Codegease: Air and Land Warfare 1946

Page 266

But the US infantry had something else that was somewhat unexpected. You'd think that besides swimming across, the infantry could only ride on the backs of these amphibious tanks, but when they set up their heavy firepower in the forest and among the rocks, they discovered that a strangely shaped "jeep" was accompanying them across the river. This "jeep," which looked like a small speedboat, carried the soldiers' heavy machine guns and rocket launchers.

……

The Britannians can hardly imagine how they have suffered such a crushing defeat here over the past two days.

Gunfire echoed day and night through the woodlands and hills, while KMF aircraft and propeller-driven fighters would occasionally swoop down on each other. But it was like water poured from a shower into two boxes of sand; no one could change the reality that the two sides were colliding and entangled like grains of sand. The "water" would only make the people who died on both sides more like mud, their flesh and blood stuck together.

While the air forces of both sides were locked in a fierce struggle, only the helicopter force could take advantage of the lulls in the retreating and blocking American troops, causing considerable damage.

However, there was nowhere along the way where these men in black dared to rappel down with only assault rifles and squad machine guns. Although armed helicopters could penetrate the top of American tanks, they could not stay in such a dangerous place for too long—either self-propelled anti-aircraft guns would come knocking, or sneaky fighter jets or even attack aircraft would come knocking.

They never expected that these American troops, whom they had only met two days prior, would remain unmoved despite having nearly twice their number of troops. The KMF struggled to advance, facing recoilless gun fire from afar and bazookas and flamethrowers up close. The Americans had already laid a barrage of incendiary bombs in front of their positions, and just when they were about to break through, the resulting inferno stopped them, giving the Americans a chance to regroup.

Behind them, the American troops at Nuremberg were escaping. Two days later, the French, with a mix of M4 Shermans and StuG III assault guns, arrived to provide support and even helped the Americans advance 5 kilometers eastward along one of the roads. As for General Morrison and General Wood, who had heard about all this, they realized that continuing like this would only give the enemy more time.

"When did the US military, after mixing with the people of Area 11, become a monster even more powerful than the Soviets?" But on the other hand, they also find it hard to accept this fact.

“It looks like we’ll have to take a longer route.” After discussing with General Morrison, General Wood spoke with his superiors and decided to modify the plan to cut off the American escape route—risking the extension of the supply line through the hills, they would continue to extend the mobile armored forces further south into the flatter terrain.

……

When a large number of assault guns cannot serve as the main assault force in complex terrain, this is a way to avoid idle forces, and at least it can distract the US military's energy and attention.

Moreover, the new things the expeditionary force engineers had been working on after the Hamburg defeat found a good place to shine: more than 60 newly modified assault guns—or wheeled tanks—ready for combat. The smaller turrets and slender guns resulted in higher muzzle velocities, and as a result, like the US military, they had to pile sandbags and other materials on their sides.

Based on this, the soldiers gathered 30 old-type large-caliber assault guns, 30 KMFs and infantry fighting vehicles, along with several hundred infantrymen, and marched menacingly toward their destination—Neymarkt, a small town with a population of over 4.

To achieve surprise and sufficient destruction, half an hour before the main offensive, armed transport planes, busy bombing the city center and western suburbs of Nuremberg, dropped bombs on the small town where American troops were stationed, tearing apart its face that had survived the World War.

Caught off guard by this surprise attack, the U.S. forces hastily assembled over 40 Sherman tanks, some in good condition and others damaged, along with several anti-tank positions. After a barrage of artillery fire in the suburbs, leaving behind the wreckage of nearly 30 tanks and large areas of destroyed fixed positions, the tracked tanks, painted with white stars, began to retreat into the city streets and outlying woodlands, realizing the situation was dire.

As for the Britannian soldiers, although the assault guns were still inherently vulnerable to being penetrated by 76mm tank guns—in fact, apart from the officer in charge of the battle dying from the gun muzzle during this tank battle, everything was better than expected. At least more of the time, the assault gun commanders were searching for the next target, instead of simply waiting for the previously cumbersome turrets to slowly turn in circles.

After silently mourning the nearly 50 KMFs and their comrades on the tanks that had been destroyed, they stepped on the gas and continued their advance towards Neumarkt. At this point, the leaders of the large force were two assault gun captains, Sally and Mary.

"Let's go straight into the city. The Americans left so many tanks outside before they just walked away. It doesn't seem like they're trying to lure us in."

