What was the outcome of the Battle of Normandy?

The Battle of Normandy (June 6 to July 24, 1944) was the world's largest strategic landing campaign conducted by the American and British armed forces in Normandy in the late stages of World War II. Called D-Day. The battle lasted for more than two months and ended with the Allies successfully establishing a beachhead and liberating Paris. At this point, the Allies finally broke through the German "Atlantic Barrier" defense line and opened a second battlefield in France.

War background

Since Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet Red Army has been fighting the German army alone on the vast European continent. Therefore, Stalin asked Churchill to open a second battlefield in Europe to carry out a strategic pincer attack on Nazi Germany. However, the United States had not yet entered the war, and the United Kingdom was simply unable to organize such a large-scale strategic landing operation. In response to the Soviet Union's suggestion, Britain only sent a small force to carry out sneak attacks and harassment on the European continent. It was not until the end of 1942 that the Soviet army achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Volgograd and began to prepare for a counterattack. The German Rommel Army was severely hit in North Africa. The situation on the European battlefield changed in favor of the American and British Allied Forces. Seize a strategic landing site in northern France. In January 1943, the United States and Britain reached a preliminary agreement to prepare for a second battlefield in Europe. In May 1943, Britain and the United States held the Washington Conference and decided to launch a landing on the European continent in May 1944, open up a second battlefield, and begin to formulate a landing plan. In November 1943, the leaders of Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union met in Tehran. The meeting decided that the three countries would form an allied force. Britain and the United States would launch a large-scale landing operation in northern Germany, opening up a second battlefield. The Soviet Red Army would launch an offensive on the eastern front of Europe to contain Germany. The main force. In December of the same year, the leaders of the United States and Britain met again and appointed U.S. Army General Eisenhower as the commander-in-chief of the operation. On January 14, 1944, Eisenhower took office and organized personnel to revise the previously completed "Operation Overlord" plan. The basic idea is to use the landing force as an assault force, with the support of aircraft, artillery, and ships, to land in Normandy, France, break through the German defenses, open up a large number of landing sites, allow reinforcements to land smoothly, conduct land battles, and win the final victory. As for the landing location, after several discussions, Normandy was chosen with harsh natural conditions and small German defense forces. The landing time was set in the early morning of June 5 when the tide was high.

In order to carry out this large-scale campaign, the Allied forces assembled as many as 2.88 million troops. The Army has 36 divisions, including 23 infantry divisions, 10 armored divisions, and 3 airborne divisions, with approximately 1.53 million people. The Navy has about 5,300 warships in operation, including about 1,200 combat ships including 13 battleships, 47 cruisers, and 134 destroyers, 4,126 landing ships, and more than 5,000 transport ships. . The Air Force has 13,700 combat aircraft, including 5,800 bombers, 4,900 fighter jets, and 3,000 transport gliders.

On the German side, before the Battle of Normandy began, the most elite regiments of the German army - 179 divisions and 5 brigades - were still fighting on the Soviet-German battlefield, accounting for approximately 65% ??of the total strength of the German army. There are only 58 German divisions in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, organized into two army groups "B" and "G", affiliated to the "Western Front" command commanded by Marshal Rundstedt. This force is supported by the 3rd Air Force (160 fighters). The coasts of northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands are defended by the German "B" Army Group, commanded by Marshal Rommel. Its basic forces are concentrated along the Pas de Calais because the German high command estimates that the Allied forces will land in this area. In the vast area along the Seine Bay where the Allied forces planned to invade the mainland, there were only three German divisions defending it. Surface ships of the "Western Front" naval force are stationed at ports in the Bay of Biscay, the Pas de Calais and the Strait of La Manche. In addition, in order to resist the landing, 49 submarines stationed in Brest, Lorient and other ports in the Bay of Biscay were also mobilized. Before the start of the Normandy landing campaign, the German high command approved the implementation of the northern French coastal defense project plan. 68% of the projects east of the Seine River were completed, and only 18% of the projects west of the Seine River mouth were completed. But even this caused considerable losses to the Allied landings.

