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Chapter 2022 Tank Interspersed Battle

Mujiabao, north of the city of Baghdad, is the headquarters of the West Asian Theater Command of the Anjia Army. Pen~Fun~Pavilion www.biquge.info--Net.

In the small conference room in the middle of the command center, Yin Jinan was having an interview with Chi Zongyuan, commander of the 13th Group Army, and Fang Jide, commander of the 14th Group Army, who had rushed to the scene.

"It stands to reason that you are in the dust, and you should take a break and take a break in your armament. But the current situation of the war is urgent, and I have to send you to the battlefield as soon as possible. Come and see—"

Yin Jinan stood up, led Chi and Fang to the large combat map, and took the baton from the staff officer: "Here...... On the north shore of Lake Gadisiye, we blocked the 12 divisions of the 17th, 29th, and 51st armies under the command of German General Paulus, plus 300,000 logistical and baggage troops.

"However, this encirclement is not strong, and the two garrison divisions of our 16th Army are blocked to the west, and once Paulus calms down, he will inevitably choose to break through on this line. You must take the train overnight to Anai on the western shore of Lake Gadisiye, disembark there, cross the Euphrates and continue your eastward attack, with the Seventh and Eighth Armies and the three tank divisions and two armored infantry divisions drawn from the Third and Fourth Tank Groups, to annihilate this enemy. ”

Chi Zongyuan and Fang Jide glanced at each other and nodded silently.

At this time, the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Li Jun, pushed open the door and walked in, came to Yin Jinan's side, and handed him a telegram.

Yin Jinan took it and looked at it with some doubts, and then his spirit suddenly perked up, and after reading it carefully, a relieved smile appeared on his face: "Yang Jiuxiao has grown up very fast...... This battle plan is extremely operable, and once it is really realized, the German army will inevitably fall into greater passivity, and not only will the situation in West Asia change in an instant, but the entire situation in World War II will also be fundamentally reversed!

"In the past few days, I have been thinking about the next strategy, after the elimination of the German southeast cluster, we will free up at least four army groups of living forces, originally I was going to use all this force to encircle and annihilate the Paulus cluster, but now it seems that this courage is still a little small......

"Since Yang Jiuxiao dares to launch a counterattack on the enemy's solid front on the north road, then we can also draw a gourd in the south, once we make a breakthrough, it will be like a crab stretching out two big pincers, and the situation will change in an instant, and the Germans will have a headache at that time!"

Seeing Chi Zongyuan and Fang Jide's confused eyes, Yin Jinan took the map and briefly introduced the current situation, and then said:

"No matter how the tide of battle changes, your task is tight...... There is a good chance that you will attack and destroy them with fewer troops than the enemy, and then we will divide and encircle the Germans and annihilate them one by one! The better you play, the smoother the implementation of the entire strategic encirclement! ”

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!" Chi Zongyuan and Fang Jide didn't expect that there would be a big battle to fight as soon as they came, their eyes showed excitement, and they saluted Yin Jinan together.

"Alright, you guys go, try to get the movement in place in the early hours of tomorrow night...... Now that your allies have launched a counterattack on all fronts, I don't think Paulus will be able to figure it out for a while, and by the time he finally finds out that he can only survive by breaking through to the west, his end has come! ”

When Chi Zongyuan and Fang Jide heard this, they saluted Yin Jinan again, and then left in a hurry.

A quarter of an hour later, the command convened an emergency operational meeting.

At the meeting, Yin Jinan briefly introduced Yang Jiuxiao's new plan, which was unanimously approved by everyone and handed over to the staff department for discussion and improvement.

At four o'clock in the morning, the new battle plan was finally released, and then it was sent to the Military Commission and An Yi. --Net.

......

The night was dark.

More than 30 kilometers south of the defensive line constructed by the Seventh Army of the Anjia Army, the 11th Tank Division and the 14th Armored Infantry Division of the Third Tank Army were attacking.

"An Jiajun, forward!"

In the wilderness where explosions were heard one after another, a group of hunched infantry of the Anjia Army, armed with automatic rifles and submachine guns, closely followed the Leopard II tanks, half-track armored fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers.

It was a field less than fifteen kilometres south of the town of um Fitul, where the winding road was blocked by German artillery and machine-gun fire, and a position crisscrossed by the road stretched far into the darkness on either side.

