The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Of course, the Armored Corps would not be allowed to do garrison work, so the 48th Armored Corps and the SS quickly received orders to return to the second line.

There is an unwritten rule in the German army. If two troops receive marching orders at the same time and are walking the same road, then the troops with stronger combat effectiveness must go in front, and the troops with weaker combat effectiveness must wait slowly behind.

This is actually in the interest of combat, because the battlefield always prefers to obtain troops with strong combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so it is acquiesced.

It stands to reason that the combat effectiveness of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps at this time is much stronger than that of the 48th Panzer Corps. Not to mention that the 2nd SS Panzer Corps is equipped with advanced "Tiger" and "Leopard" tanks, and its number of tanks is also the third. Several times that of the 48th Armored Corps.

(Note: The 2nd SS Panzer Army only lost more than 100 tanks and 300 tanks left, while the 48th Panzer Army only lost more than 60 tanks)

But this time, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps gave the priority to march to the 48th Panzer Corps.

It is said that the order was issued by Lieutenant General Walter, commander of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps.

Lieutenant General Walter said this to his subordinates: "During the entire battle, the 2nd SS Panzer Corps was almost the protected object. We have to admit that the 48th Panzer Corps, which had less equipment and was more backward in tanks, ...Their victory is several times that of ours. It’s hard to imagine how the war situation would have developed without them. We would have been entangled by the Soviets on the road and unable to escape. Even if we finally arrived at Prokhorovka exhausted, we would still have been defeated by the Soviets. Rather than standing proudly on the wreckage of the Soviet tanks like the 48th Panzer Corps and saying, 'Hey, SS, follow us! We have cleared all obstacles for you!'

"So!" Lieutenant General Walter ordered: "Do you think you have the right to go in front of the 48th Panzer Army like before? No, at least I don't think so. This is a shame for us, the 2nd SS Panzer Army. Instead of glory, so I won’t do it!”

As a result, the 48th Armored Corps was the first group to take a bus to the Orel train station a few kilometers away, and then take a train to Kiev for rest.

Perhaps inspired by this, Dominic told everyone a story while on the train.

To be precise, this is not a story, but what Dominic saw with his own eyes when he was recovering from his injuries in Berlin.

"At that time..." Dominic's face was numb with memories: "Whenever a victorious army returns to Berlin from the Eastern Front, a grand military parade will be held in Berlin. It just so happened that I heard that the one who came back this time was My unit... As you know, I came back early because of my injury, so I participated in this military parade!"

"The location is on Unter den Linden." Dominic took the cigarette handed by the baker, took a breath and continued: "Thousands of spectators were watching there waving flags, and I finally squeezed to the front, thinking Look at how many of my comrades who fought with me have returned... But do you know what I saw?"

"What?"

The soldiers couldn't help but look at Dominic curiously, and even Qin Chuan's appetite was whetted.

"I saw it..." Dominic smiled bitterly: "Soldiers dressed in their neat military uniforms, carrying brand-new rifles, lined up in a spectacular queue through the Brandenburg Gate. The generals and their staff were at the end of the team. In front, the command vehicles were polished and polished, with military flags fluttering in the wind. The entire military parade was led by Imperial Marshal Göring, who wore a spotless white military uniform decorated with red and gold piping on his neck. A large Iron Cross decorated with oak leaves was hung on it, and all the entourage were riding in half-track vehicles, all holding out their chests and waving to the audience on both sides..."

"Isn't this exactly what you should see?" Perhaps Werner couldn't bear Dominic's overly cumbersome description, so he interrupted him.

Dominic looked at Werner, and then said slowly: "The only thing I didn't see was my comrades, none of them!"

The officers and soldiers couldn't help but be startled. Suddenly someone started laughing, and then the laughter became more and more intense. Some people even bent down while holding their stomachs in laughter.

This was actually not funny. Qin Chuan knew that they were just expressing their anger and sadness in some way... It was a group of people who shed blood and sacrificed their lives on the front line, while another group of people received cheers and honors from the people at the rear.

Of course, this may be due to the need to boost morale and propaganda, hoping to let the people see a neat and majestic army instead of an army with tired faces, ragged clothes and even broken arms and legs.

but……

The people listening to this "story" are precisely those fighting on the front lines. What kind of feelings can they have? !

"So!" Qin Chuan said: "We are lucky that we did not return to Berlin but were on the battlefield!"

"Yes!" said Kuhn: "We were lucky, so we were sitting on the train and in front of the 2nd SS Panzer Army!"

The rules of the battlefield are different from those of a peaceful society.

A peaceful society will create some illusions for certain purposes, and there will be many unreasonable and even angry things, but the battlefield... is a place where strength speaks for itself, and whoever can win will be respected.

From this point of view, the battlefield is much better than a peaceful society.

Perhaps influenced by Dominic's "story", everyone lost their interest in chatting and each held their rifles and did their own thing. Qin Chuan leaned against the window and slept with his backpack as a pillow.

When Qin Chuan opened his eyes again, the train had already arrived in Kiev... For the first time, the train was not ambushed by the Soviet army on the way. This happened several times in the past.

Later, Qin Chuan learned that it was not that he was not ambushed, but that Qin Chuan was so deeply asleep that he completely ignored the thrilling process of being chased by Soviet fighter planes twice.

Qin Chuan asked: "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Werner looked at Qin Chuan in surprise: "Lieutenant Colonel, we thought you didn't care about those planes at all. The adjutant asked us to follow your example and told us to be as brave as you!"

"Uh!" Qin Chuan glanced at Eberhard who looked embarrassed, and then replied: "Yes, of course I don't care! Otherwise I wouldn't continue to sleep!"

But judging from the weird expressions on Werner and others' faces, it was clear that they no longer believed Qin Chuan's words.

"Major!" Qin Chuan said to Eberhard: "Next time something like this happens, I mean follow my example... you should remind me first!"

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!" Eberhard replied, and then asked with a confused face: "But Lieutenant Colonel, shouldn't you tell me this in private?"

Suddenly, a burst of laughter broke out around them... They couldn't hold it in any longer.