; Several German commandos began to advance slowly with the help of heavy artillery, they were not in a hurry, and some units even advanced only a few hundred meters a day, but their attack surface was very wide, and a large-caliber mortar and leveled howitzers crushed the French defense line like a crushing plate, turning pieces of reinforced concrete fortified areas into ruins, and the Luftwaffe did not break its promise. The Germanic eagles concentrated their fire on the train cannon group that had been invincible in the previous few days' fighting. After losing their strong air cover, they escaped by relying on the cover of the dense forest like trembling rats, and now they did not even dare to enter the firing position easily, for fear of becoming the target of the German bombers. The air power of the Allies and China had begun to shrink, and they focused on the remaining ports, transportation arteries, and transportation hubs.

After an initial success, the Germans eventually found themselves in trouble again under the city of Saint-Nazaire, as they were faced with a defence that was no longer simply a makeshift pre-war battle, but a city of centuries-old history that was vast and splendid. Its scale is definitely not comparable to that of the defensive line. As an important seaport city, the French built a number of heavy shore gun positions around the port, and today they use them to defend against enemies from land, and these fortifications built on the height and terrain became the final nail to stop the German advance, and it was at this time that the Germans' Karl equipment finally came in handy

"The French are really decisive, they have already lost, but at this time they are still willing to fight for the destruction of the entire city and fight with us to the end If I can, I would prefer to let the battleships of the navy come over and teach the French to face reality with naval guns" Guderian looked at the towering city in the distance and said with some indignation, he didn't like siege warfare, and even in the entire military history, there were few military strategists who liked siege and street fighting. Because siege warfare does not have too many skills, it is a victory that is hard piled up with firepower and life, no matter how good your equipment is, how elite the quality of your troops, complex terrain and solid buildings can minimize your advantage

The German Army now regrets not being able to call for naval support. The carrier-based aircraft forces of the High Seas Fleet suffered heavy losses. But the battleships were almost all tailed, and if a few battleships could be brought, it would save a lot of trouble, but unfortunately, at first, the German Army did not expect that Saint-Nazaire would be so difficult to fight. If the navy arrives from Crete, it is clear that time will not allow it

"The Germans must have pressed the last of their old roots, otherwise, they would not have been able to break through our defenses from shore guns and long-range artillery, and those old 2-inch guns and 240 heavy guns could still destroy the Germans' ironclad tortoises even if they missed at close range. And we have several fortresses designed at the level of defense against naval artillery strikes. It was difficult for 240 heavy mortars to destroy it. De Gaulle estimated the situation on both sides. Saint-Nazaire will be followed by one of the sharpest waves of German heavy bombs that will easily destroy the forts and offensives, and more heavy mortars will crush the entire line. At this time, the long-range artillery in his hand has dropped to about half of what it was before the battle, and it is impossible to stop the opponent anymore, and the only thing he can rely on is the naval guns" The rest is up to you, Lacroix. ”

Victory was in sight, and the Germans were a little impatient. At the request of the Army, the Air Force has made every effort to increase the intensity of ground support, not only giving priority to the supply of fuel to bomber units, but even some fighter units to carry out ground attack missions, and if it is okay for F90 fighters to be used to drop bombs, it is a bit excessive for the BF09 to become front-line support aircraft. The small body of such an aircraft is usually equipped with a 250 bomb, or two machine guns, and it is very inefficient and vulnerable when used to carry out bombing missions. And the army has also pulled up all the heavy weapons they can collect, from Karl equipment, Bantam and Tiger tanks, to various self-propelled guns and self-propelled mortars. Small to medium-caliber mortars and recoilless guns, the Germans deployed as much firepower as possible on the front lines on which both sides were engaged, and they wanted to completely destroy the city with a rolling barrage

"What if the French Navy intervenes at this time, they are not far from here, and one night is enough time to walk back and forth." To say that the German Army did not expect that the big guys of the French Navy were absolutely wronged, before launching the final attack. Guderian and Manstein discussed several possible actions of the French navy, after all, since Pétain was wounded, the French capitulationists and Darlan had never been in direct contact with the French fleet. From the current point of view, the surrender of the French fleet to the Germans was out of the question. Then at this critical juncture. Are they going to do something about it?

"The French fleet has left the French mainland for its aircraft carrier battle group, and according to information provided by our intelligence officers in the UK, quite a few warships have entered the dockyard for repairs and modifications. They shouldn't be coming. An officer in charge of intelligence swore an oath. What he said was true, and there were photos to prove it, which made people have to believe it.

"But I still hope that the Air Force can deploy some mines around the port of Saint-Nazaire to block the nearby seas." Guderian still said unrelentingly. "Do you mean that we will fill the mines today? And then in less than a week, we will clear the mines, and maybe we will be able to blow up a few ships of the High Seas Fleet, which is really a good idea. There was a hint of sarcasm in the other party's answer, and in his opinion, the army general was thinking too much. Of course, I can assure you that the Air Force is fully capable of destroying everything floating on the surface of the sea, from an aircraft carrier to a sampan. The Air Force assured.

After the breakdown of negotiations, the Air Force really thought about how to deal with the French fleet. And launched several exploratory attacks, but because of the distance, coupled with the full cover of the Allied air force, the French Navy was able to defuse these attacks without danger. Subsequently, with the departure of the French aircraft carrier, the air force found that the targets in the port were no longer of much value, and it was obviously not cost-effective to concentrate on bombing. The plan was eventually abandoned, but you would have been wronged to say that the Air Force had not kept an eye on the remaining French ships, and even the French could guarantee that they could see the German reconnaissance planes swaying around the radar scan area almost during the day

"The shelling of the Germans during the day is almost looking for death, their air force has a great advantage on the front line, and there is enough reconnaissance ability to monitor the movement of 00 kilometers around Saint-Nazaire, the entry of the Grand Fleet into this area will definitely be exposed, and before we enter the shelling position, the bombers of the opposing side will fly over our heads. Although the U.S. and British aircraft carrier formations expressed their willingness to provide some air defense support, at this time the U.S. and British fleets had just experienced a major war, and the supplementary situation was not optimistic, and I did not trust their air defense network," Lacroix said to de Gaulle on the phone.

