Although it was impossible to remember for a moment that the German concave line was based on the pattern of a historical battle because of a sudden thinking disorder, Yeremenko and his staff officers could see that the concave line was extremely unfavorable to the attacking Soviet army.

In a word, Krivoshin and his 25th Mechanized Corps were in extreme danger by the Soviet troops who rushed into the enemy's concave line to be precise, and were hit hard by flank fire from the left and right flanks, or by counterattacks from both flanks.

Seeing the situation facing Krivoshin, Yeremenko shouted without hesitation: "No matter what the name of this formation of the Germans is, in short, the troops of the 25th Mechanized Corps must be withdrawn immediately." ”

Yeremenko had just finished speaking, when he suddenly heard a voice with a hint of hesitation and a little shyness.

"Comrade Commander, the pattern of the Germans' line of defense seems to be copying Hannibal's Battle of Cannae."

Yeremenko looked in the direction from which the voice came and saw a young staff officer with emaciated stature and pale skin and freckles on it looking at him.

Yeremenko was not impressed by this young staff officer in his early twenties, but remembered that he was a new generation of staff officers who had just graduated from a military academy, and he could not even remember his name.

Seeing Yeremenko looking at him, the young staff officer plucked up his courage and reiterated his opinion once again.

"Comrade commander, this is the formation of the Battle of Cannae, which the teacher once focused on explaining in the tactics class."

Yeremenko raised his hand and slammed it on the table, making a loud bang, and shouted: "I just know that this formation is very dangerous. Looks familiar. But I can't always remember. Or you young people have good brains, come on, pick me up from the military headquarters of the 25th Mechanized Army, I want to talk to General Krivoshin. ”

The atmosphere in the headquarters of the 25th Mechanized Corps was diametrically opposed to the restless and tense atmosphere in the Yeremenko headquarters, and the faces of all the officers below Krivoshin were beaming with joy, as if victory was imminent.

Krivoshin's face was full of smugness that could not be concealed.

"Have the reserves left? When will you be able to reach the front line to fight? ”

"It's been fifteen minutes since departure, and their position is not far from the front line. In a maximum of ten minutes, you should be on the front line to take part in the battle. A staff officer replied.

Krivoshin smiled and nodded, satisfied with the efficiency of his subordinates.

Looking at the dented and deformed lines of the German army on the map, Krivoshin's mind instantly flew across the territories of Belarus, Poland, Germany, and France, to faraway Spain, and back to the war-torn Spanish Civil War.

Although Krivoshin is only a major general, he has a senior background.

This is not the first time he has fought with the Germans, and the two sides can be said to have grudges.

The feud between Krivoshin and the German Army took place in 1936, in Spain, which was in the midst of a civil war.

On July 18, 1936, dissatisfied with the implementation plan of the Spanish Bolshevik government, the Spanish colonial troops stationed in Morocco and the Canary Islands were stationed in Franco, Emilio. Mora and other generals instigated a rebellion. The rebellion quickly spread to large and medium-sized cities such as Cádiz, Seville, Zaragoza, and Burgos.

After the outbreak of war. The Spanish government, headed by Franco, was supported by the German and Italian governments, while the Soviet Union did not hesitate to side with the Republican Army. As a volunteer, Crivoshin landed in Spain with 40 T-26 tanks and fought against the Francotic army and the German and Italian armies, and the tragedy of Krivoyshin's life began.

The enemy Krivoshin encountered was Wilhelm of the German Army. Feng. Major Thoma, William. Feng. Major Thoma, although not famous, was one of the pioneers of the German armored corps, and the father of the blitzkrieg, Guderian, was called a figure as a "senior".

Major Thoma was not only a pioneer of German armour, but also made a major feat in the Spanish Civil War.

Major Thoma was using tank No. 1 with only a 7.92 mm machine gun and No. 2 with a 20 mm gun, and he had almost no ability to fight tank battles, so he turned his mind to 88 mm anti-aircraft guns.

Krivoshin and his T-26 tank unfortunately crashed into the muzzle of Major Toma's 88mm anti-aircraft gun, becoming the first victims of the 88 gun's cameo anti-tank gun side business.

Coupled with logistical maintenance difficulties, the battle lasted until the end of 1936, Krivoshin left Spain alone and returned home, leaving all 40 T-26 tanks in Spain forever, and he was replaced by another "tragic general", the former commander of the Western Front, General Pavlov.

Three years later, in September 1939, when Germany declared war on Poland and the Polish army was retreating, the Soviet Union did not hesitate to strike a heavy blow in Poland's back and join forces with Germany to carve up Poland.

