Long live Joachim

Chapter 100: Fog Breaking (First) Irish 1st Armored Brigade approaching Hill 64? Great! As long as we make up for the breach in the defense line from Hill 64 to Nafi, the entire line will be safe tonight In a field command post located on the front line, Lieutenant General Maxus Weitek, commander of the Allied 3rd Marine Corps and commander of the German 29th Corps, said to his staff. In the eyes of outsiders, this dignified and composed German veteran is honing his fists, and only officers who know the inside story can understand his complex emotions. According to the appointment of the German General Staff, Lieutenant General Rudolf G ö lke, who led the 2nd Marine Corps to land in Abossoch, was responsible for the overall combat operations of the coalition forces on the Cohen Peninsula. The 3rd Marine Corps commanded by Weitek was the first reserve force for this battle and came under G ö lke's jurisdiction after landing. In terms of military rank, qualifications, abilities, and military achievements, Weitaike was no less impressive than Gerk. Gerk, with his good personal relationship with German Crown Prince Wilhelm, obtained the command arrow of the Imperial Seal Vanguard. When he led the expedition, several German veterans privately expressed that this was not a wise decision. From the early organizational deployment of the landing on the Cohen Peninsula, it can be seen that the command center of G ö lke performed normally, and the first day of the landing operation basically achieved the expected goals. The failure that night was mainly attributed to the underestimation of the British counterattack ability by the high-level coalition forces before the war. Fortunately, during the critical moment, the coalition officers and soldiers showed excellent military literacy and firm spiritual will, and with the support of the navy and air force, they defended the Abossokh landing site, avoiding the fate of being completely annihilated by the British army in the first tough battle. G ö lke's merits and demerits were balanced, and he was neither punished nor praised. However, the new order from the German General Staff made people feel a subtle change in the mentality of the higher ups - the two generals divided their defense zones according to their respective units, with Weitek in charge of the northern section and G ö lke in charge of the southern section. The two must work closely together to firmly defend the existing front line before the subsequent troops arrive. In this way, the two German generals changed from their original subordinate relationship to a parallel competitive relationship, so whether out of public or private motives, Weitek did not want tonight's plate to fall into his hands. When the 3rd Marine Corps commanded by Weitaike landed, Gerk and his 2nd Marine Corps had been fighting fiercely for a day and a night. The two armies worked together to recover lost territory and annihilated a British army. The morale and morale of the army should be in an ideal state, and the former had obvious physical and mental advantages, theoretically stronger than the latter in combat effectiveness. This department was officially established on the basis of the original 3rd Marine Brigade, with a 20% increase in personnel compared to the standard Army Infantry Division, weapons and equipment comparable to the Light Infantry Division, and an additional Navy Tank Regiment. Therefore, it is widely believed that the combat effectiveness of the Marine Division is comparable to that of the Guards Infantry Division. As for the 29th Corps directly commanded by Weitek, it was just an ordinary member of the many frontline corps of the German army. In the last major war, it participated in multiple battles on the western front in France and the eastern front in Belarus, performing decently with no special personnel or equipment configuration. Its popularity was not as good as that of the Royal Irish 1st Armored Brigade, which was temporarily added to the 3rd Marine Corps. Not long after, the communication officer presented the telegram he had just received - the advance unit of the 3rd Marine Division, supported by two tank companies from the 7th Royal Guard Tank Regiment, had advanced into the town of Fena and was currently engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy in the town. This time, Weitaike furrowed his brow slightly and asked his staff officer, "Where is Schwedler's main force located The staff officer replied, "According to the operational deployment, they should launch a frontal attack on Hill 64, with four regiments of troops cooperating with the Irish 1st Armored Brigade to attack the Hill, and two regiments supporting the Marine Division to capture Nafei. I will confirm their implementation status immediately Weitaike did not look at the map again, but quickly walked to the side of the cover and observed the situation on the front line with a periscope style artillery sight. It is evident that intense battles are currently taking place in the areas where the flames are most intense, and from a directional perspective, the coalition's counterattack on Hill 64 has already begun. The result, whether it was the most elite Irish tank troops collaborating with German infantry to break through British positions, or the British troops stubbornly resisting the coalition's counterattack, will be revealed in too little time. After a moment, the communication officer sent another telegram. Seeing that General Weitaike had no intention of personally reading the telegram, one of his staff officers took the telegram and read: "Our 33rd and 161st squadrons have taken off and are expected to arrive around 2:10 am. They will launch low altitude bombing on Hill 64. Please guide your troops with blue signal flares... 