Chapter 772: Churchill's Death 3

"General, it seems that the British and Americans are going to fight to the death!"

On the evening of January 9, at the headquarters of the German Third Army in Hartlepool, Commander General Halder had received reports from the 7th Paratrooper Division, the 1st Marine Division and the Italian 185th Lightning Division that they were attacked by the British and American troops.

Lieutenant General Zeitzler, the Chief of Staff of the Army, said to Halder, who was standing in front of a large sand table: "The enemy launched an attack on all fronts and deployed a large number of M10 tank destroyers and Churchill tank destroyers."

"Do you know where the main attack direction is?" General Halder asked slowly.

A few days after capturing Hartlepool, the commander of the army finally had some troops in his hands.

In addition to the 7th Paratrooper Division that landed at the beginning, the 1st Marine Division and the 516th Heavy Armored Battalion that came from the beach, there is now the 185th Lightning Division of Italy, and the 2nd Marine Division of Germany has arrived and completed the unloading operation, among which the 185th Lightning Division of Italy has also completed the deployment.

In addition, the 506th Heavy Armored Battalion, the 3rd Tank Destroyer Battalion (affiliated with the 3rd Armored Division), the 11th Rocket Artillery Brigade and the 11th Heavy Artillery Division of France have been transported from the island of Ireland to Hartlepool Port and are currently unloading.

Moreover, in addition to the 185th Lightning Division of Italy, each unit, including a German paratrooper division and two German Marine Corps divisions, has a considerable amount of mechanized equipment.

Among them, the 7th Paratrooper Division has a self-propelled anti-tank gun company (6 "Weasels") and an armored reconnaissance company equipped with Sd.Kfz.234/3 heavy armored vehicles (Jaguar), and an armored company equipped with 38t tanks.

The two Marine Corps divisions each have an armored company equipped with amphibious Type 3 tanks, an anti-tank artillery battalion equipped with Marder tank destroyers, an assault gun battalion equipped with Type 3 assault guns, and a self-propelled artillery battalion equipped with Wasp self-propelled artillery. The level of mechanization is almost comparable to that of the Panzergrenadier Division, but there are not enough trucks and half-track vehicles for the infantry to use.

"Commander, the enemy's main attack direction is around the Tees River Bridge." Lieutenant General Zeitzler used a baton to point at both sides of the Tees River Bridge on the sand table. "The enemy is moving out from both the north and south banks of the Tees River at the same time, with regiment-level mechanized clusters as the scale, and taking turns to attack under the cover of heavy artillery. The offensive is very fierce. The 1st Marine Division defending the south bank of the Tees River can still cope with it relatively easily, but the 7th Paratrooper Division on the north bank is fighting very hard."

The 7th Paratrooper Division's equipment is not as heavy as the 1st Marine Division. Facing a large number of M10 tank destroyers and Churchill series tanks and tank destroyers, it is of course more difficult to fight.

"General, should we send out a company of Tiger tanks?" Zeitzler suggested in a low voice, "As long as there is a company of Tiger tanks, the 7th Paratrooper Division should be able to hold the north bank of the Tis River."

Halder shook his head and said, "The 506th Heavy Armored Battalion, the 516th Heavy Armored Battalion and the 3rd Tank Destroyer Battalion are our trump cards and should be used for counterattacks rather than defense."

These three battalions have a total of 88 Tiger tanks and 45 Rhino tank destroyers, plus 44 Type 4 F tanks (equipped with 24-caliber 75mm KwK37 tank guns). The power of the concentrated assault is definitely no less than that of a standard German armored division!

So Halder did not want to split up this force that could serve as an iron fist.

"But General, if we don't deploy heavy tanks, it will be difficult for the 7th Paratrooper Division to hold on." Zeitzler reminded, "Once the enemy defeats the 7th Paratrooper Division, they can advance along the Tees River and cut our front into two sections."

"I know," Halder nodded, "but now is not the time to send out heavy armored forces. Kurt, arrange for me to go to the front line on the north bank of the Tees River to take a look."

"Yes, General."

...

"Hehe..."

The piercing sound of the MG42 machine gun rang out again, and the bullets flew hundreds of meters away and hit the backs of the British soldiers who were retreating in a hurry.

Just like a saw blade that harvests lives, it sawed off dozens of British or American lives with the sprayed bullets, bringing a bloody flower on the battlefield.

Mixed with the gunshots and screams was the roar of the tank/armored vehicle engine. More than a dozen American M10 tank destroyers retreated quickly, leaving behind the burning or slowly retreating Churchill tanks and Churchill tank destroyers and the British infantry retreating on foot.

Although they had the advantage in manpower and equipment, the British and American coalition forces encountered the German Wehrmacht's most powerful "lightly armed force" - the 7th Paratrooper Division! So their battle on the north bank of the Tees River was not smooth at all.

