"What's going on?" Outside Frankfurt am Main, a long convoy of Ming troops was blocked in front of a bridge over the Main. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info the commander of this unit, Colonel Lin Shuo, the battalion commander of the heavy tank battalion directly under the Second Armored Division of the Ming Army, poked his head out of his car and asked loudly.

"There are gendarmes in front of you who say that the bridge has been damaged by the resistance and is temporarily impassable." Lin Shuo's adjutant came back soon, and his answer made Lin Shuo immediately frown, "Then what should we do?" ”

The 2nd Panzer Division received an order to break through the German Rhine line from Frankfurt am Main to the Mainz area, not far away. However, they did not expect to encounter such a troublesome thing shortly after leaving the city. It seems that the Germans were already aware of the movements of the Ming army, which would cause damage to important transportation facilities such as bridges.

"When will it be fixed?" Stepping out of his car, looking at the long convoy on the road behind him, and looking at the heavy tanks that were firmly fixed to the flatbed trailer, Lin Shuo sighed and asked, "What are the sappers doing?" ”

"Sir." Lin Shuo's adjutant responded, "I have already asked, and the people in the engineer battalion said that two of the bridge piers were blown up, and they could not be repaired at all in a short period of time." However, the sappers had already begun to erect a pontoon bridge next to it, which would be passable by the afternoon at most. ”

"Afternoon?" Lin Shuo frowned, walked a few steps closer to the riverside, and looked up to see that there was indeed a group of sappers erecting a pontoon bridge. It's just that at their speed, it will be at least a few hours before they can do it. Lin Shuo's troops, on the other hand, had a time limit to arrive at the designated location.

"It's too late, we can't wait!" Lin Shuo turned around and gave the order, "All the tanks get off the trailer, and we wade across the river." The tank unit rushed to the assembly site first, and other vehicles and personnel went to help the sappers, repairing the pontoon bridge as soon as possible. ”

Even in modern time and space, armored units use trailers to transport their own armored vehicles in non-combat moments to preserve valuable motorized hours. The engine power of armored vehicles is very high, after all, these vehicles are often at the level of more than a dozen tons, tens of tons. If you want these behemoths to run at the speed of an off-road vehicle, you have to use a powerful engine.

And these military engines are very valuable, because the power is too high, so the wear is also very bad. In order to protect the life of the engine, large flatbed trailers are generally used to transport armored vehicles during normal marches.

Compared to the Rhine, the Mainz is nothing more than a small ditch. At this time, the volume of water in the Mainz River was not large, and those tanks of the Ming army could wade through the water in relatively shallow places.

As an armored unit, as long as your own tanks arrive at the designated place on time, there is no problem. The bosses command the battle and give orders, they will not solve the problems and troubles encountered on the road for their subordinates, they will only look at the results.

The 2nd Panzer Division rushed within the specified time to the Bischofsheim area, which is on the banks of the Rhine. On the other side of the river is the town of Mainz on the west bank of the Rhine. The temporary location of the 2nd Panzer Division was next to the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers. A railway bridge crosses the Rhine from here, but unfortunately the bridge has long since been completely destroyed.

Not only this bridge, but there are no intact bridges left on the entire Rhine. The Germans themselves destroyed all the bridges and transportation systems they had painstakingly built to block the Ming attack.

When Lin Shuo arrived at the front with his own troops, the powerful artillery units of the Ming army were carrying out heavy artillery bombardment of the German positions on the other side of the river. The area where the artillery positions were located was dusty and smoky, and countless shells whistled and tore the air and flew across the Rhine to bring the greetings of death to the Germans.

"The infantry is forcibly crossing the river to seize the bridgehead position, and when the sappers have built the pontoon bridge, your battalion will immediately go out to cross the pontoon bridge and provide support for the infantry." The chief of staff of the Second Panzer Division was assigning tasks to Lin Shuo: "The Germans have no armor strength, and the artillery has almost been destroyed. Rush over and finish them off. ”

"Yes." Lin Shuo gave a military salute vigorously. Lin Shuo, who hadn't participated in a battle for a while, looked at the tense atmosphere and smelled the pungent gunsmoke, and actually had some intoxicating feelings. He misses the feeling of being on the battlefield.

As an elite unit, the heavy tank battalion commanded by Lin Shuo had 48 Tiger heavy tanks when it was fully established. Moreover, the Ming army also gave priority to the use of many new weapons and equipment on the elite troops with outstanding combat achievements. The tank battalion commanded by Lin Shuo was equipped with a new infrared aiming system just before resting, which allows the tank to accurately provide targets for its main guns at night to destroy the enemy.

