In the dead of night, the lights were brightly lit in the former enemy headquarters four kilometers east of the Selsar River.
Commander-in-Chief Yang Jiuxiao, Chief of Staff Huang Hanqian, Commander Peng Wanjun of the First Tank Army, and Commander Li Yuewu of the Second Tank Army are having a meeting.
Yang Jiuxiao paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, and said with some worry: "Although the German Ninth Army across the river lost the 24th Motorized Army and the 5th Army, it still has the 6th, 8th, and 3rd Army. The 10th and 42nd armies, plus the three divisions belonging to the group army, still have a total strength of 12 divisions.
"If it were on the plains, we would naturally not be afraid. We have experienced many head-to-head battles, and we only need to push all the way across. But the problem now is the river obstruction. During the day, the three forcible crossing operations we launched under the cover of the air force all declared Failure, if this continues, it may turn into a headache-inducing war of attrition!"
Peng Wanjun nodded in agreement: "We really need to use our brains and think more. According to the battlefield report, the commander of the German Army Group B, Manstein, has personally led his troops to come to the rescue. In this way, even if we make a huge sacrifice to cross the Selsa River, In the future, we will still be surrounded by superior German forces.
"After all, in terms of the depth and width of the battlefield, we no longer have any advantage. The so-called one-stop effort will fail again, and all three will be exhausted...Tanks are used to break through in depth, not to cover the infantry in attacking trenches one after another!"
Huang Hanqian introduced: "The overall situation of the southeastern battlefield has been decided. The encirclement of the Kleist cluster is constantly shrinking. The German troops there will be wiped out in a few days at most. The theater has begun to layout other battlefields. This morning, the third and fourth battles were The three tank divisions of the Four Tank Group have been interspersed in place, blocking Paulus's northward retreat. As of 4 o'clock in the afternoon, two more armored infantry divisions and the 7th and 8th Army entered the battlefield.
"To the southwest, the 52nd Army led by Weeks sensed something was wrong and retreated in large strides. It is expected to join Bloomberg's central cluster tomorrow. Now we need to carefully consider whether to stay here and attack the west bank. Or should we turn around and go south to participate in the annihilation battle against Paulus's troops?"
Li Yuewu stood up and came to the map. He observed carefully, shook his head and said:
"It's definitely not possible to go west now... The two armies of Rufu's Seventeenth Group Army on the northern front were originally specially set up to prevent and contain our northern army. They have been dilly-dallying for half a month, taking two steps and taking one step back. Previously, There have only been a few small-scale battles in the area south of Tel Afar. Now that the troops smell the scent, they will definitely take the initiative to shrink to the center. In this case, plus Weeks's army, we will face The main force of the German army suddenly increased by three corps and eleven divisions. The strength of our two tank armies was simply not enough to penetrate this thick barrier.
"As for going south, that's an idea. After all, Bloomberg can't just watch Paulus fall into despair. He will definitely send reinforcements. In that case, our troops at the junction will be in danger of being attacked by two counter-attacks. However, , under the current situation, I always feel that going south may not be a good choice...
"Now the whole chess game has been completely opened up, and one move can affect the whole body. If we eat Paulus, it is difficult to guarantee that the German army in the center will not retreat in a big way. In that case, we can annihilate most of the German army and destroy its main combat force. The attempt will be in vain."
Yang Jiuxiao frowned. He stood up and came to the map, looking at it slowly. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly pointed to the line from Telkocek to the Tigris River in the northwest:
"Look, after Manstein led his troops south, will the German defenses on this line suddenly become empty? Although it is expected that the number of German troops here will not be much smaller, but the quality will be a big The problem... Even though Manstein was a legendary general, he couldn't conjure many elite troops out of thin air.
"In this way, we can take the initiative on this line and turn defense into offense. Once we break through the German defense line, if we fight well, we can even follow the railway to the Mediterranean coast, thus cutting off the German retreat route in the Middle East!"
Huang Hanqian and Peng Wanjun's eyes lit up as they gathered around. Several staff officers were ordered to quickly check the situation of the German troops currently deployed on this line. Finally, it was confirmed that they should be the three mountain divisions of the 49th Mountain Army of the Second Group Army and the French and Belgian troops. The First Army of Western Europe consisted of four infantry divisions and the Spanish Volunteer Army's three infantry divisions. There were still ten divisions of troops. It seemed that they were still strong and strong, but compared with the main German combat forces, their combat effectiveness was still much lower.
