Chapter 263: 263
Episode 263: The Road to Destruction (5)
"It's time to go!"
"I'm going to help gentlemen! Hurry!"
Patton decided to deploy the two divisions he had set aside as rear reserves to help Montgomery.
However, as soon as he gave the order to dispatch, problems arose everywhere.
"Hey, what are you doing? "Why are you moving?"
"Sergeant, this thing isn't moving."
"what?"
"I think the engine is broken!"
Sherman tanks, especially the jumbo Sherman, whose weight had been increased to the limit, had no trouble moving, but the Pershing tanks, which were sent to England before the engine problem was solved, were different.
As soon as the engine was started, a number of tanks broke down and spread.
"What are we going to do if this guy, who is already so slow, even loses his engine?"
The tank crews were angry.
Even just moving to the defense line, more than half of the Pershing tanks had problems, so maintenance crews were on hand to repair them, and they barely arrived at their destination.
Considering that the Sherman tanks that started out the same way did not suffer any problems until they reached the defensive line, the Pershing's reliability was usually not at a serious level.
"This worked out perfectly. "I can't fix it here."
"What do we do now?"
"What should I do? What should I do?" "I have to leave it to the maintenance guys."
Pershings that had engine trouble were taken to the maintenance company for repair. Since the situation was urgent, the more mobile Shermans moved first instead of the Pershing tanks.
The distance from the US military camp to the British military operational area was not that far.
However, the speed of the German army's advance was faster than the American army expected, and the British army's will to fight was lower than the American and German army's expectations.
"Lieutenant. The Jerrys are coming!"
"Get down. "Don't even breathe until they pass."
"yes?"
"I don't have a bazooka or anything, so how can I fight a tank? Anyway, if we just stay still, they won't know anything. So everyone just shut up."
Even if we fight, how much can we stop the Jerrys? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? The price is annihilation. There was no need to worry about what to choose.
The war is lost anyway. Even if I fought bravely, I wouldn't be able to win, so it was important to survive. If you survive, you can do anything, but if you die, it's over.
Even the British soldiers who somehow found the courage to fight the Germans were often pushed back as if they were being swept away by the waves. Poor weapons and even poorer morale could not stop the waves of steel.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
Hearing the clear engine sound of the German Panther, the British soldiers broke into a cold sweat and prepared for the upcoming battle.
"Prepare to fire anti-tank guns!"
"You must hit it with one hit."
Most of the officers giving orders were young, but the soldiers receiving their orders were either too young or too old compared to the officers.
Some were conscripted in a hurry, so instead of wearing military uniforms, they were wearing civilian clothes and only home guard armbands.
They had once enlisted with the pride of protecting their country from the Huns, but the successive defeats and the shocking death of the king instantly robbed them of any remaining patriotism and morale.
Now they no longer fight out of patriotism. They were just fighting to extend their lifespan a little longer.
"Damn it. "When are the Yankees coming?"
"Do you understand? "I guess I got caught in a traffic jam on the way."
"Fuck you. "We are all dead now."
The soldiers, who had been waiting for support from the U.S. military, cursed the U.S. soldiers who could not even see their noses, the German soldiers in front of them, and Churchill, who had driven them to their deaths.
"firing!"
As the German tank approached, the 6-Pounder spewed fire from its muzzle.
Even in the dark, the gunner managed to hit the enemy tank, but the armor-piercing bullet skidded without penetrating the armor.
The soldiers sighed involuntarily at that sight.
"It's Tommy in front. "Franz, blow it up with a grenade."
"All right!"
The Panther's 75mm gun burst into flames and grenades fell into the trench, sending the soldiers flying into the air.
The 6-pounder sparked fire again, but the result was a ricochet once again. This time, we used armor-piercing bullets with high penetrating power rather than ordinary armor-piercing bullets.
-Quaang!
The Panther fired again, and the 6-pounder's operators were wiped out. The infantrymen in the trenches fired their machine guns with the mindset that whatever would happen would happen.
Naturally, the Lewis light machine gun did not cause any damage to the Panther. At best, the operator holding the MG40 was irritated and said that the light of the tracer bullet was dazzling him.
The Home Guard member holding the Lewis light machine gun became a beehive and collapsed, bleeding red from every hole in his body.
The middle-aged sergeant shouted for anyone to grab the machine gun and shoot, but no one dared to step forward.
After the tanks passed through the trenches, the infantry charged. Realizing that there was no hope, the soldiers immediately threw away their guns and raised their hands.
"You idiots! Fight! Fight! "Selling my country to the Jerrys-"
A gunshot rang out, and the officer who was yelling at the soldiers to fight fell down. The soldier who put a bullet in the back of the officer's head muttered.
"Fuck you, fuck you. "If you're going to fight, then fight yourself."
The officer was already dead and could not fight the Germans. Fearing that the enemy might misunderstand, his soldier hurriedly threw away his gun and raised his hands like everyone else.
"Don't shoot! "I surrender!"
