The decisive battle against the Third Reich - #961 - Chapter 958 Creativity

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Based on Qinchuan’s idea, German soldiers also invented various other “wooden stake shells”.

For example, in response to the US military’s tactics of reconnaissance and rapid passage, German soldiers developed a suspended “wooden stake shell”… This requires a bit of craftsmanship. Simply put, it is to calculate the buoyancy of the wooden pile and make the buoyancy of the wooden pile equal to that of the cannonball. The total weight of the wooden piles is equal to that of the wooden piles, so the “wood pile cannonballs” tied together are suspended in the water instead of floating on the water. It is even difficult to detect its existence from the water surface, unless it is washed out of the water by the current.

Of course, it will also arrive near a designated area and explode like other “stake cannonballs”.

The US military has come up with many ways to try to change all this.

For example, they sprinkled barbed wire into the river… This seems to be very effective, because it can indeed stop those “stake bombs”.

But first of all, this operation was done on the upper reaches of the river, that is, within the range of German firepower, so it could only be done with a certain amount of casualties.

The second is that the effect of this method is only temporary… Although the “wooden stake bomb” was blocked, nothing could prevent it from exploding, so the barbed wire fences were quickly blown into pieces, and “wooden stake bombs” followed one after another. ” then continue to float downward one after another.

The most serious thing is that there are not many amphibious landing ships in the hands of the US military, and they cannot bear this kind of loss.

Even this kind of “wooden stake bomb” also appeared on the island of Champill…

In some respects, Chambord Island is not suitable for using “wooden stake bombs” because the “moat” in front of Chambord Island flows slowly and the river channel is narrow, only about fifty meters.

But as long as you are willing to use your brain and think, you can always come up with a solution.

The German soldiers on Chambord Island improved the “stake bomb” into two parts, one was the “anchor” and the other was the “projectile”.

“Anchor” sounds like “anchor”, but it is actually a stone, used to sink in the water.

The “projectile” is similar to the “stake bomb”, except that it does not use a delay fuse, but is controlled by an electric wire.

Ropes of different lengths are tied between the “projectile” and the “anchor”…the length is calculated, and the rope is used at the position where the “stake bomb” is expected to stop.

After making it, you only need to throw it into the river, and then the “stake bomb” will move downward with the water flow until it is caught by the rope and stops at the designated location and floats there.

To put it simply, invisible simple “mines” are laid in the river.

These “mines” may not be used against other things, because even the German soldiers themselves are not sure where these “mines” are, so of course they cannot detonate them directly above or near enemy ships passing by them.

The problem is that the Allied forces used amphibious tanks with extremely poor sinkability… They barely floated on the water because of their heavy weight (total combat weight of 33.6 tons), and only because the fragile external tents provided buoyancy. , a slight wind wave or shaking will cause it to sink.

The worst thing is that the US military still knows nothing about these actions of the German army.

“General!” the staff officer said to Patton: “It will be dark in two hours. It seems we should withdraw the 17th Armored Regiment!”

“Withdraw?” Patton said: “They blocked the river with artillery shells. Do you think we can still withdraw the armored regiment?”

The staff officer was speechless.

But of course it is not an option to continue like this, because the armored regiment will be in danger as soon as it gets dark. The Germans may launch a sneak attack on the 17th Armored Regiment from any direction, and it is difficult for tanks to play their role in the dark, especially in the dark. When ammunition is low.

After thinking about it, Patton ordered: “Let the transport planes airdrop ammunition for them, and tell Nathan to occupy Chambier Island in the shortest possible time, otherwise he will wait to be surrounded by the Germans!”

“Yes, General!”

Air-dropping supplies to the 17th Armored Regiment was not a good idea.

This is not because the goals of the airdrop are unclear.

In fact, pilots can easily find the airdrop location in the air…it is in the center of the three “islands” of Metz Fortress, where more than a hundred tanks of the 17th Armored Regiment are gathered in rows.

The problem is that during airdrops, supplies cannot be accurately dropped to the center, where the 17th Armored Regiment is located. They will always deviate from the airdrop point due to height, wind direction and other issues.

As a result, most of the supplies either fell on the three “islands” where the Germans were stationed or fell within the range of German fire control.

For the former, the Germans laughed and said that it was a gift from Roosevelt to bribe them, hoping that they would be merciful to the American soldiers… Although most of these supplies were useless, because the bullets and artillery shells were of different standards and could not be used by the Germans unless Those shells were made into “stake bombs.”

In the latter case, U.S. soldiers have to work hard to recapture those supplies… Sometimes they consume more ammunition to recapture these supplies than the supplies themselves.

However, in the end, the 17th Armored Regiment accumulated enough ammunition to launch an attack.

At this time, Colonel Torres gave a suggestion to Colonel Nathan, the commander of the 17th Armored Regiment.

“I don’t think you should launch an attack!” Colonel Torres said: “On the contrary, you should defend and use your ammunition to organize defense… Otherwise, once you cannot capture Chambier Island, then everything will be over, and your ammunition will not be enough at all. Stay until dawn the next day. Then you will have two choices, either surrender or be annihilated by the Germans!”

Colonel Torres’s advice was contrary to General Patton’s orders, and Colonel Nathan did not take this advice to heart.

“Last time, we almost succeeded!” Colonel Nathan replied: “I believe it will be easier for us this time. And as long as we take Chambord Island, I believe that the German supplies and the fortifications of Chambord Island will Will solve all the problems we face!”

However, within minutes of Colonel Nathan giving the order to attack, he completely changed his mind.

The U.S. military’s attack is still the same as before, using amphibious landing ships to carry infantry to attack at the front, and then amphibious tanks will follow behind and force the crossing… As long as the amphibious tank comes ashore, it will be difficult for anything to stop its tracks, armor and Onslaught of fire.

However, just as the amphibious tanks entered the river, the river suddenly burst into columns of water, and more than a dozen amphibious tanks disappeared from Colonel Nathan’s sight in an instant.

“Stop the attack!” Colonel Nathan shouted angrily: “Stop the attack! Damn it, the German bombs are already everywhere!”