"Hey, Rent, nice to see you again! Haha!"
Logan slung an MP38 submachine gun over his shoulder and gave his old subordinate, Stephenberg, a big bear hug as soon as they met.
Stephenberg exclaimed joyfully, "Boss, you're really here! That's great!"
"I had to come, this operation is too important!" Logan released Stephenberg and warmly shook hands with his old colleague, Colonel Bruno Brouil. Although both were Colonels, Brouil had served as a regimental commander for the past five years. Sturdeant's assessment of him was "brave and tenacious, with a firm will, able to carry out assigned tasks well," implying that this middle-aged officer sometimes lacked a broad perspective and judgment. In contrast, Logan excelled in battlefield adaptability—while being "confined" to the rear had honed his planning and commanding abilities, it didn't allow him to fully utilize his true strengths.
"Your arrival has inspired the soldiers greatly! The command of the Cardiff airborne units is now handed back to you!" Colonel Brouil's words were polite, and Logan could sense the underlying disappointment in his tone: if only he could gain fame in one battle, the path to advancement would open up!
Despite their friendship, Logan couldn't entrust such an important operation to a traditionally minded officer. In his initial plan, he proposed that General Rommel of the 7th Armored Division or General Mordell, Chief of Staff of the 16th Army Group, command the Cardiff landing operation. However, the High Command believed Rommel's troops were better at attacking than defending, and Mordell lacked experience in commanding a division-level unit in combat. Ultimately, on the recommendation of the Little Mustached Leader (Hitler), General Georg Lindemann and his 36th Division and a portion of the 17th Armored Division were included in the landing forces.
Logan didn't know much about General Lindemann himself. He discreetly inquired and learned that Lindemann had performed reasonably well in the battles in France and was considered a model of Prussian traditional military values. After careful consideration, he ultimately complied with the Little Mustached Leader's suggestion. According to General Lindemann's own wishes, he would accompany the fleet and take over the defense of all of Cardiff after the troops landed.
"I saw on the way here that the soldiers were already fortifying positions. Colonel, you've done a great job! But I'd like to know more details. Is that possible?" Logan used polite and tactful language.
Brouil was straightforward. He had his subordinates bring a battle map and illuminated it with a flashlight. "In addition to the second wave of paratroopers and glider troops, we have gathered more than 5,700 paratroopers, with an estimated 400 scattered in remote areas during the airdrop! Organized British armed resistance within Cardiff has basically ceased. We've killed over 120 and captured more than 500. According to the plan, we have deployed 16 companies on the outskirts of the city, urgently digging trenches, with the main firepower used to block the four roads leading out of the city! We have stationed 4 companies of soldiers at the docks, and the remaining approximately 1,500 troops have been formed into 20 cleanup teams to clear the headache-inducing British militia building by building in the city. Oh, the navy has occupied the two small islands opposite the harbor. They're just waiting for the landing fleet to bring in the heavy artillery to establish the proposed artillery defense positions!"
Logan followed Brouil's pointing direction. The opposite harbor was pitch black, but in aerial photographs, there were two small islands, probably with just lighthouses before the war. The guard posts and makeshift positions on them should have been constructed recently!
"What about the third wave of airborne troops?" Logan glanced at his watch; it was almost 4 a.m. by now.
"They should arrive in about an hour!" Brouil replied.
"Yes, the landing fleet is expected to arrive around 7 a.m. In theory, we only need to hold out for another three hours, but... every defensive position we've constructed could become a key point in the battle to come!" Logan looked at Brouil and issued his first command after taking over command: "Transfer two companies from the docks and 500 from the patrol units, all to be involved in fortifying the city's defensive line!"
Brouil nodded without any objection, accepting this seemingly minor adjustment.
"How are the airborne tanks doing?" Logan left the command post before receiving specific battle reports; this was one of the differences between the rear and the front lines.
"During the airdrop, five 'Giants' crashed, with significant losses of equipment and personnel!" Brouil said with a somewhat dim expression. Airborne troops were indeed a high-risk branch—they often faced casualties before even landing, which was more perilous than the army and navy!
In the first batch of 42 deployed into battle, 7 failed to take off successfully, 5 crashed, leaving only 30. Thirty tanks? For defending a large port city like Cardiff, the number seemed a bit lacking!
