The Rise of the Third Reich

While Bradley despised Patton in his heart, the Germans who were responsible for attacking the British 3rd Division's position today admired the bravery of the Italians in their hearts - no, they are not useless Italians now, they are The invincible Roman legion!

Probably because of the change of the country's name, Mussolini's 185th Lightning Division displayed unprecedented majesty in the attack on January 16.

Originally, Lieutenant General Walter Wink did not expect these Italian paratroopers to fight any good battles. Although the 185th Lightning Division was an elite in the Italian army and had fought many battles behind the Germans, so it was considered battle-hardened, but they still could not Compared to German troops.

Moreover, the equipment of these Italian paratroopers is a bit outdated. The individual weapons are the old Calgano rifle and Beretta M1938 submachine gun. The squad machine gun is the extremely bad Bellet M1930 light machine gun, and its firepower is not as good as the FG42 automatic rifle. There is also a Beretta M1937 heavy machine gun that uses a feed plate, which is relatively reliable, but it uses 8mm bullets, which is not compatible with the 6.5mm bullets used by the Calgano rifle and the Beretta M1930 light machine gun.

As for the mortars and artillery used by the Italian paratroopers, they were simply children's toys in the eyes of the Germans. It cannot be compared with the German 7th Paratrooper Division, which is equipped with a large number of recoilless guns, and even has light tanks and Weasel tank destroyers.

However, the result of the battle was surprising. The brave Italian paratroopers not only cleared the "vacuum zone" in the center of the battlefield, but also launched a tentative attack on the British front with the support of the artillery group.

Contrary to Lieutenant General Wenke's expectations, as cannon fodder to test the strength of the British army, the Roman 185th Lightning Division actually broke into the British position with one assault and defeated the British with hand-to-hand combat. When the German armored groups were in formation and swaggering forward to prepare for a big battle, they saw only arrogant Roman paratroopers escorting groups of British prisoners towards them. There were so many captured British people that when they came together in a chaotic manner, they actually blocked the path of the German armored group!

"Lieutenant General, the British 3rd Infantry Division is finished. It was completely defeated by our brave Roman warriors. There is no resistance left. The only way to save your life is to surrender!"

At 9 a.m. on the 16th, a Roman fascist who was excited beyond words reported the latest battle situation to Lieutenant General Wenck in fluent German. He said: "Now, the invincible Roman legion is marching to London victoriously under the guidance of the flag of fascism, singing the "Song of Roman Fascism"!"

"What?" Lieutenant General Wenke was startled by his last words, "Your people are still advancing?"

"That's right!" The fascist nodded, "The latest situation is that the Roman soldiers are chasing the remnants of the British 3rd Division and will soon wipe them all out!"

"Damn it, the British have armored forces, they will come to block the gap!" Lieutenant General Wenke quickly ordered, "Retreat immediately and give up the battlefield to the armored group!"

Lieutenant General Wink's order was issued a little late. At the same time as he issued the order, the overly enthusiastic Roman soldiers had already collided with the tanks and tank destroyers of the British 11th Armored Division, which had rushed to block the gap. On. A fierce battle ensued between Roman infantry and British tanks.

"Where are the German tanks? Why are they all infantry shooting with rifles? Who are they?"

"It's the Italians! General, our armored division was blocked by Italian infantry!"

Major General Hobert, the commander of the 11th Armored Division of the British Army, who personally commanded the front line, went to the battlefield with the mood of dying for his country - he was old and had lived under the dazzling light of the Empire on which the sun never set for most of his life. , so he could not accept his country becoming a vassal of Germany. So before he went to war, he had left a suicide note to his wife and children in Canada, preparing to die for his country with a smile.

But even this small goal is not easy to achieve. Because his armored forces did not encounter the legendary German tank group - this is what General Montgomery told him on the phone. The news Montgomery received was that the elite 3rd Division was defeated by a huge German armored group!

But Major General Hobert found that his 11th Armored Division was fighting an inextricable battle with a group of Italian infantry armed with rifles and machine guns!

"Damn it! When did the Italians turn to run wild in the British Isles?" Major General Hobert suddenly felt insulted. If there were a hundred Tiger tanks and German Panzergrenadiers armed to the teeth standing in front of his 11th Armored Division, he would accept it.

But being blocked by a group of Italian infantry... this is too embarrassing!

"Order the armored troops to charge!" Major General Hobert ordered through gritted teeth. "Use the tracks to crush these damn Italians... Then, let's go find the Germans and fight!"

