Chapter 76: 76
"Great! "You keep hitting the mark!"
Rommel, who was watching the battle through binoculars with his staff, clenched his fists every time our anti-tank guns destroyed a British tank.
In history, when the existing PaK 36 was not effective against the British Army's Matilda tank, Rommel quickly brought in an 88mm anti-aircraft gun and used it as an anti-tank gun, barely stopping the British Army's offensive.
However, here, thanks to the early development and deployment of PaK 38 and PaK 40 to the front under Hitler's orders, there was no need to deploy 88mm anti-aircraft guns.
There was no need to go all the way to the heavy and bulky 88, because PaK 38 was sufficient.
Rommel received instructions from the Fuhrer that 'the Allied forces might launch a counterattack in the Arras area in the near future, so prepare for this'. Although he prepared for an enemy attack by densely deploying anti-tank guns, he did not think that the enemy, who was busy retreating, would launch a counterattack. .
Rather, I was worried that the delay in advance might have given the enemy time to reorganize.
However, the President's prediction was correct this time too.
Indeed, the British army attempted a counterattack with two tank regiments, and the location was Arras.
If a large number of anti-tank guns and troops had not been deployed as instructed by the Fuhrer, the British army would have devastated the friendly army's flank and its 7th Armored Division would have been completely surrounded.
As the thought reached that point, Rommel felt a chill go down his spine. The Fuhrer's instructions saved him and his division from the brink of annihilation.
"I don't know how the President could have predicted this situation."
Maybe he really isn't God?
Otherwise, how can everything you say be consistent?
The circumstances were too exquisite to be simply luck. Now, even if the Fuhrer were to use mind reading, I would believe it.
Occasionally, anti-tank guns were destroyed by British tanks that rushed despite damage, but Hatcher, who was waiting at the rear, immediately launched a counterattack and prevented the British troops from breaking through.
Unlike anti-tank guns, which had virtually zero defense, the Hatcher was invulnerable to almost all attacks limited to the front.
"I heard that Hatcher came from the Fuhrer's idea, but I don't know if that's true."
"It's true. I heard from a colleague who worked at the Ordnance Bureau that the President himself participated in the design. "It is said that not only Hetcher, but also Grille, Ketzhen, and Salamander all came from the Fuhrer's head."
"······At this point, I wonder what he can't do."
Suddenly, a loud noise was heard in the sky, causing Rommel and his staff to look up.
A squadron of Stukas formed a V-formation and was approaching the scene where the battle was taking place.
Rommel's expression slightly distorted when he discovered the Stuka formation.
"It's coming so quickly."
"Why are you doing this? "It arrived much earlier than the scheduled arrival time."
"I know. But now I think it's a problem that can be solved without the help of the Air Force. "We can do it all on our own, but didn't we have to share the credit?"
"ah······."
Although it seemed like an extravagant complaint to his advisors, Rommel himself was extremely serious.
If he had not requested support, the credit for defeating the British army would have been his own, but by requesting support from the Air Force for no reason, his share was reduced. Rommel found this truly deplorable.
"From now on, I will have to monitor the situation and request support. "Isn't that right?"
"If your Excellency thinks so..."
"Our Marshal Goering is suffering because he is working too hard. "It would be okay to be a little lazy."
"······."
While Rommel was complaining to his staff, the Stukas began attacking.
***
"There are a lot of Tommy (a derogatory term for British soldiers)."
Lieutenant Hans Ulrich Rudel, who was at the controls of the Stuka, licked his lips and looked down at the British tanks on the ground.
Even though our anti-tank guns fired hard, there were more moving tanks in the field than destroyed ones.
As a guess, around 50-60 years old? The irregular sounds of anti-tank guns and tank explosions made me realize that I was in a real battlefield.
This wasn't Rudel's first time in action.
During the Polish War, he flew a Fi 156 Storch and carried out a mission to reconnoiter enemy lines. He not only did simple reconnaissance, but also dropped bombs and strafed the moving Polish troops, killing several enemy soldiers.
After the invasion of Poland was completed, Rudel was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class, for successfully carrying out reconnaissance missions, and was sent to the 43rd Air Training Regiment in Vienna, where he served as regimental adjutant.
Then one day, the Fuhrer and Göring inspected the regiment.
Hitler shook hands with each pilot and asked their name, age, and hometown. When it was Rudel's turn, he tilted his head once.
"It's a face I've seen somewhere before… What is its name?"
"This is Hans Ulrich Rudel, Mr. Führer!"
"Rudel!?"
When Hitler heard those words, he was shocked and shouted.
"What's going on, Mr. President?"
In response to Göring's question, Hitler barely waved his hand away.
"Oh, no. I was just surprised that his name was the same as someone I knew. "It's someone I knew a long time ago."
"Is that so?"
Hitler still looked at Rudel with surprised eyes. To Rudel, who was confused and did not know what he was talking about, Hitler said something unexpected.
"Aren't you interested in becoming a Stuka pilot?"
"Are you talking about the Stuka?"