"So. I propose that the fleet enter the shelling positions at night to carry out artillery shelling of the German Army, and before the sun rises, we will withdraw from the theater of operations. This is the safest way to go. Lacroix then put forward his opinion that the French Army would eventually withdraw, since the Army was not going to hold out. Then the navy naturally does not have to throw its main battleship into this pit, and the naval guns have a long range, if there are better coordinates and instructions, the naval artillery efficiency can be regarded as a thing of the past, after all, the Germans have piled up their forces to the front line, even if the firepower of the naval guns can only cover a part of the area, it is enough for the Germans to drink a pot.

De Gaulle was somewhat disappointed by the Navy's proposal, but after a short period of reflection, De Gaulle expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Navy's actions. The French Army handed over the information gathered on the German disposition to the Navy, while the Allied Air Force offered to provide night aircraft to help the fleet. And so. When the Germans thought they were foolproof, a huge artillery formation consisting of 4 French battleships, 4 heavy cruisers and 2 light cruisers, including 2 cutting-edge battleships Richelieu and Jeanbar, sailed out of the military port, they first went north, and then turned south before nightfall, and when it was midnight, this fleet consisting of 0 main forces and a total displacement of more than 250,000 tons finally reached the designated position.

Unlike night naval warfare, the navy used covered artillery bombardment for land shelling, which did not pay attention to the hit rate, but simply used enough shells to cover the target area, and the French did have this capital, and a battleship Richelieu had a total of 200 rounds of 6-inch shells on it. Each shell weighed tons. A battleship could theoretically throw 200 tons of shells on top of the opponent's head, and if a fleet ran out of ammunition, at least 6,000 tons of ammunition could be poured over the heads of the Germans, and this time would definitely not be very long. Theoretically, within an hour, these steel behemoths would be able to complete the shelling

The Germans are busy. Even at night, it is constantly rushing and attacking. The fire of the artillery, the lights of the vehicles, and the busy center, etc., the French fleet and the American and British night planes easily found the target, and the whole fleet was divided into a combat group and began to attack the German defense line near the seaside, with the battleship Richelieu raised the battle flag, 9 thick 6-inch L45 main guns slowly pointed at the target, with a deafening loud noise and huge shock, 4 huge fireballs rushed out of the muzzle. The resulting wave of air swept across the deck, and in the night sky, the orange flames that rose up were so dazzling that they split the dark sky like the thunder of the end of the world

After more than half a minute of flight, the shells smashed into the target with a piercing whistling sound, and the huge explosion instantly overwhelmed the other sounds on the battlefield, neither large-caliber mortars nor howitzers in the rear could compare with the main guns of battleships. After a short period of calibration, the French fleet soon entered the rapid-fire stage, each according to the rate of fire of one shot per minute, frantically tilting towards the target with a fatal rain of bullets, and soon, the first German heavy artillery position to be hit fell into a storm of flames and steel in just a few minutes, and columns of smoke as high as dozens or even hundreds of meters rose in the target area, and the whole land was entangled in the violent artillery bombardment, this kind of power was irresistible, and the German army did not dare to use its own "small cannon" To find trouble with these big guys, there is no need to order from above, the seaside positions that have not yet been attacked by luck begin to shift, and in the absence of strong fortifications, being exposed to the fire of naval guns is to seek death

"Damn, where did these firepower come from, didn't the Air Force say that more than half of the train artillery of the French had been destroyed, and they were not conservative, even at night, they could definitely suppress the long-range artillery positions of the French army living northwest of Saint-Nazaire No, it is impossible that the French did not have such strong firepower, this may be naval artillery, I have long warned the Air Force to keep an eye on the French fleet" Guderian, who was preparing the battle plan for the next day, felt the shaking of the earth, and looked at the huge fire that kept rising in the distance, and his heart was full of anger and fearIn the past, the army's 20 land guns were already considered heavy artillery in his eyes, and this caliber was nothing in the navy When dozens of 4-inch guns roared, this kind of devastating attack would definitely make 99.9 percent of the people in this world feel frightened and powerless

"It was naval artillery that they attacked from the sea" The subordinate report soon confirmed Guderian's suspicions, and when the nightmare became a reality, a sense of powerlessness almost squeezed into the German army elite If the position of the French fleet was deduced and then a circle was drawn on the map with its fire range, then at least 7 divisions of German troops were within the range of the opponent's strike in a hurry, and God knows how serious the damage would have been caused by this night's shelling

"All the troops are withdrawn, the farther they run, the better it is to tell the air force, let them immediately attack the sea targets, this is because of their negligence caused by the losses damn it, I knew that the air force was unreliable as early as the Italian war, I actually believed them" Guderian immediately began to evacuate the troops, and in the face of almost irresistible forces, the German army decisively coaxed

And the Luftwaffe was not ambiguous after realizing its carelessness and causing a catastrophe, Kesselring personally deployed a counterattack plan, and also sent the Night Reaper Brigade in the Grim Reaper to be responsible for the sea attack, which was originally a newly trained night precision-guided attack force, to be used as a trump card to attack the British, but this time the French were unlucky and hit the muzzle

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