Long military trains galloped on the tracks, and the sound of rattling vibrations was rhythmically transmitted into the carriages.

Chen Dao sat back in his chair with his arms folded on his chest, watching the scenery outside the window quickly retreat.

It's the end of April, and in early spring, the winter whites of the ground outside the window have receded in favor of fresh green.

Spring has arrived, the snow has melted, the muddy period is even more disgusting than winter, and you have to deal with the rotten Russian-style roads again.

Looking down at the leather boots on his feet that were so bright that they could almost be used as mirrors, Chen Dao couldn't help but mourn for them in advance.

After getting out of the car, it doesn't take more than five minutes for the light on the boots to die under the siege of the mud.

Slow, it's too slow!

Traveling from Berlin through half of Germany, as well as all of Poland and Ukraine, to the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine, was too painful for a seasick man.

For a distance of 2,000 kilometers, it takes 40 to 50 hours to reach the destination for a military train that is constantly fully loaded or even overloaded and can only travel at a speed of 40 to 50 kilometers per hour.

"For a person who often travels long distances, after airsickness, I realized how happy I was to take the high-speed rail back then."

Chen Dao's heartfelt exclamation immediately attracted the attention of Major Bach, who was sitting opposite.

"General, what is high-speed rail?" Major Bach asked.

The word high-speed rail, Chen Dao was pronounced in Chinese before, and when he heard Major Bach ask, Chen Dao had to patiently explain: "High-speed rail is the abbreviation of high-speed rail, and I plan to let engineers design a high-speed train that can travel at ultra-high speeds at a speed of at least 200 kilometers per hour after the war is over, to replace the old railway line and save our travel time." ”

"Oh·····" Major Bach, apparently uninterested in such a thing as high-speed rail, sighed and stopped asking, looking boredly at the seats around him.

On his right-hand side, Captain Nobel and Major Lorenz were playing chess, and the two of them didn't know how many games they had killed along the way, but they were still playing with relish.

Behind Major Lorenz, Captain Nietzsche, who was sitting back to back with him, was wiping his gun.

In the seat behind Captain Nobel, two beautiful secretaries and little adjutant Sharon were reading a book.

Everyone in the carriage seemed busy, but Major Bach still saw the same look on everyone's faces, that is, boredom!

Wait, it seems that there is one person except for Major Bach's gaze resting on the face of Chen Dao, who was sitting opposite.

On the contrary, there seems to be a strong drive hidden behind the boring expression, where does this drive come from?

"General, I think that in your current status, it would be more appropriate to stay in Berlin and stay with the Führer, why go to the front, and only hold the position of a military commander?" Major Bach asked the question that had been hidden in his mind for a long time.

Chen Dao took out a cigar and put it in his mouth, turned his head to look at the underage adjutant Sharon and the two beautiful secretaries who were reading a book, hesitated slightly, put the cigar back into the humidor, and said: "I also know that staying by the Führer's side is more presenceful, but people always have to pursue a little." I now have the rank of Air General, Admiral of the Navy, Admiral of the Panzer Corps and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS, and I am already seriously behind in the ranks of the Army and the SS, especially in the ranks of the SS.

That's why I became the commander of the SS 'Polish Governor' Separate Panzer Corps as an SS lieutenant general, and when the Crimean campaign was over, I thought I should be able to rise to the rank of SS general, one step closer to the highest rank of general in the SS system. ”

Sure enough, I wasn't mistaken.

The Excellency in front of him, however, had the ambition to become the winner of the Grand Slam of the four highest ranks: Luftwaffe Field Marshal, Navy Marshal, Field Marshal and SS General, so it is no wonder that he would surrender himself to become a commander at the front.

Looking at Chen Dao, who was two years younger than himself, Major Bach depressedly remembered his rank of major, and it would be good to be a major general in the Air Force if he worked until retirement in his life.

is also a soldier, how can the gap between people be so big!

When Major Bach was secretly sad in his heart, he was keenly aware that everyone in the carriage invariably glanced at Chen Dao.

With this meaningful glance from everyone, Major Bach was surprised to notice that there was suddenly a surging undercurrent in the originally boring atmosphere of the carriage.

With the instinct cultivated by Chen Daonan and the Northern War for many years, Major Bach quickly analyzed the essence of this undercurrent.

Murderous!

As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the long journey will come to an end.

At nearly 9 o'clock in the morning of May 1, 1943, the military column stopped in Kherson, an important town on the banks of the Dnieper River in the northern part of the Crimean Peninsula.

As Chen Dao expected, after being ravaged by the rotten Russian-style roads, Chen Dao pushed open the rear door of the mud-stained SD KFZ 251 half-track······ That's right, the rear door of the half-track.

Chen Dao couldn't stand the pain of the Mercedes-Benz sedan breaking down and skidding in the muddy ground almost half a wheel deep, so he changed to a half-track car in a fit of rage, and then calmed down.

However, when Chen Dao just landed on one foot, he felt a slippery and lingering feeling.

Lowering his head and watching his leather boots sink into the mud almost ankle-deep, Chen Dao spewed a foul breath from his nose.

Not to mention five minutes, under this terrible ground, the gorgeous appearance of the boots did not hold up for even five seconds.

Stepping on the muddy ground, Chen Daoshen walked into a school building in Salabas Village.

His superior, the commander of the 12th Army of the German Army Group South Ukraine, Infantry General Gedehardt Heinrich, located the headquarters here.

The headquarters' operations command room was set up in a classroom, most of the desks and chairs in the classroom had been removed, and a large map table was placed in the center, around which a group of general-ranking officers were discussing something.

After the salute, Chen Dao squeezed into the crowd and finally found the infantry general Heinrich, who was by no means tall.

