The Rise of the Third Reich

"Your Excellency General, it seems that the British and the Americans are going to fight!"

On the evening of January 9, at the headquarters of the German Third Army in Hartlepool Port, Commander General Halder had received troops from the 7th Parachute Division, the 1st Marine Division and the Italian 185th Lightning Division. Reports of onslaught by British and American troops.

Lieutenant General Zeitzler, chief of staff of the group army, said to Halder who was standing in front of a large sand table: "The enemy launched attacks on all fronts and used a large number of M10 tank destroyers and Churchill tank destroyers."

"Do you know where the main attack direction is?" General Halder asked calmly.

A few days after capturing the port of Hartlepool, the army commander finally had some strength in his hands.

In addition to the 7th Paratrooper Division that dropped down at the beginning and the 1st Marine Division and 516th Heavy Armored Battalion that came from the beach, there are now the Italian 185th Lightning Division and the German 2nd Marine Division. And the unloading operation was completed, in which the Italian 185th Lightning Division also completed the deployment.

In addition, the 506th Heavy Armored Battalion, the 3rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (affiliated to the 3rd Armored Division), the 11th Rocket Artillery Brigade and the French 11th Heavy Artillery Division have arrived at Hartlepool Port from the island of Ireland. Currently, The ship is being unloaded.

Moreover, in addition to the Italian 185th Lightning Division, various divisions, including 1 German Paratrooper Division and 2 German Marine Divisions, have a considerable amount of mechanized equipment.

Among them, the 7th Parachute Division has 1 self-propelled anti-tank gun company (6 "Weasels"), 1 armored reconnaissance company equipped with Sd.Kfz.234/3 heavy armored vehicles (Puma), and 1 equipped with 38t tanks. armored company.

The two Marine Corps divisions each have an armored company equipped with amphibious Panzer III tanks, an anti-tank gun battalion equipped with Weasel tank destroyers, and an assault gun battalion equipped with Panzer III assault guns. and 1 self-propelled gun battalion equipped with Wasp self-propelled guns. The level of mechanization was almost comparable to that of the Panzergrenadier Division, except that there were not enough trucks of half-tracks for the infantry.

"Commander, the enemy's main attack direction is around the Tiz River Bridge." Lieutenant General Zeitzler used a baton to point at both sides of the Tiz River Bridge on the sand table. "The enemy launched from both the north and south banks of the Tiz River at the same time. , with a regiment-level mechanized group as the scale, taking turns to attack under the cover of heavy artillery, the offensive is very fierce. The 1st Marine Division defending the south bank of the Tiz River can still cope with it relatively easily, but the 7th Paratrooper Division on the north bank is fighting very hard. "

The equipment of the 7th Paratrooper Division is not as heavy as that of the 1st Marine Division. Facing a large number of M10 tank destroyers and Churchill series tanks and tank destroyers, of course it will be harder to fight.

"General, should we send out one company of Tiger tanks?" Zeitzler suggested in a low voice, "As long as there is one company of Tiger tanks, the 7th Parachute Division should be able to securely defend the north bank of the Titz River."

Halder shook his head and said: "The 506th Heavy Equipment Battalion, the 516th Heavy Equipment Battalion and the 3rd Tank Destroyer Battalion are the trump cards in our hands, and they should be used for counterattack rather than defense."

These three battalions have a total of 88 Tiger tanks and 45 Rhino tank destroyers, plus 44 Type 4 F tanks (equipped with a 24-caliber 75mm KwK37 tank gun). The strength when concentrated to launch an assault is absolutely no less than a standard German armored division!

So Halder didn't want to dismantle and use this power that could serve as an iron fist.

"But General, if you don't invest heavy tanks, it will be difficult for the 7th Paratrooper Division to hold on." Zeitzler reminded, "Once the enemy defeats the 7th Paratrooper Division, they will be able to advance along the Tiz River and destroy our The battle line has been cut into two sections."

"I know," Halder nodded, "but now is not the time to send out heavy armored troops. Kurt, arrange for me to go to the front line on the north bank of the Tiz River to take a look."

"As you command, General."

…

"Jie Jie..."

The piercing sound of the MG42 machine gun rang out again, and the bullets flew hundreds of meters away and hit the backs of the British soldiers who were retreating in a hurry.

Just like a saw blade that harvests lives, it cuts off dozens of British or American lives with the sprayed bullets, leaving a trail of blood on the battlefield.

Mixed with the gunshots and screams was the roar of tank/armored vehicle motors. A dozen American M10 tank destroyers retreated quickly, leaving behind the burning or slowly retreating Churchill tanks and Churchill tank destroyers as well as the British infantry retreating on foot.

Although they had the advantage in terms of strength and equipment, the British and American coalition forces encountered the most powerful "lightly armed force" of the German Wehrmacht - the 7th Paratrooper Division! So their battle on the north bank of the Tiz River did not go well at all.

