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Completing the journey from the staging area to the front, the troops of the 40th Tank Division took less than an hour.

More than 300 tanks poured into the battlefield, kicking up dust everywhere they passed.

Whether it is the main tank T-34, or the light reconnaissance tanks BT-5 and T40, the body carries an unequal number of infantry.

Seeing the arrival of the new force, the morale of the Soviet troops, who had been suppressed on the front line, was greatly boosted, and they were eager to try and prepare to launch a new round of offensive.

Seeing the swarming tanks all over the hills, the Italian infantry and gunners had an irrepressible fear of death.

The Soviet gunners' bayonet-like tactics had already sent them chills, and now they saw countless tanks rushing towards them, and the Italian soldiers' hearts were involuntarily shaken by the desire to hold their positions.

The battle between the Italian artillery and the Soviet gunners was deadlocked, and the arrival of the tank cluster of the 40th Tank Division broke the deadlock in an instant.

The Soviet infantry got up and followed the rampaging tank group into the groves, and the battlefield was full of charging green figures and tanks, and the sound of Ulla resounded throughout the battlefield, overpowering the sound of tank engines, and also overpowering the cannon and fighting spirit of Italian soldiers.

Mortar, cannon and tank shells fell one after another into the woods where the Italians were hiding, the trunks of the trees were severed by shrapnel, and green leaves and branches scattered everywhere.

Light and heavy machine guns and 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun bullets also hailed into the woods, and the Italian troops in the woods could not lift their heads.

The Soviet infantry took the opportunity to rush into the woods, the submachine gunners picked up the sand, and any moving humanoid object was baptized by a rain of bullets.

The riflemen charged at the Italian infantry with Mosin Nagant rifles and stinging their spears. It doesn't matter if the other person raises their hands or not. It is not a wounded person who fell to the ground. They all stabbed each other with a spear and stabbed five or six blood holes in their bodies before they were satisfied.

Seeing that surrender could not avoid the fate of death, some Italian soldiers operated rifles, sapper shovels and crowbars of ammunition boxes, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Soviet infantry.

Every forest was turned into a killing field, and every tree was sprinkled with the blood of soldiers on both sides.

However, the Italian soldiers who had the courage to engage in hand-to-hand combat were in the minority, and many more Italian soldiers turned around and fled frantically in the direction of Debrexen.

Soviet soldiers were divided into squads or platoons. In cooperation with the tanks, they cleared the woods where the soldiers were hiding, and then besieged the towns on the outskirts of Debrecen such as Dushamchon with battalions and regiments.

After more than three hours of fighting, leaving behind countless woods and villages that had been reduced to corpse dumps, the Soviets made a bloody one-kilometre advance to the outskirts of Debrecen.

Countless Italian soldiers ran wildly in the field, looking back from time to time to check the distance between the pursuers behind them and themselves.

Seeing the embarrassment of these routs, the Italian soldiers on the edge of the city, on the third line of defense, knew that the enemy would appear soon, and loaded their rifles one after another. The sound of pulling the bolt of the gun suddenly sounded from the position.

The gunners slowly turned their muzzles, pointing in the direction where there was a flash of Soviet tanks.

The sound of 90-mm anti-aircraft guns was the first to sound. The four or five T-34 tanks that rushed to the front stopped moving one after another, black smoke came out of the body, and one even had an ammunition explosion and was knocked off the turret by the shock wave.

The rest of the tanks, ignoring the Italian artillery fire, with the enthusiasm aroused in the battle just now, galloped towards the opposite Italian position, but unfortunately plunged headlong into the minefield.

Four or five T-34 tanks burst black smoke from under the tracks, the tracks were torn apart, and the bodies of the tanks were also parked diagonally in the minefield, and the armor-piercing shells of the Italian army flew one after another, turning these tanks into steel graves.

The other tanks slowed down, and the tankers' heads regained their composure.

While reversing, they called for sappers and infantry.

The first to arrive was still artillery, and countless shells fell in front of the tank cluster, covering minefields and Italian trenches.

The smoke of gunfire covered the battlefield, and the Italian soldiers were overwhelmed by the heavy artillery fire.

Soviet sappers arrived belatedly, but did not hesitate to rush into the minefield to open a passage for tank units.

Behind them, tank units provided fire support to the sappers with machine guns and artillery.