11th Air Force Headquarters After finishing reading, the staff officer and several nearby officers coincidentally lowered their heads and looked at their watches. There are still 20 minutes left, General. Do we need to notify the 55th Division and the Irish troops to withdraw General Weitaike turned his head and asked with a displeased expression, "Should we withdraw at this time? What if they are only one step away from victory now The staff officer was speechless. General Weitaike continued to stare at the periscope, and after a while, he left and returned to the battle map. He glanced at the crowd present and slowly said, "If they can stand on Hill 64 within 20 minutes, bombing is unnecessary. We will use signal flares to guide them to bomb the British deep. If they are repelled within 20 minutes, a new round of attack will definitely require some preparation time. If the battle continues after 20 minutes... We may as well take some risks, even if there are some accidental injuries, which are unavoidable on the battlefield As far as I know, the training level of the 11th Air Force is top-notch, and the error radius of low altitude bombing can be controlled within ten meters, "Wei Taike added in a perfunctory manner, seeing that the officers remained silent The atmosphere in the field command center suddenly became heavy. Weitaike was very embarrassed. He instructed his trusted staff officer, "Walter, please notify the 55th Division to use blue signal flares to indicate the position of the British position after our fighter jets arrive on the battlefield. We must ensure that our personnel maintain a safe distance of 20... no, 30 meters from the landing point of the flare The tall officer with a square face hesitated for a moment and reluctantly replied, "Yes, sir At this time, on the western slope of Hill 64, about three kilometers away, more than 5000 German infantry were divided into four horizontal scattered lines, like four waves rushing towards the mountaintop. In front of them were 35 Irish tanks, 9 full track armored vehicles, 28 half track armored vehicles, and hundreds of infantry. This high point is located on a hill at an altitude of 64 meters, with a contour resembling an irregular round stool. The top is not pointed but a relatively open plane. The British army has long built a circular defense position and a large number of concrete shelters here, and even deployed two heavy artillery with very long ranges to prevent the enemy from landing in Nafi. Most of these fortifications and heavy weapons were destroyed in the fierce bombing of the coalition army. The current position is repeatedly repaired by German and British soldiers during the battle gap, far from being "impregnable". The British soldiers basically rely on combat skills and mental will to resist the fierce attacks of the coalition army. Of course, the British army's deployment of troops on Hill 64 at this time has undergone significant changes compared to the previous situation where the coalition forces relied on a grenadier regiment and a reinforced battalion level airborne assault team to capture this area. The arrival of a large number of support troops has enabled the British commander to easily redeploy. The intensive defensive firepower from the mountaintop not only increased the casualties of the attacking coalition forces, but also caused invisible psychological pressure on the officers and soldiers, especially the endless roar of Vickers Maxim, which made the soldiers who participated in the battle on the first day feel numb and frustrated. At this moment, the truly steel bodied combat vehicles are duty bound to shoulder the heavy responsibility of charging forward. The Irish piled up many sandbags on their "Celtic warriors" to enhance their slightly inadequate battlefield protection capabilities. The coaxial machine guns on the turrets continuously fired a rain of green tracer bullets, adding a touch of psychedelic color to the bloody and cold battlefield. Whenever encountering a firepower point that could not be eliminated by bullets, the tank crew would use precise shelling to solve the problem. The British were also well prepared, and the "Kitchener" left behind to assist in defense was the best anti tank weapon. In addition, there were numerous small caliber anti tank guns and machine guns. When the enemy tank approached the position, they would use a variety of individual anti tank weapons to respond. Both sides refused to compromise, gritting their teeth and persevering. The British troops in the defensive position had a slight advantage, and the coalition forces suffered numerous casualties. The attack line entered the enemy's front line several times and was pushed back within 50 meters. The Royal 1st Armoured Brigade is one of the elite of the Irish Army. If the entire force of the brigade were deployed without considering casualties, even without the strong cover of aircraft and artillery, it would be almost certain to forcefully attack Hill 64. However, so far, only two armored battalions and one logistics support unit of the brigade have landed on the Cohen Peninsula via Potecren, making it somewhat powerless to deal with such a tough situation. Time passed by minute by minute, and tanks were constantly destroyed or their power systems damaged. Fewer and fewer were able to lead the coalition infantry to continue the attack. Seeing that the offensive was about to end in vain, a German detachment hurriedly came up from the rear. These soldiers, in addition to their regular firearms, also had signal guns in their hands. When the dull roar came from the west, they crawled to the ground and continuously fired blue signal flares towards the British position on the mountaintop. In the night sky, the powerful roar became increasingly clear. The British army on the mountaintop knew something was wrong and tried to disrupt the enemy's view with several captured signal guns, but the interference was not effective because the German signal team marked prominent directional arrows with continuous and sufficient blue signal flares. When the roar sounded within reach, people finally saw the true face of the newcomer: biplanes with iron cross logos sprayed on their wings emerged from the darkness, flying at such a low altitude that they were almost rubbing against the mountaintop.