The British army advanced so fast under Montgomery's command that it was almost comparable to the rapid advance of the German mechanized units. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 InfoOn the morning of May 3, they captured Dundalk at the junction of the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, and by the evening of the same day, a mixed formation of a tank battalion of the 29th Armored Brigade of the British 11th Armoured Division and a cavalry regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division (motorized infantry regiment) had advanced to the north bank of the Boyne River, and was blocked by a platoon of the Moonlight Squadron on the outskirts of the northern city of Drochda.

Seeing the Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launcher destroy a Crusader Type 3 cruiser tank driving along the road, Private Hans of the Moonlight Squadron. Hute jumped out of the ballade by the road and ran quickly towards a wooded field to the south.

"Fire, cover Huter!" Hutt's platoon commander, William. Sergeant Major Hoffman shouted in the woods. One of the paratroopers lying in the foxhole next to him immediately fired two long shots with an FG42 paratrooper rifle, and only stopped shooting after all the bullets in the 20-round magazine were exhausted. Then Hoffman himself took over the task of fire cover, and also fired with the FG42 in his hand, and also fired two long shots.

The FG42 Paratrooper Rifle is a special firearm that uses 7.92x57mm standard rounds and has both the functions of a semi-automatic rifle and a light machine gun. This firearm was developed by order of the German Ministry of Defense after the Mediterranean Campaign, when the prospect of resource supply was already clear, and the German Ministry of Defense, accustomed to living a "hard life", began to make a big effort to create a standard weapon for ordinary infantry that was as powerful as a light machine gun. So the tender was invited to the main German gunsmith manufacturing company, and the FG42 paratrooper rifle was designed by Rheinsteel-Borsig Firearms.

Because it used standard ammunition, it did not meet Hersmann's requirements - Hersmann wanted an automatic rifle with intermediate rounds, so he chose the MKB-42 (an early model of the Type 44 assault rifle in history) automatic carbine developed by Hernell and using 7.92x33mm intermediate ammunition as a new generation of standard firearms for the German Army infantry.

But the FG42 is also a good gun, it can not only fire in bursts, providing quite powerful firepower, but also can make a single shot of accurate fire, which is incomparable to the accuracy of such a bargain as the MKB-42, and can even act as a sniper rifle. If the MKB-42 is an inexpensive and high-quality automatic weapon suitable for mass equipment, then the FG42 is a fine firearm. The former is suitable for infantry with large road goods, and the latter is suitable for such an elite as the Airborne Forces.

So Schleicher and Hersmann finally agreed to order tens of thousands of FG42 equipment for the Airborne Forces. The Moonlight Squadron in Skorzny was the first unit to be reequipped with the FG42.

But no matter how good the FG42 paratrooper rifle is, it is also a gun, and it is very sharp against the British infantry, but it is useless against the British tanks.

The anti-tank weapons that the German Ministry of Defense now provides to paratroopers are mainly two categories, a type of recoilless guns, including 75mm LG40 recoilless guns, 105mm LG40 recoilless guns and 150mm LG42 recoilless guns; The second category is the Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launcher.

In addition, there are some individual anti-tank weapons such as anti-tank grenades and anti-tank mines, which have become chicken ribs after the appearance of the Iron Fist anti-tank grenade launcher.

As for the anti-tank guns such as the 37mm anti-tank gun and the 28mm conical gun, they were replaced by various recoilless guns after the Mediterranean campaign and disappeared from the list of equipment of the German Airborne Forces.

"Platoon commander, I'll take out that cruiser tank, but there are many more of them on the road."

Private Hutt ran fast and luckily not being hit by the rifles of the British infantrymen who were following the tank, and managed to run into the woods to Sergeant Major Hoffman.

"We can't stop them, and unless there is heavy fire support, those cruiser tanks will sooner or later storm the streets of Dublin." Hoffman said with a frown, pulling the empty 20-round magazine from the FG42's gunfire with all his might, and inserting another one. "Now we have to shift positions, before the British fire at us with those damn 105mm self-propelled guns!"

Hoffman is talking about the M7 "Priest" 105mm self-propelled gun, this self-propelled gun modified from the chassis of the M3 medium tank only began production in February 42, and was sent to Britain by Roosevelt before it was equipped with the American army, and it was originally planned to give 120 units, but 60 M7 were sunk in the Atlantic Ocean with the ship during transportation (that is, the Battle of the Sea of Fog), and only 60 were transported to Britain.

But 12 of the 60 M7 "Priests" inflicted heavy casualties on the Moonlight Squadron, which was responsible for delaying the British southward, and in less than a day's fighting, more than 50 people were killed or seriously wounded by the M7's timely and accurate fire.