This time Rudel was surprised. Even so, Rudel, whose goal was to become a Stuka pilot, was requesting his superiors to transfer him to the Stuka unit whenever he had the chance.
However, the superiors were not very interested in the request of a lieutenant and were discouraged by it, so the Fuhrer himself recommended a Stuka pilot.
What kind of dream is this?
"Ah, it's not forced. It's just a recommendation, a recommendation. In my opinion, you are the perfect Stuka pilot. "His physique is like that, he looks gangly."
Rudel, who could not close his mouth in shock, said that he had seen Hitler. It seemed like I had misjudged Rudel's thoughts.
Not everyone can become a pilot, but among them, only Stuka pilots can become truly skilled pilots.
To become a Stuka pilot, who had to withstand pressures of up to 5G during a sudden dive and accurately hit the enemy lines with bombs, excellent physical strength, a high level of concentration, and excellent piloting skills were required.
Rudel, who had previously flown a reconnaissance aircraft, was unable to prove that he had the necessary skills to become a Stuka pilot (in fact, he had no opportunity to prove himself).
However, thanks to Hitler's positive recommendation, he was able to pilot the Stuka of his dreams.
Rudel, who became a Stuka pilot, began intense training every day.
He was so focused on practice that the Stuka instructors advised Rudel to stop practicing and rest.
And today, it was his turn to show the results of his repeated training.
As soon as the Stuka began its descent, tremendous pressure was immediately applied to the body.
As if I was about to be flattened by a huge rock, my breathing became difficult and it was difficult to keep my eyes open properly.
Rudel strained his eyes to keep from losing his mind.
I felt as if my eyes were going to be torn out due to the pressure, but I held on with my spirit.
Haven't you trained dozens of times for this moment?
I've finally become the Stuka pilot I've always wanted, but I can't die on my first battle.
Shouldn't we live to see the German flag waving in Paris and London?
"Hmph!"
After dropping the SC1000 bomb, which weighed nearly 1 ton, Rudel immediately pulled the control stick and raised the aircraft.
The bomb he dropped fell right in the middle of the huddled British tanks.
The Matilda tanks, which were hiding at an angle behind a tank with a broken track and firing coaxial machine guns in the direction of the shells, were swept away by a flash of light and disintegrated, and the soldiers who were hiding behind the tanks and firing disappeared without a trace.
One bomb destroyed three tanks and killed nine infantrymen instantly. For a first time criminal conviction, it wasn't quite bad.
"Haha, hahahaha!!! Did you see it? Did you see it? "This body's record!"
There was no voice responding to Rudel's cry.
All of his comrades were busy diving towards British tanks or dropping bombs and then gaining altitude again.
There was no reply, but Rudel was still busy talking excitedly.
"How does it taste, Tommy! "There are still four more shots left!"
Four bombs were still attached to the Stuka's wings. Although it was a SC50 bomb that was smaller and lighter than the SC1000 dropped earlier, it was powerful enough to hit the British troops.
As Rudel began to dive again, the other pilots also dropped their own bombs and quickly ascended.
Every time a bomb landed, tanks weighing tens of tons bounced like toys, and the soldiers screamed.
Until the battle ended, the screaming continued.
***
"Ugh! Aaaah!!!"
The new soldier, who had finally lost his mind, sat down and screamed at the top of his voice.
When I witnessed death in real time, the string of reason I was barely holding on to was broken.
"Aaaah!!! mom mom!"
"Calm down, asshole!"
Graham, who couldn't see it, grabbed the recruit by the neck and tried to drag him behind the rubble, but the recruit steadfastly refused.
The new recruit, already insane, ran away from Graham.
"hey! Stop! hey!"
Graham, who saw the new soldier running towards the enemy lines, shouted urgently, but the new soldier did not stop running.
The new soldier stopped yelling only after his body was turned into a beehive by MG40.
The blood that poured out from the countless holes in the body drenched the ground.
"Shit."
Graham, who witnessed another life disappearing in vain, let out a low curse.
However, the battlefield was a place that did not even allow time for sentimentality.
When the siren sounded in the sky, Graham reflexively fell to the ground.
"Damn it, again!?"
When the siren sounded, it meant that the Stuka had begun its dive.
Graham closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands.
Every time a bomb landed, the ground shook as if there had been an earthquake. Because I had my stomach on the ground, the vibrations of the ground were felt and I felt nauseous.
"Everyone is going to die, you bastards!"
Hopkins raised his middle finger at the Stuka, which dropped the bomb and flew into the sky.
Where the bomb was dropped, a hole was created that could easily fit about 15 people, and arms and legs were lying around haphazardly around the hole.
Even though I covered my ears with both hands, my ears were tingling from the heavy drinking.
Graham felt warm liquid flowing down his left cheek.
When I touched my hand, red blood came out. The eardrum was torn.
It wasn't that I had lost my hearing because I could hear sounds, but the sounds were definitely smaller and fainter than before.
I'll be amazed. It's already so hard that I'm dying, but I can't believe I'm having problems with my ears as well.
"Those fucking bastards are making me deaf."
"I'm glad it stops at that level. "It's much better than dying."
