Chapter 149: Can’t let Barton pick the peaches (second update, please subscribe)
December 13th.
That morning, the buildings in Bastogne were covered with a thick blanket of snow, giving the small town a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere.
In Li Yian’s command post, everyone’s faces were filled with smiles and everyone looked confident.
Not only because the Germans who surrounded them were out of food, but also because there were two pieces of good news that came half an hour ago. One is:
"Patton is coming."
This means that the left wing of Patton's 3rd Army is rapidly advancing towards Bastogne, and they have broken through the German defense line. Another one came from the 8th Army:
"Aerial supply will begin at 4 p.m."
Several good news stacked up. Let the soldiers in the foxholes and on the edge of the defensive circle, who have been here for 11 days, have reached the point of bursting with confidence. They are extremely confident. The source of their confidence is not these two pieces of news, but the In the past 11 days, they tenaciously resisted the attacks of five German divisions!
Even in reality, the German army always only attacked from one side, and they still withstood five German divisions. Even if it’s on the serial number, so what?
Five divisions, just five divisions!
I heard that reinforcements were coming to relieve the siege. Instead of feeling excited, they actually aroused the competitive spirit among the troops!
They are very reluctant - they are the ones who need to be saved by others!
“We don’t need their rescue at all!”
In the command post, Sundelin said carelessly.
"Rescue? Who will be rescued? We have 200 killed, and the Germans have lost more than 3,000. We fired ten artillery shells, and the Germans only fired one. Even without those Americans, we can beat the Germans to pieces..."
While saying these words, Sundelin obviously forgot that he was the one who cared most about the US military's rescue. Now after 11 days of fighting, he no longer cares about the US military's rescue.
"So, Chief Li, my suggestion, no, it should be said that it is the brothers' idea, is that we penetrate the German defense line ourselves. Instead of letting others come to rescue us, it is better for us to take the initiative and defeat it directly. German guy."
"Yes, Chief Li, we don't need anyone to save him."
"That's right, we dragged the German guy from fat to thin, and he was about to die. , the Americans went straight down the mountain to pick peaches, we can’t give them any advantage in this matter.”
What is overwhelming self-confidence?
This is bursting with self-confidence!
Eleven days ago, even though they were very passionate at that time and wanted to live and die with Bastogne, their passion at that time was tragic.
But after 11 days of fighting, the original pride completely turned into confidence. This confidence was gained because they repelled the German attacks again and again in the past 11 days.
But this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that after sharing the joys and sorrows, the task force's recognition of Li Yi'an is also the recognition of this group. This is something that cannot be bought with money. In the past , they were just paid employees, but now, they are a collective, a group with common experiences and common honors.
"Your suggestion is to take the initiative?"
"Yes, we fought all the tough battles. In the end, it was their turn to pick the peaches. How could it be so cheap?"
"Counterattack, that will kill people!"
Li Yian laughed.
"It doesn't matter if we have a peach or not. To put it bluntly, it is not worth it for us to shed an extra drop of blood for the freedom of Europe. Our blood is precious! Why shed it for the interests of Europeans? We sacrifice We have more than two hundred brothers. In the future, at most..."
Pointing at the window, Li Yian's expression became solemn.
“That is to erect a monument here to commemorate our sacrifice and our efforts. Apart from this, Europe will always be Europe and has nothing to do with us. If there is to be blood shed, this blood! The blood must be worth it, and it must be shed for ourselves.”
Although what Li Yian said was very rational, everyone still had to admit that what Tou said was correct. Indeed, they had defended the soldiers and the nation with their blood! Honor, no matter how much blood is shed, is not worth it.
“But it’s really uncomfortable to let Barton pick peaches!”
“Isn’t that right, Chief Li? Although it’s not worth it to shed blood for foreigners, it’s uncomfortable to let people pick our fruits!” Listening to everyone’s words, Li Yi’an understood their mood and thought that morale should not be discouraged.
