The Third Reich in Desperation

Third Reich Episode 222

In addition, the Imperial High Seas Fleet in Raeder's hands is no longer what it used to be.You must know that the navy of the Third Reich in this time and space neither let go of the Polish fleet that could have slipped to England in history, nor suffered heavy losses caused by the "Weser River Exercise" that attacked Norway, and even added 2 captured British destroyers. (During the Norwegian naval battle, the First Squadron of the High Seas Fleet of the Third Reich captured a total of 3 British destroyers. Only one of them was seriously damaged, and it is still in a state of maintenance. It is temporarily parked in Wilhelm Naval Harbor for maintenance and cannot participate in this time. combat.)

In addition, it also added 4 "Zeppelin-class" large aircraft carriers that have not been put into combat in history, as well as auxiliary "Flying Fish-class" small aircraft carriers.

It can be said that the Imperial Navy in Raeder's hands is now several times or even dozens of times stronger than the fleet he was able to command during the same period in the history before Reinhardt crossed over!

By the way, he is also the commander of the United Fleet, and at the same time commands the main fleet sent by Norway to help.

On the other hand, the British Royal Navy lost 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers in the war against Norway alone.Among them, there is a destroyer that was unlucky and sunk by the Norwegian coastal defense forces.

One side is much stronger than in history, and the other side is much weaker than in history.It was this change that led to Reinhardt's bold naval interdiction.

When British warships are temporarily used to transport personnel, fully loaded with officers and soldiers, the draft is extremely deep, and even tilted a bit, these British warships will lose 80.00% or more of their combat and defense capabilities.At that time, maybe only one shot is needed, and these temporarily requisitioned overloaded "military transport ships" may sink immediately.

After losing this fleet, the British Navy will face another blood loss since the Battle of Norway.

When Norway was defeated, they could still pretend that nothing happened by relying on their background as a maritime power.However, in the continuous blood loss, even the majestic empire will surely become seriously ill for a long time.

Due to his long-term contact with Reinhardt, Manstein knew very well that once the French campaign was over, the next step would be the landing battle against Britain.If you can't take advantage of the current advantages, you can weaken the British navy as much as possible.Then the future landing operations will be very difficult and even painful.

Don't look at the German High Seas Fleet coming out in full force this time, but their goal is not just a small Dunkirk....but also the main force of the British Surface Fleet!

Text Chapter 356 The Last Resistor

Northern France, Dunkirk.

As commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Lord Gott inspected the status of the troops immediately after another air raid by the Luftwaffe.

It had to be said that the army that appeared in his eyes now did not have the slightest bit of what an elite army should look like.Gott even believed that if he told others that the survivors who had just escaped the German bomber attack were soldiers belonging to the first-class force of the British Empire, no one would believe it.

Medical soldiers carried stretchers and transported the wounded in an endless stream.The temporary hospital at the port is already overcrowded, and even the halls, corridors, and pier open spaces of the remaining buildings in Dunkirk Harbor are full of wounded people covered in blood.

The health workers were doing emergency treatment among the screaming crowd. Many seriously wounded died with their bloodstained faces upturned, eyes wide open, and despair even before the health workers arrived.

Morale has dropped to zero.

Not to mention Lord Gort as the commander-in-chief, even an ordinary grassroots officer can confirm this after seeing this scene-the British Expeditionary Force has collapsed!

Now, as long as even one armored unit of the German army rushes in front of them, these desperate people may immediately raise their blood-stained hands and surrender without hesitation.

Things have actually developed to such a bad level now? !

Lord Gort is not a mediocre person who follows the crowd.On the contrary, being able to be sent to lead the entire British Expeditionary Force, his ability is actually one of the best in the entire British Empire.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.He also served in the distinguished First Regiment of the British Guards, participated in the last World War, and won the Victoria Cross in that World War, and was honored as Tiger Gott.

In the British Army, which has always been ridiculed by European countries as a weak sheep, there is a general with the nickname "Tiger". This alone is enough to illustrate Gort's fortitude and bravery.

But even such a recognized hero among the generals of the British Army is powerless now and can only sit and wait for death.

In fact, the day before yesterday, when he heard that the German armored forces finally stopped pressing and attacking, he almost cried.He even thought that God was moved by his inner prayer, so God made the Germans' brains twitch collectively and stopped their aggressive pursuit.

However, Lord Gott hadn't had time to be happy for too long, and he immediately heard the news that the German armored forces had resumed their advancing speed the next day.Then came the bad news that the Kingdom of Belgium surrendered and the 20-mile line of defense suddenly opened.

Otherwise, as soon as it gives people some hope, it will immediately make people fall into deeper despair again.

It was an extremely cruel torture!

"Do you still have troops there that can continue to fight?" Lord Gort asked in a low voice to Brooke, the commander of the Second Army of the British Expeditionary Force.

At this time, he himself didn't know which troops still had morale that could be used, so he had to consult his subordinates.

"In the area around Dunkirk, there are no more troops capable of fighting. Everyone is looking forward to being able to squeeze into the transport fleet returning home as soon as possible, and flee back to China as soon as possible." Brook shook his head and said regretfully: "Don't say it's the soldiers. Not wanting to fight, even many officers have the idea of ​​fighting. I can't even imagine that these frightened soldiers are all from the most elite troops in the British Empire."

