Chapter 763 Landing in England End

"Looks like it's Hartlepool!"

In the early morning of January 3, people in the bunker on King Charles Street in London finally determined that the real location of the German army was the city of Hartlepool on the North Sea coast.

"These damn Germans!" said the pale British Prime Minister, puffing on a cigar. "They actually dare to land in winter, and they are not afraid of the strong winds and waves on the North Sea sinking the ship!"

"Mr. Prime Minister," Imperial Chief of Staff Viscount Brooke reminded in a low voice, "the weather forecast says that it will be sunny from January 3 to January 5, and the sea state in the North Sea is only level 2-3."

It’s not that the UK and the North Sea don’t have good weather in winter, it’s just rare.

"Then what?" Churchill asked, "What will the weather be like after January 5th?"

"There will be wind and snow starting from January 6," Viscount Brooke said. "The whole of England will be shrouded in wind and snow, and there will be clear weather until January 15."

"The German plane cannot take off?" Churchill asked again.

"It has been difficult to fly over England since the 6th," Viscount Brooke said, "but the wind and waves on the North Sea are still not enough to stop the German fleet. As long as the Germans control Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, Reinforcements can arrive in a steady stream."

The wind and waves on the North Sea can block landing operations, but they cannot prevent ships from entering the harbor - hitting the beach and entering a sheltered harbor are completely different things. Therefore, after the good weather has passed, the landing operation cannot be carried out, but as long as the Germans control a medium-sized port, the troops can arrive in large numbers.

"We can't let them come in a steady stream!" Churchill patted the table and said, "Otherwise we will have a hard fight in the spring."

According to the information currently available, the maximum number of German troops that landed and airborne at Hartlepool was 2 divisions - before they took control of Hartlepool port, the most they could rely on for airdrops and beach landings was this number.

Although these two divisions must be the elite of the elite and can still be supported by the German fleet in the North Sea, it is still impossible for just two divisions to break through all the way to London. But if the British and American forces ignore Hartlepool, then German troops will continue to arrive. When the weather improved in the spring of 1943, London was attacked.

"They will not come continuously. We will drive them all into the sea before that!" Lieutenant General Stilwell, Chief of Staff of the European Allied Forces, vowed. "We have enough strength. There are millions of troops on the island of Great Britain. Even if 20 German divisions land, they will be defeated!"

Are 20 German divisions bound to be defeated? That's because you've never seen how good a German guy can be! Fatty Qiu glanced at the ignorant American Lieutenant General, took a puff of his cigar and said, "But we still lost the most critical 24 hours."

Now that there were not many regular troops around Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, it was likely that both cities would be lost, and the Germans would then gain a fatal foothold in England.

"We must fight back as soon as possible!" Viscount Brooke also knew the seriousness of the matter.

"We can dispatch armored forces to counterattack, and they have sufficient attack power." Lieutenant General Stilwell, chief of staff of Allied European Command, suggested, "The U.S. 2nd Armored Division now has sufficient equipment and can be dispatched at any time. "

There are currently two armored divisions on the books of the US military stationed in the UK, but one of them currently only has rifles. The 200 M10 tank destroyers that arrived at the end of December were only enough to equip one division, so Eisenhower gave them all to General Patton's 2nd Armored Division. In addition, the 2nd Armored Division also received a sufficient number of towed artillery and horses (the horses were given by the British), as well as a small number of trucks, jeeps and armored vehicles. Now it is probably a mechanized force that "burns horse dung", somewhat similar to the Japanese mecha army.

However, in the British mainland where long-distance mobile operations are not required, burning horse manure is not a big problem.

"The U.S. 2nd Armored Division can be transported to Coventry by train," Viscount Brooke said. "Then there's about 300 kilometers of road maneuvering."

The railway to Coventry is still operational, but further north it has become difficult to travel due to continuous bombing, and it is necessary to rely on road mobility.

"How long will it take?" Churchill asked directly when the armored troops arrived at Hartlepool.

"Today the troops are loading trucks during the day and can reach Coventry at night. Tomorrow they will be unloaded during the day and the engineers will be building roads and building pontoon bridges, so that the troops can move to Hartlepool tomorrow night." Viscount Brooke calculated and said, "It may be necessary during the day the day after tomorrow. Stay hidden so the troops will arrive on the morning or noon of the 6th.

In addition, our Guards Armored Division, 1st Armored Division and 6th Armored Division can be dispatched later, and they will all arrive on the 7th and 8th. "

There are now 3 British armored divisions on the island of Great Britain. They all have 1 armored brigade and 1 mounted infantry brigade (the motorized infantry brigade can no longer be maintained) - like Patton's 2nd Armored Division, they also burn horse dung. of mechanization.

