Chapter 600: Show It to the Russians

"Colonel, look, the British rushed out of the town of Swords! There are about dozens, no, at least 100 cruiser tanks!"

"It doesn't matter, the Weasel tank destroyer and the No. 3 assault gun will take care of them."

The ambush on the potato field outside the town of Swords was just the beginning. There were three cruiser tanks on guard. After they exchanged fire with the German No. 3 tanks that tried to bypass. The Crusader tanks that were originally hiding in the town of Swords also rushed out one after another, and the 12 M7 self-propelled artillery that followed the Crusader tanks also began to fire 105mm grenades.

Colonel Wenk, who was on a wheeled armored command vehicle, had long anticipated this situation-the British would not be willing to be surrounded. Therefore, 60 Weasel tank destroyers and No. 3 assault guns driving hundreds of meters to the left of the No. 3 tank convoy immediately turned their bodies, aimed the powerful 4 guns at the British cruise tanks, and then began to fire fiercely.

Boom boom boom!

The Crusader cruiser tanks at the front were immediately blown up. Although the British had thickened the armor defense of the Crusader tanks after the Mediterranean Campaign, this thin-skinned and big-stuffed guy could not withstand the bombardment of 4 guns no matter how much it was reinforced.

However, the British soon responded with their 2-pound (40mm) guns with good armor penetration. Among the tanks/assault guns currently in service in the German Wehrmacht, the 80mm armor on the front of the No. 4 tank H and the No. 3 assault gun can withstand it.

However, the British had already figured out the general armor defense of various German tanks/assault guns. Today, all the Crusader tanks on the battlefield avoided the No. 3 assault gun and used the No. 3 amphibious tank and the 38t airborne tank as targets and fired fiercely, and also achieved a lot of results. Within 30 minutes after the battle, the planes of both sides arrived over the battlefield one after another, bombing and fighting each other. The plain west of the town of Swords suddenly became a graveyard for British and German tanks!

While the tanks/self-propelled artillery and aircraft of both sides were fighting, the infantry were also in action.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry up!" Lieutenant Skorzeny jumped off a truck carrying an FG42 paratrooper rifle and shouted to the soldiers behind him, "Don't let the British infantry run away!"

There is no doubt that the British infantry in the town of Swords must run away. Otherwise, those Crusader cruiser tanks would not have rushed out to engage in a firefight with the terrible German tanks - Colonel Walter Wenk had figured out the British's mind. They would either defend themselves or use Crusader cruiser tanks to cover the infantry's retreat.

Therefore, while Wenk sent out the tank cluster to make a detour, he also sent out several paratrooper battalions (including the Moonlight Squadron) and an anti-tank company (belonging to the anti-tank battalion of the 7th Airborne Division) assigned to him by Lieutenant General Sussman. They were not required to block the British retreat, which would make the British retreat back to Swords and hold on. The British vanguard defending the town of Swords was actually Colonel Wenk's biggest headache, because his troops were limited and he simply couldn't spare enough men to surround a brigade-level armored group.

So the paratroopers' mission was only to flank the British troops retreating along the roads and railways. It didn't matter how many they killed, as long as the British fled in panic. As long as the British ran away, Colonel Wenk would lead his troops to chase them, and make a bigger noise, maybe he could scare the British 12th Army back to Northern Ireland.

"British convoy! They're on the road!"

Lieutenant Skorzeny looked up and forward, and found that trucks were coming out of the town of Swords one after another.

"Disperse the formation, each infantry platoon turns to assault formation, and advance towards the road! The mortar group is deployed and fires at the road!" Lieutenant Skorzeny was chased all the way from Dundalk to Dublin by the British army in front of him, and many of his comrades were killed by them. Now he has a bit of jealousy when he sees his enemies.

Although there were only more than a hundred paratroopers left in his Moonlight Squadron, they made a great noise when they opened fire - they each had an FG42! Although this gun is called a "rifle", it can definitely make the sound of a light machine gun when it is fired.

More than a hundred light machine guns, that is the firepower of a regiment! The British infantry retreating along the road were immediately hit and suffered heavy casualties.

At the same time, 12 75mmLG40 recoilless guns belonging to the 1st Company of the 7th Anti-Tank Battalion also fired. Although this type of recoilless gun is assigned to the anti-tank battalion, it can also be used to support infantry. Moreover, this type of artillery is very light. Krupp uses a large amount of expensive light alloys to manufacture them, making their combat weight only 145 kilograms. They can also be installed on a very flexible gun mount, which is very easy to move and deploy.

