Chapter 497: Surrender

In the spacious command room of the German High Command, telephones and telegrams were ringing non-stop, and the combat staff were busy marking the battlefield situation on the map and sand table. It was both lively and orderly.

"The main force of the British army has been transferred to Plymouth."

"The attack in Norwich has begun."

"The bunkers in Dover have been completely destroyed, and the K5 artillery group is extending its firing."

"An air battle broke out over Plymouth."

"The Plymouth defense forces raised the white flag across the board!"

Listening to Viscount Austin's order to raise the white flag and give up resistance across the board on the radio, the soldiers on the front line were naturally surprised, but no one would have thought that their commander was hijacked and lied to these soldiers in order to save his life.

The commander explained to them that Britain was going to negotiate with Germany and was ready to cede the Plymouth area to Germany in exchange for peace. Anyone who dared to disobey orders and attack the German army would be a sinner of the British Empire and a destroyer of peace.

"Sinners of the British Empire", such a big hat hung over their heads. Although many soldiers were indignant about the act of raising the white flag without firing a shot, no one dared to disobey. In addition, with the belief that "the British Empire will regroup and counterattack the Germans soon", they chose to obey the orders of their superiors and watched the German Liberty ship steadily anchored in the port of Plymouth.

Accompanied by the rumbling sound of the engine, one tank after another drove out of the cabin. Today's Jackal tanks have been modified and upgraded. The original 50mm KwK 39L/60 tank gun has been replaced with a 75mm kwk 40L/48 tank gun, the thickness of the front armor has reached 80 mm, and the engine has been upgraded to 420 horsepower.

When the first German tank drove onto British soil, dense transport helicopters flew in the sky.

The British soldiers who were sitting in the barracks with their heads down and doing nothing heard a loud rumbling sound from the sky outside. Curious, they walked out of the barracks one by one and looked in the direction of the sound.

"Oh my God, what are those?!" Most of these soldiers had never seen such a new thing as a helicopter. They were shocked to see a series of wingless planes whizzing past their heads, making a thumping sound. What was different from ordinary planes was that the huge propeller was actually above the entire plane.

In the shocked eyes of these British soldiers, four helicopters hovered over the camp. The strong winds caused by the propellers blew the leaves on the ground all over the sky, and the thick tree trunks swayed from side to side.

While the British soldiers used their hands to resist the flying dust, they squinted their eyes and saw several ropes hanging from the hovering helicopters. The fully armed German soldiers grabbed the ropes and slid down to the ground rapidly. As soon as they landed, they immediately pointed the black muzzles of their guns at the surrounding British soldiers.

"Who is the commander here?" The German officer with the rank of second lieutenant walked up to a British soldier who seemed to be petrified, and asked loudly in very standard English.

"..." The British soldier's panicked eyes swept around the crowd, and finally fixed on the officer with the rank of captain not far away. The captain seemed to have guessed what the German meant, and walked over and said loudly. "Our battalion commander has come to the headquarters for a meeting. I am Captain Smith." As he spoke, he saw the four aircraft slowly fly over the corner of the base and surround the entire base. There were two things like revolver cylinders hanging under each of the aircraft, and there were machine gunners operating machine guns by the hatch.

The German second lieutenant certainly knew that these commanders were controlled in the headquarters. "Captain Smith, I guess you have received the order from Commander Austin?"

"Yes, all the weapons have been put into storage." Captain Smith never dreamed that one day he would issue such a humiliating order and surrender without firing a shot. He didn't want to say much to the Germans, so he just gave the simplest answer. He was more concerned about what weapons were mounted on the Germans' strange aircraft. Since the war began, the Germans' new weapons have emerged one after another. I guess this is another extremely cruel murder weapon.

The Germans nodded with satisfaction. "Captain Smith, in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, let your soldiers return to the barracks and wait for orders. Don't walk around at will." Although these prisoners also need to be transported back to Germany and thrown into the prisoner-of-war camp, the Plymouth Port is now crowded with the landing German troops. Taking these British soldiers there at this time will definitely cause chaos and congestion.

So what they have to do is to control these British prisoners first to prevent them from rebelling and causing unnecessary trouble.

Captain Smith nodded and ordered the soldiers around him to return to the barracks.

Looking at the scattered British soldiers, the German lieutenant turned around and gave orders to the soldiers behind him. "Becker, you lead the first squad to guard the arsenal; Koch, you lead the second squad to guard the surrounding guard towers; Bowen, your squad will patrol with me."

"Yes!!"

Although these British soldiers have given up resistance, the number of a battalion is there after all. It is not reassuring to be guarded by a mere platoon of soldiers.

The German airborne troops quickly occupied various military strongholds in Plymouth.

When the British ground reinforcements just arrived at Exeter Railway Station, they heard such bad news. The commander of the British 12th Armored Division, Brandon, was stunned on the spot.

It took less than half a day for Plymouth to fall? !

That was a full 60,000 British soldiers and a perfect defense system!

How did the Germans break through in such a short time? What was going on? !

"Quick, order everyone to enter the city and build fortifications!" But he was not a confused person. After he recovered, he immediately ordered the troops to garrison in Exeter.

Hearing this order, the adjutant was stunned. "Shouldn't we go to Plymouth to defeat the Germans?"

"..." Division Commander Brandon looked at this hot-blooded young man and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. Are the Germans so easy to defeat? If it was so easy, they would be beaten to the mainland?

He was one of the officers who withdrew from Dunkirk and had a deep understanding of the strength of the German armored forces; if they wanted to confront the German armored forces head-on, they would only be destroyed.

Fortunately, they now have a geographical advantage. This place has been a mining area since ancient times, and the mining history here can even be traced back to the Stone Age; the mining of tin, lead, zinc, silver, copper and porcelain clay has become an important pillar of the mining economy. After years of excavation and mining, a large number of abandoned old mines have been left nearby.

And tanks can't go around in this kind of terrain, and they will fall into the big pit if they are not careful.

The Germans want to move quickly to London, so they can only move along the road.

Exeter is located on the only way from Plymouth to London. Since they failed to get to Plymouth to stop the Germans from landing, Division Commander Brandon decided to meet the Germans in Exeter.

Even if the performance of British tanks is not as good as that of German tanks, the performance of tanks will be greatly reduced in the complex urban environment. Even if their own tanks are used as fixed turrets, they can cause heavy damage to the German army.