Iron Cross

"Jason, let's go!" While hiding next to the transport ship, Patton had learned that this corporal named Jason was an infantryman of the Second Armored Division.

The two climbed ashore with great effort. Jason saw that Patton had lost his boots and was about to give his boots to him, but he saw that the other party had stripped the boots from a corpse without hesitation and put them on his feet. He couldn't help frowning when he put them on - not because he disliked the shoes, but because his feet were cut by the reef when he came ashore, and it hurt so much, but now he couldn't care about these, as long as he was alive.

Jason picked up the rifle of his fallen companion like Patton. He didn't know where his gun was lost when he fell into the water. After thinking about it, he took off two field backpacks - one was prepared for Patton. Patton responded with a gratified look. The battlefield is indeed the best catalyst for maturity.

A bunch of people came ashore in a mess. Now the organization of all teams is in chaos. Officers can't find soldiers, and soldiers can't find teams. Thanks to Patton's reputation and image, Jason's unremitting shouting and calling soon gathered a group of troops around him, and then the team grew larger and larger, and later it had grown to more than 600 people - Patton was finally promoted to battalion commander.

"Officers, take the soldiers and run..." Patton shouted repeatedly, "Do you see the woods not far away? Hide in them, the faster the better!"

After that, he ran first regardless of the pain in his feet, and the young Jason followed closely behind him. A group of people also swarmed towards the woods. Jason, who entered the woods and sat down panting, knew that Patton's decision was right again - the roar of airplanes sounded in the distance, and Japanese planes came to attack again.

Facing the second echelon led by Jiang Kuo-shige, the method of hiding in the cabin or using anti-aircraft guns and machine guns to shoot at the air was not effective, because this time it was not only the Zero fighters that were strafing, but the ship bombers also began to use the 60-kilogram small bombs they carried to attack the anti-aircraft gun positions. Jiang Cao Longshi understood very well: Although the commander said that the transport ship could not be bombed, his starting point was just to fear sinking it. Under the premise of not sinking it, any means of attack could be tried. The enemy transport ships are now all stranded. Not to mention the 60-kilogram small bombs, even the 250-kilogram bombs cannot sink them, and the planes can be completely free to use them. The most important thing now is to drive the people on the transport ships out, so that they don’t think about destroying the ships or equipment.

A 60-kilogram small bomb certainly will not pose a threat to a transport ship of thousands or even tens of thousands of tons, but it is too lethal to the gun positions. One anti-aircraft gun after another was blown up, and the British and American attempts to establish air defense positions based on the stranded ships were all frustrated. What’s more annoying is that there are many anti-aircraft guns in the cargo ship’s cabin, but they can only be abandoned because they are either too heavy to be moved to the deck, or because there is no suitable position and opportunity to deploy.

The beach was still a dead zone. Not only were there zero fighters strafing back and forth, but also those aerial bombs were dropped on the dense crowd one after another. Yuantian's first echelon wasted a lot of bombs on destroyers halfway. Jiang Cao's second echelon did not have such a process. Moreover, his echelon set off much later, and had ample time to prepare. Even the zero fighters were equipped with bombs when they took off. They were not suitable for dive bombing warships, but they were very suitable for sweeping the beach. In a word, he came here to kill American soldiers today.

Now it is not useful to hide in the water. Although the soft beach and sea water can greatly weaken the power of the bomb, the attack range of the 250 kg bomb is too large. Not to mention being directly hit or being cut by flying shrapnel, even the powerful shock wave near the explosion point is unbearable.

Only the forest where Patton and others hid became a pure land. It was not known whether the planes did not detect the movement in the forest or disdained to attack the few remnants in the forest. Except for a few unlucky ones who were hit by machine gun bullets, the British and American troops in the forest did not suffer any decent bomb attacks. Patton's judgment saved a large number of soldiers, but his face was very ugly - nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers fell in a pool of blood, and the casualties were still increasing. Under such circumstances and conditions today, a slightly more serious injury is basically equivalent to being finished.

When Jiang Cao Longshi also led the team to leave, all the soldiers who survived in the transport ship or on the shore seized the opportunity to flee the scene - there were still several hours before dark, and no one wanted to stay there stupidly and get beaten. Taking advantage of this gap, the soldiers ran to the shore desperately - Jason wanted to say that this was the fastest and quickest landing he had ever seen, and the actual combat effect was indeed 100 times stronger than usual training.

More than 2,000 British and American officers and soldiers had gathered in the woods, and the chaotic scene was finally under some control. Although there were officers and soldiers from various units and places, everyone could at least find companions and officers, and obey the command of those with higher ranks than themselves - there was still some discipline.

