Li Qiwei's terrible battlefield intuition saved the fate of the 82nd Airborne Division in this night. When the German detour troops rushed over, they were shocked to find that the US troops on the battlefield had quietly retreated to the distance. The detour troops did not hold the enemy, but were forced to retreat by a dense firepower on the third-line positions of the US military and were forced to retreat. This situation seemed to be like the boxer who had the upper hand during the boxing match, which was fiercely blown by the left hook. Unexpectedly, the staggering opponent just stepped back. The self-righteous uppercut not only lost, but also was punched by the opponent because the face was exposed and the distance was closer. It felt so frustrating.

"Sir, how did you see it?" Taking advantage of the combat gap, Adjutant Captain Green took the opportunity to ask for advice. This young man who graduated from Western Point in 1936 was very popular with Li Qiwei, and he often asked him to direct his experience.

"To be honest, I didn't see it." Li Qiwei shook his head. He didn't want to pretend to be a master in front of his subordinates. That was too pretentious and meaningless at all. The person he liked to do this most was MacArthur.

"But I think the enemy suddenly slowed down must be considering tactical adjustments. Although I don't know what they want, I can change the battlefield environment and fight them. Retreating back to the third-line position is a last resort. At least we are more familiar with it, so we have to barely have a little advantage. As for the tactics that just happened to break the enemy, it was a complete accidental collision." Li Qiwei smiled bitterly, "Of course, this tactic cannot be abused. You must have enough control over the troops, and you can fully trust your subordinates, and make them trust the commander's adjustments. Otherwise, if you retreat in the front and think that you will fail, you will be disbanded and your previous efforts will be wasted?"

The adjutant nodded to express his teaching. Li Qiwei's sudden move delayed the time for more than two hours. He failed to detour. The German army, which could only continue to attack from the front, continued to take turns to attack, causing nearly 300 casualties in the US military and more than 100 losses. Although the German army had the upper hand in exchange ratio and the scene, the number of Marines was too small. The heavy losses made Lieutenant Colonel Baker realize that this offensive was almost difficult to continue. He had lost all his armored vehicles in two attacks, and almost exhausted 80mm mortar shells. Now he relies entirely on seized or picked up US equipment. It is not good for him to drag it down until the moment the enemy plane appeared. In that way, he would definitely be swallowed up by the US military that received subsequent reinforcements.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Colonel Baker, who was judging the situation, issued a retreat order. The German officers and soldiers launched an attack with fierce firepower and then alternately covered the retreat. The US military knew that the German army had retreated, but they could not even have the idea of ​​chasing or counterattacking. This fierce battle lasted for more than five hours exhausted everyone. The German army paid a total of more than 300 casualties, and the remaining intact troops were less than 600. This would still be a count of all the armored soldiers who were forced to participate in infantry operations. The strength of the Baker battle group shrank from three battalions to one battalion, and the losses were very tragic.

The 82nd Airborne Division paid even greater price. Before the night battle began, they had more than 1,600 people in total. In addition, they received reinforcements from more than 200 crew members when they arrived, and the total number was nearly 1,900. However, after both sides broke off contact, they found that the night battle caused more than 1,000 casualties on their side, and the intact troops were less than 900. Even if they could barely take up weapons and fight, the total strength of the wounded soldiers was only more than 1,100. The pilots who temporarily joined the team lost more than 60.

When he thought of the large team of more than 3,000 people when he set out yesterday, the regiment commander Carney couldn't help but look sad and wanted to cry loudly: all the battalion commanders under him were killed, only 2 of his more than 10 company commanders were intact, three were injured, and the rest were all killed. The entire regiment had nearly 80% lost in one breath. No matter which country he was placed in, the loss was enough to be completely rebuilt. But what was incredible is that even so, the troops still maintained high fighting spirit and the courage to continue fighting.

"Sir, the Chief of Staff sent a telegram. The crew has begun to set off and will definitely arrive at dawn." The adjutant informed Li Qiwei of the news.

"Okay! Let's hold on to these last 3 hours, and the final victory must belong to us."

Almost at the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Baker, who gradually retreated to the north, also sent a telegram to Mashal, reporting the night battle situation and the losses of the Marines, saying that the situation was very critical and hoped that the fleet would be put into air or naval artillery cover today, at least to curb the enemy's airborne, otherwise the Marines would have to be destroyed.

"What should I do now?" Mashar, who received the telegram, dared not ask Ozawa. He must have only one answer: give up the Marines and run away. He cannot make this decision. The Marines were decided to put them on the island to try to attract Americans to attack. At the same time, he had the hope of luck and delayed for a day. Now the responsibility for the increasingly severe situation is entirely due to him. This responsibility is too great, and Mashar cannot bear it.