After thinking about it, he said.
"Then don't let them pick it!"
Li Yian said with the corners of his mouth raised to 66 degrees.
“How many shells do we have left?”
In the early morning of December 14, although it was still dark, in the forest on the southeastern outskirts of Bastogne, a convoy of hundreds of tanks, assault guns and half-track armored vehicles were preparing for the final counterattack. Everyone looked forward with expectant eyes.
This is the armored force in Li Yian's hands - they are equipped with captured German tanks, No. 3 assault gun, No. 4 assault gun, Stalker, No. 4 and Panther tanks, even on the tank body. The Iron Cross is not completely covered.
5:35 am.
"Dragon roar! Dragon roar! Dragon roar!"
The radio operator who had been waiting quietly immediately sent a signal to the artillery position after receiving the instruction, and the signal was immediately transmitted to each artillery position. .
The artillery company commanders who were waiting by the phone immediately shouted orders after receiving the "dragon roar" signal,
"Fire!"
The artillerymen who had been waiting for a long time, The gun bolt was pulled immediately, accompanied by successive explosions. Hundreds of huge orange-red flames suddenly rose up inside and outside the city of Bastogne, instantly lighting up the sky and the earth, and lighting up the excited faces of the artillerymen. The ammunition hand on the side has already picked up the cannonball and is ready to reload it. No need for a deputy, the excited ammunition hand picked up the cannonball weighing more than 40 kilograms by himself.
The 150mm grenade weighing more than 40 kilograms made a sharp whistle in the air when it flew, just like a winter wind whistle. For the German troops besieging Bastogne in the southeast, at least there For a moment, they even thought it was the sound made by the mountain wind blowing through the treetops.
But the next moment, the shells flew over with a roar. Those battle-hardened veterans heard the faint whistling sound in the air and immediately realized the danger.
"Shell attack, lie down..."
Suddenly a veteran shouted loudly, and before he could finish his words, violent explosions occurred one after another.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Hundreds of artillery shells accurately hit the German defense line, and each foxhole was blown up in the violent explosion. sky.
Those German soldiers who were starving in the ice and snow kept their bodies as low as possible and hid in foxholes to avoid the shelling. But today's shelling was different from the past. The fierce shelling continued for ten years. After a few minutes, without the slightest thought of stopping, with an almost destructive momentum, it seemed to destroy everything. Each foxhole was filled up under the fierce shelling, and many German soldiers were directly buried alive in the foxholes.
"Russians, the Russians are coming..."
Some veterans who had fought on the Eastern Front shouted with some excitement. They had experienced similar artillery fire on the Eastern Front. In the fierce shelling, thousands of panicked German troops were either killed or fled in panic and were blown into the sky in the artillery fire.
Bombardment!
It lasted for three hours, from five o'clock in the morning to eight o'clock in the morning. At 8:30, the tank troops that had been waiting for a long time attacked, and what was presented to the officers and soldiers of the task force's armored battle group? ?
There were corpses everywhere. For the young soldiers of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division guarding the outskirts of Bastogne, they never imagined that they would encounter such fierce artillery fire. Amidst the fierce artillery fire, countless people were frightened and cried for their mothers in the trenches and foxholes. The veterans who were the backbone only thought that the Russians were coming, and feared that they would fall into the hands of the Russians. They fled in all directions. The armored troops of the task force fought out under the cover of fierce artillery fire and encountered almost no resistance along the way. , and was even regarded as one of their own by the German army. Just as he was about to greet his own armored troops with a smile on his front foot, his back foot was hit by machine guns and tank cannons!
There is no way, this tank unit is equipped with the same German tanks... In fact, there are more than a dozen US M4 tanks in the city, which were brought by the retreating US troops, but we will not take them to play with the US troops there... Although in the past For more than ten days, those American troops were their instructors and taught them how to conduct armored combat.
But if you teach the apprentice and starve the master to death, this principle can be justified anywhere...
(End of this chapter)