Chapter 30 05. Gambler's Last Madness

After the German army suffered a heavy blow at the Battle of Normandy, the remnants of the German army retreated to the Netherlands, Belgium and eastern France. At this time, optimism began to permeate the Allied forces.In order to detour the Siegfried Line from the north and take the German Ruhr area directly, so as to "end the war before Christmas", the British Marshal Montgomery, who has always been known for his prudence, proposed a bold plan code-named "Market Garden".This plan aims to capture a series of important bridges on rivers such as the Rhine, and then go straight from the Netherlands to the hinterland of Germany.

On September 17, 1944, the U.S. and British Air Forces used almost all their forces. There were more than 5,500 transport planes, 2,596 gliders, more than 8,000 fighter jets and bombers, and more than 35,000 people, 568 artillery pieces, 1,927 military vehicles, and 5,230 tons were airborne at the same time. supplies, launching one of the largest airborne operations in the history of warfare.Half an hour after the first batch of troops airborne, that is, at 2:15 pm on the 17th, the airborne troops launched an attack. However, this action is very dangerous.Little did Montgomery know that in the area where the Allied forces were scheduled to land, the Germans had deployed two armored divisions of the Second Panzer Army of the SS and part of the First Airborne Army.The Allied paratroopers were parachuted over the heads of German panzers.Moreover, the Allied forces performed high-altitude skydiving, with an average skydiving height of about 400 meters, much higher than the standard skydiving height of 244 meters in World War II.In the parachuting area, the German anti-aircraft guns kept firing, and many Allied soldiers were killed by the Germans before they even landed on the ground.

What was especially bad was that, only two hours after the Allied forces launched the airborne, Student, commander of the German First Paratrooper Army, got a battle plan from a shot down Allied glider.He immediately took this plan to see Model B, the commander of Army Group B, to plan the German counterattack.Among the German generals, Student was a veritable expert on paratroopers, well aware of the major shortcomings of the airborne force, such as lack of mobility and heavy weapons.As a result, the German army launched a counterattack against the Allied forces in the landing area, trying to prevent the Allied airborne troops and armored forces from joining forces.

As the front stretched, the Allied armored offensive had stalled.The 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Division of the U.S. Army have been on the front line for more than two months, and it is at the end of their strength at this time.After 10 days of bitter fighting, the Allies had to admit that the "Market Garden" operation had failed. In this combat operation, the German army suffered only 3,300 casualties, while the Allied forces lost more than 17,000.Among them, the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army suffered 3,400 casualties, and the 101st Airborne Division suffered 3,800 casualties.The British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish Parachute Brigade, which were at the forefront of the assault and were responsible for capturing the Arnhem Bridge, suffered even more losses.Among the 1,000 airborne soldiers of the Polish Paratrooper Brigade, there were nearly 700 casualties, and the British 1st Airborne Division suffered nearly 7,000 casualties and captured personnel.Looking at the bridge at Arnhem, which they had been unable to reach, a commander of the British 1st Airborne Division lamented: "That bridge is too far away for us!"

After the "Market Garden" operation ended, the 101st and 82nd Divisions of the U.S. Army did not conduct airborne operations again.This battle also became the swan song of the large-scale airborne operation of the elite US airborne troops during World War II. Interestingly, after the war, Marshal Montgomery also boasted that the battle had achieved a "ninety percent victory."This makes people laugh and cry, Meng Shuai is also a rotten master, war is life or death, losing or winning, I have never heard of a 90% victory, and Meng Shuai can really "sex". After defeating the Allied forces' "Market Garden" operation, the Germans on the Western Front regained their confidence.Since the end of September 1944, the German Supreme Command has been secretly planning a large-scale campaign.This combat plan code-named "Rhine Guard" was designed by Hitler himself, intending to take advantage of the severe winter weather to concentrate superior forces, quickly break through the fragile defense line of the Allied salient, seize Antwerp, the main supply port of the Allied forces, and send the British and American Allies to the south. Split in two to create a second Dunkirk.Hitler attempted to regain the initiative on the Western Front with a massive offensive.

To this end, Hitler concentrated all the reserves of the German army.The air force ground crew scattered all over the place were reorganized into the air force field division, but they were as fat and incompetent as Commander Goering, and their combat effectiveness was almost zero; while the naval sailors who lost their battleships formed two naval infantry divisions, and the sailors were brave in combat. Known as the "Blue SS"; even the grizzled veterans of the First World War were mobilized to fight. At dawn on December 16, 1944, after intensive artillery attacks, the German soldiers launched a surprise attack in three groups.Before the general offensive, the German army also implemented two special operations to cooperate with the frontal attack.One is the airborne combat operation code-named "Eagle", the goal is to occupy the highway transportation hub behind the US military; The 150th Armored Brigade executes.

The "Griffin" operation is the most innovative.The Germans actually disguised themselves as American troops, sneaked behind the Allied forces, and then caused chaos and destruction as much as possible.These pretend allies secretly turned around the road signs and spoke fluent English to help the U.S. military lead the way indiscriminately. They all pointed in the opposite direction.Later, the American soldiers had to torture each other with the names of some rugby stars and the results of the game that only Americans knew, and for this reason they arrested many of their own people by mistake.There is a section in the movie "Party A and Party B" that ridicules about this matter.

