The Third Reich: The Return of the King

Chapter 1045

“Want to leave? That’s not that easy!”

After hearing the news of the US withdrawal, Manstein sneered.

He guessed that the other side must have given up on continuing to make trouble on the Eastern Front because of the great pressure of defense on the Western Front, and wanted to rush back to support the defense of the Western Front.

However, the battlefield is not your home, you can come and go as you please!

If you want to retreat, it depends on whether the German army is willing!

“Contact the Air Force and have them follow this American army and use the most violent air strikes to hold them back. They must not be allowed to return smoothly!”

Due to the distance, the army had not yet arrived at the battlefield, so Manstein could not mobilize many troops, and the Air Force became the main force!

“Tell Eisenhower to have his troops capture the city of Cliff within two days! Catch this group of American troops in one fell swoop!”

Although it is very difficult to pursue from the mountainous area, it is much faster to go around from the side. By advancing along the railway line, the German army only needs to capture all the cities along the way. With the delay of the air force, they have a chance to block the enemy’s way before the enemy, surround them in the valley of the Appalachian Mountains and annihilate them!

In Manstein’s view, Pershing made a huge mistake this time. He only brought a small number of troops to attack, which caused him to be out of touch with the main force of the US military.

So as long as he is surrounded, such a small number of troops will definitely not be able to protect his safety, so this is a great opportunity for the German army!

Manstein has never fought with Pershing. When Pershing led hundreds of thousands of American troops to fight, his opponents were Marshal Hindenburg and Ludendorff and others. Manstein At that time, Pershing was just a small staff officer, and was not at all in the eyes of these big men.

Although Pershing was a veteran of the First World War, and the wars in Europe had proved that most of the so-called veterans were outdated due to outdated tactical thinking.

But Manstein did not despise him because of this. Admiral Pershing could have such a big name and such a high prestige in the Eagle Sauce, he must be very capable. Even if he didn’t understand armored warfare well enough, he would have no problem organizing defense and fighting trench warfare.

So once he was released, he would definitely cause trouble for the German army, and it would most likely be a big trouble.

In this case, now there is a chance to keep the other party, and Manstein will naturally not miss such an opportunity. As long as Pershing is trapped here, even if his troops cannot be quickly eaten up, as long as he can He was out of touch with the main force of the US Army, so he couldn’t rush back to the US Army to command the battle. For the German army, it was already a victory!

Admiral Pershing, who was retreating, sneezed twice in a row for no reason. He rubbed his nose in frustration.

The result of the Battle of Morganton was neither victory nor defeat. Their casualties exceeded 6,000 people, and almost a division was crippled. In the end, they still failed to take the Morganton stronghold. From this point of view, they were of course a failure.

However, the strong combat effectiveness they showed in the battle still made Pershing very satisfied. The training time of this army is relatively short, so the combat effectiveness at this time is not the strongest. They still need a lot of actual combat opportunities to hone the combat effectiveness of the troops.

In time, when their combat experience becomes comparable to that of the Germans. When the army was as rich as the German army, it was hard to say who would have the last laugh when they met the German army again.

Although he did not lose the battle, his original hope to boost morale with a victory and improve his prestige in the army was completely dashed.

Even because of the heavy casualties of the troops, the soldiers complained about their commander. Some soldiers believed that it was Pershing’s poor command that caused them to pay such a heavy price but still failed to complete the task.

Other young officers believed that if General Pershing had not ordered a retreat, they would have been able to capture the enemy’s position soon!

So, an order to withdraw caused a considerable loss of his prestige.

However, General Pershing was a man who had seen great storms after all, and such a little impact had almost no effect on him, and he didn’t care about it at all.

However, there was something in the sky that he cared more about!

Shortly after they retreated, German bombers began to appear frequently, constantly bombing and strafing their troops.

Because during the march, the anti-aircraft artillery units of the side could not build artillery positions to counterattack, and in the previous battle with the German fighter planes, the anti-aircraft artillery units of the US army also suffered heavy casualties, and the combat effectiveness at this time has entered the previous strong.

It is impossible to completely protect all the troops of the side by relying on anti-aircraft artillery, especially in the process of retreat, the army is not advancing in unison, but forming a long snake formation, and the army’s queue is very long. In this case, if the front and rear ends are attacked, the US troops on the other side will not be able to reinforce.

If the middle part is attacked, it is very easy to cut off the connection between the front and rear of the US army!

In short, for the retreating US troops, the air attack is extremely annoying.

On the one hand, they needed to hurry up and on the other hand, they needed to keep an eye on the enemy bombers overhead. If they were not careful, a bomb might fall from overhead and take them to see God. If the

German air raids were only once or twice, it would be understandable, but the German air force chased them almost all the way, and they were still chasing them and harassing them!

If General Pershing had not seen the other party’s intentions at the beginning, then at this time, he had completely figured out the other party’s plan!

“Are you planning to hold us back and prevent us from getting in touch with the main force?”

Pershing thought carefully and thought this was the most likely possibility.

The German offensive on the Western Front is in full swing. According to their current momentum, as long as they are given some more time, they will be able to achieve even more brilliant results.

Of course, the premise of all this is that I cannot personally command. In the absence of a unified command, the U.S. military is in a state of disunity and cannot maximize its combat effectiveness!

General Pershing thought about it and finally determined that this was the most likely possibility!

However, when his troops arrived at the northern exit and were intercepted by the German army, he finally realized that something was wrong!

“Why are the Germans here? Isn’t Cliffe our defense zone?