Chapter 774 Hawaiian Islands (6)

"Commander, the Germans have occupied our first line of defense. Our army will retreat to the second line of defense and continue to hold on."

In the headquarters of the naval base in California, a staff officer reported to Nimitz about the battle situation on Oahu Island.

"So fast?!" Everyone in the conference room was a little surprised. They had just received the news that the Germans were preparing to land in the morning, and it had not been half a day before the Germans had landed and occupied the first line of defense? ! The combat effectiveness of the German army is too exaggerated, right? !

"The Germans sent dozens of tanks ashore. They were not light tanks, but real jackal tanks. Our army did not have effective anti-tank weapons and could not resist the German advance."

"Jackal tanks? How did the Germans do it? Wasn't the dock at Pearl Harbor blown up?" They were no strangers to the German jackal tanks that swept across most of Europe. But as far as they knew, the weight of the jackal tanks must be more than 20 tons. How did the Germans transport these tanks ashore in such a short time?

"The dock was blown up, but the Germans sent a large number of hovercrafts to transport the tanks directly to the beach."

"Hovercraft?!" A hovercraft is also a ship, so Nimitz was no stranger to it. What shocked him was that the Germans' hovercraft had such a large carrying capacity that it could carry more than 20 tons of main battle tanks. This was not good news. If the Germans planned to land on the US mainland in the future, they would definitely send a large number of hovercrafts, which would be quite disadvantageous for the defending side, because the Germans only needed to find a flat landing point to deliver a large number of heavy firepower weapons and equipment, which was simply impossible to defend against!

The staff continued to report. "After occupying the first line of defense, the Germans did not continue to advance, but built fortifications on the spot. Commander Wilson was preparing to attack the Germans at night. The Germans blew up the freshwater purification station on the island. Commander Wilson was worried that he could not hold on for long, and wanted to kill as many Germans as possible."

"The freshwater purification station was destroyed?" Nimitz frowned slightly. This is bad news again. Without fresh water, the soldiers on the island may not be able to hold out for long.

"Can we transport fresh water purification equipment to the island?" In fact, he also knew that this was almost impossible. Aircraft and surface ships could easily be intercepted by the German army. But if a submarine is sent, it will take eight or nine days to reach Oahu at the slow speed of the submarine. In these eight or nine days, the soldiers on the island may have died of thirst.

But he didn't want to give up. "Send a submarine immediately to transport fresh water purification equipment to Oahu as quickly as possible!"

"Yes!"

Oahu.

After nightfall, the eerie silence did not last too long. With a slight sound of whoosh, a red flare rose into the air.

The next moment, the artillery positions of the US military that had escaped the bombing by chance immediately boiled up and poured shells at the German positions.

Most of these cannons were M2 105MM howitzers. This was the best howitzer of the US military during World War II. It was the backbone of the artillery that provided direct support to infantry divisions, airborne divisions, and Marine Corps.

Interestingly, this howitzer also has German origins. As early as World War I, the German army used a large number of M1909 105mm howitzers. At the end of World War I, the US military obtained a large number of this type of artillery. The excellent performance of this batch of artillery was deeply loved by US generals, and they all requested domestic imitation. However, because there was no relevant military demand after World War I, the imitation work was very slow.

Moreover, the M1909 was a mule-and-horse towed type, which no longer met the needs of the new era. After some modifications, a 105mm light howitzer that could be towed by a car at high speed was finalized in 1931 and was named M1. After the outbreak of World War II, the US military continued to improve the M1 howitzer, and it was called M2 after finalization. A total of more than 8,000 M2s were produced in World War II. They were important firepower support for the US infantry and were also provided to some allies for use. Together with the production after the war, a total of about 10,000 vehicles were produced.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dense shells fell on the German positions. The Hawaiian Islands were occupied by the United States as early as 1893 and completely controlled by the United States in 1898. They were stationed on the islands for decades, and they could fire their shells wherever they wanted even with their eyes closed.

However, the German fortifications were not made of paper. In the past, it took several months or even years to build a solid fortress. However, Yannick knew that someone in later generations had invented a simple explosion-proof wall called the Esco explosion-proof wall, which is abbreviated as HESCO. It was originally designed to prevent erosion of dikes, and to prevent floods and control water. Later, it was used by the US military to build a troop fortress.

The Esco explosion-proof wall unit is folded into a flat plate during storage and transportation, which saves a lot of space. At the same time, the weight of a single Esco explosion-proof wall unit is very light and can be carried by manpower. The folded Esco explosion-proof wall unit is unfolded and erected, and the two adjacent Esco explosion-proof wall units are fixed together with wires, so that the single units of the entire row of Esco explosion-proof walls can be connected into a whole wall. The biggest convenience of the Esco explosion-proof wall is that it can be made of local materials, such as sand, gravel and pebbles. Large construction machinery such as loaders and excavators are used to load soil, sand and gravel into the Esco explosion-proof wall unit, and a section of the wall is built.

After adopting this technology, the German army can build a solid defensive position in the shortest time.

The fierce artillery fire of the US military landed on the German positions, but the casualties caused to the German army were minimal. After a while, the German fleet at sea began to counterattack. Compared with the US 105MM howitzers, the 406mm main guns of the German battleships were extremely powerful. Just two rounds of artillery fire blasted the American 105MM howitzer positions into the sky.

With the roar of the cannon, a US death squad quietly sneaked into the German positions 100 meters away. They carefully set up the M2 60mm mortar and stuffed the shells into the mortar barrels.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Accompanied by muffled sounds, mortar shells fell on the German positions, but these were not high-explosive bombs, but smoke bombs. After a while, the German positions were covered by thick smoke.

Then another red flare was launched. The American soldiers jumped up, roared, and rushed towards the German positions.

90 meters, 80 meters, 60 meters...

They were getting closer and closer to the German positions, but the other side did not make any movement. Michael, the American soldier at the front, could not help but feel a strange palpitation. Even if the German positions were surrounded by smoke, they should at least shoot randomly? Why is there no movement until now? Did all the defenders die in the artillery bombardment just now?