On the night of 30 June, in the headquarters of the 18th Army, Major General Kamkov walked around the headquarters like a mad lion with his hands behind his back, stopping every few minutes to ask questions.

"Where did the troops of the 15th Tank Brigade and the 140th Tank Brigade go?"

It was not until nearly twelve o'clock in the evening that Major General Kamkov received a satisfactory answer that the two tank brigades transferred from the Front Command had already joined up with the 216th Infantry Division of the General Reserve of the Army Group.

Instead of letting the troops wait passively, Major General Kamkov made a quick decision to let the troops deploy overnight and launch an attack at dawn.

There are already a large number of enemy troops breaking into the rear of the battle line, and for a night's time, I don't know where they will run? One thing is certain, however, that the transportation hub of Weasley Town is a logistical transit point for those enemies, and if Weasley Town is recaptured, the enemy's logistics line will be cut off.

The troops must hurry up and take down the enemy in Weasley before they can gain a foothold.

For more than an hour, Major General Kamkov made frequent phone calls to communicate with the air force in the rear, so that the air force could provide air support in time after dawn.

Without the support of the Air Force, the two tank brigades faced off against the mysterious and powerful tanks of the Germans, and the prospects were very bleak.

After confirming the tasks of the 216th Infantry Division and two tank brigades, reaching a consensus with the air forces in the rear, and preparing all the tasks before the counteroffensive, Major General Kamkov looked at his watch, it was almost two o'clock in the morning.

Sitting down at the map table with his arms crossed, Major General Kamkov picked up the hot coffee brought by his adjutant.

After about an hour and a half, visibility will be enough for the tank units to attack, and the outcome of the battle will depend on the tank battle after an hour and a half.

If the 15th and 140th tank brigades were unable to contain those tanks of the Germans, the defense line of the 18th Army would collapse greatly.

Sipping hot coffee, Major General Kamkov was worried about the impending counterattack, but he did not know that it was already the day of the general offensive of the German army on the opposite side on July 1.

In the long darkness of the night, on the left flank of the 18th Army, opposite the defense line of the 353rd Infantry Division, an even greater crisis was quietly brewing.

Units of the 353rd Infantry Division, with a village called Popov as a support point, were deployed along the Kagalnik River.

It's just that this is the source of the Kagalnik River, and only half of the positions of the 353rd Infantry Division can use the river as an obstacle, and half of the positions on the right flank are built on a flat wilderness, which is not dangerous to defend.

The commander of the 3rd "Skeleton" Panzer Division of the 3rd SS Panzer Corps, Major General Erwin von Sturmolmann (played by the reader "The Fallen Tooth of God") placed the offensive zone of his troops here, targeting the vulnerable right flank of the 353rd Infantry Division.

On the night of 30 June, the troops of the 3rd "Skeleton" Panzer Division of the SS left their respective hiding places one after another, took advantage of the cover of night, and marched to the front line overnight, entering the rear of the positions of the 14th Romanian Infantry Division in batches, quietly waiting for the dawn to come.

Waiting patiently, the east is white.

When the hands of the watch pointed to 3:20, the silence of dawn was shattered by the dazzling flames and the piercing sound of shelling.

The 150-mm rocket was the first to take to the sky, with a fiery red tail flame in an arc, and flew down to the position of the 353rd Infantry Division of the Soviet Army.

105-mm high-explosive shells and 150-mm high-explosive shells flew out after each other, instantly creating countless gray-black mushroom clouds on Soviet positions.

ME-110 GROUND ATTACK AIRCRAFT AND JU-87 "STUKA" DIVE BOMBERS CAME ONE AFTER ANOTHER, SMASHING HEAVY AERIAL BOMBS ONTO SOVIET POSITIONS, AND FLAMES AND SHOCK WAVES CENTERED ON THE BOMB LANDING SITE, SWEEPING EVERYTHING AROUND.

The ground shook and the originally orderly Soviet positions were unrecognizable, the air was filled with the pungent smell of gunsmoke, fragments of broken military uniforms were scattered around the craters, and mottled blood stained patches of land red.

The powerful fire coverage lasted for nearly half an hour, and with the screeching sound of metal grinding, a group of strangely shaped tanks drove out of the positions of the Romanian 14th Infantry Division.

At the front was a minesweeper tank of the fourth modification with a drum minesweeper.

The drum rotated, causing the metal chain on it to shake and hit the ground, kicking up large clouds of dust and dirt.