“I don’t think so,” Mary challenged the other person’s idea.

Sally didn't care about anything else. She led five assault guns and the infantry into the city, and then a cannon shot from an American tank rang out.

"I already told you, Sally! Don't fall into the trap again!"

“I’ve never heard of a rabbit acting as both hunter and bait,” Sally retorted, arguing her point—the Sherman that had just fired at her neighbor’s car but missed, had the same paint scheme she’d seen during the firefight outside the city; it was still covered in black paint.

"So, luring the enemy in deep has turned into a desperate resistance? Well, but it's not much easier now." Mary said helplessly. "Then I'll send a few vehicles to support you, and I'll continue to lead men to patrol and scout outside the city?"

However, Sally didn't reply; instead, another burst of artillery fire rang out first. But it was clear that the noise was far less than that of the American tanks and stationary anti-tank guns.

"Sally? Sally!"

The latter was still alive. She looked at the destroyed neighboring vehicle and then at the direction from which the artillery fire came. She found something with a turret on its head between the dilapidated walls of a two-story building.

"Don't cause me any trouble! Just follow me and fight!"

However, after several shells were fired, all that remained was gray smoke and sparks from the friction between metals; the barrel with the muzzle brake remained completely still.

If Sally hadn't instinctively shouted "Back off!" when she sensed the danger, that shell would probably have sent her and her entire carload of people to their deaths.

Amidst the black smoke from the burning neighboring vehicle, she vaguely saw the massive machine hidden in the bunker begin to move—unlike the Sherman, Pershing, or even the T-34 with its sloped frontal armor, this war machine was overly square and conventional, its body, angled at 30 degrees to the gun barrel, covered in fresh paint chips, being carried away by crisscrossing road wheels and wide, thick tracks.

……

"Shit! Tiger!"

"Stop yelling and jumping around! We're on the same side!"

The American tank crews hiding in the city were both terrified and excited—they almost thought they were still on the Western European battlefield a year or two ago, and that the enemy they faced today was no longer the Germans.

“Ahem… Lieutenant Carius, calling Lieutenant Otto Carius.” The M4 commander lay on the outside of the hatch seat ring. “We will now retreat to the courthouse in the city center. Let me reiterate the enemy and friendly situation. We currently have 7 tanks in the city that can fight, and nearly a battalion of infantry lacking anti-tank weapons. The enemy has about 5 times our vehicles, and about the same number of infantry.”

"Air support is not an option, but ground support is already on its way, so our mission is to protect this small town. Our infantry will use PDAs to contact you via map coordinates. I believe you, like me, hope that the brothers in Nuremberg will not end up in prisoner-of-war camps."

"The lieutenant asked me to reply to you." The one who replied was the English-speaking communications soldier in the crisscrossing road wheels, "We will assist you with all your defense plans and express our deepest gratitude for your generosity."

Carius heard the news of the tank being repaired three days ago, and naturally the person who introduced him was the American officer who had previously visited him at Heidelberg University.

He lay prone in front of the tank hatch, his PDA holding coordinates of the enemy's path into the city, transmitted by US infantry. The Tiger tank beneath him slowly turned its turret, pointing towards the assault gun and the approaching engine of the KMF.

Chapter 374, Section 475: The King of Tigers Disturbed

[022 Comment: Guess what background music should be used for this chapter? Hey, let's go with "Tiger Battle" from the movie *Fury*!]

"All American troops in Neumarkt, the enemy has entered the city along the main road to the northeast. Their goal is to swallow the entire city to open up the way to our west. Those roads less than 18 kilometers away from us are still busy with friendly troops fleeing for their lives from Nuremberg."

"The balance of heavy firepower is tilted to the Britannians' side, our wounded are also in critical condition, and all we can do is concentrate all our efforts on the shield-shaped city center area, including the courthouse, city hall and Catholic church, to ensure that we hold the last inch of Neumarkt alive before reinforcements arrive."

"And everyone, everyone who has a PDA, if you notice any movement of enemy troops within the city, please immediately use the share marker function to inform all the city's garrison, including Lieutenant Carius."

……

Neumarkt was a city surrounded by fields, wooded hills, and roads leading in and out of the city mostly detoured around or through the woods. The large American tank force, concentrated on both sides of the road leading into the city, had a high chance of ambushing the Britannians using the natural cover of the woodlands—but unfortunately, they lost due to the enemy's numerical superiority and the vegetation damaged by previous bombing.

