The decisive battle against the Third Reich - #928 - Chapter 925 Equipment

Unexpectedly, the battle was not fought in the Ardennes Mountains or the Netherlands, but on the Maginot Line.

The 1st and 3rd US Armies set out from Paris, building roads and bridges all the way to the Maginot Line, and then launched a bombing and attack on the Maginot Line without saying a word.

The scale and intensity of the bombing were not small. Hundreds of bombers and fighters flew over the line every day, and then B17 bombers also rushed from Britain to drop bombs on the Maginot Line.

(Note: At this time, because a large amount of ammunition supplies still needed to be transported from Britain, although the Allies had built a large airport in France, it was obviously more cost-effective for bombers to take off from Britain, because this would not require the bombs to be transported to France and then from France to the front line.)

“They are playing the same trick again!” Rommel said: “The British always want to deceive us and make us think that the Allies are attacking in other directions!”

Rundstedt did not speak, his expression was a little embarrassed, because he was deceived by the British last time, and he believed it.

Perhaps because he found that his words were not appropriate, Rommel asked Rundstedt: “Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, I think we should not expose ME163 too early, what do you think?”

“Yes!” Rundstedt nodded and said: “I totally agree!”

Now it is just a feint attack by the US military, and it is certainly not suitable to use a big killer.

Rommel cast his eyes on Lieutenant General Rumanlin… These are the responsibility of Lieutenant General Rumanlin.

This is not to say that Lieutenant General Rumanlin is so wise, but some technical things on the “Maginot Line” must be trained for a period of time before they are familiar with them. The German soldiers who had just withdrawn from the “Maginot” were certainly not suitable for operation, and the ME163 launch silo was one of them.

“Yes, Your Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief!” Lieutenant General Rumanlin, who had always been in an excited state, answered with some disappointment on his face, because he had long wanted to see the ME163 shoot down the enemy plane.

However, the fact is that Lieutenant General Rumanlin did not see the ME163 when it was really put into actual combat, because he did not dare to walk out of the underground office or even observe in the ground bunker.

Obviously, the real war was a little different from what he imagined.

The bombing of the Allies certainly had no effect… You have to know that this is the “Maginot Line”. The thickness of the reinforced concrete on the top of some fortifications is as high as 3.5 meters. It is designed to defend against bombing by German planes and cannons. At this time, it was just the Allies who launched the bombing.

Therefore, the fireworks and thunder outside were flying, and the German soldiers hiding inside were motionless.

Needless to say, the feint attacks launched by the two US armies were beaten back by the machine guns and artillery of the German defenders in a few shots.

The feint attack troops were the US army, so Montgomery certainly had no regrets, so he urged the US army to continue the feint attack again and again.

This practice made General Patton so angry that he cursed: “This damn British guy, as long as he is not blind, he will see that this guy has selfish intentions!”

General Patton said so, but he was helpless… He was just the commander of the army group and had to obey the orders of his superiors, otherwise he might not even have a battle to fight, just like he was giving speeches, strolling around, and swaggering when he was performing deception tasks in the “Fortitude Plan”.

Qin Chuan and others don’t need to worry about these, because the 1st Armored Division has been transferred to the Netherlands.

The soldiers of the 21st Armored Division in the Netherlands received an unexpected surprise… 20 “Tiger” tanks and 60 brand-new “Panther” tanks, in addition to 80 “Panzer IV” tanks and a large number of cars, sidecars, etc.

The soldiers were overjoyed by the equipment, especially the soldiers of the armored division, who laughed so hard that they couldn’t even close their mouths.

“This is what General Rommel fought for us!” said General Strike, “But General Rommel said it was not his credit!”

“Not his credit?” Colonel Slaine was puzzled.

“Yes!” said General Strike, “Equipment like this, especially the ‘Tiger’ and so many ‘Panthers’, is generally only worthy of the SS Heavy Armored Division. The Wehrmacht… at least have to wait!”

After a pause, General Strike continued, “We can get them because we are the 21st Armored Division, understand? The unique 21st Armored Division!”

Colonel Slaine nodded, with a proud smile on his face.

“I think there is another reason!” said Qin Chuan.

“What?”

“We are defending the Ruhr Industrial Zone!” Qin Chuan replied: “If the tanks they produce are not equipped to us so that we can do our best to win the battle, they will only be left to the enemy!”

The smile on Colonel Slain’s face froze: “This may be the real reason! Otherwise, the SS will get them!”

General Strike teased: “You shouldn’t say it, Lieutenant Colonel!”

Several people couldn’t help laughing.

“General!” Colonel Olbrich, who had just received the tanks, ran over with excitement on his face.

“Colonel!” General Strike asked: “Are you satisfied with the new equipment you received?”

“Of course!” Colonel Olbrich replied: “Very satisfied!”

After a pause, Colonel Olbrich added: “But I don’t know if I should say it, General!”

“What?”

“This batch of equipment doesn’t seem suitable for fighting here!” Colonel Olbrich said hesitantly: “Did they not consider this?”

Obviously, Colonel Olbridge was worried that the equipment would be recycled by his superiors.

But what he said is right, and the reason is as mentioned before… The Netherlands is a country with a very low average altitude, and there are wetlands everywhere. It is a nightmare for armored forces, especially tanks weighing 56 tons, to fight here.

“Don’t worry, Colonel!” General Strike comforted: “They have obviously taken this into consideration!”

“Then why did they…”

“Because we know where they are going to attack!” General Strike said: “They are attacking bridges, highway intersections, and commanding heights on both sides of the highway! At the same time, what we have to deal with are paratroopers, who do not have heavy weapons…”

Colonel Olbridge couldn’t help but said “Oh”: “So we just need to deploy the tanks in these places and wait for them to come!”

“Yes!” General Strike nodded: “Of course, you can’t let them find out, you have to disguise the tank, do you understand?”

“Understood, General!” Colonel Olbridge replied excitedly.

“In addition!” General Strike added: “We also need to organize several mechanized troops, who can attack when appropriate!”

General Strike’s arrangement was very reasonable. Now, it seemed that all he had to do was wait for them to fall from the sky.