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发表于 2003-10-21 18:44
Tuesday, June 6th, 1944. At 6:30am that fateful morning, an initial assault wave landed at Omaha Beach, the first step of the offensive campaign aimed at putting a dent into Hitler's Atlantic Wall: D-Day. This first assault wave included ninety-six tanks, almost fifteen hundred assault infantry, and a task force of engineers to clear the landing area of obstacles. In the hours leading up to the landing, the German shore defenses had been pounded by Allied artillery, naval guns, and aerial bombardments. However, as the first landing craft came within a quarter-mile of shore, it was clear that the enemy fortifications had not been neutralized. Rough seas and poor visibility had hampered the artillery barrages, and overcast conditions increased the margin of error for the bombing runs conducted by the Eighth Air Force Liberators-- many of their bombs hit too far inland. Establishing the beachhead would be much more difficult than originally envisioned.
Assuming that the landing craft were able to make a 'dry landing' without being first taken out by enemy mortars, the infantry immediately found themselves under concentrated small-arms, mortar, and artillery fire from enemy fortifications that covered every part of Omaha Beach. Heavily-loaded with equipment, weakened by seasickness, tired, and disoriented by the pandemonium around them, the disembarking infantry had to move through knee-deep to waist-high water, making them easy targets for the Germans. Upon reaching shore, they then had to cover up to two hundred yards of open beach before reaching any sort of cover. All this while avoiding enemy fire, which was fell thick and fast all around them. Not surprisingly, the heaviest casualties were suffered in the initial half-hour immediately after touchdown-- in some cases, entire Companies were cut down in this seaside slaughter.
Others did not fare as well. Some landing craft became grounded on sand bars a hundred yards away from the landing zone, and the infantry found themselves being dragged beneath the water by their heavy loads. And those who did make it to shore found themselves seriously outnumbered and outgunned, with their fellow infantry units landing late or off-target. Even worse, some landing teams found themselves without the benefit of tanks to provide covering fire, another result of the numerous mislandings that occurred that day.
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