The course of the war

In the Normandy landing, the task of the Allied airborne troops was to airdrop at shallow depths 10 to 15 kilometers away from the coast on both sides of the landing beach to prevent the enemy reserves from attacking. Reinforce and attack the German coastal defense positions from the side and rear to cooperate with the sea landing. Because in the first 1 to 2 days, the Allies only landed 6 to 8 infantry divisions, and only after establishing a large landing site for the armored divisions to deploy, the armored divisions were put into combat. If the German troops break through the defense line of the landing troops before the armored troops land, it will bring disaster to the landing. Therefore, the actions of the airborne troops in the early stages of landing are crucial to the success of the landing.

On the night of June 5, under the cover of intensive air force assaults, the Allies airborne two American airborne divisions north of the city of Carentin and one British airborne division northeast of Caen. The ship transporting the landing troops began to cross the Strait of La Manche in stormy weather, so the move took the naval high command by surprise. The first resistance at sea by the German army was only an attack by destroyers, sinking one destroyer. Even when the ships began their bombardment, the German coastal battery fire was chaotic and ineffective. No German aviation was seen in the landing area.

The regiments of the German "Western Front" tank group were far away from the coast and could not participate in the anti-landing operations because targets on the communication lines were constantly attacked by airborne troops and Allied air forces. The Allies took the enemy by surprise, invaded the mainland, and gained a dominant position. On the morning of June 6, the Allied forces began landing on the coast of Normandy. The Allies, supported by powerful naval gunfire and continuous air force assaults, captured several landing sites. Within 16 to 17 hours after the landings began, a total of 132,715 troops landed on these landing sites. On the first day of the battle, 6,000 pieces of weapons and transport (including 900 tanks and armored vehicles, 600 artillery pieces and other equipment) and 4,300 tons of equipment and ammunition were unloaded in the East Sector (British). The rapidity of the landing operations was due to the use of a large number of specialized landing ships, which could reach the shore directly to disembark troops and unload technical weapons, as well as the use of large ships with specialized equipment and port facilities as docks. As of June 17, the Allies had established two temporary ports. Oil pipelines were also laid in the Strait of La Manche. At this time, the Allied forces had advanced to the east of Westleon and south of Caumont and Carentin, cutting off the German army group operating on the Cotentin Peninsula. There are already 19 divisions on the landing site, including 3 armored divisions, with approximately 500,000 troops. The German high command now engaged 12 divisions in the battle, including 4 tank divisions. The German army used dispersed forces and suffered heavy losses as a result. On July 5, the 29th day after the landing, there were 1 million Allied troops in Normandy. Due to the smooth Soviet offensive in Belarus, the basic strength of the German army was restrained on the Soviet-German battlefield, and the German high command no longer had campaign reserves available. However, the speed of the British and American troops advancing deep into the mainland was still very slow. It was not until July 25 that they advanced to the coastal areas south of Caen, Caumont, and Saint-L? and established a strategic landing site. So far the Normandy landing campaign has come to an end.

Results and Evaluation of the War

The Battle of Normandy lasted 43 days. The Allies completed the largest war in the history of the world at a heavy cost of 57,200 dead and 168,600 injured or missing. amphibious landing. It was the largest and last offensive launched by the Allied forces on the Western Front in Europe during World War II. It was one of the most strategically significant events in World War II. The victory of the Normandy landing marked the official opening of the second battlefield in Western Europe. The opening of the second battlefield held back a large number of fascist German troops. It not only reduced the pressure on the Soviet army, but also helped coordinate the Soviet army to conquer Berlin and force fascist Germany to surrender unconditionally in advance. It also made it easier for the US military to devote its main force to the Pacific against Japan. , hastened the end of World War II to a certain extent.