Chapter 451: Guerrilla Warfare
"Regimental Commander, the 1st Battalion Commander requests to retreat. Now their battalion has suffered a lot of casualties. Thirty percent of the battalion has been killed." An orderly rushed into an ordinary residence set up by Bivis in Reykjavik. The temporary headquarters in the basement reported to him.
Bivis frowned. Now the U.S. Marine Corps has begun to land. Since there is no threat of French artillery, their landing is extremely smooth. In the first wave of landing, Davis sent a regiment of troops. The French army's troops on the front line only had one battalion with more than 700 people. Although the 1st Battalion withdrew from the position in accordance with Bivis's order when the American fleet bombarded the French coastal fortifications on a large scale, there was no loss at all during the bombardment. But all the simple defensive positions they built were destroyed. This puts them at a very disadvantageous position when facing the landing of the US military.
"No, tell Major Mullen that he must hold on for another hour. We must buy time for the 2nd Battalion to withdraw." Bivis ordered. The 2nd Battalion retreated to northern Iceland with a large amount of weapons and ammunition. If they could not stop the U.S. troops in Reykjavik, then the 2nd Battalion might not be able to send these materials to a safe place.
"Yes, Commander." The orderly said. Then he rushed out under the artillery fire of the US fleet to convey Bivis's order to Major Mullen, the commander of the 1st Battalion.
"Commander, Paris is calling." At this time, a low-ranking officer came over with a telegram.
"Read!" Bivis said.
"Order of the General Staff: The US military is very strong now. Your department can decide whether to stick to Reykjavik or withdraw. However, I hope your department can persist in fighting until the imperial army counterattacks Iceland in the future." The junior officer read.
"Okay, I see, you go down." Bivis said. From the call from the general staff, he already understood the general staff's decision very well. Iceland, and his troops, were temporarily abandoned by the Empire. Although a little reconciled, he also understood very well. After all, the empire's strategic focus is on quelling wars in Europe. Only after assessing the chaos of war in Europe, can the empire concentrate its strength on the final decisive battle with the Americans. There is nothing to complain about. If he was in that position, I believe he would have given the same order. The requirements of the general staff are similar to his plan. In the central, southeastern and northern regions of Iceland, there are vast ice fields and mountainous areas. His troops can take advantage of these favorable terrains to deal with the US military. In this case, although they cannot defeat the U.S. military, the U.S. military cannot destroy them. When the French army counterattacked aggressively, that is when they drove the Americans away. Therefore, they must now ensure that they have sufficient strategic materials. Before the naval fleet took half, the 2nd Battalion also took a small half. These are the capital they will deal with the US military in the future. So now they have to create enough time for the transfer of these strategic materials. Just wait two more days before the 2nd Battalion will be able to enter the Hofs Icefield, and at that time, they can retreat.
"Battalion Commander, the regimental commander ordered us to hold on for an hour." The orderly conveyed Bivis' order to Mullen.
"Damn it. I see." Mullen said with a gloomy face. Although the combat effectiveness of the U.S. military is far inferior to that of the French army, they now have strong artillery support, and their strength has an absolute advantage, so the casualties of the 1st Battalion are very large now.
The defense line of the 1st Battalion is an area about 500 meters in front of the port. The terrain is relatively open, so there is no danger at all. But fortunately, the combat effectiveness of the US military is not very strong. In other words, they cherish their lives very much, so the 1st Battalion has been able to persist until now.
"Damn it, what the **** are they cowards doing? It's been two hours and they haven't broken through the French defenses." The team's performance was furious.
Harold also felt very ashamed on the side. The strength of a regiment, with the support of fierce artillery fire from the naval fleet, is still unable to break through the positions defended by at most one battalion of the French army, which is indeed a bit shameful.
"Ordering the frontline commanders, I only give them one hour. They must break through the French army's position and occupy the entire port area within one hour. Otherwise, everyone in the regiment will not engage in military law." Davis said with a black face. ordered. It's almost 6pm now, with at most two hours to go before it gets dark. If by that time they are still unable to establish a solid beachhead and send as many troops as possible to the coast, in case they are attacked by the French army at night, then it is very likely that the US military will be driven into the sea, and they Efforts will also be in vain.
