247

Episode 247: Battle of London (4)

June 23, 1943

War Office underground bunker in London, England

"Still, still no news?"

"The debris has blocked all passages, and the enemy's artillery and airstrikes are continuing-"

"Stop making excuses! "It is a matter of life and death for His Majesty the King and the Queen!"

Churchill, Prime Minister of the British Empire, was thinking busier than ever.

Not only has Buckingham Palace collapsed due to German bombing, but even the fate of the king and queen is unknown.

Everyone did not know what to do in this unprecedented situation in British history.

A rescue team was immediately dispatched, but all passages were blocked due to the huge bomb dropped by the Germans.

Although piles of rubble blocking the passage were being quickly removed, rescue was being delayed due to the German army's continuous bombardment.

Even with heavy equipment, it took a long time, and with the addition of artillery fire, there was no way for the work to proceed properly.

Because the situation was so urgent, they even considered blowing up the pile of rubble blocking the passage with dynamite, but the risk was too great.

However, it would take a year to remove the pile of rubble with a pickaxe.

It was a situation where X happened properly. Churchill's vision seemed to turn yellow.

Soldiers and Londoners alike witnessed the collapse of Buckingham Palace, where His Majesty the King resides.

Even now, countless rumors were spreading among soldiers and citizens.

There were some who burned their fighting spirit with anger, but there were many who abandoned their weapons in despair and ran away or surrendered to the enemy.

Even the fate of the most important king and his wife is unknown, and to make matters worse, the German army has pushed into Brixton.

The time allowed to Churchill was now limited to two days at most.

"Your Excellency, it is no longer possible. "Escape from London now."

"How many times do I have to tell you to understand? I will remain in London until the end! "How can I leave London when I don't even know if His Majesty the King is alive!"

"dismissal. "I understand your feelings, but if you die or are taken prisoner by the Nazis, the military and people will completely lose the will to fight."

"We must leave London now! right now!"

Churchill did not know, but many people had already abandoned their mission and fled from London. It was merely buried in the chaos of the collapse of Buckingham Palace.

"Your Excellency, are you going to end up in the hands of the Germans like this? "If your Excellency is killed by the Germans, our people and soldiers will completely lose any hope of fighting."

"Umm… … !"

Due to the persistent persuasion of those around him, Churchill's once iron-clad resolve gradually began to waver.

However, if he ran away without even knowing whether His Majesty was alive or dead, he would remain a disgrace to this country for the rest of his life.

Who in the world would follow a prime minister who abandoned his promises to the people and even left the king alone?

"But I…" … ."

It was then.

I felt like I felt a heavy vibration, and then the ceiling cracked and chunks of concrete poured out.

Pieces of the collapsed ceiling hit the people inside the bunker.

"… … !!!"

The bunker quickly became a mess. People who inhaled the smoke coughed harshly. Smoke and dust blew around, blocking people's view.

"Mr Prime Minister! "Mr Prime Minister!"

"dismissal! Are you okay?!"

In the thick cloud of dust, where they could not see an inch ahead, the ministers ran around, screaming, looking for Churchill.

When the dust settled and the front was barely visible, I saw Churchill lying bleeding.

"Cho, Prime Minister!"

"doctor! "Call the doctor!"

***

"Keep shooting!"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! "Don't stop, keep shooting!"

A scene that had never before occurred in British history was happening before my eyes.

A German battleship was sailing up the Thames River and bombarding downtown London.

At this historic sight, the British soldiers and citizens of London who remained in London were astonished, and the German and Axis forces cheered.

"Can't you shoot faster, faster?"

"What are you doing! "Didn't His Excellency tell us to speed up more?"

Leather felt like his heart was exploding and burning brightly.

When the wish he had dreamed of his entire life finally came true, he could not hide his excitement like a child.

Captain Lindemann was also unusual in his usual manner, waving his fists and yelling at the soldiers, encouraging them.

The three battleships, Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Scharnhorst, which went up to London through the Thames River, fired their 380mm main guns and 128mm secondary guns, completely destroying the city of London, which had been damaged by bombing and artillery fire.

Anti-aircraft guns, which had become useless due to our forces taking over air superiority, also joined the attack on the ground.

The guns and tanks deployed in downtown London tried to fire their main guns to block the massive battleship, but it was like hitting a rock with an egg.

It did not even make a scratch on the battleship's side armor, which was built to protect the heavy battleship's naval gunfire, and bounced off like a finger rubbing the surface of butter.

