Four Hundred and Twenty-Two Norwich Offensive and Defensive Battle

In fact, landing in the UK is an unprecedented challenge for the German team. ∷This challenge stretched to every corner, making the huge war machine of the German army feel weakly uncomfortable.

The first thing to feel the pressure was the logistics and transportation department of the German Navy. In order to accumulate the fuel and strategic materials needed for this landing operation, they began to rush around from the end of January, and they barely completed the minimum preparation until the 12th of January. Standards are required.

Tens of thousands of tons of materials were transported to the British landing site, and then returned in a hurry in a hurry or even thrown directly into the nearby sea water, just to grab time on the same day to send some materials there.

Even so, the German transport and supply fleet still felt the embarrassment of being stretched, and finally knew how difficult and difficult it was for Britain, as a huge overlord empire, to maintain such a large maritime fleet. Of course-the construction is not easy to destroy but simple. It took only one month for the German navy to cause heavy losses to the huge British sea fleet.

As for the difficulty in logistical supplies, it was invisible and intangible. Compared with the difficulties encountered by the frontline troops, it seemed less conspicuous.

It was during this landing operation that the German infantry truly experienced the cruelty of war. In the past, the racing and crushing combat between the armored forces and the air force became a repeated struggle for an inch of land. A fierce fight for several kilometers or even several meters forward.

For example, in the battle that took place on the landing beach, the German army lost thousands of people in the first ten minutes. The soldiers endured the bitingly cold seawater and braved the enemy's machine guns to attack forward. If it weren't for the strength of the British coastline defenders Limited, Germany is likely to be driven back to its hometown without even going to the beach.

Cromer's scramble made the German soldiers understand the cruelty of street fighting, and even the most elite Akado youth regiment suffered heavy losses. The night battles, armored advances, and large-scale interspersed detours that German soldiers are good at seem to rarely appear in the Battle of Britain. Instead, there are small towns one after another, and British defense strongholds one after another.

The British are constantly learning and improving. They learn how to fight from the German soldiers. They paid for it with their blood and lives, and tried every means to grow themselves up as soon as possible and become real soldiers who could defend their homeland.

The Germans are also constantly learning and improving. They will fight in smarter ways, face the street fighting with huge sacrifices calmly, and use various weapons in their hands to create a pleasing rhythm of slaughter in the city alleys.

The engineers tried their best to weld together six Iron Fist rocket launchers and two wheels to form a new type of weapon that could be controlled with wires and detonators. This weapon can continuously fire 6 rockets at a target until the opposite target is smashed into ruins.

This weapon is often used with two scrapped tank tracks. A hole is dug under one wheel, and then the scrapped tank track is used to block the wheel on the other side. When the Iron Fist rocket is launched, it will twist and shake.

Causes a terrifying spread of short-range rockets. German soldiers used this simple weapon to easily destroy buildings garrisoned by British troops. This weapon was also called "building terminator" by soldiers.

During the street fighting in Norwich, a German soldier shook his head, shook off the dust from his helmet, and looked at the building completely destroyed by this "building terminator" in the distance. Satisfied, he stretched out a thumb behind him: "Clear!"

Hearing his shout, the soldiers behind him quickly picked up their weapons and stooped towards the collapsed building. They must occupy it as soon as possible, otherwise the British will appear on the ruins again in half an hour, holding on to the territory under the rubbish.

On the other side of the small square, a German soldier with an assault rifle approached the door of the building little by little, signaling to his comrades behind him to come and help. Two soldiers stood at the door holding grenades, and he kicked them away. Passing through the locked gate, the two soldiers behind them threw grenades in at the same time.

Two huge explosions set off a huge air wave, shattered the glass, and rattled the door panels. The German soldiers rushed into the house that was still full of gunpowder smoke with weapons in hand, and then there was intensive gunfire inside, and it was unknown which side won the final victory.

On the square in the west of the city, a Leopard tank was parked next to the pool in the center, and an 88mm anti-aircraft cannon was pointed at the sky. Not many, so the losses of the German armored forces were not unbearable.

