"On the Soviet defensive line in front, on the defensive position on the left side of the village, the data provided by aerial reconnaissance is too vague!" Dropping down the documents from the Air Force, Wittman said dismissively.

As most of the time, it is not very reliable to expect the Air Force to provide reliable and effective intelligence.

Those pilots who carry out reconnaissance missions will always be perfunctory, and the core information will generally not appear in the hands of the army.

Come to think of it, in today's situation, if the Air Force finds its own target, the credit will not be left to the Army to grab it anyway.

War has made every branch of the army try to improve its weapons and equipment, and no one wants to fight with weapons that don't match.

Just as the Army is gradually increasing the thickness of its tank armor and using larger caliber artillery, the Air Force is improving its weaponry.

With the addition of more and larger caliber cannons, the ME-110, a fighter that is not very suitable for air combat, has turned into a powerful ground attack aircraft.

The use of large-caliber cannons and thicker armor of the ME-110 attack aircraft with Stuka gave the Air Force a more powerful means of ground resistance.

Most of the time, it is obviously much more convenient for the Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft to notify the air force under a system to carry out the destruction mission if they do find a target than it is to inform the army.

Therefore, it was not that the Air Force's reconnaissance was perfunctory, but that the Air Force itself destroyed most of the targets that could be found.

Therefore, most of the information left for the army is not very accurate, or the air force does not look at it.

"The position on the left is not a good place, the flanks are too dangerous." Another commander also sensed his concern.

They have countless combat experience and are also familiar with the weapons and equipment in their hands. The Leopard tank was almost invulnerable in frontal armor.

With the exception of the course machine gun, which was a weak point, there was a chance that it would be hit by enemy artillery, it was almost impossible to penetrate anywhere else.

Of course, even this weakness was solved by German designers: they were trying to eliminate the course machine gun and increase the level of protection on the front of the tank.

However, in comparison, the side and rear armor of the Leopard tank is much more fragile.

In order to save weight, in order to make the engine and transmission more reliable, in order to increase the stroke of the tank, in order to improve comfort...... It's a necessary trade-off.

After the trade-off, Wittmann and all the German tankmen knew that their tanks were sometimes in danger of being penetrated.

This risk became even more prominent after the start of the Soviet-German war, which had never faced such a formidable opponent before.

Compared with the average strength of armored forces such as Britain and France, the Soviet Union is much stronger in terms of tank performance indicators.

Just by comparing the caliber of artillery used by the tanks of both sides, it can be seen that the threat posed by Soviet and British and French tanks to the German armored forces is quite enormous.

Most of the British and French tanks are still using 47 mm caliber, while the smallest tank gun caliber on Soviet tanks is already 47 mm.

Now, the Soviet tanks fighting against the Germans, the KV-1 and the new T-34, have used 76.2 mm guns.

Not to mention, there are cults like 152 in the Soviet army sequence, as well as two calibers of 85 and 122, which are powerful in development.

Therefore, there were still German tank forces in North Africa, which could run amok almost unscrupulously in Britain itself, and now they had to face an opponent who could threaten their own lives.

It is precisely because of this that battlefield veterans like Wittmann are even more reluctant to expose the relatively fragile flanks of the Leopard tank.

"Here and here, the Russians have the possibility of arranging cross-cutting anti-tank fire, it may be camouflaged anti-tank guns, it may be anti-tank guns." Pointing to the slightly raised mounds on either side of the map, Wittman said to his battalion commander.

"yes, if they hide the tank in the field behind it, it would be a perfect trap." The battalion commander looked at the map and nodded in agreement with Wittman's analysis.

"But the 2nd Panzer Division has asked us to attack here...... Cover their breakthrough on the front. Pointing to the edge of the hand-drawn map, the battalion commander had to explain the order he had received.

If it had been his own battalion that had attacked, he would have undoubtedly canceled the operation.

The enemy's situation is unknown, and for an armored battalion, it is a sufficient reason to avoid battle. But if it is placed at the level of the armored army, it can only be said to be a trivial matter.

"If we have to attack, I think we should leave a company of troops to cover our flanks." Wittman pointed to the clearing in the distance and offered his own proposal.

Since the Russians used the terrain to dig a hole for them, he didn't mind leaving a reserve and trying to dig another deep hole for the Russians.