-Kuaaaaang!!!

When the 380mm naval gun shell hit, three Shermans and Cromwells were disintegrated simultaneously.

The shot was not aimed at tanks, but there were tanks in the direction in which the naval cannonball was fired, but with just one naval cannonball, the tanks disappeared without a trace.

"This is Germany! "You fucking Tommy bastards!!"

"Kyaat, heavy rain!"

The battleship's crew was on the verge of convulsions as they loaded shells without stopping, but they moved like machines, forgetting the pain in the pleasure of pouring fire rain on London, the capital of England, the long-awaited dream of their country, with their own hands.

Even without any instructions from the gunnery commander, the soldiers worked hard to reload even one second faster.

"good! Everyone is doing great! Let's just keep going like this!"

***

June 24, 1943

london england

"Long live His Majesty the King! Long live Denmark!"

"Death to the disgusting British!"

Although their numbers were only a small number, the fighting power of the Danish and Norwegian armies, especially their hatred toward Britain, was by no means inferior to that of the Germans. Rather, if you add more, you get more, never less.

They were united in anger and hatred toward Britain, which had deliberately attacked their country, which claimed to be neutral, and killed innocent people through bombing, and launched an assault as soon as the commander gave the signal to attack.

Home Guard members attempted to stop them with Lewis light machine guns and Maxim machine guns, but the Danish army charged regardless of the countless bullets raining down on them.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

"Fuck you!"

"Big… … !"

A tooth popped out of the mouth of a Home Guard member who had been hit by the butt of a carabiner rifle wielded by a sturdy Danish corporal, and blood spurted out from the mouth of an old soldier who had been stabbed with a bayonet.

Although their will to protect their homeland was sincere, the Home Guard members, whose bodies had deteriorated due to age, fell helplessly in close combat with the young and lively Danish soldiers.

The Norwegian army also attacked fiercely, as if not to be left behind.

What the German army entrusted to the Norwegian army was to protect the flanks, but the Norwegian army did not stop at its original mission of protecting the German army's flanks and aggressively attacked the British army.

Wouldn't it be possible if we wipe out the British troops that would threaten our flanks in advance?

The Norwegian Army's Type 4 Tank G was running with its main gun and machine gun firing, but came to a halt after stepping on a mine.

However, even when the tracks were damaged by land mines, the tank did not stop shooting.

They intended to continue fighting as long as the main gun was intact and ammunition remained.

An anti-tank gunner positioned on the side fired a King's anti-tank rifle, blowing a hole in the side of the turret.

When the tank commander was killed by a bullet that pierced his armor, the gunner took his place.

"That guy isn't dead yet. "Give me another shot!"

"Please get some rest. "Fuck you."

The second and third bullets flew in and struck the side of Panzer 4. The gunner was wounded by fragments created when the bullet penetrated the armor, and the main gun was damaged and rendered unable to fire, but the radio operator continued to fire the MG34 to harass the British troops.

Only after a British mortar shell hit the top of the tank and exploded the ammunition inside was it possible to completely silence Panzer 4.

The Norwegian army's reckless attack inflicted considerable damage on the British army, but as they advanced further than necessary, they ended up being surrounded by the British army.

The British army thought it was time to fire a mortar over the heads of the Norwegian army, and the Norwegian army ran here and there to avoid the shells falling from the sky.

It was the German Broom Bear that saved the Norwegian company, which was on the verge of annihilation.

The German 216th Assault Tank Battalion, which received a request for support from the Norwegian Army, sent one Broombear, which had been kept in reserve, to the Norwegian platoon.

"Loaded!"

"Aim, front! launch!"

The building hit by a 15cm grenade collapsed, giving Norwegian troops time to evacuate.

While the British army concentrated its attack on the Norwegian army, a detouring Danish platoon raided the British army's mortar position.

Three or four grenades were thrown at the same time, blowing away the British troops along with mortars and mortar shells.

In addition to the Danish and Norwegian armies, the Swedish army was also eager to fight.

Their total size did not exceed three divisions, but in terms of combat power, it was close to twice that. The hatred Scandinavians had for England was beyond imagination.

"surrender! "I will surrender!"

"Don't shoot! Surrender- Ugh!"

Of course, high combat power did not always lead to positive results.

The British soldiers, tired of their fighting power, came out with both hands up, but the Scandinavian soldiers, excited by blood, fired submachine guns and wiped out even the surrendering soldiers.

