Talk about your feelings when you meet friendly troops.

Cape Oak is located in the corner of Omaha Beach in Normandy, which is a cliff 20 meters high. Hundreds of people were killed and injured because of the capture of Cape Oak by American troops.

The landing of soldiers of the first division of the US Army on Omaha Beach is the code name of one of the four main landing points of the Allied Forces in the Normandy campaign of World War II. This beach is located on the northern coast of France, directly facing the English Channel, with a total length of 8 kilometers, starting from Saint Honorine de pelletier in the east and reaching Vieville-sur-mer in the west. This beach is of great significance to the allies. If the allied forces can control this beach, then the British landing troops east of the beach and the American landing troops west of the beach can meet, so that the entire Normandy front can be integrated into a big front from the scattered beachhead positions. In the allied battle plan, the US Army is responsible for attacking the beach, while the US Navy and the Royal Navy are responsible for sending the landing troops to the beach.

The Allies plan to send two troops to attack the eastern and western parts of the beach respectively: the first American division, which has been tested by war, will attack the eastern part of the beach, while eight companies of rangers transferred from Cape Oak and the 29th American division, which has never been on the battlefield, will attack the western part of the beach. Armored units, infantry and combat engineers will participate in the first few waves of attacks; If the plan goes well, these waves of attacks will greatly weaken the defense forces of the beachhead Germans, and then the allied large landing ships can land safely. The main goal of the Omaha landing force is to establish an 8-kilometer-long position between Besanpenyu Port and the Weir River, and join forces with the British troops in the eastern Golden Beach and the US Seventh Army in the western Utah Beach. Defending Omaha beach is the experienced German 352nd Infantry Division. The German plan is to use a large number of strongholds on the beach to repel the allied forces before landing.

Unexpectedly, only a small part of the allied battle plan was realized. First of all, due to the navigation system, most landing ships landed in the wrong place. Secondly, the Germans defending the beach are much stronger than the US military expected, so the losses of the landing troops are quite large. Under the heavy artillery fire of the German army, American combat engineers can only clear mines on the beach at a very slow speed, and as a result, the follow-up troops can only drive to the beach along several passages. Because of the loss before landing, the surviving soldiers could not clear the German strongholds on the inland side, so the American army encountered more troubles and the landing time of the follow-up troops had to be postponed. Nevertheless, the surviving small landing troops established two small positions that were not connected with each other at the end of the battle that day. Because the German troops in the inland are relatively weak, the US military has gradually expanded these two positions and achieved the original planned goal.

"bloody Omaha" terrain and defenders

Omaha beach is crescent-shaped, with a wide middle and narrow ends, with cliffs at both ends. This beach is a gentle slope, and the horizontal distance between the high water level and the low water level is 275 meters. Above the high tide level is a flat gravel beach with a height of 2.4 meters. The western end of the flat gravel beach is a levee with a height of 1.5m ~ 4m. Behind the levee is a small sand embankment, and behind the sand embankment is a beach. The two ends of the beach are very narrow, but its center is 180 meters wide. Behind the beach is a cliff about 30-50 meters high, and there are five valleys on the cliff that can lead to the inland. According to the order from west to east, the allied codes of these five valleys are D- 1, D-3, E- 1, E-3 and F- 1 respectively.

Judging from the pre-war preparations made by the German defenders and their very weak inland defense forces, the German plan is to destroy the allied landing troops on the beach. In order to achieve this goal, the Germans built four defense lines composed of obstacles below the high tide surface. The first line of defense is located 250 meters away from the high tide level and consists of 200 Belgian gate obstacles and mines. This defense line has two gaps: the smaller gap is located in the center of the dog white area, and the larger gap covers the whole Yi Hong area. This line of defense is the second line of defense after 30 meters; This defense line consists of many logs buried on the beach pointing to the sea, one of which is equipped with anti-tank mines. The second line of defense is the third line of defense after 30 meters. This line of defense consists of 450 slopes, all of which face inland rather than the sea. These slopes will overturn the allied flat-bottomed landing craft, and the mines on the slopes will take care of those ships that are lucky enough not to overturn. The last line of defense is located at the coastline150m, and consists of Czech hedgehog obstacles. There are a lot of barbed wire and mines on the ground between the flat gravel beach and the cliff, and some mines are scattered on the slope of the cliff.