In the "Dynamo Project", the transport fleet responsible for leading them back home had already arrived last night.Due to the chaos, they only transported away less than 1000 British officers and soldiers and 0 French officers and soldiers throughout the whole night.

By daytime today, a little bit of order was barely restored, and the German plane flew over immediately.Amidst Stuka's trembling dive whistle, the already terrified soldiers immediately made a mess again, pushing and trampling.Those who were hit by bombs and those who were pushed to the ground by their own people seemed to be trampled on the ground, causing countless deaths and injuries.

Those bastards in the Royal Air Force kept saying in their telegrams that the elite pilots sent to cover the army were all elite pilots, and that their fighter planes ranged from "Spitfire", "Hurricane" single-seater fighters, "Dreadnought" two-seater fighters to "Harry" Desun" bombers, biplane "Swordfish" torpedo planes, and even armed reconnaissance planes all went out to Dunkirk, and they would definitely defeat the Luftwaffe over Dunkirk.

As a result, throughout the whole morning, Lord Gort basically only saw the Royal Air Force fighter planes serving as aerial target planes for the Germans, and there should be 100 of them being shot down one after another.As for the planes shot down by the Germans, there are definitely less than 20 of them!

Well now, the French army, known as the strongest in the world, has been beaten into a dog in front of Gott.The British Royal Air Force, which has always regarded itself as the strongest in the world, was also beaten to shame.I heard that some time ago, the "invincible" Royal Navy of the British Empire was also beaten by a German squadron in Norway.

Gott didn't understand how anyone in his own camp could muster up the courage to continue fighting the Germans after the battle ended like this.Sea, land, and air, the three world No. [-]s have been completely abused by the Germans. Is it really possible to defeat the enemy on the opposite side? !

Not to mention the French allies, anyway, in the British expeditionary force commanded by Gott himself in Dunkirk, all the wooden boards, wooden beams, and even the wooden goalposts that can be found have been recruited as boarding ships. Temporary springboard for use.Military trucks were also sunk by them one by one on the beach as a temporary trestle extending into the sea.

Weapons and ammunition, guns and cannons were thrown everywhere.What everyone thinks in their hearts is to get on the boat, besides getting on the boat.

What?Who is going to fight?Whoever wants to go will go, anyway, they are not in the mood to fight.

"Oh, that's right!" Brooke suddenly said to Lord Gort, who was fascinated: "The 3rd Division of our army has not yet withdrawn to Dunkirk. Not only did they not withdraw, they built a simple field position at the front to provide us Stop the German attacking force."

Can anyone organize a sniper battle? !

Gott obviously felt a little weird.Even he had given up all resistance actions in dejection, and began to resign himself to fate. There is still such a division commander who can have such a strong view of the overall situation and lead the troops to defend the periphery to buy time for the large troops to evacuate.

This person is worthy of a heavy responsibility!

"The commander of the 3rd Division... is Major General Montgomery?" Gott nodded thoughtfully, "It is he who refuted the French commander-in-chief named Gan Molin not long ago, who proposed In order to leave a sufficient strategic reserve team. I have a deep impression on him."

"That's right, that's Major General Montgomery." Brooke responded: "He is the most capable of all my subordinates. Before the war, I often discussed the overall situation with him. From the many discussions with him In the past, I found that he often has some good original insights. Perhaps, this time he can really win a miracle for us."

Miracle?Gott felt a little ironic suddenly, the mighty army of the British Empire, in the end, could only pin their hope of escape on miracles...

Text Chapter 357 Multiple Small Goals

Several German infantrymen continued to fire at a private house on the outskirts of the village.At their point of attack was a small bungalow hiding an unknown number of British troops.

Not far from them, a German infantry squad occupied a two-story civilian building and fired condescendingly at the British soldiers in the small village from the window.

The civilians in this village have long been evacuated.Now stationed here is an understaffed infantry battalion of the 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force.The attacking side was a well-organized infantry regiment of the German 13th Infantry Division.

Coincidentally, in the early hours of this morning, they passed by each other, missing each other without noticing.In the morning, the German 13th Motorized Infantry Division soon encountered Montgomery's British 3rd Division again.

This time, the two sides came into contact under the sun, and both fought with the greatest strength at the first moment of contact.

However, in this duel, the German army was lucky to have a strong advantage in strength.

Montgomery's 3rd Division of the British Army was attacked by an armored regiment commanded by Colonel Ronsonburg on the German side as early as Lucca, and lost more than one-third of its troops.

However, the 13th Motorized Infantry Division of the German Army had been left behind the armored forces before, and only just chased to the front line after the armored forces were stopped the day before yesterday.It can be said that the 13th Motorized Infantry Division is ready to go.

Using a well-organized army with strong soldiers and horses to attack an army with serious losses, it can be said that the German army has a great chance of winning.

However, although Montgomery's side lost one-third of its troops, the remaining regiment and two battalions were still fully organized and reliable in combat effectiveness.The most important thing is that they don't need to win the German army, they just need to hold back the German vanguard and buy enough time for Dunkirk to withdraw troops.

Montgomery has now broken up the troops into pieces, using battalions and companies as units, and fortified the contiguous villages and forests.A small village, a forest, is a small fortress.As long as each fortress can disperse the energy of the German army and consume their time, even if they lose, as long as it consumes a certain amount of time, it will be a favorable situation for the British and French allied forces.