The sun sets over the horizon, bringing the day to an end, but the battle doesn't end with the arrival of night.

Soviet mortars kept hitting the sky with flares, and Air Force bombers also dropped flares, and countless flares floated in the air, like countless height bulbs, reflecting the sky as if it were day.

With fearless courage and fiery blood, Soviet sappers swept seven passages through the minefield, along which infantry and tanks ran over the Italian positions.

Unable to withstand the combined onslaught of the Soviet sea of tanks, infantry and artillery, at one o'clock in the morning, the Italian troops on the outskirts of Debrecen abandoned their outlying positions, used night as a cover, and fled into the city of Debrecen.

Another hour passed, and the Soviet infantry successively occupied all the positions of the Italian army outside the city, and the battle came to an end.

At night, the buildings in Debrecen look like a myriad of monsters waiting to be devoured.

The Soviets did not continue the offensive, but focused on clearing the Italian army outside the city and consolidating the fruits of victory.

At the headquarters of the Italian Eighth Army, in Boslo, ten kilometers southwest of Debrecen, Admiral Messer took off his sailing hat and a thin bead of sweat appeared on his smooth forehead, glistening in the light.

In the space of a day, all three lines of defence outside Debrecen were breached, something he had never thought about.

Although it had long been known that the Soviets were armed with powerful weapons such as the KV and T-34, Admiral Messer did not regard them as an equal enemy, let alone an enemy comparable to the British army.

In the First World War, Italy and Russia belonged to the same camp and did not fight, but Admiral Messer had also heard of the rough and unsatisfactory performance of the Russian ** team on the Eastern Front.

Twenty years have passed, World War II broke out, and the bad performance of the Soviet army in the Soviet-Finnish war became a laughing stock for the Axis powers and even the world. It also deepened his low combat effectiveness against the Soviet army. Impressions of vulnerability.

Possession of powerful anti-tank firepower. It also has a dense forest terrain that can resist the attack of tank clusters, and veterans who have participated in North and East African campaigns, but in one day, they lost all their positions on the outskirts of the city.

When did the Soviets become so strong that they turned out to be more powerful than the British?

Major General Barak stood beside him, secretly surprised and full of fear in his heart.

They grossly underestimated the combat effectiveness of the Soviet troops, and also overestimated the combat effectiveness of the Italian army.

If it had not been for the prior warning of His Excellency the Governor of Poland. The fourth line of defense was built in advance, and with the current situation, he and Admiral Messer could pack up and take his subordinates on the road of escape.

Major General Barak took a telegram out of his coat pocket and said to Admiral Messer: "We still have midnight or the Soviets will not attack immediately after dawn, and we will be given three or four hours to continue to strengthen the fourth line of defense, especially on both flanks of the city of Debrecen." ”

Admiral Messer took the note from Major General Barak's hand, and his voice was extremely dull.

"Prepare for street fights and defend both flanks. The governor had long expected that we would not be able to stop the Soviets. Tell us in advance the plan to deal with it, but now the defense line on both sides of the city was hastily constructed only two days ago. Neither the strength nor the completeness of the first three lines of defense are at all, and even if every soldier fights to the last moment, I am afraid that he will not be able to hold on for long. ”

"We still have plenty of reserves, send them all up, and hold out for another day no matter what." Barak said.

"They lack heavy weapons, especially anti-tank weapons, and even if they are sent, they won't last long."

"We have no other way, once the Soviets break through the line, all three infantry divisions and three mountain divisions will be surrounded by the Soviets, and in this kind of plain area, their two legs will not outrun the Soviets' tanks." Major General Barak said.

Admiral Messer suddenly felt even more pressure on his heart.

In this kind of plain terrain, the infantry has no position to rely on, and once they encounter Soviet tanks, they will definitely be slaughtered one-sidedly.

Admiral Messer frowned, and was pondering how to deal with the current situation, when the guards on duty at the entrance of the headquarters suddenly shouted: "Salute." ”

Admiral Messer looked at the door, and saw a man walk in at the door.

The man was dressed in the uniform of a German major general, and his young face made him feel jealous.

Not despising the man because he was of a lower rank than himself, Admiral Messer raised his hand and saluted the man and said, "Hello, Your Excellency the Governor. ”

After Chen Dao returned the salute, he did not have any greetings, and said directly: "The reconnaissance plane of the Air Force told me that the Soviets have hit the outskirts of Debrexen, and to what extent the battle is progressing now." ”

Admiral Messer glanced at Major General Barak in embarrassment, and Major General Barak pointed to the map and told Chen Dao about the current battle situation.

