence, the commander of the 4th Division finally gritted his teeth and spoke.

"Yes! I have sent three battalions of the 12th Infantry Brigade to the second-line position behind the city. We will hold out for at least another hour!!" As a major general of the British Army, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division knew very well what "military orders are as heavy as a mountain" and "defeat is as heavy as a mountain" meant. In order to cover the other retreating divisions, he gritted his teeth and accepted the time limit.

"The British Empire thanks you..."

Admiral Gort said something and hung up the radio. The news coming from all directions were all extremely urgent military information, and each one was important enough for him to deal with. He didn't have time to spend too much time on the 4th Division. He had a hunch that this was the last general offensive launched by the Germans. If they could hold on, they could buy a few days of peace, and more people would retreat. But if they couldn't hold on...

However, the commander of the 4th Division looked outside - seeing the fierce artillery fire and the ferocious attack of the German army, and then looking at Nieuwpoort which had been almost reduced to ruins by artillery, could they hold out for an hour...?

Moreover, although the 4th Division dug a second line of fortifications in the fields behind the city of Nieuwpoort at the beginning just in case, those were just simple civil engineering works, or even temporary trenches made using local canals...and if the city street fighting could not be supported, what would be the use of those simple field fortifications once the German armored troops broke through?

Just when the commander of the 4th Infantry Division was at a loss, the communications soldiers came in one after another with bad news.

"Report! The Royal 22nd Field Artillery Regiment was covered by the Tirpitz battleship's artillery fire and has lost all its heavy artillery..."

"Report! The Germans have built a pontoon bridge in the north of the city, and their tanks have crossed the river... The 2nd Battalion of the Bedford and Hertford Combined Infantry Regiment defending there has been defeated and is retreating. The battalion commander was killed and is now being replaced by the commander of the 3rd Company..."

"Report! The operation to retake the warehouse area has failed. The German artillery bombardment is too fierce. The attacking 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers Regiment now has less than half a company left and is in the final entanglement with the German army..."

"Report!……"

Along with the bad news that the signalmen brought in one after another was the sound of gunfire and artillery fire from the Germans that were getting closer and closer...

The British commander covered his eyes in pain, but the bad news kept coming one after another, and it was not something that could be ignored by covering one’s eyes. Moreover, in the tormenting situation, every second seemed as long as a century...

But everyone knew that the end of the Fourth Division had come.

"Report! German tanks have appeared behind us! The 12th Infantry Brigade is under great pressure and is now requesting reinforcements. According to them, German tanks are beginning to encircle us from behind..."

Finally, a staff officer reported even worse news.

"What? German tanks?! Encirclement?!" The British division commander was finally alarmed.

"Oh no!" His mind went blank. He actually forgot that the Germans' best skill was tank outflanking!

The 4th Division now has very few anti-tank weapons left. If the 12th Infantry Brigade can't hold on... they will be left with nothing behind...

The commander quickly checked his watch, but was sad to find that it was only less than half past one! ?

"…It's already like this in less than half an hour? Damn it…"

Under tremendous pressure, the British division commander, who was racking his brains, had cold sweat on his forehead.

"Should we withdraw some of the troops in the city to the defense line of the 12th Infantry Brigade?" The chief of staff next to him came up with an idea: "Letting them stay in the city would just lead to their deaths..."

"But... the 12th Infantry Brigade is also within the damn German firepower range..."

"At least if we evacuate a few more people, we can hold out a little longer..."

"…….But…"

"Hiss-hiss--" Just as the British division commander was still racking his brains, from behind them came the unique sound of the German machine gun, which was like tearing cloth under high-speed firing.