Iron Cross

Chapter 015 Surprise (Middle) Faced with the raging Montgomery, De Lagan remained silent, and the rest of the headquarters remained silent, afraid to defend Major General Langton. Although the personnel of the 7th Armored Division seemed to have only lost a little over a quarter, the tanks were depleted, the artillery was lost, and the organization was disbanded. This division was basically finished, and after a few months of reorganization and replenishment, it could no longer go to the battlefield, let alone losing so many things - no wonder the commander was so angry! Order Lanton to be immediately suspended for reflection, and wait for the military court to investigate whether he has any improper command issues I'm afraid there's no need for this... "De Lagan's voice quickly became low as he received the latest telegram, speaking in a sad tone." Just received the news that he sacrificed himself. During the retreat, the armored vehicle he was riding in was hit by a shell and died on the spot Montgomery didn't expect this to happen, sighed, and slowly said, "In other words, report it to the higher authorities. Major General Lanton died a glorious death in the battle to cover the retreat of his troops. I request that he be given appropriate compensation and honors according to the regulations The news of Lanton's death cast a shadow over the entire headquarters of the Eighth Army, and everyone's emotions were invisibly lowered. De Lagan wanted to cheer up the staff, but he didn't know what to say, so he silently dealt with the telegrams sent by all sides, trying to suppress the gloom in his heart with busy and tense battles. On the positions near Baldia in the east, the Poles and the French were also caught in a fierce battle. At first, the two brigades' offensive was easy, quickly breaking through the German first line of defense with open fire and tank cover. However, they suffered when expanding deeper and flanked, being hit by the German army's intersecting firepower, whether light or dark, and crisscrossing, especially the MG42The scorching firepower of the machine gun impressed them even more. This newly put into use machine gun had a firing rate of at least 1200 rounds per minute and a maximum of 1500 rounds per minute. Due to its fast firing rate, the sound produced during firing was different from the "click" sound of Czech or Browning machine guns, but more similar to the high-speed spinning sound of a chainsaw. When the Polish and French had not yet realized what was going on, one infantry after another had been killed by the sound of tearing linen cloth. This new machine gun is also one of the new equipment provided by Hoffman to support the African army. As an important breakthrough in Germany's firearm production technology, the MG42 has transformed the production process that used cutting technology, which was both metal intensive and time-consuming, into an extremely simple metal stamping manufacturing process. It looks like a pile of iron pieces and a piece of iron pipe, but in fact, the structure is very compact and very conducive to production. Hoffman not only accelerated the finalization and production of the MG42, but also prioritized sending this machine gun to the African army in Guderian and the Southern Army Group in Manstein for use. This new weapon has also begun to be widely equipped on newly produced armored vehicles. When the MG42 was first born and equipped with the German army in real history, Allied spies generally regarded it as a poorly made weapon, believing that Germany was no longer capable - not only extremely lacking in raw materials, but also unable to guarantee the manufacturing process of the machine gun as the tactical core. However, British and American firearms manufacturing experts were surprised to learn of the situation, because only with mature technology could stamping technology be adopted. Germany was already far ahead in the field of machine gun manufacturing. In actual combat, new recruits are afraid of artillery, old soldiers are afraid of machine guns, and it is unknown how many old soldiers died under the MG42. Now, the French and Polish have become new victims. When the local fortress lifted its camouflage and exposed the black hole of the gun barrel, the nightmare of the Polish and French came. The flank fire from all directions instantly knocked down these advancing infantry. Under the action of the MG42's ultra-high firing rate, a light pull of the trigger could fire more than ten bullets. As long as the critical part was hit, there was no chance of survival. Several tanks and armored vehicles attempting to break through the cover were destroyed by anti tank mines, and the battlefield situation was suddenly in a state of interlocking teeth. The British artillery, which cooperated with the infantry attack, dared not fire indiscriminately. Now that the forces of both sides are intertwined, any shell could cause accidental injury. They can only isolate the reinforcements of the German follow-up forces from afar, but have no way to deal with the German infantry who are already elusive in the trenches. They can only rely on their own infantry to clear the position. Sergeant Rudolf is now a fierce fighter in the trenches. As a senior squad leader of armored grenadiers, he was once an excellent anti tank shooter who could accurately shoot important parts of tanks from a distance of 200 meters with an anti tank gun. However, as the tank armor became thicker, not to mention the usefulness of anti tank guns, even the 37mm anti tank gun became a stepping stone and was forced to retire. Infantry