< World War II - The Battle of London (10) >
September 16, 1940
Eastern England – Port City of Great Yarmouth
Within the London Encirclent, just a stone's throw from the major French port of Calais, there was a shortage of secure military ports large enough to unload heavy equipnt.
Thanks to this, the German Expeditionary Force to Britain, led by Erwin Roml, had to divide its forces among all the port cities in Norfolk and Suffolk, northeast of London, land, and then reassemble.
Among them, General Roml's own direct subordinate unit, escorted by the beloved British HMS Hood, entered the port to a fervent welco from the British citizens gathered at Great Yarmouth.
“Considering the ti it will take to unload the heavy equipnt, it will be several days before we can set out, General.”
Roml imdiately responded to the words of Hans Speidel, who had been assigned as his Chief of Staff for this British expedition.
“Postpone everything else and tell them to prioritize unloading the Panzer IVs, the Freiheit self-propelled guns, and the trucks.
Speed is life in this battle.”
“I will relay the ssage.”
At the port, an enormous crowd of British people had gathered, waving British flags and Germany’s black, red, and gold flags to welco them.
“That’s quite a crowd, General.”
At the remark from one of his staff, Major Claus von Stauffenberg, Roml smirked.
“It seems Britain is really cornered.
This is quite a grand show.”
In the very place where a museum honors Admiral Horatio Nelson, the British hero who thwarted Napoleon's threat to the mainland, a German expeditionary force was landing, escorted by the Hood.
Moreover, British Pri Minister Winston Churchill was here in person to greet them. It was likely a show to publicize that the Royal Navy had won a victory against France and that the Pri Minister's heroic diplomacy had brought in the German Army.
However, Erwin Roml was soone who had fought against the British Army in the trench warfare of the last war, and he had no desire to be packaged as a sidekick brought in by the British Pri Minister.
He had been furious when he was pulled from the Italian front, where there was much glory to be won, but after all this ti, he had finally been given command of an entire front, even if it was only four divisions.
He desperately wanted to seize this opportunity to enhance his fa.
The British people should not rember a German Army that ca to assist the British military's operations at Churchill's call, but Erwin Roml.
A mont later, Roml disembarked from the ship and exchanged a handshake with Churchill amidst a flurry of cara flashes.
“Welco to Britain, General Roml.”
“Thank you for the welco, Pri Minister.”
The two n exchanged greetings through an interpreter with pleasant smiles, and Churchill raised his hand to the gathered British people.
“Now that our powerful ally has arrived, Britain’s victory is assured!”
Roml couldn't understand what Churchill was saying, but he understood enough to know it was part of Churchill’s showmanship.
“Well then, General, let’s first go to London.
There will be a welco ceremony there, and afterward, we can discuss the joint operation at the War Office.”
Upon hearing Churchill's words through the interpreter, Roml chuckled and replied.
“Ah, my apologies, Pri Minister. I have a schedule to keep.”
“A schedule?”
Churchill was montarily flustered, but he quickly put on a good-natured smile.
“What kind of schedule? I believe you ca to help Britain, General.”
“Of course, it’s a related schedule, Pri Minister. A welco ceremony is nice, and so is a discussion on a joint operation, but right now, ti is gold.”
Roml glanced at the now completely flustered Churchill and the reporters nearby who were rapidly scribbling down his words, probably those who knew German, then put on the most dashing, soldierly expression he could muster and said,
“I have co on behalf of Germany to save the people of our ally who are still suffering under the French invaders, and that operation has already begun. I am grateful for the hospitality, but instead of a welco ceremony, I will look forward to a victory celebration later.”
Having said that, Roml asked for the understanding of the dumbfounded Churchill, who stood there with his mouth agape, and quickly approached Werner Mölders, who was waiting for him.
“Welco, General Roml.”
“Good to see you. Is what I requested ready?”
“Of course, General.
We have prepared a reconnaissance plane for you to see the front lines yourself. An aerial battle is still ongoing, so it is a dangerous act.
Will you be alright?”
“There is nothing in a battlefield that isn't dangerous. Just assign one competent fighter for my escort.”
Mölders nodded at Roml's words, spoken as they walked briskly.
“I am that escort, General.”
Roml paused for a mont, then grinned.
“Well now, to be escorted by the Inspector General of Fighters, who was once the best ace.
I suppose I should be grateful for the Luftwaffe’s goodwill.”
“Chief of the General Staff Richthofen is fond of commanders who lead by example.”
Satisfied, Roml returned the grin and shook hands with Mölders.
