"How much more do you have to go forward?" Looking at the map, Karyus asked the motorcyclist of the reconnaissance unit.

"Three kilometers further ahead, it's Tula! The Soviets laid out a defensive line 1 km directly ahead...... There were about 3,000 people, there were tanks. The motorcyclist, with a gas mask barrel on his chest, pointed his finger with leather gloves and replied loudly.

German motorcyclists were issued with leather trench coats made of good material, which were considered simple and good even from today's point of view.

Moreover, this kind of trench coat can be transformed into a one-piece thermal suit by buttoning it, which can make it convenient for motorcyclists to ride motorcycles.

Unlike ordinary soldiers, German motorcyclists are also issued with goggles, and the style is also very fashionable, usually put on steel helmets, which is easy to use.

Karjus put down the map, raised his eyes to look at the slightly raised hill in the distance, nodded and said: "We will stop when we drive into the anticline in a while, and I will take a look at what the Soviets' defense line looks like." ”

It's not that the news brought back by the motorcyclists is not detailed enough, but the situation on the battlefield may change at any time.

The reconnaissance unit is only responsible for early warning, as well as guiding the troops forward and detecting the enemy's situation in advance. As for how to fight, it still depends on the decisions of the battlefield commanders.

The Soviets didn't know why, and when the sky was still raindropping, they suddenly chose to retreat.

Rokossovsky finally retreated, very wisely. His choice caught the Germans by surprise, and even the 3rd Panzer Division, which counterattacked, only intercepted about 10,000 Soviet soldiers.

The Germans annihilated about 10,000 Soviet Red Army in the pocket formation, and then the pursuit began.

As a result, Rokossovsky escaped in a cluster and retreated to Tula in one fell swoop, only to be caught up by the Germans.

The Soviet troops relying on the city became less easily annihilated, and most of the German troops were a little tired after a day and a night of fierce fighting.

It was not easy to fight back in the rain and pursue the enemy on a long journey, so Guderian did not immediately start the battle to besiege Tula.

On the other hand, he also had to count his own losses - the Germans lost dozens of tanks and almost 1,000 killed, which is not a small number.

Judging from the battle loss ratio, the German army is still the winner, but from the analysis of previous comparative figures, the Soviet counterattack was successful.

At least the Soviets captured some of the German-occupied lands and lifted the siege of Tula. Most importantly, the Soviets destroyed many Leopard tanks, shattering the myth of the invincibility of Leopard tanks.

In addition, compared with the losses, the Soviet army also suffered much smaller losses than in the previous rout, and the results achieved were also greater.

In the past, the largest losses of German tanks were due to wear and tear and mechanical failure, but this time, for the first time, the battle losses exceeded the mechanical losses, becoming the main part of the German losses.

But from a strategic point of view, Rokossovsky's counterattack was again a failure, because he neither completed the task of repelling the German army, nor did he relieve the pressure on Moscow's flank, which can be said to be a very failure.

Karyus will not analyze Rokossovsky's gains and losses, but he will analyze whether a larger tank battle will break out this time when the Germans are encircling Tula from both flanks.

Rokossovsky still had hundreds of tanks in his hands to fight, and the Germans had hundreds of tanks eager to take revenge.

In order to keep Tula, Rokossovsky will inevitably devote his forces to a decisive battle around the periphery, and in order to capture Tula, the German offensive will naturally be launched.

In this case, a second tank battle is quite possible. What Karjus has to do is to try to make sure that he can survive such a decisive tank battle.

He climbed into his tank, and the other Leopard next to him had already started its engine, and one after the other Leopard finished its rest and began to move forward.

The turret flanks of these tanks are Germany's most famous Iron Cross symbol. The black paint edges are trimmed with white accents, giving it a sober and lean look.

Karyus's arm pressed against the butt of the vehicle-mounted machine gun in front of him, looking into the distance on the bumpy tank.

In front of him was a machine-gun shield, through which he had only a small field of vision. This was designed to keep him safe when operating the machine gun, but it affected his vision somewhat.

Naturally, William the loader leaned against the canopy of the tank, and there was also a machine gun in front of him. After the radio operator's heading machine gun was removed, the two machine guns on the turret were the main suppressive fire of the Leopard tank.

"Battalion 501 didn't follow?" For some reason, Karjus and Wittmann didn't communicate much that day, and they soon parted ways and returned to their respective stations.

Subsequently, the defensive battle on a rainy day made the two of them active on their own battlefields, becoming the biggest winners in this tank battle.

The two of them destroyed 20 tanks and 17 tanks respectively on this day, which may not sound like much, but it was enough to defy the sky.

You must know that in the real historical time and space, Wittman's record is only more than 150 tanks, which is equivalent to saying that the results of his rainy day defense battle are equal to one-seventh of his total results.

The results of the battle were very controversial, but the results of the 17 tanks were definitely the richest day for him.

If this number is accumulated, as long as these two people do not die in battle, maybe in a few months, they will break the amazing record that they don't know yet.

"The losses of the 501st Battalion were quite large, so after the counterattack, their vacancy was filled by the 4th Panzer Regiment of the 1st Panzer Division." Radio operator Joseph sat bored in his place and said to Karyus.

He now has no heading machine guns, and can only look through the periscope at the slightly distorted scenery outside.

In order to make the radio operator less boring, the atmosphere inside the tank has become slightly lively.

Karjus would often talk to this boring man or teach him some experience in tank warfare.

After all, I heard that in a few months, a lot of radio operators of Leopard tanks would be drawn out to take up the post of commander of the newly formed tank crew.

"At least, Wittman is about the same time as we were last time. His tank was destroyed, so for a while, there was no chance to add to the new record. Joseph thought for a moment and said somewhat gloatingly.