Chapter 780: Death of Churchill XI

While Bradley despised Patton in his heart, the Germans who were responsible for attacking the British 3rd Division today admired the Italians' bravery and fighting skills in their hearts - no, they are no longer useless Italians, they are the invincible Roman Legion!

Probably because of the change of the country's name, Mussolini's 185th Lightning Division played an unprecedented prestige in the attack on January 16.

Originally, Lieutenant General Walter Wenk did not expect these Italian paratroopers to fight any beautiful battles. Although the 185th Lightning Division was an elite in the Italian army and had fought many battles behind the Germans, it was also a long-standing battle, but it was still not comparable to the German troops.

Moreover, the equipment of these Italian paratroopers was really outdated. The individual weapons were the old Cargano rifles and Beretta M1938 submachine guns. The squad machine gun was the lousy Beretta M1930 light machine gun, and its firepower was not as good as the FG42 automatic rifle. There is also a Beretta M1937 heavy machine gun that uses a feed plate, which is relatively reliable, but it uses 8mm bullets, which are not compatible with the 6.5mm bullets used by the Cargano rifle and the Beretta M1930 light machine gun.

As for the mortars and artillery used by the Italian paratroopers, they are simply children's toys in the eyes of the Germans. They can't be compared with the German 7th Paratrooper Division, which is equipped with a large number of recoilless guns and even has light tanks and Weasel tank destroyers.

However, the result of the battle was surprising. The brave Italian paratroopers not only cleared the "vacuum zone" in the center of the battlefield, but also launched a tentative attack on the British front with the support of the artillery group.

Unexpectedly, as cannon fodder to test the British army's strength, the 185th Lightning Division in Rome actually broke into the British position with a round of assault and defeated the British with hand-to-hand combat. When the German armored group formed up and swaggered forward to prepare for a big battle, they saw the arrogant Roman paratroopers escorting groups of British prisoners towards them. There were too many captured British people, and when they rushed in a mess, they blocked the way forward for the German armored group!

"Lieutenant General, the British 3rd Infantry Division is finished. It was completely defeated by our brave Roman soldiers. There is no power left to resist. The only way to save their lives is to surrender!"

At 9 o'clock in the morning on the 16th, an indescribably excited Roman fascist reported the latest battle situation to Lieutenant General Wenk in fluent German. He said: "Now, the invincible Roman Legion is marching towards London victoriously, singing the "Roman Fascist Song" under the guidance of the fascist flag!"

"What?" Lieutenant General Wenk was startled by his last words, "Your people are still advancing?"

"That's right!" The fascist nodded, "The latest situation is that the Roman soldiers are chasing the remnants of the British 3rd Division, and they will soon be wiped out!"

"Damn it, the British have armored forces, they will come to plug the gap!" Lieutenant General Wenk hurriedly ordered, "Retreat immediately and give the battlefield to the armored group!"

Lieutenant General Wenk's order was issued a little late. At the same time he issued the order, the Roman soldiers, who were a little too enthusiastic, had already collided with the tanks and tank destroyers of the British 11th Armored Division who rushed to plug the gap. Fierce fighting then broke out between the Roman infantry and the British tanks.

"Where are the German tanks? Why are there only infantrymen shooting with rifles? Who are they?"

"Italians! General, our armored division is blocked by Italian infantry!"

Major General Hobart, the commander of the 11th Armored Division of the British Army, who was in command at the front line, went to the battlefield with the mood of dying for his country - he was old and had lived under the dazzling light of the British Empire for most of his life, so he could not accept that his country had become a vassal of Germany. So before going to the battle, he had left a suicide note to his wife and children in Canada, ready to die for his country with a smile.

But even this small goal was not easy to achieve. Because his armored forces did not encounter the legendary German tank cluster - this was what General Montgomery told him on the phone. Montgomery received news that the elite 3rd Division was defeated by a huge German armored cluster!

But Major General Hobart found that his 11th Armored Division was fighting a group of Italian infantrymen with rifles and machine guns!

"Damn it! When will it be the turn of the Italians to run wild on the British Isles?" Major General Hobart immediately felt insulted. He would have accepted it if there were a hundred Tiger tanks and German armored grenadiers armed to the teeth blocking his 11th Armored Division.

But being blocked by a group of Italian infantry... this is too embarrassing!

"Order the armored troops to charge!" Major General Hobart gritted his teeth and ordered, "Use the tracks to crush these damn Italians... Then, we will go and fight the Germans!"

