"We are valiant Vikings;

From the snow-capped Arctic to the desert in the red sun;

We are the brave and fearless Vikings;

Conquered on three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia......"

Although sitting in the well-sealed armored command vehicle, the Viking division commander Felix Steiner can still hear the loud singing from outside, this military song was sung by the Viking division after training amphibious landing operations on the island of Crete, and it was originally just spontaneously performed by the troops to adjust the arduous training atmosphere, because the Viking division soldiers came from many countries, and later sang more and more popular, in addition to the German version, there are also a variety of Western European and Nordic language versions, and there are only two continents in the lyrics, and as soon as the troops cross the Sinai Peninsula, When they began to conquer Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries and prepare to sweep across Asia Minor, the clever soldiers automatically changed it to three continents.

Now it seems to be back to the good days when Barbarossa first began to rush forward, even more perfect than the Russian front-line operations: the ground is an endless desert and the Gobi, as long as fuel and supplies can keep up, it is an excellent armored combat terrain; Overhead was a powerful air force cover, and in front of him was a vulnerable enemy -- not only was the combat readiness and numbers pitiful, but the will to fight was not much weaker than that of the Russians. After a year and a half of battles on the Eastern Front, the Viking Division has become more mature in combat level, and the coordination of equipment, soldiers, and command system is also in the best state.

Steiner initially thought he would carry out a mission to land in the British Isles, and given the British navy and tight defenses, he was ready to die in battle. In the end, it landed in North Africa to attack the weakest link in the British Empire's global strategic system, especially the insanely large amount of oil hidden underground. There was only one thought in his mind: it was long overdue to fight such an enemy!

In addition to operations, there is another central topic that he has been thinking about recently -- the establishment and reorganization of the troops.

The General Staff had already sent down the new Type 1943 Panzer Division, and after the process of disarmament and expansion in the second half of 1942, the Supreme Command made greater moves to adjust and upgrade the divisional establishment, and the Panzer Division was the top priority.

According to the 1943 type plan, the armored division will be "4 regiments, 6 battalions and 8 companies" as the core, and the 4 regiments refer to 1 armored regiment, 2 armored grenadier regiments and 1 artillery regiment; The six battalions include: an armored reconnaissance battalion, an armored engineer battalion, a motorized baggage battalion, a communications battalion, an air defense battalion, and a sanitary battalion. The 8 companies include: command company, guard company, maintenance company, military police company, quartermaster company (responsible for clothing, food, housing and transportation), military band, supply company (responsible for ammunition) and transportation company, 4 regiments are front-line combat units, and 6 battalions and 8 companies are included in the division-level direct units.

As the core of the armored division. The strength of the armored regiment has become unprecedentedly strong, with four armored battalions under it, and each battalion has increased by one company, bringing the overall size of four battalions to 16 companies. 3 of the battalions are tank battalions. All are equipped with the No. 4 H type. Each tank platoon has 5 tanks, an armored company with 22 vehicles (4 tank platoons with 20 vehicles + 2 from the company), an armored battalion up to 92 vehicles (4 armored companies with 88 vehicles + 4 battalion headquarters), and a tank destroyer battalion in addition to 3 tank battalions, equipped with assault gun No. 3 or Stalker tank destroyers as needed. Therefore, the total number of tanks in the Panzer Regiment will reach 284 (3 tank battalions + 8 regimental headquarters), in addition to 92 armored vehicles in the tank destroyer battalion. The total number of the reorganized Type 1943 armored division will be around 20,000.

According to the arrangement of the General Staff, the Type 1943 armored division will be reorganized in one year, and the overall will be completed in three batches. Vikings, who have always been elite, are naturally among the first ranks. But Steiner wasn't satisfied with the first, and his eyes went further. Because the Type 1943 Panzer Division had two subtypes in addition to the standard model.

The first subtype is the tropical subtype or the desert subtype, which is mainly considered to fight against the British and Americans, and there will be about 3-4 divisions: all armed with T-34 tanks, not armed with the No. 3 assault gun or the Chaper, but armed with the newly developed Puma wheeled assault gun;

The second subtype is the enhanced subtype, which is privately referred to by all senior officers who know the inside story, and is equipped with an additional Tiger heavy tank company and a self-propelled rocket artillery company (Himmler organ) in addition to the general armoured division.

There were not many units to strengthen the subtype, and four divisions were now identified, namely the 1st SS Führer Guard Flag Division and the 2nd Reich Division, and on the Wehrmacht side, the Großdeutsch Division and the 3rd Panzer Division. Although the General Staff has been very secretive about the information, the latest news circulating is that there is still a fifth place. In order to compete for this fifth place, the commanders of the Wehrmacht and SS Panzer Divisions, who considered themselves qualified, were eager to try, and the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 16th Panzer Divisions of the Wehrmacht were all strong contenders; The 3rd Skull Division, the 4th Police Division, and Steiner's 5th Viking Division were also strong contenders.

