That day, those people, June 6 (Part 1).

"That's a different world, one that requires young people like me to die bravely in defense of a civilization worthy of surviving!"

, Harry Read, 6th Airborne Division, British Army, who had just turned 20 at the time.

78 years ago, in 1944, when the artillery fire of World War II had not stopped, after midnight on June 6, an amphibious landing operation that was said to be the most mobilized in human history took place in Norman, Cotentin, France. The Normandie/Normandy area unfolds. This all-day battle, known today as the axis of the Free Alliance and the Dictatorship, is exactly the "Invasion of Normandy" that we are quite familiar with and took place in the Western Front Theater of Europe. Normandy)!

As early as four years ago, when the Nazis annexed France and established the puppet regime "Régime de Vichy", Hitler's claws also recklessly attacked the European continent and gradually approached the Atlantic Ocean. Constantly thinking about how to use limited resources to carry out the combat plan of the landing counter-offensive, and even release the top-secret "D-Day" as the starting day of the "Operation Overlord" to advance into Northwest Europe ; In the meantime, although the Allied forces had planned and arranged many actual combat rehearsals, on April 27, 1944, in a simulated exercise off the British coast, the Allied forces actually encountered a surprise attack by German torpedo boats. As a result, 638 U.S. officers and soldiers were unfortunately killed! It even made the staff mistakenly believe that the D-Day operational information had been leaked, and they almost had to find another way to give up the counter-offensive action...

Fortunately, the deception strategy launched by the famous "double spy" Juan Pujol García worked. He used a fictional spy network and false information to confuse the German army, allowing the Nazis to misjudge that the Allies might directly attack Norway, Greece or other countries. The coastlines of Romania and other countries continued to allow Hitler and other German generals to conduct in-depth research on the non-existent "Operation Fortitude". Combined with the Allied Forces of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and other nine countries, with a total of nearly 3 million troops, it was decided that on "D-day", on June 6, the use of up to More than 9,000 ships of various types are paired with the British and American elite airborne divisions, striving to get ashore and set up the key stronghold of the German occupation zone, that is, to conquer the five important beaches in Normandy, France!

"Almighty God, in a few hours we will be at war with our enemies. We are not afraid to go to war, and we are not asking for favor or indulgence, but if you will, use us as your instrument, your authority, and to restore world peace. Tool of."

, Lt. Col. Robert L. Wolverton, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army.

The U.S. military is responsible for the Utah Beach on the far right (Utah Beach, the following is the operational code) and the Omaha Beach (Omaha Beach) directly facing the English Channel; the British Army is responsible for Sword Beach (Sword Beach) and Gold Beach (Gold Beach), while Canada Soldiers were ordered to take Juno Beach, of course, not in the era of peace, when handsome soldiers visited the beautiful beaches for guided tours.

"You are about to embark on a journey to wage a great holy war!"

, a letter of condolence from Dwight Eisenhower to all fellow Allies.

In the air-conditioned room, the map is spread out to command the formation, and it is not difficult to talk about troops on paper, but how to find a glimmer of light in the abyss of the Nazis, the trials encountered by the British and American freedom divisions are completely unimaginable when the military pushes.

The ingenious workmanship is used to describe the natural dangers of Normandy's cliffs, as well as the uncontrollable dangerous weather in summer and June, plus the Nazi's proud Atlantic fortress defense line, 800 cement forts and as many as 8 million mines, It can be said that the Allies have experienced the pain of having no way out, and they can only advance forward with strong willpower...

Especially in the most critical, 6.4-kilometer-long Omaha Beach, the 1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army is responsible for the main attack, and the 29th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army provides support, but just preparing to land, the Allied forces are no longer able to match the severe and huge storms and rapids. He lost 10 landing craft, and left nearly 300 officers and soldiers drifting helplessly on the water like duckweeds! And when the survivors escaped the turbulent waves and seemed to be approaching the beach safely, the most taboo of military strategists was to misjudge the enemy's formation, but at this moment it struck like an axe of death!

The Allies "naively" thought that there was only a German reserve regiment stationed on Omaha Beach without the cover of armored forces, but they never expected that the famous General Erwin Rommel was in order to consolidate western France. In the coastal areas, they were even more worried that the Allies might implement the tactics of attacking the west. The well-trained 352nd Infantry Division of the Ninth Army had already been moved to Normandy, and the main battle group was stationed in Omaha! Not a group, but a division!

"I was the first to jump off the boat. But it wasn't until the seventh who jumped off the boat that the second soldier managed to jump off the boat without getting hit by a bullet. Everyone between me and him got shot. Yes, two of them were killed on the spot and three were wounded. You have to be as lucky as I am to survive."

, Captain Richard Merrill

Falling into the deadly scheming layout of "the Desert Fox", 32 Allied amphibious tanks originally used to lead the battle were either knocked into the sea by the wind and waves, or destroyed by the German army with powerful firepower on the beachhead ! In the first two hours and 120 minutes of the beach grab, thousands of Allied soldiers lost their pilot convoys, lost their sense of direction and effective cover, and huddled on the narrow 9-meter-wide beach. The sniper target of the German army's sniper, there is a sea of blood in front of the beach, and no one can go ashore safely.

"Are you going to lie there and be killed by the Germans, or are you going to stand up and do something?"

,unknown

The long dark night before dawn is perhaps the most helpless or dazed. Seeing that there is only disappointment and helplessness ahead, the landing operation may end in failure at any time, and the commander has arrived at the moment to assess and prepare to issue an evacuation order...

The second wave of support troops headed by the U.S. Navy, although the battleships and cruisers could not directly attack the beach at this moment, for fear of hurting their comrades on the shore, but all the destroyers bravely risked the risk of running aground, slowly moving forward, sailing to the distance. 900 meters from the shore;

Because the signal soldiers and engineers in the front have not reported the situation of the battle for a long time, without knowing whether the beach has been successful, they also realize that the people who fall on the beach may be their own family members. The red sea and gravel are testing the order to retreat. The decision of the ship, the commander of the ship, standing at the crossroads of history, finally made a decision boldly:

 brothers! There is no way out, let it go!
Let's stand up together, gather courage, and fight the Nazis to the end!
Perhaps, we will all be killed in the hail of bullets after landing...
Died in a foreign land, smashed to pieces for the country,
died today,
Tomorrow we will meet in heaven,
After June 6th, continue to guard the beloved family.

Our blood will surely arouse the fighting spirit of the world,
The third wave, the fourth wave, the endless stream of brethren keep up, keep up,
Until the anti-swastika flag is torn down!

Almighty Abba God and Father, my brothers humbly pray, help us at this moment!
Give us the strength to face death without fear, and help us die for justice and freedom!
Amen!

The threat of countless Nazi mines, or the risk of their own ships stranded near the shore, at this moment, everything is not important, everything is not important, the commander issued a fatal order, all members of the German 155mm huge coastal guns, and 17 destroyers were dispatched. Continue to move forward, about 730 meters away from the beach, with a fearless ultra-close combat stance, and use the only remaining firepower of the Allied forces at sea to give the most support and cover to the dying Allied soldiers on the beach. !

(To be continued)

Image source, together with thanks to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Jaws_of_Death