Erwin Roml’s war began on the very first day with the reckless act of declining a welco ceremony personally prepared by the British Pri Minister and flying into enemy territory himself in a reconnaissance plane.
-
September 17, 1940
Southern England, Portsmouth Naval Base – French Army Headquarters
Charles de Gaulle had tried to treat the residents of the occupied territory with relative decency, controlling his troops to the best of his ability. This was a wise choice as an Occupied Territory Commander, beyond just courtesy to a forr ally.
Thanks to de Gaulle's tight deploynt of 500,000 troops in southern England and his good managent of public security, the residents of southern England, while not hiding their animosity, did not engage in active sabotage.
The reason the residents had responded only passively during the last paratrooper infiltration was that the security forces were nurous, and the residents were worried that getting involved would ruin the reasonably decent treatnt they were receiving.
However, once the French Army's strength was reduced to 450,000 in combat and spread thin to blockade London, that also reached its limit.
The British in the newly occupied areas actively engaged in sabotage and terrorism, following Churchill’s resistance broadcasts.
Charles de Gaulle had to suffer a headache every day, receiving reports of riots or sabotage caused by the residents, and the resulting non-combat losses.
And by this point, the French army, whose patience had reached its limit, also began to frequently cause friction with the residents.
Once the floodgates opened, incidents of assault or looting by French soldiers, and other incidents too terrible to ntion, occurred frequently.
Although the front-line commanders, knowing de Gaulle disliked such things, would have warned their n and tried to cover it up, the fact that reports were still coming in made it obvious what the situation on the ground was like.
“Charles, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Alphonse.”
De Gaulle irritably scribbled a note stating that if such an incident occurred again, they could expect to have their command authority revoked.
De Gaulle, who was considering eventual peace negotiations with Britain, absolutely had to minimize war cris committed by the French army.
“Send this by telegram.”
“Yes, sir!”
De Gaulle pressed his forehead. anwhile, the ho country was nagging him to take London quickly before the German army finished unloading.
Now that Britain and Germany could block the English Channel at will, supplies would be cut off, and the sky was already full of Allied aircraft. By what ans were they supposed to take London?
“Charles, you’re exhausted.”
“I am fine, Chief of Staff.”
At the corrected title and tone, de Gaulle's close friend, Alphonse Juin, fell silent.
Even in monts like this, de Gaulle was arrogant, but even he was struggling with this decision.
It was fine if supplies were cut off for now.
Although he hadn't reported it to the ho country, de Gaulle had seized a significant amount of fuel, combat rations, and equipnt from British military bases during the initial landing.
So, even if the English Channel was blocked, it would be possible to hold on by a haphazard thod.
A prolonged war wasn't possible, but a few months might be.
“London will now be supplied by sea.”
But the reason for maintaining the encirclent, despite the worsening public security and unending non-combat losses, had now vanished.
Now that the German army had landed, such a thin and wide encirclent was actually poison.
It might be different if it were the British army, which had not yet properly recovered from the last battle, but if the German armored unit tried to break through, there was a high risk of his forces being split apart.
De Gaulle finally let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“…We’ll lift the London encirclent and narrow the front.”
“The ho country will…”
“No matter what the ho country says, it won't make the impossible possible.”
The ho country would raise hell, but no matter what they said, de Gaulle would do as he judged best.
“We must survive here, no matter what the current governnt says.
We need to have at least one card to play when we have peace negotiations, for there to be any hope left for France.”
-
September 18, 1940
Central England, Northamptonshire
De Gaulle made a realistic judgnt, different from his governnt's orders, and the withdrawal order was issued just two days after the defeat in the English Channel was known.
For the French Army, it was an incredibly fast decision, but even that was not enough.
As soon as he landed in Britain on the 16th, Erben Roml had ticulously inspected the French army's positions from a reconnaissance plane, grasping the vulnerabilities in their deploynt and the status of each unit.
As the French army began preparing to withdraw on de Gaulle's orders, Roml decided he couldn't just let them go and resolved to launch a surprise attack.
On the 17th, the German armored units from each port, which had only partially unloaded as they hadn't finished, received Roml's order to assemble at the front lines at once, and they hastily gathered and were reorganized into a single unit.
And on the 18th, by the ti de Gaulle’s withdrawal order was relayed and not even half of the French forces had retreated, the armored unit led by Erwin Roml was already advancing to cut off the French army's retreat route.
“Wh-What the…!”
“Why are German tanks here already!”
“Block them, block them!”
The French army, terrified by the sudden appearance of the Panzer IVs, tried to resist, but when the 7.
