Chapter Eighty-Four
The Americans were in trouble on the outskirts of Cherbourg, with their ammunition running out at an alarming rate - and if their supply lines were cut off they would soon be facing a serious shortage - especially for the heavily armored US 2nd Armored Division.
The German garrison in Cherbourg launched a counterattack, coordinating with the elite combat groups on the outskirts to block and compress the main forces of the US 2nd Armored Division and the British 7th Armored Division, as well as part of the Canadian 2nd Armored Corps, into an area of less than twenty square kilometers outside Cherbourg. However, due to the loss of Normandy, the Allies' strength continued to grow, making it impossible for the Germans to annihilate the surrounded Allied forces. Moreover, no matter how fierce the German air force's aces were, they also carried limited ammunition each time they took off, and under the cover of the Allied air force's disregard for casualties, as well as the full-force attack of the Allied reinforcement troops, the surrounded Allies finally broke through the German combat group's blockade on July 9th and escaped. The Germans pursued them with an unresolute pursuit, and by July 21st, the front line had finally stabilized.
The crisis in Cherbourg and Calais has been temporarily alleviated, and the 5-day siege of Cherbourg has ended. The Allies suffered heavy losses in the battle, with Germany's seasoned armored troops giving a crushing blow to the Allied "rookie" armored troops. The E50 "Wildcat" tank outshone its predecessors, the Tiger and Panther tanks. Of the 35 Wildcats that participated in the battle, only 7 were completely destroyed, including 5 that were hit by Allied air attacks, 1 that was hit by heavy artillery, and 1 that was knocked out by an Allied tank. The Black Panther tank fared worse, with 77 participating in the battle and 23 being completely destroyed. Nine Tiger II tanks participated in the battle and all survived. Eleven "Elephant" assault guns, representing the entire Western Front contingent, took part in the battle, with only 1 being knocked out by an Allied air attack. Multiple StuG III and IV assault guns and self-propelled artillery also participated in the battle, suffering losses of around 16 vehicles. The largest number of participating tanks was the Panzer IV, with 121 taking part in the battle and 43 being lost. Heavy artillery suffered significant losses, with over 30 guns destroyed. German air losses were light, with fewer than 30 fighter planes shot down under the leadership of ace pilots. However, the Ju87 ground-attack aircraft proved to be outdated, with only 51 of the 103 participating planes surviving the battle. Despite their victory and heavy blows dealt to the Allies, these losses were still difficult for Germany to make up for, and they had lost confidence in defending Cherbourg and Calais.
The Allies had just successfully opened a second front against the fascists, successfully landing in Europe, and perfectly executed the largest-scale landing operation in history, followed by a crushing blow! Throughout the Cherbourg-Caen campaign "Cobra", the Allied ground forces fully demonstrated the meaning of the two words "rookie" - almost the entire US 2nd Armored Division was annihilated, with over 1,300 tanks and armored vehicles before the breakout leaving less than 200 after the breakout, including over 400 tanks lost, estimated to be destroyed over 170, the rest were captured by the Germans, fortunately, many crew members escaped from the encirclement, hitchhiking or walking away from the battlefield; The remaining trucks, armored vehicles, and self-propelled artillery also suffered heavy losses, with almost all of the remaining 200 vehicles being trucks. Of the over 14,000 officers and men in the entire division, more than 6,000 were lost, most importantly - they lost General George S. Patton, who was killed by German tanks in his command vehicle...
The British 7th Armoured Division also suffered heavy losses, losing half of its men and two-thirds of its tanks and armoured vehicles. Rommel avenged Alamein with a single stroke, the Canadian Second Armoured Brigade was the first to retreat, but they were the ones who lost the least, almost intact, escaping from the encirclement, only losing half of their technical equipment.
The entire campaign resulted in the loss of over 30,000 Allied troops, with more than 700 tanks and self-propelled guns destroyed or captured, and over 400 artillery pieces suffered the same fate. The skies were once again dominated by the German aces, who shot down over 280 fighter, attack, and bomber aircraft.
Fawley successfully used the "novices" of America and Britain to increase his own tank kills to 230, on July 22 he received his Oak Leaves with Swords. But on the same day they also received the order to retreat, the entire German garrison in northwestern France began to withdraw, especially the German garrisons in Cherbourg and Calais blew up the ports, destroyed all facilities after the first batch of withdrawals from these two French cities.
German forces in southern France also began to retreat, withdrawing into northern Italy. The Allies entered Cherbourg and started repairing port facilities in mid-July. By August, large numbers of Allied troops stranded in Britain were finally able to land quickly on European soil using the ports of Cherbourg and Marseille. It was not until September that the number of Allied troops in Europe exceeded two million.
At the same time, the Allies quickly repaired and built many forward airfields, and large bomber formations moved in, preparing to turn Germany's industrial base into a sea of flames. The bombing continued day and night, and the German fighter squadrons were already at an extremely exhausted state, with emergency takeoffs depleting the Luftwaffe's strength at every moment. One night in September, 1,200 Allied bombers flew over Hamburg. Hauptmann Richter von Habel, a friend of Fafnir, had become a pilot of a night fighter squadron and took off in an HE219 "Night Owl" to engage the bomber formation. The battle lasted all night, with Hamburg below becoming a sea of flames. By dawn, Habel had successfully scored 145 victories and began his return journey to the airfield in Holland. Just as he flew over Arnhem, Holland, he was intercepted by an American P-59 jet fighter and shot down after a fierce battle. As he parachuted down and landed with a thud, he saw a face peeking out of a small house - it was the face of a frail angel! The owner of the face curiously looked at the German Luftwaffe Hauptmann, who also stared blankly at the angel. A voice came: "Odette! Hide quickly!" The face disappeared, and Habel tried to look again as German rescue infantry arrived, lifting him onto a stretcher. Habel continued to stare blankly at the window where the face had disappeared.
He vowed to find out this angel, but in the battle of the second night, Oberleutnant Richter von Habel was shot down his 147th victory, a B-29D heavy bomber, just as he tried to turn away from the falling B-29, the He219 "Night Hawk" lost control and collided with the falling B-29.
Fawneil lost another friend, Captain Haberl - Knight's Cross recipient went to heaven to chase his angel, or maybe he fell into hell.
