Panzer Grenadier

July 16, 1938, on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Germany.

Although the time has entered summer, Germany, which has a temperate maritime climate, is still very cool.

Holding his G41 semi-automatic rifle, Hans sat in the "Wolf" infantry fighting vehicle, wondering if he would be welcomed by the people when he entered Stuttgart later.

It has been 10 months since Hans returned to Germany from Spain. After the tragic Barcelona offensive and defensive battle, his infantry division was transferred back to the rear of the front line for repair due to excessive attrition. The division was withdrawn to Germany.

The 11th Infantry Division of the German SS, where he belonged, was the deadliest of all German troops participating in the Battle of Barcelona. The 11th Infantry Division of the German SS was originally a second-line unit and was not fully staffed. Before they went to Spain, they had a total of 8,310 troops. After a series of battles, they still had 8,039 officers and soldiers before the outbreak of the Barcelona offensive and defensive battle. But after this battle, they were left with less than 5,000 people, a reduction of more than 37%.

Such large casualties were not due to the weak combat effectiveness of the SS 11th Infantry Division. On the contrary, it was because the 11th Infantry Division was extremely tenacious in fighting and would not retreat.

In the battle of Barcelona, ​​Hans and his division were responsible for assisting the two infantry divisions of the Spanish National Army to attack the East and West of Barcelona.

At the very beginning of the battle, they encountered the stubborn resistance of the Spanish Republican Army, who had a last stand. The Republican Army used a small number of tanks and artillery to set up firepower points one after another in the ruined city of Barcelona, ​​while the coalition soldiers lacking heavy firepower only You can use your life to unplug these firepower points one by one.

But it's not the worst.

Just when the coalition soldiers fought bloody battles and finally wiped out the enemy, the Republican Army invested nearly 40,000 people in three divisions and launched a counter-assault on the occupied east and west urban areas in an attempt to reopen the road to Barcelona. The road in the direction of Fort Nuuk, thus saving the 150,000 Republican soldiers of the East Army and the Ebro Army in the large area from Barcelona to Bals, and evacuated to the two cities of Thalassa and Sabadell to re-establish line of defense.

If the Republican Army successfully achieves their goals, the 150,000 Republican Army will greatly strengthen the Berga-Girona defense line, and the entire Catalonia campaign will become confusing again.

The Allied Forces Command responded immediately to this situation. They mobilized two Italian expeditionary divisions and two National Army divisions to rush to Barcelona for support, while allowing the exhausted SS and the two dilapidated ones. The National Army retreated, in case the position could not be held and it would be wiped out.

But how could the proud SS choose to retreat? They immediately united with the civilian army and a small number of armored troops who came to support after hearing the news, and built a solid line of defense relying on the ruins.

The Republican Army, which has been in a defensive posture, finally saw the defensive capabilities of the SS. The firepower advantage brought by one MG34 in a class is huge. The 7.92mm bullets flying everywhere and the 75mm shells that come from time to time are good Teach the Republican Army to be a man.

However, the high rate of fire MG34 not only gave the Germans a huge firepower advantage, but also brought a huge amount of ammunition consumption. The German army who had just finished a battle and had not had time to replenish ammunition soon fell into the dilemma of having guns and no bullets.

With more and more MG34 misfires, the firepower balance on the battlefield gradually tilted to the side of the Republican Army.

In order to save valuable ammunition, the coalition forces with little ammunition had to choose to bring the Republican Army closer and then fire, trying to make every bullet penetrate into the enemy's body, and this approach has obvious drawbacks - you are far from When the enemy is close, the enemy is also close to you.

The Republican Army, who was crushed by the powerful firepower of the coalition forces like a sullen lady one second ago, regained the feeling of a man the next second. They raised their heads from behind the ruins, holding the "Spanish Mauser" in their hands, Under the cover of their own machine gun fire, they rushed towards the coalition forces.

The coalition forces, against the scurrying bullets, used G41 semi-automatic rifles and M1916 bolt-action rifles to shoot precise and lethal bullets at the "heroic" Republican Army.

Although the G41's rate of fire is quite high, as a semi-automatic rifle, it is not as good as a machine gun. Soon, the Republican soldiers rushed into the coalition positions and fought hand-to-hand with the coalition soldiers. Tanks dare not open fire at will.

After three days and two nights of this tragic battle, on the night of the third day, the coalition reinforcements finally arrived at the outskirts of Barcelona. At the same time, the SS armored unit responsible for attacking the other side of the city also resolved the remaining forces in the city. The SS-National Army was supported from the rear.

However, the Republican Army has not been able to solve the tenacious SS-National Army coalition, let alone rebuild its positions to resist a new round of offensive.

So the same exhausted Republican anti-assault troops saw that the situation was over, so they had to tuck their tails and retreated to the Berga-Girona defense line.

At this point, the Barcelona offensive and defensive battle finally came to an end, and the 150,000 Republican Army who was besieged on the line from Barcelona to Valls surrendered one day after the battle of Barcelona after failing to break through the siege.

The first thing the coalition forces, who had experienced high-intensity operations, were to fall asleep behind the retreating front, and after a period of repair, they were withdrawn to Germany.

In order to reward them for their unrelenting spirit, Lyon went to the 11th Infantry Division to visit them, and upgraded the 11th SS Infantry Division to a standard Panzergrenadier division, with three original The infantry regiment was all equipped with "wolf-type" infantry fighting vehicles, becoming a mechanized infantry regiment, adding an armored regiment consisting of two No. 4 tank battalions and one No. Anti-aircraft battalion of guns.

The most exciting thing for the soldiers was not the Panzergrenadier Division, but the fact that the Führer gave them a special designation - the 11th Panzergrenadier Division of the German SS "Nordland Nordic", SS No. for SS11.

This title represents that they have since become a "prefix division", the elite of the elite of the German SS.

The company commander's voice came from the car radio, pulling Hans back from his memory: "Hey, guys! We're about to enter Stuttgart, are you ready for the cheers of the crowd?"

"Yes, company commander, I think we're ready," the squad leader laughed at the radio. "We're not only ready for the cheers of the people of Stuttgart, but we're also ready to go to Strasbourg and kick the French ass. !"

"Haha!" The company chief laughed, "Yes, this time we returned to the Rhine demilitarized zone is not like the last time, this time we hope that the French are more courageous, so that we can have a reason to teach this group of Gallic chickens a lesson! "