The Americans are in trouble outside Cherbourg. With the Americans' habit of consuming ammunition, as long as their logistics are cut off, they will soon fall into a situation of lack of ammunition - especially the U.S. Second Armored Division, which is equipped with a large number of tanks and armored vehicles.
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The German defenders of Cherbourg took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and in conjunction with the blockade of elite peripheral battle groups, they forced most of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division, most of the British 7th Armored Division, and part of the Canadian 2nd Armored Corps to the perimeter of Cherbourg.
A small area of more than ten square kilometers. However, due to the fall of the Normandy area, the strength of the Allied forces continued to increase, making the German army unable to annihilate the Allied forces in the encirclement. And no matter how fierce the aces of the Luftwaffe were, the amount of ammunition they carried every time they dispatched
It was also limited. Under the cover of the Allied air force regardless of casualties, and under the full attack of the Allied reinforcements, the surrounded Allied forces finally tore through the obstruction of the German battle group on July 9 and seized the road.
Escaped, the Germans conducted a tepid pursuit, and on July 21, the front lines of both sides finally stabilized.
The crisis between Cherbourg and Calais was temporarily resolved, and the five-day Calais-Cherbourg siege and annihilation battle ended. The Allies suffered heavy losses during the battle. Germany's elite armored troops, who had experienced battles on the battlefield, gave the Allied "rookie" armored troops a
At that time, the reputation of the e50 "Lynx" overshadowed the legendary Tiger and Panther tanks. There were a total of 35 "Lynx" tanks participating in the battle, of which only 7 were completely damaged, especially 5 of which were allied.
Of the Army and Air Force attack aircraft destroyed, 1 was hit by heavy artillery, and only 1 was destroyed by Allied tanks; a total of 77 Panther tanks participated in the battle, 23 were completely destroyed and could not be repaired; 9
King Tiger participated in the battle and all survived; 11 "Elephant" assault guns - all the number on the Western Front, participated in the battle, only one was destroyed by the Allied Air Force; there were also Domen No. 3 and No. 4 Assault Guns
Artillery and self-propelled artillery participated in the battle, and as many as 16 were destroyed. Finally, the largest number was the Panzer 4 tank. A total of 121 Panzer 4 tanks participated in the battle, with 43 tanks lost. About three heavy artillery tanks were lost.
In more than ten battles, the Luftwaffe suffered slight losses. Under the leadership of its ace pilots, no more than 30 German fighter jets were shot down. However, the ground attack JU87 was proven to be outdated. Only 103 JU87s participated in the ground attack remained after the war.
51 aircraft were taken down. In fact, for the Germans, although they successfully defeated the Allies, these losses were still difficult to make up for. In fact, the Germans had lost confidence in defending Calais and Cherbourg.
The Allies had just successfully opened up a second front against the fascists, successfully landed in Europe, and perfectly executed the largest landing battle in history. The next step was a blow to the head! In the entire Cherbourg-Calais attack battle "Cobra",
The Allied ground forces fully demonstrated the meaning of the word "rookie" - the entire U.S. Second Armored Division was almost annihilated, and of the more than 1,300 tanks and armored vehicles before the war, less than 200 remained after the breakout, of which 400
All the remaining tanks were lost, it is estimated that more than 170 were destroyed, and the rest were captured by the Germans. Fortunately, many crew members escaped from the encirclement and left the battlefield in trucks or on foot; the remaining trucks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery
It also suffered heavy losses. Almost all of the last 200 remaining vehicles were trucks. The division lost more than 6,000 of the more than 14,000 officers and soldiers. The most important thing is that they lost George, who was responsible for commanding the "Cobra" campaign.
.General Patton, he was killed in the command car by a German tank...
The British 7th Armored Division also suffered huge losses. The entire division lost half of its troops and two-thirds of its tanks and armored vehicles. Marshal Rommel avenged Alamein. The Canadian Second Armored Corps was the first
Among the group that retreated, they suffered the least losses. They escaped from the encirclement almost completely, only losing half of their technical equipment...
In the entire battle, the Allied forces lost more than 30,000 people, 700 tanks and self-propelled artillery were destroyed or captured, and more than 400 artillery pieces suffered the same fate. The sky was once again ravaged by the German aces who were at the top of the world.
More than 280 fighter planes, attack planes, and bombers were shot down. You must know that the German air combat ace is currently only 6 Oak Leaf Knights on the Western Front in Normandy.
Fafnir successfully used the "rookies" from the United States and Britain to increase his number of tanks destroyed to 230. On July 22, he received his Oak Leaves and Double Swords Cross. But on the same day
, they also received the order to retreat, and the German defenders throughout northwest France began to retreat. In particular, the German defenders in Cherbourg and Calais were the first to withdraw from these two ports after blasting the ports and destroying all facilities.
French city.
The German troops in southern France also began to retreat, and they withdrew to northern Italy. In mid-July, the Allied forces entered Calais and Cherbourg and began to repair port facilities. By August, a large number of Allied troops stranded in the United Kingdom were finally able to use Calais and Cherbourg to repair port facilities.
The ports of Rai and Cherbourg quickly landed on European soil. By September alone, the number of Allied troops in Europe exceeded 2 million.
At the same time, the Allies also quickly repaired and built many field airports. A large number of bomber units were stationed and began to make full preparations to turn the German industrial base into a sea of flaming ruins. The bombing continued day and night, and the German fighter units were already dispatched and were exhausted.
To the point where the ever-present emergency combat takeoffs exhausted the vitality of the Luftwaffe. One night in September, 1,200 Allied bombers flew over Hamburg. Fafnir’s friend Captain Richter von Haber came here.
At that time, he had become a pilot of the night fighter group, driving a He219 "Night Owl" to scramble into the sky to fight against the Allied bombers. The battle lasted all night, and the Hamburg below became a sea of fire. At dawn,
, Captain Hubbell successfully raised his record to 145 and began to return to the airport in the Netherlands. Just as he was flying into the sky over Arnhem, the Netherlands, he was bitten by a new American P59 jet fighter and was beaten severely.
The unlucky Hubbell was shot down. Just when he was dazed by the impact of the parachute landing, he saw a face emerging from a small house - it was the face of a thin angel! The owner of that face was curious
Looking blankly at the German Air Force Captain, Hubbell also stared blankly at the angel. A voice came: "Audrey! Hide quickly!" The face disappeared. When Captain Hubbell tried hard to look at it again,
The German rescue infantry arrived, and they carried the captain onto the barrel truck. Captain Hubbell still stared blankly at the window where the face disappeared.
He vowed to find this angel, but on the second night of the battle, Captain Richter von Hubbell shot down his 147th victory, a B29D heavy bomber, just as he tried to turn
At the moment of separation, the he219 "Night Owl" collided with the falling b29 out of control...
Fafnir lost another friend, Captain Hubbell, a Knight's Cross winner who went to heaven to pursue his angel. Maybe he went to hell...