During the break, Jason took out the first aid kit to wrap Patton's feet, and then helped him wring out the water on his clothes. As for the soaked underwear inside, he had already taken it off and stuffed it into the bag. Patton, like the soldiers, was now only wearing a coat and wandering around. Everyone was in a mess, and no one cared about their image and demeanor, but no one would laugh at a general - he had at least rescued thousands of people. Everyone used field rations indiscriminately, and from morning to afternoon, they had experienced such a great physical consumption, and they were already hungry and almost exhausted.

Seven or eight officers above the rank of major gathered around Patton, and a temporary command center was formed. Jason volunteered to serve as his orderly and messenger.

Patton stood on a big rock with a telescope hanging on his chest. An officer handed his equipment to him, put his hands on his hips and told them seriously: "Brothers, it is 4:15 pm now. Let's rest for another 15 minutes, and then lead all the soldiers to continue to retreat inland."

"But... sir." A lieutenant colonel said worriedly, "After this afternoon's tossing, many soldiers are exhausted and now they are lying on the ground and can't stand up at all. Should we spend the night here before taking action?"

Another major also chimed in: "General, the enemy's planes should not Now, we have neither equipment nor supplies, and we can't hold out for a long time. I wonder if we can go back to the ship to move some supplies after dark - at least supplies and light weapons are indispensable. "

This sentence is true. The Second Armored Division has now become a pure infantry unit. Not to mention tanks and armored vehicles, there is not even a mortar, and even light machine guns are a luxury. If it weren't for a few British soldiers carrying a Bren light machine gun and not letting it go, and some soldiers took submachine guns, the equipment of this team would have regressed to the level of the Civil War.

Patton also wanted to give him a few more minutes, but this idea was quickly dispelled by the sudden situation. He jumped off the stone with a change of face: "There is not so much time and no chance."

"Why?"

"Look!" He pointed his hand outward.

Many people didn't see anything, but when they stood on the big rock where Patton stood and observed the sea with a telescope, they saw the problem and couldn't help shaking all over - many towering warships appeared on the sea in the distance, and were rushing towards the beach accompanied by 8 destroyers.

"I'm afraid we don't even have 15 minutes. We must retreat immediately." Patton roared, "This is not our ship, it must be the enemy's fleet. There may be several battleships, and their main guns can shoot more than ten kilometers away! This is too close to the coast. If we don't retreat, we will all die here."

"Sir, I really can't walk... I have to lie down for a while." Amid the officers' hoarse roars, most of the soldiers stood up with their bodies, but many soldiers fell to the ground and made various noises.

"Get up, get up, don't lie down, don't lie down... Damn it, you're done if you don't leave!" Patton was furious when he saw this, and kicked the soldiers fiercely. They were so tired that they didn't even have the strength or thought to resist, and they just rolled around on the ground wailing, "Forgive me, I'll be a prisoner."

"Asshole... Who gave you the right to be a prisoner? Get up, if you don't want to die here!"

When Takagi Takeo led the First Guerrilla Detachment, which had been traveling at high speed for a day, to appear on the sea, the four Kongo-class ships took the lead in firing at the shore. Patton still underestimated the power of the naval guns, which could at least fire more than 20,000 meters. The heavy cruisers and destroyers with shallower draft continued to advance to the coast, and then also used their 127mm naval guns or 203mm naval guns to sweep the shore, only avoiding the location of the transport ships. In order to better direct the artillery fire, the Japanese army even took off the sea-based anti-aircraft aircraft. Under their noses, everything that happened on the coast was exposed.

"Boom!"

"Ah..."

The sound of the cannon was the best catalyst. All the soldiers who had just been lying on the ground struggled to stand up and stumbled to retreat inland with the main force. The British and American officers and soldiers hiding in other places, and even some officers and soldiers who were preparing to escape on transport ships after dark, realized that all hope was gone - the enemy would never let them leave under their noses! They could only retreat inland like a group of headless flies. These people suffered even worse. The place where they were just staying was too close to the coast and became the priority target of the Japanese naval guns. They had to break through the fire blockade of the naval guns first.

Jason ran and looked back. The situation on the shore was terrible. Soldiers were blown away by shells from time to time, and screams and shouts were endless. Then he found that the forest where he had been hiding just now had burst into flames under the bombardment of the three-type bomb and began to burn fiercely. If he continued to hide in it, he would be burned into a ball of charcoal.

Patton saved the team once again.