Chapter Eighty-Seven
Ensign O'Brien is dead.
On December 23, 1944, the Germans were making good progress in the Ardennes counteroffensive, having pierced several Allied lines, with the coast in sight, Antwerp and Liège on the verge of collapse, and the supply lines to the Belgian Allies about to be cut off.
The Allied forces in Belgium were desperately trying to defend against the German attack on their rear, but it was too late. On the 22nd, Bastogne fell and an entire American division was lost, with the German strategic situation looking very good. The British Air Force began indiscriminately bombing areas where German and Allied troops were entangled, even using Lancaster bombers to drop newly produced "Grand Slam" bombs.
O'Brien and his Pursuit were engaged in a fierce battle with troops from the US 2nd Armored Division, their tanks interlocked like dogs' teeth, surrounded by enemies on all sides - for both sides. At this moment, a 22,000-pound bomb coincidentally hit O'Brien's Pursuit...
O'Brien had died completely without noticing it - quickly and cleanly. It was impossible to tell whether he had been killed by the bomb or the blast - anyway there wasn't much difference.
The battle of the Germans is still going on, and on the 24th, the weather improved, with a large number of Allied aircraft taking to the skies. However, at the same time, Germany's top aces also took to the air, and the sky was like a boiling pot, with countless fighter planes from both sides entwined in a fierce dogfight.
The Allied fighter planes suffered heavy casualties, and the fascist aces in the sky were like gods - they dodged the shells fired by the Allied pilots in advance, and every attack brought down multiple Allied aircraft. They almost never missed a shot, and there was little waste, with about 4-5 rounds of ammunition enough to shoot down an Allied fighter plane.
The sky was occupied by the black "Ravens" and "Swallows", the British "Meteor" really became a falling meteor in the sky, and the American P59 was also powerless to fight back.
Fortunately, the number of German aces with special abilities was small, and their ammunition was not infinite, and the number of sorties they could make every day was also limited. Most German pilots were only slightly better than Allied pilots, so the Allies gradually regained the upper hand with their absolute advantage in numbers and logistics, while also being able to deploy large numbers of aircraft to attack German ground forces, and the German aces were ultimately unable to shoot down all the attacking planes.
However, the German ground forces continued to advance with great force, and on the 25th they engaged in a fierce tank battle with the US Second Armored Division and First Infantry Division, fully demonstrating the powerful might of the Tiger II, Panther, and E100 "Mammoth". They thoroughly drove the US Second Armored Division and First Infantry Division off the battlefield, destroying large amounts of American armored forces, forcing these two divisions to retreat back to Antwerp for reorganization. However, it was precisely the Americans' desperate struggle that caused the Germans to consume a great deal of ammunition and fuel, while German logistics supply depots also suffered certain surprise attacks by small US units.
The report said that an American soldier wearing a blue military uniform, with a white five-pointed star on his chest and a half-face mask with the letter "A" on his forehead, and holding a small round shield in his left hand, joined the battle. The soldier's reaction, physical strength, and speed exceeded those of ordinary people, and he could even judge the trajectory of machine gun bullets and use his right hand to defend against them with a special metal shield. This shield could withstand the sweeping fire of an MG machine gun, and the strange American soldier could also use the shield to block bullets without breaking his arm - indeed, it was strong arm strength and solid bones. Moreover, he could also use the shield to attack - like a flying saucer or frisbee, flying out to hit people, and shooting with his right hand was extremely accurate. This American soldier led a small group of American soldiers in attacking several German logistics supply points, fought multiple battles with Obersturmführer Hugo Wijn of the SS, and succeeded! They destroyed several supply depots, most importantly - they blew up an important US oil depot that had just been captured by the Germans, successfully nailing the first coffin nail for the failure of the German Ardennes counterattack.
This American soldier was touted as "Captain America" and the like, but in the end this "Captain America" crashed into an iron plate.
On the 27th, the German army had already captured Liège and arrived at Antwerp. At this time, the Germans' logistics began to collapse - there was almost no fuel left, and the Allies would blow up the logistics warehouses in every place they were about to lose after each battle. There was also a lack of ammunition, and the large quantities of Allied equipment seized were useless like scrap iron. And on that day, an American soldier led a group of soldiers to raid the most important arsenal on the German front line.
However, just at this time a batch of tanks were being repaired at this large logistics supply base. The captain was covered by the firepower of the German tank that was started forcibly after knocking down dozens of German soldiers. Only shattered shields and a few pieces of blue cloth were found afterwards, but the man and his men successfully destroyed several high-firepower points and sent out telegrams. The subsequent Allied bombing, regardless of casualties, ultimately burned a large amount of ammunition and fuel to ashes.
The German offensive had stalled, their ammunition and fuel were running out, and the previous command had made mistakes - they did not anticipate the difficulties of logistical supply, it was completely a gamble. Now the Germans' oil can only be slightly mobile by capturing, but the ammunition is completely impossible - the Allied bombing cut off the supply of railways and highways.
The Germans were forced to retreat - if they didn't run, it would be too late. Large numbers of tanks and armored vehicles without fuel and ammunition were abandoned and destroyed, and the Allies also began to pursue after catching their breath. The Germans ultimately lost all that they had gained in front and even paid a heavy price, with Germany suffering over 90,000 casualties, losing more than 300 tanks, except for the E100 "Mammoth", E50 "Wildcat" and Tiger II, as well as some heavy tank destroyers and assault guns that managed to return due to priority refueling. All of the Panthers and IVs, medium assault guns, and artillery were completely lost. The backbone of Germany's armored forces and infantry on the Western Front was broken, and the air force also suffered greatly under the Allies' airport bombing strategy, with large numbers of novice pilots being shot down, and many aircraft being destroyed on the runways, losing over 200 fighter planes and more than 100 bombers.
The Allies also suffered heavy losses, with a total of 110,000 soldiers lost, including more than 80,000 American soldiers. A large number of tanks and armored vehicles, artillery were destroyed or captured, totaling over 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles and over 800 guns. More than 300 fighter planes and over 50 bombers were shot down in the air, but they successfully destroyed the main force of the German army on the Western Front, and entering Germany to fight was only a matter of time.
Fahvernicht had no time to worry about all this, he was now engaged in fierce battles with the pursuing Red Army on the border of Poland and the Soviet Union. Within just 4 hours, they repelled 11 attacks by the Red Army, but everything was in vain. The German army lost more than 600,000 troops and over 1,200 tanks in the Belarusian and Ukrainian campaigns, and the entire Central Group Army was actually defeated, now relying on winter and elite rear guard units to hold off the Soviet pursuit and win time for their own reorganization. If nothing unexpected happens, they will have to fight against the Soviet Red Army in Poland, Romania or Yugoslavia in January 1945, as for the consequences? The front line no longer cares about this issue...