Huang Hanqian said confidently: "With the help of the air force, we can completely defeat the German troops defending there... However, it is a bit risky to go directly to the Mediterranean coast. This circle is too big! I think it can be done in After occupying Qamishla, we followed the railway south and fought all the way to the north bank of the Euphrates River. In this way, we launched an encirclement of moderate width and depth along the railway and the Bur River...
"If things go well, we are very likely to eliminate all the German troops in this large circle... Darling, why don't we leave three to four million German troops here?"
Yang Jiuxiao was refreshed, and his thoughts suddenly became extremely clear: "Now Xiao Zonghua's 30th Group Army has moved to Mosul, plus the 18th and 24th Group Armies that have been replaced by the four mountain clusters , we can assemble the strength of six armies in a short period of time, and with the cooperation of the air force, it is enough to launch a large-scale strategic decisive battle.
"Once we successfully capture Qamishra, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, the Germans' front and rear supplies will be completely interrupted. In addition, we have air superiority, and every move of the enemy is under our control. We can completely control it." To destroy the enemy on the move, instead of having to capture the positions held by the Germans like now. In this way, everything will be alive."
Just as several people were analyzing the situation, the theater headquarters called to inform them that the 13th and 14th Group Armies had arrived in Baghdad. For the first time, the number of troops gathered in West Asia exceeded 20 group armies, accounting for almost 10% of the total strength of the Anjia Army. half.
As a result, more mobile troops can be put into combat.
Yang Jiuxiao made a prompt decision and immediately instructed his staff to formulate a combat plan, which was reported to the theater headquarters half an hour later.
...
The 7th and 8th Anjia Army entered the battlefield and quickly began to build defensive positions with a depth of 20 kilometers from north to south, mainly facing the north line. Because according to the tasks received from the theater, this line mainly defends from the north and attacks from the south, and consolidates the north. After the defense, they actively moved southward and tried their best to destroy the German troops blocked on the north shore of Lake Gadisiya.
After discovering that he had lost contact with the Paulus Ministry, Bloomberg was shocked by the sudden appearance of the Anjia Army in the south. This situation was mutually corroborated with the intelligence obtained by the six S3 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft sent by the Air Force during the day to penetrate into the west bank of the Tigris River.
Berg could very clearly judge that the east cluster was destroyed and the southeast cluster was in danger.
Due to emotions and reasons, as well as public and private matters, Bloomberg did not dare to put so many troops in danger, so while firmly guarding the defense line of the Selsa River, he quickly dispatched troops southward, striving to first open up the connection with the defense line.
Luce's passage, and then find ways to attack eastward to rescue the Kleist cluster.
The first wave of the German attack started at two o'clock in the morning on the 25th. The German army dispatched tanks and armored vehicles, and the huge roar of the engine came from the silent wilderness.
I don't know if it was due to the influence of the dark night, but from a very long distance away, the German tank crews couldn't wait to use their tank guns. They fired hard at Anjiajun's defense line.
German tank guns can easily reach the range of infantry guns when using grenades. More importantly, these tanks can withstand shrapnel attacks from ordinary artillery, so there is no need to worry about their own safety.
"boom--"
The flickering flames kept appearing on the position that An Jiajun spent several hours building. This greatly boosted the morale of the Germans, and huge cheers could be heard in the wilderness.
The Anjia Army did not fight back because in a night battle environment, no gunner could guarantee that they would use howitzers and recoilless rifles to hit the tanks that were constantly moving forward at a distance of more than two kilometers. So, the rumble guns from the German tanks
Sound has become the sole master of the current battlefield, and at a distance far beyond the range of machine guns and rifles, all the weapons on the Anjiajun position chose silence in a conscious manner.
On the position held by the 3rd Battalion of the 86th Regiment of the 22nd Division of Sun Desheng's Eighth Group Army, the battalion commander, Captain Lian Ruohan, ordered the mountain grenade gunners, seatless rifle gunners and rocket launcher operators to be ready and wait for the Germans to enter the range and shoot head-on.
.
At this time, three kilometers behind the position, three heavy artillery brigades and two rocket launchers were already in place. Once the situation on the front line went bad, they would launch fierce fire suppression.
Of course, if the front line can hold up, the artillery will remain silent, saving the shells for when they are most needed.
"Bang bang bang——"
Three illumination bombs flew out from the mortar muzzle and flew towards the center of the battlefield in a Z-shaped pattern. They kept flickering and trailing a faint tail flame. The bright spots continued to climb, and soon reached a height of more than 100 meters. When the three illumination bombs bloomed, they
The most gorgeous flowers illuminated the battlefield with a radius of five to six kilometers, making everything in sight invisible.
