When the commander of the 1st regiment returned to the Liberty Ship and told the soldiers that they could land ashore early the day after tomorrow, the atmosphere became cheerful.
After such a long sea voyage, they almost felt that they were about to die on this broken ship.
But now, they finally came to the end and finally saw hope - which made the young soldiers couldn't help but cheer warmly.
Although some people were still vomiting and some were still feeling depressed, everyone still started to pack their bags and check the equipment they carried with them as required.
The next day, all soldiers were forced to eat, and everyone had to go to the deck on time to bask in the sun. In the early morning of the third day, the soldiers on the bridge finally saw the huge island on the sea level.
On the escorting cruiser, all the angled gun barrels were pointed at the coastline, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
After a few minutes, the rope ladders were thrown down from both sides of all the freewheels, and the cranes lowered the landing boats one by one.
Large dinghies even have gasoline engines as power, and more dinghies are wooden boats with oars controlled by sailors.
Soldiers who had been eager to leave crowded the deck. Some were asked to help operate the crane, while others helped lift the canvas covering the boat.
Officers interspersed among the queues of soldiers waiting for orders, loudly reminding everyone: "Don't mess up! Hold still! Everyone pay attention to safety! When changing to a small boat! Be sure to pay attention to safety!"
"There are not enough lifebuoys! There is no way to have one per person!" Inside the bridge, a naval officer frowned and muttered as he looked down at the dark crowd on the deck.
"They can't climb the rope ladder with a lifebuoy on their backs..." The adjutant felt that this kind of preparation was a disaster.
When we landed at Rewind Port before, there was a dock. Rather than landing, it would be more accurate to say that the soldiers were disembarking from the ship.
But now, with the waves rolling and the ship heaving up and down, a group of landlubbers climbed a rope ladder of more than ten meters and jumped onto the waiting boat below. It can almost be described as an extreme sport.
"Because we are not sure whether there are reefs, we dare not get too close to the coastline... It is quite risky to park the ship here." The captain put down the telescope and said.
In the chaotic situation, the Army soldiers, who had barely been trained to transfer to boats, began to flock to the rope ladder.
The rope ladder looks like it is made of ropes as thick as a woman's wrist, but in fact it is still as soft as a naughty snake. There is no sense of security in the hand at all, and it is too weak to bear, so it is wobbly and loose.
Ever since, the soldier who had just climbed out of the side of the ship and climbed down two or three meters began to complain: "Oh my God! Is it so high? Damn it! Who designed this thing... How can you climb if it is so soft?" ah?"
A soldier climbing down side by side with him was so upset by these annoying complaints that he couldn't help but yelled in a low voice: "Shut up! Stop nagging! Damn it! I can't catch it anymore."
It was just dawn, and the surroundings were extremely quiet. There was no longer the constant roar of machinery on the stopped ship.
The thick anchor chain on the bow of the ship swayed gently with the waves. Further away, the Wolf-class cruiser was cruising back and forth at a low speed.
On the sea, the unloaded boats rise and fall with the rising sea water, just like the densely packed fallen leaves in the pond in autumn.
The sailors who were already waiting above looked up at the Army soldiers who were climbing up the rope ladder like ants, feeling that they were ridiculously stupid.
Before the soldiers over there scolded their comrades, someone else cried in a low voice: "I've been vomiting for six days and I don't have any strength at all... Damn it!"
They all carried their own backpacks, their rifles hung on their shoulders, and they carried bayonets, food bags, water bottles, and steel helmets...
All this equipment weighed more than dozens of kilograms in total, so it was indeed very difficult for these soldiers to climb the rope ladder.
"Someone fell into the water!" Along with a sudden sound of something hitting the water, someone suddenly heard an urgent cry,
The soldier holding the rope with all his strength looked pale at the water splashed by the person who fell into the water not far away. He couldn't help cursing: "Holy shit! If you carry such a heavy thing on your back, you won't be saved if you fall into the water." Got it!"
Sure enough, he kept seeing the people above him kicking his helmet with their shoes, but he never saw the man who fell into the water come out of the water again.
He began to regret that when he was on the deck just now, he threw away the lifebuoy that he heard could provide extra buoyancy because he didn't want to be in the way.
"Hold the rope!" On the rope ladder, an officer loudly reminded everyone, because just now, right in front of their eyes, the first victim had appeared.
While climbing down, these officers loudly reminded each soldier: "Watch your step! Pay attention to safety!"