The Germans deployed five infantry companies on the beach, most of which were assigned to the main stronghold of 15 called Widerstandsnester (abbreviated as WN, meaning "resistance stronghold"). The easternmost stronghold is code-named WN 60, while the westernmost stronghold near Vieville-sur-mer is code-named WN 74. Most of these 15 positions are located outside the mouth of five valleys, protected by barbed wire and mines. Trenches connect the tunnels between various positions, so that the soldiers inside can move quickly. In addition, each position is equipped with rifles, machine guns and more than 60 guns and mortars. The heavy guns in the stronghold are distributed in 8 closed gun positions and 4 open-air gun positions, and other light guns are distributed in 35 bunkers. These guns, together with other 18 anti-tank guns, constitute the artillery support force of the German beach defenders. There are several trenches, some blastholes and 85 machine gun fortifications scattered between the strongholds. The Germans on the beach have no fire dead angle, and the scattered fortifications of the Germans also make the allied forces landing anywhere suffer flank attacks.

The allied forces learned through the intelligence department that the beach was defended by a reinforced battalion of the German 7 16 infantry division, with a force of about 800- 1000. 7 16 Infantry Division is a unit specializing in defensive operations, in which at most 50% of the soldiers are not Germans, but Russian volunteers and German foreigners. The Allies also learned that the German 352nd Infantry Division, located 30 kilometers behind the 7 16 Infantry Division, had more combat experience and was good at offensive operations. This is the most likely time for the Germans to launch a counterattack after the Allied forces seized the beachhead position. Because Marshal erwin rommel, who was in charge of the defense mission here, insisted on destroying the allied forces that might land on the beach, the 352nd Division was also transferred to the front line of Normandy beach in March to replace the 7 16 Division. This troop transfer also transferred two battalions of the 726th Grenadier Corps and the 439th Soviet Volunteer Battalion to the 352nd Division. Most of Omaha Beach is located in the German "Coastal Defense Zone 2", which is defended by the German 9 16 Grenadier Corps and the 3rd Battalion of the 726th Grenadier Corps. Two companies under the 726th Regiment are responsible for guarding the stronghold in Vieville, while two companies of the 9 16 Regiment will guard the stronghold in the coastal area of Saint Laurent in the middle of the beach. These positions were supported by the German 352nd Artillery Regiment 1 Battalion and the 4th Battalion. They had 12105mm howitzers and 4150mm howitzers. The remaining two companies of the 9 16 regiment will be stationed as reserves in Formini, 4 kilometers behind the frontline troops. The remaining troops of the 726th Regiment are responsible for guarding the German "Haiphong Zone 3". There are two companies defending the coast, one of which is responsible for defending a series of strongholds in the easternmost part of the beach, and the 3rd Battalion of the 352nd Artillery Regiment is responsible for providing artillery support for them. As a reserve, there are two battalions of the German 9 15 Grenadier Corps, stationed in Bayo, which is adjacent to Omaha Beach.

Allied intelligence rarely knew about Germany's redeployment. Even after the battle, the allied documents recorded the German deployment before the transfer, and the 352nd Division was thought to have been transferred to Omaha Beach for an anti-landing exercise a few days before the battle began.

Attack plan

The official map shows the operational objectives of the U.S. Fifth Army. Allied forces have divided Omaha Beach into 10 zones, namely, Eibl, Baker, Charlie, Dog Green, Dog White, Dog Red, Easy Green, Yi Hong, Fox Green and Fox Red. The first few attacks will be completed by two battle groups, two tank battalions and two ranger battalions. Each infantry regiment of the Allied Forces consists of three infantry battalions with about 1 0,000 men, and each battalion consists of three rifle companies with a maximum of 240 men and a support company with a maximum of 1 0,90 men. In each regiment, company A to company D belongs to the first battalion, company E to company H belongs to the second battalion, and company I to company M belongs to the third battalion, but there is no company J. In addition, each infantry battalion will have a command and guard company of about 180 people. Each tank battalion has three companies, A, B and C, and each company has 16 tanks. Each ranger battalion has six companies, A, B, C, D, E and F, each with about 65 people.