The American troops had already retreated into the city, so the next step was to use their superior numbers to roughly encircle the urban area. Captain Mary understood this better than Captain Sally, but when she prepared to lead her team to flank the city, a broken bridge blocked their way.

Yes, there is a small river nearly 20 meters wide that runs from south to north, cutting the city in two. If you don't want to take the more treacherous roads in the south of the city, this is the only way to cross the river outside the city.

"That's it?" Sally was quite angry when she heard about this. "Do you understand now? Mother Earth told you to stop going around in circles!"

“I was just trying to give you a better excuse for your recklessness, Sally.” Mary glanced at the broken bridge slowly. “If the American troops didn’t blow up the bridge, it just means they probably had an ambush on the other side of the town.”

"So, just to prove they're 'actually putting up a last-ditch effort,' you sent over a dozen tanks and KMFs to help you with something a single player could have done? Get your ass back in the city!" Sally's voice cracked with rage.

Maintaining their unhurried and composed demeanor, Mary and her party had just taken their first steps when a strange noise, echoing the earlier commotion in the city, shot past them like a cold arrow, leaving trails of cannonballs in its wake.

“Sally, I heard you answer.” Mary’s face immediately turned serious. “That unfamiliar square tank you encountered is coming in my direction.”

"What?!" Sally's shrill voice seemed about to jump up. "Given your style, shouldn't you think it's the second tank of the same type?"

“I’ve never heard of tanks of the same type having the same paint scratches from shells.” Mary paused. “To be able to move here so quickly from the previous firing position, it can’t be just an ordinary big tank. It’s time for you to send some men to my position.”

"Are you fucking sure?!"

……

The Tiger tank reversed between the houses on the riverbank. Carius realized that he and the Tiger were not on the Soviet-German front before 1943, and they were not facing the 76mm guns of the T-34 and KV-1.

It's a long story. The selection of the crew was rather rushed. Carius basically used up all his luck with a veteran Tiger driver and a communications soldier fluent in English.

Finding a qualified loader wasn't difficult, but finding a gunner proved challenging. After searching for a long time in Munich and Frankfurt, they finally found a sergeant who had only served on the Panzer IV for a little over six months.

"Calm down, and then I'll tell you what to do, and you'll just do as I say, okay?" Carius ordered the driver to back the tank into a shell crater and stop, while telling the gunner in front of him to aim the gun at the house the tank had been leaning against when it fired last time.

"See that sign on the house? Then look through the scope for the windows on the first and second floors of this house. Get a feel for what 2 meters is like. Aim at the sign and get ready to fire."

As he spoke, the lieutenant heard the KMF's wheels approaching from the riverbank. In the instant a huge figure flashed by, the gunner, who was quick-witted, immediately fired the 88mm tank gun.

The KMF crashed between two houses, the collapsed walls piling up on it, blocking the Tiger tank's path.

“We can’t stay in the crater forever. The tank will be moving around, but I’ll have the driver find some relatively flat roads for you.”

……

"Captain Mary, that weird tank destroyed one of our KMFs, we're circling around it... Stop! There's another Porcupine, next to the house behind it!"

The echoes of Sherman's 76mm cannon and M2 heavy machine gun in the distance followed the Tiger and took out two more KMFs, which made Mary feel a bit tricky.

"The area ahead is likely a concentration of US troops. Encircle it... Also, everyone listen up: let's call that new tank 'Jaguar' for now. Report its movements immediately!"

Mary and the assault gunners around her stopped to make way for the KMF and the infantry fighting vehicles full of infantrymen—they would probably have to dig them out house by house and wall by wall.

With the cover of infantry fighting vehicles and cannons, the US troops, even with machine guns and bazookas, began to struggle. They were forced to retreat step by step by the dense and destructive firepower, and even had to escape the pursuit and fire of the KMF with recoilless rifles.

The Sherman tank that was lying in ambush with the Tiger saw the KMF with anti-armor firepower and also saw the assault guns maneuvering around the KMF. Realizing that things were not going well, it fired a white phosphorus smoke bomb and then fled.

"Damn it, I can see you advancing on the electronic map with my own eyes!" On the other side of the small town, Sally was leading a large group of men, bombarding the American troops holding out in the city center with artillery shells. "And you still want me to support you?!"

"If you don't want your subordinates to achieve a great feat, then so be it."