Himmler, the national leader of the SS, sent him a telegram asking him to work hard in the Middle East and strive to snatch this fifth place into the SS, although the combat effectiveness of the elite subtype with one more Tiger company and rocket artillery company would not reach the sky, but it was a rare honor -- it meant that he was recognized as the main force of the all-German armed forces, and as the only SS unit in this campaign, he felt a lot of pressure.

In addition, what made Steiner decide to compete for the fifth spot was the grapevine that he had overheard about it: while chatting with the Führer on the island about tactical details, the Führer said that he was also going to try to equip the reinforced subtype with a company of ground attack aircraft, so that the armored division could directly command at least 16 ground attack aircraft to carry out integrated ground and air operations. This was unthinkable when the command of the Air Force was in the hands of Goering in the past, but Steiner did not consider the direct assignment of aircraft to the command of the Panzer Division a whimsical of the Führer, he considered it valuable and was very willing to try.

It has been rumored that the Führer had changed his habit of transferring troops to form new units, and had made it clear that the reorganization of existing units was the highest priority, and that the number of Panzer Divisions in 1943 was 28 Wehrmacht and 7 SS Divisions, a total of 35, and that the formation of new Panzer Divisions would not be considered for the time being until the reorganization of these 35 Panzer Divisions was completed. Later, under the strong demand of the people, the policy slightly opened a small opening, and two units were added: one was upgraded to an armored division by the Flying Fortress armored brigade of the air force, and the other was an armored instructor composed of personnel transferred from various armored force schools, so that the total number of armored divisions reached 37.

In the aftermath of the disarmament and expansion operation, competition for positions among senior officers was fierce, with the exception of a very fortunate few who found a suitable place in the newly formed army, those who were slightly less capable or who had not performed well in the past were sent to the reserves, and some were either put to death in the traitorous group or were swept into the reserve because they had always belonged to the Juncker group and often contradicted the Führer. Serving in the reserve army, although the rank, salary, and position remain the same, everyone sharpens their heads and wants to stay in the front-line troops, and is even willing to accept demotion.

Some Allied observers believe that this is the second time that Germany has abolished its martial arts (the first was the purge of the 100,000-strong Wehrmacht), saying that it was an organizational reform, but in fact it was a purge launched by the Führer in the name of reform, reflecting the profound power struggle within the German army. Steiner scoffed at this, and he did not deny that there were some political considerations for this change, but in the final analysis, it was to reduce the level of command and increase combat effectiveness. After the war entered a white-hot state, many of those high-ranking officers who performed well in the Polish and French campaigns were not suitable for the war on the Eastern Front, and they commanded too many smooth campaigns but were not suitable for the cunning and cruel and intertwined warfare on the Eastern Front. The young officers who have been promoted in the line of fire are not necessarily qualified for the next level of office -- the so-called promotion often puts people in the most unsuitable position, and the Air Force is much better than the Army in one point -- and the meritorious pilot like Marseilleu, even though he shot down many planes, gave a lot of honor, and rose in rank, never surpassed the rank of squadron leader.

For his part, Steiner considered himself competent to command a strong division rather than a commander of an army group coordinating several divisions. General Guderian commanded the troops in Africa to gallop across Africa, with 3 armored divisions, 1 infantry division, 1 armored brigade and 1 Italian paratrooper brigade under his command. Field Marshal Rommel had always commanded no more than 50,000 men and horses, and this time the number finally reached 60,000, and everyone used to laugh at him, thinking that his marshal rank was water, and only when he personally went to North Africa and the desert did Steiner realize that it was not easy to command the battle - here and the eastern front or the western front were completely different things, there was neither a continuous front nor a clear road, only a blank desert.

"Sir, the Italian paratrooper brigade sent a telegram that they had successfully landed and were currently in a fierce exchange of fire with the enemy, the enemy was caught off guard, and the resistance was very weak, but the area of the oil field facilities was too large, and the manpower was insufficient, and the British were already destroying it by the explosion, and they hoped that we would support it as soon as possible."

"Please try to persevere, and our department will arrive within 48 hours."

"Field Marshal Rommel sent an urgent telegram that in view of the weak strength of the enemy forces in the direction of Mosul and Baghdad, General Student has been ordered to command the paratrooper brigade to be airborne in Baghdad, and asked our division to divide its strong forces to cooperate with the attack, and he has ordered the Greater German Division to directly turn south to attack Basra."

If the commander of the Eastern Front heard such a temporary order to change the combat objective, he would definitely be furious, but Steiner's vision was not so limited, he thought that this change was right, and the only requirement now was to be fast! (To be continued.) )