Opposite the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division of the Soviet Army, the positions of the 7th and 14th Romanian Infantry Divisions, as well as Lieutenant General Balk behind the positions, faced very different dilemmas.

The dilemma of the two Romanian infantry divisions came from a formidable enemy, the Soviet Red Army.

Lieutenant General Balk's enemies came from his superiors and his allies.

Major General Hausenfeld, commander of the 24th Armored Division, looked at Balk and said in embarrassment: "The military headquarters has forwarded a new telegram, and the army group headquarters is urging us to attack as soon as possible to reinforce the positions of the Romanian army. ”

Balk's attitude remained cold, not at all intimidated by the orders of the army group command, let alone agitated.

"Didn't we already send a tank battalion? Isn't ninety-six tanks enough for the Romanians? ”

"One tank battalion is only enough to help the Romanian 7th Infantry Division, and the positions of the 14th Infantry Division are also in need of reinforcements." Major General Hausenfeld said.

"Both tank battalions have been sent out, what if there is another danger in other positions?" Balk asked.

"We also have tank destroyer battalions, as well as two motorized rifle regiments and reconnaissance battalions"

Balk interrupted Hauseenfeld with a wave of his hand, and a shocking rage erupted from his body.

"If so, why should we form armored divisions? Why should it be organized into armored armies and armored armies? Just assign all the tanks to those infantry divisions. Each infantry division was assigned a battalion, and we were all transferred to the commander of the infantry division and the commander of the infantry corps. ”

Ignoring Hauseenfeld's reddish face, Balk continued to educate him angrily: "We are the armored division, we are the protagonists who decide the outcome of the battle, and we can't be led by the nose by the infantry division." ”

"But how do we answer the orders of the army group command?" Hausenfeld asked.

"You ask the military headquarters to tell the army group command that we have sent a tank battalion to support the Romanians, and the Romanians' positions are safe. If the position is breached, I will bear all the consequences. Also, tell them not to interfere with my command. Balk said.

Hausenfeld shook his head helplessly.

Although he was helpless, he couldn't refute it. One is because Balk is his immediate boss, and the other is because of the German Army's mission-oriented command style. The superior only gives the subordinate a task, and does not make too harsh regulations on how the subordinate completes the task, so that the subordinate can give full play to his subjective initiative.

Balk's order was soon issued. Hausenfeld had just finished listening to the communications staff officer's report when the phone on the desk suddenly rang.

A staff officer picked up the phone, asked a few questions, and then said to Balk: "The caller is the liaison officer of our army stationed in the Fourth Army in Romania, and he said that the commander of the Fourth Army wants to talk to you. ”

Balk hesitated for a few seconds, then picked up the phone.

Hausenfeld heard Balk on the phone. After arguing with the person on the other side of the phone for a few seconds, he said something earth-shattering.

"You tell the commander to make sure he relies on the Air Force to help him stay until five o'clock. After five o'clock, their troops could make way and let the Soviets march to Bucharest, you heard him right, and told him directly, that our troops had built a defensive line in the second defensive zone, so that he would not have to worry about the safety of the capital. ”

Hanging up, Balk pointed to the map and said to Hausenfeld: "The position of the Romanian 14th Division is about to collapse. We're going to attack soon, and that's my plan, listen up."

The positions of the Romanian 14th Infantry Division did not hold until five o'clock.

At about 4:40 p.m., Hausenfeld received information from the Romanian Fourth Army that a Soviet tank unit had broken through the positions of the 14th Division and was marching along the E85 road towards Bucharest.

"Go and get ready to go, I'll wait for your good news."

In the city of Buzeu, the map table that Ryabishev had photographed was banging, and he shouted excitedly: "Great, we have won." Command of the XII Tank Division. March to Bucharest as soon as possible. Let the reserve 34th Tank Division attack again and expand the breakthrough, and the enemy must not be allowed to block this breakthrough. ”

As a central figure, Ryabishev's emotions infected everyone in the military department. The military headquarters of the Eighth Mechanized Army was filled with a festive atmosphere of victory.