***
The Belgian and Dutch armies fought surprisingly hard.
I fought hard.
-Kang!
"Haha! You idiots, shoot me a hundred days. "I will throw everything away."
The 2-pounder fired by the Belgian army bounced off Hatcher's front armor.
The Hatcher's gunner calmly moved the gun and fired a grenade in the direction from which the flash came. The anti-tank artillery soon fell silent.
The heavily armored Hetcher was a formidable opponent, but the Allied forces were more afraid of the Vulkan grenade launcher.
Although it does not have the firepower of a 75mm shell, much less has the armor-piercing ability, there is no weapon more effective against infantry.
The German army mounted the Vulkan on an infantry armored vehicle and fired a barrage of 40mm grenades as it advanced. Every time a grenade exploded, pieces of lost flesh and bone splattered to the ground.
The Boise anti-tank rifle, which the British army gave to the Belgian army as a courtesy, burst into flames.
The bullet hit the front of Sd.Kfz 251. The armored vehicle that was hit by the bullet stopped, but the grenade launcher gunner changed the magazine and fired again without showing any signs of panic.
Just as the anti-tank rifle gunner was aiming at the grenade launcher gunner and was about to pull the trigger, a bright orange stream of flame flew out.
If the distance had been close, he would have been killed instantly, but because the distance was vaguely far, the anti-tank rifle shooter could not be killed instantly and his body caught fire.
"Kyaaaaa!!!"
The Belgian soldier rolled on the ground and screamed as his whole body burned.
Salamanders and Flammpanzerwagens (flammpanzerwagens) equipped with flamethrowers, Sd.Kfz 251/16, were just as fearful to the Allied forces as the Vulkan.
The flamethrower tank, which spewed flames from its muzzle like a mythical dragon, was like a devil from hell to the infantry.
The notoriety of flamethrower vehicles was so famous that some soldiers lost their will to fight and ran away or surrendered just by the appearance of flamethrowers.
The poor defense line, composed of Belgian, Dutch, and Home Guard veterans, was quickly broken through.
The German army, like an angry rhinoceros, advanced at high speed, as it had done in France three years earlier, breaking through all the obstacles that stood in its way.
"Break through the 33rd Division's defense line! "The Germans are advancing!"
"Contact with the Belgian and Dutch troops has also been lost!"
It was difficult to distinguish the reports from the staff with their faces darkened from the screams.
Now, even at the 8th Army headquarters, the engine sounds of German tanks could be heard. At the same time, the German soldiers shouting 'hurray'.
To Montgomery, the Hurra sound shouted by German soldiers under the hallucinatory effects of Morel pills felt like the cries of the dead from the underworld.
A lieutenant communicating with American troops reported that reinforcements sent by Patton had made contact with German troops.
But Montgomery prepared to leave regardless of that report. He had no time to delay.
Even if the gunfire heard from the front was the sound of German and American troops engaging in combat, if some German troops ignored the American troops and advanced straight here, Montgomery and his staff would become prisoners.
Although he was losing the war, Montgomery did not want to become a prisoner of the enemy.
"Damn it. "I'm being chased by Jerrys."
How could he, an honorable general of the British Army, run away for fear of becoming a prisoner of the enemy?
It was truly a shameful thing to do, but the option of remaining at headquarters was too risky.
Following Montgomery's orders, cooks, military police, and administrative soldiers entered the sloppy trenches they had roughly dug with field shovels to prepare for combat with the Germans.
They were given the enormous task of following Montgomery's orders and fighting to the last. But looking at the soldiers' expressions, it didn't look like they would fight for very long.
"Go quickly."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
As soon as Montgomery got into the Daimler Dingo reconnaissance armored vehicle, the driver drove off at full speed.
Three Bren gun carriers ran together to cover Montgomery and his staff, but the tankettes, armed only with Bren light machine guns, did not seem to be of much help.
As he drove down the road, Montgomery thought about arrogance.
Not only did I feel humiliated, but I never thought I could win this war.
Let's admit what we have to admit. The war was lost. Unless Hitler was suddenly assassinated one day and a civil war broke out in Germany, there was no way for Britain to survive.
If they flee to Canada and form a government in exile, they will be able to continue the legacy of the traditional British government.
No matter how good the flying and crawling jerrys are, it would be nearly impossible to cross the Atlantic Ocean and hit the American continent.
But that was also true in Britain.
Even in a situation where we joined forces with the United States, the country was about to be taken over by the Huns. When will we be able to land again on the island of Britain and drive out the German army?
It was heartbreaking to think that I could spend the rest of my life in Canada, not Britain, and never set foot on this land again.
As I was thinking about that and becoming depressed, I suddenly heard an unfamiliar engine noise coming from the front.
This sound could not be...
"Oh, they are German soldiers!!"
The driver screamed. Two German Puma armored vehicles were chasing from a distance.
Upon spotting the British military vehicle, the Puma stopped maneuvering and slowly turned its turret.
