The town of Chinteshti, five kilometers southeast of the city of Buzeu.

Major General Culpezo, commander of the 15th Mechanized Corps, located his headquarters in the town, built at the southern end of the marshland.

At about five o'clock in the morning, Carpezzo was woken up by his adjutant, yawning at the telegram sent by Ryabesev,

The troops of the 18th Mechanized Corps on the right flank were suddenly attacked by the Germans, and the enemy, with at least two divisions, had broken through the defensive line of the town of Merley and was launching a march towards the city of Buzeu and the river bank northwest of the city, requesting the assistance of the 15th Mechanized Corps in attacking the enemy's right flank.

The assembly order was quickly sent down to the 10th Tank Division of the 15th Mechanized Corps, and the combat readiness order was transmitted to the 212th Motorized Division.

Unlike the 8th Mechanized Corps and the 4th Mechanized Corps, the 15th Mechanized Corps under the command of Carpezzo did not participate in the assault mission to break through the Romanian border and behind, but only followed the infantry units of the 18th Army and smoothly entered the Romanian hinterland along the road swept by the 8th Mechanized Army.

In addition to the numerous infantry divisions and countless ranks of refugees fighting for the road, the march of the 15th Mechanized Corps was basically a pleasant trip.

Carpezzo commanded the 10th and 37th Tank Divisions, as well as the 212th Motorized Rifle Division.

At this time, all of the 10th Tank Division and most of the 212th Motorized Rifle Division, as well as the vanguard of the 37th Tank Division, rushed to the front.

If the enemy only uses two divisions, with the strength of nearly 300 tanks of the 10th Tank Division, it is enough to launch a large-scale offensive, not to mention the troops of the 8th Mechanized Army to assist on the side.

"This is the first battle of the 15th Mechanized Army in the war, and it must be fought well, and it must be fought well." Karpezo said to his deputy, Colonel Moryev.

"The Germans inflicted heavy losses on the 8th Mechanized Corps in the battles yesterday and the day before yesterday, and they must have taken this opportunity to recapture the city of Buzeu, but they did not expect to create an opportunity for us, of course we cannot let it go, and I am looking forward to inserting a knife in the right waist of the Germans." Moryev said with a smile.

Two men with staff officers, around the map. While waiting for the battle report of the Eighth Mechanized Corps, he arranged the offensive route of the troops, and at the same time sent scouts to dutifully prepare for the attack.

Major General Karpezo was also a member of numerous skinheads in the Soviet Red Army. Stroking his shiny head, his emaciated face and eyes swept across the telegram and the map.

"The Germans have reached the banks of the Buzeu River, northwest of the city of Buzeu, the towns of Meret and Lipe have been lost, Petrosu is being attacked by the Germans, and the 8th Mechanized Corps wants us to attack."

"Petrosu Peak? That little dirt bag in the middle of the front? The Germans must have wanted to take it and then build an artillery observation post. Moryev said.

"In addition to the creation of artillery observation posts. What else can that small dirt bag at an altitude of more than 300 meters do? Carpezzo said with a smile.

"Since the Germans want to take it, let's turn it into a hell for the Germans."

"Tell me what you think." Carpezzo said.

"I propose that the troops of the 10th Tank Division attack in the middle of the north of Petrosu Peak and the city of Buzeu. At the same time, the troops of the 8th Mechanized Corps were asked to attack in coordination near the city of Buzeu.

Units of the 212th Motorized Rifle Division attacked south of Petrosu Peak, and the two units encircled the German forces in the Petrosu Peak area in a pincer offensive. After destroying the Germans there, a gap of seven to eight kilometers would appear on the enemy's right flank, into which we would rush and strike at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains in one fell swoop, annihilating the forces of their bulge. ”

Carpezzo laughed, pointed to Petrosu and said, "We agree that this place will be turned into a German graveyard." ”

About nine kilometres west of Petrosu Peak, southwest of the town of Urmeni. The long convoy of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion of the German Army drove on a solid road, and the vibration of forty-five E-40 tanks was like thousands of horses galloping on the field, and even the German troops in the town of Urmeni a kilometer away could feel the shaking of the ground.