German military liaison officers dispatched to the Scandinavian army quickly stopped it, but many prisoners were already massacred.

Although not as strong as the Scandinavian army, the French and Spanish troops also fought hard in their own way.

In particular, nearly half of the troops dispatched were not native whites, but Arab conscripts from North Africa such as Morocco and Algeria.

"Kill everything that stands in your way! "Don't leave a single person alive!"

The Regulares, a Moroccan unit that played a major role as the vanguard of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, was already infamous in Britain for its high combat prowess and various atrocities.

When the British soldiers saw the Moroccan soldiers charging, they either ran away in fear or gritted their teeth and fought.

The soldiers who calmly surrendered and became prisoners were generally safe, but the ending of the soldiers who were taken prisoner while fighting generally did not end well.

British soldiers generally fought bravely.

However, not everyone wearing British military uniform did their part; some raised the white flag as soon as the battle began, or deserted and surrendered before the battle began.

"German friends, we surrender!"

"Long live Germany! Long live Hitler!"

Indians who enlisted for a stable income rather than loyalty to Britain generally chose to surrender rather than fight the German army.

They tried to prove their 'innocence' by shouting 'Long live Hitler' and 'Long live Germany' in broken German.

Indians who surrendered to the German army were mobilized for German propaganda while wearing British military uniforms.

They sent out broadcasts in Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, and Punjabi urging their compatriots in the British army to surrender.

"Brothers! England is now ruined! We lost the war! Hitler promised independence for India, but the British want to continue to rule India. Rather than remaining a servant under the British forever, enjoying freedom in the arms of Germany is the right way for India's future! So, drop your weapons and surrender!"

"Those traitorous bastards!"

"This is why I didn't trust the Indians… … ."

British soldiers gritted their teeth while listening to the propaganda broadcast of Indian soldiers surrendering to the German army.

However, not only Indians but also British people often lost their will to fight and surrendered to the enemy.

Once morale dropped, it rarely went up.

***

"There is a sniper on the third floor window of the building at 2 o'clock. Can you see it?"

"Is it a red brick building or a concrete building?"

"Red brick."

"Has confirmed."

Ball, who confirmed the sniper's location, pressed the trigger as soon as he finished loading. Two seconds later, the entire floor where the sniper was hiding was engulfed in fire and smoke.

Soon after, the 'thing that was the sniper' fell out of the window, leaving a dark red mark on the floor.

After entering into full-scale urban warfare, grenades were used more often than armor-piercing rounds.

According to the German armored forces' principle, tanks were equipped with armor-piercing shells and grenades in a 1:1 ratio, but while there was no significant change in armor-piercing shells due to urban warfare, grenades were rapidly decreasing, and now the inventory is limited to a handful.

"Richter. How many grenades are left?"

"Four shots left, SS Lieutenant Wittmann."

The moment I thought I would have to request supplies from the main unit, the infantry from the front came running in, waving their arms.

"Enemy tank appears!"

"Load armor-piercing rounds!"

As soon as the news of the tank's appearance was heard from the infantry, a tank appeared in the distance.

It was the Churchill VII, the most heavily armored tank owned by the British army. The frontal armor is close to 152mm, so it can withstand the Tiger's 88 to some extent, but it was of little use against the Koenigstiger's 88/71.

-bang!

When the armor-piercing round hit, flames spewed out of Churchill's hatch.

No matter what tank it was, a single armor-piercing bullet from the 88/71 would have left it helpless.

The only drawback of the 88/71 was the size and weight of the 1.2m shell.

When the lead tank was hit, the two following tanks retreated, but were defeated by cars 2 and 3, respectively.

The third Churchill was hit by a stray shell and its tracks were cut off, but the tank crews abandoned the tank and fled.

These guys are smart. Wittmann thought as he followed the fleeing British tankers with his eyes.

Even in a head-to-head fight, the Churchill's poor main gun could only put a scratch on the Tiger II's armor.

Wittmann, who was advancing after defeating the tanks, soon arrived in front of Buckingham Palace.

There were still British defenders remaining near Buckingham Palace, and when German tanks appeared, they opened fire.

Bullets and shells rained down on the tank, but Wittmann did not blink.

He didn't even care about the bullets fired at him by the British army.

"It's Buckingham Palace."

The huge pile of hideous things visible through the observation window was Buckingham Palace, which I had only heard about. The very place where the king of the empire where the sun never sets lives.