Chapter 773 Hawaiian Islands (5)
The M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle equipped by the US military in World War II is a famous legendary rifle. General Patton once called the M1 Garand rifle "the greatest war machine in history."
The designer of this legendary rifle, John Cantius Garand, was born in Canada and later moved to the United States with his family. During World War I, he designed a light fully automatic machine gun. Although the design was not adopted by the US Army, it enabled him to obtain a position as a gun designer in the US Bureau of Standards and was later transferred to the Springfield Armory.
When Garand started designing this semi-automatic rifle, bolt-action rifles were still the preferred firearms in wars around the world. Many gun experts believe that semi-automatic or fully automatic rifles are just "unrealistic" imaginations. Garand also encountered many difficulties in the beginning of designing the rifle. Before the M1 Garand rifle, he designed many models, all of which failed.
The M1 Garand rifle, which was finally successfully developed, encountered many strong opponents in the bidding of the US Army Ordnance Department. Such as the Bell-Etty rifle, the Pedersen rifle, the Thompson submachine gun, and the Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifle.
After layers of selection, only Garand and Pedersen were left; the Ordnance Committee preferred Pedersen's design advantages; but it also felt that Garand still had value for development, so it asked Garand to submit a model using 276 bullets to compete with Pedersen.
Coincidentally, the US Army was already dissatisfied with the performance of the existing 276-caliber bullets at the time, especially MacArthur, the then US Army Chief of Staff, who bluntly stated that the 276-caliber rifle was garbage and forced to plan the 30-caliber rifle as a key project. As a result, this requirement just contributed to Garand's success.
When the island country went to war without declaration, the US Army equipped with M1 Garand soon began to fight with the Japanese army (it is worth mentioning that the Japanese army tried to imitate Garand in the later period of the war and named it Type 4 rifle. Although the rifle did not enter active service, it also indirectly shows the influence of Garand's design.) In the Mediterranean theater, American soldiers equipped with Garand landed in North Africa during Operation Torch. Since then, Garand has hardly missed any battle in which the US military participated.
With the strong logistical support of the United States, semi-automatic rifles have greatly increased the firepower density of the US infantry squad. Garand was designed with simplicity and reliability as the purpose, which not only allowed Garand to arm the entire US armed forces with a large output, but also made it a highly reliable weapon. Generals love her, officers admire her, and soldiers love her. It is no exaggeration to say that the "greatest war tool" truly belongs to this semi-automatic rifle used for American dignity.
And now the M1 Garand rifle, which the US military has just equipped, has encountered the more advanced FAL rifle of the German Marine Corps. What's more terrible is that the German Marines have more than just FALs in their hands. They have tanks on the ground, attack aircraft in the sky, and naval guns on the sea; a true trinity of land, sea and air.
When another round of fleet artillery fire hit the US positions, the German tanks had already approached 50 meters away.
"Quick! Prepare the bazooka!" A US military officer shouted loudly, asking the soldiers to prepare the bazooka anti-tank rocket launcher. An American soldier stood up suddenly with a bazooka rocket launcher, aiming at a German tank not far away. But before he could pull the trigger, he was hit by the sweeping machine gun on the tank, and the whole person fell down powerlessly. But he was not the only one who jumped up. More than a dozen US soldiers jumped up with bazookas. Although most of them were shot by the tank's machine gun and the German soldiers behind the tank, there were still a few rockets flying straight towards the German tank.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the explosions, the American soldiers who were about to cheer were shocked to find that the German tanks hit by rockets continued to move forward unscathed.
"Oh my God! How is this possible?!" The American soldiers were shocked. In fact, they had heard rumors that the bazooka sent to the Soviet Union could not even destroy a German tank. But at that time, they thought it was because the stupid Soviets did not know how to use it. Now they found that the German tanks were really not afraid of their bazooka, and they also noticed that the fence-like things around the German tanks detonated the rockets fired in advance.
"Tu Tu! Tu Tu Tu!" At a machine gun position, the shooter desperately swung the machine gun back, and a German tank aimed the black hole muzzle here. With a loud bang, the 75mm grenade hit the machine gun position exactly, and the loader and machine gunner were blown into a bloody mess, and the machine gun was also blown into parts.
Although the American soldiers tried their best to stop the German advance, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Hearing that the first line of defense had been breached by the Germans in many places, Commander Wilson had no choice but to order the remaining soldiers to withdraw to the second line of defense.
In the German fleet, Commander Hermann on the bridge received a report from the front line. "Commander, the US military has withdrawn from the first line of defense."
Commander Hermann nodded. "How much did the landing force lose?"
"Less than 200 casualties. Do we need to continue the pursuit?"
Commander Hermann smiled and said. "Don't worry, take your time. Send out engineering troops to build fortifications." In amphibious landing operations, the attacking side's beachhead operation is the most difficult, but once the attacking side has a foothold at the landing point, it will be the defenders who will have a hard time. Because the attacking side will continuously send reinforcements and heavy equipment to the island, consuming the defenders' strength bit by bit, squeezing the defenders' living space until the defenders are compressed into a small area and completely eliminated.
The front-line German troops who received the order began to build fortifications on the spot. The field fortifications of the German army in World War II were built based on the actual combat experience of World War I. Almost every German officer who participated in the trench warfare of World War I was an expert in the construction of field fortifications. Although more than 20 years have passed, and various weapons have changed with each passing day, the construction methods of field fortifications in World War I have not become outdated, only the defensive tactics have become outdated.
With the help of various engineering machinery, the German army quickly rebuilt fortifications on the first line of defense of the US army.
"It seems that the Germans are going to advance step by step?" Hearing the report from his staff, Commander Wilson's face flashed with worry. The current situation is quite unfavorable for them. Yesterday, the first wave of attacks by the German attack aircraft formation blew the fresh water purification station on the island into pieces, resulting in very little fresh water left on the island. Anyone with a little common sense knows that without water to drink, people will die in a few days. If the Germans are determined to stalemate with them, they will suffer a large number of casualties in a few days. "How is the fresh water purification station? Can it be repaired?"
The staff sighed depressedly. Wanting to repair the destroyed fresh water purification station is like trying to piece together and save people who have been blown to pieces. "It's impossible. We have to rebuild one. But there are no extra materials and machines on the island."
After a long silence, Commander Wilson slowly spoke. "Prepare to attack the Germans at night and drive them all into the sea."