"Tank warfare cannot rely on armor and firepower alone, but it is absolutely impossible without armor and firepower." In this armored collision, the disadvantage of the No. 4 tank was once again exposed, and the so-called one-force drop ten meetings, fighting in an open area, what can be done if you can't penetrate the opponent? With the further collapse of the front and the loss of a large number of military forces, the decline of the Germans became more and more obvious over time after the Chinese and German armies that could still be killed by the two sides in the first stage entered the second stage. But at this moment, it is far from the time to divide the victory or defeat, and when the opponent in front is beaten step by step, Huaxia has realized the danger of the flank!

Guderian is worthy of being a master of tactics, when the two sides are fighting to the death in the front, Guderian's troops are out day and night, relying on the surrounding terrain and terrain, moving towards the flank of China in the way of ants moving, and the Luftwaffe is also doing its best to drive away the Chinese reconnaissance aircraft, the Luftwaffe is declining on the frontal battlefield on the one hand because of the lack of strength, and the other reason is that the German army attaches great importance to Guderian's operation, specially equipped with 2 fighter groups to provide him with air cover!

In addition to Guderian, the Austro-Hungarian troops under Schlager's command also hit the flank of the Chinese troops, and two Iranian divisions and Russian units and nearly four divisions of Austrian-Turkish troops fought together. The huge strength of the Austro-Turkish armies put a lot of pressure on the Iranian troops who had just entered the battlefield, and even made Huaxia feel a little surprised, which was not that the combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian army was too high, but that it felt a little low!

"No, the Iranian army can hold the line." Peng Yi looked at the two huge red arrows on the flank of the Huaxia Legion on the map and fell into thought, Austria-Hungary is also at the level of a great power. There was no shortage of elite legions in World War I, and this time it was a unit that concentrated the elite forces of the whole country. In the siege battle that ended not long ago, although Tian Yong took this city on time. But the Austro-Hungarian garrison was also highly rated. Although the Iranian troops have a large amount of equipment provided by Huaxia, the level of equipment is still inferior to that of the regular Chinese army, and as for the combat experience, it is impossible to describe it as a miracle that it can hold in the face of twice as many enemies. There's definitely something greasy about it.

"General Guderian's armored forces are already in place? Are you sure Huaxia didn't find out? Facing the German liaison officer beside him, Schrager asked repeatedly.

"The Huaxia air reconnaissance was blocked by us to the east, for which we paid the price of two squadrons being disabled, but fortunately, the flanks are not the main battlefield, and the other side has not taken it too seriously. At present, they have committed the strength of three integrated divisions. Except for a division that had just completed the assault and was resting, they seemed to have no reserves, and if the other side found out, they should have reservations. The liaison said. And judging from the number of feedback from the current aerial reconnaissance, it seems that the other side has not moved to increase the flank. Afraid that he would not be able to convince the admiral in front of him, the liaison officer added.

"Theoretically, Huaxia should not have any other large-scale reserves other than the armored division that is currently resting?" Schrager said to himself, to say that there is no reserve in Huaxia, Schrager does not believe it. But judging from the current situation, the Allies believe that Huaxia has already invested all its forces, and there will not be many reserves left. And now Austria-Hungary attacked the Iranian forces on the flank of China from the west, and Guderian was located in the southwest. It is at the junction of the Chinese and Iranian armies. And it doesn't seem to have been discovered by Huaxia yet. If this were the case, the certainty of victory for the Allies would undoubtedly be a little greater.

"When the Huaxia Legion was immersed in the victory on the frontal battlefield, we did not know that we were already preparing for a strike on their flank." In the telegram to Schrager. Brauchitsch asked the Austro-Hungarian army to take the initiative and completely empty the reserves in China. Then for Guderian's interspersed creation zào conditions.

"It's better if everybody attacks at the same time. We are obligated to fight with friendly forces, but we are not obligated to act as cannon fodder for friendly forces. We have done our best to storm the enemy's heavily fortified defenses, and you are afraid to intersperse the two. In front of us were two Iranian divisions, well-equipped and based on positional defense. And General Guderian is facing the opponent's vulnerable transport troops, and if his tanks can't even deal with the opponent's trucks, then it doesn't matter whether the opponent has reserves or not. Schrager said very dissatisfied, because in his eyes, Guderian's approach was suspicious of picking peaches!