Before the convoy of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion entered the town of Urmeny, it was driving on the No. 100 tank at the front of the battalion, and the first company commander, Captain Norder, saw three or four German soldiers pointing to their tanks at the west intersection of the town, and kept waving.

When Captain Norder's chariot stopped at the entrance of the town. The look of envy in the eyes of the four German officers and soldiers was undisguised.

The German officer at the head raised his hand to salute Norder, and then said: "I am Captain Ruud of the 23rd Panzer Division Genderie, and I am on the orders of the division commander, General Mark, to clear the traffic. Do not enter the town of Urmeni, but leave the road and assemble in this meadow southeast of the town. Waiting for General Mark's review, he will be here soon. ”

Norder glanced at the open grass on the right side of the road, said a few words to the headset, and then received an order from the battalion commander to take the lead in directing Tank 100 to turn around and drive off the road.

Looking at the E-40 tanks that had collectively turned around, Captain Ruud said to his companions: "I've never seen it this big." Such a beautiful tank. ”

Three companies of E-40 tanks lined up in two columns on the grass southeast of town, and three E-40s from the battalion headquarters were parked at the front of the square.

No sooner had they come to a stop than a straddle motorcycle burst out of town, with the blue and white BMW logo shining above the wheels in front of the riders.

The BMW motorcycle stopped in front of the platoon, and the major general sitting in the straddle jumped out of the car, raised his hand and saluted the commander of the 501st battalion.

"I'm Major General Mark, and on behalf of the 23rd Armored Division, I welcome you elites."

The commander of the 501st Battalion, Major Foreman, also introduced himself, and subsequently, at the strong request of Major General Mark, introduced the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion.

"Our organization is similar to that of the tank destroyer battalion in the armored division, with three platoons each, four E-40 tanks per platoon, plus two companies and a company of fourteen tanks, three companies plus three directly under the battalion headquarters, a total of forty-five E-40 tanks in the battalion, in addition to this, the battalion headquarters also has a reconnaissance platoon directly under the battalion headquarters with five Bobcat light tanks. Together with air defense, maintenance, medical communications, and other units, we have a total of 987 people. ”

"Very good, very good, with you joining, we can better complete the following tasks." Rear Admiral Mark said as he walked over to the E-40 tank at the head.

He pointed to the front upper armored driver's observation hole, where a tiger was drawn with its head and tail outstretched.

"This tiger is your camp emblem?" Major General Mark asked.

He got a yes answer.

After walking around the tank, Rear Admiral Mark touched this, touched that, climbed onto the roof of the E-40, got into the cabin to visit for a while, and after carefully asking about the performance parameters of the E-40, his face was full of surprise.

"Just seeing the handsome appearance of the E-40, I believe that the combat effectiveness of the whole division can increase by 50 percent, coupled with the strong performance of the E-40, the combat effectiveness can be increased by 50 percent, I really didn't expect that this 45-ton big guy is even faster than the fourth."

Forman's face flushed slightly when he was praised by Major General Mark, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he asked: "General, there are two things that we must deal with immediately, one is to find a site for the maintenance department as soon as possible to build a maintenance factory, the E-40 is the latest tank, it is heavy, and the failure rate is relatively high, and I feel lucky that no one is left behind when I drive here from Bucharest."

The second is that I don't know what my mission is yet? I need to know my task as soon as possible. ”

Major General Mark asked the adjutant who came with him to take out the map and point to it to explain to him the situation on the battlefield.

"Our ultimate mission is to capture the city of Buzeu, and your task now is to assist the 23rd Panzer Division to hit the river southeast of the city of Buzeu with a right hook, cut off the B2 road, and completely encircle the city of Buzeu."

Furman then asked, "Which way do we go?" I sent someone to reconnoitre. ”

"Here, the southern road of Petrosu Peak." Major General Mark said, pointing to the map.

Five minutes later, five Lynx tanks left the camp and headed south of Petrosu Peak (to be continued). )