The SS2 Panzer Division was covered by the air force, but not by the Allied forces, which were bombed endlessly. German vehicles were only able to maneuver to avoid air raids, and during one march, the carburetor of the No. 424 Leopard tank failed, and in order to save time, the maintenance crew carried out repairs on the spot without taking any concealment measures.

Four Allied attack planes spotted the Leopard lying on the ground, and heavy strafing ensued, the tank's radiator hose and oil cooler were punctured, and the engine caught fire. After the Allied planes flew away, the German tank crews immediately got out from under the tanks to extinguish the fire, and after the maintenance crews worked hard all night, the tanks were finally repaired in the afternoon, and the Buckman crew drove the tanks to chase the evacuated company.

As Buckman reached the entrance to the small town of Leloré, a group of infantry and logisticians surrounded him as if they had seen a lifesaver and told them that a large number of American tanks were heading for Liberla! There is no doubt that the Germans also retreated to Liberla at this time, and if the Allies were allowed to seize the city, the consequences would be unimaginable, and the roar of Allied tanks became louder and louder.

After telling the infantry to evacuate quickly, Buckman rode to the entrance of the village of Lelore to set up an ambush, deciding to sacrifice himself in exchange for the safety of the large army. Buckman drove his tank to the intersection of the Libra-Saint-Lô national road and the Lelore sidewalk, and parked the tank on a trail about 100 meters behind the intersection under the cover of woods. At this time, the Allied tank column rumbled along the road.

"Get ready to fight! Allied tanks come from the left and take out the first one! As soon as Buckman gave the order, the Leopard-shaped 88-mm armor-piercing bullet immediately burst out. Directly penetrating the side armor of the Sherman, the Allied tank immediately burst into flames and exploded, and fragments of steel were everywhere. Immediately after that, the second car was also paralyzed to the ground, and the Allies were immediately in chaos, and Buckman took advantage of the situation to destroy the other two Shermans who were blocking the intersection. The Allies instinctively began to retreat when they saw that it was a Leopard tank, and even a few tanks that had rushed through the intersection retreated.

The Leopard tank took advantage of the chaos to rush onto the road, and the accurate 88mm tank guns destroyed the Allied half-tracks and jeeps along the way. An artillery shell hit the ammunition delivery truck, and the whole vehicle ammunition was instantly detonated, and the road suddenly became a fire field.

Two Shermans drove off the road and made a detour towards the Leopard from the left field. Attempt to attack the weak flanks of the Leopard. Although Sherman's 75 mm tank gun was no match for the Leopard's 120 mm positive armor, it was easy to penetrate the 57 mm thick side armor at such a distance.

The face-to-face tank battle began, and the gunner Bergdorff quickly and calmly turned the muzzle of the gun to destroy one, and then destroyed the other before the opponent could enter the position. During this time, the Leopard was hit 2 times. Although there was no penetration, the power compartment burned again. However, the automatic fire extinguishing device acts in time to extinguish the fire.

Allied bombers appeared, and several near-misses shook the Leopard tank violently, and the shock wave ripped off some of the track shoes draped over the turret. The shrapnel that flew in all directions made the tank clange, and the crew was also dizzy, and several Shermans took the opportunity to spread out the formation and outflank them, and the Leopard was hit one after another, one shot hit the hull welding, the other broke the tracks, and the driving wheels were also damaged.

Due to the failure of the ventilation system, the gunpowder smoke emitted after the fire could not be extracted in time, and a large amount of toxic gases were filled with the car. The German armored corps' excellent combat qualities and superb skills were demonstrated at this critical moment, and the crew continued to fight while using the time to repair the vehicles, and the two Shermans took the opportunity to attack the Leopard with broken tracks, but were destroyed by the opponent who could not move.

The Buckman crew used the woods as cover to fight and retreat, and although they were hit several times, they did not cause serious damage, after all, the three performance of the Leopard were better than Sherman's. After destroying the nearest Allied tank, Leopard 424 finally disengaged with the Allied forces and drove to the safety of the village of Negev for repairs.

Buckman's ambush succeeded in disrupting the Allied plans to capture Ludance first, and bought valuable time for the Germans to reach Libra.

After the Allies retreated to the village, the Allies did not attack in time, but consulted their superiors, and by the time their superiors conveyed the order, it was already three hours later, and a German infantry battalion in the village had already built a simple defensive position during this time, and two anti-tank guns were also in place.

This is a 75-millimeter anti-tank gun, and the Germans have put some thought into protecting these two anti-tank guns, they have built a semicircular defensive platform in front of the anti-tank guns, and some steel plates have been removed from some blown up armored vehicles and reinforced on the baffles of the anti-tank guns. At the same time they also have a Leopard tank that has been repaired.

When the Allied forces continued to attack in the afternoon, one Allied tank came in, one was destroyed, and the infantry rushed, and it was the continuous rain of bullets of MG42.

The usual tactics of the Allies began to be used again, calling in the air force to bomb, as if they would not fight without the support of the air force.

Allied air raids were the main source of casualties in the defense of the German army, but the Luftwaffe was not a vegetarian, and the Allied aircraft group would also be detected from the radar, and the Luftwaffe would quickly react, and the machine would send the corresponding aircraft group to fight.

Normally, the Allies were bombing for a while, and the German planes arrived, and the Allies had to throw bombs indiscriminately and fight with the Luftwaffe, and these bombs could also be thrown on the Allied positions.

Just such a German infantry battalion, two anti-tank guns, and a Leopard tank, blocked the US 3rd Army for three full days. More than 50,000 U.S. troops attacked such a village, and they actually took it under the condition of desperate attrition.

Buckman, however, withdrew from the village with a few wounded men when the infantry suffered all the casualties. Three days, three precious days, were delayed by the US military's fear of death, which is really stupid.

Even if Eisenhower's three-way attack on the Ardennes Forest at this time made a breakthrough, the three wasted days were destined to have little success.

……

The emblem of the 11th Panzer Division (the title of the division of the "Devil's Sword" must have come from this sword-wielding ghost!) ）

In the summer of 1941, after being heavily defeated by the Soviets on the Soviet-German battlefield, the 11th Panzer Division was withdrawn to the town of Celicia in southern France for repair and reconstruction. The reconstituted 11th Panzer Division consists of 1 Panzer Regiment (i.e., the 15th Panzer Regiment, under the jurisdiction of two Panther-type medium tank battalions), 2 Panzergrenadier Regiments (i.e., the 110th and 111th Panzergrenadier Regiments, each regiment has 2 Panzergrenadier battalions), 1 Panzer Artillery Regiment (with 3 artillery battalions, equipped with self-propelled guns) and other combat support forces, with a total of 15 battalions, 13,726 men, about 100 tanks and self-propelled guns, and is subordinate to the 19th Army of German Army Group B. (To be continued......)