They suffered enough in the town of Stodunk alone, and several waves of attacks were repelled by the German army!

"Damn it, are the British Churchill tanks made of paper? How can they be destroyed so easily?"

Looking at several burning Churchill tanks and Churchill tank destroyers at the entrance of the town not far away, General Patton, who was standing on an M10 tank destroyer watching the battle, couldn't help but yelled and cursed again.

"General," Colonel Hobart Gay, Patton's chief of staff, stood in the cabin of a jeep and said loudly to Patton, "The German armor-piercing shells are very powerful. They should be pointed tungsten core armor-piercing shells that can penetrate the front of a Churchill tank at a distance of 750 to 1,000 meters!"

"Then can the front of our M10 tank destroyer block their armor-piercing shells?" General Patton asked hurriedly.

Colonel Gay had just come down from the front line. He went to check the situation of the destroyed Churchill tanks and M10 tank destroyers.

"The situation of the M10 is better," Gay said, "not many of them were completely penetrated from the front."

The front armor of the M10 tank destroyer is 3.2 inches (81.25mm) thick, and there is a 50-degree inclination angle. The equivalent armor value is about 4.98 inches, equivalent to 126.5mm. If this thickness is a homogeneous steel plate, it will not be able to stop the Pzgr.40 pointed tungsten core armor-piercing shells fired by the 75mm gun used by the Weasel tank destroyer. However, the lives of American tyrants are precious, so of course they have to use high-hardness alloy steel to save their lives. Moreover, American tank soldiers still feel that it is not safe, and welded several sections of tank tracks on the front steel plate of the tank, which is equivalent to thickening the armor.

So at a distance of 1000-750 meters, it is enough to reach the 75mm gun of the Weasel tank destroyer, and it can also withstand it at a distance of 750-500 meters, and it can be penetrated at 500 meters.

Although the British Churchill tank has a 4-inch frontal armor, the inclination angle is not very large, and the quality of the armor steel used is not as good as that of the Americans. So at a distance of 1000-750 meters, it can't stop the 75mm gun of the Weasel at all.

At this time, the retreating British and American officers and soldiers have returned to the starting position. General Patton looked at these embarrassed soldiers, shook his head and said to Colonel Guy: "After dark, let's try another place and attack from the northeast of this town to see if we can bypass it."

...

Beside the Tees River Bridge, the headquarters of the 7th German Paratrooper Division. Next to a very solidly built railway station, six "Jaguar" heavy armored vehicles were parked in the center of the station square, with their guns raised high, firing shells one by one to the northwest - these six armored vehicles with 24-caliber 75mm guns were now used as self-propelled artillery.

Next to the six heavy armored vehicles, there was a very luxurious Mercedes-Benz G4 military off-road car. This kind of luxury car with six wheels was rare in the military, and only senior generals at the level of generals and above could own it. This thing is both high-end and fuel-consuming. In the original history, there were fewer of them, but now Germany is much more generous than in history, so since the end of 1942, Hessmann has used the military budget to give all generals and marshals Mercedes-Benz G4.

On the British Isles, the only person who is qualified to ride this military off-road car is General Halder.

General Halder was inspecting the front line of the Tees River at this time.

"General," said Major General Wolfgang Edelmann, commander of the 7th Paratrooper Division, pointing to the map and speaking to the generals who came to inspect, "The enemy is currently attacking the town of Stodunk, which is a large town. We have deployed a regiment and a self-propelled anti-tank gun company there. The enemy is estimated to be a division-level mechanized cluster, and there should be follow-up troops. If there is no heavy tank reinforcement, the town of Stodunk will be occupied by the enemy in 2-3 days. However, the problem is not big at the moment. We have repelled several of their attacks and destroyed many Churchill tanks.

In addition, our right wing is now very weak, with only one and a half regiments of paratroopers, 20 38t tanks and two recoilless gun companies on the 10-kilometer front. The front line can only be maintained by the support of the Deutschland at the mouth of the Tees River with naval guns. I am worried that the enemy will intensify the offensive in this direction after dark."

"Then how about shrinking the troops?" Halder suddenly asked.

"Retreat?" Major General Edelman looked at Halder, "Sir, where do you want us to retreat to?"

"How about the town of Stodunk and the Tees River Bridge? Can we hold it?"

"Is the 1st Marine Division on the other side of the river also..."

"They will retreat to Middlesbrough."

"Oh my God, then we will be surrounded!"

Hals nodded and smiled, "Pretend to be surrounded. I will let the 1st Marine Division leave you the Type 3 tank, Type 3 assault gun, Weasel tank destroyer and Wasp self-propelled artillery before retreating. You have to hold the town of Stodunk and the Tees River Bridge for at least 5 days."