Chapter 40: Above Seaburg

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  Cherbourg is a major military port in the northwest of France, at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, facing La Manche (the English Channel).

  The Battle of Cherbourg was a crucial strategic deployment in the Allied European campaign, primarily aimed at capturing this large and excellent port in Europe to relieve the supply pressure on Omaha. The main force attacking Cherbourg was the US First Army, while the British Second Army launched a fierce attack on Caen, France, creating a strategic feint towards Paris for the German command.

  Although the German army was defeated in the initial counterattack, Field Marshal Rommel did not want to let the Allied forces develop freely. Rommel adjusted his strategic deployment, using infantry to defend the line from Caen to Comon, and withdrawing armored troops to counterattack the Allied offensive. However, before this deployment was fully completed, it was preempted by an attack launched by the British Second Army, which disrupted Rommel's overall plan.

  In mid-June, the British 7th Armoured Division advancing southwest of Caen towards Villers-Bocage encountered the German Panzer Lehr Division which had arrived from Amiens. Although the British suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Germans, they managed to draw the elite German Second Panzer Division into the Caen area.

  At this time, the US military had already occupied Carentan, and the German army was powerless to send reinforcements from Caen. To save the four main divisions of the German army besieged in Cherbourg, Rommel had to urgently assemble the 17th SS Panzer Division from the Brittany Peninsula to attack the flank of the US First Army, in order to eliminate the threat of the US military to Cherbourg. The US First Army paid a huge price and casualties, repelled the German reinforcements, and pursued the German army, finally breaking through and occupying the defensive line of the Saint-L? area, which was heavily defended by the German army, on June 16.

  While the German High Command, Hitler ordered the four German divisions in the area to resist the American advance with all their might and then retreat to Cherbourg while fighting a delaying action. Rommel believed that the four German divisions defending Cherbourg had been weakened by continuous combat since the beginning of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, and could only hold out for a few more days at most. Therefore, Rommel requested that these four German divisions withdraw to the Seine River and strengthen its defenses. However, Hitler refused Rommel's correct suggestion. When American forces broke through the Saint-L? area, Field Marshal Rommel disregarded Hitler's orders and ordered all units in contact with the enemy in this sector to retreat quickly to the south.

  By June 20, 1944, the U.S. First Army had three divisions moving towards Cherbourg, just eight kilometers away. The German garrison commander, Generalleutnant Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, incorporated all remaining troops and support personnel into combat units, leaving Cherbourg with only four infantry battalions of fighting strength. Allied command believed that the weak force could be easily defeated by a superior force, but no one imagined that the U.S. VII Corps would pay such a heavy price to capture this battered city.

  The main task of Lieutenant Colonel Rom's cavalry was to assist the infantry of the 9th Division of the 7th Army in destroying the coastal artillery, protecting the port's scheduling, power and other important facilities. I led D Company under the command of the 9th Division's S1 Regiment, but when we entered the attack position, we waited for another day. The reason was that the Allied Command hoped to get a complete military port and General Shihai Ben's last persuasion negotiations. However, on this day, Shihai Ben was just delaying time for his defense deployment. Today, the Allies finally couldn't hold back and launched a formal attack on Cherbourg!

  "Four battalions? We can take them down with our six regiments easily, let alone we have air and artillery support." Luka said.

  I thought for a moment, with such an advantageous force attacking the remaining German troops, and felt that there was nothing wrong with saying: "In any case, after entering the Cherbourg urban area, everyone should be careful first! Be careful that every house may become a fortified strongpoint modified by the Germans. When encountering stubborn German resistance, call for artillery fire to wipe them out!"

  "I understand!"

  "Comrades, now I convey the order: Colonel Klin has assigned us an engineer battalion. His orders are to cut into the civilian residential areas of sectors A and B south of Cherbourg from the south face, quickly capture these two key points, clear the German anti-tank obstacles and mines, establish a defensive line, and then wait for the armored forces. Once the armored forces arrive, we will swiftly occupy sector C, the commercial street of Cherbourg, join up with Company A of the 51st Regiment, and finally launch a fierce attack on the German city hall together, striving to take it down in one battle. Do you understand the superior's instructions?"

  "I understand!"