But the losses still exist. In the early morning, a British anti-tank gun concealed on the street corner destroyed a No. 3 tank of the 5th Light Armored Division. In the afternoon, two Panther tanks were destroyed while covering the infantry attack. . Three hours after the Norwich offensive and defensive battle started, German tanks had lost as many as nine tanks.

At 2:26 pm on February 17, Norwich was still under the control of the British defenders, but only one-third of the area was occupied by German soldiers. The Germans knew that the British would counterattack at night and achieve some results, so after a day of onslaught, the Germans actually achieved very little.

"My troops are not good at this kind of combat. Or Germany's elite troops should not be engaged in this kind of combat." Rundstedt wrote in his diary: "We killed 300 people and captured the block, the other side fought hard. If we lose 500 people and then take them back, we will have to pay another 200 people or more.”

"This is a big waste of resources." He finally concluded: "I would rather go to the wild to fight a battle of 200,000 people than waste our time and energy in these cities."

His complaints were answered. At 4 o'clock, the German strategic bombing of the Norwich area used a large number of napalm bombs, and the whole city became a sea of ​​​​flames. The losses caused by the German bombers to the British made the subsequent offensive and defensive battle of Norwich move in the direction favorable to the German army. Development, but still full of blood and cruelty, still makes people sigh helplessly.

In order to reduce losses, Rundstedt mobilized special forces to wipe out the British soldiers in the city. The effect was obvious but the losses were still heavy. After causing 1,000 British casualties, the Special Forces were also forced to withdraw from the offensive due to heavy losses. 97 of the 180 Special Forces soldiers involved in the operation were killed, more than half.

Fortunately, the Germans opened the situation with losses. The grenadiers of the 1st Infantry Division approached the government building in the center of the city after losing an attack of 35 people, but they were unable to continue because of the desperate counterattack of the British. further.

Both sides are worrying about Norwich, which has long been in ruins. Just like the Battle of Verdun in World War I, soldiers lost their lives every minute and every second of the Norwich offensive and defensive battle-either British soldiers or German soldiers died in this second. However, both parties participating in the battle have made up their minds to fight to the death, and they are also prepared to destroy the opponent's self-confidence here.

The sorrow of the soldiers is that as long as a word from the generals above is enough to throw you to a place worse than hell to enjoy the helplessness and bitterness of war. The 200 German grenadiers who had just arrived at the outskirts of Norwich took a short break before being dispatched by the commanders to the city that was still burning and exploding. In an hour's time there will be only 100 people left...

Naturally, the British on the other side would not give up this important city easily. They dispatched troops and filled all the troops they could find into the big pit of Norwich. The monster devoured the lives of the soldiers on both sides. As of 4:30 that night, the German army had lost 3,900 soldiers near Norwich, while the British were even worse, with 7,400 dead and missing.

Night began to fall, and the British ushered in the fourth night after the Germans landed. The bad weather they longed for still did not come, and God was still on the side of the Germans. But the British held their position with tenacious will, and the flag of the British Empire was still flying in the center of Norwich. Montgomery won another day for Britain, but no one knows what kind of turning point this day will bring to the precarious British Empire.

That night, British bombers visited the German positions for the first time. The number was not large, but they caused a lot of trouble for the Germans. These bombers raided several small docks controlled by the Germans and destroyed some pontoon piers erected by the Germans. However, these aircraft were also met with heavy fire from the German anti-aircraft artillery units. About 20 British aircraft were shot down by the excellent 88mm caliber anti-aircraft guns.

The British launched a crazy counterattack in the urban area of ​​Norwich, and the German infantry changed from the attacking side to the defensive side. These German grenadiers proved to the British a truth: whoever faces a well-organized urban street defense will pay a heavy price when attacking. The British were not able to retake a single block after paying 2,000 casualties.

That night, the German bomber unit continued to bomb the area controlled by the British defenders. The British ground forces, accustomed to being destroyed by the Luftwaffe, did not suffer much loss. They carefully dispersed and deployed their forces, hiding tanks and artillery, just like in another time and space 1944 As skilled as the German army in July 1999.