I saw eight black German tanks moving slowly like old turtles crawling on the beach, but their speed was much faster than the turtles. The number of armored fighting vehicles and German infantry advancing with them was staggering and densely packed.
They swarmed over like a swarming ant colony.
When the German tanks entered one kilometer in front of the position, both the Anjiajun position and the German column erupted violently in silence.
Within the range, the damage done by Anjiajun's Gaoping dual-purpose machine guns was extremely astonishing. The small and medium-sized 60mm and 82mm caliber mortars equipped by the Anjiajun company and platoon continued to fall like rain on the attacking German troops.
On the heads of officers and soldiers.
The Germans quickly counterattacked, capturing heavy machine guns equipped with shields and rollers from the Soviet army, roaring heavily, and 105mm grenades fired by several "Wasp" self-propelled artillery, giving them to those who relied on trenches to fire.
Anjia officers and soldiers pose a greater threat.
Urged by the fierce sound of gunfire, the German tanks, puffing out streams of blue smoke, accelerated their advance. Seeing that they had rushed more than 500 meters away from the Anjiajun position, suddenly, a Panzer III tank suddenly
An explosion occurred without warning, and as the flames dissipated, smoke emerged from the bottom of the vehicle. Although the turret and body were intact, the tank stopped after exhausting its forward momentum.
Immediately afterwards, another tank had a similar situation.
"Anti-tank mines!"
Through radio contact, other German tanks quickly learned what was happening in front of them. Even the armored vehicles stopped immediately and started shooting. The German infantry following the tanks were dumbfounded by the mine array in front of them.
Explosions were heard one after another. Many infantrymen in the German army were killed and injured by anti-infantry mines. There were wailing sounds and the losses were considerable.
Taking advantage of the great opportunity when the German army stopped in front of the minefield, the high-level dual-purpose machine guns and general-purpose machine guns on the Anjia Army's defensive position roared with joy, and the snipers were also wantonly hunting down those who were not decisive enough and did not get down in time.
In addition to the mortar shells dropped as if they were free, the intensive firepower formed a deadly firepower network at a distance of 500 meters from the front of the position.
"Boom boom——"
The 105mm mountain howitzer behind the Anjiajun position suddenly opened fire. This howitzer, which weighed only 1.3 tons, had a range of up to ten kilometers. Because the ballistic computer accurately grasped the location of the German artillery in the dark, it fired four rounds per minute.
The speed quickly silenced the German artillery.
At the juncture of the artillery battle between the two sides, the German engineers began to move forward to clear mines. However, in front of the intensive firepower from the Anjia Army on the forward position, it was difficult for the engineers to operate normally. In addition, many of the mines were made of plastic, and the engineers were equipped with metal detectors.
Unable to accurately identify the mines, the mines were constantly detonated. The sputtering fire was mixed with the broken limbs of the engineers, which made many engineers' faces change greatly and their scalps became numb.
However, the part of the German army that went south was obviously experienced in many battles. Then, under the cover of tank fire, they used mortars to intensively bombard the minefields. Then, regardless of whether there were any remaining mines, the infantry howled and charged.
The grassroots officers of the German army took the lead and led their soldiers forward bravely, but soon they became the focus of snipers. At the same time, the mortar operators on the Anjia Army position were specifically targeting places where crowds gathered. The German army was unwilling to line up.
The platoon fell.
When the German army advanced to more than 400 meters, Anjiajun's automatic rifles also entered the battle, and the firepower network became more intensive. It would have been difficult for the German offensive formation to advance towards the Anjiajun position. If it were not for eight tanks and more than a dozen armored vehicles,
Still suppressing the Anjiajun position with artillery fire and machine guns, the German offensive may have collapsed!
At this time, something happened that made the Germans heartbroken: the anti-tank guns and recoilless guns deployed behind the Anjia Army position opened fire one after another.
When the 105mm mountain howitzer is in a low rifling position, it can be used as an anti-tank weapon, and the recoilless rifle is also a good anti-tank weapon. If the German tanks and armored vehicles advance a little further at this time, they will be attacked by Anjia
Rocket launcher attack of army infantry.
The German tanks and armored vehicles had already moved to a distance of 400 meters at this time. Amidst the continuous sound of artillery, the flashes of fire when the shells exploded continued to appear on the front armor of the German tanks and armored vehicles. After only three rounds of shelling,
Eight German tanks and more than a dozen armored vehicles were turned into fire coffins.
Faced with such a terrifying scene, the German infantry finally couldn't bear the fear in their hearts and receded like a tide.
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