The suspicion that elite enemy paratroopers might appear in their rear made the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division more cautious in its operations at night. You know, if there really is

Such a paratrooper unit equipped with highly mobile airborne self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, then they are completely

It is entirely possible to launch a new ambush at a certain location. And at night, the possibility of being ambushed will be higher. In order to avoid falling into the enemy's ambush circle, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division passed those areas where the main force

When there may be an area where enemy troops may be setting up an ambush, troops must first be dispatched to investigate and seize the commanding heights.

This approach is certainly safer, but it also slows down the march. In addition, the harassment intensity of Allied bombers suddenly intensified along the way. In addition to constantly dropping illumination bombs, they also dropped a large number of 17th

The Panzergrenadier Division had never encountered a troublesome thing before - time bomb. At the beginning, the 17th Panzer Grenadier Division

The military division was not familiar with this thing, so they just ignored it as a dumb bomb that did not explode. As a result, a bomb suddenly exploded when a convoy was passing by, overturning three trucks and killing him.

Nearly two hundred people were injured. Due to these factors, the movement speed of the entire division was almost half slower than in the previous days.

Now, in order to save time, the troops can no longer even follow the regular procedures to eliminate those damn time bombs. For example, right now, just five or six meters away from the road, a 250-pound time bomb is planted on the roadside.

In the soil, no one knows when it will explode. Maybe an hour later, maybe half an hour later, maybe next time

seconds. Under normal circumstances, specialized EOD personnel should have removed the fuse of the bomb, and then moved the bomb to a safe location before the entire army passed. But now, the German army has no time to do this because

If they cannot reach a safe hiding spot at night, they will be exposed to the enemy's overwhelming air power during the day.

So now the procedure for dealing with these time bombs is much simpler. The most time-consuming first step has been omitted. Go directly to the second step. Several people risked being blown to pieces to dig up the bombs and then install them.

Drag a half-track trailer to a safe distance and throw it away. This is of course very dangerous. In just half an hour,

Previously, Kopke had witnessed with his own eyes that when three soldiers and the tow truck driver were lifting the time bomb and preparing to put it on the trailer, the same 250-pound aerial bomb suddenly exploded without warning.

The four soldiers didn't even have time to scream, and the half-track vehicle was torn to pieces by the bomb.

Now, as the company commander, Kopke is watching the three young men in his company who volunteered to carry out this dangerous mission, step by step towards the time bomb that may swallow their lives at any time.

"Have you thought about it? It is very dangerous to perform this kind of mission, and you may die at any time." This is what Kopke said to the three soldiers who volunteered to stand up when he was selecting volunteers for bomb disposal in his company.

.

"I'm not ordering any of you to participate. You don't have to go at all. No one will blame you for this. Do you still insist on going?"

"Yes, sir!" Rams, the youngest of the four, who was just 18 years old, replied firmly, "I am willing to sacrifice my life for the Führer and for Germany! This is my honor!" Koepke

You can clearly see the passionate light shining in his big eyes.

This answer left Kopke speechless for a long time. In the end, he could only reach out his hand and gently pat Ramsay on the shoulder. Then he turned to the second volunteer, Sieg...

Now the three people have walked to the side of the bomb. Sieg held the bomb while holding a flashlight on his head and shoulders to illuminate the two other people. Ramsay and Gauss each held a pickaxe and began to dig loose.

The soil next to the bomb. Nearly half of the bomb was embedded in the soil on the roadside. It took three people several minutes to dig it out.

At this time, a half-track trailer also drove past quickly. The driver jumped out of the driver's seat and pulled out a rope and a thick wooden stick from the truck bed. Several people hurriedly tied the bomb and let

Finally, they used all their strength to lift it up. From a distance, Kopke, watching this scene, felt that his heart seemed to be lifted up as well.

Four young men carried the bomb onto the car, and then three people jumped on the car. When Zig jumped on it, his foot stumbled, and one guy fell on the bomb. This almost shocked everyone

I was so frightened that I fainted. Fortunately, there was no movement from the bomb, and it seemed that it had no intention of exploding.