"We've gathered 14 Panzer IVs, 13 Panzer IIIs, 4 armored communication vehicles, and 16 bucket cars. According to the plan, we've dispersed 16 tanks along the city's perimeter defense line, and the remaining 11 tanks and bucket cars are formed into a mobile unit stationed near the docks!" Brouil explained.
Logan nodded; this deployment was basically consistent with his initial expectations. Since tasting the sweetness of tank fortifications in the Battle of White Island, he highly advocated using such tactics in defensive operations—burying the relatively vulnerable bodies and tracks of tanks in bunkers, leaving only the small, thick armored turrets exposed. In this airborne operation in Cardiff, he further innovated this tactic: adding "additional armor" to the turrets of the Panzer III and IV tanks, which were simply thick steel plates. With this simple modification, the combat weight of the Panzer IV rose to 21.8 tons, while the situation for the Panzer III E was slightly better, with a total weight of only 20 tons.
"We've also captured 73 civilian ships. Just had the soldiers tally them up. Seventeen of them have a displacement exceeding 1,000 tons, 24 have a displacement between 500 and 1,000 tons, and 32 have a displacement below 500 tons. Um, among them, 49 are British ships, 11 are American, and there are also 3 from Greece, 4 from Canada, 5 from Australia, and 1 from New Zealand! The majority of these ships were already unloaded, and we found a large amount of food and ammunition in the dock warehouses. Additionally, we captured 27 shipowners and 336 sailors, with some sailors staying overnight in the city. Should we also round them up?"
Brouil rattled off these numbers, and Logan couldn't help but marvel at the Germans' meticulousness. But didn't they realize that complicating simple matters was inefficient? Even if they were American ships, as long as they were docked in a belligerent port, just detain the crews; what to do with the ships had nothing to do with neutrality! As for Greece, Canada, Australia, and so on, if they were not British allies, they were Commonwealth countries.
"No, there's no need! Separate the shipowners and sailors for detention. Every ship here can be put to use tomorrow, so assign ten soldiers to each dock to take turns guarding them! As for the ammunition, immediately have two platoons of soldiers sort and transport what's needed, and discard what's not directly into the sea! If there are any mines, make full use of them!" Logan easily resolved the issue.
The two continued to exchange some operational details when suddenly gunfire was heard from the north of the city—thanks to the efforts of the paratroopers, major defensive points had established telephone connections, and Stephenberg had also habitually assumed the role of chief of staff:
"Sir, British troops have been spotted on the northern road, the number is unknown, and our defense forces are already engaged in firefights with them!"
Logan glanced at his watch and calmly said, "The response isn't too slow. Colonel, care to guess whether these British soldiers were redeployed from the north of England or from their Greater London defense perimeter?"
Regarding this question, Brouil appeared somewhat surprised, his expression telling Logan: it didn't matter where these British soldiers were redeployed from; the main thing was to beat them up!
Despite the increasingly intense gunfire in the distance, Logan continued unperturbedly, "At present, London is not only a fortress of battle but also the spiritual symbol of British military and civilian resistance against our advance. As long as we don't capture London for a day, the stubborn Brits will continue to resist. So, our task is to find ways to weaken the strength of this fortress of battle!"
"Are you saying the significance of the Battle of Cardiff is to lure the British troops who were originally hiding in trenches to attack our defenses actively, letting them exhaust their strength under our artillery and machine guns, rather than letting our soldiers perish under their firepower?" Stephenberg speculated.
"Correct!" Logan praised his former deputy assistant in a small way. In his eyes, Stephenberg was actually an ideal German staff officer, rigorous, meticulous, and quite intelligent. To be promoted two ranks within three months was also outstanding. If he gained real personnel authority, he would certainly not let such a young and promising officer continue to linger in the grassroots units. However, a direct recommendation to the higher-ups would not necessarily outweigh the characteristics of those shrewd senior staff officers!
"I'll go and take a look? Lots of words," Brouil actively volunteered. Just over two months ago, Hans Logan was still an unknown staff officer, so such a huge change naturally made his colleagues envious.
Logan pondered for a moment, "Alright! Colonel, remember one thing: our operation this time is primarily focused on resolute defense. No matter what weaknesses the British show, under no circumstances should we initiate attacks!"
"Don't worry! I understand that very well!" Brouil climbed into a barrel truck, a classic German design with camouflage paint, but with a mounted MG-13 (the kind that uses drums) on a semi-fixed mount. At first glance, it looked like an encounter with an American soldier from a movie!