Survive as a World War II Soldier - Chapter 157



Only Krnovel

#157

“But wouldn’t it be better if we could quickly deploy the 6th Armored Division?”

“Yes. It will be difficult, but I will request air support from the Luftwaffe once more…”

“Advancing like this···.”

“If I throw this here as bait and open up an opening like this···.”

Contrary to expectations, the progress of the surprise operation was not so smooth. But military operations never always go according to plan.

What ultimately matters is how you overcome unexpected hardships and adversities to achieve your goals.

So Rundstedt and his staff began to rack their brains to find a way out.

And with their enthusiasm, the conference room began to heat up. It was at that very moment.

Dada, bang.

The conference room was enveloped in silence at the sight of the communications officer rushing in through the door without knocking, with the aforementioned expression on his face.

It was because I could sense an ominous aura just from the officer’s flushed face.

“Yes, Commander.”

“But what is it?”

Even at the sight of the officer stammering and unable to continue speaking properly, Rundstedt frowned and asked irritably.

“Essen, Essen has fallen.

“what?”

The heat that had filled the conference room just a moment ago had cooled down as if it were a lie.

Rundstedt, who had been smoking cigarettes one after another in silence, opened his mouth in a deep voice.

“We need to come up with a plan. How do you think the American troops occupying Essen will move?”

At Rundstedt’s words, the staff began to speak.

“Duisburg is closer, why don’t you come there?”

“If you only consider the distance from Essen, Duisburg is closer, but because of that, you can also come to Dusseldorf.”

“Even if you say so, what about Gyeoln?”

It was a very rational and orthodox judgment, but the problem was that their opponent was Patton.

Rundstedt and his staff concluded that Patton had taken Essen rather than Duisburg on the Rhine River in order to surround the garrison guarding the Siegfried Line from the rear.

“We cannot withdraw the 5th Panzer Army or our 7th Army, which are currently facing the 8th Army. For now, we are turning around the 6th Panzer Army, but…”

It took time to bring back the troops that had already entered the Ardennes Forest.

“Support from the Luftwaffe?”

“We have already invested too much power into the airborne operation···.”

“The 51st Bombardment Squadron is still there.”

“that is···.”

In fact, there was a shortage of fuel to fly the plane. No, fuel was not the only thing that was lacking. There was also a shortage of pilots to fly the planes and parts to repair damaged aircraft.

But they could not have imagined.

I never thought there would be a person who would embarrass them more than Patton in Essen.

It was none other than Hitler in Berlin.

“Retreat? That’s exactly what the US military wants right now.”

“But can’t we just let the US military advance into the mainland like this?”

“Ha, just leave it. How far can they advance if Antwerp is plundered? What matters is not now, but the future. The future!”

Hitler claimed that Patton’s surprise attack and the American military’s sudden transition to the offensive were proof that his surprise attack was effective.

“If we push forward like this and take Antwerp, all American forces that have crossed the Rhine will be isolated.”

Guderian moved his lips when Hitler said that they should surround them and capture them all at once, but in the end he was unable to make a sound.

in result,

“There can be no retreat, and this is an order to advance unconditionally.”

“Advance?”

“yes.”

When he received the message to reposition the 6th Armored Division, which had been pulled back to deal with the US 7th Army, and to proceed with the operation according to the original plan, Rundstedt and all of his staff members in the conference room were taken aback.

“Have you properly reported the situation at the front to His Excellency the President? The airborne troops have been annihilated, the rear-end disruption efforts are not working, and the 5th Armored Division, which is engaging the 8th Army, is not only not winning, but is also being pushed back…”

“The Führer said that all these were minor and temporary problems that would be resolved the moment Antwerp was taken.”

“under.”

Rundstedt, with a look of exasperation on his face, raised his head and looked at the ceiling, sighing several times.

And at that moment, there was a greeting that was just as embarrassing as Rundstedt’s: it was none other than Bradley, who had returned to the 8th Army headquarters after being missing for half a day.

“The 7th Army has moved?”

“Yes. The best defense is a good offense…”

“The enemy would have definitely applauded and said he did a good job.”

The adjutant who was reporting the telegram from the headquarters nodded at Bradley’s added words that it was obvious even without looking, and the faces of the staff members who were listening to the report beside him brightened.

“That’s good. If the 7th Army can strike the Germans from behind, it will give our forward units some breathing room.”

Bradley snorted in disappointment as he watched his staff mutter something about how it would be perfect to surround the German army on both sides and annihilate it.

“Patton is going south? Well then.”

“Yes? But wouldn’t that be enough to surround and capture the Germans?”

“No, I said I was running towards Essen.”

“Yes? Yes. That’s what I heard.”

“If we had intended to hit the back of the heads of those who surprised us, we wouldn’t have targeted Essen in the first place.”

The staff tilted their heads to the side as Bradley pointed to the map with his finger, asking if they had come south like this.

“Then what about the 7th Army···”

“You still can’t make up your mind after going through all that?”

Bradley, who asked in a pitiful voice, replied that it was obvious that they would only look at Berlin and advance east.

“Ah, Berlin. No, but···.”

Bradley shrugged when someone asked if Berlin was even a possibility here.

“Who would call that author a person who would argue about such things?”

“ah.”

Several of Bradley’s long-time aides immediately agreed with Bradley’s words, who was once Patton’s dedicated nanny.

“That’s true.”

“So, you’re saying that in the end, we have to deal with the German army with our own hands?”

Thanks to the headquarters declaring an emergency in advance and predicting a surprise attack, the German surprise attack was prevented.

But it was only barely holding on, literally. Especially since Commander Bradley had been missing for several hours, the 8th Army was barely holding on.

Bradley, who had been staring at the map on the table and the status of friendly and German forces filling it, opened his mouth with a determined expression.