"Then you have to send carrier-based aircraft to cover the Marines' retreat. During the day, you need to help them with one or two measures. The artillery fleet must act quickly. At the same time, the reconnaissance aircraft must pay attention to whether the enemy fleet has entered the war zone." Crank whispered, "If necessary, you can only make plans to give up the Marines. The fleet cannot stay around Bermuda for too long. Either return to Azores, or turn around to Cape Verde to replenish supplies and then go to Ma Island. No matter how you make a decision, there is only one fleet more important than the Marines. Such a brave Marine Force can pull at least 2 million in Germany, but we are the only one in the fleet in Germany..."

"Okay, I understand what you mean. Alas, I don't know how to explain to General Weis when I go back this time."

"General Weiss is a kind person and will not be inconsiderate. I'd better find a way to explain to the head of state." Crank sighed, "After the fight today, no matter whether you win or lose, you must report to the head of state. He is now the commander-in-chief of the navy and cannot always know the situation of the battle in the end."

After Crank's persuasion, Mashar, who was already in chaos, finally returned to peace and gave three orders in a few minutes:

1. The aircraft carrier formation is ready to release all reconnaissance aircraft at dawn, and at the same time dispatch 60 carrier-based aircraft to Bermuda to cover the Marine Corps;

2. Telegram Lieutenant Colonel Baker to defend himself and not have to attack again today, and hope they will stick to it until the evening;

3. Lieutenant General Belarus would go to Bermuda as early as possible to meet the Marine Corps as possible, so that he could continue his attack;

A new round of rising sun finally rose. The axle fighter arrived over Bermuda after the American fleet. Seeing the huge transport aircraft in the air and the parachute flowers floating out from below, the German and Italian pilots knew that this was the second batch of reinforcements of the US military. They rushed to siege the P-51s to protect them. Generally speaking, fighter pilots would not attack the opponents of parachuting, because this was not only not in line with the cavaliers' demeanor, but they also had the day of parachuting. They could stick to the bottom line in a subtle way, but the paratroopers were obviously not in this line.

Speaking of which, the 82nd Airborne Division was not lucky enough. According to Li Qiwei's idea, the air force should first attack the Germans on the ground, control the scene before deploying troops. However, because the Germans began to retract at 3 o'clock, they had completely left contact by the early morning. The second wave of troops, eager to reinforce, was immediately airborne. Unexpectedly, just landed a small part, and the axle carrier-based aircraft that had disappeared all day yesterday appeared, and the scene became chaotic.

Of course, bad luck depends on how to understand it. Just attacking paratroopers can cause many fish that miss the net. If fighters directly attack huge and clumsy transport aircraft, the situation will be even more troublesome as long as they are shot down, they will be in a stolen pot. P-51 pilots, who know the sinister situation, use all their strength to protect them.

The p-51 is of course a good aircraft. Even if it is just a p-51b instead of the most famous p-51d, the comprehensive strength is still much stronger than the modified b-219. However, in this specific occasion today, it is a bit difficult to protect the low-altitude medium and low-altitude aircraft. Although the number of p-51s is nearly 200, which is twice as many as axle aircraft, the target they want to protect is really too fragile and eye-catching. German pilots with rich air experience often use the opportunity of attacking transport aircraft or paratroopers to lure the p-51 to take the bait, and then use the excellent maneuverability of low-altitude to kill one U.S. fighter jet after another.

Although the number of German pilots in the air combat was small, they were generally more experienced and skilled than American pilots. Even if they used inferior forces to fight the enemy, the results achieved were twice as high as those of the opponent. Considering that they had to attack transport aircraft and paratroopers with almost no resistance, this result was even more prominent.

This rogue style of fighting deeply annoyed the airborne soldiers on the ground, but they couldn't help staring down below. The German pilots were not involved in the ground attack, but just found ways to circle the P-51, knock on transport planes and paratroopers, and occasionally hit the A-26 bomber.

During the half-hour battle, 38 p-51s were shot down, 6 transport planes were shot down, and the paratroopers who suffered unscathed disasters lost more than 800 people (hit or fell into the sea), and the Germans lost 21 planes. The deadly air defense firepower launched by the Germans in the sky yesterday turned into blazing air firepower today, causing the second batch of landing airborne divisions to be baptized by a metal storm.

Due to the threat of German carrier-based aircraft, the third batch of troops originally scheduled to be deployed in the afternoon was forced to be cancelled. General Arnold turned to the land aircraft to attack the German fleet, and there were reinforced 82nd Airborne Division troops on the ground responsible for the attack.

Offense and defense are two different things. Although the defense of the 82nd Airborne Division at night was quite well-organized yesterday, facing the German veterans who had experienced the Holm siege, their attack was like a dog chewing a hedgehog and had no idea. They clearly had nearly 5 times the opponent's strength, but they just couldn't get in. They just forced the Baker battle group to retreat 2 kilometers. Although they wiped out more than 100 opponents, they paid the price of nearly 500 people.

The Bermuda Islands, which are not too large, are like a flesh-and-blood mill, constantly devouring the lives of German and American soldiers...

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