Battle of the Third Reich

The convoy of the "Germany" mechanized infantry regiment followed the seventh infantry regiment. Following the "Germany" mechanized infantry regiment was the reconstructed 42nd anti-tank artillery battalion. It is now composed of soldiers who survived the Alaskan **** battle and veterans drawn from various infantry and armored divisions. And its power has been strengthened. In addition to the remaining 37 mm anti-tank guns, others are newly added to them with a new 50 mm anti-tank gun. If this anti-tank gun is equipped with a new type of high-explosive armor Grenades can already threaten the main armor of heavy British and French tanks. Now these artillery pieces are being slowly towed by the British "Bulldog" medium-sized truck seized in the Battle of Arras.

Xu Jun turned his head and spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Halon standing behind him.

"Lieutenant Colonel, your tank is ready to go."

"Observe, general!"

Halon climbed up to the No. 3 command tank parked aside. He nodded his head to Xu Jun first, and then waved towards the 25th Armored Regiment tank group parked in the wilderness behind him, 217 tanks increased the throttle at the same time, and then one followed by one column followed by a column 42 The anti-tank battalion opened the dirt road. Every two of those tanks had steel traction ropes hung between the front and rear tanks at intervals. Xu Jun looked at the majestic tanks with a satisfied smile.

The infantrymen on the tank cheered and waved to Xu Jun. German tanks did not have the habit of carrying infantry during early combat, but Xu Jun still arranged a battalion of infantry to march on tanks. Because although the headquarters supplemented a large number of trucks and armored vehicles, but Xu Jun ordered his troops except soldiers, all the ammunition and supplies must also be transported by mechanized vehicles, so the number of trucks was not enough. As a result, at least one infantry battalion had to march on foot.

In order to maintain the speed of the march, Xu Jun proposed this method based on the combat methods of the US and Soviet tanks. These soldiers are individual combat masters specially selected from various infantry regiments. They can not only cooperate with tanks but also follow the tanks as the first group of leading soldiers to attack. Xu Jun organized them into a battalion called the 25th Panzer Regiment Special Infantry Battalion, which was placed under the command of the 25th Armored Regiment.

The only troops behind are the Sixth Infantry Regiment and the 78th Artillery Regiment directly under Xu Jun, as well as the logistics corps of engineers.

Xu Jun climbed into his command vehicle, gave the command to the command team behind him, and then took the command vehicle of his command to the front. The Sixth Infantry Regiment followed closely and quickly followed.

The 78 Artillery Regiment was finally fully mechanized. The 18-ton half-track tractor dragged a heavy cannon and pressed a deep mark on the field. The engineers also sat behind the seized British "Bulldog" and French Renault trucks dragging their various engineering transport trailers. The last is the logistics department of the division. In addition to a large number of French miscellaneous trucks, there are a lot of carriages. These carriages are filled with large and small oil drums. From the depth of the wheels, many of the oil drums are Is empty.

Now Xu Jun's troops are like a giant steel dragon over ten kilometers long, which is flying fast on the vast land of France, and the goal is directed at the important town of Cambrai behind the German army.

Xu Jun was sitting in the small armored command vehicle's carriage thinking with a few telegrams he had just received. Now it seems that everything is running according to its own plan, and all German troops are ready for action. The commanders of the major legions are already in place, just waiting for their orders to start the operation tonight. Xu Jun repeatedly rehearsed the next action plan in his mind, and was afraid that he had missed any key issues.

"General."

Hans, who was sitting beside him, laid down the file in his hand.

"I have a question I don't know if I should ask."

"Oh, what's the problem?"

Hans touched his nose and said a little embarrassedly.

"I've seen all your plans. I think your plan is really wonderful. This plan has brought the art of war to the extreme. I think that only 14 years of Schriffin's plan can be compared with this plan. But I The details of this plan are still a bit unfeasible. For example, you require that all tanks going to the departure site be connected by a towing rope before the operation begins, and all armored divisions in the march To bring all the empty oil drums, I don’t know why.”

Xu Jun smiled and answered Hans.

"My dear Hans, now I don’t want to tell you why I gave this order. I think you will come up with it yourself soon. Remember that all the details are prepared for a big goal. I want to use you Will be able to find answers to these questions, otherwise how can I expect you to help me in the future?"

"Understood, General, I will think of the answer." Hans replied excitedly. He heard from Xu Jun's words that Xu Jun had greater expectations for him. It seemed that he would not stay with this adjutant forever. Position, you may still have the opportunity to show their talents in combat troops.

The convoy had left the dirt road and came to the road leading to Cambrai, which was a cement road, so the convoy was not as dusty as the dirt road. Xu Jun pushed open the roof of the car and stood up. He leaned the entire upper body out of the car, and let the warm wind of early summer blow on his face. On the other lane, the oil trucks moving in the opposite direction continued to pass by Xu Jun's troops. Xu Jun looked at the corners of the oil trucks with a smile.

Then he began to look up at the sky.

"Why not come yet?"

He seemed to be waiting for something, his face full of expectation and longing.