At the forefront was a tank brigade led by Krivoshin, and opposite him was Guderian, the German blitzkrieg, who left a series of valuable group photos and a celebration ceremony after the victory of the two divisions.

Thinking of the past with the German Army, especially the armored corps, Krivoshin could not suppress a sense of pride in his heart, after many years, he was no longer the rookie commander of the year, and he would use the victory by the Dnieper River to wash away the shame of defeat in Spain.

In addition to his self-confidence, Krivoshin suddenly remembered an important matter, the tank must be coordinated by a large number of infantry to launch an attack in order to fully exert its power, especially when it is about to participate in street fighting.

Turning his head to look at the communications staff, Krivoshin asked, "Did General Yeremenko give a reply?" When will our reinforcements arrive? ”

"The telegram has been sent out, and no reply has been received," said the communications staff officer.

"Comrade commander, comrade commander wants to talk to you." Another staff officer said with a phone.

Krivoshin walked over to the staff officer and took the phone.

"Comrade commander, our troops have broken through the German lines to the city of Dubrovno, and with a little more effort they can drive the Germans into the Dnieper, it's just that we need it"

Yeremenko's angry voice interrupted Krivoshin.

"Say no more, stop the attack and retreat immediately."

Krivoshin thought that he was suffering from auditory hallucinations in his premature age, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade commander, what did you say?" Say it again. ”

Yeremenko's shouts rushed out of the phone, almost bursting Krivoshin's eardrums.

"Stop the attack and retreat immediately, do you hear me clearly?"

Yeremenko's voice was so loud that not only Krivoshin, but even the staff officers around him could hear it clearly, and they saluted Krivoshin in shock.

"Comrade Commander, don't you know the situation on the battlefield? At the moment before the victory, you actually wanted me to retreat? ”

Krivoshin was furious, and unconsciously raised his voice, but was immediately "suppressed by firepower" by Yeremenko's even louder voice.

"Stop talking nonsense and retreat immediately, this is Canny."

"Canny? Canny!"

Krivoshin repeated "Canny" twice in a different tone, and after glancing at the map, his anger at Yeremenko was swept away by the word "Canny".

Looking at the formation of the German defense line sunken in on the map, Krivoshin was instantly infected by Yeremenko's angry and corrupt emotions.

"It's really Cannae, those damned Germans, I'll withdraw immediately."

Hanging up the phone, Krivoshin immediately rang out the historic Battle of Cannae.

The Battle of Cannae, which took place in 216 BCE, was the main battle of the Second Punic War. Previously, the commander of the Carthaginian army, Hannibal, invaded Italy and repeatedly defeated the Roman army. In order to cut off Rome's food supply and further demoralize it, Hannibal marched to Cannae, the Roman granary in southern Italy.

On August 2, the Carthaginian army met the Roman army, and the great battle broke out. Hannibal managed to defeat the army led by the Roman consuls Paulus and Pharo.

During the battle, Rome sent about 87,000 Roman allies into battle, with the Romans placing their right flank near the Ophidus River, cavalry on both flanks, and heavy infantry in the center.

To counter the Roman formation, Hannibal used a strategy of double outflanking, placing the most unreliable 25,000 Gallic recruits in the center, mixed with 8,000 battle-hardened Spanish hoplites.

And the middle army is not a straight line, but a bow formation protruding from the center to lure the enemy to attack it. The elite cavalry was placed on both flanks for outflanking.

At the beginning of the battle, Carthage's Chinese army was defeated by the superior strength of the Roman army and retreated. However, the Romans soon fell into a large concave center, while Carthage's central infantry and cavalry on both flanks advanced from the middle, thus encircling the Romans. The Roman army had nowhere to retreat and was divided by the Carthaginian army and broken one by one.

In the end, some 60,000 to 70,000 Roman soldiers were killed or captured, and one of the two commanders, the consul Paulus, was killed along with eighty members of the Senate.

Although the Battle of Cannae did not result in Carthage's complete defeat of Rome, Hannibal's mastery of tactics has led to its reputation as one of the greatest battles in military history.

Crivoshin shuddered at the later description of Cannae's battle as "about six hundred soldiers were killed every minute."

Even at the Battle of Cannae, he should have played the role of Hannibal, not the tragic Romans.

"Retreat, order the troops to retreat immediately." Krivoshin was forced by the dire situation and had to give the order to retreat.

Almost at the same time, on the west bank of the Dnieper, at the headquarters of Hitler's Guard Banner Division, Chen Dao and Dietrich received orders from the headquarters of the 14th Panzer Corps.

"The enemy has entered our trap and the counterattack can begin, good luck to the Russians." (To be continued.) )