1 16 Battalion's task is to send two battalions to four areas west of Shanghai, and send the third battalion 30 minutes later. The 743rd tank battalion is responsible for providing support to the 1 16 regiment. Two companies of this battalion use amphibious tanks to land, and the tanks of the remaining company will land in the conventional way, that is, from the landing ship. On the left of the 1 16 regiment is the 16 combat regiment. The mission of the 1 16 group is basically the same as that of the 1 16 group, except that the landing place is changed to Yi Hong and Fox Green in the east of the beach. The 74 1 Tank Battalion is responsible for supporting the 16 regiment, and its landing mode is exactly the same as that of the 743 battalion. There is a German artillery fortification at Cape Oak, 5 kilometers west of the beach, which is occupied by three companies of the second battalion of the commando team. At the same time, Company C of the 2nd Battalion will land on the right wing of 1 16 regiment, and capture the German stronghold Pointe de la Percée e. If Cape Oak is successfully captured, the remaining troops of the 2nd Battalion will join the 5th Battalion of Rangers in the allied follow-up actions in Cape Oak. If the allies fail to capture Cape Oak, then these troops will enter the dog green area after the 1 16 regiment and attack Cape Oak by land.

The landing operation began at 6:30 am on June 6. The allies will first bomb the defenders on the beach with naval guns for 40 minutes and bomb them in the air for 30 minutes, and then the amphibious tanks will land five minutes before the operation begins. The infantry unit consists of many teams of 32 people, each with special mission objectives and corresponding weapons and equipment. After the first wave of attacks, American combat engineers will immediately go ashore to open a safe passage for the follow-up troops. After that, the allied large landing ship can dock safely at high tide. After 90 minutes of fighting, allied artillery units will land, and after 90 minutes, a large number of allied chariots will gather on the beach. After the start of the battle 195 minutes, the 1 5 Battalion belonging to the 29th Infantry Division and the 18 Battalion belonging to the 1 Infantry Division will land, and the 26th Battalion also belonging to the1Division will receive orders from the commander of the 5th Army.

Two hours after the start of the battle, the allied forces will wipe out the beachhead defenders, and then each 32-person infantry team will be assembled into several infantry battalions to participate in the subsequent battles. Three hours after the start of the battle, the allies will control all the valleys in the cliff, which will enable the follow-up troops to advance inland. At the end of the day of fighting, the allied forces in Omaha Beach will set up a beachhead position with a depth of 8 kilometers, and meet the British 30th Army at Golden Beach in the east to prepare for the attack on Isini-sur-Mer the next day. If Isini-sur-Mer falls into allied hands, the allies in Omaha will be able to join the US 7th Army on Utah Beach.

The Allied attack force consists of more than 34,000 people and 3,300 chariots. The maritime forces responsible for supporting the ground forces are composed of two battleships, three cruisers, 12 destroyer and 105 other ships. Most of the ships of this maritime force belong to the US Navy, but a few also belong to the Royal Navy and Free France. In order to seize the beachhead position, the 16 regiment gained 3,502 soldiers and 295 chariots in addition to its original strength, thus increasing its total strength to 9,828 soldiers, 9 19 chariots and 48 tanks. To transport such a huge army, we need 2 transport ships, 6 tank landing ships, 53 tank landing ships, 5 infantry landing ships, 8 1 American infantry landing ship, 18 British infantry landing ship, 13 other landing ships and about 64 DUKW. The pilots of these landing ships are from the US Navy, the US Coast Guard and the Royal Navy. The official map of the first wave of attacks. The allied forces made considerable preparations for this landing operation, but the battle failed to go smoothly as planned. 10 landing craft disappeared before landing. Seasickness is also common in the soldiers of the follow-up troops waiting for departure at sea. On the way to the coast, the landing craft of 16 group often meets soldiers who fall into the sea and amphibious tank crew on life rafts. Every landmark on the beach is covered with a thick layer of smoke, which makes it difficult for allied landing ships to correct their course. To make matters worse, these landing craft are being pushed to the east by a strong current.

