Marching in the rain at night is a chore, and most of the world's armies try to avoid getting their troops into such trouble.

Visibility was already poor under the dense rain screen. In order to maintain concealment, the Germans also installed night control lampshades for the headlights, which left only a slender gap in the front of the headlights, which was usually just enough to illuminate the road within 20 meters in front of the car, and also effectively reduced the probability of being detected by enemies from a distance and in the air. But at this time, this equipment seriously restricted the speed of the German army's action, the weakened light is difficult to penetrate the dense rain, the visual distance has been reduced to about ten meters, the speed of the convoy can only be slowed down accordingly, at this time the speed is no longer considered, the first thing is to ensure the safety of the car.

The Germans actually have more advanced NOTEK night control lamps, but because they have just been put into mass production, the production schedule cannot keep up for a while, and professional repair shops need to modify circuits and panels, so only a small number of vehicles are equipped with that kind of night lights. Zeisler's Panzergrenadier Company didn't have time to replace it with that kind of high-end equipment, and even the half-track vehicles issued to them were new from the production line, and the engines didn't even finish the run-in period when they got their hands.

The 251 half-track has a design that German soldiers love and hate, that is, there is no roof, and the design of the completely open top cover is a popular style in the world at that time, and it is also a product of the military thinking at that time. According to the technology of the time, it was not impossible to design these vehicles in a fully enclosed style, but the senior officers at this time still insisted on their own understanding. The lessons of the First World War affected the development of equipment for more than a decade after the war, and the enclosed personnel carrier was seen as a waste of material and space, an iron coffin used to murder soldiers.

The generals believed that in the event of an attack by anti-tank weapons, the soldiers hiding in the closed compartments would suffer serious injuries and would have difficulty escaping from the vehicles, while the open fighting compartment was not only easy to get on and off. At the same time, it has the widest viewing angle, which is convenient for soldiers to observe the surrounding environment, and it is also convenient for soldiers to shoot at the target from the vehicle.

At that time, the blitzkrieg tactics were still being studied and explored, and the concept of building armored divisions appeared in the German army, and the generals put forward the idea of forming infantry units that accompanied the mobility of armored divisions, so they proposed to develop a vehicle that could have certain protection and combat capabilities and could transport soldiers in complex environments with tank vehicles.

Since the subordinates have this need, the higher management will of course meet it. The SdKfz 251 half-track personnel carrier came into being, but the problem was that at that time, the German national strength had not been restored, and the rebuilding of the Wehrmacht required money everywhere, so it had to be careful in the procurement of equipment. Economy and mass production were put as a hard criterion in the development process of all German equipment at that time.

251 is not exempt from vulgarity, as a German army prepared a large number of equipment of the general-purpose armored personnel carrier, 251 was required to be developed on the basis of the German half-track tractor at that time, as far as possible with the existing equipment in parts and basic structure can be replaced with each other, so that it can be quickly put into production, but also do not need to change the original production line too much, the most important thing is to save a lot of costs, the total price is controlled within the minimum range of the German procurement standards. So in the future, it was said that the performance of German half-tracks was very ordinary. Even a bit mediocre, the problem is actually at the source of R&D.

Of course, Zeisler would not agree with this, because in his opinion these vehicles represented the highest level of German military technology, even if there were some flaws. But that didn't stop it on the battlefield, at least so far it hasn't disappointed Zeisler.

"There is still a kilometer to go to the next junction, the latest report from the battalion headquarters, we have a paratrooper reconnaissance team on the side. It should be not far from us, and we might be able to see each other during the day. Zeisler sat in the captain's seat, looking at the waterproof map in his hand by means of a flare next to the radio.

"We were a little late. Sir. The road is too difficult to walk. The commander, wearing a motorcyclist's rubber raincoat, stood on the machine gun shooter behind the cockpit in the wind and rain, holding the butt of the MG34 machine gun and staring nervously at the taillights of the vehicle in front of him.

Indeed, the British road was an eye-opener for the Germans, who found each other as if they were still living in the Middle Ages. The country roads turned out to be one-way streets, and the direction was unusually strange, through the forest through the village, at first to the east and then to the north in a blink of an eye, the British did not seem to have the concept of walking in a straight line, and there were twists and turns everywhere.

What is even more hateful is that the British roads rarely have eye-catching road signs, and the Germans have to stop for a moment at every intersection, braving the wind and rain to carefully observe the surrounding landmarks and road conditions, for fear of taking the wrong road. Zeisler guessed that the bastards must have been filled with whiskey when they built the road, otherwise how could they have created such a frenzied labyrinthine road network.

"We still have time, and after this junction, the road behind is much wider, and we can get to Kingston at about half past three. This rain is too heavy, and the command will understand our difficulties. Zeisler turned his head to look at the commander, and continued to look down at the map.

"I received a radio signal that there must be a British radio station nearby and they were talking by voice." The communication corps shrunk under the canvas canopy at the rear of the carriage, this temporary rain shelter equipment is not the original vehicle equipment, Zeisler got some Renault tracked vehicles equipped with canopy in the seized goods warehouse, the size and shape are still suitable, although it is more troublesome to erect, but the waterproof and rain shelter effect is still good.

