Famous sayings and quips
War is the most spectacular competition of mankind! In battle, the strong win and the weak die.
A pint of sweat can save a gallon of blood.
Soldiers are also citizens. In fact, the highest duty and right of a citizen is to take up arms to defend the motherland.
Brief introduction to life
1885165438+1October1kloc-0/Barton was born in a military family in California, USA. His great-grandfather was a brigadier general during the American Revolution, and his grandfather and father both graduated from Virginia Military Institute. Barton/kloc-entered the west point military academy at the age of 0/9. He is good at football, track and field, fencing and so on, especially fencing.
1909, Barton graduated from West Point Military Academy and was sent to serve in the cavalry. 19 1 1 was transferred to Meyer Castle near Washington, D.C., and temporarily served as the attendants of Army Chief of Staff Wood and Army Secretary Stimson.
After the outbreak of World War I, Barton was transferred to the Eighth Cavalry Corps and became Pershing's adjutant and confidant. 19 17 April 17, Barton went to France with Pershing, and still served as his subordinate adjutant and commander of the headquarters. He thinks it is an honor to work in the general's general staff, but it is difficult to achieve great things. Barton volunteered to be transferred to the combat post, so Pershing asked him to form a tank unit.
Barton first went to investigate to get familiar with the performance and usage of this new weapon. 19 19 returned to China and was sent to fort meade Tank Training Center. However, the 1920 national defense act reorganized the US Army, placed armored forces under infantry, and lowered the rank of regular officers. Barton was demoted to major and returned to the cavalry. In the next 20 years, Barton held more than a dozen different positions in Hawaii and the United States. And was sent to cavalry school, command and staff school and army university for further study.
1in July, 940, Barton returned to the armored forces as the brigade commander of the second armored division, and was soon promoted to the rank of major general. 19411On February 7th, the United States took part in World War II, and the time for Barton to show his talents and make a name for himself finally came. At the beginning of 1942, Barton was promoted to 1 A army commander. With the development of the war, Barton foresaw that American troops might be sent to fight in North Africa and the Middle East, so he opened a desert battlefield training center in the southern United States to train its personnel strictly. In July of that year, when it was decided to carry out the "Torch" operation, Barton was appointed as the commander of the campaign cluster, led his troops to land in Casablanca, occupied french morocco and served as the Moroccan governor.
1943 in February, the second army of the United States was beaten out of the water by Rommel in Tunisia. Eisenhower transferred Barton from Morocco to take over as commander of the Second Army and entrusted him with the task of restoring American morale. After Barton came to power, he first ordered the rectification of military discipline, stipulating that every soldier must wear a helmet and tie leggings at all times, even nurses are no exception. Under his command, the army made outstanding achievements in future operations, and cooperated with the British army to annihilate 250,000 German and Italian troops. Barton was promoted to lieutenant general because of his outstanding military achievements, and was called "the top inspiring person" by the soldiers. In July, Barton was transferred to the commander of the US Seventh Army, and cooperated with Montgomery's Eighth Army to land in Sicily, Italy, and capture Palermo and other places.
Barton has a rough style. He was opposed by public opinion in the US military and at home for beating soldiers, and was protected from dismissal by Marshall, Eisenhower and others. But it doesn't mean that he doesn't care about soldiers. He just hates deserters and cowards. He thinks that soldiers who are carefully cared for will become the best soldiers. He often said that it is more important for young officers to know how to take care of their soldiers than to know military tactics.
1944 65438+ 10, Barton went to England as the commander of the third army. Before that, many people opposed handing over an army to Barton because of the beating of soldiers, but Eisenhower chose Barton. He knows the importance of Barton's tactical genius to this war. After the Normandy landing campaign began, Barton's troops gathered in Cotentine Peninsula in July. Prepare to launch Operation Cobra. This breakthrough battle plan is very suitable for Barton's fighting style. Barton's task itself was to capture Brittany to the west, but his offensive spirit and speed of mobile warfare eventually turned local breakthroughs into full-scale mobile warfare, forcing the Germans to retreat in an all-round way. By August 4th, Barton's troops had advanced to Rouen, occupied Rennes, arrived in Fougere, and advanced to Vaughan, just like the autumn wind sweeping the leaves.
Barton stormed all the way, eastward to the Seine River on August 16, blocking the retreat of the remaining Germans, and then hitting the gap between Paris and Orleans. At the end of August, he reached the Muse River non-stop. From September to September, when supplies and fuel were very difficult, they crossed the Mosley River and captured Nancy. 165438+1On October 8th, Barton attacked again and soon entered siegfried line. 12 On February 22nd, he led three armies to attack Bastoni, and joined the trapped American paratroopers. Then, after an attack of 1 month, we crossed the Rhine first, drove straight into Germany, and joined forces with the Soviet Union.
After Germany's unconditional surrender, Barton also served as the military chief of Bavaria, Germany, under the control of the US military. But he not only made no secret of his hostility to the socialist Soviet Union, but expressed sympathy for the Nazis. He even said at the press conference that most ordinary Germans joined the Nazi Party, and Americans "almost" joined the party. When this statement came out, public opinion was in an uproar. Eisenhower had to transfer him from the third army to the commander of the 15 army, responsible for compiling the history of World War II.
1945 65438+in February, Barton was seriously injured in a car accident when he was out hunting, and finally died in the army general hospital in Heidelberg, Germany on February/0, because the rescue was ineffective, and the first generation of famous soldiers fell.
Classic campaign
1in July, 943, Barton was appointed commander of the 7th Army. His first task was to land in Sicily with friendly troops.