Although it is equipped with powerful new equipment, it also works very well when tested and used. However, Lin Shuo did not think that his tank would be useful for such equipment in combat operations on the Rhine. Because intelligence has repeatedly stated that the Germans no longer have any tanks at their disposal. Moreover, fighting at night is a very troublesome and difficult thing for the armored forces of all countries.

"Attention crews." Returning to his car, Lin Shuo pressed his throat intercom and shouted, "After crossing the river, you must pay attention to the anti-tank rocket launchers of the enemy infantry, and give priority to using artillery to destroy suspicious targets." Don't get out of the protection of the infantry. ”

Compared to the German armored forces, which were said to have little strength, Lin Shuo was now more worried about the infantry armed with iron-fisted anti-tank rocket launchers, anti-tank mines, incendiary bombs and cluster grenades. After this period of baptism on the battlefield, the armored soldiers of the Ming army hated these infantry hidden in undetectable places.

According to the latest statistics, the casualties caused by the attacks of the German infantry of the Ming armored forces have exceeded the losses caused by the German armored forces. Lin Shuo's orders and worries were not unreasonable.

The resistance of the Germans was not strong. In addition to the quality of weapons and equipment, training, soldiers, etc., the low morale of the German army at this time also played a large role. The Ming infantry successfully broke through the German defenses at the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers, and successfully captured several bridgeheads on the opposite bank. After more than an hour, the pontoon bridge erected by the sappers was finally operational.

"Let's go!" After receiving the order to attack, Lin Shuo immediately commanded his tank battalion as the vanguard to drive onto the steel pontoon bridge. Behind them was a whole tank unit of the 2nd Panzer Division.

The afternoon battle was uneventful, and with the strong cooperation of the 2nd Panzer Division, the Ming infantry quickly drove the Germans out of the city of Mainz and captured the city. Subsequently, numerous infantry and parts of the 2nd Panzer Division attacked the flank positions on both sides and expanded their positions. Lin Shuo's heavy tank battalion was left in Mainz as a reserve.

When the sun began to set in the distance and the army fighters in the sky began to return, it was time for dinner.

"Set up your positions and reserve positions." Before eating, Lin Shuo called several company commanders over for a meeting, "Although the Germans seem to have no intention of fighting, this is a battlefield after all, and we can't take it lightly." It is very likely that the Germans will launch a counterattack at night, and I ask all troops to be prepared for battle. ”

"Yes!"

At this time, there were many Ming troops crossing the river, but most of them were scattered in a long and narrow strip. And this situation was also known to the German reconnaissance troops. A large-scale counterattack is brewing.

Rommel had more armored troops in his hands at this time. The total number of tanks of all models is only a few hundred. During the day, the entire Rhine line was forced through many areas, which made Rommel deeply aware that he was no longer able to hold on to it.

Moreover, after discussion, the Allied command decided that forcibly resisting the Ming army near the Rhine was not an appropriate option. They had chosen the main defensive areas in the Ardennes Forest, where the terrain was not conducive to the movement of armored forces, and the Belgian-Dutch line for the main resistance operations. And the Rhine line of defense has practically been abandoned.

Rommel had received the order to retreat, but the German marshal was not willing to be quietly defeated and fled. After carefully studying the strategic situation between the two sides on a map, he was determined to teach the Ming army a hard lesson before retreating.

And the place Rommel chose was Mainz. The Mainz region is actually a large bend of the Rhine, where the water of the Rhine bends in a zigzag. According to reports from the front-line troops, tens of thousands of Ming officers and soldiers had already broken through the Rhine into the area during the day. After careful selection, Rommel decided to launch a counterattack here, eating the Ming army before retreating.

The first reason why Rommel chose this place for the counterattack was that Rommel, who was born in the armored forces, had already concentrated all the remaining tanks in his hands. And these armored units were deployed in the forests of the Meisenheim region, not far behind Mainz. During the day's fighting, it was not affected, and the armored units were not detected. Thus, Rommel could counterattack at night with powerful armored forces.

The second is Mainz, and the west is Saarbrücken, and after Saarbrücken is Luxembourg. Rommel was ordered to take the elite German troops to Belgium, and if he set out from Luxembourg and head north, it would not be long before he could enter the heavily fortified Allied area of Liège.

In other words, if the counterattack fails, Rommel can also quickly pull away. This is also the main reason why he deployed valuable armored forces in this area.

Even before the Ming army launched the Battle of the Rhine, Rommel was already preparing for a large-scale counterattack.

Because of the air superiority of the Ming Army Aviation, the Germans' counterattack could only be carried out at night. (To be continued.) )