The third officer of the ship guarding the side leaned on the railing and shouted loudly to his feet: "Sailors on the boat, please help as much as possible!"
On the bridge of the Wolf 1 battleship, Bernard looked at the troops who were struggling to transfer in the distance, and said to the adjutant beside him: "This is not a special ship, and the risk is too great when transferring to a small boat! This point It should be improved!”
"I've already written it down!" Adjutant Ping held the open notebook, which had already written down several items that needed improvement.
On the other side of the ship, the 2nd Battalion Commander almost cried: "The two fell into the sea... At this rate of loss, I think I may be demoted..."
The officer next to him was also very depressed: "In a battle, the losses will not be as great as this time when we change to a small boat... what a hell."
"The next batch of soldiers... ask them not to bring backpacks, bullets and rifles! Leave the helmets as well! Wait for the subsequent boats to transport them!" Suddenly, as if he thought of something, the officer raised his head , came up with an idea.
The second battalion commander was stunned for a moment, and then asked worriedly: "The combat effectiveness of that unit?"
"What else can we do? If something goes wrong again, you and I are both responsible! Sir! There may not be enemies on the shore..." The officer spread his hands.
"Alas...that's all it can do." The 2nd Battalion Commander thought for a while and could only agree to this impossible solution.
"Leave the backpack! No need to bring the bayonet and engineer shovel! And the rifle! The helmet! Leave them all on the deck!" Soon, the officer who had received the order gave the order to the crowded crowd.
The soldiers who heard this order began to prepare them all morning again, and finally took off the equipment they put on.
Soon, additional orders came. The officers, who were already a little confused, had to continue to remind everyone loudly: "Those who can swim can carry pistols! Those who can swim can carry some equipment! Pistols and pistol bullets! You can carry them!"
"The fully loaded boat is ready to go!" On the sea, the voices of sailors came from time to time. They paddled their oars and steered the wooden boat in the waves, slowly approaching the coast.
At first there were only one or two boats, and then there were gradually more wooden boats heading to the coast. Some large wooden boats also had special equipment covered with canvas, including human-powered generators and telegraph machines for communication.
"The first batch of small boats has set off!" An officer walked up behind the commander of the 1st regiment who was guarding the side of the ship, saluted and reported.
The commander of the 1st regiment nodded. He also saw that his troops were already sprinting towards the coast. They would be able to go ashore soon!
Completely different from the Normandy landings in World War II, Tang Mo's troops did not have plastic sheets to cover their guns, and he did not need to prepare for fierce artillery fire.
He didn't even have to lay smoke grenades on the beach to shield his landing force from enemy machine gun fire.
Datang Group also does not have a special landing craft with a front door opening. They can only rely on the most traditional method of beach grabbing by small boats to transport soldiers to the beach.
Different from the advanced landing mode in the late World War II, this form of landing has shocking flaws - once the boat washes up on the beach, it is not easy to return.
The soldiers who were the first to board the boat, after a long wait, could almost touch the beach at this moment.
The surroundings were still extremely silent, and not even a shadow of the enemy troops could be seen. When they got close to the beach, the soldiers couldn't wait to turn over and jump into the water, staggering step by step toward the land they had longed for for a long time.
Holding a rifle, the first soldier to land didn't even choose a place. He sat down on the golden gravel, gasping for air and laughing from time to time.
The people who followed them ashore were not much better. They helped each other find a clean place and sat down, unscrupulously reflecting on the safety and stability of the landing.
As for the prearranged tasks such as occupying the commanding heights, finding bunkers immediately, etc., not many people can remember them at this moment.
This was more like an exercise than a battle. Or maybe it's not even a drill, it's probably about the same as a spring outing.
Throwing aside their weapons and backpacks, taking off their boots, and throwing away their helmets, the soldiers who landed first even turned back and walked into the sea to help the following troops unload large equipment.
"Finally ashore..." The officer did not intend to urge his soldiers to restore discipline. They also sat on the beach and sighed comfortably.
Now, as they stepped on the beach, they still felt the constant shaking. This feeling made them feel nauseated and nauseated, like women suffering from morning sickness.
"Yeah... finally... we're here..." The commander of the 1st Battalion, who was responsible for commanding the front line of the landing, had just climbed ashore and sat down among the officers with a sour feeling: "Next time something like this happens, I'd better do it. 2 or 3 groups..."