Ryabesev's two black eyebrows, which were raised diagonally upward, trembled with excitement.

I worried all night and all morning, for fear that those hateful Germans would replace the incompetent Romanians and disrupt their plans.

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief now.

It is clear that not only did the Germans not have a new infantry division to arrive, but could only rely on the Romanian infantry to defend their positions, and they also had a limited number of tanks. Only one Romanian division could be helped to hold the position.

Comrade Lenin willing, time is still on the side of the great Soviet Red Army in the end!

Ryabishev's euphoria lasted less than an hour when a report was received from the XII Tank Division:

In the rear of the Romanian enemy, about twenty kilometers away, German positions were spotted on the line of the town of Mihey, which had cut off the road to Bucharest.

It was already close to six o'clock in the afternoon, and night was approaching, and it was imperative that the road to Bucharest should be opened as soon as possible.

With a head full of apprehension, Ryabishev ordered: "Order the troops of the XII Tank Division to launch a tentative offensive and break through the enemy line as soon as possible." ”

Thinking of the approaching night, and thinking that the tank's combat effectiveness would be sharply reduced due to the influence of light at night, Ryabishev suddenly called out to the communications staff officer and said in a sullen voice, his tone full of unwillingness.

"One more thing, the 34th Tank Division is behind them, if the German forces on the opposite side are too strong, let them rest for the night, and after the 34th Tank Division comes up, they will concentrate on attacking together."

More than half an hour later, the wreckage of eleven tanks was scattered across the wilderness on both sides of the road, north of the town of Mihuy.

Billowing black smoke rose in the wind and soared into the sky, and the blazing flames melted the green spray paint, and the green paint slipped down the tank and dripped onto the grass.

The front hatch of a T-34 tank was wide open, and the driver's rear body was in the cabin, and the front half was outside the cabin. Dye a patch of green grass red.

Two or three meters on the right side of the body, the commander's body was lying on the ground, with four or five bullet holes in his back.

The rear of this T-34, more than thirty meters from it. A KV-1 was reversing with difficulty, and for the KV-1, which had an off-road speed of only twelve kilometers, reversing on such soft grass was a tough job.

However, in order to escape, the KV-1 had to challenge its own extreme speed.

A 75-mm armor-piercing projectile flew. Easily penetrating the KV-1's seventy-five mm front armor, a few seconds later, the KV-1 stopped in place, black smoke burrowed out of the rear power compartment, swaying into the sky.

Killing the KV-1, which was the slowest to escape, behind the German position, a tank destroyer No. 4 slowly reversed and turned to change the ambush position.

In less than half an hour, the 12th Tank Division threw down the wreckage of 12 tanks and nearly 100 infantry corpses in front of the 26th Motorized Infantry Regiment and fled the battlefield in a hurry. There was no longer a breakthrough to the prestige of the Romanian positions.

The 26th Motorized Rifle Regiment was attached to the 24th Infantry Division and was ordered to lay a defensive line around the town of Mihoi and cut off the E-85 road to Bucharest.

In the face of the flood of Soviet tanks, the 26th Motorized Regiment, reinforced by the division's anti-aircraft artillery battalion and a tank destroyer company, repelled the feint attack of the 12th Tank Division without any danger and told the 12th Tank Division that the road was impossible.

The night covered the earth with a black veil, and the 12th Tank Division had to retreat beyond the range of German artillery for the night, while waiting for the arrival of the 34th Tank Division in the rear.

The night was spent in both sides grinding their fists.

In the early morning of May 28, the sky was just white. A cacophony of noise rang out north of the town of Mihui.

On the T-34 tank, the roar of V-2 diesel engines broke the silence of dawn.

While the car was warmed up, the tankers of the 12th and 34th Tank Divisions enjoyed a fairly hearty breakfast.

At breakfast, the tankers gathered together as a crew. Talk to each other about how they feel about yesterday's battle.

