Chapter 426: Landing Preparation (1)

Heavy snow fell from the sky, and the bombing of the British mainland was forced to stop. Only the V3 cannons were tirelessly pouring shells on London.

The barrels of the V3 cannons have been replaced several times, and the replaced barrels were not wasted. After a little processing of the barrel wall, it became a 155mm cannon howitzer. When installed on the chassis of the Jackal tank, it became a self-propelled howitzer.

The cannon howitzer is a gun that has the ballistic characteristics of both cannons and howitzers. When firing with large charges and small firing angles, its trajectory is low and close to the performance of cannons, and it can perform cannon shooting tasks; when firing with small charges and large firing angles, its trajectory is more curved, close to the performance of howitzers, and it can perform howitzer shooting tasks. In 1915, Germany developed the world's first modern howitzer. During World War II, howitzers were widely equipped and used by the warring countries. Its characteristics are: the barrel length/caliber ratio is between 39 and 45. When using large propellant and small firing angle, the ballistic characteristics are close to cannons; when using small propellant and large firing angle, the ballistic characteristics are close to howitzers.

Because it is second-hand, the durability is not as good as the new barrel, but at least it is waste utilization, and the cost performance is still quite high. Even the weapons department plans to continue processing after the 155mm howitzer barrel is eliminated and change it to a 160mm heavy mortar.

On this day, Yannick convened a high-level military meeting to discuss the landing war against Britain.

Among all combat styles, amphibious landing operations have always been called the most difficult to organize. Every time an amphibious operation is carried out, as long as the attacking party makes a slight mistake, it will reap a heavy blow or even the destruction of the entire army.

If the defenders lack heavy weapons, the landing troops will be able to break through the enemy's defenses more easily; but if the defenders have strong fortifications and powerful firepower, the landing site will become a bloody slaughterhouse.

Why did "Saving Private Ryan" become a classic? It is because the movie truly reflects the cruelty of the battlefield to individual soldiers - the soldiers were still alive and well one second, and they might be killed by bullets, shells or mines the next second, not to mention the incomplete limbs and the messy craters on the ground.

In order to reduce the German defense force in Normandy, the Allies used all kinds of "conspiracies and tricks". In order to create a situation of preparing to focus on attacking Calais, they not only set up a fake First Army Group internally, but also appointed Patton as the commander. The army was on standby at all times, ready to march to Calais, and even ordinary soldiers were kept in the dark.

Secondly, they deliberately let the Germans intercept their own telegrams, and even "accidentally" leaked important combat meeting reports. All this showed the Allies' determination to attack Calais.

After obtaining this intelligence, Germany quickly shifted its defense focus to Calais, and the garrison of Normandy was greatly reduced.

But even so, the Allied casualties in the Battle of Normandy reached 20,000. If it had not learned from the previous disastrous defeat in the Dieppe Landing, this number might have doubled.

In North Africa, Rommel's African Army was approaching Egypt: in the Atlantic, German submarines caused huge losses to the Allies' maritime transportation; in the Soviet Union, the German army was approaching the city of Stalingrad. Especially the Soviet Union, after more than a year of war, suffered heavy losses and was almost at the end of its rope, and urgently needed assistance.

Faced with such a critical situation, the United States, which had just joined the war, believed that it could take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the German elite troops to attack the Soviet Union, and urgently requested a large-scale amphibious landing in September, the most suitable time for landing in the English Channel, to open up a second battlefield. But Britain, which had experienced three years of war, knew that even with the full support of the United States, it would be difficult to win the cross-sea landing operation.

Therefore, Britain originally did not plan to launch an amphibious landing in 1942, and at most sent a small commando to carry out some harassment operations on the European continent. However, heavy pressure from several aspects forced Britain to act.

Against this background, the British wartime cabinet asked the Allied Joint Operations Command responsible for organizing and leading the development of a plan for a large-scale amphibious landing on the European continent. Based on past experience, the command under the leadership of General Louis Mountbatten finally selected the landing site as Dieppe, a small seaside port in the Warring States Period.

Dieppe is located in northern France, adjacent to the English Channel. The coast is full of distinctive white cliffs, steep and rugged, like a natural fortress. The De Arc River flows through the town and flows into the English Channel, dividing the city into two, and naturally forms docks for ships on both sides of the river. Historically, this place was a famous nest of Nordic pirates, and has become a famous seaside tourist destination in modern times.

After the surrender of France, the German army had many military facilities nearby, including a radar station and an airport. Along the banks of the Arques River, there were 5 coastal artillery companies deployed from east to west. These artillery companies were equipped with more than 20 150mm heavy artillery, and there were also several anti-aircraft artillery companies around the coast. The seawall was equipped with obstacles such as barbed wire. The German army buried a total of 40,000 mines on the beach and the open areas leading inland. There were fire points on the steep mountains on both sides of the Arques estuary, and even on the roofs of many seaside buildings, with many light and heavy machine guns. The German 302nd Infantry Division stationed in the area had a total strength of about 8,000 people, which was a very combat-capable force.

On August 18, 1942, the Allies launched an attack, but the result was dismal.

The army suffered 3,610 casualties and 2,200 missing, accounting for 54% of the total landing force. It also lost a large amount of supplies and equipment, including 30 tanks; the navy lost 1 escort destroyer and 33 landing craft, with 550 casualties; the air force lost 106 aircraft and 190 aircrew casualties. The total number of casualties and missing in the three services was 6,550, while the German casualties were only 650. The bodies, tank wreckage, weapons and equipment, and damaged landing craft scattered on the Dieppe beach became the best material evidence for Germany to promote its indestructible Atlantic Wall.

The extremely heavy losses were, as Churchill first said, "a treasure trove of experience" for the Allies (Churchill's political talent has always been top-notch. He was able to turn a disaster like Coventry, which was clearly caused by a lack of time to defend, into an inevitable loss and a conspiracy theory, and he also completely dispelled what he believed to be London's misjudgment). The Allied side summed up many valuable lessons from the disastrous defeat at Dieppe. These lessons, gained at the cost of lives and blood, were definitely the most precious wealth for the Normandy Landing two years later. In the formulation of the Normandy Landing plan, two principles that were regarded as golden rules came from Dieppe - never land directly at the port and make strong naval and air firepower preparations before landing.