Although the officers and men of the 11th Armored Division, like all British troops on the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough front, were demoralized to the extreme, most wanted to escape the heartbreaking battlefield. However, Major General Hobart's order was still carried out. Dozens of Churchill tanks formed a formation, covering two to three thousand British infantry, and crushed them towards the Italian paratroopers wearing white smocks scattered on the snowy field.

However, the result of this tank cluster attack surprised Major General Hobert. The Italians, who were supposed to run away crying in front of the powerful Churchill tank, calmly took out the Panzerfaust 100 anti-tank grenade launcher to confront the British tank.

Hobert saw some enthusiastic fascists shouting "Viva! Rome!" or "Viva! Mussolini!" and other slogans, braving the hail of bullets fired by the machine guns on Churchill tanks. Other fascists used rifles, machine guns and 45mm mortars to attack the British infantry covering the Churchill tanks. In the face of this not so fierce firepower, the British infantry who were supposed to cover the tanks huddled behind the huge body of the Churchill tank.

Tanks without the protection of infantry are vulnerable. Soon several Churchill tanks were caught on fire, and the remaining tanks actually drove back in reverse. Seeing this scene, Major General Hobert was almost furious. Just as he was about to step forward to supervise the battle in person, he heard someone shouting.

"Tiger! The Tiger tank is coming!"

The British major general quickly climbed to the top of the armored command vehicle and looked up. He saw only the edge where the white snowfield intersected with the sky. At some point, neatly arranged Tiger tanks appeared and slowly drove in!

This battle, known as the Final Battle of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, has actually decided the winner!

…

When the British armored general Major General Hobert led his men to die heroically, the American tank general Major General Patton was already preparing to break out and escape.

He gathered together the 62 operational M10 tank destroyers owned by the 2nd Armored Division and paired them with the most elite infantry to form a breakout iron fist. Then he ordered the division's artillery group to move its position westward and be ready to fire and bombard at any time. After the artillery was moved, all the mules and horses attached to the artillery were gathered together to carry the wounded and ammunition.

Finally, he ordered all his ministries to prepare for dispatch at any time with light equipment, and then distribute the stored ammunition to the soldiers as much as possible, and prepare the rest for destruction. All baggage and unused equipment that are inconvenient to be taken away are also prepared to be destroyed.

However, after making all preparations to escape, he received an order to be relieved of his duties and hand over the troops to Bradley - the order was issued by Eisenhower in Edinburgh based on Stilwell's small report.

"Omar, I have bad news for you. I have been relieved of my duties as commander of the 2nd Armored Division... Oh, this is not bad news for me, because I can now escape the battlefield without any punishment. But for the 2nd Armored Division This must be a terrible thing for the boys in the division, because you won't lead them out of the siege like I did. It's such a pity..."

When handing over command, General Patton still couldn't control his loud mouth. Just when Bradley was dumbfounded, an aide-de-camp of General Patton walked into the office holding a pile of old clothes.

"General," the adjutant reported, "I have bought all the clothes you asked for. They are all old. Do you think it will work..."

"It doesn't matter, the old ones are better." Barton nodded and ordered, "Pick two outfits for me, and pick two outfits for yourself...and then pick two outfits for Henry and Donald. In addition, go and change some pounds to take with you. , oh, and a British ID and a ration card, no matter how much it costs.”

What does Barton mean? ? Are you planning to disguise yourself as a commoner and escape?

Bradley stared at Barton with a look of disbelief on his face.

Barton noticed Bradley's eyes, smiled bitterly and said, "Omar, you should pick up some clothes and take them with you. If something goes wrong, you can disguise yourself as a commoner and run away..."

"George! What are you talking about!" Bradley shouted, "How could you do this? You are a general of the United States! How could you disguise yourself as a common man and escape?"

Patton shrugged and said nonchalantly: "Because I still plan to fight for the country, and I don't want to lose my life because of that idiot Stilwell's random command, let alone be captured by the Nazis and put in a prisoner of war camp. Omar, in the end, I still I want to remind you that the current situation is very bad and you must prepare for the worst! ”

After saying this, George Patton stopped talking nonsense with Bradley, packed up his things, and left the battlefield that made him so sad with his adjutant, guard and driver, and got on a jeep to go to Edinburgh. However, on the way to escape, he did not encounter the German army, so the three civilian clothes he prepared did not work.