Chapter 684 Dawn (14)
Li Qiwei's terrible battlefield intuition saved the fate of the 82nd Airborne Division that night. When the German roundabout troops rushed over, they were shocked to find that the US troops had quietly retreated into the distance. The roundabout troops did not contain the enemy, but encountered the US troops. Intense firepower returned from the third-line position and was forced to retreat. This situation is like a boxer who has the upper hand in a boxing match and throws a left hook aggressively. Unexpectedly, the staggering opponent happens to step back. When you get closer and your opponent takes the opportunity to punch you back, it feels extremely frustrating.
"Sir, how did you tell?" Taking advantage of the break in the battle, the adjutant Captain Green lost no time in asking for advice. This young man who graduated from West Point in 1936 was very popular with Ridgway and often taught him how to command.
"To be honest, I didn't see it." Ridgway shook his head. He didn't want to pretend to be arrogant in front of his subordinates. It was too pretentious and meaningless. The person who liked doing this the most was MacArthur.
"But I think the enemy's sudden slowdown must be considering tactical adjustments. Although I don't know what they want, I can change the battlefield environment to fight them. Retreating to the third-line position is a last resort. At least we are more familiar there. A little bit, so there will be a slight advantage. As for the tactic of just defeating the enemy, it is completely a mistake." Li Qiwei smiled bitterly, "Of course, this tactic cannot be abused. You must have enough control over the troops. Being able to fully trust your subordinates will allow them to trust the commander's adjustments. Otherwise, if the front retreats and the rear retreats, thinking that it has failed, wouldn't it mean that the situation is in chaos and all previous efforts have been wasted? "
The adjutant nodded in acknowledgment. Li Qiwei's sudden move delayed the time for more than 2 hours. The detour was not possible, and the German army, which could only attack from the front, continued to attack in turns, causing nearly 300 casualties to the US military and more than 100 losses to itself. Although the German army was exchanging peace and balance, They had the upper hand, but the number of Marines was too small. The heavy losses made Lieutenant Colonel Baker realize that this offensive was unsustainable - he had lost all his armored vehicles and almost all his 80mm mortars in two attacks. The use of artillery shells now relies entirely on captured or picked up US military equipment. It is not good for him to drag it down. He cannot really hit the enemy plane at the moment it appears, and it will definitely be swallowed up by the US military who have received follow-up reinforcements.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Colonel Baker, who assessed the situation, issued a retreat order. The German officers and soldiers launched an attack posture with fierce firepower and then took turns covering the retreat. The U.S. military knew clearly that the German troops had retreated, but they could not even think of pursuing or counterattacking. This fierce battle that lasted for more than 5 hours left everyone exhausted. The German army suffered a total of more than 300 casualties, and the number of intact troops was less than 600. This statistics includes all armored troops who lost their tanks and were forced to participate in infantry combat. The strength of the Baker Battle Group shrank from 3 battalions to 1 battalion, and the losses were very heavy.
The 82nd Airborne Division paid a greater price. Before the night battle began, they had a total of more than 1,600 people. In addition, they received reinforcements from more than 200 aircrew members when the night battle came, and the total number was nearly 1,900. However, after the two sides broke away from contact, it was discovered that the night battle caused more than 1,000 casualties on our side, with less than 900 intact officers and soldiers. Even including the wounded who could barely take up arms to fight, the total number of soldiers was only over 1,100. Those who joined the team temporarily More than 60 pilots were lost.
Thinking of the large team of more than 3,000 people when they set out yesterday, Captain Carney couldn't help but look sad, and wanted to burst into tears: all his battalion commanders were killed, and only 2 of the more than 10 company commanders were left intact. , 3 people were injured, and all the rest were killed. Nearly 80% of the entire regiment's officers with the rank of captain or above were lost in one go. No matter which country it is placed in, this loss is enough to completely rebuild. But what is incredible is that even so, this unit still maintains high fighting spirit and the courage to continue fighting.
"Sir, the chief of staff sent a telegram. The fleet has started to depart and will definitely arrive at dawn." The adjutant informed Li Qiwei of the news.
"Okay! Let us hold on for the last three hours. The final victory must belong to us."
At almost the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Baker, who was gradually retreating to the north, also sent a telegram to Machar, reporting the night battle and the losses of the Marines. He expressed that the situation was very critical and hoped that the fleet would invest in air or naval gun cover today, at least. The enemy's airborne landings must be contained, otherwise the Marine Corps will be completely destroyed.
"What should we do now?" After receiving the telegram, Machar did not dare to ask Ozawa. If asked, the latter would definitely have only one answer: abandon the Marines and run away. He couldn't make this decision. He decided to put the Marines on the island to try to attract the Americans to attack. At the same time, he delayed it for a day with a sense of luck. The responsibility for the increasingly serious situation rested entirely with him. This responsibility is too great, and he, Machar, cannot bear it.
