"We are paratroopers and should be surrounded." Is it helpless for American paratroopers to say so?

1944165438+1the end of October, that is, two months after the disastrous defeat of the allied forces in the "market garden" operation. The US Army 10 1 Division and the 82nd Division were transferred from the front line to the Momien Barracks in France to rest, and at the same time served as the garrison task of the Allied Headquarters. There are hot baths, clean sheets, and pubs and women who release stress.

Although there are many gendarmes in Paris, they still can't stop paratroopers from drinking and fooling around. Perhaps "peers are enemies", paratroopers of the 82nd Division and 10 1 Division often fight because of one sentence. In their view, it is nothing more than a few days in solitary confinement, which is nothing, because they estimate that there will be no combat mission until at least March next year.

However, "the ideal is full and the reality is very skinny", and the war situation has undergone major changes.

12 16 momiyan, the officers and men of company e were immersed in the excitement before Christmas. Going to Paris for fun is still their "favorite", and most officers also take time off to go to Paris. At the same time, the company is also actively preparing a football match and a turkey dinner to celebrate the upcoming festival.

On the same day, Captain Winters was ordered to stop his vacation and assemble his troops. In Paris, the officers and men of the airborne division were rushed back to the troops by the gendarmerie from pubs and theaters. According to the experience of veterans, there must be some urgent wars. Sure enough, Hitler fought back in Ardennes, and the allies suffered heavy losses.

First of all, the Battle of Ardennes was the last battle launched by Germany. Once again, they chose Ardennes to paralyze and confuse the allied forces in order to achieve the suddenness of the battle, but its scale was much larger than that when 1940 attacked France. According to intelligence estimates, there are four German divisions in front of the US military, but there are actually 25 divisions, including seven armored divisions.

On this day, the weather was very bad, the visibility in the air was very low, and the air superiority of the allies was disintegrated. The Germans want to use this weather to launch a sneak attack. Because on the ground, both the combat quality of soldiers and the strength of armored forces completely defeated the US military, thus disrupting the deployment of the US military and winning time for the capture of Antwerp.

Secondly, since the Allies broke through the Atlantic Barrier, they thought that the Germans had become decadent. All they have to do is go ahead. No one believes that Germans still have the strength to do dying. Even the fiasco of the "Market Garden" operation did not arouse the vigilance of the allied high-level.

Eisenhower only thought about how to deal with the Germans, and never thought about how the Germans would deal with the Allies. Before D-Day, he knew all about the German deployment, battle sequence and designation in Normandy, but now he only knows how many troops there are in this area. It can be seen that the overconfidence of the allies and their contempt for the Germans are the key to heavy losses.

At the same time, it is foreseeable that American generals have only offensive experience and no defensive experience. Since the U.S. military entered the war, the experience truly reflected in the campaign level is how to attack, and it has never encountered a large-scale "blitzkrieg" by the Germans. This time, they learned about the tenacity and strength of the German ground forces.

This was the biggest battle the American army encountered in World War II, and the result was disastrous. The 600,000 American troops who participated in the war suffered more than 60,000 casualties and captured more than 20,000 people. Eisenhower clearly realized that in the rugged Ardennes, the only thing to stick to is Bastogne, which is the intersection of many roads and the key to turning the war around.

The paratroopers were "ordered in a crisis", but they were short of food and clothing.

Eisenhower decided to "be quick". He wanted to quickly fill the loopholes in the defense line to curb the German "blitzkrieg" tactics. The only thing he can do as a campaign reserve is two airborne divisions in Paris. What we need to do now is to quickly deploy them on the defense line.

He ordered the convoy carrying supplies, gasoline and supplies from Normandy beach to drop all its work and send reinforcements to the Ardennes. Due to the sudden order, Company E was not prepared for the war. Because Momien had no ammunition depot, the officers and men only brought back some ammunition from Holland.

Moreover, as a garrison, the recruits of Company E were not replenished, and only reached 65% of the full staff before departure. At the same time, there is no winter clothes, even helmets, let alone dry food. It can be said that there is a lack of clothes and food. 65438+February 18 at 8: 00 pm, 380 trucks carrying 10 1 division arrived on time.

In order to catch up with time and speed, it is obviously against wartime regulations to turn on the lights all the way. It is more than 300 kilometers from Paris to Bastogne, and they didn't turn off the lights until they entered Belgium. The paratroopers who bumped all the way finally got off the bus a few kilometers away from Bastogne.

The road was full of retreating American troops, dejected and exhausted, as if they had experienced a hell on earth. Not far away, Bastian's artillery fire continued, and Company E had to enter the battlefield as soon as possible before the Germans were completely surrounded. They kept asking the retreating infantry for ammunition, because bullets are the guarantee of safety on the battlefield.

We are paratroopers and should be surrounded.

The TV series "Brothers" also truly restored the scene at that time. Captain Rice, the logistics officer of the US Army 10 armored division, distributed ammunition to passing paratroopers. And kindly reminded Winters: "An armored division of the German army is going to cut off the road to the south, and you may be surrounded."

"We are paratroopers, and we should be surrounded." Winters' answer became the classic motto of the play. It is neither brave words nor lonely geese whining. It is just a very common sentence, but it makes him speak so frankly. Where does his confidence come from?

First of all, they have this confidence because of their excellent fighting quality. Airborne troops are the best infantry in the US military sequence. They have strong physique and excellent fighting will. In their eyes, paratroopers are used in the most difficult times and can do things that ordinary infantry can't do, but they can do well.

Since landing in Normandy, paratroopers have experienced airborne combat, trench warfare, encounter warfare, and even more "enemy-occupied areas" operations that infantry have not experienced. These experiences make them confident enough to face the German siege, which is a common thing for paratroopers. This sentence smacks of "satire" on friendly forces.

Secondly, cherish the team honor and have high morale. Since the airborne troops became the new service of the US military, their performance in every battle has attracted people's attention. In particular, 10 1 Airborne Division has played a powerful role in paratroopers in previous battles and enjoyed a high reputation in the US military. It is the "trump card" in Eisenhower's hands.

These honors make the paratroopers feel extremely proud. In their view, the more unfavorable it is, the more it can show that they are higher than the general army, and the more they can win honor. For this honor, "if they don't go to hell, who will go to hell". This sentence is a "certificate of honor" for paratroopers.

More importantly, they are a "monolithic" fighting collective, and they are not afraid of any big difficulties. After two and a half years of exploration, together with the artillery fire and the charge, the paratroopers have already forged a "war friendship" beyond ordinary friendship. They are brothers who trust each other and a united fighting collective.

Having such a team is the guarantee of safety and the key to victory. Therefore, when they saw the retreating American troops, they didn't panic or retreat. They just felt that they were going to face a fierce battle. In order to fight this battle well, they need more ammunition to protect themselves and their teammates. This sentence is actually the best comfort for yourself.

what do you think? Welcome to leave a message for discussion.

References: the whole history of World War II, World War II, Brother Company.

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