In order to win the Battle of Donets, the Supreme Command of the Tang Empire also spared no expense, and the 5th Armored Army under the command of General Su Youting Armored Corps was urgently transferred from the northeast to Eastern Europe. This elite armoured unit included the 5th, 11th, and 18th Panzer Divisions of the Imperial Army, and more importantly, each of them had a tank battalion with 74 Cheetahs armed with 90mm tank guns. In addition, this group army also has the 32nd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 116th Infantry Division, and before coming to Africa, the highest division added three elite Anxi infantry divisions to it, so that the total strength of the Fifth Panzer Army is as high as nearly 150,000 people, and it is definitely a decisive force in the Eastern European theater.

The operational intention of the Don Army was very obvious, that is, to take advantage of the opportunity to attract the main force of the European coalition led by East Francia to the line of the Baltic city in the north, and instead launch from the direction of the Black Sea in the south, directly break into the line of the Dnieper River, and directly take the border area between Kiev and Bairos, so as to achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating the main force of the European coalition army on the southern front.

The Eastern Frankish Southern Cluster was not to be outdone, and Prince Frederick, who was in Kiev, ordered the 2nd East Frankish Army and the Romanian Corps to immediately go to Pavlograd and send reinforcements south.

The battle for the Donets region between the two sides unexpectedly turned into a battle of millions of people.

The Don Marines captured Podanovka and cut off the railway from Melitopol to Donets, which was an important supply line for the East Franks to maintain the Crimean battlefield and the southern cluster. The 8th Marine Division captured several thousand British prisoners at the Tokmak Town Station, who needed to be taken to North Asia Port for detention.

The two sides are particularly fierce in the highlands southwest of Donets.

This area was hilly and mountainous, which was not conducive to the movement of armored troops, and the East Francians fought very stubbornly on the Tulapo River.

The three divisions of the Don Army launched a continuous attack in a state of almost madness, with the 8th Army Division moving west along the Tulapo River and the 15th Division crossing the river from Irepo to outflank the rear of the East Frankish Army defending the North Azov Highlands. The 1st East Francotic Army, with nearly 100,000 troops, retreated in the face of the fierce offensive of the Tang forces, which numbered only 60,000 men, and abandoned the Tulapo line and withdrew to the eastern highlands of the Dnieper to rebuild the line.

During the three consecutive days of fighting, the 8th Army Division rested only three hours a day, and the officers and men of the entire division, inspired by an exuberant fighting spirit, fought all the way to the vicinity of Pokrov Town, regardless of casualties and fatigue.

Pokrov is located just over sixty kilometers from Zaporia, an important railway hub on the Dnieper. It is located on a mountain and by a river, and is blocked in the area of mountain passes through which the railway line to Donetsk passes. If this place is occupied by the Tang Army, it can directly threaten the retreat of the US-British coalition forces on the front line of Southern Rhodesia, and it will naturally become a battleground for both sides.

The 8th Army Division, in cooperation with the Army Air Corps, fought repeatedly with the East Frankish Army over Pokrov, bombing the town near the Dnieper River into ruins, and finally capturing this vital site on June 19.

On the southern flank of the Eastern European theater, from the city of Dnieper to the Crimean battlefield, was the southern cluster of the East Frankish Army, which was further divided into Army Group "A" and Army Group "B".

The two army groups were tasked with attacking the Donets region, and some of the forces continued to attack the naval base in Black Sea City, the capital of the Crimean region.

The configuration of the South Group of East Francia was Group A, commanded by Prince William, and included the Panzer 1st Army, the 17th and 11th Field Armies, and the Lombard 8th Army. Cluster "B" under the command of Prince Eugen consisted of the 4th Panzer Army of East Francia, the 2nd and 6th Field Armies, and the 2nd Hungarian Army. In addition, there was the Romanian 2nd Army, which was coming from the rear.

On the Crimean Peninsula, the 5th and 19th armies under the command of General Rundstead were attacking in the direction of Black Sea City.

The enemy's forces on the Southern Front consisted of 8 armies and 2 panzer armies, with a total strength of about 650,000 men.

The warring sides were approximately equal in the number of aircraft, and in the number of tanks and armored vehicles, the Don Army had an advantage, which was able to significantly strengthen its forces in the main assault directions.

On June 23, 307, the 5th Panzer Army of the Tang Empire was ordered to march on Zaporia.

After the 5th Panzer Army under the command of General Su Youting Panzer Corps came ashore from Mariupol, it quickly threw itself into the highlands of the northern Sea of Azov. The troops of the Southern Front Army in the Don Theater under his command included four armored divisions, two mechanized infantry divisions, and three elite infantry divisions, plus the 11th Marine Division, with a total strength of 210,000 troops, and two army aviation divisions under the command of Lieutenant General Li Chengyong Air Force under the command of the 10th Army Air Force to provide air support for them.

Like the Dons, the operations of the large mechanized forces of Group B of the South Group in East Francia were extremely dependent on road and rail transport.

The 10th East Franconian Army, which was a strategic reserve under the command of Prince Eugen, withdrew from the west of Donets to Pavlograd and then turned to Pikrov after withdrawing from the west of Donets. Prince Eugen personally commanded the 30th and 13th armies to fight and retreat, and intended to form an encirclement of the Tang Army that had entered the lowlands on the east bank of the Dnieper River together with the Hungarian 2nd Army and the 6th Army in East Francia to the north.

However, the Central Asian Corps under the command of General An Zongxing was also in hot pursuit behind the 6th Army in East Francia. The current situation on the battlefield was extremely chaotic, the main force of the 6th Army of the East Frankish Army and the 5th Army of the Central Asian Army of the Don Army were sandwiched between the heavy groups of the two sides, and the East Franks, under the cover of aircraft, launched a fierce attack on the 8th Marine Division of the Don State, which occupied the Pokrov area, in an effort to open the route of retreat to the west as soon as possible.

General Su Youting commanded the main force of the Tang 5th Army to defend against the attack of the 10th East Franconian Army on Tokmak on the one hand, blocking the European coalition forces in the southwest of this hilly and mountainous area.

Prince Eugen pinned his hopes for the campaign on the weakness of the Don Army, which had a total strength of nearly 250,000 men in Group B of the South Group in East Francia, and more than 60,000 men in the Hungarian 2nd Army under the command of General Wallenstein, and he had almost 50,000 more troops at his hands than the Don Army he was facing.

But the danger for the East Franks was the 100,000-strong army of the Central Asian Legion under his command, which had been fiercely pursuing behind them.

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