"The only way is to dispatch carrier-based aircraft to cover the retreat of the Marines. During the day, we need to help them resist one or two as much as possible. The artillery fleet must act quickly. At the same time, the reconnaissance aircraft must pay attention to the search to see if the enemy fleet has entered the war zone." Krank said lowly Sheng advised, "If necessary, we can only abandon the Marine Corps. The fleet cannot stay around Bermuda for too long. It must either return to the Azores or turn around and go to Cape Verde for supplies before going to the Falklands. No matter what the decision is, there is only one position - —The fleet is more important than the marines. Such a brave marine force can attract at least 2 million in Germany, but we are the only fleet in Germany..."
"Okay, I understand what you mean. Hey, I don't know how to explain to General Weiss when I go back this time."
"General Weiss is a kind man, he won't be inconsiderate. Let's find a way to explain to the Führer." Crank sighed, "After the battle today, no matter if we win or lose, we must report to the Führer. He is now the commander-in-chief of the navy, and he can't always know the battle situation at the end."
After Crank's persuasion, the confused Marshal finally calmed down and issued three orders in a few minutes:
1. The aircraft carrier formation should be ready, and all reconnaissance aircraft should be released at dawn. At the same time, 60 carrier-based aircraft should be dispatched to Bermuda to cover the Marines;
2. Telegraph to Bermuda Lieutenant Colonel Ke was ready for defense. There was no need to attack again today. He hoped they would hold out until the evening.
3. He telegraphed Lieutenant General Bei to go to Bermuda to meet the Marines as soon as possible if the situation allowed, so that he could show a posture of continuing the attack.
A new round of sunrise rose, and the Axis fighters arrived over Bermuda after the American fleet. Seeing the huge transport planes in the sky and the parachutes floating below, the German and Italian pilots knew that this was the second batch of airborne reinforcements from the US military, and immediately rushed to besiege them, while the escorting P-51s did their best to protect them. Under normal circumstances, fighter pilots would not attack parachuting opponents, because this was not only unworthy of chivalry, but also because they would have a day to parachute, and they could both stick to their bottom line imperceptibly, but the paratroopers were obviously not among them.
The 82nd Airborne Division was not lucky enough. According to Ridgway's idea, the air force should attack the German troops on the ground first, control the situation and then deploy troops. However, the German troops began to retreat at 3 a.m. and had completely lost contact by early morning. The second wave of troops, eager to reinforce, immediately landed by air. Unexpectedly, just after a small part of them landed, the Axis carrier-based aircraft that had disappeared all day yesterday suddenly appeared, and the scene became chaotic.
Of course, bad luck depends on how you understand it. There can be many survivors if you attack the paratroopers alone. If the fighter planes directly attack the huge and clumsy transport planes, the situation will be even more troublesome - if they are shot down, they will be wiped out. Knowing that the situation is dangerous, the P-51 pilots used all their skills to escort them.
The P-51 is certainly a good aircraft. Even if it is the P-51B instead of the most prestigious P-51D, its overall strength is still much stronger than the modified Bf-219. However, in this particular occasion today, it is a bit difficult to protect at low and medium altitudes. Although there are nearly 200 P-51s, which is twice as many as the Axis aircraft, the targets they have to protect are too fragile and conspicuous. Experienced German pilots often lure P-51s into the trap by attacking transport planes or paratroopers, and then use their excellent low-altitude maneuverability to kill one American fighter after another.
Although the number of German pilots is small, they are generally more experienced and have higher technical levels than American pilots. Even with inferior forces, they can achieve twice as many results as the enemy. Considering that they also have to attack transport planes and paratroopers who have almost no resistance, this result is even more outstanding.
Such a rogue style of play deeply annoyed the airborne soldiers on the ground, but they can only stare blankly below. German pilots did not engage in ground attacks, but just tried to circle around with the P-51, hit transport planes and paratroopers, and occasionally hit A-26 light bombers.
In the half-hour battle, 38 P-51s were shot down, 6 transport planes were shot down, and the paratroopers who suffered unexpected disasters lost more than 800 people (being hit or falling into the sea). The German army lost 21 aircraft. The deadly anti-aircraft firepower fired by the German army yesterday turned into fierce air firepower today, making the second batch of airborne division officers and soldiers who landed encountered the baptism of a metal storm.
Due to the threat of German carrier-based aircraft, the third batch of troops originally scheduled to be deployed in the afternoon was forced to cancel. General Arnold turned to let the Army Aviation aircraft attack the German fleet, and the reinforced 82nd Airborne Division troops were responsible for the ground attack.
Attack and defense are two different things. The 82nd Airborne Division's defense at night was quite methodical, but facing the German veterans who had experienced the Holm Pocket Battle, their attack was like a dog chewing a hedgehog. They had nearly five times the number of troops of the enemy, but they just couldn't get in. They only forced the Beck battle group to retreat 2 kilometers. Although they killed more than 100 opponents, they paid the price of nearly 500 people.
The Bermuda Islands, which are not very large in area, are like a meat grinder, constantly devouring the lives of German and American soldiers...