At this time, a slight buzzing suddenly sounded from the sky, Xu Jun seemed to wait for what he had to wait for, and couldn't help but laughed with satisfaction.

"Haha, finally here, Hans, give me the telescope." Xu Jun shouted anxiously.

"Here, general."

Hans opened the top cover on his head and stood out. He handed the telescope to Xu Jun.

"Thank you." Xu Jun took the telescope and looked towards the sky.

"It's an airplane, a general, I don't know which side, it's flying very slowly, it should be a reconnaissance plane." Hans looked at the sky with his hand covering the sunlight.

"It's the British "Blenheim" light bomber, but from the perspective of her only one, this should be a reconnaissance type. Haha, I'm still afraid that she won't come, and now she should see We are."

Xu Jun got into the car and put on the phone, then stood up again and shouted into the microphone.

"Muller, did you hear that?"

"Very clearly, General, there is a British bomber approaching now." Mueller's voice was clear and loud in the headphones.

"I also saw that it should be a reconnaissance plane. She has found us, and now I order to start the operation according to the original plan."

"Observe, general!"

Xu Jun turned on the intercom to talk in the car, he ordered the pilot to slow down, and then he picked up the telescope and continued to observe the plane.

The entire long convoy is now slowly slowing down. The tanks of the 25th Panzer Regiment slowly slowed down. The tanks at the rear of the towing rope all turned off the engine and began to be dragged forward by the tank in front. The steel traction rope was stretched straight, and there was a burst of harsh metal friction.

The logistics team is now starting to disturb the formation. All the trucks are overtaking each other as if they are not choosing the road. The carriages are in a mess. Some of them even fell under the roadbed. As a result, the empty drums rolled. Everywhere.

The infantry in front of the trucks raised their rifles one by one and fired indiscriminately towards the plane. The soldiers sitting on the semi-tracked personnel carrier also set up the mg34 machine gun and began to shoot at the air in a panic. However, the marksmanship of the machine gun shooters seemed to be rough, and a series of machine gun tracers were far from the target.

The "Blenheim" saw the huge army slowly marching slowly on the French country road in the distance. She reversed her course and flew slowly over. As a result, she clearly saw the following chaotic scene. She may be afraid that this is a German trick. She first carefully flew back and forth over the convoy at high altitude, and found that there was still a mess below, and no effective anti-aircraft fire was organized.

The plane's courage immediately began to grow, she slowly lowered the altitude, and then began to fly back and forth over the convoy, and slowly circled the figure eight at the height of the machine gun's maximum range. Although the German machine gunners were hitting tracer bombs all over the sky, no one had ever approached the plane.

Two minutes later, the convoy was still moving slowly. The Germans continued to attack the plane with confusion and inefficiency, but it seemed that they had no way to deal with the plane. Xu Jun looked at the time, the few above The photos look almost the same, Xu Jun shouted into the phone.

"Müller, okay, now drive away the lucky bird."

"Observe! General!"

The entire team began to stop slowly.

At this time, the German machine gunners finally found a feeling, and the bullets slowly moved closer to the plane, and then four or five rounds of bullets hit the plane's skin.

The plane was taken aback, and the flight path shook. However, it seems that she still doesn't want to give up, she just raised her height a little bit, ready to continue taking pictures around the team.

Suddenly, two thick tracers flew past her, scaring the pilot of the plane out of a cold sweat. Only then did he find that the German infantrymen had pulled the 20mm machine gun behind the truck. When he got up, he was pouring his shells frantically at him. What scared him even more was that the Germans seemed to be preparing to put up 88mm anti-aircraft guns.

The plane finally felt that it was in a bad situation, and quickly turned its nose to escape in a panic in the direction she came. As a result, she still failed to retreat, and a 20mm anti-aircraft gun gave her a wing with shells. The plane dragged a long white smoke and flicked out of Xu Jun's field of vision.

"It's dangerous, that shot was too accurate. Fortunately, it was only wounded and not shot down, otherwise the artillery would be in big trouble. But this effect is better than I expected, it seems My plan will be successful." Xu Jun shouted happily at Hans.

Hans smiled on the side and said, "General, although I don't know the purpose of this part of the plan, Colonel Mueller's soldiers did this step perfectly."

Xu Jun nodded to Hans, and then directed to the intercom using the command channel.

"Gentlemen, now let your troops pack their equipment immediately. In five minutes, the whole army will start to advance at full speed. We will reach Cambrai with the fastest speed, and then turn to Tournai, Belgium. The other two troops are now There is waiting for us, we must arrive before dinner. We still have four hours, so we must keep the marching speed at least about 30 kilometers per hour. Now we can’t delay it. The speed should be fast. Do you understand?"

"Understand, General."

"Follow the order, general."

"Got it, general."

Xu Jun was very satisfied with the firm response from the commanders of the troops.

Xu Jun looked back at the distant clouds in the sky. He felt a wave of excitement. Now the most critical step has been reached. His battle will start tonight.

Waiting for me, Duncolk.

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