As Mary spoke, she led the assault guns onto the main street. What came into her view, besides the empty street scene, was a pair of particularly wide track tracks that ran across the road—they certainly weren't left by Sherman.

The captain then left one KMF gun with recoilless rifle and one assault gun, along with a squad of infantry, to guard the T-junction behind them, while she led more men in pursuit of the fleeing American troops, disappearing into the swirling dust and sand.

"Where's the jaguar?!"

Aside from scanning their surroundings, the infantrymen guarding the crossroads could only lie prone on the ground, but unfortunately, the sounds of tracks and crisscrossing road wheels were inaudible amidst the bricks and cement. The air was filled with the roar of artillery fire, making it impossible to distinguish the sounds of fuel engines—all thanks to the thick layer of loose soil dug out between the city's buildings by the previous bombing.

Just as they were feeling confused, suddenly a section of brick wall behind them, in the direction they had come from, was pushed down by a huge steel structure.

"It's a jaguar! It's circled around behind us! Scatter!" As the tank cannon roared and smashed the KMF to pieces, the fleeing infantry turned around and saw a tiger's head with a gaping maw painted in white on the side of the turret. It looked like a startled beast king crawling out of its grave, with a blood-red iron cross between its exposed upper and lower jaws.

……

"Yes, we should attack the ones that run the fastest first. This will reduce the chances that the enemy will slip away from us and go around to wait for an opportunity."

Under Carius's command, the Tiger tank, while reloading armor-piercing rounds and aiming at the turning assault gun, reversed at full speed and finally managed to penetrate the enemy's armor just as the enemy was aiming at its gun shield.

The Britannian infantry panicked at the sight, unable to do anything but throw fragmentation grenades haphazardly at it. The Tiger sped through the street, clearing a path with the MG34 machine gun mounted on the right side of the vehicle and next to the cannon barrel.

"Aim at the rear! Quick!" As if some premonition was pulling at Carius's brain, before the tank had gone far, he turned his head and saw that several assault guns that had gone to pursue the American troops had already rushed back after hearing the news.

After the two sides at opposite ends of the street fired a shot at each other, the Tiger tank immediately turned and swerved to the open space next to it. Before the enemy could arrive, it quickly circled around and turned 180 degrees. Then, while reversing at full speed, it aimed its gun at the direction the enemy might be coming from.

"Driver and gunner, be ready to change course and turret at any time. Listen to my orders, understand?!" As soon as the words were spoken, an assault gun at full speed had already rushed to the intersection in front of the crew.

"200 meters! Maintain current angle! Fire!" The 88mm gun responded and opened fire, turning the high-profile assault gun that had turned sideways into black smoke from a coal stove amidst flying sparks, giving it no chance to rotate and fire.

"One taken care of, prepare more armor-piercing rounds!" Carius lay prone on the turret, trying to focus his attention on the rumbling of wheels coming from between the surrounding buildings. "Driver, reverse to the right at 30 degrees and full speed! Gunner, using the door light of the gatehouse as a reference, keep your eyes on the left side of the gun barrel, in the direction of the inn!"

Another assault gun appeared, the 88mm gun grazed the edge of its armor and went astray, and the assault gun also hit the Tiger's gun shield, making the commander's heart ache.

"Is everyone alright?" After coughing a few times and confirming that no one in the vehicle was injured, Carius continued to give orders to the driver and gunner in the same tone he had used earlier, "Reverse to the left at 45 degrees! Aim the cannon at its current elevation and aim at the window of the farmhouse on the right! Fire only when I give the order!"

Immediately following the lieutenant's order, the armor-piercing shell of the 88mm gun suddenly flew out of the barrel, smashed through the wall, and hit the hull below the assault gun that flashed by on the other side of the farmhouse. The axle immediately tilted and stopped moving.

"Same target, another shot!" This time, the black-painted tire machine was successfully ignited. "Quickly, reverse 60 degrees to the right, aim at the direction and height of the fountain in the left square!"

The next shot missed again. Seeing that the number of enemy vehicles surrounding the Tiger seemed to be increasing, Carius had no choice but to order the driver to reverse at full speed, disregarding the gunner's aim.

……

Mary's assault gun relentlessly fired at the Tiger tank, the newly equipped cannon and 88mm tank gun flashing against the streets and buildings. Soon, her vehicle, painted with the letter M, had outflanked the Tiger to its side and rear.

