The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The answer is simple, it is the paving tank used by the German army during the attack on Kerch Port.

General Strike immediately reported Qinchuan's idea to Rommel, and Rommel couldn't help but screamed with excitement when he received the telegram.

"I knew he would find a way!" Rommel proudly held up the telegram and saluted Holt, saying, "He is my soldier, he solved our problem!"

"He's only been here for a day!" Holt was a little skeptical.

But after taking the telegram and reading it for a while, he nodded slowly and said, "Yes, why did we forget about the paving tanks, but only thought about crossing the Don River... How stupid!"

You are right. If the enemy's defense line can be broken through on land, who would be willing to forcefully cross the Don River from the side?

So the task was quickly assigned: modify the paving tank.

The difference from before is that this time the paving tank will not be so crude.

When we were on the Kerch Peninsula, it was because the conditions were simple and time was short, and the resources that a group army located on the Kerch Peninsula could use were very limited.

This time it was different. This time the sword was aimed at Stalingrad. It was a problem for the entire Southern Army. As soon as Holt reported to Marshal von Bock, he immediately gathered all the energy of the entire Southern Army for modification.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union did not expect to lose so miserably and so quickly in this offensive battle... In fact, the Soviet Union was still the dominant side, that is, after the Moscow defense battle, they gathered more With more troops and more resources, they naturally thought that it was time to counterattack.

The result of this is that many factories and materials were not evacuated in time... This is different from the Moscow Defense War. During the Moscow Defense War, the Soviet army retreated in a planned manner. While retreating, they implemented a policy of fortifying the walls and clearing the field. Therefore, although the German troops occupied the area along the way, A lot of land but all you can get are some ruins.

The Battle of Stalingrad was completely the opposite. The Soviet army even interestingly moved some industries and materials forward in order to provide sufficient supplies for the front-line attacking troops.

As a result, the German army gained a lot, not to mention the factories and oil fields in the Transcaucasus. Many food factories, steel plants, etc. were also captured in the plains of the lower Don River.

The steel plant was utilized immediately.

Rommel was personally responsible for this project, and he even urgently contacted Manstein to transfer technicians from the 11th Army who had made pavement tanks on the Kerch Peninsula... This approach was of course correct, because it had been modified, So it’s clear what issues need attention or what areas need improvement.

For example, this time the technicians proposed a very creative improvement, placing the paving equipment in front of the tank. The advantage of this is that it can simplify the transportation space of the paving equipment and reduce failures.

The principle remains the same, but the only change is that the logs used in Kerch Port are turned into steel plates.

Compared with logs, steel plates have more advantages, such as logs are not strong enough and easy to break, are bulky and difficult to pave, and are troublesome to make in different sizes, etc.

Steel plates are easy to make. You only need to tell the workers the required width and length on the steel factory assembly line. It doesn't take long for batches of steel plates of exactly the same size to come out one by one.

Of course, because of concerns about slipping due to mud and moisture, these steel plates are printed with strips that can increase friction.

After that, these steel plates are strung together piece by piece with steel wires, and the transportation is completed by adding an external rolling shaft.

Two days later, twenty paving tanks modified from the "Plank III" tank were transported to the hands of the 21st Armored Division... Needless to say, what happened, the main offensive task must have fallen into the hands of the 21st Armored Division. .

In the evening of that day, the defense area of ​​the 21st Armored Division switched defenses with that of the 24th Armored Division.

This is normal. The Fourth Armored Group has a total of three armored divisions. They always let one armored division rest on the second line, and then replace it with the frontline armored division every few days, so that they can take turns to rest to maintain combat effectiveness and morale.

Therefore, even if the Soviet army sees this situation, they will not suspect anything. Even if they do, they will think that the Germans are preparing to use armored forces to attack along the original route again... Usually a small-scale attack will be organized after a new unit is replaced. .

They guessed this correctly. The German army was indeed going to attack, but the main direction of attack was no longer on the right wing.

The 21st Armored Division withdrew from the front line to a village three kilometers behind the defense line.

All the Soviet people in this unknown village have been moved to Stalingrad by the Soviets... The Soviet Union needs a large number of personnel to build fortifications around Stalingrad, so they will not let go of any available labor force.

The 21st Armored Division took necessary rest and recuperation here. The tanks were filled with fuel and performed necessary maintenance. After the tank crews were given water and food, they were ordered to take a break.

The Logistics Department received a list of equipment, which was the ammunition needed for this battle. According to the list, they had to go to Tsimlyanskaya, 37 kilometers away, to prepare everything and send it to the front line in batches.

This task is mainly completed by the Romanian 20th Infantry Division, which was previously assigned to the 21st Armored Division... Although this task is not easy, because the area just occupied by the German army is full of Soviet skirmishers, and they will spontaneously organize sneak attacks. The German logistics supply force was completed by one infantry division, even though it was a Romanian infantry division with low combat effectiveness, which was more than enough.

"The attack time is set at five o'clock in the morning!" General Strike told the officers in the conference room: "We will advance along the Don River, and the 297th Infantry Division and the 371st Infantry Division will follow closely to provide us with Cover. Once the offensive begins, we cannot stop. We occupy the ports along the Don River, Karachi, and Verdach, and then rush to the right into the Yeltsovka area until we see the Volga River. Do you understand? "

This bold plan stunned all the officers present at the meeting. You must know that it is a hundred kilometers to rush to Verdach, and then another hundred kilometers to the Volga River from left to right... The whole journey is two hundred kilometers, and It is all behind enemy lines. If anything goes wrong at any point, such as the failure of the follow-up infantry to keep up, the 21st Armored Division will be surrounded.

"How do we protect our supply lines?" Colonel Olbridge, commander of the 5th Armored Regiment, asked.

"We don't need to worry about this problem!" General Strike replied: "Because... once we occupy the port along the Don River, General Paulus's 6th Army can easily cross the Don River to join us! "