Hoffman led the men to move from the woods and retreated towards the northern city of Drochda. The M7 "Priest" self-propelled guns assigned to the British 29th Armoured Brigade opened fire, and the rumbling sound of artillery reached Salmon Wharf on the south bank of the Boyne River.

"This is a 105mm howitzer?" Major Wiecsy frowned when he heard the sound of the cannon.

"It's a self-propelled gun!"

"Self-propelled guns?"

"Yes!" Otto. "Very abominable weapon, which moves with tanks and mechanized infantry, and opens fire immediately when it encounters our men in ambush, killing 41 of our Moonlight Squadron along the way, as well as many brave Irishmen." ”

The Irish soldiers who defended Dundalk were also brave, and many fought with the Moonlight Squadron after Dundalk was lost. Hence Otto. Lieutenant Skorzny now commands a "large force" of more than 1,000 men, otherwise he would not have been stationed in Drochda.

"Major, the British are much stronger now than they were when they fought in North Africa and the European continent!" Otto. Skorzny then went on to say to Major Witzhi, "It looks like we have a hard fight to fight in Ireland!" ”

……

"Steady, steady...... Stop! ”

Rudolph. Feng. With a wave of his hand, Lieutenant Ribbentrop directed a No. 3 tank to a steady stop on a flatbed wagon.

The expected landing battle did not take place, Rudolph. Feng. Lieutenant Ribbentrop and the rest of the German marines aboard the amphibious assault ship Baltic all reached Cork Bay without danger. Then it was time to unload the ship and load the truck, and it was busy from the early morning of May 3 until late at night, when 22 No. 3 tanks of the 16th Amphibious Tank Company of Trove were loaded onto the train.

"Division commander, the 4 tank companies, the anti-tank artillery battalion, and the assault gun battalion are all loaded into the vehicles, and they will be able to set off in half an hour, and they will arrive in Dublin before dawn tomorrow."

Chief of Staff of the 1st Marine Division, Boto. Feng. Colonel Alburg walked briskly into the Acting Division Commander Walter. The divisional headquarters of Colonel Wink, who reported to him about the loading of tanks.

Colonel Aalberg was also on board the sunken Norwegian Sea and fell into the sea with Paulus. However, his health was much better than Paulus's, and he soaked in the sea for several hours without any illness. Immediately after being scooped up, he flew to Cork Bay on a JU52 transport plane with the main staff officer of the division headquarters to report to the acting division commander, Colonel Wink.

Shortly after his arrival in Cork Bay, Lieutenant General Sussman (who was supposed to be Paulus), who was given command of all European forces (mainly the German and Irish forces) on the island of Ireland, gave an order for the 1st Marine Division to immediately draw armored and anti-tank units to form a pre-submarine force to reinforce Dublin.

"When will the artillery and personnel to be replenished to us arrive?" Colonel Wink asked with a frown.

Along with Paulus, several artillery battalions of the 1st Marine Division were thrown into the sea - Paulus's bad luck still loomed over this elite German Marine Division!

So now Colonel Wink does not have a single 105mm howitzer, a 150mm howitzer and an 88mm anti-aircraft gun, and not a single Wasp self-propelled gun. However, the division's anti-tank artillery battalion and assault gun battalion managed to reach Cork Bay without incident. So Colonel Wink also had in his hands 6 powerful PAK40 75mm anti-tank guns and 12 PAK38 50mm anti-tank guns, as well as 18 No. 3 assault guns.

"It would be nice to be there in a week," Colonel Alburg shook his head, "there are too many things and troops to ship." The 3rd Panzer Division, the 2nd Marine Division, the Greater German Brigade and Adolf. Hitler's brigade is being transported from Brest, the 22nd Airborne Division and the Italian 185th Lightning Division are to be airlifted, and the Air Force and Naval Aviation are to deploy at least three air regiments in Ireland. When they all arrive, it will be our turn to replenish the cannons......"

Walter. Wink smiled wryly and shook his head, "By the time they're all there, the island of Ireland will definitely be defeated." ”

According to the "Sea Lion Plan", the ground forces used to attack Ireland were the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions of Germany, the 3rd Panzer Division of the Army, the Greater German Brigade and Adolf, which belonged to the Waffen-SS. The Hitler Brigade, the 7th Division of the Airborne Forces and the 22nd Division of the Airborne Forces, as well as the 185th Lightning Division of the Italians, a total of 6 divisions and 2 brigades, with a total strength of more than 120,000 troops. These units were to be in place within one week of the German domination of Cork Bay and Dublin.

In addition, 2 armored divisions and 4 motorized infantry divisions were assembled near Brest, ready as reserves to reinforce the island of Ireland for operations. On 3 May, however, most of the German officers and men who landed on the island of Ireland did not realize that the Irish campaign would eventually turn into a bitter battle and that they would need to use these reserves. (To be continued.) )