Chapter 866 Flammenwerfers, and Simunitions
On a distant frontier in Lindeheim, or what was once known as North America from Berengar's past life. A company of German infantry loaded their weapons from within their IFV as their radio operator called in an artillery strike on an unsuspecting native village.
The thunder of the 15cm guns echoed in the air before their shells landed on the villagers, blasting their longhouses to bits. Blood-curdling screams filled the air as the tribesmen cried out in agony. However, after a single barrage, the guns ceased their assault, allowing the infantry to advance into the village and clean up the survivors.
Disease had ravaged the lands of North America over the past two years, as the Germans withdrew their medical support of the native populations. Though the Germans settlers were unaffected due to the marvels of modern medicine. The native populace had taken a massive hit from the coasts of Neu Wien all the way to the shores of California.
With Arnulf's death, Berengar had taken a far more hostile stance towards the native tribes and had elected to fully purge them from existence. Those who could escape the Germans' wrath fled further westward, while villages like this one suffered a cruel fate.
The German soldiers quickly deployed from behind their IFVs as they opened fire with their automatic rifles into the village. With a spray of lead, those who had survived the initial barrage were quickly gunned down.
Hiding behind a large rock was the chieftain, who had in the past personally requested Arnulf to attack Berenwalde. Miraculously, he had survived the initial purges and had fled with his people westward. Yet in the end, the German vengeance still caught up with him.
It was because of this man that the native peoples of North America had suffered so much over these past couple of years. Just as the chieftain was about to make a break for it, he heard the voice of a nearby German soldier calling out to his comrades.
"Fritz! Get the flammenwerfer!"
As the man turned around, he saw a grinning golden haired soldier with a peculiar device in his hands. The German said something in his native tongue, which the chieftain did not quite understand. However, if his translator was nearby, he would know that the German soldier had cursed him.
"Burn in hell, you savage bastard!"
After saying this, the German soldier spewed fire from the muzzle of his flammenwerfer, a fire that was mixed with napalm coated the Native chieftain. The man screamed in agony as his flesh cooked beneath the flames. He flailed about for several moments before falling to the floor, dead. Though he was deceased, his body continued to burn.
The German soldiers shared a laugh as they watched the man name Fritz light the remainder of the village aflame with his flammenwerfer. The era of peaceful coexistence between the Reich and the native tribes had come to an end. With Arnulf's death, followed by several incidents of raiding and raping of German settlers by the native tribes of Florida, the Kaiser had taken the gloves off so to speak.
This was just one village in Lindeheim among many which suffered a similar fate. There was simply no way for the primitive North American tribes to fight against a modern army. In the eyes of the Kaiser, who lost one of his greatest friends as a result of the Natives' interference, no amount of blood could satisfy his rage.
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While the tribes of North America burned in the flames of war. The German military had begun hosting war games in two separate locations within the New World. The first of these two locations were within the Jungles of Neu Schwaben. While the second was within the Caribbean. Supported by a fleet of ships, the German marines and their allies from the Army prepared to assault a chain of Islands in a series of simulated battles.
The German soldiers made use of special weapons that were converted to use the new non-lethal training ammunition. Simply referred to as simunitions by the soldiers, these specialty cartridges were designed to provide a realistic training scenario for the German Army.
The soldiers acting as the German Marines were known as blufor, and they were equipped with the latest weapons and uniforms that were issued to the German Military, which was modelled after those used by German troops during the Second World War of Berengar's past life.
As for the German soldiers who opposed the landings, they were known as opfor, and wore uniforms loosely modelled after those used by the Imperial Japanese Army during Berengar's past life. Despite the difference in appearance, these opfor soldiers were still equipped with the same weapons as their blufor counterparts.
While the Landings were taking place, a fleet of Ju 390 transport planes dropped their Fallschirmjägers from the skies above. A double attack designed to break the trench system on the shores, while attacking from behind enemy lines. Much like what had been done on D-Day.
Tank Traps were established on the beachheads to prevent the German tanks from moving forward. Despite this, the Landing Craft were designed to carry tanks, IFVs and infantry alike, which they did. Even if the vehicles couldn't move forward, they could act as a means of cover for the infantry.
When the first landing craft opened their hatches and revealed the armored vehicles within, the opfor soldiers opened fire. Obviously, they were not permitted the use of panzerfausts during this exercise, and because of this, they were focusing on the soldiers who hid behind the armored vehicles.
MG-27s, which were modelled after the MG-42, sprayed their simunitions downrange, and towards the blufor soldiers who hid behind their tanks as if they were an all protecting barrier. Though some men were tagged by the simmunitions, and fell down to the ground while playing dead. Others continue to press forward with the tanks.
If this was a real battle, the Panther Tanks, along with their accompanying Marder IFVs, would have fired their guns on the enemy defenses. But because this was a mock battle, they were not permitted the use of their main guns, and instead used the machine guns embedded in the turret, to spray the opfor defenders.
Eventually the Tanks reached the tank traps and could progress no further. In the next moment, Lieutenant Herman von Habsburg saw his men falter, too afraid to move forward. Though the men knew that these rounds weren't lethal, they still represented death, and the fear of facing a similar situation in east Asia had crippled many of those who had never experienced combat before. Upon seeing this, Herman took the lead and courageously called out to his soldiers over the sound of gunfire.
"Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?!?!"
After saying this, he charged past the Tank that his platoon was hiding behind, and rushed through the gunfire while unleashing a torrent of his own upon the enemy forces. The mere insinuation that they were cowards combined with their commanding officer's courageous actions caused the company of army soldiers to charge forward, igniting a chain reaction where every blufor soldier on the beach rushed through the gunfire, and towards the enemy's trench line.
Those who were hit fell to the ground, acting as if they had died. However, the overwhelming number of blufor soldiers was simply too much for the opfor defenders to handle. Before long, the trenches were breached, and the blufor soldiers ruthlessly gunned down the opfor defenders. Taking the beachhead on the first island for the blufor faction.
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While the German Marines and Soldiers worked together to take the beachhead, the Fallschirmjägers dropped onto the island from the skies above. Thousands of men descended through the sky in a massive HALO jump, before pulling their chutes, where they continued to fall to the ground.
After safely landing on the island, the German Fallschirmjägers regrouped, before making an assault on the beachhead. Thus, while the Marines assaulted the front of the fortifications, the Paratroopers launched an attack on the rear.
With a perfect pincer attack, the Opfor soldiers soon emerged from their tunnels waving the white flag. Though the initial defenses of the Island had been taken in a matter of hours, there was still much more to this exercise that lie ahead. From the beaches, the blufor troops would have to make their way to the enemy command post. Which lie at the greatest height of the tropical island.
All along the way, the opfor soldiers would hamper the advance of their enemy, and try to repel the blufor faction from the island altogether. If blufor succeeded in their objective, then they would be shipped off to another island, to repeat their conquest.
The overall casualties that existed among the blufor soldiers from the initial landing were in the thousands suggesting to the German Generals, and Admirals who observed the operation, that their troops would need to regularly undergo simulated events like this one, in order to gain the most experience possible. Otherwise, they would see similar results when the war with Japan finally broke out.