"Boom-"

A shell suddenly fell less than five meters away from the attacking crowd and exploded violently, and two Anjia Army infantrymen were immediately shot and fell, but as far as the eye could see, the corpses scattered on this barren field were still mostly German officers and soldiers in black uniforms.

Near a small hill with a drop of only twenty or thirty meters, around the winding trenches, hundreds of German corpses still remained in various postures when they died.

On the machine gun battle positions made of sandbags, you can clearly see German heavy machine guns with shields, strangely shaped anti-tank guns, and 37 mm and 57 mm anti-aircraft guns, most of which were scattered and fragmented at this time.

Because this area is an irrigation area where the Euphrates and Celsal rivers meet, there are many ravines for irrigation of farmland, and there are many lakes nearby, so the trees that are difficult to see in Western Asia are not only dense, but also dense jungles, which seem to be a different world.

An armored fighting vehicle marching more than 10 meters in front of the infantry of the Anjia Army suddenly stopped, adjusted the muzzle of the 20-mm machine gun slightly, and fired a shot in the direction where the German artillery shells were flying with a "boom".

In the blink of an eye, an anti-tank gun emplacement, hidden by a large number of branches and leaves, between two large trees, was hit - although the 37mm anti-aircraft guns were far less powerful than the Leopard II and Tiger tanks of the An Jiajun, it was more than enough to deal with these thin-skinned armored fighting vehicles!

After finishing the shooting, the Anjia Army tanks and armored fighting vehicles continued to advance rapidly, and farther away, with the sound of "clicking" breaking, the large trees that were more than one person tall and the arms thick were ruthlessly pushed to the ground by the steel beasts of the Anjia Army.

On the second-line positions of the German army, about two kilometers in front of the woods, many German officers and soldiers whose self-confidence had been seriously damaged had already left the trenches and fled backwards in panic.

"Brethren, don't stop, keep going!"

On a command-type Leopard II tank, Captain Ren Jianhua, commander of the 3rd Battalion and 1st Company of the 2nd Regiment of the 11th Tank Division, wearing a black tank uniform, shouted to his subordinate commanders with a radio communicator.

The tank company of the Anjia Army includes a company equipped with two Leopard II tanks and three tank platoons with four Leopard II tanks each, which can fully undertake a certain aspect of the offensive mission.

Mechanized troops passed through the German second-line positions, across the jungle, and a quaint bridge was already looming.

Due to its location in the irrigation area, there are many artificial rivers in this area, they are usually three or four meters deep and four or five meters wide, and now it is winter, only some water at the bottom of the ditch, people can completely wade through. (--net.) The only thing to note is that if tanks and armored vehicles cross the river, the river bank is too steep and straight, which naturally acts as an anti-tank trench, and if the opposing infantry is ambushed on the riverbank, almost every rocket will take a tank.

Therefore, judging from all aspects, it is best to preserve the bridge in front of you intact in order to facilitate the rapid advance of the mechanized troops in the rear.

Under the light of the falling artillery fire, groups of retreating German infantry were fleeing towards the bridge in a panic, driven by the survival **, their two legs actually ran over the tracks and wheels of the An Jiajun.

However, these people seem to be concerned that there are still a large number of companions who have not had time to retreat, or are eager to escape, and have no time to think about those deep responsibilities, these Germans did not blow up the bridge in the first place, only a small number of people joined the ranks of the defenders of the bridgehead, but they did not have time to breathe, and the two Leopard II tanks of the An Jia army had already rushed to the bridgehead.

The heavy machine guns deployed by the Germans on both sides of the bridgehead on the opposite bank used dense bullets in vain to hit the 120 mm thick turret and body armor in front of the Leopard II tanks, but such an attack was to no avail, only to see the two Leopard II tanks burst out of fierce sparks from the front, while moving forward smoothly, while firing fiercely at the German defensive positions with 105 mm tank guns and vehicle-mounted coaxial and heading machine guns, and after a while, they successfully crossed the bridge, the tracks touched the ground, and continued to spray dense barrage at the Germans.

At this time, many German troops were still running in a panic on the bridgehead, and the dense machine-gun bullets quickly "freed" them from this bad and disorderly state.

Under the pressure of the tanks of the Anjia Army, the German infantry had to abandon the bridgehead position and chose to retreat on its own initiative!

