In Gmünd, both ends of the mechanized engineer bridge were crowded with tanks of the 130th Armored Training Division.
When the huge King Tiger tank passed through the engineer bridge, the steel bridge was even shaking slightly, which made people wonder whether this steel bridge could bear the weight of the King Tiger tank?
However, people's worries were unnecessary. Soon, a limited number of King Tiger tanks successfully arrived on the other side, and then the Panther tanks of the Fifth Armored Army also passed through the Our River.
But now the 130th Armored Training Division has finally started.
"We will take Bastogne tomorrow."
The division commander, Major General Fritz Bayerlein, turned his head and said to the officers around him
"This attack will have a decisive effect on the battle situation. I am at the leading position of the vanguard. It doesn't matter whether I live or die. The important thing is that we must attack, and attack without stopping!"
As the strongest armored division in the German army on the Western Front, the Armored Training Division has always had a kind of madness and a desperate will to win.
Although the Panzer Training Division lost almost all of its tanks during the Battle of Normandy, thanks to the accelerated German military production in the past few months, they added 50 Panther tanks and even 5 Tiger II tanks.
The Panzer Training Division, which had recovered most of its strength, rushed all the way after crossing the Our River. The 902 Panzer Grenadiers Training Regiment, which was reinforced by the armored forces, made rapid progress despite the strong resistance of the US military. Under the cover of tanks, the grenadiers quickly destroyed the US strongholds one by one and seized many US tank destroyers and armored vehicles.
In this way, they rushed all the way and rushed towards Bastogne.
The northernmost part of the small country of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is like a wall between Germany and Belgium. As of the daytime of December 3, many German tank teams had penetrated deeply into the wall of Luxembourg, and all their offensives were aimed at the Belgian town of Bastogne on the other side of the wall. Bastogne is the most important railway and road center in the Ardennes region.
It took only two days for the 902nd Panzergrenadier Training Regiment to defeat the US military's defenses one after another and completely open the road to Bastogne.
When the German Panzergrenadiers marched towards Bastogne, two squadrons of the 6th Battalion had been deployed to Nevers. When they were defending the town inside and outside, a US military company that had withdrawn from the front line was evacuating to the rear.
"Kraut!"
A lieutenant shouted,
"Their attack is very fierce, you will definitely not be able to stop them, you'd better go with us!"
The lieutenant reminded specifically.
"By then, those Germans won't care whether you are American soldiers or not..."
The lieutenant looked at the people in front of him. Although they were wearing US military uniforms, they had no military ranks. They were obviously not real American soldiers, but probably just hired personnel of the military.
"Sir, we will definitely stay here, even if it's to the last one."
Gu Changchuan said calmly. The American lieutenant looked at him and just shook his head, as if to say that they were just sending themselves to die.
Even if we die, we must die here!
Both Gu Changchuan and the others held this mentality, and they would never give up easily. After all, this battle had extraordinary significance for them.
They used houses as fortifications and smashed the glass on the windows to avoid being injured by flying glass in the battle. They deployed mortars in the town and pushed anti-tank guns to the center of the road.
While the task force members were making preparations, the armored training division was currently moving forward along several muddy branches more than ten miles to the south. The 26th National Grenadiers Division, which used the same road as them.
Two other German divisions were also gathering towards Bastogne. Although the German army's progress was relatively slow due to the terrain and weather, General Heinrich Lüttwitz, the commander of the three divisions, was still very satisfied.
"At least it's faster than planned."