anti tank weapons were even scarcer. This situation changed more than a month ago - he had the opportunity to try new individual anti tank weapons. The officer gave him a bunch of strange shaped weapons and told him that they were all called iron fists, with the differences being number 1, number 2, and number 3. After testing three types of weapons separately, he had a unique perspective: Iron Fist 1 is obviously a very lightweight and easy to carry thing, and it is not difficult to master, but its range of action is too close. Unless in urban combat, it is basically impossible to escape unscathed after launch at a distance of 40-50 meters;Number 2 has the best distance, accuracy, and power, but unfortunately requires the cooperation of two people. The target and size are too large, making it very easy to expose;Only the third one is good. After trying it a few times, he fell deeply in love with it - the single person operation, tripod equipped launcher ensures direction and accuracy, and the distance is farther than the first one. It can kill armored targets at 80-100 meters, making it the best killer for individual anti tank. In the end, he firmly chose the third one. Before the start of today's battle, he was informed by his superiors that tanks would not be deployed and most of the 88 guns would be hidden. If there were not many enemy tanks - all anti tank missions required infantry to carry out - he did not feel afraid, but instead believed that his opportunity to showcase his skills would come. Now, holding the Iron Fist No. 3 launcher in his hand, he skillfully shuttles through the dense trenches like a spider web. In addition to the one armor piercing grenade on the launcher, he also carries four additional rounds of ammunition. He strives to find a suitable ambush location - fighting tanks is not just about being foolishly stationed in the trenches, as he must be beaten into a sieve by the accompanying enemy infantry. He carefully selected an abandoned trench, dug open the scattered Polish corpses and quietly hid underneath. After carefully observing the surroundings, he erected the launcher and cleverly cleared the obstacles behind to prevent the tail fire from rolling back and threatening himself. A few minutes later, a Churchill tank drove over 50 meters to his left, occasionally stopping to use machine guns and artillery to suppress the German firepower ahead, completely unaware of the danger hidden in this already calm trench. That's it! He aimed at the iron turtle, which was stumbling and occasionally pausing, suppressed the excitement of the "bang bang" jump, quietly pulled the trigger, and the propellant under the electric shock was quickly ignited, pushing Iron Fist 3 forward and flying away from the launch tube. In a few seconds, he opened his stabilizing fins and spun while crashing towards Churchill's side. After more than half a second, a "bang" exploded on the surface of the armor, and the metal flow formed by the cavity effect quickly penetrated the side armor. He didn't have time to observe the results of the battle, so he cleverly rolled over and hid in a crater more than 5 meters away. Then the position he had stayed in before was strafed by the enemy. In the intense battle that lasted for over 2 hours, he alone destroyed 2 Churchill and 1 General Grant vehicles, with an unexpectedly hot hand - this impressive feat earned him a first-class Iron Cross and a Tank Destroyer Badge. Forward report: The Polish and French brigades are engaged in fierce combat with the enemy, with a tangled front line. Our army has advanced about 2500 yards overall, with significant losses to our troops, including over 20 tanks, more than 40 armored vehicles, and nearly 1500 infantry casualties So much loss? How many tanks did the Germans use Not a single one Not a single one? "Montgomery paused for a moment." All of them were anti tank guns? How many 88th guns are there? Has the position of the position been locked Roughly estimated, there may be 8, and the position of the position is difficult to determine, so we can only lock in the approximate position... "De Lagan paused for a moment, furrowing his brow tightly." The French also reported that the Germans used a new weapon - infantry individual anti tank weapon, which has strong killing power against armored targets Anti tank gun? Anti tank grenade? Recoilless gun? Or something else? "Montgomery was clearly unhappy." Why isn't the report clear The French say they don't know what it is, it's definitely not an anti tank gun or grenade, it may be close to a new type of artillery, but one person can operate it - or call it an anti tank rocket? "De Lagan smiled bitterly and handed the telegram to Montgomery, who looked carefully but couldn't figure out what it was. First came the heavy tanks, then the new machine guns, and now came the unknown yet powerful infantry anti tank weapons - God knows how many good things the Germans have hidden. What made Montgomery even more upset was that the German tanks were not deployed and very few 88s were found, which meant that the Germans had hidden huge strength. If they rashly let the First Armored Division launch an attack, they would probably hit the nail board head-on. Looking at it getting late, he thought for a moment and then instructed De Lagan, "Let the French and Poles withdraw. Tomorrow, let the air force launch airstrikes on the German positions first, and try to clear the obstacles for the ground troops Night quietly fell, and the battles on the east and west fronts gradually entered a period of calm, but the troops attacking south began to take action