Chapter 30 Dreams of Cardiff

Dragging the DFS 230 assault glider with a total weight of over 9 tons, the already slow "Auntie Junker" appeared even more sluggish and aged. Fortunately, when the massive formation flew over the Cornwall Peninsula at an altitude of 4000 meters, they encountered no resistance from the British ground anti-aircraft fire. According to previous reconnaissance (do not underestimate the pre-war high-altitude reconnaissance technology; German Zeiss aerial cameras allowed technicians to distinguish artillery, trucks, and general defensive fortifications on the ground), the limited British anti-aircraft weapons were concentrated in the Greater London Defense Zone, the Southampton-Portsmouth Defense Zone, and the surrounding areas of Lyme Bay. In light of this, the German Air Force staff cautiously delineated relatively safe flight zones, and now it seemed that their efforts had paid off completely!

After an hour and ten minutes of flight, the glider in which Steinfurt was located finally unhooked its tow rope and independently flew towards the British airfield located in the western suburbs of Cardiff. In the past week, the German Air Force had intensified its bombing of British deep airfields, including Cardiff Airport. After the continuous bombings by He-111s and Ju-88s, British combat aircraft at this location had mostly been transferred to northern England and Scotland.

According to the details arranged in Operation "Wrath of Neptune," the first batch of paratroopers parachuting with the Junkers-52 should land and quickly seize the area just before the gliders land, while the first batch of gliders would glide near the airport to support the paratroopers' attack on the airfield!

Just before landing, there was finally some faint anti-aircraft fire from the ground, but fortunately, it did not pose a significant threat to the German gliders. After a moment of intense shaking, Steinfurt's glider landed steadily on the ground— if the fields here were also covered with "Churchill Asparagus," the glider's landing would probably have turned into a suicidal mission.

The air force soldiers poured out one after another, quickly setting up a temporary defensive line with a light machine gun, two iron fists, and several MP38s. Steinfurt looked around nervously, hoping that his landing point would not be too far from the airport. The dense gunfire coming from the east seemed to be telling him: "Come on, baby, I'm right here!"

Seeing the white parachutes in the nearby fields and gliders continuously descending from the sky, Steinfurt felt his blood boiling. After gathering more than fifty paratroopers and glider troops who landed nearby, he decisively led them into the battle to seize the airport!

After a sprint of about ten minutes, the airborne troops panting heavily arrived near the runway of the airfield, where the battle was still raging fiercely. They quickly found a German paratrooper who had arrived here earlier and learned that the British airfield garrison had withdrawn to the tower and warehouses. Since most of the German paratroopers had gathered west of the runway, they had to find a way to break through the British machine gun fire to cross the open runway.

The noisy rattling of the Browning machine gun continued on the tower, and it seemed that there was also a Vickers-Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun on the warehouse side. Intense bullets were constantly shot at the shadows attempting to approach, and there were already many bodies lying on the runway. If they had a small-caliber cannon at hand, the paratroopers could easily demolish it, but besides hand grenades, they had only a few "iron fists" with short-range blasting capabilities.

Steinfurt looked at his watch, and in another moment, the "Giants" would arrive in this airspace. This was their first nighttime airborne operation. The heavy guys had much higher demands on the ground than the DFS 230 assault gliders. If they couldn't occupy the airport runway in time, it would have a series of adverse effects on the entire operation.

"Machine guns provide cover fire, iron fist combat personnel, follow me!"

This act of leading from the front was quite like Hans Rudel's style, and it was exactly what the exemplary airborne officers at all levels were striving to emulate.

As soon as he stood up, Steinfurt was almost hit by bullets shot from a distance. He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and crouched, desperately rushing forward, then quickly jumped into the drainage ditch beside the runway— where more than a dozen paratroopers with rifles and submachine guns had gathered. Constrained by the British machine gun firepower, they didn't dare to move rashly.

"Fire, open fire on the opposite side!"

Steinfurt shouted loudly, waiting for several iron fist combat personnel to follow. He peeked out and saw the gradually intensifying gunfire of machine guns and rifles. Under the suppression of German firepower, the British machine guns on the other side temporarily ceased fire. Seizing the opportunity, Steinfurt suddenly jumped out of the drainage ditch, shouting manly, "Soldiers, follow me!"

The distance across the runway was only over forty meters, and Steinfurt rushed forward as fast as he could, leaping over the bodies of the German paratroopers who had fallen earlier, exerting all his strength as if participating in an intense obstacle race. Machine gun fire erupted from the opposite side, but he paid no attention, and when he ran to the nearest warehouse, he turned around to see that only two iron fist combat personnel had managed to keep up!

