Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Although the U.S. military tried its best to prevent the German troops from crossing the river, their own casualties also skyrocketed. In addition to the attack planes that were constantly swooping in the sky, dropping bombs and strafing, there were hundreds of machine guns on the other side of the river that were pouring ammunition at them frantically, hitting them so hard that they could barely lift their heads.

Soon, the first assault boat rushed onto the river beach on the other side. The German soldiers quickly jumped out of the assault boat and launched a charge towards the US position.

Seeing this, the German machine guns on the other side of the river stopped firing to avoid accidentally injuring friendly troops.

Feeling that the opponent's firepower had dropped sharply, the American soldiers in the trenches once again stuck their heads out and prepared to shoot. However, at this time, the German army had already rushed not far away from them, and a round of grenades came over them.

boom! boom! boom!

As the grenades thrown into the trench exploded one after another, the screams of American soldiers being bombed came one after another.

The German soldiers took the opportunity to rush into the trenches, and several assault rifles fired at the American soldiers who still wanted to resist, instantly beating them into pieces.

Since then, a loophole has appeared in the U.S. military's defense line, and the U.S. military cannot naturally let the German troops gain a foothold here and immediately launch a counterattack; they want to take advantage of the fact that the German troops are not yet stable, regain their position, and then drive these German troops down the river. . And because the German troops had already entered the position, not only did the supporting firepower on the opposite side stop, but even the attack aircraft in the sky stopped dropping bombs.

Taking this opportunity, the US military passed through the winding communication trenches and took advantage of the familiar terrain to quickly approach the defensive positions occupied by the Germans. They suddenly burst out from the side of the trench, trying to catch the Germans off guard. Unfortunately, the firepower of the AKM assault rifles and G43 semi-automatic rifles in the hands of the German army was much more powerful than the M1 Garand rifle in the hands of the US military. Several US soldiers who rushed over were all knocked over at the corner of the trench.

An American soldier risked his life and rushed around the corner. Holding the Thompson submachine gun in his hand, he started shooting wildly at the German troops. The terrifying rate of fire (720 rounds/minute) allowed him to fire more than 30 bullets before he was shot and fell to the ground. The barrage sprayed out caused the three German soldiers nearby to be shot and fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. It flows from their bodies.

"Damn it!" A German soldier cursed, pulled out a grenade and threw it towards the corner; several soldiers nearby followed suit. These grenades knocked over several U.S. soldiers who tried to rush over. Their counterattack was defeated and their last chance to counterattack was lost.

Although the US military wanted to organize another attack to regain the position, at this time, more assault boats and rubber boats rushed ashore on the river beach, and a steady stream of reinforcements joined the captured defensive position. Their arrival strengthened the defensive position, and more than a dozen AKM assault rifles sprayed a dense rain of bullets at the rushing American soldiers.

After the Germans set up two MG3 machine guns, the Americans finally realized that the situation was over and retreated steadily.

The American troops were driven out of more positions by the Germans, and finally became a rout and dispersed.

In the temporary headquarters on the other side of the river, the German division commander looked with a telescope at the hoisting of his own flag on the other side, but he did not look happy at all and muttered in disbelief. "American casualties exceeded 50 percent."

The adjutant on the side added. "Maybe over 60%, which is not a good sign."

The army is composed of soldiers, whether it is the smallest squad, platoon or the largest army group or army group. Whenever soldiers reach a certain proportion of casualties, the army will "lose combat effectiveness."

Generally speaking, in ancient times, when cold weapon combat and medical logistics were not yet developed, the combat system would almost collapse if the casualty rate of soldiers exceeded 10%. Even if a well-run military general was stationed in the rear, 30% It's basically the limit.

In modern times, heavy firepower weapons have become the protagonist, their lethality far exceeds that of cold weapons, and the casualty rate of soldiers has also greatly increased. Under normal circumstances, if the casualty rate of an army reaches 20%, the team will most likely lose its combat effectiveness. Thirty percent has become the world-recognized boundary for acceptable casualties.

As for why it is 30%, it can be explained by the German combat organization in World War II. When World War II broke out, the German infantry division had about 17,000 men, divided into three infantry regiments and one artillery regiment. In addition, the German infantry divisions also had reconnaissance battalions, anti-tank battalions, engineer battalions, automobile teams, communications teams, as well as division headquarters and guards.

The German infantry regiment consists of three battalions, with each battalion having 850 men. Calculated in this way, a German infantry regiment has about 2,500 men. But these people are not all riflemen, there are also a considerable number of non-combatants. Excluding these people, the three infantry regiments of a German division have a total of more than 7,000 people. Calculated based on the 17,000 people of a fully equipped division, the proportion of infantry is exactly 40 %.

Assuming that the casualty rate of the German infantry division reaches more than 30%, there may only be more than a thousand people fighting on the front line. Moreover, soldiers still need to be taken care of after being injured. The slightly injured can take care of themselves, but the seriously injured need two people to carry them alone. When the casualty rate reaches 30%, the remaining 1,000 or so soldiers have to be divided to take care of the wounded. There are few people with guns on the front line, and the infantry division loses its combat effectiveness.

Of course, the definition of casualty rate and combat effectiveness is not final. Different countries, and even different troops in the same country, have different levels.

For example, the German 1st Parachute Division, with a full strength of 16,891 men in the spring of 1943, went into battle in Sicily, Italy, in June 1943. It successively fought against the British 1st Airborne Division, the 50th and the 78th Infantry Division, and remained in Italy for half a year. Combat.

From February to June 1944, it participated in the second, third, and fourth battles of Cassino. On February 26, there were only more than 6,000 people left in the division, including 2,805 combatants. In more than two months of defensive battles, , relying on these paratroopers to withstand the attacks of the US 34th Division, the New Zealand 2nd Division, the Indian 4th Division, the Polish 2nd Army and other allied forces.

After withdrawing from the battlefield, more than 800 people were left, and the strength was only 15% of the total strength.

Just now, the American casualties exceeded 50% but they were not defeated, and even managed to hold on to 60%. "The fighting will of these Americans cannot be underestimated! Where is our army's helicopter formation?!" If the helicopter formation arrived in time, they might be able to defeat them faster, but so far he has not seen even a helicopter!

Correspondent reports. "Report to the division commander, the sea is very rough and the helicopter cannot take off."

The German division commander couldn't help but click his tongue. Although these armed helicopters are easy to use, they also have many shortcomings. For example, like today, if the wind is slightly stronger, they will not be able to take off.

The adjutant spoke. "The helicopter airport should be built today. Then it will no longer be affected by the sea breeze." Because priority was given to building an airport for piston fighter aircraft, the helicopter airport was delayed.

"I hope so."