When Logan jumped out of the glider cockpit, he wore an M38 paratrooper helmet without earmuffs, which was lighter and more convenient. In his right hand, he carried a standard MP38 submachine gun, while he had six 32-round leather magazine pouches on his belt, three on each side, and a holster on the right rear of his belt containing a Luger 08 ready to fire at any time. Along with his paratrooper uniform and boots, he was dressed entirely in unadorned German gear—compared to the British leather he wore in previous operations, this equipment clearly evoked more pride in the soldiers!
Thanks to the numerous gliders that had landed at the airfield in a short period, the firepower of the British defenders was greatly dispersed. Even Karen Molt and Bren Hartmann managed to leave the glider safely, carrying heavy wireless radio transmitters, and make it to the nearby bushes. Tobias' skills were indeed impressive; apart from the smooth landing, he had also managed to park the glider next to a small drainage ditch used to prevent runway flooding. Although this dry ditch was only thirty centimeters deep, barely reaching knee height, and its narrow opening could even trap one's buttocks, compared to the open airfield, it was a rare "miniature cover"!
Putting down his MP38, Logan used his 6×30 Zeiss military binoculars, camouflaged with grass-green paint, to survey the surroundings. After a moment, he suddenly realized that this was the first time he had ever been on a real airborne battlefield: the enemy soldiers were in a state of alert combat readiness, artillery, machine guns, and various weapons were firing fiercely at every German soldier in sight. Here, there were no sweet words, eloquence, false expressions, or deceitful tactics—face-to-face combat was straightforward and unforgiving!
Due to its location on the northern shore of the widest part of the English Channel, the nearby ports of Portsmouth, Southampton, and others were stationed with a large number of naval vessels to resist German attacks, making the defense much weaker than the capital defense line centered on London and the triangular coastline defense line from the Thames Estuary to Dover to Eastbourne. In ports like Yarmouth, Cowes, and Ryde, the coastal defenses consisted of only a few coastal guns along with barbed wire and minefields laid along the beaches. Only the previously battled Bridport Harbor had hastily fortified gun emplacements and torpedo tubes, and even began to set up 3-meter-high anti-landing steel frames in the shallow waters off the beaches!
As the only large airfield on the Isle of Wight, Newport Military Airport undoubtedly became the focus of British defenses. Inside Logan's briefcase were several enlarged aerial reconnaissance photos, the result of several days of German reconnaissance of the Isle of Wight. Despite the poor weather, the reconnaissance planes modified from Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters had successfully conducted several low-altitude aerial photographs. After analysis and identification by the technical department, it was inferred that the airport had a British garrison of 400 to 600 men and was equipped with a large number of anti-aircraft weapons. In addition, some strange earth mounds distributed along the runway also caught the attention of German technical officers, who believed these were recently constructed miniature fortifications by the British to counter the German airborne forces in the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and the early airborne assault on the Isle of Wight—machine guns and mortars were usually considered ineffective against reinforced concrete fortifications.
Naturally, the British were unaware that Logan's paratroopers already possessed secret weapons like the "Iron Fist", capable of neutralizing even the most powerful Matilda II tanks in active service with the British army!
Scanning the battlefield, Logan quickly spotted a fortress continuously spewing flames about 500 meters to his left. From the ground, it looked more like a 360-degree rotating steel machine gun bunker on the French Maginot Line, with a round arch dome providing some bulletproof protection, and reinforced firing ports effectively protecting the machine gunner inside. However, there were no perfect weapons in the world; even the sturdy gun emplacements on the Maginot Line could be breached by precise and continuous bombardment from German 88mm guns, let alone the small machine gun bunkers that could only accommodate 1-2 people. A 37mm anti-tank gun should be able to handle it!
Aiming in the direction of the British machine gun bunker, Logan saw a German glider that had just landed, and five or six paratroopers had already evacuated from it. The machine gunner at the rear of the aircraft attempted to cover his comrades but was unfortunately hit by enemy bullets. The situation for those soldiers who had left the glider was also bleak. Although some of them carried the "Iron Fist" newly introduced to the battlefield, the distance to the British bunker far exceeded the effective range of this weapon. They could only confront the British machine gun with an MG-34 without a position, and the result was predictable!
If he led his small team to charge diagonally, there should be an eighty percent chance of taking out the British machine gun bunker!
This thought merely flickered through Logan's mind. Indeed, leading the charge in the first two battles was exhilarating, but this time, as the battlefield commander, his responsibility extended beyond mere frontline assaults and personal combat prowess. As a battlefield commander, it was more crucial for him to oversee the entire situation and strategize. So, he suppressed his inner urge and continued to calmly observe the chaotic battlefield.
It had been almost two hours since the first wave of German bombers arrived here. According to the pre-established tactics, the three spacious and straight runways were the primary targets for protection. However, the dozen or so hangars at the north and south ends had suffered heavy bombardment, with the aircraft behind the shattered walls already reduced to scrap metal. On the grassy area a few hundred meters from the third runway lay a badly damaged British fighter plane. Judging by the intact tail section, it seemed to have been shot down during takeoff—a regret for Logan as he missed witnessing the intense battle scene at that time.
Not far from the crashed British fighter plane was a British single-barrel anti-aircraft gun. Despite the efforts of the gunners, it continued to fire rapidly at the German aircraft in the sky. Although the gliders had mostly landed, the fighter planes that followed bravely swooped down, unleashing cannon and machine gun fire on the British anti-aircraft positions on the ground, maximizing their efforts to relieve pressure on the freshly landed paratroopers!
Sandbag emplacements surrounded the anti-aircraft gun, with a small machine gun position built diagonally opposite. A water-cooled Maxim heavy machine gun was firing towards the nearest German glider. Suddenly, a flash of light and smoke rose from the bushes, as an olive-shaped object trailing white smoke flew towards the British machine gun emplacement at a not particularly fast speed, followed by a sound disproportionate to its size and velocity. When the smoke cleared, not only had the entire heavy machine gun crew vanished, but even the anti-aircraft gun fell silent!
Logan, who had personally contributed to the design of the "Iron Fist," felt proud of his technical contribution to the German paratroopers. After destroying the British heavy machine gun position, the German paratroopers in the bushes leaped up and swiftly moved towards the anti-aircraft guns—during Logan's tenure, the model paratrooper battalion had added gunnery to its regular training, requiring paratroopers to master the use of common German and British artillery and being informed that anti-aircraft guns could also be extremely effective in ground combat. So when he saw their actions, Logan could guess they were from the model paratrooper battalion without even looking at their faces. However, as they were about to enter the sandbag emplacement, a British tank with two turrets suddenly appeared nearby. Amidst the cacophony of the battlefield, Logan couldn't even hear the roar of the two machine guns on it, but the spewing flames and streams of bullets were undeniable, and one by one, the determined German soldiers fell...
What killed these elite German paratroopers were the "Vickers 6-ton tanks" that the British Army didn't fancy much but were quite popular overseas. Made in Britain and licensed for production in various countries, the total number reached an astonishing 12,000, but the British Army only equipped 153, with the vast majority being relegated to training schools and reserve units.
Witnessing the sacrifices, Logan clenched his fists, feeling a sudden gust of wind behind him. He only heard Tobias exclaim, "Here it comes!" Turning his head, he saw the colossal "Giant" glider swooping down like the legendary black dragon!