The allied landing ship was attacked by German automatic weapons and artillery when it was several hundred yards away from the coast. The closer the landing craft is to the shore, the more fierce the German firepower will be. Only then did the allies realize that the previous shelling and bombing of the beach didn't play much role at all. Allied bombers not only delayed the take-off time because of the weather, but also dropped bombs far behind enemy lines for fear of accidentally injuring friendly troops near the target, so the Germans on the beach were not greatly affected. XtQ super base camp military

Armored troops landed.

In view of the harsh sea conditions, the Allied Forces ordered the 1 16 landing ship to change the original plan and directly transport the amphibious tanks carried on it to the beach. Under the artillery fire of Vieville Taniguchi, which was heavily guarded by the German army, Company B of the 743rd Battalion lost half of its tanks, and only one company officer survived. Unlike Company B, the tanks of the other two companies that fell to its left did not suffer any losses. The 16 regiment encountered as many troubles as the 1 16 regiment: only two tanks of the tank troops originally planned to sail ashore from the water successfully landed; Only three tanks in the armored forces originally planned to land on a tank landing ship successfully landed. The remaining company of 74 1 Battalion successfully landed 14 of its 16 tanks, but three of them were quickly destroyed.

Infantry landing

I was the first to jump off the boat. The seventh man who jumped off the boat was the second soldier who successfully jumped off the boat and was not hit by a bullet. Everyone who stood between me and him was shot. Two of them died and three were injured. If you want to survive, you can only be as lucky as me. XtQ super base camp military

Captain-Richard Merrill, 2nd Ranger Battalion.

Among the nine infantry companies that participated in the first wave of attack, only company A and its right-wing rangers of Dog Green District 1 16 successfully landed at the scheduled location. It was originally scheduled to land in E Company of the 1 16 regiment, and finally landed in Yi Hong and Fox Green, the destinations of the 16 regiment. Company G of 1 16 was scheduled to land in Goubai District, but its soldiers found themselves in Yilu District when they jumped off the boat. 16 company was too far away from the scheduled location, and waited for 1.5 hours before landing.

The place where allied infantry landed was actually on the sandbar, 45-90 meters away from the real coastline. The water in the sandbar sometimes doesn't even reach people's necks. Allied soldiers not only have to wade ashore, but also continue to push 180 meters after landing. Because of the great physical exertion, the soldiers who successfully climbed the flat gravel beach could not run. In addition, most of the landing troops were attacked by German light weapons, mortars, artillery and machine guns. Fortunately, the allied naval gun shelling ignited the weeds on the beach in the dog red area opposite Les Moulins stronghold, and the smoke produced blocked the German army's sight in the stronghold, making it impossible to effectively attack the allied forces on the shore. G Company and F Company of 1 16 Regiment did not suffer much losses before landing, but the death of the commander of F Company later plunged this unit into chaos. G company later went west, but also fell into chaos under the heavy artillery fire of the German army. Allied landing ships also lost order, which was most obvious in the front line of 16 regiment. On the previous front, the landing craft belonging to Company E of 16 regiment and Company F of 1 16 regiment were mixed together, which made it impossible for these troops to assemble and launch enough attacks to alleviate the already severe situation. The scattered troops belonging to Yi Hong District 16 regiment suffered fewer casualties, but they had abandoned most of their weapons and equipment because they had to swim across a deep stream in the sandbar before.

Allies at both ends of the beach suffered the most casualties. In Foxgreen District, the easternmost part of the beach, and the adjacent Yi Hong District, three allied infantry companies have lost half their troops when they reach the flat gravel beach. Many surviving soldiers climbed 270 meters from the beach to the relatively safe flat gravel beach. 1 16 Company A landed in the dog green area at the westernmost end of the beach. 15 minutes later, it was scattered, and its commander and other people were killed or injured.