"Colonel, look, the British have rushed out of Sworth town with about a dozen, no, at least 100 cruiser tanks" "It doesn't matter, the Weasel tank destroyer and the No. 3 assault gun will pick them up."
The ambush on the potato field outside Sworth was just the beginning, after the three patrol tanks on guard had engaged in an exchange of fire with the German No. 3 tank trying to make a detour.
The Crusader tanks, which had been cowering in the town of Sworth, also rushed out, and 12 self-propelled guns that followed the Crusader tanks also began to fire 105 grenades.
Colonel Winck, who was in a wheeled armored command vehicle, had long anticipated this situation, and the British would not be willing to be surrounded.
Therefore, 60 Weasel tank destroyers and No. 3 assault guns, which were driving a few hundred meters to the left of the No. 3 tank convoy, immediately turned their bodies, aimed the powerful 46 times caliber 75 guns at the British cruisers, and then began to fire fiercely.
Boom, boom, boom Although the British thickened the armored defense of the Crusader tanks after the Battle of the Mediterranean, no matter how much this thin-skinned guy was reinforced, it could not stop the bombardment of 46 times the caliber of 75 guns.
However, the British soon returned to color, and their armor-piercing ability of their 2-pounder 40 guns was not weak.
Among the tank assault guns currently in service with the Wehrmacht, that is, the 4 armor on the front of the H-type and No. 3 assault guns of the No. 80 tank can withstand it.
However, the British have long figured out the general armor defense of various German tank assault guns, and all the Crusader tanks on the battlefield today avoided the No. 3 assault gun, and used the No. 3 amphibious tank and the 38T airborne tank as a target.
Within 30 minutes of the fighting, planes from both sides were over the battlefield and engaged each other while bombing.
The plain west of Sworth was suddenly a graveyard for British and German tanks And while the tanks, self-propelled guns and planes of both sides were fighting, the infantry was also moving.
"Hurry, hurry, keep up" Lieutenant Skorzny, carrying an FG42 paratrooper rifle, jumped out of a truck and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Don't let the Anglo infantry run" There was no doubt that the British infantry in Sworth Town was going to run away.
Otherwise, those Crusader cruiser tanks would not have rushed out to find the terrible German tanks for an exchange of fire, and Colonel Walter Winck could be regarded as having figured out the minds of the British.
Either they could not hold out, or they would cover the retreat of the infantry with Crusader cruiser tanks.
Therefore, while sending the tank group to make a detour, Wink also sent several paratrooper battalions handed over to him by Lieutenant General Sussman, including the Moonlight Squadron and 1 anti-tank company, which belonged to the anti-tank battalion of the 7th Airborne Division.
Nor did they ask them to block the British retreat, which would have caused the British to retreat back to Swarthtown.
The British vanguard holding Sworth was actually Colonel Wink's biggest headache, as he had limited forces and simply couldn't muster enough men to surround a brigade-sized armored cluster.
So the task of the paratroopers was only to flank the retreating British troops along the roads and railways, and it didn't matter how many were killed, as long as the British fled in a hurry.
As soon as the British fled, Colonel Winck led his troops in pursuit, and the momentum was a little bigger, and maybe the British 12th Army could be frightened into fleeing back to Northern Ireland.
"The convoy of the British, they are on the road" Lieutenant Skorzny looked up and saw trucks coming out of Sworth town one after another.
"Spread out the formation, each infantry platoon turned into an assault formation, advanced in the direction of the road, the mortar group deployed, and fired towards the road" Lieutenant Skorzny was chased by the British army in front of him all the way from Dundalk to Dublin, and many of his comrades were killed by them.
Although there were only more than 100 paratroopers left in his moonlight squadron, they made a lot of noise as soon as they started firing, but they had a FG42 in their hands, although this gun was said to be a "rifle", but when it fired, it could definitely shoot the momentum of a light machine gun.
More than 100 light machine guns, that is the firepower of a regiment, and the British infantry retreating along the road were suddenly beaten with heavy casualties.
At the same time, 7G12 recoilless guns belonging to the 1st Company of the 75th Anti-Tank Battalion were fired.
Although attached to the anti-tank battalion, this recoilless gun can also be used to support infantry.
And this gun is very lightweight, Krupp uses a large number of expensive light alloys to make them, so that their full combat weight is only 145 kg, and it can also be mounted on a very flexible gun mount, which is very easy to move and deploy.
The explosion of shells and the firing of a series of FG42 fires soon reached the headquarters of the British 29th Armoured Brigade in the town of Sworth.
