The decisive battle against the Third Reich - Chapter 950

c947 plan of attack

I am too tired today and only have one chapter. I will make up for it tomorrow.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, U.S. fighter jets and bombers launched a bombardment of the Metz Fortress.

The U.S. Third Army does not hide its strategic goals at all.

Patton said this: “To hell with those attacks that are hiding like bitches! We will clearly tell them my offensive target, and then conquer it!”

This is actually just a beautiful way of saying it. In fact, the attack target cannot be hidden at all… Patton knew that the destination of supply transportation from the rear would expose this. Unless the U.S. 3rd Army did not need supplies, the Germans would definitely We know that the goal of the US 3rd Army is the Metz Fortress.

If this is the case, then the US 3rd Army can only catch the Germans by surprise if they are fast.

The information Patton received from the French was very exciting.

“They only have ten thousand people!” the staff officer said to Patton with the intelligence: “The most important thing is that they are not regular troops. Most of them are military academy cadets. Only one regiment is a garrison, but it is also a security regiment, responsible for the Metz Fortress. Logistics, defense, etc.”

“Great, their defense here is actually so weak?” Barton said.

“Yes!” the staff officer replied: “I think it was because the ‘Market Garden’ operation carried out by the British and Field Marshal Montgomery dispersed the German forces or attracted them to the northern Ardennes and even the Netherlands. They temporarily It’s too late to call back!”

“I didn’t expect Montgomery to inadvertently do me a favor!” Patton said happily: “I think Montgomery must know this, so he tried every means to prevent us from attacking from here… Do you know? We are in luck. , nothing can stop us from marching into Germany and destroying their industrial center! Saar Valley, Ruhr, we are coming!”

It makes sense for General Patton to think so. The U.S. 3rd Army has two corps with a total of more than 70,000 troops. This force is seven times the strength of the German army in Metz Fortress. In addition, the 3rd Army also has A large number of tanks, artillery, etc., not to mention air power.

Looking back at Metz Fortress, their tanks were even tanks captured from the French and British for teaching and even as targets. Some of them were tanks used to simulate enemy attacks. They were all equipped by the students and put into battle.

Taking into account such a disparity in strength, especially since the Third Army had won several consecutive victories since landing in France and was gaining momentum at this time, Patton almost saw the scenes of German industrial areas groaning and burning under the tracks of his tanks.

At the forefront is the U.S. 20th Army, which includes three divisions: the 5th Infantry Division, the 90th Infantry Division and the 7th Armored Division.

Patton looked at the map he got from the French… Metz Fortress was originally a fortress built by France. After the Battle of France began in 1940, the German 16th Army launched a storm on Metz Fortress. A week later, the French army had no fighting spirit and surrendered. , which also allowed the Germans to successfully bypass the Maginot Line and render it ineffective.

Therefore, the French have a detailed map of the Metz Fortress, but now the Metz Fortress has changed.

Looking at the three “islands” on the map, it didn’t take Patton long to formulate a battle plan:

“The 5th Infantry Division attacked Little Sorsey Island, and the 90th Infantry Division attacked Great Sorsey Island!” Patton pointed to the map and said: “While these two infantry divisions were holding back the Germans… the 7th Armored Division followed Pass between the two islands and go straight to Chambier Island behind it!”

“General!” The staff officer couldn’t help but gasped after hearing this: “This will cause our armored forces to be attacked from several sides by the enemy!”

The staff officer was right. Patton’s plan was a bit self-inflicted… The 7th Armored Division passed between the large and small Sourcy Islands and attacked the Chambier Island behind it. This meant that the 7th Armored Division had to enter the German garrison. In the middle of the three islands, this will cause the 7th Armored Division to be attacked by the three islands.

“Don’t worry, Thomas!” A confident smile appeared on Patton’s face: “Think about this, if you were a German, where would you deploy the main force?”

The staff officer thought for a while and replied: “I will deploy the main force on the front line of the Big and Small Solsi Islands!”

“That’s right!” Patton nodded and replied: “Even the fortifications are the same. The Big and Little Sorcy Islands are obviously more difficult to break through. The Chambier Island is another matter. We use the strongest 7th Armored Division to attack their strongest Weak spot, once they take over Shambil Island… their entire defense will collapse soon!”

The staff officer nodded in agreement. Although this was a risky plan, it could indeed kill him with one blow.

Patton’s plan was almost successful, because the deployment of Qin Chuan and others in the Metz Fortress was exactly as Patton said, placing the main force on the two islands on the front line and the Champill Island in the rear as the logistics force.

Even in order to try to avoid the ammunition being blown up by enemy artillery fire or bombers, they also placed more ammunition on Chambier Island at the back, because Chambier Island was considered safer.

At eight o’clock that night, the leading troops of the US 5th Infantry Division arrived at the Metz Fortress.

The first thing they did was to set up artillery positions near Metz Fortress to bombard Metz Fortress.

“The Germans are all new recruits!” Patton’s order was: “Let them know that we are coming, and then they will be in a state of excitement all night. When we actually launch an attack, they will just watch our tanks open. Go up!”

This is a kind of psychological warfare.

It should be said that this was done very successfully, because although Qin Chuan told the recruits again and again: “Americans usually don’t attack at night, they hate darkness, and they can’t get air support at night, so you should rest assured to sleep and keep your spirits up!”

But sleeping is not something that can be done just by sleeping, especially for recruits who have never fought in a war. In this state, they will naturally be nervous and unable to sleep… They can’t control themselves, and Qin Chuan certainly can’t either.

On the other hand, the US military also deployed searchlights and anti-aircraft guns around.

Qin Chuan believed that there were also vehicle-mounted radars, because when the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment carried helicopters to reinforce the Metz Fortress, the US military’s searchlights swung around like lights on a rotating stage as soon as they flew close to the fortress, and then the anti-aircraft guns opened fire everywhere when they saw a little movement.

They even sent night fighters to implement blockades…At this time, night fighters were relatively backward, and they mostly used flares or installed searchlights to give the fighters a certain degree of night combat capability.

This resulted in the helicopter formation being unable to reinforce Metz.