Read the domain name of this site online in plain text

Please visit the mobile phone to read synchronously

It was a very smooth march without any trouble. The German soldiers were thirsty and hungry, knocking on the doors of the residents for food and drink, while the residents of Newnan realized that war was once again on their heads.

At the same time, the Allied "Market Garden" operation was not going smoothly. Since some Allied forces entered Belgium and advanced towards the Dutch border, the guard tank division of the British Second Army had a series of fierce battles with the German army on the way to march towards Edhoven. In the fierce battle, nine Sherman tanks were destroyed by German assault guns, 75mm anti-tank guns and "RPG bazooka". The Allied forces spent huge casualties to crush these German obstacles. That night, the British finally arrived in the south of Edhoven and rested there for a night, and precious time was quietly passing.

The next morning, the British tank troops in southern Edhoven were delayed again: some German reserve troops equipped with 88mm guns blocked the entire 30th Legion for several hours. Why didn't the 101st Airborne Division come to help? They had liberated Edhoven and had radio contact with the British army of the 30th Legion. Until now, no one knows why they did so little.

However, thankfully, on September 19th, the Allies finally made some progress. A steel bridge of Bere was set up in Sand City, and the tanks and trucks of the 30th Legion were able to pass the north to rescue the British paratroopers in Nijmegan and Anheng, where the British were fighting fiercely with the Ninth and Tenth Elite Armored Divisions under the Second Armored Army commanded by General Bitterrich and the Dutch SS troops. These Germans were veterans on the Eastern Front and had just fought the Battle of Normandy, and had very strong combat power.

For the British Second Army, the bridge across the Wilhelmina Canal in Sand City was the most important. The British made a beautiful rapid assault: a fifteen kilometers in one hour! British tanks arrived at Gerav near Nijmegan and contacted the 82nd Airborne Division.

But they paused again - this time because they had to cross the 10th SS Armored Division and the Val.

On September 19th, Edhoven became a sea of ​​joy. The Germans finally left, the lovely Americans and British people came, and the Dutch girls kissed these soldiers. Everything looked good, but the streets were crowded with people. The traffic jam was consuming time bit by bit. [I believe everyone has watched "Brothers" and has an intuitive feeling about it].

The next night was a disaster: to everyone's surprise, German bombers bombed Edhoven violently. This was not a blind revenge, but a clear tactical goal, that is, the ruins of Edhoven would force the British Second Army to spend more time through the city to delay the army's advance towards Nijmegan and Anheng in the north.

The Germans in Sand City were fighting with paratroopers of the 101st US Division. They were told that a German tank unit would attack from the east, but there was nothing. The general of the 59th Infantry Division felt very regretful that he had just launched an attack alone and lost more than 1,700 people. There was no doubt that the British would come with their "Cromwell" tank, but where was the German own tank?

On the afternoon of September 19, Colonel Zion studied the map and was directing his tanks to advance to the bridge in Sancheng. Although there were several plans to achieve the goal, he finally decided to use the canal dam to let the leopard pass by. It was not easy to drive tanks on the narrow dam, but the drivers had no choice. Lieutenant Dick was commanded.

Through the telescope he could see the road to Nijmegan was packed with tanks and trucks, and the British sat on the ground smoking and drinking coffee, and no one noticed these leopards! Then let's have a surprise, and leopards turned left and drove up the levees. Now to their right is the William Minner Canal, and to their left are the bushes and woods. They went along the levees without cover, could not retreat or choose, a real adventure! It was seventeen o'clock in the afternoon.

General Taylor, the commander of the 101th Airborne Division, kept hearing rumors that the German tanks were coming towards Sancheng. He felt a little worried, so he sent a reconnaissance platoon to find out what happened. As soon as these American soldiers walked past the dam, they suddenly heard a low roar of engines. At the same time, they saw a disguised leopard tank coming out from behind the bushes, followed by another one. Everyone was extremely frightened and began to flee, and some even jumped into the river.

The leopard opened fire without hesitation and hit a truck on the bridge. More leopards drove out of the bushes and shot at the houses across the river. The scene was in chaos! Some American soldiers tried to block the leopard's advance with a bazooka, but failed. General Taylor's command was also hit by several shells. He ran out to find and fired a Jeep near some unloaded gliders, found a 75mm anti-tank gun and pulled it out. He quickly set up a shooting position near the bridge and fired at the first leopard tank that was almost about to reach the bridge. Fortunately, he actually hit it. The leopard stopped and blocked the road of the tank behind. The Germans could not move forward. The second leopard was quickly hit by the bazooka and caught fire.

Lieutenant Dick realized that his Leopard tank was powerless now, and the German tanks began to retreat. At the same time, he asked Zion to send grenades to attack, and the tanks provided fire support for him, but Zion refused him, because it was too late and Sand City was likely to be very defensive. In fact, the opposite was the case. If he decisively sent infantry, he would easily occupy the bridge. The first attack of the 107th Tank Division failed, but for the US and British troops, they really escaped from death. That night, the Luftwaffe bombed Edhoven, and the joy quickly passed, and people began to worry that the Germans would come back soon.

On this day the road from Edhoven to Nijmegan was called the Hell Road by the Allies. This road runs north and south, along the road from Eindhoven to Feher, to Nijmegan, and to Arnhem. Half the road is asphalt and half brick, which can be driven by two cars against each other. But it is a bit crowded for trucks. Like most roads in the Netherlands, it is about one meter higher than the ground, meaning that anything on the road stands out on the horizon.

On this day, the German army cut off the highway more than once and fought fiercely with the Allied forces. From the morning, the German army launched an attack from the south of Monnar City to the highway leading to Nijmegan. Because the ground was very wet and muddy, the German tanks and half-tracked vehicles were almost unavailable, so the German army had no cover. The US army used a 75mm self-propelled howitzer to fight back. Although the Germans could not cut off the lifeline of the Allied forces, they achieved their goal: sluggish.

…(To be continued)

...
Chapter completed!