Gasping for breath heavily, Steinfurt wiped around the corner and saw that the control tower of the airport was far less majestic than a lighthouse, just a tower-shaped building built of concrete, with a height of less than twenty meters. Estimating the distance, it should be within the range of the iron fist, he whispered to the two "Thor's Hammer" soldiers:

"I'll draw their fire, you guys launch the rocket from the other side!"

The young paratroopers nodded nervously.

Steinfurt loaded his MP38, seeing that the two iron fist combat personnel were ready, he suddenly took a step forward and swept a large burst of fire towards the upper part of the tower. At the moment when the gunfire subsided, he vaguely heard the sound of glass falling to the ground.

Before the British soldiers could counterattack, Steinfurt quickly flashed back.

Sure enough, the British machine gun firepower came vigorously, and taking advantage of this opportunity, the two iron fist shooters fired rockets at the tower from the other side of the warehouse. In the darkness, the giant fists with yellow tails flew towards the target. One of them accurately hit the upper building, while the other one deviated slightly and penetrated into the adjacent warehouse, causing glass shards to fly!

Encouraged by this brave attack, soon more than ten paratroopers rushed across the runway despite the enemy's machine gun fire. With their joining, Steinfurt began to deploy his troops easily: a small team of submachine gunners quickly occupied the tower and used the machine guns left by the British to fiercely suppress the enemy's firepower in the warehouse area. At the same time, the "Thor's Hammer" soldiers fired at those warehouses, explosions echoed one after another, and in no time, the warehouse area near the runway was almost swallowed up by flames and thick smoke.

A few minutes later, the British ceased firing, and the remaining twenty or so soldiers raised their hands—perhaps they didn't want to die on this inexplicable night; perhaps they were simply daunted by the might of the "Thor's Hammer" troops.

Stephenberg finally breathed a sigh of relief. Soon, he could faintly hear the rumble of heavy engines and hurriedly called for some paratroopers. "You, quickly place signal flares on both sides of the runway. Cooke, take some men and find the Brits' power source. Try to turn on the searchlights!"

When the communications soldier reported that the heavy gliders had reached the airspace above the airport, Stephenberg ordered the soldiers to ignite signal flares. Moments later, two bright night runways lit up in the darkness.

With a gust of wind, the first massive "Giants" quickly descended. Its landing was so clumsy and heavy that it surprised some paratroopers who had never seen such a sight before. Fortunately, the sturdy fuselage protected the personnel and equipment inside. After the others helped pry open the slightly deformed hatch, a Panzer III tank rumbled out of the cabin, with the extra weight used to load two slightly modified barrel trucks—mainly equipped with vehicle-mounted machine guns and small radio stations.

Within a few short minutes, two more "Giants" successfully landed on the runway, bringing with them a Panzer IV tank, a Panzer III tank, and an armored communication vehicle.

With tank cover and transportation tools in place, Stephenberg left behind a portion of soldiers and a Panzer III tank to continue guarding the airport. Then, decisively, he led the assembled two hundred-plus paratroopers, with one Panzer III and one Panzer IV tank each as vanguards, swiftly advancing towards the city center of Cardiff—according to the distance on the map, it was 12 miles from the airport to the city center of Cardiff, nearly 20 kilometers!

The greatest characteristic of airborne operations is their suddenness and leap. Bristol Bay was far from the front line, and Cardiff was located to the north of Bristol Bay, with even looser defenses. In aerial reconnaissance photos, the British hadn't even built a perimeter defense line. According to limited information feedback from intelligence personnel, ships entered and exited here every day after dark—just a few days ago, the Yankees and the British had signed a base exchange agreement, trading 50 old destroyers for several important military bases in the Americas. However, it seemed now that even if these destroyers could play a huge role in escort missions, they were not enough to save Britain's perilous fate!

Faced with the unexpected airborne operation of the German army, the British troops in Cardiff reacted very slowly. The roads and bridges from the airport to the city center were left intact for the German paratroopers, and they failed to organize even the slightest resistance using the terrain. Stephenberg and his airborne troops advanced at the fastest speed achievable by walking. By midnight, the gunfire in Cardiff Port gradually intensified: with 300,000 regular army troops deployed in strategic locations in southeastern and southern England, the German paratroopers landing near the city faced only the British second-line troops, namely the legendary domestic guard with a total force of 1.5 million. If it weren't for the timely delivery of a large number of rifles by the Yankees, these unfortunate souls would still be using old hunting rifles, flintlocks, or even cold weapons. However, they wielded a large number of anti-tank weapons, akin to the British version of "Molotov cocktails." It was for this reason that in the operational instructions of "Wrath of Poseidon," the German armored tank units landing in Britain were instructed to avoid entering British-controlled areas alone, lest they be roasted like turkeys by the angry British militia!