Objectively speaking, the Germans did clear the obstacles for Guderian as much as possible, but this is definitely not to shape someone into a hero who can turn the tide, but there is really no way, after a long period of head-on combat, the two battle groups of German AB suffered heavy losses, and even the reinforcements brought by Moder were filled in, and there was really no possibility of victory on the front. If you fight for a few more days, the supplies will not be enough, and then the whole army will have to retreat. Therefore, they pinned their only hope on Guderian's flank assault group, and the main forces of the German army went to ridicule, and naturally hoped that the Austro-Hungarian troops would cooperate.

Although Austria-Hungary is Germany's younger brother and should block the gun for the eldest brother when necessary, Schrager is a soldier and will not estimate the political form and international situation on the battlefield, his bottom line is that everyone will work together, even if there are reserves in China, the two sides must share the pressure together. Compared to the Germans, Schrager is still very optimistic about the situation, the two Iranian divisions are nothing in his eyes, and the key to their ability to carry it down is that Schrager has not done his best, on the one hand, he is not fully prepared, and on the other hand, he himself does not want to face the Chinese reserves alone. Austria-Hungary had already thrown away an elite division in order to distract the opponent. Why pull hatred for the latter again?

So the two sides directly began to use telegraph to file a lawsuit. Adjust the timing and steps for the final general attack. After numerous verbal battles, the two sides finally decided to act simultaneously. The German frontal corps would launch a limited offensive to pin down the three divisions on the Chinese front. Prevent the other party from coming back to help. The Austro-Hungarian corps and Guderian's flank group attacked at the same time, but after breaking through the Chinese defense, the Austro-Hungarian forces were to send a force south to meet Guderian's group and supply it accordingly. After both sides made some concessions. The plan of attack was finalized, and the third phase of the entire campaign was about to begin.

Such large-scale cooperation and action must be accompanied by a surge in radio signals. Perhaps Guderian could have kept his troops under control and minimized radio communications, since his troops were less than one division. However, in coordination with the Air Force and Schrager's mobilization of his four divisions, it was inevitable that radio contact would be made frequently. So. It is impossible for the Huaxia electronic investigation department not to find out! In addition, Huaxia seized the cipher machine shortly after the start of the war and the ultra-high processing power of its own electronic computer. After a period of hard work by the intelligence department, Huaxia could also feel what the other party was planning.

"The situation is not very good now, two Iranian divisions may not be able to withstand the opponent, and on our flanks there may be a force left, we have only one division in reserve. The scope of reserve support is the Western Front and the entire logistical supply line. It's stressful. Peng Yi said worriedly at the meeting. Tian Yong's troops were not afraid to fight hard with their opponents, but they were a little powerless to deal with the opponent's multi-directional attacks on supply lines.

"Give my troops priority to get supplies, and we can send the Austrians back home!" At this time, General Gallen proposed to build yì, and Huaxia still did not trust the Russians very much after all. In terms of priorities for equipment and supplies, the Russian corps was even after the Iranian corps. And this time, in the case of the shortage of troops in Huaxia, General Gallen saw a glimmer of hope. He had to use his exploits to raise the position of the Russian legion in the entire Entente bloc.

"Yes. But you have to close the gap as soon as possible, and you can decide what to do, but before that you inform your allies. Large-scale redeployments at the regimental level and above need to be reported with the consent of Headquarters. "The Russian army also has nearly 20,000 men, which can almost erase the gap between the forces of the two sides on the Western Front. Coupled with the fact that the Russians are indeed stronger than the Austrians historically, it should not be a big problem. Peng Yi thought in his heart. In this way, Tian Yongshi could concentrate on dealing with the indefinite size of the troops on his flank.

But even so, Peng Yi was still not at ease, and after some hesitation. Peng Yi still put the last mobile force into the battlefield, this light armored force composed of wheeled armored vehicles and wheeled assault guns The biggest feature is that it is fast and has poor protection. It is impossible to use it to resist the front, but it is possible to use it for guerrilla attacks and ambushes. This force is actually a hodgepodge, with not only Chinese standard tanks but also tanks supported by the United States and Britain. Huaxia has fought for the old book, and the United States and Britain don't say that they can't say it. And Peng Yi smiled at the principle that being able to pull out pus is a good plaster. Of course, it's hard to say what the final result will be.