However, burning horse dung is still burning horse dung. The tanks and assault guns of these three British armored divisions are still in place. Not only are there sufficient numbers (each division has more than 200 vehicles), but there are no cruise tanks with thin skin and insufficient firepower. They are all Churchill 4 tanks and Churchill 4 assault guns.

Now Britain is facing the same problem as Germany at the end of its rope in history - it no longer has enough power to provide a large number of mechanized equipment to the troops, so it can only take the heavy and small route and develop the Churchill No. 4 assault gun equipped with 17-pound artillery and solid armor!

"One American armored division, three British armored divisions, and several infantry divisions?" Churchill asked thoughtfully.

"Currently there is the North Yorkshire Division..."

"Don't count this division," interrupted the fat man, "They won't last for a few days."

This judgment is correct. The North Yorkshire Division has now collapsed by half, and the remaining troops will also collapse in the next 24 hours.

"There is the 52nd Lowland Infantry Division, which is on its way from Newcastle on foot and will arrive tonight," said Viscount Brooke. "There are also the 15th Scottish Infantry Division, the 51st Highland Infantry Division and the 1st Infantry Division, which are on their way from Fort William and Manchester to Hartlepool and will all arrive around the 10th. In addition, there are troops of the 5th Infantry Division in Middlesbrough, Scarrob and York."

"Four armored divisions and five infantry divisions!" Fatty Qiu's fat face showed some spirit again. "Nine divisions will definitely defeat the two divisions of the Germans!" He thought for a moment and asked again, "Who will command these nine divisions?"

"You can arrange a British commander and an American chief of staff." Viscount Brooke suggested, "You can let General Montgomery be the commander of the army group, and as for the chief of staff..."

"I'll go in person!" Stilwell's eyes lit up, "I'll be the chief of staff of this joint army group in person."

...

Swish...thump.

With a loud bang of a heavy object falling into the water, the bow ramp of the tank landing ship was lowered.

"Rudolf, can we start?" An officer on the landing ship waved a small flag in his hand and shouted to Rudolf von Ribbentrop who was half out of the turret of the Tiger tank.

"Of course we can start!" Ribbentrop then shouted to the driver of his car, "Adolf, start the vehicle, we are going to land on British land!"

"Yes, Captain."

A Maybach HL210P35 gasoline engine that was already running (this engine is also better than the model used in the Tiger E type. Although the output power is the same, the reliability is better) immediately roared and started to run at high speed, delivering up to 650 horsepower to the driving wheel. Driven by the driving wheel, the tank's tracks began to roll, and the body slowly moved forward, and soon rushed to the beach filled with the smell of gunpowder through the bow ramp.

The battle on the beach was over. There were not many British troops guarding here. Moreover, shortly after the German Marines began to land, the German paratroopers who had landed behind them came to attack them. Under the attack from both sides, the British army of more than 1,000 but less than 2,000 was soon annihilated.

However, the battle of Hartlepool was not over yet.

A shrill whistle suddenly reached the ears of little Ribbentrop. He hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound and saw a sergeant major of the Marine Corps waving a striking red flag to direct traffic. In the direction of his red flag, a huge sign was erected, which read: Tanks/assault artillery, forward!

That must be the road leading to the battlefield! Captain Ribbentrop thought of this and hurriedly directed the driver to change the direction of the vehicle and follow the route indicated by the signpost and the red flag - that was the route to the Tees River.

The Tees River is south of the city of Hartlepool, and the beach where little Ribbentrop and his men landed is on the back of the city of Hartlepool. Now the 7th Paratrooper Division is fighting with the British in the streets of Hartlepool. Most of the city has been captured, and only the port area has not been captured. However, the Marine Corps does not need to help.

So the task assigned by General Halder to the 1st Marine Division is to cross the Tees River and advance to Middlesbrough. A key bridge over the Tees River has been captured by the soldiers of the 7th Paratrooper Division. This is a sturdy railway and highway bridge that can fully withstand the weight of the Tiger G tank.

Through this bridge, the 516th Heavy Armored Battalion where Ribbentrop Jr. is located can go straight to the southwest of Middlesbrough, blocking the main traffic route to the north to reinforce Middlesbrough and Hartlepool - that is, completing the encirclement of Middlesbrough.

Once Middlesbrough is occupied by the German army, the German army will have two medium-sized ports on the island of Great Britain.