While Bradley despised Patton in his heart, the Germans who were in charge of attacking the positions of the British 3rd Division today admired in their hearts the bravery and skill of the Italians - no, they were not useless Italians now, they were invincible Roman legions!

Probably because of the name change, Mussolini's 185th Lightning Division played an unprecedented victory in the attack on January 16. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Originally, Walter. Lieutenant General Winck didn't expect these Italian paratroopers to fight any good battles, although the 185th Lightning Division was an elite in the Italian army, and had fought many battles behind the Germans' butts, and it was considered a battle-hardened battle, but it still couldn't compare with the German troops.

And the equipment of these Italian paratroopers is really a bit outdated, and the individual weapons are the old Calgano rifle and the Beletta M1938 submachine gun. The class machine gun is a rotten Belette M1930 light machine gun, and the firepower is not as good as the FG42 automatic rifle. There is also a Beletta M1937 heavy machine gun that uses a feeder plate that is quite reliable, but it uses 8mm bullets, which is not the same as the 6.5mm bullets used in Calgano rifles and Bellet M1930 light machine guns.

As for the mortars and artillery used by the Italian paratroopers, they seemed to the Germans to be nothing more than children's toys. It simply could not be compared with the German 7th Division of the Paratroopers, which was heavily armed with recoilless guns and even had light tanks and weasel tank destroyers.

However, the outcome of the battle was a big surprise, as the brave Italian paratroopers not only cleared the "vacuum" in the center of the battlefield, but also launched a tentative attack on the British front with the support of artillery groups.

Contrary to Lieutenant General Wink's expectations, as cannon fodder to test the reality of the British army, the Roman 185th Lightning Division actually entered the British position with a single round of assault, and also defeated the British with white-knuckle warfare. When the Germans' armored clusters formed up and swaggered over for a big battle, they saw swaggering Roman paratroopers walking towards them with hordes of British prisoners. There were so many captured Britons that when they rushed together, they actually blocked the way of the German armored clusters!

"Lieutenant General, the 3rd Infantry Division of the British Army is finished, completely defeated by our valiant Roman warriors, there is no strength left to resist, the only way to save your life is to surrender!"

At 9 a.m. on the morning of the 16th, an excited and indescribable Roman fascist reported the latest battle situation to Lieutenant General Wink in fluent German. He said: "Now the invincible Roman legions, guided by the banner of fascism, are marching towards London in victory, singing the "Song of the Roman Fascists"! ”

"What?" Lieutenant General Wink was taken aback by his last words, "Your people are still advancing? ”

"That's right!" The fascist nodded, "The latest situation is that the Roman warriors are pursuing the remnants of the British 3rd Division, and they will soon be wiped out!" ”

"Damn, the British have armored forces, they will come to plug the gap!" Lieutenant General Wink hurriedly ordered, "Immediately retreat and give up the battlefield to the armored cluster!" ”

Lieutenant General Winck's order was given a little too late, and at the same time as he gave the order, the Roman soldiers, who were a little overzealous, had already collided with the tanks and tank destroyers of the British 11th Panzer Division, which were hurrying to block the gap. A fierce battle ensued between the Roman infantry and the British tanks.

"Where are the tanks of the Germans? Why are they all infantry shooting with rifles? Who are they? ”

"Italian! General, our armored division was blocked by the infantry of the Italians! ”

Major General Hobert, commander of the 11th British Panzer Division, who was on the front line, went to the battlefield with the mood of dying for his country - he was old and had lived most of his life under the dazzling light of the empire, so he could not accept his country becoming a vassal of Germany. So before he went to war, he had left a suicide note to his wife and children in Canada, ready to die for the country with a smile.

But this small goal is not easy to accomplish. Because his panzer did not encounter the legendary German tank cluster - this was told to him by Admiral Montgomery on the phone, Montgomery received the news that the elite 3rd Division had been routed by a large German panzer group!

But Major General Hobert found himself in a battle with a group of Italian infantry armed with rifles and machine guns!

"Damn! When will it be the turn of the Italians to go wild on the island of Britain? Major General Hobert immediately had a feeling of being insulted. If he had a hundred Tiger tanks and German Panzergrenadiers armed to the teeth in front of his 11th Panzer Division, he would have recognized it.

But to a group of Italian infantry to block...... It's a shame too!