Although the British army had greater numbers, they had no means of destroying armored vehicles. Sparks poured out from the Puma's 50mm gun.
"Keuheuk!"
The Brengun carrier that was hit by a stray bullet was destroyed, and flaming fragments flew out in all directions. A splinter shaped like a gear flew away, leaving a long gash on Montgomery's cheek.
"Speed up!"
"It's already at full speed!"
"Turn left, no, turn right!"
The driver did as Montgomery instructed and turned to the right. However, because the direction was changed too quickly, the vehicle lost its balance.
Two wheels of the armored vehicle left the ground and rose into the air. The vehicle overturned, and Montgomery was ejected from the impact and rolled on the rain-soaked ground.
The beret on his head flew to the other side, and his arm broke, causing the bone to protrude through his skin.
Pain beyond imagination struck Montgomery. But despite the terrible pain, Montgomery did not forget the need to escape.
He held on to his shaky arms with protruding bones and struggled to move his legs. But he soon felt pain in his legs and had no choice but to sit down.
"Oh my, this is such a mess...!"
Fucking Jerry bastards. Montgomery crawled around, swearing and cursing all kinds of foul language in his mind.
His body continued to scream, but the only thing on his mind was to run.
He hoped the darkness would hide him from the enemy's sight. However, Montgomery's presence was discovered by the Germans due to a fire that broke out when his vehicle was destroyed.
The German commander at first thought it was just a corpse. But when I looked closely, I saw that the body was moving.
"That bastard is trying to trick us. "Do you know someone with cross eyes?"
I wanted to blow it to pieces with a thick 50mm cannonball, but one cannonball per infantryman was not profitable. A co-axial machine gun would be adequate.
Hitler's chainsaw mounted on the turret spewed out bullets.
Tommy didn't move anymore.
British Army Lieutenant General Bernard Law Montgomery died in the land of his birth.
***
"It's King Tiger! Fuck you, it's King Tiger!"
There was no problem with the Tiger, but it was a different story with the Tiger II, which was armed with heavier armor than the Tiger and a high-firepower main gun.
Unlike the Super Seomyeon, which had good firepower but poor armor, and the Jumbo Sherman, which had good armor but poor firepower, Pershing's tankers, who had both decent armor and firepower, were astonished when the Tiger II appeared.
"Stop whining. Let's trust 90mm."
The tank commander's voice was trembling as he said that. But just because the enemy is strong, you can't just tremble like a scared mutt.
The gunner pushed an armor-piercing round into the chamber, and the gunner aimed at the front of the enemy tank.
"Are you finished aiming?"
"yes!"
"Then shoot!"
The 90mm tank gun retreated, spitting out golden shells. The gunner stepped on the launch pedal with a prayerful feeling.
God, please make that damn Jerry a whole roast. If that happens, I have no wish.
But God did not listen to his prayers. The 90mm armor-piercing round could pierce the front of the Panther and Tiger, but could not penetrate the armor of the Tiger II.
Although the Tiger II's 120mm 55-degree sloped armor (210mm) had slightly lower defensive power than the actual Tiger II's 150mm 50-degree sloped armor (230mm), it was able to block the US military's 90mm M3 tank gun without difficulty. The same goes for the 215mm armor on the front of the turret.
"It's time to avenge our comrades!"
"For His Excellency the Führer, fire!"
Tiger II tank crews aimed at the ambushed Pershing and fired their main guns.
Even the Pershing, which could block the Panther's 75mm gun depending on the distance and angle, could not withstand the Tiger II's 88/71.
"Confirmed defeat!"
"The Yankees are roasting a whole pig."
The German tank crews laughed heartily as they saw the Pershing burning brightly with a hole in its turret.
Even the Jumbo Sherman, which had reinforced armor to the level of a heavy tank, failed to shine in front of the Tiger II.
There was no need to mention the Super Sherman. In front of 88/71, all tanks were equal.
Panther II, which had less defense than Tiger II, also had the upper hand in the battle with Pershing.
If hit by the turret, the Panther II was dangerous, but if it was hit by the front of the hull, the Panther II could easily defend against the Pershing's 90mm main gun.
In addition, because the main gun was loaded with the same items as the Tiger II, it penetrated all parts of the Pershing without any problems.
-Quaang!
"Fire!"
A shell that penetrated Pershing's armor caused a fire in the tank. Once a fire breaks out inside the tank, all the tank crews can do is abandon the tank and escape.
"Everyone hurry..."
As the tank commander, who was the first to escape, was trying to urge the crew remaining on the tank to escape, a bullet fired from the Panther II passed through his temple.
German tanks mercilessly fired machine guns at American tankers escaping from the burning tank.
The escaping tank soldiers became a beehive and were spread out around the tank.
If the tank was not completely destroyed, there was at least a chance to escape, but if the tank exploded upon penetration, there was no time to escape.
"From Löwe to Adler. "We have just broken through the front line."
-This is Adler. To Löwe, advance until you run out of fuel. Heil Hitler.
"Heil Hitler."
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