The situation was increasingly developing in the Allies' favor. <-> Under the cover of the air force, the 4th Armored Division commanded by General Patton forcibly broke through the German-occupied Matlange pontoon on the 24th, occupied the village of Warnack, and then launched an assault along the highway towards Arlon. Good news came one after another. The US 5th Division drove the German troops across the Sauer River and prepared for a new counterattack against the German troops attacking Bastogne.
At this time, the battle in Bastogne was equally difficult. The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and our troops stood in the snowy foxholes and stood firm against the German artillery fire. Fortunately, the almost all-weather full support and bombing of the U.S. Air Force made the German armored forces useless. This allowed the 101st Airborne Division and us to support the German attack.
However, the Germans were not stupid. During the daytime attack on the 25th, the Germans lost many armored vehicles to U.S. air strikes, including several Tiger tanks. The battle at night was even more brutal. The flares fired by both sides almost illuminated the entire war zone as if it were daytime. German tanks even penetrated our core positions several times.
As for Highland 357, it changed hands several times. The loss of my troops reached 80%, which severely damaged their vitality. I had no choice but to withdraw from Highland 357 and participate in the battle of Bastogne as an auxiliary force. Of course, I know that if we continue to fight hard, D Company of the Rangers will have no choice but to cancel the unit designation. The leader of the 101st Airborne Division is not willing to take this responsibility. Of course I've had enough of it.
Facing the enemy tanks, the U.S. defenders and we, huddled in the small town of Bastogne, had lost a lot of heavy direct firepower, and used homemade gasoline incendiary bombs made from wine bottles to suicidally pounce on the enemy tanks. The 101st Airborne Division also suffered heavy losses throughout the night's defensive battle. It lost most of Bastogne and was compressed to the corner of the town by the Germans. <
The German armored forces are indeed well-deserved. Lin Boner sighed: "If all the enemy's tanks were Tiger heavy tanks, we wouldn't have to fight at all."
I took a sip and said: "Don't say all of them, just putting a few of them on a battlefield will give us a headache."
It needs to be pointed out. When the Ardennes Counteroffensive on the Rhine began on December 16, only 35 Tiger tanks participated in the battle on the Western Front. 27 of them belonged to the radio-operated unit of the 301st Tank Battalion that had just withdrawn from the Soviet Union, and 8 belonged to the 506th Heavy Tank Battalion.
Another heavy tank unit in this theater is the 501st and 503rd heavy tank battalions of the German SS, equipped with all King Tiger tanks. The King Tiger tank is not a variant of the Tiger tank, although the two have similar names, the same engine and transmission, and both are equipped with an 88mm gun. on the contrary. In fact, many people will regard it as a heavyweight development of the Panther tank.
This kind of German heavy tank is completely different from the original Tiger tank. On the Eastern Front battlefield, facing the Soviet Stalin tanks and Su T34 tanks, it is obvious that German designers also realized that oblique armor can enhance protection capabilities. So when they designed the King Tiger tank, the upper and lower front armor were installed at an inclination of 40 degrees. The inclination angle of the hull side armor is 60 degrees. This angled mounting method was also used in later ballistic structures and the completely redesigned sides of the turret. There was an obvious skirt at the rear of the turret to better store the main gun's ready ammunition. In addition, the thickness of the armor plate has also increased. However, the armor on the turret roof and the car body is the thinnest at 40 mm. It cannot protect against US air fire strikes. However, the maximum thickness of the King Tiger's upper front armor is 150 mm. The turret surface armor is 180 mm thick.
If the German air force can still compete with the Allies. Germany's King Tiger probably won't be that bad on the battlefield, of course. Reality cannot be assumed. According to later statistics from both sides, the German high command assembled a total of about 120 German heavy tanks of various types, including Tiger tanks, in the Battle of the Ardennes, 8 of which were Tigers equipped with 380 mm mortars. Assault tank. Fortunately, I didn't see these assault guns that were easy to miss, so I couldn't appreciate the power of this 380-caliber giant gun.
The night passed slowly in everyone's anxious hearts. I finally pushed back a German attack. During a break in the battle, I tiredly leaned against a low wall and said feebly: "It's December 26th!"
John was also as tired as a dog. He lay on the ground, forced his eyelids open and said: "If the reinforcements don't come today, we will all die!"
David¡¯s face was scratched by a stray bullet and made a deep gash on his cheek. It hurt when he spoke. After hearing John¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but said, but his voice was a bit groaning.
"I'll die if I die! But I think that's because I was exhausted to death by the German devils!"
David's expression amused John, who laughed and said: "To be honest, I'm sleepy as hell! By the way, don't bother me, I want to sleep for a while!" After saying that, he turned over and actually closed the gun. Cannon fell asleep.
The pillow was burned by the fire5357; Ministry) How long will it take to turn north and counterattack? "
General Patton stared at the huge military map, thought about it and said, "I can complete it within 48 hours."
This answer made other generals feel unbelievable. In fact, before he came to the party, General Patton had ordered his staff to prepare to transfer the troops north. When Eisenhower asked him, the troop transfer was actually in progress. .
Of course, General Eisenhower has not forgotten another person, he is the British General Montgomery. In order to balance the interests and actual needs of Britain and the United States, General Eisenhower placed the U.S. 1st Army and General Bradley's 12th Army of the 9th Army under the command of Montgomery's British 21st Army.
By December 21, the German army had surrounded Bastogne. The urgently transferred combat troops of the 101st Airborne Division and the 10th Armored Division of the US Army were guarding the area.
The situation in the town was difficult. Most of the medical supplies and medical personnel had been captured in previous battles. Food was insufficient. Ammunition stocks were so low that artillery crews were prohibited from firing at the advancing German troops unless there were large and dense targets. Although the German army attacked tenaciously, it was still unable to capture this place, forcing the German commander to send this request to the American commander in Bastogne, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe:
To the American commanders surrounded in Bastogne:
The war's luck was turning, and this time powerful German armored forces surrounded the American troops in and near Bastogne Only one thing could have saved the surrounded American forces from total destruction, and that was the encircled town's honorable surrender Should this offer be rejected, a German artillery corps and six heavy anti-aircraft battalions were ready to destroy American forces The heavy civilian casualties caused by these artillery pieces would be inconsistent with America's famous humanity
¡ªGerman commander
When Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe was awakened by the German invitation to surrender, he responded angrily to many of his subordinates: "Nuts!"
But no one had any objection to what was written on the paper he sent to the German army: "nuts!". The word has many different meanings in North American slang, including "damn," "crazy," "fuck you," and "testicles," where it is used to mean rejection, as well as "forget it." (To be continued.)201d;. The word has many different meanings in North American slang, including "damn," "crazy," "fuck you," and "testicles," where it is used to mean rejection, as well as "forget it." (To be continued.)