"Your English is good, go listen to what it says?" Zeisler said to the commander.

"Understood." The commander turned and stooped under the canopy, taking off his helmet and putting on his radio headset.

"This, this is not English, it seems to be Slavic. Please wait a minute......" The commander pressed the headset to carefully identify it.

At this time, the tracked vehicle suddenly slowed down, and then slowly stopped against the curb.

"It's not my problem, the car in front stopped, and the pilot car turned back." The driver shouted from the side.

"What the hell is the weather, I don't know what they found." Zeisler buttoned up his raincoat and put on his steel helmet and got out of the captain's seat.

"Sir, we heard gunfire in front, flashes and fires two kilometers away in front right, it may be that our men are fighting the enemy." Sergeant Major Francon, who was on the lead reconnaissance mission, stood in the body of the three-wheeled motorcycle and shouted loudly at Zeisler.

"Do you see the exact direction?" Zeisler leaned over the edge of the carriage and shouted to the Master Chief.

"Just in front of the woods, turn right, and there is a road that leads to the battlefield. It looks like a village. The rain is so heavy that you may not hear it here, but we can see it clearly in front of us, and there is a lot of fighting, and I have sent the two Frederick brothers over to check it out, they are very clever and should bring us definite news soon. The Master Chief tilted his head, holding the steel helmet in one hand and the motorcyclist's shoulder with the other.

"Did they bring a radio?"

"I brought it, but the rain was too heavy, and I don't know how the signal is." Francony wiped a handful of rain from his face.

"Order the troops to be combat-ready. Wait a minute, you get into car number two, let car number one of the heavy weapons platoon follow the company headquarters, I need them to contact friendly forces. ”

The heavy weapons platoon has a Type 251/3 medium radio communication vehicle, because in combat it is sometimes necessary to uniformly deploy heavy firepower, and the regimental headquarters or even the division headquarters will directly take over the command of the heavy fire unit, so the heavy fire platoon of each panzergrenadier company is equipped with this medium communication vehicle.

The half-track radio vehicle is equipped with four different types of radios, including several bands of long-range short-range inter-vehicle walking, which can communicate directly with armored units and air force units, as well as with friendly army units with similar equipment.

With the order of the company commander. The Panzergrenadier Company restarted, and the vehicles in the middle of the line turned off their headlights and relied only on their red taillights to keep their distance from each other.

"Company commander, it's Frederick." The communications soldier shouted in front of the walkie-talkie.

"Which one?"

"It's my brother."

Zeisler took the walkie-talkie from the communications corps. The signal was affected by the rain, and there was some interference during the call, but I was able to make out what was being said.

"Company commander, we are now on the edge of the battlefield. We met our allies. They were the reconnaissance team of the 1st battalion of paratroopers, with two companies of men, who were ambushed in the village. There was almost a platoon of paratroopers surrounded by the enemy in the village, and they were trying to find a way to get them out. Now they're asking for our help. Wait a minute, the commander of the paratroopers is going to talk to you. Little Frederick handed the walkie-talkie to the paratrooper commander.

"I am the commander of the second company of the first battalion of the paratroopers. Lieutenant Clausen. A calm voice sounded, and Zeisler's first impression was good.

"I am Lieutenant Zeisler, the company commander of the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 37th Regiment." He took the walkie-talkie back to the captain's seat and picked up the map.

"It's a pleasure to see you here, we need your help now."

"No problem, lieutenant, my men will arrive soon, please wait a little longer." Zeisler opened the armor cover of the observation window and glanced ahead of the road.

"Understood, I'm looking forward to meeting you." The walkie-talkie was handed back to Frederick.

"Company commander, turn left when you reach the intersection, go onto a small road, and you will see us."

"Understand, you just wait where you are, don't act rashly."

"Yes, sir."

Zeisler put the walkie-talkie on the console next to the commander's seat, inserted the map back into the map bag next to it, and then raised his hands and rubbed his face vigorously.

"I hate fighting in the rain." The grenadier lieutenant took a deep breath of the damp, icy air, and he put on his steel helmet again, tightening the leather jaw strap. Picking up the walkie-talkie, Zeisler lowered his head and got out of the captain's seat.

"Haven't you heard which country it is? Perhaps a commercial radio station of a foreign company. He placed the walkie-talkie on the storage rack next to the communication station and tilted his head to look at the commander who was still listening to the radio communications.

"It's familiar, I've heard it before, and there are some words that I can hear. One of them seemed to be an officer, who was reporting something, they weren't using walkie-talkies like ours, there must have been a command post nearby...... Warsaw? I heard Warsaw...... By the way, they are Poles, that's right, these bitches are fucking Poles. The captain shouted loudly, and at the same time slapped the small iron table next to the radio station.

"Poles?" The grenadier lieutenant looked at the commander in surprise.

"There can be no mistake, I heard their calls on the front lines in Warsaw back then." The commander nodded affirmatively to his commander.

"These are the people who fought the paratroopers, the lost dogs in exile in England." The corners of Zeisler's mouth curled up into a dangerous smile. (To be continued......)