At this extremely important moment, Captain Ren Jianhua decisively gave an order: "The rest of the tanks in a platoon should immediately cross the bridge now, and after reaching the other side of the bridge, they should disperse on the spot, and each of them will look for a defensive position;

"Second platoon, third platoon, don't cross the river, each car group is looking for a hidden place to hide, there are still a large number of German troops on our two flanks who will have time to retreat in the future, saying that not necessarily the battle will happen from the side, no matter when, we must not give up our vigilance;

"Correspondent, now send a report to the regimental headquarters, we have just occupied Bridge No. 4, ask for instructions!"

The stone bridges, which belong to a different century from those steel bridges, even have quaint stone railings carved with strange patterns, and the 35-ton Leopard II tank passed unharmed, and the two behind crossed the bridge without any problems.

A minute later, the regimental headquarters sent an order over the radio: Hold Bridge No. 4 at any cost.

After receiving the order, Ren Jianhua immediately contacted Lieutenant Lu Teng, commander of the 3rd Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 14th Armored Infantry Division, which was following the attack of the tank company, to unify and coordinate the operations of the two divisions.

Ren Jianhua decided: The Third Panzer Company sent a platoon of infantry to clear the bridge deck, and at the same time sent a platoon to cross the river to assist in the defense, and finally sent six armored fighting vehicles, divided into two directions, north and south, to reconnoiter the movements of the German army and win the first opportunity for defense.

"Sir, there is a large number of infantry in the northwest approaching our side, most likely the German troops who have just withdrawn from the adjacent positions!"

The report of Second Lieutenant He Mu, the platoon commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the third company, suddenly sounded in the earphones.

Ren Jianhua calmly gave the order: "Make sure it's not our troops before firing, understand?" ”

"Understood!"

Second Lieutenant He Mu's answer came clearly.

Since the battle is interspersed with tanks, it is very likely that our troops in the salient will go deep behind enemy lines, and it is inevitable that the enemy and us will be mixed together. However, the powerful firepower, defense, and mobility of tanks and armored units give them a unique ability to penetrate in depth.

The 1st Tank Company and the 3rd Panzer Company were ready for defense at this time. The role of armored infantry is extremely important, their firepower can make up for the tank's blind spot in close fire, and the machine guns and machine gun barrage of armored fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers are enough to provide dense fire cover for tanks.

The sparse sound of gunfire suddenly came from the northwest of the bridge, and a moment later, the voice of Ensign He Mu came from the radio intercom: "It's the Germans who came, and after we shouted, they opened fire on us as soon as possible!" ”

"Okay, you guys withdraw now...... The other divisions are ready for battle, and when the enemy is close to four hundred meters, they will shoot at once, and if the enemy retreats, immediately cease fire, the Germans are in our encirclement, and at dawn they have no choice but to surrender, understand? ”

Ren Jianhua gave a loud order, and the tank turret began to change direction. When everything was arranged, Ren Jianhua simply stood on the turret of the Leopard II tank, intently observing the situation in the northwest with a telescope.

Under the fire of the artillery that sometimes rises and sometimes annihilates, the figures of the German infantry are becoming clearer and clearer, and fortunately, there are no tanks in the crowd!

As the distance to the bridgehead gradually narrowed, the Germans finally found that the bridgehead for escape had changed hands, but the chaotic situation no longer allowed their commanders to seriously organize an attack!

Waiting for the other party to get close enough, Ren Jianhua gave the order to fire through the radio station.

"Porphyry—"

The sound of the general-purpose machine gun firing like tearing cloth could be heard by the officers and soldiers who were waiting silently without the use of communicators, and almost instantly, all kinds of firearms were firing fiercely at the rolling German troops.

At a distance of 400 meters, the lethality of tank guns, machine guns, and light and heavy machine guns made it impossible for the German infantry to advance even 50 meters!

In the head-on confrontation between flesh and blood and metal storm, the former had to choose to retreat due to huge casualties and rapid demoralization, but the German army, which gathered all kinds of routs, occupied an absolute numerical advantage after all—although this tank unit of the Anjia Army broke through their position with lightning speed, the German officers and soldiers who still held the initiative on the whole were not willing to give up resistance easily.