The town of Stodonk alone suffered enough, and several waves of attacks were repelled by the Germans!

"Damn it, is the British Churchill tank made of paper? How could it be smashed so easily?"

Looking at several burning Churchill tanks and Churchill fighter destroyers not far away from the entrance of the town, General Patton, who was standing on an M10 tank destroyer watching the battle, couldn't help but scream loudly.

"General," Colonel Hobart Gay, Patton's chief of staff, stood in the compartment of a jeep and loudly said to Patton, "the German armor-piercing bullets are very powerful. They should be pointed tungsten core armor-piercing bullets, which can reach 750 meters - Penetrate the front of the Churchill tank at a distance of 1,000 meters!”

"Then can the front of our M10 tank destroyer block their armor-piercing bullets?" General Patton asked quickly.

Colonel Guy had just come down from the firing line. He went to check on the destroyed Churchill tanks and M10 tank destroyers.

"The situation of the M10 is a little better," Guy said. "Not many were completely penetrated from the front."

The frontal armor of the M10 tank destroyer is 3.2 inches (81.25mm) thick and has a 50-degree inclination. The equivalent armor value is about 4.98 inches, which is equivalent to 126.5mm. If this thickness were a homogeneous steel plate, it would not be able to block the Pzgr.40 pointed tungsten core armor-piercing projectile fired by the 75mm gun used by the Weasel tank destroyer. However, the lives of American wealthy people are precious, so of course they must use high-hardness alloy steel to save their lives. Moreover, American tank soldiers felt that it was not safe, so they welded several sections of tank tracks to the front steel plate of the tank, which was equivalent to thickening the armor.

Therefore, the 75mm gun, which is enough to reach the Weasel tank destroyer at a distance of 1000-750 meters, can also be carried at a distance of 750-500 meters, and it is stable at 500 meters.

Although the British Churchill tank has 4 inches of frontal final armor, the inclination angle is not very large, and the quality of the armor steel used is not as good as that of the Americans. Therefore, it cannot stop the Weasel's 75mm gun at a distance of 1000-750 meters.

At this time, the retreating British and American officers and soldiers had returned to their starting position. General Patton looked at these embarrassed soldiers, shook his head and said to Colonel Guy: "After dark, let's try another place and attack from the northeast of this town to see if we can get around it."

…

Next to the Tiz River Bridge, the headquarters command post of the 7th German Parachute Division. Next to a very solidly built train station, six "Puma" heavy armored vehicles were parked in the center of the station square, their muzzles raised high, and they were firing artillery shells to the northwest one after another - these six vehicles had 24 Armored vehicles with a 75mm gun are now regarded as self-propelled artillery.

Next to the six heavy armored vehicles, a very luxurious Mercedes-Benz G4 military off-road car was parked. This kind of luxury car with six wheels is rare in the military and can only be owned by senior generals at the level of general and above. This thing is both high-end and fuel-intensive, and its quantity was smaller in the original history. However, Germany is now much richer than in history, so starting from the end of 1942, Hessmann used the military budget to issue Mercedes-Benz G4s to all generals and marshals. .

On the British Isles, the only person qualified to ride this kind of military off-road car is General Halder.

General Halder was inspecting the front line of the Tiz River at this time.

"Your Excellency, General," Major General Wolfgang Erdmann, commander of the 7th Parachute Division, pointed at the map and said to the general who came to inspect, "the enemy is currently attacking the town of Stodonk. This is a very big town. We A regiment and a self-propelled anti-tank artillery company were placed there. The enemy was estimated to be a division-level mechanized group, and there should be follow-up troops. If there were no reinforcements from heavy tanks, the town of Stodonk would be destroyed in 2-3 days. The enemy has occupied it. But it is not a big problem at the moment. We have repelled several of their attacks and destroyed many Churchill tanks.

In addition, our right wing is now very thin, with only one and a half regiments of paratroopers, 20 38t tanks and 2 recoilless gun batteries on a 10-kilometer front. The battle line can only be maintained by the naval gun support of the Deutschland at the mouth of the Ties. I am worried that the enemy will strengthen its offensive in this direction after dark. "

"Then how about shrinking the troops?" Halder suddenly asked.

"Shrink?" Major General Edman looked at Halder, "Sir, where do you want us to shrink?"

"How about the town of Stodonk and the bridge over the Tees River? Can they be defended?"

"Is the 1st Marine Division on the other side of the river also..."

"They will withdraw to Middlesbrough."

"Oh my gosh, then we'd be surrounded!"

Hals nodded and smiled: "Pretend to be surrounded, I will let the 1st Marine Division leave the No. 3 tank, No. 3 assault gun, Weasel tank destroyer and Wasp self-propelled artillery to you before retreating. You must hold on tight "Secure the town of Stodonk and the bridge over the Tees for at least five days."