According to the ideal situation, it is best to retreat completely at night, but in reality it is difficult to do so. Because the Germans had weakened the troops on the left and right wings too much for this doomed counterattack, so the German troops on both wings

It was difficult to stop the Allied offensive. In addition to the Americans, British, and Canadians, the Polish army and the Free French French Army were now also involved in the battle.

On the South Road, in just one day, General Leclerc's Free French Second Armored Division almost occupied Le Mans while marching. Well, it was the Le Mans famous for its 24-hour endurance racing. However, the German army did not show much performance here.

Good endurance, composed entirely of light infantry, organized into a company of even one

The defenders, who did not even have No. 3 assault guns, faced the well-equipped French armored divisions and were driven out of Le Mans without resistance for long. However, after the Germans escaped, the ecstatic French people came to celebrate after hearing the news.

Le Mans created quite a traffic jam, which greatly slowed down the Free French 2nd Armored Division.

However, the situation in the north was better. The offensive of the Polish 1st Armored Division under Montgomery was quite unsmooth. This was not because the Polish army's combat effectiveness was not good. In fact, although in the early days of the war, Poland was attacked by the Germans,

The blitzkrieg was completely defeated by Flash.

, but some Polish troops still showed good combat effectiveness. Their failure was more due to backwardness in tactics and thinking and political stupidity. Now, after receiving weapons and training aided by the United States and Britain, the Polish First Armored

The division's combat performance was actually quite good.

It's just that on the northern line, the terrain is not very ideal. There are a lot of woodlands and hills. This not only restricts the use of weapons such as tanks, but also limits the use of air power. Relying on the cover of the woodlands, the Germans

Resisting steadily, the situation seemed to be good. However, Marshal Kruger knew that the soldiers were close to their limit, and collapse would only be a matter of time.

Kruger called Hitler again and asked for a retreat. But Hitler firmly disagreed. Not only did he not agree to retreat, he even asked Kruger to continue the attack at all costs.

"Fight like a soldier and don't let the enemy scare you into a coward." In the message, Hitler said to Field Marshal Kruger. He even quoted Shakespeare's lines in "Macbeth": "I still have to lift my head.

My mighty shield, using my last strength."

"Humph, "Macbeth"? This is really a wonderful metaphor, isn't it? Every tyrant and tyrant will behave like this when facing the end?" Marshal Kruger threw Hitler's message on the table.

He spoke to his chief of staff in a rare and harsh tone.

"Marshal, you have to be careful with what you say..." The chief of staff was a little nervous after hearing such outrageous words as "tyrant and tyrant".

"Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of." Kruger laughed. "To say that the sentence he quoted is really good, it inspired me. You know, my failure is inevitable, I have already committed

It was an irreparable mistake. For myself, I obeyed the wrong order and led the soldiers into despair.

But now, I can't make any more mistakes. I know that I may not end well, but 'I still have to hold up my majestic shield and use my last strength', ah, what a beautiful sentence this is.

Yeah, it really speaks to my heart. Inform the troops and continue to retreat as planned!"

…

"The German army is already retreating. We must complete the encirclement as soon as possible. In addition, we should also use continuous air strikes to slow down the German army's retreat. In this regard, General Ron and General LeMay are experts. What do you think about this?

"?" General Bradley asked.

"General, if we want to encircle as many Germans as possible, we'd better blow up the bridges near Mar del Plata. This will make it more difficult for the Germans to retreat," Ron said.

"This will also cause trouble for our next phase of operations." General Bradley said, "I am also worried that the Germans will blow up these bridges after they run out."

"General, we can try to blow up these bridges to cause general damage rather than permanent damage." Ron said, "For example, we blow up a section of the approach part of the bridge, or we blow up a section of the bridge deck at regular intervals.

Make a big hole for him. Such damage can be repaired in a few hours in our hands. The same goes for the Germans, but I think the Germans don't have many "hours" to wait now. Besides, he

Once it's repaired, we can blow it up again."

"General LeMay," General Bradley turned to LeMay, "what do you think is the feasibility of this approach?" Obviously, on issues such as bombing, LeMay still has higher authority than Ron.

"General, you should remember that before this, we had an example of a precise strike on a bridge." Li Mei said, "Technically speaking, it is easier to hit the bridge deck than the bridge pier. Of course, it is easier to accidentally damage the bridge pier.