Schrager was also really unambiguous at the critical moment, and finally launched an attack on the defense line of the Iranian forces at the set time. In this campaign, the Austro-Hungarian corps can be said to have done its best. The three main divisions went all out with the cooperation of the Air Force, and there were as many as 3 wings of aircraft assigned to Schrager alone! This time. The Austro-Hungarian Empire transferred almost all the planes it could find, and this was not the end, after some weighing, Schrager transferred the last highly mobile force in the entire Austro-Hungarian corps, and the Bohemian division of Major General Lübenin would rush to the battlefield, so that after a while, the entire Austro-Hungarian corps on the flank would have a huge strength of 4 Austro-Hungarian divisions and 1 Turkish division, and such a strong heavy force group greatly exceeded Huaxia's estimates.

For the first time, the all-out efforts of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force allowed Schrager to gain air supremacy on the battlefield. The Iranians, after some resistance, finally ran out of their strength. Although the Iranians also have a large number of Type 29 tanks. In terms of organization, the equipment of the division's internal team is not bad, but in fact, both the Chinese troops can get additional fire support in actual combat, such as 155MM cannons and 8-inch heavy howitzers. BUT THE IRANIAN FORCES DO NOT HAVE THESE THINGS, AND THE MOST POWERFUL LONG-RANGE FIREPOWER IS NOTHING MORE THAN 122MM PLUS HOWITZERS AND 155MM HOWITZERS. Although the power is there, the range is not enough. Coupled with the problem of the officers and soldiers, so they did not know how to respond to the attack of an opponent who had an advantage. Yan zhòng lacks practical combat experience.

In all fairness, as a weak division, the Iranians did quite hard, first of all, they built their defense line according to the construction of the Chinese officer corps, set up outpost positions in front of the main position, and used anti-tank trenches, pit vipers, barbed wire, minefields and other obstacles to delay the opponent's attack, set up reinforced support points on the main position, and the main position and the second-line position were directly left in sufficient depth. On the surface, there are no loopholes in this defense system, but under the full attack of the Austro-Hungarian army, this system has not exerted its combat effectiveness on paper, and the same defense system is guarded by different people, and there is still a big gap.

"The Iranians are throwing too many troops and material resources into the first line of defense. On the surface, it is a will to fight to the death. Or maybe it's a kind of stubbornness. But in fact, the fundamental reason is that after the collapse of the first line of defense, the Iranian army can not effectively reintegrate its own troops, relying on the position and the supervision of officers, junior officers and soldiers may still be able to fight, but once it collapses, it will be difficult for the Iranian army to organize again, so in order to be able to resist the opponent more effectively, they can only desperately concentrate all their main forces on the front line, and fight to the death with the other side. After the war, a Chinese officer who participated in defensive operations said of the Iranian troops.

When the Austro-Hungarian regiment cleared the outpost and launched an attack on the main position, they were really taken aback by the enemy's ferocious firepower! Logically speaking, the first line of defense is generally the one that delays the opponent, and the second or even the third line of defense is the core of the entire defense. The defenders would not have invested too many troops in the first line of defense, but in this encounter, the Iranians' firepower exceeded the imagination of the other side, and countless shells were like waves towards the charging Austro-Hungarian regiments, and the opponents fired at a long distance, and the Austro-Hungarian tanks were still 1,500 meters away from the defensive line. THE IRANIAN ANTI-TANK GUNS BEGAN TO ATTACK IN A HURRY, NOT TO MENTION THE HIT RATE AT THIS DISTANCE, EVEN IF THEY HIT, THE ANGLED ARMOR OF THE NO. 4 SHOWED THAT THEY COULD RESIST THE 75MM CANNON SHELLS AT THIS DISTANCE.

Thanks to book friends zhouyu1976 and Eric Xiao for their tips~~~, as well as book friends Feixue 12 and Li Jicheng's monthly ticket support ~~~. (To be continued......)