The commander of the 29th Armored Brigade is Major General Phillips, his 29th Armored Brigade is not here now, missing 1 heavy tank regiment equipped with Churchill Type 2 tanks and 1 artillery regiment and some other attached units, but there are more cavalry regiments that originally belonged to the 3rd Infantry Division are actually motorized infantry, a total of 1 tank regiment and 2 motorized infantry regiments, with a strength of nearly 7,000 people, which is not less than the German soldiers who want to "surround" them.
However, the Crusader cruiser tanks were beaten and burst into flames and explosions, and the German losses were actually not small, and the infantry retreating along the road was flanked by "several" German infantry regiments, which immediately made the British major general, who had commanded tank companies as early as World War I, panic.
The confidence that Lian Lian had accumulated in the battle was gone, and they even began to suspect that the previous victory was a trap by the Germans, which was very likely, and the Germans were invincible in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, how could they be defeated by the 29th Panzer Brigade so easily "Send a telegram to the division headquarters, we are under attack by at least one German Panzer Division in the town of Sworth, and the 29th Panzer Brigade is very likely to be surrounded by the enemy," Major General Phillips frowned, and said to the staff officers beside him, "I request that troops be sent immediately to meet our retreat" "At least one armored division" Montgomery was also taken aback by the news, "Could it be that it was an armored division that was transported to Cork Bay on May 3, but today it is only May 4th, and it took one day for one armored division to complete the unloading operation, and the efficiency of the Germans in Dublin is too high."
"Bernard, what matters now is to send troops to pick up the 29th Armored Brigade, we can't afford to lose this brigade."
Admiral Alexander said to Montgomery.
Admiral Alexander, who was five years younger than Montgomery but had much more prosperous official fortunes, now went to the headquarters of Dundalk's 12th Army in person, and was actually meddling in command.
"Of course, we certainly can't afford to lose the 29th Brigade."
Montgomery was already timid, and when he heard Admiral Alexander say this, he didn't dare to take risks.
He immediately said to the chief of staff, Major General Ritchie: "Let the 22nd Panzer Brigade and the 3rd Infantry Division speed up their advance, and then order the 29th Panzer Brigade to organize a breakthrough immediately, and be sure to join the 22nd Panzer Brigade before the German encirclement is closed."
Then ask the Royal Air Force to send warplanes to support the 29th Armoured Brigade to break through" After the order was delivered, Montgomery and Alexander glanced at each other, and the faces of the two British generals were a little unpleasant.
Montgomery advised: "General, when the 29th Panzer Division has successfully broken through, the troops should first retreat to Droheda, then set up defenses along the Boyne River, wait for the Germans to attack first, and then counterattack when their attack has been frustrated." ” Defensive counterattack is the tactic that the British Army is better at, and it must have an absolute superiority in troops to defeat the Germans.
Alexander nodded, agreeing with Montgomery's suggestion, "It seems that we need more troops in order to achieve a crucial victory in Ireland."
"What the 29th Armored Brigade stood out" Late at night on May 4, the good news reached the British Wartime Cabinet Headquarters beneath King Charles Street.
"It has already stood out, and the losses are not significant, less than 100 cruiser tanks have been lost, and the loss of personnel is less than 1000."
After receiving a positive answer, Qiu Fatzi let out a sigh and wiped the sweat beads on his forehead again, not in a hurry, but in a hot one.
It's May now, and he's a fat old man who spends all day in a stuffy basement, and it's not a good time.
"In addition, Major General Phillips reported that the 29th Panzer Brigade destroyed at least 60 German tanks and self-propelled guns in the course of today's engagement."
"The 100:60 ratio is acceptable."
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Churchill said this, but in his heart he didn't believe it, and it would be good to lose 100 cruiser tanks and achieve 30 results.
"Mr.
Prime Minister, at present the two sides have temporarily disengaged from contact, and our 29th and 22nd Armoured Brigades have shrunk to the area of the Boyne River by order of General Montgomery.
Generals Alexander and Montgomery prepared for a decisive battle with the Germans there, hoping to be reinforced by at least one armored division and two motorized rifle divisions. ” "Okay, immediate reinforcements, 2 armored divisions and 4 motorized infantry divisions first" Churchill decided to double the number of reinforcements.
In this way, the British army in the Irish battlefield would increase from 14 divisions, of which the 12th Army had 8 divisions to 20 divisions, with a total strength of 350,000 troops.
"Where's that Soviet intelligence chief?"
asked Churchill, lighting a cigar, taking two puffs.
"Just arrived in Belfast."
Qiu Fatzi exhaled smoke, smiled and said, "Be sure to let the Russians see our reinforcements." ” t1706231537: