On October 6, 1941, the German 336th Infantry Division took up positions at Loklen on the Sheld. On the same day, General Maninstein, commander of the German 11th Panzer Division, came to the Sreach River to survey the section where the division had crossed Sheld, in order to coordinate with Hort's 4th Tank Army. But the Germans played little role in relieving Dilant's troops.

On 7 October, the Allied 1st Tank Army forced its way across the Skshide River on the left flank of the German 336th Infantry Division and advanced into residential areas far behind the German defensive positions on the riverbank. Units of the German 11th Panzer Division were still advancing from Abo. They were ordered to move immediately to Abo Farm in order to restore their original position. On the afternoon of 7 October, the 15th Panzer Regiment encountered a large number of Allied tank units near Abo Farm and halted the Allied advance.

Obviously, the Germans could not allow the Allies to stop at the Abbo farm, so Maninstein was ordered to drive them away. As a first step, he set up his command post next to the command post of the 336th Division, on Verkhny Solonovsky, so that the two divisions could work closely together.

The commander of the German 336th Infantry Division demanded that Maninstein carry out a frontal assault on the Abbo farm so that they could be relieved of their critical situation as soon as possible. Maninstein believed that the terrain was not suitable for tank movements, and that a frontal attack in any case could only repel the enemy, not annihilate it.

He decided to carry out the main assault along the heights to the west and north of Abo's farm, which was easily accessible to tanks; The tanks were then ordered to penetrate into the rear of the Allied forces and cut off the enemy's retreat. The 15th Panzer Regiment served as the main attacker, supported by the 111th Panzer Infantry Regiment. The 110th Panzer Infantry Regiment carried out a diversionary attack from the southwest. Maninstein placed anti-aircraft artillery and engineer battalions south of the Abo farm in case the Allies broke through in this direction. The artillery of the 336th Division was responsible for supporting the troops attacking from the northeastern flank.

On the night of 7 October, the German 11th Panzer Division adjusted its deployment according to Maninstein's orders, and the units entered the assembly area. When the attack was launched at dawn on 8 October, the Allies were preparing to strike at the rear of the 336th Division, convinced that the Germans were in their hands.

The 15th Panzer Regiment encountered a long column of motorized motorized infantry from the north and attacked it, taking the enemy by complete surprise. When German tanks stormed the column, the Allies panicked and fled. One transport truck after another caught fire. The entire column was annihilated by the Germans. The armored regiments of the Maninstein Division, with direct support from armored infantry and artillery, then advanced to the rear of the Allied tank units defending Abo's farm.

The Allies fought bravely, but their tanks fell into the fire of the Germans, and it was a waste of effort to escape. When this short winter day passes. The Allied 1st Tank Army was completely crushed. 511 tanks were destroyed.

October 9-10 three. The Maninstein Division continued to clear the Allied forces at the Shead River landings. The Air Force Field Division took up the defense on the left flank of the 336th Division, and the two Allied divisions did everything in their power to defend the line of the Sreach River occupied by the 48th Tank Corps, between Obryvskaya and Nizhneshyde. Stretch for four 10 miles. However, the Germans continued to exert heavy pressure, and the German 11th Panzer Division attacked again.

On the evening of October 11, General Bakr received the following notification: "The enemy broke through at two points, Ryshinsky and Nizhny Dilant, and the distance between the two breakthroughs was 210 kilometers in a straight line. ”

The commander of the German 11th Panzer Division decided to launch a counterattack on Ryshchinsky's enemy first. After a night's march, the Panzer Regiment reached the vicinity of Ryshinsky at dawn on October 10 and annihilated the Allied forces that had broken through. Maninstein made this determination because he believed that the 336th Division's defence was crucial to the subsequent operations of the German 11th Panzer Division, and that it should be held at all costs.

The 336th Division is fully aware of the importance of its mission. The division was strong-willed to deal with every enemy threat, and tried to resist everything with its own strength, so that Maninstein could counterattack with the strength of the whole division when he did not need to support the infantry with tanks.

The commander of the 336th Division, General Lucht, was never unprepared and did not call for support from the German 11th Panzer Division, even in the most critical moments. This would not have been possible without the two division commanders working together in coordination. In addition, the commander would meet with Maninstein every evening to discuss the situation in a comprehensive manner.

After the elimination of the Allied forces in Ritis on 10 October, the German 11th Panzer Division moved north. In the afternoon of the same day, after marching 10 and a half miles, the division entered the Allied landing ground at Lower Dilant and greatly reduced the Allied position.

At dawn the next day, when the division was about to launch its final assault on Lower Dilant, the Allies launched a fierce assault on its right flank, causing a moment of crisis. A battalion was surrounded. The German 11th Panzer Division halted its assault on the landing ground, turned around to deal with the attacking enemy, and relieved the battalion. The battle, without doubt, ended with the victory of the German defenses.

It is a pity that it was not possible to completely clear the landing ground of the Allied forces at Lower Dilant, and it was this that had serious consequences. The German 11th Panzer Division marched at night and fought during the day for eight days, and was in great need of rest.

On the 11th, the Allied 4th Tank Army launched an offensive to rescue Dilant, and the Germans had been impatient for this attack. During this period, Admiral Richthofen, who was responsible for the air supply of the besieged army, came to inspect the command post of the German army.

According to him, the supply situation of Dilant had been poor since the beginning of October, when it was still supplied according to the minimum requirements of the 6th Army, that is, 500 tons per day, and now only a maximum of 100 tons of supplies could be airdropped to the besieged army, and the number of Ju-52 transport planes at that time, compared with the huge task, was obviously insufficient, so the He-3 bombers had to be used. Such aircraft can only carry one and a half tons of bombs, and they are very much needed at the front to support ground forces.

At this time, Hult was attacking Dilant with all his might. The Allied 48th Tank Army was also to take part in the offensive, although the situation on the front line of the Sreach River could not be considered urgently. Unfortunately, the Allied landing ground in Lower Skide, near Lower Skide, had been lost under constant German attacks.

On October 10, the line of defense of the Sreach River was calm for a day. On the 10th, the German 11th Panzer Division withdrew from its positions near the Allied landing ground in Dilant and moved to Lower Sreach in order to force the crossing of Shead and join up with the reinforcements sent by Hoth.

As for the area of the Allied Dilante landing field, the emergency force dispatched by the Air Force Field Division (Note: The emergency force refers to the vigilance force organized to deal with the emergency.

By 16 October, Hoth's advance guard had reached the banks of the Aksai River, less than four 10 miles from the nearest unit of the 6th Army. The Germans planned for the German 11th Panzer Division to open a road across Shelder on the 107th, and then attack southeast to support Hort's left flank.

It was at this time that the Allied High Command demonstrated its strategic foresight in appointing a number of senior personnel. Field Marshal Patton commanded the various army groups on the Shelder front. (To be continued......)

PS: Acknowledgements:

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