“Instead of defense, we are also switching to offense.”

“yes?”

“Wouldn’t that keep them here?”

Although Bradley did not like Patton, he knew better than anyone why General MacArthur cared about him.

Although he is the type of person who would want to keep a stopper in his mouth while in the dog car class, isn’t he the type of person who would show more certain abilities than anyone else if given the armored unit?

Above all,

“If General MacArthur believes it is possible, then why not?”

“you’re right.”

“Well, if that’s what your Majesty thinks, then so be it.”

So Bradley and the 8th Army staff strengthened their resolve.

##

“Still, it’s better than before.”

An hour after leaving Münster, everyone was still in good spirits.

In particular, the middle-aged and elderly assault team members with gray hair kept talking nonstop.

“Those trenches used to be fucking shit.”

“I’m that turnip.”

“Ah, ah. That bread, which I don’t know if it’s made of sawdust or not, was really chewy.”

Among them, those who had experience in the Great War a long time ago raised their voices on the topic of who suffered more at that time. Meyer was no exception.

“But compared to that time, now is like heaven.”

“then.”

But if you ask me if it’s really better than it was a few decades ago, well, then I guess not.

Even though I was a bit hungry back then, I was given weapons. Can we really say that it is better now when they don’t even give me proper military uniforms, let alone weapons?

Meyer laughed internally, but the words that came out of his mouth were no different from the others.

“It’s better. It’s better than it was then. It’s much better to hang on to the tram like this than to walk on foot.”

“Hahaha. Right. By the way, back in the old days, it was called a steel pipe.”

“Hey, back then, airplanes were just flying coffins.”

“Ha, ha. Right. Now that I think about it, the world has become a better place than it was back then.”

“then.”

It was because I couldn’t endure it unless I shouted that it was better than before, even if it was a lie, unless I deceived myself in that way.

“So where are we going?”

“Was it Dortmund?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Wherever you drop me off, we’ll start fighting from there. What does it matter where?”

“That’s true.”

It was a moment when I was chatting with members of the assault team who were in similar situations.

Boom. Boom.

A sudden loud noise is heard, followed by a hail of falling shells.

Meyer quickly jumped down from the hanging tram. As he rolled on the ground,

Boom. Bang.

The tank that was hit by the shell started to burn.

“Ha. Shit.”

When Meyer, breathing heavily, looked around, he saw a scene of chaos unfolding.

“Eww.”

“Get down.”

“It’s the enemy. It’s an enemy attack.”

Both officers and soldiers looked disoriented.

“Damn it. We never heard that the US military came all the way here.”

They heard that American troops had crossed the Rhine River and were advancing toward the mainland, but they still thought they were in the rear.

No, didn’t it take at least half a day to get to the area near Essen that they occupied yesterday?

The unit, which had assumed that if it were attacked while moving, it would only be bombed by enemy planes appearing from the sky, was suddenly attacked by enemy tanks and fell into confusion in an instant.

“Over there. There’s an American tank over there.”

At the sound of someone shouting, the surviving friendly tanks began to turn their turrets.

Squeak. Boom, boom.

Blood, blood.

In addition, anti-tank guns began to fire. They were surprised by the sudden attack, but the battle was just beginning.

“Everyone, wake up!”

The confusion slowly began to subside as the officers shouted out their evil intentions. Now that we have found the enemy, shouldn’t we just repel them?

But Meyer had no idea what kind of American soldiers they had met.

##

“They say there is a large German force ahead.”

The US 7th Army, which had taken the path to Münster as Commander Patton had instructed, soon encountered a moving German unit.

“I think they might have come from Münster.”

“Then it’s the 6th Army?”

“I think so.”

“Hmm.”

“What should we do?”

“Didn’t they come to your aid after hearing that we had captured Essen?”

Patton and his staff, who had stopped at a larger scale than expected, entered into an emergency operational meeting looking at maps and aerial photographs.

Unlike his staff, who were worried about the larger size of the German army than they had thought, Patton’s expression was bright.

“If we just kill those guys, Münster will be like an empty house, right?”

“That’s true, but the scale is considerable.”

“Then how do you avoid it?”

“No, that would be too risky.”

“Yes, if we just leave them and go around, they will definitely surround us as we attack Münster.”

“But if we start fighting here···.”

Patton opened his mouth with a smirk at the suggestion that if our advance was delayed, reinforcements from Dortmund or other cities might come and attack us from behind.

“What are you going to do with the air force? Call them right now. And let’s see where…”

The size of the German 6th Army, which set out from Münster, was larger than expected, but its advance was considerably slower.

This was because, unlike the US military, which had an abundance of halftracks and could move even infantry quickly, the German military’s mobility was poor.

“Look at the picture. Can you see they’re all climbing onto the tank?”

“Ah. Yes.”

“We’re fast, and they’re slow. That’s what we’re eating. Isn’t this place right in the middle?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Patton’s question, pointed to one side of the map, received an immediate answer.

“Let’s form a special force and attack this place.”

“Are you saying we should cut it off in the middle?”

“Yeah. We hit the front, the Air Force guys hit the back, and we just bend over and swipe.”

If Patton’s words had come true, that would have been perfect, but there was a problem.

“Who is in charge of the special forces?”

The special force that struck the waist was important.

If we made a mistake, we could be surrounded in the middle of German forces, and there was also the risk of being caught in friendly fire by friendly aircraft.

“I···.”

“Absolutely not.”

As soon as Patton opened his mouth, his staff members all glared at him and shouted.

Patton said with a pout.

“Okay, I got it. Colonel Abrams.”

“yes.”

“How about it? Is it possible?”

“Of course.”

The one who confidently answered Patton’s call was Clayton Williams Abrams Jr.

If MacArthur had Patton, Patton had Abrams.

The energy of the whole universe