Chapter 69: City Defense Deployment

  (Voting for everyone! Involving military deployment, this chapter is really hard to write! Come on!)

  The battle raged on until noon, when the heavens finally expressed their true abhorrence for war. In the blink of an eye, dark clouds descended upon the entire world, as if pressing down on it. Before the torrential rain arrived, a yellow wind mixed with the debris of war swept in, blowing so hard that people couldn't open their eyes. Enormous lightning bolts struck one after another, lashing this bloody world, as if to make its inhabitants know that this was the punishment humanity deserved.

  "What a strong wind! This rain is definitely not small!" Jones exclaimed.

  "This is the old heaven getting angry!" I said. "Let the brothers prepare raincoats!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Brothers, get your raincoats ready!"

  Uneven troops all changed into raincoats, and the sky was like a heavenly river that had dug an opening, pouring down from the sky! The coolness made me involuntarily shiver! I wrapped my raincoat tightly and found that within 10 meters around me, I could still vaguely see someone moving, but further away, nothing could be seen except for a vast expanse of whiteness.

  "With such a heavy rainstorm, how can we continue this battle, sir?" Jimmy asked loudly in the rain.

  "I don't know! Miller, get me in touch with HQ I need to report the situation!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  The command of the headquarters was to let the attacking troops build defensive fortifications on the spot, and continue to attack after the rain stopped! Although it gave the Germans a chance to breathe, the Allied command considered that the current German army was not enough to be feared. Moreover, fighting in the rain also restricted the US military's offensive, at least the artillery could not effectively support the front-line combat. Considering the casualties, the attack was temporarily suspended. The Germans themselves were already short of strength and couldn't launch an attack, so both sides were forced to stop firing by this sudden heavy rain!

  "Ah, thanks to this storm, I truly hope it can last for another year or two!" Colonel Rops said with a sigh of relief as he gazed out at the torrential rain from within the temporary command center.

  The defensive line behind the Rots Middle School was just a coastal artillery position to prevent the Allied naval forces, and if it was thoroughly broken through, the gate of defending the sea would be completely opened. The Allied warships will enter the coastline in a row, firing at Cherbourg! Now, with the US attacking troops' costly advance, he has a desperate feeling.

  The troops of Colonel Ropps, whether it was morale or ammunition, medicine and various living supplies, had become extremely scarce under the two-year bombing blockade by the Allied forces. The current German soldiers were almost fighting on with a desperate and helpless despair after the war! Although the bravery of the German army was incomparable to that of the attacking American army, the huge disparity in strength had already given Colonel Ropps a feeling of being unable to sustain it!

  Colonel Rops pulled out the mechanical watch from the pocket of his underwear, where Liren had handed it over to him, and stroked it gently. The owner of this watch had long been killed in action, but it was still ticking away happily, never stopping! Although Colonel Rops had several such watches, compared to his own, this one represented a completely different significance! In Colonel Rops' mind, the actual meaning of this watch had long surpassed its original value!

  "Tell the brothers to be on guard against the American troops taking advantage of the rain to launch a surprise attack!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Also, separate a portion of the men to take turns resting and maintain their physical strength! Quartermaster, what's the situation with our ammunition and medical supplies?" Colonel Ropps called out to the quartermaster.

  "Sir, we are now seriously short of ammunition, especially anti-tank weapons which have been used in large quantities. Our current stock is not much!" The quartermaster said worriedly.

  "What about medicine?"

  "Medicines are in short supply, especially antibiotics which are almost completely depleted! Many wounded soldiers who were rushed back from the front lines have died due to lack of treatment!" The quartermaster officer asked Colonel Rops, "Sir, how much longer can we hold out in Cherbourg?"

  Luo Pu's eyes closed for a long time before he finally spoke in a low tone, "Don't worry about how much longer we can hold on, let's just do our best!"

  The storm quickly turned the massive port city into a vast expanse of water, with some soldiers still on duty having to wade through waters that had already risen above their ankles. Every step they took made a squelching sound as water poured into their boots; the rain grew heavier and heavier, causing the soldiers to wrap their raincoats tightly around them, but even this could not keep out the torrential downpour. The icy rain pounded against their faces, flowing down their necks and into their clothes, making them feel like they were wearing garments that had just been pulled from the water. It was extremely uncomfortable, and a strong gust of wind made them shiver to the core!

  "This damned weather! It's going to drown me!" Jimmy had almost shrunk entirely into his raincoat, but still couldn't escape the fate of getting soaked from head to toe, and he couldn't help but grumble in annoyance.

  "Haha, Jimmy, you'd better work hard and strive to become a general soon, then you won't have to enjoy this treatment!" Lin Berna heard Jimmy's complaints, but was laughing and joking.

  "Burner, don't worry! If I become a general, the first order I'll give is for you to jump into the sea and soak for three to five days before we talk!" Jimmy said to Burner.

  "Oh, my God! Jimmy, I'm afraid you're out of luck!"

  "Damn it all! You just wait and see!" Jimmy said fiercely.

  Just as Jimmy finished speaking, a dazzling flash of lightning struck the ground with a loud "crack", followed by a deafening clap of thunder that shook everyone's eardrums! The boundless power of nature made all living creatures tremble in their hearts, and Jimmy was no exception. He turned pale with fear, muttering to himself over and over again: "Too scary! Too scary!"