Ten minutes later, with the support of several anti-tank guns and infantry guns, the German infantry made a comeback, and this time they became shrewd, and instead of blindly rushing towards the bridgehead, they bent their waists and lowered their heads, and at a distance of two to three meters from each other, and quickly advanced towards the side of the Anjia army's position.

When one of the directions is suppressed by the fire of the Anjia army, the rest of the men will speed up and move towards the bridgehead. In this way, the huge attacking queue continued to approach the bridgehead position that had been under the control of their own troops half an hour earlier.

"Attention to the second and third platoons of tanks, after we have opened heavy fire, you will launch all the tanks and make a counter-assault on the attacking enemy, but it is better not to exceed five hundred meters, understand?"

"Yes!"

The loud replies of the two platoon commanders were heard.

When a large number of German infantry rushed to a distance of only more than 200 meters from the bridgehead, the fierce artillery fire and bullet rain of a platoon of tanks on the other side of the river and all armored fighting vehicles and personnel carriers on both sides of the river broke out in an instant, and the flying shrapnel and shuttle bullets ruthlessly and efficiently plundered the lives of German officers and soldiers, and in just a few minutes, the number of German casualties climbed at an astonishing speed, and soon reached triple digits!

In the afterimage of the tracer bullets that flew by, Captain Ren Jianhua poked out half of his head from his turret, holding a telescope in his right hand and a radio walkie-talkie in his left hand, his expression became extremely serious.

The darkness of the night has been dispelled by the blazing fire, and in the sight, patches of German infantry fell to the ground, but driven by the survival **, more fighters armed with Mauser rifles and submachine guns still ran forward without fear of death.

When the Anjia machine gunners had to pause their firing to replace the reddish barrels, the firepower on the position suddenly weakened considerably, and the Germans took advantage of this favorable opportunity to constantly close the distance between themselves and the Anjia army's position.

Seeing that the German infantry was about to rush into the bridgehead, Captain Ren Jianhua shouted: "Second platoon, third platoon, attack!" ”

The fierce artillery fire drowned out the sound of the Anjia tanks hiding behind the bridgehead position, and when they appeared on the position and advanced while firing, the German officers and men were visibly surprised, and their forward troops were already less than a hundred meters from the bridgehead position!

With their muzzles lowered, no aiming, and no stopping to fire, the Leopard II tanks at the front fired their 105mm shells in a matter of seconds, while the coaxial and heading machine guns at the front of the hull were constantly spraying terrifying tongues of fire.

At such a close distance, their crimson muzzle flames made every German soldier feel a visceral panic.

The sound of tracks crashing against the ground was heard, and the Leopard II tank moved forward calmly, the direction of the gun, the side-by-side and the course machine guns were able to respond to the artillery fire with a dense ammunition, and the deadly rain of bullets mercilessly killed those humble lives, and in the case of close combat, the pressure on the charging German officers and soldiers was far greater than the power of the charging German officers and soldiers.

The Germans, whose attack was blocked, were still hesitating, but unfortunately they did not have time to think too much, and the eight tanks of the Anjia Army marching at full speed had already crossed the distance of 100 meters and rushed in front of them. The German soldiers quickly panicked, and in a hurry, someone picked up a rifle and machine gun and fired at the tank, but how could such a bullet pose a threat to the heavily armored Anjia tank?

Although the German infantry also had anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades in their hands, and the anti-tank guns deployed in the rear were also struggling to attack, the Leopard II tanks of the Anjia Army did not give them much time to react, and the steel beast pierced the German charging line obliquely like an extremely sharp sword.

In the face of this oppressive attack, the German infantry who tried to recapture the bridge finally retreated, but unfortunately what awaited them was not a precious respite and a reinvigorated attack, and two consecutive charges could not take the bridge, and more Anjia tanks and armored vehicles had come out of the darkness, and they swept through the already riddled German positions in a fan-shaped attack formation, and quickly advanced in the direction of the bridge.

The momentum of the attack of hundreds of tanks and hundreds of armored vehicles together was very different, and the morale of the German officers and men, who were familiar with tank warfare, quickly fell to a low point.

By 7 a.m., the An army had advanced the front eight kilometers in one fell swoop, leaving Admiral Paulus, who was trying to delay time with a strong defense, on pins and needles, and had to send troops frequently to plug the loopholes - at this time, even an extra hour was precious.

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