The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After breaking through the first line of defense, the two armored corps advanced along the road and were blocked by Soviet troops along the way.

The First Infantry Regiment led by Qin Chuan has not participated in the battle yet, because they are mobile troops or "secret weapons" and will not be exposed to the enemy easily.

The staff officer introduced to the officers in the headquarters: "The Soviets used the refueling tactic. We defeated the current troops, but in the blink of an eye, they added a group of reinforcements to build another line of defense in front of us. Now their defense line It’s no longer just three paths, it’s everywhere!”

"Where is the middle ground?" Qin Chuan asked.

The middle zone refers to the area between the two routes advanced by the two armored armies.

"The Soviet army has no signs of retreat yet!" the staff officer replied: "There are at least two divisions of Soviet troops in the middle zone. We estimate... that they are waiting for orders. The reason why the Soviets do not withdraw them now is I hope they can insert themselves into the rear of our army to counter-encircle our armored army!"

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement.

Of course it was very dangerous for the German armored forces to do this. They actually used the direction of the road to dig out a piece of flesh from the Soviet defense line.

If the Soviet army cannot block the advancing momentum of the German armored forces, then this piece of meat will be successfully dug out by the German army when the two armies merge into one.

If the Soviet army successfully blocked the German armored army's attack, then... as long as the Soviet army in the middle area made a counterattack to cut off the German army's retreat, the two German armored armies would be tightly surrounded by the Soviet army.

Therefore, this tactic can be said to have advantages and disadvantages. Who can win in the end depends on the strength of both the enemy and ourselves.

"Where did the two troops arrive recently?" General Holt asked.

The staff officer replied: "The 48th Panzer Corps is 3 kilometers ahead, and the 2nd SS Panzer Corps is 5 kilometers ahead!"

Lieutenant General Walter couldn't help but raise his head high after hearing this, and seemed to be very satisfied with the performance of his troops.

But everyone knows this is normal.

The 2nd SS Panzer Army has the largest and most advanced tanks. At the same time, in order to protect the safety of the "Tiger", more than two-thirds of the air force in this direction, that is, 500 fighters and bombers, are used in the 2nd SS Panzer Army. The direction of the attack... This is not entirely to say that the SS is superior, but that the "Tiger" tank is a very precious resource to the 4th Armored Group Army, so when the "Tiger" advances, there must be fighter planes in the sky to protect it. Escort, there must be reconnaissance planes in the front, and there are even a large number of fighter planes waiting at the airport, ready to take off at any time to repel the invading Soviet fighter planes.

This resulted in the 48th Armored Corps only receiving a small amount of air support, and being bombed by enemy fighter planes from time to time... so the forward speed was of course slower than that of the 2nd Armored Corps.

General Holt looked at the time, glanced at General Kirchner, and said: "We must get to the second line of defense before dark, otherwise there will be more trouble in the attack tomorrow!"

General Holt was right. If the Soviet troops did not reach the second line of defense, the Soviet reinforcements would move forward to destroy the road or lay a large number of mines. At that time, it would be impossible for the left and right forces to advance in tandem and attack the second line of defense at the same time. The second line of defense caused a greater impact on the Soviet army.

"General Kirchner!" Lieutenant General Walter said: "I wonder if you need my reinforcements? Obviously, my men still have strength left!"

"No, General Walter!" Lieutenant General Kirchner refused without thinking.

Lieutenant General Kirchner knew that Lieutenant General Walter's words were provocative. Although generally speaking, it was a better choice to let the 2nd SS Panzer Army reinforce... because the 2nd SS Panzer Army was wearing After inserting 5 kilometers, if they attack further west, it will be easier to attack the side and rear of the middle zone.

But Lieutenant General Kirchner was still unwilling to make this choice.

However, Lieutenant General Kirchner's refusal is also reasonable. The 48th Armored Corps has an ace...the helicopter unit, so why should he ask for help from the SS?

Thinking about it, Lieutenant General Kirchner turned his attention to Qin Chuan.

Qin Chuan understood what Lieutenant General Kirchner meant, but shook his head slightly and said, "General, now is not the time to use helicopters!"

"I agree with the Lieutenant Colonel!" Holt replied: "The enemy in the middle area has not retreated yet, and it is too dangerous to invest helicopters!"

"So..." Lieutenant General Walter sneered: "It seems that the helicopter can only be used when we are about to win!"

"General Walter!" Qin Chuan couldn't help but retort: ​​"You may have forgotten the role helicopters played in the Caucasus. At that time, until we won that battle, tanks had not appeared in the Caucasus Mountains! "

"But that's the Caucasus, isn't it?" Lieutenant General Walter replied: "I have to remind you, Lieutenant Colonel, the battlefield here is different from the Caucasus Mountains!"

"That's enough!" General Holt said: "We don't need to argue about meaningless things, we need to solve the problem!"

Lieutenant General Kirchner replied: "That's not a problem, General. I will send the 21st Armored Division up! They can reach the second line of defense before dark!"

"Very good!" General Holt nodded and said, "Then do it!"

The 21st Armored Division is different from other armored divisions. Although it does not have "Tiger" tanks like the SS, it is all veterans and well-equipped. It can be said to be the main force of the 48th Armored Corps.

When the two generals returned to their headquarters to direct the battle, General Holt sat back in his chair with some distress.

Then he said to Qin Chuan: "This is not a good thing, is it?"

"Yes, General!" Qin Chuan replied.

No matter what the reason is, if the generals of the two main forces on the battlefield are at odds and refuse to give in to each other, it will not be a good thing for the campaign.

But to be honest, this is mainly caused by the SS system of superiority in the army... They can naturally have more advanced equipment, more resources, better supplies, and even do not let the chief officer go in command. In the eyes.

At the same time, the chief officer had nothing to do with these SS soldiers because they were loyal to Hitler, which caused a series of problems for the command.

From this perspective, the Wehrmacht should not fight in the same unit as the SS.

But the battlefield sometimes requires them to fight together. Just like now, the 4th Army cannot be transported completely from the Transcaucasus in time, so it is supplemented by the 2nd SS Panzer Army with stronger combat effectiveness.

The problem is that the 2nd SS Panzer Corps is difficult to command.

This may be one of the reasons why many senior officers of the Wehrmacht in history openly and covertly supported the overthrow of Hitler.