The possibility cannot be completely ruled out.”

"How likely is this?" General Bradley continued to ask.

"General, General LeMay and I have had this discussion and conducted some experiments. We believe that if we do not use heavy aerial bombs, but use some lighter bombs, such as 250-pound aerial bombs, then even if we hit

If the bridge piers are removed, it will not cause irreparable damage to the bridge. Unless we will hit it every time we drop a bomb."

"I guess our luck won't be so bad?" General Bradley smiled, "Then let's do it! Do you need anything else?"

"We need details about these bridges, the more detailed the better..." Li Mei said.

…

A No. 3 assault gun was driving along the road. After yesterday's battle, there was only one tank left in the entire company. The company commander was killed along with his No. 3 assault gun in yesterday's air raid.

The British heavy bombers were blown up, so now, this remaining assault gun has been strengthened and given to a paratrooper company to enhance the anti-tank combat capabilities of this unit.

Now this paratrooper company was transferred to the Mar del Plata area to protect a bridge there and ensure the German army's retreat. Although the actions of the Americans and French on the southern front were not particularly fast, they were still close to these targets.

The commander of the vehicle, Sergeant Fernan, and several other crew members were sitting on the roof of the vehicle. The driver also opened the hatch above him and exposed his head. Although due to the long-term bombing and the traffic of a large number of military vehicles, there was no traffic on this stretch of road.

The asphalt has long gone, and the whole road is filled with flying dust. But no matter what, it is more comfortable to expose your head or simply sit on the roof of the car than to stay in the car. And if you encounter a safari like this,

Enemy planes, everyone runs faster.

Fernan was always on tenterhooks along the way because there was so much dust on this damn road. When vehicles passed by, the dust would be kicked up high, and enemy aircraft could see it from a long distance away. Originally, No. 3

The assault vehicle is low in size, and Fernan and the others have covered it with a lot of branches and other things. Even if an enemy plane comes over, as long as the enemy planes find it first and find a place to park, the enemy planes might regard it as a plane.

The bushes were ignored.

But now that there is such dust, there is absolutely no such thing. Enemy planes follow the dust and deliberately look for the place where the dust disappears, and shoot at suspicious targets. No matter how good the disguise is, it is useless.

However, Fernan was lucky. Although he encountered some Allied aircraft along the way, most of them were heavy bombers. They would not change their attack targets just for a mere assault gun. For them, this little assault gun

Cannon didn't even have the qualifications to let them adjust their route. Another time, they encountered several P-51s in battle.

At that time, Fernan and his crew discovered the fighter jets first, so they abandoned the tank in a panic and hid. As a result, perhaps because they ran out of ammunition, they did not attack the fighter jets parked on the road.

The No. 3 assault vehicle launched an attack and flew away directly. So Fernan's lucky Three Rabbits were able to move forward again.

Not far ahead is the bridge. The soldiers of the parachute company have dug several anti-tank bunkers not far from the bridge. In this way, the No. 3 assault gun can maneuver between these bunkers.

Under the guidance of a sergeant, Fernan drove its No. 3 assault gun into the No. 1 bunker.

"Is there water? We all need to wash our faces. There was so much dust along the way that my nose and ears were full of dirt." Fernan jumped off the No. 3 assault gun and said to the sergeant.

"Yes, there is plenty of water in the river. But we have planted mines there. I will find someone to take you there to prevent you from stepping on the mines," the sergeant said.

At this time, as soon as the second lieutenant officer came over, Fernand immediately raised his hand and saluted him. The officer casually raised his arm as a return salute.

"You guys arrived just in time." said the second lieutenant. "Look, that road over there, that road leads to Le Mans. Now, the Americans and the French have occupied it. If there are no accidents, they will be there early tomorrow morning."

It will appear in front of us. But it's still early and we still have time to prepare. Oh," the second lieutenant looked at Fernand's face and laughed, "Ah, I should ask Claire to go to the river to wash your face.

.”

Then the second lieutenant turned around and said to the sergeant: "Claire, take them to the river, be careful not to let them step on the mines."

Sergeant Claire smiled: "Sir, definitely not. I and my brothers planted those mines. I know where each one is buried."

Claire led a few people to the river, wandering east and west. The water was very clear. Through the water, you could see a few small fish swimming around on the pebbles not far from the shore. A little further away

The water is so deep that you can't see the bottom.
Chapter completed!