Under the slapping of the metal chain, the mines hidden under the ground were detonated one after another, opening up roads to the Soviet positions.

The E-40 "Panther" tanks of the armored regiment of the Skeleton Division followed behind the minesweeper tanks, using 88mm tank guns and machine guns to suppress the fire of the opposing Soviet positions and provide security for the minesweepers.

Sappers followed the tanks and boldly poured into the minefields, manually clearing the areas missed by the minesweepers.

Behind the tank cluster, four FI-382 helicopters were suspended in the sky, and artillery observation posts held binoculars, paying close attention to every move of the Soviet positions, and guiding the rear artillery for fire support at any time.

While the offensive was proceeding in an orderly manner, four Il-2 attack planes flew in from the south, found their position after a brief search in the sky, quickly lowered their altitude, and swooped down on the moving German tanks.

Seeing the malicious "Black Reaper" descending from the sky and following the "Whirlwind" 20-mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun behind the E-40 tank group, the gunners pointed the muzzle of the Gatling six-barreled anti-aircraft gun in the direction where the enemy plane was flying, and the barrel rotated at high speed, spilling countless shells into the sky to stop the incoming enemy plane.

Caught off guard, the Il-2 attack plane, which was the first to rush down, did not have time to drop the bomb, from the propeller in the nose to the belly of the plane, burst out countless fires, and in an instant, countless bullet holes appeared, disintegrated in the air, and fell to the ground into a pile of metal fragments.

Then the two attack planes that rushed down hurriedly dropped their bombs and turned around and fled from the fire.

The fourth Il-2 attack aircraft was lucky, cutting into the battlefield outside the anti-aircraft fire network and successfully dropping bombs.

A 250-kilogram aerial bomb landed in the open space between the two E-40 "Panther" tanks, and the blazing flames instantly enveloped the tank that was close to it, blowing it up in place.

The Il-2 attack aircraft had just rallied to escape from the battlefield when a ME-109 fighter jet rushed down from a high altitude and fired a burst of fire, leaving a bullet hole in the tail of the Il-2 attack aircraft, breaking the right wing of the tail.

The plane lost its balance and crashed into the ground along an irregular course.

From time to time, enemy planes flew in, attacked by the Luftwaffe and ground air defense, but could not deliver a fatal blow.

The armored regiment of the Skeleton Division continued to push forward until it broke through the minefield and entered the infantry position.

Seeing the progress of the German armored forces in front, the infantry of the Romanian 14th Infantry Division stepped up their steps, following behind the German tank clusters and rushing into the Soviet infantry positions, all the way to the rear of the Soviet positions.

The bad news that the positions were under attack by German armored units was quickly sent from the positions of the 353rd Infantry Division, first to the headquarters of the 18th Army, and then to the headquarters of the Southern Front.

"Damn, where did the Germans get these armored units out of here, why didn't we find them before?" Lieutenant General Malinovsky roared angrily.

Marshal Budyonny, who at this time also lost the optimistic demeanor brought about by the calm atmosphere on the battlefield a few days ago, said melancholy: "We can now be sure that the enemy's attack is premeditated, and that they are going to move south. Comrade Malinovsky, we must be aware of where we find ourselves. We must use our sacrifices to hold back as many Germans as possible. The more we contain the Germans here, the less pressure we can put on the direction of Moscow, and we must realize that we are shouldering a sacred and difficult mission. ”

"My reserves have all been sent out, and there are no other troops to reinforce the Eighteenth Army, what should we do to watch them break through the positions of the Eighteenth Army?" Lieutenant General Malinovsky said.

"Send the news here to Moscow first, and strive to get reinforcements from the Fourth Tank Army, which is being reorganized, and you make a retreat plan first. We can't stop them in such a flat place, so we can only retreat to the south and use the complex terrain of the Caucasus mountains to block them. Marshal Budyonny said.

"Well, I have a hunch that the enemy is attacking only from the east, most likely trying to drive us in the direction of the Sea of Azov, and we cannot fall into their trap. I'll then draw up a plan for the retreat and wait for Moscow to approve the retreat. What did the Germans want to do when they split their forces to attack the south? Said Lieutenant General Malinovsky.

Marshal Budyonny said: "Whatever the Germans want to do, we must preserve our strength, let the troops enter the mountains safely to continue the resistance, and buy time for reinforcements to arrive." I'll send a telegram to Moscow right now, alas, we were all misled by the General Secretary······"

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