Before the Allied forces landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, the 243rd Coast Defense Division and the 709th Coastal Defense Division of the German Wehrmacht were assigned to several "Oriental Battalions." Take the 709th Coast Defense Division as an example. The 739th Grenadier Regiment under its jurisdiction has two "Eastern Battalions", and the other two "Eastern Battalions" are under the direct command of the division commander, Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Schlieben. At that time, most of the German troops deployed in Normandy were “second-rate troops.” As there was no fighting on the western front, the elite troops of the 243rd and 709th shore defense divisions were often transferred to the eastern front. Shortly before the Allied landing, the 1st Battalion of the 739th Grenadier Regiment was transferred to the east, and the main force of the unit was left with only two "Eastern Battalions." Regardless of whether the fighting enthusiasm of the "Eastern Battalion" is high or not, their combat experience is obviously insufficient. At the same time, because the "Eastern Battalion" is also responsible for constructing coastal defenses, after months of intensive work, the physical strength of the soldiers of the "Eastern Battalion" has declined. few.
According to the American historian Stephen Ambrose’s book "D-Day", the first captured by the Allied forces during the Normandy landing were two Korean German soldiers. Soon the number of North Korean soldiers captured on the battlefield of Normandy reached more than 20, and the US military conducted special interrogations on them. It turned out that these Koreans were the first to be recruited by the Japanese army, and they were captured by the Soviet army in the Battle of Sunomen Khan that broke out in 1939. After the ceasefire between Japan and the Soviet Union that year, most of the Japanese prisoners of war were repatriated, but the Soviet army detained the Koreans because the Soviet army believed that they were not "prisoners of war." Later, these Koreans joined the Soviet Red Army. After the outbreak of the Soviet Patriotic War in 1941, they drove to the front with large troops. But as the Soviet army was defeated at the beginning of the war, they were captured by the Germans along with many other Soviet Red Army officers and soldiers. Unable to endure the unusually harsh environment in the German prisoner-of-war camp, they were forced to join the German army. In 1943, they were sent to Normandy as soldiers of the "Eastern Camp" until they were captured by the Allies.
The "Eastern Battalion", a miscellaneous army, quickly retreated under the three-dimensional attack of the landing Allied forces by sea, land and air. The battle report of the 709th Coast Defense Division showed that within the first 10 days alone, the casualties of the division had reached 4,000, and the remnants of the "Eastern Battalion" had to retreat to Cherbourg. On June 26, Lieutenant General Slieben led 800 people including the remnants of the "Eastern Battalion" to surrender to the 9th US Infantry Division. The situation of the 243rd Coast Defense Division under the "Eastern Battalion" troops was similarly unsatisfactory. At the end of June, most of them were wiped out during operations on the Corentin Peninsula in the Normandy region.
http://news.ifeng.com/history/shijieshi/200911/1103_7182_1417305.shtml In
which direction the wind blows, which direction the grass falls; I used to think that I was the wind, but now I know that we are all grass.
View more about My Way reviews