Perhaps feeling Davis' anger, the frontline commander of the US military, a colonel commander, ordered the troops to launch a more violent attack on the French positions. About 1,000 American soldiers, divided into 3 teams, launched an attack on the French positions.
The fierce attack of the US military immediately made the French army's defense line a little tight. "Turn all the remaining mortars over, and focus on attacking the US troops along the way." Mullen gave the order decisively.
In just 3 minutes, the 15 mortars of the French army fired more than a hundred shells, which immediately crushed the US army. Seeing this situation, the other two U.S. troops also retreated quickly. That speed is more than twice as fast as when attacking.
With the U.S. forces routed, Mullen ordered the mortars to scatter quickly. He knew that the US military would definitely retaliate. Sure enough, two minutes later, the place where the French mortars had gathered before was overwhelmed by the artillery fire of the American fleet.
"Damn it, I'm sending a regiment to land." In the end, Davis reluctantly gave an order to increase troops.
10 troop carriers began to march towards the coast. Since the French army now has no large-caliber artillery, there is no way to threaten these troop carriers, allowing them to advance very close to the coast. This greatly saves the login time. But despite this, it took more than half an hour for a regiment of marines to land.
"Commander, the Americans are starting to land again."
"I know, how long have we been holding on? The commander only needs us to hold on for another hour. If the time is up, we will retreat immediately." Mullen asked. He knew that as the Americans increased their troops again, it would be basically impossible for his battalion to hold the line of defense.
"It's only a few minutes to an hour."
"Well, order the troops to retreat in 5 minutes." Mullen ordered.
Soon, the 1st Battalion of the French Army withdrew from its position. At this time, the US military began to attack again. But what they didn't expect was that they were not blocked by the French army, and they broke into the French army's position very easily. After entering the position, it was discovered that the French army had already disappeared. Only the remnants of the ground were left.
After occupying the entire port, Davis immediately ordered a large-scale landing. He needs to transport as many soldiers as possible to the coast before dark. To ensure that they can withstand the possible attack of the French army tonight. Without the obstruction of the French army, the landing of the US military went very smoothly. When it got dark, three regiments of them had successfully landed, bringing the number of US troops in the port area to more than 10,000. Moreover, there are still a large number of U.S. troops heading towards the coast in landing craft.
The 1st Battalion of the French Army successfully completed the task, but their losses were also very large. The entire 1st Battalion's attrition reached 50%.
Originally, Bivis wanted to launch an attack at night to drive the Americans into the sea. However, due to the heavy losses of the 1st Battalion, and only the 3rd Battalion and the troops directly under the regiment were left in his hands, as well as the withdrawn artillery, there was a serious shortage of troops. Coupled with the successful landing of a large number of US marines, if they attack at this time, there will definitely be no chance of winning. Therefore, Bivis gave up the night attack plan.
It was a frightening night. Although it is not clear why the French army did not launch an offensive, it did no harm to the US military. By daybreak they had landed again with the strength of two regiments.
Afterwards, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com US troops launched an attack on Reykjavik. The French army, on the other hand, took advantage of the favorable terrain to launch fierce street battles with the U.S. military. The French army built a large number of barricades in the streets of Reykjavik. Resist the attack of the US military steadily. There are also a large number of French soldiers hiding in the houses, shooting and killing passing U.S. troops.
Almost every step forward by the U.S. military needs to pay the price of life. The battle was very fierce, and the U.S. military often had to fight fiercely for a street, a house, or even a ruin.
Although the French army was very tenacious, the American army was simply too many. As more and more American troops entered the battle, the French army's position was gradually eroded. On the third day, 90% of the entire city of Reykjavik was occupied by the US military. At this time, there were less than 1,000 French troops left. However, the number of US troops killed by them is definitely more than three times that of them.
Under such circumstances, Bivis chose to retreat again. If they continue to stay in Reykjavik, they will definitely end up being wiped out by the US military.
The French army retreated all the way to the north of Iceland. Using their familiarity with the terrain, they threw off the pursuit of the US army and entered the mountains. Joined with the 2nd Battalion that had retreated earlier, fought a guerrilla war with the U.S. troops in the mountains, and continued to fight against the U.S. troops. In order to wait for the arrival of a large-scale counterattack by the French army.