Of all of them, General Heinrich's height only beat Mandolfir, who was the height of a schoolboy, and reached the level of a junior high school student.

"General Rosen, you've finally arrived, we've been waiting for you for a long time. It just rained last night, and you should have felt the deep malice of this rain, right? ”

"Fortunately, it's not the first time I've been shrouded in this malice." Chen Dao said with a smile.

Admiral Heinrich nodded with a smile and said to the chief of staff beside him: "Colonel Busse, you explain the current situation to General Rosen. ”

Colonel Bussey took the whip and pointed to the map on the table and said: "From the end of last year to the present battle, the Russian defense line has been divided into two parts by us, and the southern part is the Primorsky Independent Army with the Sevastopol fortress as the main position. To the east of the fortress, in the area of the Kerch Peninsula, the Crimean Front of the Russians was entrenched there.

According to our reconnaissance, this front had three armies, the 44th, 47th and 51st, and these three armies had at least fifteen divisions. Our next battle plan is to deal with this front first, and then turn back and capture the Sevastopol fortress. ”

Chen Dao's gaze circled between the Sevastopol fortress and the Kerch Peninsula, and finally fell on the Kerch Peninsula.

"How many troops do we have to destroy this front?"

"The forces we use against them are two infantry corps with five infantry divisions, and the 12th Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier Division 'Hitler Youth'. We need to divide our forces to monitor the enemy in Sevastopol, six divisions are a little smaller, but now with the independent armored corps under your command, we have a lot more troops. ”

Admiral Heinrich looked at Mandolfel, who had flown from Berlin to the front line with the military headquarters in advance, and asked Chen Dao: "General Mandolfer said that the Independent Panzer Corps under your command has a Governor's Guard in addition to the Reichsmarshal Panzer Division and the Great German Panzergrenadier Division?" What size is this force? ”

"My guard is not large, with a heavily armored brigade."

Heinrich's eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "A heavily armored brigade that has been replaced with Tiger tanks and Wolf infantry fighting vehicles? ”

"Yes, the troops have been redressed." Chen Dao said.

"That's great, we need such heavy troops to split the Russians' lines." Colonel Buse said.

"That's true, with this unit, our mission is much less difficult." Admiral Heinrich said.

"General Heinrich, I'm not done yet." Chen Dao couldn't help but interrupt.

"Sorry, please continue."

Chen Dao said: "My guard has a heavy armored brigade, as well as the 13th Air Force Field Division from the Air Force, which was personally sponsored by Marshal Goering to protect my safety. ”

"Air Force Field Division? Is it an anti-aircraft artillery unit? Colonel Bussey asked.

"Yes," Chen Dao frowned, with a slight hint of dissatisfaction in his tone, "In addition to these two troops, there is also an Honorary Jewish Infantry Corps in my guard, which has three infantry divisions under its command. ”

Admiral Heinrich and Colonel Bussey did not interject, blinking blankly, and a common thought came to their minds.

Is this really the formation of an independent army?

However, they still underestimated Chen Dao's background, so they listened to Chen Dao continue: "I still have a unit in my guard, the Eighth Cavalry Division of the Waffen-SS, but this unit is currently carrying out the task of destroying the guerrillas in Ukraine, and if you need it, I can transfer this unit." ”

Admiral Heinrich was silent at Chen Dao's words, and Colonel Bussey asked tentatively: "All the troops of the Independence Army are here?" Anything else? ”

Chen Dao scratched his head, thought for a few seconds, and then said: "There is another army, under my inspiration, a Russian lieutenant general named Vlasov decided to join our great cause of National Socialism, he gathered a group of volunteers from the captured Russian army to form a Russian Liberation Army, about the strength of a group army. The Second Army, which is subordinate to this army group, is currently in Ukraine, and I can also transfer them if you need them. ”

The muscles in Admiral Heinrich's right cheek twitched uncontrollably a few times.

Is this really the strength of an independent army? Stronger than any of my armies, but thankfully he's one of my men. Well, the more such subordinates there should be, the better.

"Enough, enough, it doesn't need that much······ Wait a minute. Admiral Heinrich's voice was raised a few points.

The fingers of his right hand rubbed a few times on his stubble-covered chin, and Admiral Heinrich said decisively: "General Rosen, transfer all your troops, all of them, not one of them." Colonel Busse, revise our battle plan at once. ”

"How to modify? Checkmate. Colonel Bussey asked.

"Our original plan was to attack the Kerch Peninsula first, and then the Sevastopol fortress. Now that we have enough troops with the addition of General Rosen, I have decided to launch an attack on the Kerch Peninsula and the fortress of Sevastopol at the same time, and conquer all of Crimea in the shortest possible time. ”

"Wouldn't that be too risky?" Colonel Bussey asked.

"Yes, it is a bit risky, but if the enemy in the Crimean Peninsula can be dealt with as soon as possible, our troops will be free to participate in a larger battle. In my opinion, appropriate risk-taking is necessary.

It's just that strategically we have to despise the enemy, but tactically we still have to pay attention to the enemy. So, in order to cooperate with General Heinrich's plan, I decided to ······" Speaking of this, Chen Dao stopped his voice, looked around at the people at the map table, and after satisfying everyone's appetite, he continued: "I decided to bring another army over, so that it would be safer." ”

"What size of the troops? A division, or an army? Colonel Bussey asked.

"It's hard to say, I estimate that it is equivalent to the firepower of an artillery corps."

Firepower of an artillery corps?

Who the hell is this guy? Magician? Admiral Heinrich guessed with good faith.

Chen Dao looked at Heinrich with a smile: "Mr. Commander, don't look at me with such a surprised gaze, in my philosophy, fighting is a group fight." In the case of a group fight, of course, the more people the better, and you have to learn to grasp the true meaning of winning in war. Well, that's it. ”