To the southeast of the town of Bagaevskaya, night was approaching, but Colonel Weiss had no intention of letting the troops rest, and there was no standard schedule of work and rest during the war years.

Leaving the town of Bagaevskaya to the Panzergrenadiers, Colonel Weiss personally led two companies of E-40 "Panther" tanks, under the cover of a company of Panzergrenadiers, through the flat fields southeast of the town, drove onto the road and rushed straight southwest.

About eight kilometers southwest of the town of Bagaevskaya, the Manech River, a tributary of the left bank of the Don River, flows quietly from southeast to northwest and eventually joins the wide Don River.

The Manech River was the only natural hazard on the road to Rostov and had to be captured, and Colonel Weiss personally led the leading troops to the bridge over the river.

Less than ten kilometers away, it quickly disappeared under the rolling and turning tracks of the E-40 tank.

Before the troops reached the bridgehead, Colonel Weiss could clearly see that smoke was rising from the distant horizon, and from time to time the dust and mud from the explosion of artillery shells flew into the sky.

The men of the "Granite" Brigade under the 101st Special Air Service Regiment had already arrived at the bridgehead of the bridge by helicopter and seized the bridge by air raid, and then were counterattacked by the defenders from the two towns on the west side of the bridge.

From afar, five or six FI-382 "Black Hawk" helicopters were hovering in the sky, suppressing the actions of Soviet troops on the ground with airborne fire.

In the fierce firefight, a ball of fire suddenly erupted from the tail propeller of a helicopter, which soon extended to the fuselage, and the fuselage immediately emitted black smoke, with honeycomb-like bullet holes, spinning like a top and falling to the ground.

On the ground, two T-34 tanks, through the wreckage of the destroyed friendly tanks, guided hundreds of infantry bravely towards the bridge.

The FI-382 Black Hawk helicopter in the sky ran out of rockets and could only use machine guns to suppress the infantry behind the tank.

The two T-34 tanks did not know that the infantry behind them was suppressed by machine-gun bullets, and they were fighting alone, still fighting fiercely, rushing headlong into the German positions by the river.

The German positions were improvised, using the bushes and low-lying areas along the river, or even the dry drainage ditches on both sides of the road, and the German airborne troops avoided the path of the two T-34 tanks, detoured to the side of the tanks, and ambushed them with "tank killer" anti-tank rocket launchers.

The first T-34 tank was hit by an armor-piercing warhead in front of the right side of the turret, followed by the right rear of the hull, and with two bullet holes, it burst out of the distance and hit a thigh-thick pine tree headlong and stopped.

The second T-34 tank was hit by two anti-tank rockets, but it was only damaged by the running gear and paralyzed in a potato field, but it still turned the turret and stubbornly wanted to continue the fight.

Pointing the turret to the right, a high-explosive shell had just been fired, and in the direction of the Manech River bridge, an 88-mm armor-piercing projectile flew in, hit the driver's hatch of the T-34 tank, easily smashed through the hatch, and drilled into the hull, forever freezing the tank in the state of the turret to the right.

The timely arrival of the troops led by Colonel Weiss boosted the morale of the soldiers of the "Granite" brigade on the west side of the Manech River.

The E-40 tank crossed the bridge, left the road and fiercely charged the Soviet infantry on the ground.

The Soviet infantry was firing at the helicopter from the air, when they suddenly saw a group of steel monsters rushing to the side of the bridge in front of them, and the few remaining morale collapsed instantly, and they all turned around and fled to the west, leaving their backs to the helicopters in the sky.

Catching up with the fleeing Soviet infantry, the FI-382 helicopter fired wildly, bullets spinning and burrowing bloody holes in the backs of the exposed infantry, causing them to convulsions and fall to the ground.

The tide of the battlefield was reversed in an instant, and Colonel Weiss shouted over the radio, and the troops gathered in the field on the west side of the road, and pounced on the smaller of the two towns.

Without waiting for Colonel Weiss's troops to rush into the town in front, to the west of the town, Soviet infantry rushed out of the town, plunged headlong into the vast fields to the west, and fled away from the Germans.

With only one charge and little resistance, Colonel Vess managed to capture the town.