  At this time, no one dared to mention the word God in their mouths, although everyone here was used to life and death and would not fear death, but for the unknown gods, no one dared to be disrespectful. When a person dies, perhaps they entrust themselves to the gods, allowing their soul to be reborn! But what if the gods also abandon you, can you not despair?

  My troops were drenched by the heavy rain, almost all of them became like drowned chickens. On this front line, except for persisting stubbornly, there was no other place to take shelter from the rain. As for launching an attack, I didn't even dare think about it. With such a heavy rain driving us into battle, it's simply ridiculous. Not only would many people die, but the effectiveness of our tanks would also be greatly reduced. In such advantageous conditions, I wouldn't risk my life to play around!

  Looking at the rain that doesn't stop, I thought to myself: It seems that after this rain passes, my troops will probably fall ill again! I called out to the medical soldiers and said: "Tell the logistics department that after the rain stops, I'll need a large amount of hot soup to warm up my comrades!"

  The medic smiled and said: "Sir, even if you don't say it, we will take measures to prevent our brothers from getting sick!"

  "That's great! Now I don't have to worry!" I nodded and said.

  Looking at the American soldiers wrapped in raincoats and holding guns, shivering together, I shouted with all my might to boost morale: "Brothers, squeeze a little, hold on for a bit! This rain won't last long! When the rain stops, I'll give you a big holiday, and let you bask in the sun and warm up your eggs!"

  In this heavy rain, my voice won't carry too far, only the nearby soldiers can hear it, and then they'll pass it on to others, but that's already achieved my purpose.

  Suddenly a soldier came to life and asked me: "Sir, is it that we will withdraw and switch shifts with others after the rain stops?"

  I laughed loudly and said: "No! I will give you a 10-minute break, take out your eggs and cool them down properly, so they won't get damp, which is not good for the future!"

  "Sir! I don't need it!" The soldier who spoke retreated again with a sullen expression.

  John was even more interested in this joke between the soldiers, and he leaned over to me, deliberately saying: "Kang Di, you're wrong! Through my research, I've found that a man's eggs won't be affected by getting wet in the rain because that thing is said to have self-protection functions!"

  I laughed and said: "John, you really know a lot! You're indeed an expert in this field! By the way, John, after the war ends, are you interested in becoming a sex education teacher at school?"

  John said without hesitation: "To be honest, I dare to be the class president, of course, there must be enough female students in my class!"

  John left me speechless, and I could only give him a middle finger of contempt!

  I've been in this godforsaken place of Normandy for five battles now, and the terrain I mainly encountered in the Normandy area is a grid-like terrain composed of farmland, orchards, pastures, etc. Many 0.5-1.5 meters thick and 1.5 meters high earth slopes intersect with each other, dividing every piece of land into a grid-like pattern. These earthy slopes are covered with grass and trees that are 1 to 5 meters tall. The roads cut through the earthy slopes, winding among them. Each piece of land separated by hedges is at least several hundred meters in size, with shapes including squares, rectangles, and polygons, all forming an irregular pattern.

  However, the German army usually put command posts, telephone exchanges, ammunition dumps, and aid stations inside the hedgerows when digging infantry trenches. These locations were all camouflaged and well-concealed, making them difficult to spot from the air or ground. Inside each field, it was completely impossible to observe the outside, and attackers had no knowledge of the situation in the next field. To cross each hedge, you could only pass through the open area in the middle. The Allied tactic was for troops to attack each field in turn under tank support, with mortars and heavy artillery suppressing the enemy inside the hedgerows. Tanks were equipped with special devices that could be used to push down the hedges, making it easy to move between them, but the hedge terrain was able to effectively help the German army block the attack and retreat to the next hedge.

  For the city defense of Cherbourg, the German army also relied on the building structure of the city to set up a large number of anti-tank obstacles and various landmines at each major intersection. These anti-tank obstacles were not just imagined to be made by standing several steel forks upright, but were poured with tons of concrete and giant stones. Tanks could not force their way through, and even if they used explosives to blast them, it would take some time. However, the German snipers would not give the engineers such time, and only after clearing the defensive forces in this area could these roadblocks be destroyed. Therefore, the roadblocks forced the tanks to detour, and the Germans then used camouflaged 7.5cm le.FK.18 field anti-tank guns with a range of 9425 meters to destroy the tanks with super-long direct fire. Although the city was different from the wilderness and could not reach such a long distance, as soon as the cannon was fired, it would expose the position of the anti-tank gun and invite artillery strikes. However, at least one or several American tanks would be destroyed!

  Not only that, but the Germans would often convert a suitable building near the roadblock into an armed strongpoint with machine gun firepower and snipers, as well as anti-tank tubes, and deploy mortars behind another building to create a crossfire network, which could be controlled by just over ten people to control a very large area.

  And we were attacking the German defenders in such a situation with heavy artillery bombardment, tanks providing firepower support, and infantry advancing, but after the Germans lost one defensive line, they immediately switched to the next pre-set defensive line to block us again, so we suffered heavy casualties.