The 15th Panzer Regiment was the main attack, supported by the 111th Panzer Infantry Regiment, while the 110th Panzer Infantry Regiment was deployed from the southwest for a diversionary attack. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info Steiner deployed anti-aircraft guns and engineer battalions south of Abbo 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 Steiner'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 the German tanks stormed the column, the Allies panicked and fled, and the transports caught fire one after the other.

The entire column was annihilated by the Germans, and the Panzer Regiment of the Steiner Division, with the direct support of armored infantry and artillery, 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. By the time this short winter day had passed, the Allied 1st Tank Army had been completely crushed, with 511 tanks destroyed.

On 9-10 October, the Steiner 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 Army, which stretched four 10 miles between Obryvskaya and Nizhneshead. 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.

Steiner made this determination because he believed that the 336th Division's defensive position 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 Steiner could counterattack with the strength of the whole division when he did not need tanks to support the infantry.

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 Steiner 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, Dilante's supply situation had been poor since the beginning of October, when it was still supplied according to the minimum requirements of the 6th Army, i.e. 500 tons per day, and now only a maximum of 100 tons of supplies could be airdropped to the besieged army.

At that time, the number of Ju-52 transport aircraft, compared to the huge task, was obviously insufficient, so the He-3 bomber 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 14 October, the Shelder River Line was quiet for a day. On 15 October, the German 11th Panzer Division withdrew from its positions near the Allied landing site in Dilant and moved to Lower Shead in order to force his way through Shead and join up with Hotte's reinforcements.

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.

Instead of pooling their reserves to resist Hoult's assault, they launched a massive offensive against the unlucky 8th Army in the middle of the Sheld, with a wide front, including the defensive positions of the Battle of Horid (which had taken over from the Romanian 3rd Army on the left flank of the Germans), but also the positions of the 48th Tank Army on the front line of the Sheld.

The Germans did not have any danger in this defensive position, but only forced the German 11th Panzer Division to abandon the offensive operation of forcing the crossing of Slide, and it also forced Manstein to massively gather the forces of Hoth's 4th Tank Army in order to establish a new line of defense to cover Arbo.

On 16 October, the Allied 48th Tank Corps had no idea what was going on in person, halted its offensive along the line of the Sreach River, and it seemed possible to cross Sheld.

Due to bad weather, the Luftwaffe aircraft did not take off for several days, and aerial reconnaissance was not carried out. By the 17th, the situation had become clear, and the Germans, with heavy attacks, had broken through the Allied positions about six miles north of Lower Shdeside. (To be continued.) )