However, the sound of artillery fire behind her was not right—unlike the sounds of friendly forces, it turned into a 76mm armor-piercing shell that whizzed past the ground under the chassis of an assault gun. Only then did Mary realize that the Sherman tank that had been assisting the Tiger had caught up.

"Turn around, turn around!" A shell piercing through the groin would send chills down anyone's spine. Mary's command caught the still-shaken driver completely off guard, and the car crashed into a house with a loud bang, leaving a large hole—after all, it was far from the Tiger's 55-ton weight, otherwise, at that speed it could have smashed through the two-story building and still not stopped.

This unexpected turn of events caught Mary off guard, leaving her momentarily unsure whether to jump out of the vehicle or lock the hatch. Immediately afterward, another 76mm Sherman gun fired, striking the assault gun's gun shield and causing the barrel to rise sharply and become stuck, unable to move.

"Captain!" Fortunately, two assault guns took out Sherman at this critical moment and rushed towards Mary's direction.

In the narrow cluster of buildings, the pursuing assault guns died one by one in the flashes of the 88mm guns. The burning wreckage quickly filled the streets and alleys, while the Tiger tanks still managed to escape to the riverbank.

“Sacrifice is necessary, just like the people of District 45 facing the Knights of the Round Table and the 'figureheads' of the Order.” Captain Mary gritted her teeth and ordered the two remaining assault guns to follow and pursue Carius’s vehicle, while she herself was “willing to pay the price with her life.”

Without needing to worry about artillery aiming and having already lightened her body, her assault gun quickly reached the intersection ahead of the Tiger tank, made a sharp turn, and blocked the tank from the side. The 55-ton Tiger rammed into it and hit the curb, but was quickly blocked by the houses on the other side of the road and could no longer be pushed.

Taking advantage of the moment, Mary opened the hatch, grabbed her gun, and pulled the trigger at the Tiger's commander's cupola, just a step too late as Carius retreated into the turret. As bullets clattered against the turret roof, the captain could already see the friendly vehicle following closely behind catching up to the rear of the Tiger tank.

Just as Mary was about to breathe a sigh of relief and wait for the Jaguar's engine to be pierced, a series of cannon shots unexpectedly rang out from the opposite bank of the river. Before Mary could react, the two assault guns in front of her were instantly reduced to the same lifeless landscape as the collapsed ruins around her, engulfed in flames.

"This..." Seeing that things were not going well, Mary and her entourage hurriedly ran out of the assault gun, bracing themselves against the Walter P38 that Carius was protruding from the turret, and jumped into the river to escape.

……

"Calling the Northern Union forces in Neumarkt. This is the 501st Tank Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division of the French Army. We have been ordered to support your unit and have arrived in the northern area of ​​the city. Please respond."

Carius spent a long time trying to make out the six or seven wide, flat figures on the opposite bank of the river. They were somewhat unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar—he had never driven one, but had seen one more than once: Panzer IV tank destroyers, painted with a gold Lorraine cross, their 75mm guns of varying lengths all pointing forward.

The lieutenant ordered them to remain where they were, ready to ambush any moving enemy in their line of sight, before the Tiger tanks sped off towards the city center—the American commander was practically hoarse from shouting. Just moments before, Britannian gunfire had turned the last intact window of the courthouse into a furnace.

"Mary? Mary? Where are you?" Sally realized she couldn't contact her teammates, but with nearly thirty vehicles and over two hundred infantrymen remaining, seeing that the American forces had no chance of fighting back, she thought it over and decided to launch a full-scale offensive to annihilate the American forces.

They were separated from the courthouse by a huge intersection and a vast lawn, less than 300 meters in radius, with a pond dividing the open space in two. Anyone could understand that such a close-range, concentrated attack by heavy firepower was not something anyone could easily withstand, and it was unlikely that the US military would organize them to operate on the outskirts of the city center again.

However, as they passed through the open area, the strange scream of the 88mm tank gun came from the north again, sweeping through them with devastating armor-piercing shells.

"Could it be? All of Mary and the others?" As the Tiger tank reappeared faintly in the shadows between the buildings, Sally felt a sudden, choking sensation rise in her chest.

"High-explosive shell! 360 meters, enemy humanoid vehicle, fire!"

"Machine guns, fire freely! Armor-piercing rounds! 430 meters, enemy wheeled armored vehicle, fire!"

"Armor-piercing rounds! 440 meters, wheeled armored vehicle, fire!"