10 at 2: 45 am, the landing operation of Sicily campaign began. At about 8: 00 a.m., Barton learned from the flagship of Monrovia that all the troops were progressing smoothly: the Third Division occupied eight miles of coastline in licata and was rapidly advancing inland. In the direction of Gera Bay, the 1 Division controlled the important transportation hub in Lubo, piano and Gera City Airport. Although the 45th Division, which lacked actual combat experience, fell into chaos after landing, it also advanced inland for five miles and continued to move forward. At the same time, there was good news from the British army: Montgomery troops landed very smoothly and occupied Siracusa without tenacious resistance.
However, the real battle is yet to come. Soon, Italian veteran General Guzzoni began to organize a counterattack. He ordered the 15 armored division to raid from west to east, and blocked the British army's marching route northward along the East Coast Highway with an armored brigade. At the same time, he ordered the German Goering division and two elite Italian armored divisions to storm Gera's allies in an attempt to drive Barton's troops out of the sea.
At the critical moment, the artillery fire of the US Navy exerted great power, which seriously frustrated several enemy offensives and forced them to retreat. However, the danger has not really been lifted. Barton clearly saw that the top priority of the US military was to unload the tanks and artillery ashore, otherwise, if the enemy armored forces launched an all-out attack the next day, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, Barton immediately changed his plan in the afternoon and ordered the Second Armored Division and the Tenth Alliance to land quickly and prepare for the battle. Barton was full of confidence and decided to go into battle in person the next day. 1 1 At about 9: 30 in the morning, Barton, accompanied by Chief of Staff Guy and Adjutant Steele, boarded Sicily with several soldiers.
At this time, the Gera plain has become a place where shells pour, and smoke is rolling and it is a mess. German Conrath tank forces launched a large-scale attack on American beach positions and broke through the defense lines several times. Barton gave a dead order: "Hold your post and don't take a step back. Retreat is failure! " "The first division fought to the death to prevent the Germans from reaching the beach. They never thought of making a second landing. Soon, the 2nd Armored Division struggled to leave the beach and joined the attack.
Due to the serious obstruction of the British attack, the whole war situation has undergone tremendous changes, and the role of the American troops on the East Road has changed from auxiliary to offensive. Barton believes that the target of the attack should be Palermo. 17, Barton personally flew to North Africa, determined to persuade Alexander to change the course of the whole campaign. Alexander agreed to Barton's request, hoping that he could let the allies regain the initiative.
Barton rushed to deploy after returning. He organized the 3rd Division, the 82nd Airborne Division and the 2nd Armored Division into a temporary army under the command of General Keith, which dealt a decisive blow to Palermo. Meanwhile, Bradley's 45th Division pushed northward on the west side, cutting off the coastal highway. 19, Barton ordered a rapid advance and won Palermo in five days. The provisional army immediately advanced at an alarming rate and occupied Vitrano, castel on 2 1. Arrive at the door of Palermo on the 22nd. The arrival of American lightning made the defenders in Palermo panic and could not organize resistance at all. Most of them were captured before they could escape, and a large number of ships moored in the port were also detained by the US military. On the same day, Barton entered Palermo as a winner with the 2nd Armored Division, and established his headquarters in the luxurious palace. On the 23rd, the 45th Division entered the coastal area east of Termini-Imerese, thus splitting Sicily in two.
The capture of Palermo greatly boosted the morale of the allies. For Barton's performance in this operation, Eisenhower commented in his memoirs: "His quick action soon left the enemy with only one port in Messina; It dampened the morale of the huge Italian army and enabled Barton's troops to attack from the west to break the deadlock on the Eastern Front. "
At the beginning of August, the allied forces launched an all-out attack. Due to the stubborn resistance of the Germans, the Allies made only limited progress. The fighting in Treuner is the fiercest. Guzzoni fought back 24 times here, and Bradley's 45th Division and other troops fought to the death.
In order to relieve Bradley's pressure, Barton made three small-scale amphibious jumps in a row, each landing at 1 to two battalions. The northern coast of Sicily is mostly cliffs. When the enemy retreated, it destroyed bridges and roads and buried tens of thousands of mines, making it difficult to attack head-on. The small-scale amphibious leap organized by Barton made full use of the flank of the sea, and if it goes well, it can achieve the effect of surprise attack.
/kloc-in the early morning of 0/7, under the strong pressure of the allied forces, the Axis forces were all driven out of Sicily. At 6: 30 in the morning, the American advance team entered Messina. At about 10: 30, Barton triumphantly entered the city. He wore the second cross medal for outstanding service awarded to him by General Eisenhower the day before on his chest, and as a winner, he drove slowly on the streets of Messina in a command car with three silver stars, and the landing campaign in Sicily came to an end.
Character annotation
Barton's impressive record in the battlefield of World War II, as well as his successful experience and combat methods created in military training and actual combat, left a glorious page in American military history. Barton's life presents distinctive personality characteristics, which has caused different evaluations in the world. Eisenhower said: "In front of Barton, there are no insurmountable difficulties and obstacles. Like Hercules in ancient mythology, he will never be overwhelmed by the burden of war. In the battle of the Second World War, no senior general had such a magical experience and amazing record as Barton. " Many people also think that he is "the genius of leading the army, the pioneer officer with the most offensive spirit" and "Napoleon in the 20th century". Of course, some people think that he is "brave and resourceful" and "arrogant and flashy". Perhaps The New York Times's evaluation of him is more appropriate: "History embraces General Patton with open arms. His position is very stable. He is one of the greatest military generals in the United States ... Barton was a legend long before the war ended. He is conspicuous, arrogant, armed, deeply religious and blasphemous. Because he is a soldier first, he is prone to impulsive anger; Because there is a kind heart under his impatient appearance, he is easily moved to tears. He is a wonderful mixture of fire and ice. He is brave and ruthless in the battle, and his pursuit of the goal is unwavering. He is by no means a desperate tank commander, but a visionary strategist. "