  "Alright! Now I'm issuing my formal combat order: Jones, you're a veteran, and as the first wave of infantry search and assault troops, you cannot let any suspicious buildings or structures get away from me. I command you to establish defensive lines whenever you occupy a building and street corner, waiting for other units to pass through. The second unit passing through is Jimmy, Jimmy listen up! After passing through Jones' established defensive line, you must take the same action in front, establishing a defensive line to receive other units passing through, and then Luca and Linberna, you too! We must maintain distance, advancing step by step, completely occupying each key point one by one until we meet up with A Company. Before that, we cannot let any Germans who can resist appear behind us!"

  "Yes!"

  "Alright, is there anything else you'd like to add?" I asked the several officers under me.

  "Are the Germans getting artillery support?" It's Jimmy.

  "Estimated, not many! Who still has questions, ask now, if none, we will officially launch the attack at 6:10! Hmm, there's still an hour of preparation time, maybe now is the time to continue watching the air and artillery show!" I nodded.

  The sky was filled with dozens of B-24 Liberator heavy bombers, the most famous American aircraft, pouring down their might over Cherbourg. Strings of bombs whistled down, huge fireballs rose into the air, and the entire city was instantly engulfed in smoke and flames, as if the whole city had been set on fire.

  "Wow, blast it, blast it! It's too great!" My radioman Miller was like an overgrown kid, getting excited at the spectacle in the sky. Actually, it wasn't just Miller - everyone was excited by this powerful artillery fire, because apart from me, all Americans took pride and excitement in having such strong air power.

  From World War II to my other time and space, this aerial carpet bombing tactic, where ground troops advance, was not established by the Americans. Ironically, it was an Italian general named Douhet who first proposed this new rule of warfare in the 1930s. He believed that heavy bombers should play a major role in any military action, thoroughly destroying enemy defensive facilities and allowing ground troops to easily enter enemy territory. Although General Douhet's theory was not accepted by his peers, it was adopted as gospel by the US military.

  From then on, the Americans regarded the air unit as the most important air unit. The target of bombers was the enemy's important cities and industrial centers. So in the design of bombers, including the head, upper, tail, and abdomen, a large number of Browning 12.7mm heavy machine guns were installed, and each machine gun was required to be responsible for one area.

  As the US B-24 Liberator heavy bomber formation finished dropping their bombs and were preparing to return, two high-speed fighter planes appeared in the distance. The B-24 bomber formation did not appear to be in any disarray, still flying in neat formation back and forth.

  "It's a German fighter!" Miller shouted loudly, the large German cross insignia painted on the plane's body was already clearly visible to people on the ground.

  It was a German fighter, and the most advanced ME262A1 high-speed jet fighter of the Germans. This is one of the most famous fighters in World War II, known for its speed of 870 km/h and its ability to make various attack movements that Allied pilots could hardly believe in the air. Despite being at the end of World War II, Germany was severely lacking in oil, but still managed to produce a number of this type of fighter for the German Air Force. At that time, the Allies also found it difficult to find an aircraft that could match the performance of this excellent fighter. Although the P-51 Mustang fighter had excellent performance and could engage in close-range air combat with the ME262A1 jet fighter, and was even superior to the ME262A1 jet fighter, but with a speed of only 690 km/h, it was difficult for the P-51 Mustang to catch up with the ME262A1 that did not want to engage in combat. Therefore, the Allied fighters escorting bombers were often easily shaken off by this German fighter and went on to attack unescorted Allied bomber formations.

  Two German ME262A1 jet fighters, first flew low over Cherbourg, then quickly pulled up and headed straight for the B24 "Flying Fortress" bomber formation, positioning themselves above the last plane on the flank. It looked like they were going to pick off the American bombers one by one, like pulling quills from a porcupine. The intentions of the two German fighters in the air were immediately clear to everyone. At this moment, I, like everyone else, felt sweat in my palms and prayed that our escort fighters would arrive on time.

  The bomber formation's firepower net frantically swept the two German ME262A1s with machine guns, filling the sky with tracer bullets in an attempt to deter the German attack. The German fighters were not deterred, only slightly adjusting their distance, but still tightly biting onto the already targeted bombers. The entire bomber formation did not slow down due to the last one, but rather the few bombers at the tail of the formation made way by tilting their wings, creating a concave position for the targeted bomber to enter.

  But just at this moment, the situation in the air underwent a drastic change.