"Order the Panzer to charge!" Major General Hobert gritted his teeth and ordered, "Crush these damned Italians with tracks...... Then, let's go to the Germans and have a fight! ”

Although the officers and men of the 11th Panzer Division, like all British troops on the Hartlepool-Middlesbrough front, were demoralized to the extreme, most of them wanted to flee the battlefield that broke their hearts. But Major General Hobert's order was carried out, and dozens of Churchill tanks pulled out of formation, covering two or three thousand British infantry, and ran over the Italian paratroopers in white smocks scattered across the snowfield.

However, the outcome of this tank cluster shock surprised Major General Hobert. The Italians, who were supposed to cry and flee in front of the powerful Churchill tank, did not hurry up and took out the Iron Fist 100 anti-tank grenade launcher to confront the British tank.

Hobart saw some enthusiastic fascists shouting "Hooray!" Rome! Or "Hooray!" Mussolini! Charging in the face of a hail of bullets from machine guns on Churchill's tanks. Other fascists used rifles, machine guns and 45mm mortars to attack the British infantry covering Churchill's tanks. And in the face of this kind of firepower, which was not considered fierce, the British infantry, who were supposed to cover the tank, shrank behind the huge body of Churchill's tank.

Tanks deprived of infantry protection were vulnerable, and soon several Churchill tanks were set on fire, while the remaining tanks actually drove backwards and retreated. Seeing this scene, Major General Hobert was almost angry, and just as he wanted to step forward to personally supervise the battle, he heard someone shouting.

"Tiger Style! The Tiger Tank is coming! ”

The British major general hurriedly climbed to the top of the armored command vehicle, raised his eyes, and only saw the edge where the white snowfield and the sky intersected, and at some point there appeared in a neat arrangement and slowly driving into the Tiger tank!

This battle, known as the battle of the end of the empire on which the sun never sets, has actually been decided!

……

When Major General Hobert, a famous British armored general, led his men to die bravely, Major General Barton, a famous American tank general, was already preparing to break through and escape.

He gathered the 62 M10 tank destroyers that the 2nd Panzer Division had that could still be operated, and equipped them with the most elite infantry to form an iron fist to break through. Then he ordered the divisional artillery group to move its position westward, and to be ready to open fire and bombard at any time. After the artillery had been moved, all the mules and horses attached to the artillery were gathered together to carry the wounded and ammunition.

Finally, he ordered his subordinates to be lightly armed and ready to go out at any time, and then distribute the ammunition in reserve to the soldiers as much as possible, and prepare the rest for destruction. All baggage and equipment that are inconvenient to take away and unusable are also ready to be destroyed.

But after all preparations were made for escape, he received an order to be dismissed from his post and to hand over his troops to Bradley, an order from Eisenhower, who was far away in Edinburgh, on the basis of Stilwell's petty report.

"Omar, I have bad news for you, I have been removed from the post of commander of the 2nd Panzer Division...... Oh, it's not bad news for me, because I can now run away from the battlefield without any punishment. But it must be terrible for the lads of the 2nd Panzer Division, because it's a shame that you won't lead them out of the encirclement like I did......"

At the time of the transfer of command, General Patton still couldn't control his big mouth. While Bradley was crying and laughing, one of General Patton's lieutenants walked into the office with a pile of old clothes.

"General," the adjutant reported, "you've bought all the clothes you wanted, they're all old, don't you see if you can do it......"

"It's okay, the old ones are good." Barton nodded, and commanded, "Pick two for me, and you pick two for yourself...... Pick two more for Henry and Donald. Plus go get some pounds to bring with you, oh, and British papers and ration cards. It doesn't matter how much it costs. ”

What does Barton mean!? Is this to disguise as ordinary people and flee?

Bradley stared at Barton with an incredulous expression.

Barton spotted Bradley's eyes, smiled bitterly and said, "Omar, you can also pick up clothes and bring them with you, in case the situation is not right, you can disguise yourself as a common man and escape......

"George! What are you talking about? Bradley cried out, "How can you do that? You're America's general! How can you run away dressed as a common man? ”

Patton shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "Because I still plan to fight for my country, and I don't want to lose my life because of Stilwell's stupid command, and I don't want to be captured by the Nazis and put in a prisoner of war camp." Omar, I would like to remind you in the end that the situation is very bad and you must prepare for the worst! ”

With that said, George. Barton stopped talking nonsense with Bradley, packed up his things and left the battlefield with his lieutenant, the guard, and the chauffeur that had left him so sad, and got into a jeep and headed for Edinburgh. However, on the way to escape, he did not encounter the Germans, so the clothes of the three civilians he prepared did not work. (To be continued.) )