"Sneeze ......!" In the rain, Caljus, who was hurrying away, sneezed and rubbed his nose.

There was no such thing as a sneeze in Germany, so he just wondered if he was getting caught in the rain and was about to catch a cold.

Sitting in the new Leopard tank with the hatch closed, Karjus rubbed his nose and urged his driver, Erich, to "Hurry up!" We're running out of time! ”

The roads were muddy due to the rain, and the road conditions in the Soviet Union immediately became catastrophic. The Leopard tank used a wide track design, which was significantly better than the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks.

It's just that one Leopard after another passed through the muddy road, also damaging the already terrible dirt surface.

At this time, the tracks of the Leopard tank were covered with mud, and as the tracks rolled, these muds got stuck on the traveling mechanism of the tank, piling up more and more.

It wasn't until enough had accumulated in these crevices that the mud fell down with a clattering sound on the muddy ground.

The number of remaining units on the front of Group G was small, with only three combat units: the 10th Motorized Rifle Division, the 255th Infantry Division, and the 4th Armored Division.

In addition, the 501st Armored Battalion, the 505th Armored Battalion, which were temporarily assigned to him, and some artillery units directly assigned to Group G, including heavy artillery units and rocket artillery units.

At this moment of the war, the number of frontal forces on both sides was significantly inferior to that of the Germans. The Soviets had more than 700 T-34 and KV-1 tanks, and the total number of T-26 tanks exceeded 1,000.

The Germans had only about 400 tank units, 40 Stalker tank destroyers, and 90 assault guns No. 3.

Although the ratio of tanks on both sides is one to two, and the Germans still have a qualitative advantage, in fact the gap is not small, the number of Leopard tanks in the German army has always been insufficient, and most of the 4th Tank Division is No. 3 and No. 4 tanks.

After all, like the 1st Tank Division, there are not many armored divisions that are fully equipped with Leopard tanks. More armoured divisions are still using tanks No. 3 and No. 4, but the exact number is different.

Of the less than 300 tanks of the 4th Panzer Division, at least 100 were No. 3 tanks and 100 were No. 4 tanks.

If you exclude the command tanks, there are only 70 newly replaced Leopard tanks to support the scene.

So in terms of quality, the German army is actually not clearly superior. Including the Leopard tanks of the separate heavy tank destroyer battalion, the total number of Leopard tanks in the German army was only around 150.

Therefore, the 505th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion, with 45 new new Leopard tanks, became a rare main force on the front of the German army.

As a decisive force, Guderian did not keep it to the end, but threw himself into the front-line battle as soon as possible.

It is a simple truth that good steel is used on the blade, and at the same time, the German reserves are about to arrive at the designated position, which is also an important reason why Guderian resolutely invested all the troops in his hands.

The 505th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion also lived up to expectations, hurried on a rainy day, rushed to the area where the Soviet army counterattacked, and rushed to the vicinity of the war zone as soon as possible as a field fire fighting team.

In the theater of operations, the number of tanks on both sides is still disproportionate. On the German side, the main forces were the 501st and 505th heavy tank battalions, and on the Soviet side, there were two tank divisions.

The difference between the two sides is not only in the number of tanks, but also in terms of artillery, the Soviet army has a slight advantage, after all, the German artillery is scattered, and it will also take time to assemble these artillery.

But Guderian was not afraid, as long as he held out for a day, the flanks of the Soviet troops would be counterattacked by the Germans. At that time, the total number of tanks on both sides was almost the same.

When the weather clears, the Rokossovsky group with the enemy on the back and flank will not be able to escape, and the German army, which has air superiority, can completely annihilate this force and completely open the passage to Tula.

Of course, Rokossovsky was not a fool either, he knew how strong the enemy was in front of him, so he threw all his attacking forces at the beginning, ready to knock a gap in the German defenses.

As long as his attack is successful, Guderian can be forced to retreat. Then homeopathically slaughtered the German logistics troops and non-combatants, gaining a local advantage.

If you can take advantage of the chaos to take out Guderian's headquarters, you can take advantage of the chaos to inflict heavy damage on the G cluster and regain the initiative on the battlefield.

It was a gamble, and Guderian could have taken a more secure approach to defusing the crisis.

He could immediately order the 3rd Panzer Division and the 1st Cavalry Division to retreat and go north to support the 4th Panzer Division to help withstand the enemy's attack.

It's just that it will take time, and the losses will still not be small. The only difference was that it was more secure to do so, and the Germans did not have any risk except for some losses handed over at the beginning of the battle.

However, there are obvious drawbacks to doing so. The Soviets had no worries and could retreat immediately if necessary, out of contact with the Germans.

"What we're going to do is simple! Help the 501st Battalion drive away the Soviet tanks on the flanks and build as much defensive position as possible! Inside the tank, which was constantly bumping and undulating with the terrain, Karjus repeated the battle order.

His hat was already soaked with rain, and he had just been directing traffic in his raincoat and letting his tank quickly pass a waterlogged road.

It is not easy to travel on a rainy day, after all, their tanks are more than 40 tons of behemoths, and struggling in the mud has a tangled taste.

It's no wonder that Karjus wrote a memoir after World War II called Tiger in the Mud—the Tiger tank struggled in the mud and made a lasting impression.

"Commander! You can't have a cold, right? Hearing a sneeze, Loader William asked, leaning against the shaky hull.

"I don't want to catch a cold! Maybe a fever too, hell! Karjus complained depressedly, and then asked, "Joseph...... How is the radio commissioning, the interference is not small, be cautious. ”

Radio operator Joseph was helplessly twisting the knob on the radio equipment. The tank was bumping all the time, so it made his job unusually difficult.

Hearing the commander's question, he let go of his hand and replied loudly: "There is no problem with the reception, the transmission is still being debugged...... It's damn weather! ”

At the same time, in the headquarters of Cluster G, Guderian looked at the gloomy dark clouds and falling raindrops, and complained: "This damn weather! ”

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The second is even more served!