Regarding the new Soviet tanks encountered by the 505th Tank Battalion in previous battles, including the battle process and precautions, have been distributed to all the grassroots officers and soldiers of the German armored forces.

Everyone is taking this emerging threat seriously, which is why Wittmann cares about the safety of his tank's flanks.

You must know that when he fought in Britain before, he was a person who had done this kind of thing alone countless times.

At that time, he led two or three tanks to dare to attack the British, and often defeated more than twice as many enemy tanks as himself.

Now, on the Eastern Front, everyone is frightened by the losses suffered by 505, and everyone has become cautious, not wanting to be easily killed by the enemy.

Sometimes the courage of a soldier depends on how safe the environment he is in - if he wears a armor like Iron Man, I believe many people dare to go on a rampage in the rain of bullets.

"Don't worry, the 505th Battalion is on our flank, and they are responsible for covering our attack!" The battalion commander was unimpressed by Wittman's proposal, as he found a better way to cover the flanks.

Although the 505th Battalion had lost some in the last battle, the main force was still able to participate in the battle. That's an armored battalion of more than 20 Leopard tanks, which is much more than one of his companies.

"505 Armored Battalion? The people above are really willing to spend a lot of money! Hearing the name of the other participating unit, Wittman's face became embarrassed.

You know, the number one tank ace of the German armored forces, Karjuus, who surpassed him, was in the 505th battalion.

It's no wonder that Wittmann said that this was a big deal, because this attack, not counting the infantry, the three armored units participating in the battle were all famous elites.

The main attack was carried out by the 2nd Panzer Division, the main force of the German army, which was fully equipped with Leopard tanks. There are almost more than 240 Leopard tanks, and just by looking at the numbers, you can see how strong their combat effectiveness is.

On the flanks were Guderian's 1st Mechanized Infantry Division to the south, and to the north were the 501st and 505th separate heavy tank destroyer battalions.

With these three units alone, the Germans used as many as 300 Leopard tanks, which is a testament to the sheer scale.

The commander-in-chief of operations was Guderian, the father of the German armored forces, who could be regarded as the sharpest long knife in Hitler's hands.

With such a luxurious lineup, the place they want to capture is just a small village and town called Krupki, how overkill it looks.

Covering the 300 Leopard tanks were more than 40 Chaperer tank destroyers, as well as more than 70 No. 3 assault guns attached to the artillery.

These armored vehicles were followed by 20,000 well-trained German grenadiers.

They had just received adequate supplies, with full armament and ammunition. There is also a large amount of artillery and air force support, and it is very well prepared.

"Now that we have them on our side, things are much easier." Wittman smiled and looked in the direction of the flank, and said to his battalion commander: "Just follow the old way." ”

"Yes! If they can keep up with us, maybe we can hit Moscow in one go. Beside Wittman, another tank commander teased with a smile.

"Poof!" His words made a trainee non-commissioned officer newly assigned to the 501 Armored Battalion laugh.

"Laughing at what?" The commander pointed at Wittman, "You think I'm kidding?" We really almost made it to London in the UK! ”

"That's it! All of them! Back to your own tank! Check the radio, count the ammo and the fuel! The battalion commander clapped his hands and shouted to his men.

Sometimes, it's not a good thing that his subordinates are too good, and the pressure on his shoulders is really great.

You must know that although he is not as good as the 505th Armored Battalion, every commander in his hand now is a ruthless man who has destroyed several enemy tanks.

"Test call!" This was the first time that Wittmann had fought on the Eastern Front, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Everything he heard about the Soviet tank forces was that the Soviet tank forces were more powerful than the British and French tank forces.

It put pressure on him and made him uneasy about the battle he was about to face. Perhaps only after seeing those Soviet tanks will this anxiety be dispelled.

"I heard you very clearly!" As the ace of the 501 tank battalion, the battalion commander still gave Wittman a lot of care. For example, when debugging the radio, the battalion commander will usually fix the channel in the place where Wittmann's voice is clearest.

"Car No. 1 is inspected! It's time to go! Inside the radio headset, the commander of another tank reported aloud.

The battalion commander looked at his watch, then at the infantry who were spreading out not far behind him, nodded, and ordered loudly: "The time is just right!" Let's go! Let's go! ”

Farther away, Calyus leaned against the hatch of his tank and shouted to his driver, Erich: "Let's go!" ”