Chen Dao was also afraid for a while, but fortunately, his battlefield instinct reminded him that the Italians were unreliable, and he arrived with reinforcements in advance, otherwise the war situation in Hungary would definitely collapse on all fronts.

"Your left flank, the positions of the Hungarian Second Army have also been broken by the Soviets, and if Debrecen falls into the hands of the Russians again, our battle will collapse completely, and the Soviets will rush directly outside Budapest. On the territory of Romania, the left flank of the 11th Army on your right flank will also be exposed to the Soviets. So for the sake of the big picture, we have to understand that outside Debrecen is our last line of defense and we are not allowed to take a step back. Chen Dao said.

"But the Soviets were far more powerful than we could have imagined, and they"

"It doesn't matter, I'm here with reinforcements, we have to not only hold the front, but also turn Debrecen into a slaughterhouse, the Soviets are our prey. How many reserves do you have left to use? ”

"I still have two armored divisions and three motorized divisions at my disposal."

"So much?" Chen Dao asked in surprise.

"But they lacked heavy weapons, especially tanks that could threaten the Soviets." Admiral Messer said.

"It's okay, I have."

The next day, as soon as the eastern sky was white, the Soviet and German and Italian air force fighters began the battle.

The reconnaissance planes of both sides were the first to step into the battlefield to reconnoiter the distribution of the ground forces of the other side, and were immediately expelled by the antiaircraft artillery units and fighters of the other side.

In order to protect their respective reconnaissance aircraft, the fighters of the two countries rushed to each other and strangled each other.

The battle in the sky was in full swing, but the battle line on the ground was calm.

After some secret maneuvers and adjustment of the formation of the troops, at 10 o'clock in the morning, with the preparation of artillery fire shaking and the sound of Ulla, the Soviet army launched a full-scale attack again.

To the north of the city, the 43rd Tank Division, leading two infantry divisions, launched an attack on the positions of the 2nd Italian Army.

To the south of the city, the 40th Tank Division, similarly directing two infantry divisions, launched an attack on the positions of the Italian Mountain Army.

Unlike the two flanks, which were met with stubborn resistance, in the middle of the line, the Soviet 97th Infantry Division, which was attacking the city of Debrecen, attacked extremely smoothly, rushed into the city without hindrance, and then advanced along the streets and alleys into the depths of the city.

Although it is a city, there are not many high-rise buildings in Debrecen, and the checkerboard-shaped streets are lined with two- and three-storey houses with trees, grass, and bushes between them.

Soviet soldiers with guns in their hands, followed the tanks that opened the road, and looked around cautiously as they went, carefully surveying the buildings on both sides of the street.

When they looked at the building, there were countless pairs of murderous eyes staring at them inside.

With a bang, a KV-1 tank that was opening the way for infantry on a road called Wells Road was crushed by a mine and collapsed on the right side of the road.

Without land, the echoes of the mine explosions dissipated, and countless figures flashed in the buildings on both sides of the street, and the crossfire of machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles instantly covered the heads of the Soviet infantry.

Unprepared, the Soviet infantry was overwhelmed by the dense fire.

After dropping a dozen corpses, the infantry behind fled the road and ran to the corners of the houses to take refuge, but stepped onto the minefields that had already been set up.

Big feet stepped on the mines hidden under the ground in the corners, and then said goodbye to their owners amid the sound of explosions.

One by one, the Soviet infantry fell in the corner of the wall with their broken legs covered, rolling, wailing, and crying for help from their comrades.

When the Soviet infantry panicked, a figure flashed again in the house on the side of the road, and an Italian soldier leaned out of the attic, raised his hand and threw the flaming Molotov cocktail in his hand downstairs, right in the tail compartment of the KV-1 tank downstairs.

When the glass bottle shattered, the yellow phosphorus and other chemical fuels inside stained the tank body, and flames rose brightly, and heat waves and black smoke rushed into the tank cabin.

Fearing an explosion, the tankers crawled out of the hatch in a panic, only to fall under a dense rain of bullets.

The battle at Wells Road kicked off the street fighting in Debrecen. (To be continued......)