Although the officers and soldiers of the 11th Armored Division, like all the British troops on the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough front, had extremely low morale, most of them wanted to escape from the battlefield that broke their hearts. However, Major General Hobart's order was still executed. Dozens of Churchill tanks formed a formation, covering two or three thousand British infantry and crushing the Italian paratroopers in white smocks scattered on the snowy plains.

However, the result of this tank cluster attack surprised Major General Hobert. The Italians, who were supposed to run away crying in front of the powerful Churchill tank, calmly took out the Panzerfaust 100 anti-tank grenade launcher to confront the British tank.

Hobert saw some enthusiastic fascists shouting slogans such as "Viva! Rome!" or "Viva! Mussolini!" and charging in the rain of bullets fired by the machine guns on Churchill tanks. Other fascists used rifles, machine guns and 45mm mortars to attack the British infantry covering the Churchill tanks. In the face of this not so fierce firepower, the British infantry who were supposed to cover the tanks huddled behind the huge body of the Churchill tank.

Tanks without the protection of infantry are vulnerable. Soon several Churchill tanks were caught on fire, while the remaining tanks actually drove back in reverse. Seeing this scene, Major General Hobert was almost furious. Just as he was about to step forward to supervise the battle in person, he heard someone shouting.

"Tiger! The Tiger tank is coming!"

The British major general quickly climbed to the top of the armored command vehicle and looked up. He only saw the edge where the white snowfield intersected with the sky. At some point, neatly arranged and slowly advancing Tiger tanks appeared!

This battle, known as the Final Battle of the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, has actually decided the winner!

…

When the British armored general Major General Hobert led his men to die heroically, the American tank general Major General Patton was already preparing to break out and escape.

He gathered together the 62 operational M10 tank destroyers owned by the 2nd Armored Division and paired them with the most elite infantry to form a breakout iron fist. Then he ordered the division's artillery group to move its position westward and be ready to fire and bombard at any time. After the artillery was moved, all the mules and horses attached to the artillery were gathered together to carry the wounded and ammunition.

Finally, he ordered all his ministries to prepare for dispatch at any time with light equipment, distribute the ammunition to the soldiers as much as possible, and prepare the rest for destruction. All baggage and unused equipment that are inconvenient to be taken away are also prepared to be destroyed.

However, after making all preparations to escape, he received an order to be relieved of his duties and hand over the troops to Bradley - the order was issued by Eisenhower in Edinburgh based on Stilwell's small report.

"Omar, I have some bad news for you. I have been relieved of my duties as commander of the 2nd Armored Division... Oh, this is not bad news for me, because I can now escape the battlefield without any punishment. But for the 2nd Armored Division This must be a terrible thing for the boys in the division, because you won't lead them out of the siege like I did. It's such a pity..."

When handing over command, General Patton still couldn't control his loud mouth. Just when Bradley was dumbfounded, an aide-de-camp of General Patton walked into the office holding a pile of old clothes.

"General," the adjutant reported, "I have bought all the clothes you asked for. They are all old. Do you think it will work..."

"It doesn't matter, the old ones are better." Barton nodded and ordered, "Pick two for me, and pick two for yourself...and then pick two for Henry and Donald. In addition, change some pounds to take with you. , oh, and a British ID and a ration card, no matter how much it costs.”

What does Barton mean? ? Are you planning to disguise yourself as a commoner and escape?

Bradley stared at Barton with a look of disbelief on his face.

Barton noticed Bradley's eyes, smiled bitterly and said, "Omar, you should pick up some clothes and take them with you. If something goes wrong, you can disguise yourself as a commoner and run away..."

"George! What are you talking about!" Bradley shouted, "How could you do this? You are a general of the United States! How could you disguise yourself as a common man and escape?"

Patton shrugged and said nonchalantly: "Because I still plan to fight for the country, and I don't want to lose my life because of that idiot Stilwell's random command, let alone be captured by the Nazis and put in a prisoner of war camp. Omar, in the end, I still I want to remind you that the current situation is very bad and you must prepare for the worst! ”

After saying this, George Patton stopped talking nonsense with Bradley, packed up his things, and left the battlefield that made him so sad with his adjutant, guard and driver, and got on a jeep to go to Edinburgh. However, on the way to escape, he did not encounter the German army, so the three civilian clothes he prepared did not work.