The explosion of shells and the sound of FG42 firing quickly reached the headquarters of the British 29th Armored Brigade in the town of Swords.

The 29th Armored Brigade was commanded by Major General Phillips. His 29th Armored Brigade was not yet complete, lacking a heavy tank regiment (equipped with Churchill II tanks) and an artillery regiment as well as some other affiliated units. However, it had an additional cavalry regiment (actually motorized infantry) that originally belonged to the 3rd Infantry Division. In total, there was one tank regiment and two motorized infantry regiments, with nearly 7,000 troops, no less than the German troops who wanted to "encircle" them.

However, the Crusader cruise tanks were beaten to the point of bursting into flames and explosions (the German losses were actually not small), and the infantry retreating along the road were flanked by "several" German infantry regiments. This man, who had commanded as early as World War I, was immediately The British major general who passed the tank company panicked.

The confidence in victory accumulated through consecutive battles and victories is gone. They even begin to suspect that the previous victory was a trap by the Germans. This is very possible. The Germans are invincible in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Why? Could it have been defeated so easily by the 29th Armored Brigade?

"Quickly send power to the division headquarters. We were attacked by at least one German armored division in Swath Town. The 29th Armored Brigade is likely to be surrounded by the enemy." Major General Phillips frowned and said to the staff beside him, "Request immediately Send troops to support our retreat!"

…

"At least one armored division?" Montgomery was also shocked by the news. "Could it be that what was transported to Coke Bay on May 3rd was an armored division? But today is only May 4th. One armored division in one day. Just finishing the unloading work and arriving in Dublin? Are the Germans too efficient?”

"Bernard, the most important thing now is to send troops to meet the 29th Armored Brigade. We cannot lose this brigade." General Alexander said to Montgomery.

General Alexander, who was 5 years younger than Montgomery but had a much more prosperous official career, now personally went to sit at the headquarters of the 12th Army in Dundalk, actually intervening in command.

"Of course, of course we cannot lose the 29th Brigade." Montgomery was already timid, but after hearing what General Alexander said, he was even more afraid to take risks.

He immediately said to Chief of Staff Major General Rich: "Let the 22nd Armored Brigade and the 3rd Infantry Division move forward faster! Then order the 29th Armored Brigade to organize a breakout immediately, and be sure to join the 22nd Armored Brigade before the German encirclement closes. Request again The Royal Air Force sends fighter planes to support the 29th Armored Brigade’s breakout!”

After the order was passed on, Montgomery and Alexander looked at each other, and the faces of the two British generals were a little unhappy.

Montgomery suggested: "General, after the 29th Armored Division successfully breaks through, the troops should retreat to Drogheda first, and then deploy defenses along the Boyne River, waiting for the Germans to attack first, and then we can counterattack after their attack is frustrated. "

Defensive counterattack is the tactic that the British Army is better at, and it must have an absolutely superior force to defeat the Germans.

Alexander nodded and approved Montgomery's suggestion, "It seems that we need more troops so that we can achieve a key victory in Ireland!"

…

"What? The 29th Armored Brigade stood out?"

Late at night on May 4, the good news reached the British War Cabinet Headquarters underground on King Charles Street.

"It has already stood out, and the losses were not great. Less than 100 cruise tanks were lost, and the loss of personnel was less than 1,000."

After receiving a positive answer, Fatty Qiu let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead - it was not the sweat that came out of urgency, but the sweat that came from heat. It's May now, and it's not a good life for him, a fat man, to stay in a stuffy basement all day long.

"In addition, Major General Phillips also reported that the 29th Armored Brigade destroyed at least 60 German tanks and self-propelled artillery during today's battle."

"100:60... This exchange ratio is acceptable." Churchill said this, but he didn't believe it in his heart. After losing 100 cruise tanks, it was considered good to achieve 30 results.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the two sides are currently out of contact. Our 29th Armored Brigade and 22nd Armored Brigade have contracted to the Boyne River area according to General Montgomery's order. General Alexander and General Montgomery are preparing to fight the Germans there. They hope to be reinforced by at least one armored division and two motorized infantry divisions."

"Okay, reinforce immediately, give 2 armored divisions and 4 motorized infantry divisions first!" Churchill decided to double the reinforcements. In this way, the British army in the Irish battlefield will increase from 14 divisions (including 8 divisions of the 12th Army) to 20 divisions, with a total strength of 350,000.

"Where is the Soviet intelligence chief?" Churchill lit a cigar, took two puffs and asked again.

"Just arrived in Belfast."

Fatty Qiu exhaled the smoke, smiled and said, "We must let the Russians see our reinforcements."