Leaving a tank company and a platoon of Panzergrenadiers to defend the town, Colonel Weiss led the rest of his troops out of the town and headed straight east of the town, crossing the road and heading east to the larger town called Kranes.

At this time, the second group of troops of the 1st Panzer Regiment under the command of Colonel Weiss drove across the bridge over the Manech River and rushed due north towards the town of Kranes.

The Soviets in the town of Kranes did no better than the previous Soviets in the town, with a few mortar shells and a barrage of machine-gun bullets flying out in a sparse manner, symbolically resisting for less than ten minutes, and the Soviets in the town of Kranes were immediately counterattacked by E-40 tank guns.

Directly north and west of the town, several machine-gun positions hidden in houses were destroyed by 88mm high-explosive shells, and the town's defenders fled in a swarm.

Successfully occupying two empty towns, Colonel Weiss quickly contacted the headquarters of the 1st Panzer Division and received the next mission.

After some phone calls, Colonel Vess was given a new mission to lead his troops north to capture the town of Manechskaya at the confluence of the Manech and Don rivers.

At this time, the follow-up troops continued to drive across the Manech River bridge and stationed in the two towns that had just been captured.

Leaving the defenders behind, Colonel Weiss regrouped his troops and personally led three panzergrenadier companies, the 1st Tank Battalion and the regimental artillery battalion to the northwest.

Half an hour later, southwest of the town of Manechskaya, Colonel Weiss divided his troops into two lines, personally leading a company of panzergrenadiers and a company of tanks, and struck the wilderness west of the town, cutting off the retreat of the town's defenders to the west, while the rest of the troops attacked from the south of the town.

Manechskaya is located at the southwest corner of the confluence of the Manech and Don rivers, with the Don River to the north and the Manech River to the east, both of which have no bridges for people and vehicles.

Colonel Faith personally led his troops to cut off the retreat of the town's defenders to the west, and the destruction of the town's defenders came immediately.

Colonel Weiss's troops attacked simultaneously from the west and south, with Wasp 105mm self-propelled howitzers smashing high-explosive shells into the town one after another, and E-40 Panthers using tank guns to launch a direct-fire attack from 88mm high-explosive shells into the windows of buildings on the edge of town.

Flames and dust flew as buildings crumbled and collapsed, and the fallen bricks and stones buried the Soviet soldiers hiding inside.

Colonel Vess saw the Panzergrenadiers take advantage of the situation and rush into the town with only one charge.

Ignoring the street fighting in the town, Colonel Weiss looked back in the direction of the western city of Bataisk.

Nothing could stop the advance of the 1st Panzer Division, except for the lack of fuel.

He had wanted to rush to Bataisk in the west, but after crossing the Manech River, he was faced with a lack of fuel, so he had to fight a little along the Manech River, capture a few small towns, and then stop and wait for the supply convoy.

Looking worriedly at the increasingly grey sky, Colonel Weiss thought regretfully.

When the troops were resupplyed, it was estimated that it was already dark, and the armored units were not conducive to night fighting, so they had to stop and rest, and wait until dawn before they could continue to attack.

As night fell, the gunfire on both sides of the Don River gradually subsided.

On the Don River, the towns of Bagaevskaya and Manechskaya are lit up on the surface of the Don River.

With the two towns taken one after another, the German sappers immediately received a new task, using the two towns at the ferry on the Don River to erect two new pontoon bridges overnight, so that the follow-up troops could continue to pass.

Colonel Vess had just arranged for the accommodation of the troops when he received two pieces of good news.

The first piece of good news was that the 1st Panzergrenadier Division would cross the Don River at night and fight alongside the 1st Panzer Division.

The second piece of good news was that the air force's reconnaissance planes discovered that a large number of Soviet troops were heading north in the south.

According to the position provided by the Air Force, after daybreak, the German troops crossing the Don were about to encounter this advance force of the enemy heading north, which had a large number of tanks.

Colonel Weiss rubbed his palms excitedly, the 1st Panzergrenadier Division was coming, and he had a strong reserve, so the Russians took the initiative to send it to him, and luck was on our side.

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