On December 17, more than 7,000 people from two regiments of the 106th Division of the U.S. Army surrendered after being surrounded by the Germans, which became the biggest defeat of the U.S. military on the European battlefield.By the 20th, the German army had torn apart the US defense line, forming a salient about 100 kilometers wide and 30 to 50 kilometers deep. The Allied High Command urgently dispatched the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions of the U.S. Army for rapid reinforcements. On the 19th, the U.S. Third Army under the command of General Patton was ordered to go north to assist Bastogne.The U.S. First Army, which stood firm in the Ardennes area, was ordered to withstand the German attack at all costs and stand by for help.

At that time, the German army handed over a letter of persuasion to the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army who was sticking to Bastogne.In the letter of persuasion, the German army said in a loud tone: Surrender or perish!Brigadier General McAuliffe, the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division, gave the German army only one word: "Nuts (dream)!" This answer drove the German army crazy. Eisenhower also sent an urgent telegram to Patton, asking him to rush to the rescue of the 101st Airborne Division. The telegram only had one word: "Quick!" After hearing McAuliffe's reply to the German army, General Patton laughed and said, "It should be Rescue the eloquent."

Excellent people have a quality, that is, they still maintain a sense of humor in critical moments.These two telegrams were widely circulated among the Allied forces and inspired the soldiers. On December 18, Allied Commander-in-Chief Eisenhower held an emergency meeting to study countermeasures against the German attack, and decided to launch a counterattack against the German army in the south to rescue the besieged troops.When Eisenhower asked Patton when he could launch an offensive, Patton replied without hesitation: "The morning of December 22." Well prepared, my staff is drawing up the battle plan. I can commit 3 divisions on the 22nd: 26th, 80th Infantry Division and 4th Armored Division. A few days later I can commit 6 divisions. But I Decided to attack immediately with the forces at hand." Eisenhower agreed with Patton's plan.

Under the command of Patton, the U.S. Third Army quickly marched from the Saarland area to the Ardennes in just a few days in the face of the blocking of the German army and the bad weather, realizing a comprehensive shift of the front from south to north. At 6 o'clock in the morning on December 22, the Third Army of the Third Army launched an attack on the German army on time. As the battle progressed, the German High Command found that Bastogne had not only become a "nail" for the entire German front, but also directly threatened the German logistics supply.All this made the Germans determined to take Bastogne, and they sent two armies to attack. On December 23, the weather finally cleared up.A large number of Allied planes arrived over Bastogne, the bombers bombarded the German army violently, and the transport planes dropped various supplies to the 101st Airborne Division.The bombing caused huge losses to the German army, forcing the German army to abandon its plan to attack Bastogne on the 24th. At this time, the army commanded by Patton drove the Germans across the Sauer River and made preparations for the rescue of Bastogne. On December 26, Patton's 4th Armored Division stormed into the positions of Bastogne's 101st Airborne Division. On the 29th, the U.S. army completely defeated the German army besieging Bastogne, and prepared to concentrate its forces to attack the German advance base - Hefalitz. At this time, 1945 is coming, and Patton carefully prepared a "New Year's gift" for the German army.He ordered all the artillery belonging to the Third Army to use the most violent firepower to concentrate on the German positions for 20 minutes at 12:00 midnight on December 31.In the roar of artillery fire, welcome the New Year! Come and not reciprocate indecently.The German army had already prepared a "New Year's gift" for Patton. On January 1, 1945, the German army dispatched more than 1,000 planes to carry out air strikes on the Allied airfields in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, destroying 260 Allied planes.The German ground forces took the opportunity to launch an offensive to the north of Alsace. On January 3, the Allied forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive. Patton's Third Army and the US First Army, which was holding on to the Ardennes area, attacked at the same time.The German army also launched the most violent offensive against Alsace on this day, and the two sides launched the fiercest battle in the Battle of Ardennes.After five full days of bloody fighting, the Germans suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat. On January 6, in order to support the Allied forces on the Western Front, the Soviet Red Army launched the Vistula-Oder Battle on the Eastern Front eight days earlier than the original date.The German army repeated the mistakes of World War I, fell twice in the same river, and had to transfer 6 armored divisions that were going to the Ardennes area to the Eastern Front.As a result, the German army was no longer able to continue its offensive in the Ardennes. On January 8, Hitler had to order the German army to retreat. On the 12th, when the German army pulled out its troops to deal with the Soviet army on the eastern front, the British and American allies took the opportunity to launch a pursuit. On the 28th, under the pursuit of the Allied forces, all the German troops were driven back to the front line before the Battle of Ardennes.At this point, the entire Ardennes campaign came to an end. The Battle of the Ardennes was the largest counterattack launched by the German army on the Western Front.The Allied forces participated in the battle with nearly 650,000 troops, of which 19,000 American troops were killed and 81,000 were injured; 200 British troops were killed and 1,400 were injured.The German army participated in the war with a strength of more than 600,000, and more than 100,000 were killed, wounded, captured or missing.In the Battle of the Ardennes, Germany consumed the last of its elite troops.Since then, Hitler has no reserve troops to replenish, and the German army has been unable to stop the advance of the Allied forces on the Western Front. After the Battle of the Ardennes, although Churchill excused the inaction of the British army, he could not help but praise the bravery of the British army.Churchill said: "There is no doubt that this is the greatest battle of the American people in the war, and I believe that it will be regarded as the American victory that will never die."