Chapter 428 Catania

There will be two updates tonight. Don't wait, brothers. There will be three updates tomorrow.

"Chiu!"

With a sharp whistle, a rocket with a trail rushed towards a tank, followed by a "boom", and the tank barely moved forward for a while and then stopped moving.

"What is that thing?" The American soldier in the dark screamed in horror: "It can actually penetrate our tanks?!!"

"I don't know!" Another American soldier answered, paused, and then he answered loudly as if he remembered something: "That's a rocket launcher, the British call it a rocket launcher!"

"They have rocket launchers!" The US military commander shouted: "Tell those tanks to turn off the lights, they will become targets for the Germans!"

"Yes, sir!"

Then it was too late, followed by a few more "chiu chiu", and five or six rockets rushed towards the tank with the headlights on one after another like fireworks during the New Year... Anyway, the rockets are enough, and the rockets are cheap enough. A few rockets can definitely make a profit for a tank, and a big profit.

Then there were a few explosions, and the remaining two tanks of the US army were also destroyed.

One of them caught fire a few seconds later. At first, there was a ball of smoke that was not obvious... The smoke was not obvious in the dark, and it felt like something was blocking the sight in front of me. Then, a flame suddenly appeared. Since the "Sherman" tank used gasoline, the flames quickly grew larger and soon spread to the entire tank. Finally, with a "bang", the ammunition in the tank exploded.

The explosion knocked the nearby US soldiers to the ground, and the other US soldiers lay on the ground and dared not show their heads.

"Soldiers!" Colonel Slaine ordered loudly: "For the victory of the empire, kill them all!"

The German soldiers shouted and climbed up from their hiding place, holding their guns and rushing towards the US troops like a tide.

The US soldiers lying on the ground originally wanted to resist, but suddenly a row of grenades with green smoke rolled towards them in the night, scaring them to run away...

No one could tell whether it was better to run away or not at this time.

Running away means standing up, and the chance of being killed by grenades is even higher.

Not running away means facing the German bayonets and rifles immediately.

In short, it makes no difference whether the American soldiers in the front run or not, because they are already dead.

The correct approach should be to have a premonition before that, that is, to feel that the enemy is going to throw grenades and launch a charge, and then throw grenades first and organize fire defense or run away.

However, only veterans who have rolled on the battlefield can do this, and they must be highly coordinated with each other. The rookies of the American soldiers can only fall down in groups under the German army's pursuit.

Not long after, the German army killed in front of the main tank group of the US army.

The U.S. military was organizing more than a dozen tanks to try their best to block the German "Phase 4" tanks that were coming in from the "gate". Of course, they didn't know what was happening on their side... Tanks have poor external perception, especially at night. Their vision is only a periscope that is almost as wide as their heads, and their ears are "rumbling" motors and guns. They are almost blind and deaf to the flanks.

So, when they were concentrating on aiming at the German tanks coming up along the road, there was a sudden bang, and several high-temperature jets passed through the tanks and flew around in the tank cabin. The U.S. tank crews were either killed or injured in an instant, and the cabin was soon filled with the smell of burning and the screams of the wounded.

Fifteen "Sherman" tanks turned into piles of wreckage in a short time, at least half of which were on fire, and one or two explosions would be heard from time to time. The flames shook in the dark with the explosions, like burning torches.

The German tanks drove in through the pass one by one with these torches as indicators... and then spit out flames mercilessly at the American troops who were still holding on in the dark.

At this time, Major General Allen was discussing with several staff officers in the headquarters three kilometers away about how to launch the attack tomorrow. He was always worried about Enna Heights, especially when the British and American troops on the left and right were making good progress.

As for defense, he believed that with 60 "Sherman" tanks and the geographical advantage, the Germans could not break through, at least not quickly.

This made him not take it seriously when he heard that the Germans launched a counterattack.

"Where did they attack?" Major General Allen asked, "Have you found out the main attack position?"

"General!" The staff officer who answered the phone answered with a horrified expression: "They said the Germans have broken through the defense line!"

"What? The Germans broke through the defense line?" Major General Allen looked at the staff officer in amazement: "But now it's only a few minutes before they launch a counterattack!"

"Yes!" The staff officer replied: "They are launching the attack from Cross Hill!"

The U.S. military called the hill at the intersection "Cross Hill".

"Where are our tanks?" Major General Allen asked angrily: "I arranged 30 tanks there. Are they all sleeping?"

"They were all destroyed!"

"This is impossible! What did they use to destroy it? In a few minutes... they could destroy 30 tanks controlling the intersection?"

"The Germans got in!" The staff officer replied: "They pretended to be British and then destroyed those tanks with rocket launchers!"

Major General Allen was stunned on the spot.

The staff officer shouted anxiously: "General, they are coming here, retreat! It will be too late if you don't retreat now!"

Major General Allen hesitated, realizing that if he did not retreat, he would most likely become a prisoner of the Germans, so he had to grit his teeth and ordered: "Retreat!"

At the crossroads, the "Panzer IV" tank took a while to push the wreckage of the "Sherman" tank blocking the road to the side of the road, and then the troops were divided into several parts to launch a surprise attack on the enemy along the well-connected roads.

The 39th Mechanized Infantry Division attacked to the east, and their destination was Catania.

Catania is located between Syracuse and Messina, and is also the only plain area in Sicily.

Generally speaking, plain areas are not suitable for German mechanized infantry divisions to fight against the powerful British army with sea, land and air advantages.

The problem is that there is a city called Catania on the Catania Plain, which is the second largest city in Sicily. Since the Catania Plain is close to Mount Etna, volcanic ash has been deposited for many years to form natural fertilizer, so its fertile land is very suitable for growing crops. It has always been the main grain producing area in Sicily and is known as the "granary" of Sicily.

The German army occupied the city and fought street battles with the British army with rocket launchers. At the same time, the two regiments of the "Lightning Division" would airdrop to the surrounding mountains to cooperate with the 39th Division, which would cut off the supply and transportation line between the British army and Syracuse.