The officers were debating what tactics to use later in the battle.

A smoky breakfast ended quickly, and the KV-1 and T-34 tanks roared out of the camp, assembled in the field, and slowly rushed towards the position of the 26th Motorized Rifle Regiment in battle formation.

More than 300 tanks roamed the mountains, leaving countless track marks, and rushed towards the German positions like wolves. The intention was to tear the German positions to shreds in one fell swoop.

Just when the Soviet tank cluster was fantasizing about crushing the German positions, behind them, a catastrophe befell their comrades.

On Highway E85, the 12th and 34th Tank Divisions shared a common road, and the logistics troops, artillery units, motorized infantry regiments and other units were huddled together and marched in confusion towards the temporary camps in the south.

On the congested highway, the Soviet convoy did not notice that in the rolling fields on the west side of the highway, more than 180 No. 4G tanks lined up in battle formation, crushing the fields all the way to the road.

75-mm high-explosive shells, armor-piercing shells, and 7.92mm machine gun bullets rained down on the fragile convoy.

On the left flank of the 24th Panzer Regiment, the 21st Mechanized Infantry Regiment also attacked, and the infantrymen either rode in Type 251 armored vehicles or followed behind the vehicles on foot, and practiced target shooting against the Soviets on the road.

The Gas's trucks burst into flames, the STZ-3 "tractors" were reduced to fireballs, and the infantry were swept to the ground in a beaten, corpses scattered all over the cannons.

The surviving Soviets fled in disarray, heading south, north, and east of the highway in whatever direction they thought they could survive.

Major General Hausenfeld looked at the hellish road he had created with delight, knowing that the armored counterattack was half successful.

The 24th Panzer Division was an interior combat and was familiar with the geographical environment.

Last night, he personally led the 2nd Battalion of the 24th Panzer Regiment and the 21st Mechanized Infantry Regiment to take advantage of the darkness and terrain as a cover to bypass the offensive spearhead of the two armored divisions of the Soviet Army.

After joining up with the returned 1st Tank Battalion on the way, the strong forces of the two regiments cut straight into Highway E-85 from west to east, cutting off the enemy's approach.

Successfully sweeping away the vulnerable enemy on the road, Major General Hausenfeld immediately divided his troops into two lines, and the 21st Mechanized Infantry Regiment on the left flank was bounded by Highway E85, building fortifications on both sides of the road, facing north, to make a battle alert.

The 1st Panzer Regiment turned south and rushed from behind towards the 12th and 34th Tank Divisions,

Running over the makeshift Soviet camp, flattening all the vehicles in the camp, killing all humanoids, and following the tracked marks left by the Soviet tanks in the field, the 24th Panzer Regiment quickly rushed to the battlefield to catch up with the Soviet tanks that were fighting.

On the vast battlefield, the green-painted KV-1 and T-34 tanks rushed south all over the mountains, 88mm anti-aircraft guns, and the No. 4 tank destroyer mercilessly hunted the prey delivered to the door, and the Soviet tank cluster had to pay a terrible price for every step forward.

The 89th Artillery Regiment has also already joined the battle group, 36 105-mm howitzers, 12 150-mm howitzers, pouring shells on the battlefield to their heart's content.

Smoke, dirt, shrapnel, and shattered human bodies flew through the air, and cries, shouts, and cries for help were incessant, and in the eyes of onlookers, the whole world was reduced to only two colors: the gray-black that was splashing everywhere and the dazzling bright red that was mixed in between.

Behind the green tank cluster, the tank cluster painted with gray paint and spitting the iron cross symbol crossed the field, like a divine soldier falling from the sky, drawing a bloody end to this battle.

More than 180 KWK40 tank guns were pointed at the enemy with their backs to them, and after one, two, and three rounds of five-round shells, there was not a single Soviet tank on the battlefield that could be driven, and there were only hundreds of steel graves that exuded the smell of death. (To be continued.) )