The driver of the half-track yelled "Hold it!" and at the same time stepped on the accelerator, driving the half-track toward the distance and disappearing into the night. About ten minutes later, maybe not that long, maybe only

Two or three minutes later, the tow truck appeared again, with many people on it!

The crowd couldn't help but erupt into a suppressed, low cheer. Kopke rushed forward and hugged them one by one. He found that their whole bodies were soaked with sweat.

"Well done! Well done! I wish I could come back, I wish I could come back!" Kopke whispered while hugging them.

But time was tight, and it was too luxurious to waste time celebrating. So everyone immediately climbed into the Opel truck they were assigned. The convoy became active again and drove towards the distance. At this moment, about three hundred meters away,

There was a loud noise - the time bomb just exploded.

"It's really dangerous. If we had been a little slower just now, we would have..." Hearing the explosion, Sieg broke into a cold sweat again.

However, not long after the convoy left, it stopped again - there was a warning and Allied aircraft were ahead. So various vehicles drove off the road and hung up camouflage nets.

I don’t know how long it took before the roar of the enemy plane’s engines gradually disappeared. Then all the vehicles began to move forward again. But this time they also couldn’t go very far. Another alarm came from the front - a time bomb was discovered.

.

…

It's 4 o'clock in the morning, and it's still dark. At the "Forward Airport" of the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing, a busy day has begun. The lights on the tarmac are bright, and ground crews are attaching weapons to the attack aircraft. Today, the U.S. military

It is about to launch an attack on Saint-Sauveur, and the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing will provide direct fire support to the attacking force.

According to the intelligence obtained by the Allied forces, the Germans not only failed to evacuate the residents of Saint-Sauveur, but even prohibited these residents from leaving on their own. Therefore, there are still thousands of peaceful residents in the current city of Saint-Sauveur. The existence of these residents

, which means that the Allies will never be able to drop fuel-air bombs on this city. It is this kind of bomb that will deal with Germany

It’s just a human being, but to use this thing to kill thousands or even tens of thousands of French people at once, de Gaulle would have to fight the Americans immediately. Therefore, the fuel that destroys the balance of the game

Air bombs are no longer used. Now, the PA-38 attack aircraft are being equipped with ordinary weapons.

In order to ensure attack accuracy and reduce accidental damage, those PA-38s now have two 37mm cannons mounted on the wings. For this reason, the number of rockets mounted on the PA-38 has been reduced by four .37mm cannons. The attack accuracy It is worse than rockets, but its range and power are also inferior to rockets. This configuration actually increases its attack accuracy at the expense of increased threats to attack aircraft.

However, the target of this attack was not Saint-Sauveur. Although the attack on Saint-Sauveur was launched today, the general offensive was scheduled for tomorrow. Today's attack was nothing more than a fire reconnaissance attack. Moreover, the attack was not

It wouldn't start until the afternoon. So this time when they went out, they still wanted to find trouble with the 17th Panzergrenadier Division of the Waffen-SS.

In order to attack the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division more effectively, Ron played a little trick. In the previous night harassment, he never let the night bombers use time bombs, nor did he use the maximum intensity of night attacks.

. Ron felt that after several days of night attacks, the German army

You will definitely get used to how far you can cover in one night, and plan your hiding spots for the next day based on previous results. But the night attack that increased in intensity last night will definitely delay the Germans' schedule. Let's go now

, so you may see a lot of Germans on the road who have no time to hide.

Half an hour later, just as the eastern sky began to turn white, 12 PA-38 attack aircraft, 6 P-81 fighter jets, and two AC-47 attack aircraft flew into the sky one after another. They were over the airport.

After circling for several times, it climbed to a predetermined height and began to fly towards the west.

…

As daybreak approached, Franz Klingberg, the commander of the 17th Panzergrenadier Division, realized that at least half of his troops would not be able to reach the hiding spot in time. So he issued an order: "Now

Troops that are more than 10 kilometers away from the intended target should immediately take cover on the spot." The order was first conveyed by telegram. However, considering that the troops below were all on the march, they probably would not receive this order, so he sent a signal corps.

, riding a motorcycle to convey this order.

"I don't know how many troops can hide well, and I don't know how much losses there will be today." Franz Klingberg thought, "Facing the enemy's air superiority, even if we can arrive on time
Chapter completed!