Hopkins spat on the floor and shook out the dirt that was blocking the muzzle of the gun. Then, pointing in the direction his bullet was flying, he pulled the trigger on Bren.
There was no way to check whether the enemy was hit or not, so I just fired blindly.
Even though I fired in bursts, the magazine quickly ran out.
Hopkins, who was replacing the magazine, looked back at Graham as if he had suddenly remembered something.
"Sergeant, aren't we retreating?"
"what? I can not hear well!"
"When are we going to retreat? If this continues, we will all die!"
"I don't know either! "We only retreat when we receive an order from above. If we run now, we will be shot!"
Graham shook his head as if telling him not to ask any more questions, then pointed his gun at the enemy camp and opened fire.
He fired three shots in succession at the machine gun firing light at the edge of the forest, but the flash never went away.
The two fired hard while waiting in vain for the order to retreat, which could come at any moment.
Every time I heard a siren, I lowered my posture, but when the explosion ended, I stood up again and resumed shooting.
Even after expending all their bombs, the Stukas did not return and instead hovered around the battle site, firing strafing guns at the British troops on the ground.
Only when the MG17's bullets ran out did the Stukas turn around and return to base.
The soldiers felt anger and relief at the same time as they watched the Stukas leisurely leaving behind countless wreckage and corpses in the fields of Arras.
However, even though the Stukas left, the anti-tank guns and machine guns remained.
When the anti-tank gun destroyed the tank, the machine gun killed the tank crew escaping from the tank.
"retreat! "Retreat, retreat!"
Finally, the order to retreat was given, but it was too late.
About a third of the tanks had already been destroyed, and even the surviving tanks were busy maneuvering to avoid the shells, let alone attacking.
Moving forward was difficult, but retreating was even more difficult for tanks with limited visibility.
The tank commander had to give direction to the driver, who could not see ahead, by looking behind him through the observation window, but visibility was not well secured due to the narrow observation window.
"for a moment! Stop, stop!"
The tank commander, who belatedly discovered a comrade lying prone in the rear, shouted to stop, but by the time the driver stopped the tank, the soldier had already been crushed under the track.
The British soldier caught in the tracks had his entire body crushed and died instantly.
"retreat! "Everyone retreat!"
Lieutenant Moore, who was holding on to the destroyed and abandoned Matilda I as a shield, shouted for retreat and then quickly joined the retreating soldiers.
Hopkins, who was watching the scene from afar, was so dumbfounded that he didn't even sigh.
"That bastard, he showed off all kinds of tricks, but he was just a bastard, right?"
"There is nothing we can do in this situation. "Let's retreat quickly."
On behalf of the platoon leader who had left early, Graham went around and delivered news of the retreat to the soldiers who had not yet heard the retreat order.
While wandering around frantically looking for the surviving platoon members, he found a private who had been shot in the ankle and collapsed, groaning, and called out for a medic.
"Hygiene... Ah."
Graham, who saw the Red Cross armband on the arm of a private who had collapsed from a gunshot wound, helped him up and helped him up.
Hopkins also rushed over and supported the corporal from the left.
"Thank you, comrades. Thank you very much."
"Let's say hello later. "This is still a battlefield."
The tanks that managed to survive without being destroyed fired fire until the last moment to cover the retreating allies.
The tank crews, whose tracks were destroyed or who were at the head of the column and unable to escape, knew they could not survive.
That's why they wanted to make at least one enemy their companion on the way to the underworld.
"Enemy tank in front! Distance 400, armor-piercing bullet!"
"Loaded!"
"Aim for endless orbit! launch!"
The British army, knowing that the 2-pounder armor-piercing shell could not penetrate the front of the Hatcher, focused on targeting the trajectory to prevent the enemy from maneuvering.
When the right track of the enemy tank broke loose, the gunner aimed at the enemy's gun. I didn't know if it could be destroyed if the shell hit the main gun of the enemy tank.
"Hurry up and load-"
However, Hatcher opened fire and blew a hole in the turret first.
The driver opened the front hatch of the Matilda, which had its turret split, and raised his hand so that the enemy could see. It was her desperate plea not to shoot because she would surrender.
When the only surviving Matilda II was completely destroyed by a PaK 40, the tank crews of the Matilda I left alone on the battlefield opened their hatches and surrendered.
With no way to escape and running out of bullets, the only options left were suicide, combat, and surrender. The two tank crews, who wanted to live, chose to surrender.
***
The attack of the British Army's 4th and 7th Tank Regiments was suppressed by the German army's anti-tank fire net.
The British army did its best to advance, but the enemy was too strong to turn the situation around with just the fighting spirit and courage of the soldiers.
The Arras tank battle ended in vain with a crushing defeat for the British army.
What the Allies gained through this battle was that the German anti-tank guns were much more powerful than expected, that the defensive power of the Matilda tank, which they had so much faith in, was weaker than expected, and that it was now impossible to stop the German army's advance no matter what they did. It was.
An end that seemed like it would never come was slowly casting a shadow over the two colonial empires that dominated the world.
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