Chapter 424 David
The 2nd Infantry Regiment quickly withdrew from the Enna Heights, and what came up to take over the defense was a battalion of the 200th Infantry Division used as a reserve.
Using one battalion to guard the Onna Heights may be slightly under-strength, but this does not matter when the German army is about to launch a counterattack.
A regiment of troops was transferred to Enna Airport in an orderly manner, put on British military uniforms and equipment as quickly as possible, and then got on the bus to Delano again... Of course, in addition to carrying British troops, they In addition to traditional equipment, they also brought more than 300 rocket launchers.
This is one of the reasons why this task must be completed by the Second Infantry Regiment: In Sicily, only the Second Infantry Regiment has actual combat experience of using rocket launchers and using rocket launchers against tanks.
The car drove smoothly to Delano...the driver was still wearing a German military uniform, and Rommel asked his staff to explain to the German troops who had set up jams along the road, so it only took an hour to arrive near the destination.
The location happened to be at the junction of the British troops on the right and the American troops in the center. At the same time, it was not a strategic location, so the British and American troops did not pay attention to it for the time being.
The convoy stopped by the road. Colonel Sline used his binoculars to look at Delano, who seemed to be shivering in the dark, and then with a wave of his hand, he divided the troops into several parts and surrounded Delano.
Everyone, including Qin Chuan, thought the battle would go smoothly, because the intelligence they obtained was that... a battalion of Italian troops in Delano had even secretly contacted the British army to welcome them into the town.
But what people didn't expect was that when the gunfire rang out, fierce gunfire rang out in the town.
"We are from the British 70th Infantry Division!" A German officer shouted into the town in English with a loudspeaker: "You have been surrounded, we accept your surrender!"
"Fuck the British pigs!" Several shouts in German came from the town: "We will not surrender. Come on, our machine guns are waiting for you here!"
Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain were stunned when they heard the curse, and then they both realized that something was wrong... There seemed to be German soldiers in the town.
Qinchuan and Colonel Slaine guessed correctly. These German soldiers were soldiers of the 23rd Infantry Regiment guarding the right wing. Their mission was to fight and retreat until the British troops were attracted to the Mount Etna area and entangled them. .
But accidents always happen on the battlefield. A second lieutenant named David lost his way while retreating with his troops... Not long after the 23rd Infantry Division arrived on the island, they were not familiar with the terrain and wandered east and west to Novo. The town of Ladd.
After the German platoon came to this small town, they saw that all the Italian soldiers here were trying to do their best. They were so angry that they kicked their butts without saying a word and even put rifles on their heads to deploy. Norad's defense.
The terrible thing is that these defenses are well-arranged, with machine guns, mortars, and even two old tanks... Although the performance of Italian tanks is not worth mentioning, the problem is that if a strong attack is launched, the casualties will be unbearable. Avoid, especially when one is fighting against the other.
"Go to hell!" Colonel Slain asked Qin Chuan: "What should we do now? Tell them that we are Germans?"
"Of course not!" Qin Chuan said, "The Italians will also know if we say this! And, do you think they will believe us if we say this?"
"Then what?" Colonel Slain said: "Strike? Rush in and kill them all? They are Germans!"
"I should contact General Rommel!" Qin Chuan said, "He will solve this problem!"
"How to solve it?" Colonel Slain said: "Even if we find the superiors of those German soldiers, but we have surrounded this place, should we still make an opening to let them out?"
"Order them to surrender!" Qin Chuan said: "If necessary, you can tell them the truth. Of course, only the officer is allowed to know!"
Colonel Slain nodded and said, "This is the only way to do it!"
The next step can be said to be a lot of trouble.
On the one hand, it was because I was not sure which unit the German army in the town belonged to, so I could only make a broad guess that it was from the 23rd Division. So Rommel directly contacted Major General Leonard, the commander of the 23rd Division.
Another problem is that the German troops in the town are only platoon-level units and do not have radio stations at all, so they cannot be contacted and of course cannot communicate.
In the end, he could only turn a corner and contact the Italian soldiers in Norad Town, and then asked the Italian soldiers to transfer the call to Second Lieutenant David.
"I am Leonard, commander of the 23rd Division!" Major General Leonard immediately identified himself and asked, "Which army are you from?"
Second Lieutenant David looked confused. He couldn't believe that the division commander would call here at this time. After being stunned for a while, Second Lieutenant David replied: "We are from the 68th Infantry Regiment, sir, my name is David!”
"You performed very well!" Major General Leonard said: "But now, I order you to surrender, take the Italians and surrender...immediately!"
Lieutenant David looked at the phone and said, "Fuck it, it's another British trick!"
With that said, he hung up the phone.
On the other hand, Major General Leonard on the other end of the phone was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
Later, when I had no other choice, I directly called David's company commander and had another phone call.
"David!" the company commander said on the phone: "Listen, you must surrender!"
"Captain!" David said indignantly: "You were captured by the British! No, we will not surrender!"
It is not known whether it is a good thing or a bad thing to confront such a soldier at this critical moment.
In the end, Major General Leonard could only tell David the truth: "The German troops who surrounded you are actually German troops, understand? They are carrying out special missions! Don't let anyone know except you! Put down your guns and don't have any conflict with them!"
This made David stunned. After confirming again and again, David chose to surrender with his troops according to the order.
It is said that when David and his German troops agreed to surrender, the Italian soldiers cheered, and everyone jumped and shouted as if they had won a battle.
Later, when Qin Chuan knew these things, he felt a little incredible... There was a battalion of Italian soldiers in the town, and there were two tanks, while the German army had only one platoon. The Italian soldiers could launch a mutiny at any time to control this platoon of German soldiers and then accept surrender.
However, these Italian soldiers did not do so.
It was not because of anything else, but because they did not have the courage to resist this platoon of German soldiers.