5cm long-barreled main gun of the new model Panzer IV, making its battlefield debut, fired, a SOMUA tank was destroyed in a single blow.
“Damn it, damn it! What the hell is happening!”
In this sudden surprise attack, the French tanks' chronic weaknesses—the lack of radios and the inflexibility of the tank commander having to double as the gunner and loader—proved fatal.
Under the barrage from the suddenly appearing Panzer IVs, the much-vaunted SOMUA tanks of the French army were blown up one after another without being able to properly return fire.
“Gasp!”
The poor SOMUA's tank commander desperately turned his turret, but he let out a death cry and t his end as he saw the long, massive gun of the Panzer IV fire first.
When they saw a SOMUA's shell, fired with great difficulty, fail to penetrate the new model Panzer IV's sloped armor, the French army fell into shock and terror.
“Th-That's absurd!”
The sight of the tank that had shown such invincible performance in Italy and Britain being so powerlessly defeated by a small number of Panzer IVs threw the French army into great confusion.
Having encountered the tanks while on the move with nowhere to hide, the French soldiers tried to hide behind the B1 heavy tanks, which were more robust than the SOMUAs, but a rciless barrage of 15cm heavy artillery that fell out of nowhere tore even the B1s apart like paper.
The combination of the Panzer IVs, equipped with long-barreled 7.
5cm tank guns, and the self-propelled guns that gave them physical freedom, violated the French army.
They were more than enough to destroy the French-made tanks that, in the original history, had given the German army a hard ti due to a lack of firepower.
Facing the unrealistic sight of their prized French tanks being annihilated by no more than a few dozen Panzer IVs, the French army completely lost its will to fight.
“You are surrounded! Surrender!”
After the typhoon of tanks passed, a German general suddenly appeared in a command vehicle and shouted in slightly clumsy French, and the French soldiers, one and all, threw down their guns and raised their hands.
The armored unit led by Roml was short on ti for unloading and consisted of only about 5,000 n.
But it was enough to repeatedly break up the French forces who were moving individually after lifting the long London encirclent, crush their will to fight, and accept their surrender.
The French forces, seeing German tanks and generals rampaging in the middle of their own formation, believed they were completely surrounded and willingly beca prisoners of war.
It was the result of despair, as the emptiness of the order to lift the encirclent they had maintained while being harassed by the British in the occupied territory had sapped their will to fight, and they watched their trusted tanks being powerlessly destroyed.
If they had been establishing a defense line and exchanging telegrams, it might have been different, but with France's outdated communications equipnt that made even radio communication between units on the move difficult, even de Gaulle, who learned of the situation late, could do nothing.
The British army, only after receiving a ssenger sent by Roml, learned that the German army was attacking the French and dispatched troops in a hurry.
“What the hell kind of ss has that cocky German general gotten into!”
Montgory, who had been resentful of Roml for forgoing the welco ceremony and operational eting they had prepared and heading to the front lines first, set out in annoyance.
And what greeted Montgory was a procession of French prisoners of war, gathered with bewildered looks on their faces.
“What kind of joke is this?”
No British soldier could answer Montgory's question. The opponents they had fought so fiercely had been tricked by 5,000 n and were now surrendering in droves?
“Ah, you’ve co at just the right ti.
Please take care of the prisoners.”
Montgory was speechless at Roml’s behavior, who, as if he had been waiting, handed over far more prisoners than he had troops in his own unit.
After hearing what Roml had said from the interpreter, Montgory, who was still reeling from the absurd situation, belatedly started cursing.
But Roml had already said his piece and left, looking relieved to have passed on the troubleso burden.
This situation repeated itself as the German army took a reverse course along the London encirclent's defense line.
“Wake up and drive! There's a trove of military rit right in front of you, how can you be sleepy! Pour the stimulants! The only thing you're eating until this battle is over is Schoka-Kola!”
Roml relentlessly pushed his subordinates, flooding them with stimulants and the caffeine-laced chocolate Schoka-Kola, and advanced for three days and nights.
He would surprise-attack and shatter the tanks the French army worshipped, and Roml would appear before the confused French, berate them, and accept their surrender, then pass them off to the British army, who were busy just trying to keep up with Roml's rapid advance.
By repeating this simple act, Roml, leading just an armored unit of 5,000, advanced for three days and annihilated 90,000 of the French forces that made up the London encirclent.
For this outrageous action and unbelievable military gains, Roml's armored unit earned the nickna "Ghost Division," and Erwin Roml beca the Hero of the Liberation of London.
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