The "success" of the south wind to achieve his goal was a great encouragement to Hitler, who more than once proudly flaunted his wisdom to the staff officers of the wolf's den, and more than once claimed that "the truth is in the hands of a few"!

Naturally, Hitler was full of confidence in the next rainstorm operation. He constantly urged Dietrich to speed up his movements, constantly interfering in the deployment of troops on the front line. Under Hitler's powerful "interference", the German troops involved in the south wind barely had time to breathe before they threw themselves into the next phase of the operation.

According to the report on the strength of Army Group South on March 21, 1944, the total strength of the Axis countries under Army Group was about 53 people, including 430,000 German troops and 100,000 Hungarian troops. The number of attack troops directly involved in combat missions is about 169,000 people. The four divisions of the 91st Army of Army Group E were tasked with an auxiliary attack mission, with a total of 20,000 men.

For the implementation of this plan, the German army assembled about 995 tanks, assault guns and self-propelled guns of various types, and 5,360 guns of other types. Among them, the main attack force is equipped with 822 tanks, assault guns and self-propelled guns, and 3,280 artillery pieces and mortars. The 2nd Panzer Army had 68 tanks, assault guns and self-propelled guns, and the 91st Army of Army E had about 6 tanks and 15 assault guns. In addition, air support was provided by a total of about 850 combat aircraft of the 4th Air Force of the Luftwaffe and the Hungarian Air Force.

The 1st Panzer Division was reinforced with King Tiger tanks from the 509th Heavy Tank Battalion, while the 1st SS Panzer Division reinforced with 31 King Tiger tanks from the SS 501st Heavy Tank Battalion, and the SS 12th Panzer Division was reinforced with 14 No. 4 Tank Destroyers, 7 Cheetah Tank Destroyers, and 8 No. 4 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from the 560th Heavy Anti-Tank Battalion.

In addition to investing enough blood. German intelligence even secretly plotted to incite the Romanian army to rebellion. An attempt to get it back to fighting for Nazi Germany. This program is called "Operation Skydiver". The Germans airdropped a number of German and Romanian agents into Romanian territory. Successfully made contact with some high-ranking Romanian military officers and government officials.

The purpose of the whole plan was to instigate the two Romanian armies that were fighting against the German Army Group E in western Romania, and to assist the Germans in encircling the Red Army in Romania during the rainstorm plan. Immediately after the success, the Germans would counterattack into Romania.

The whole parachutist operation is not to be said to be whimsical, but it is always brain-opening, but what makes KGB and Li Xiaofeng laugh and cry is that there are Romanian idiots who would agree to cooperate with the Germans, but this time the Romanians' motives are not because they are pro-German, but at the instigation of MI6. They were ready to use German influence to clear Soviet control of Romania.

After negotiations, some Romanian fools reached an agreement with the Germans on the condition that when the Germans had defeated the Soviet Red Army, the Germans would only be stationed on the border between Romania and the Soviet Union.

These open-minded Romanians were attracted by the pie drawn by MI6, thinking that as long as the Germans defeated the Red Army, the Anglo-American Allies would soon enter Romania, and Romania would be protected by the Anglo-Americans.

It's just that anyone with a little common sense knows how naïve this idea is, the British and Americans are too busy with the overlord operation to care about the Balkans, and Bulgaria is still under the control of the Red Army at this time. Greece is still occupied by the German army, is it possible for the Anglo-American allies to fly over?

It's even more ridiculous. The Romanians actually regarded the Germans as living Lei Feng, and when the Germans reoccupied Romania, they would obediently act according to Romania's instructions. I'm afraid that when the time comes, the Germans will be the masters, and the ones who will be the ones who speak their minds.

Anyway, Li Xiaofeng's performance towards this group of Romanians is crying and laughing, this is simply a group of comics, so he sent these comics to hell in minutes. The last vestiges of pro-German and pro-Anglo-American scars in Romania were wiped out.

Of course, in order to paralyze the German army that was about to carry out the operation, the KGB used the captured secret radio to continue to contact the German army, forged a false appearance that the operation was going well, and even used the radio to induce the Germans to airdrop weapons and ammunition to the Romanian army that was preparing to "defect".

Naturally, these Hitlers did not know, and in his opinion everything went well, and everything was ready only to owe the east wind. But in reality, the Germans not only did not have an east wind in terms of weather, but had a lot of trouble.

Prior to the implementation of the Spring Awakening Plan, German meteorologists had predicted that southern European regions such as Romania and Hungary would remain frost controlled in March. Low temperatures will freeze muddy roads in favor of armored forces.

But the reality was completely different from what meteorologists had predicted, and the thaw began in southern Europe in late February, and then the weather began to be capricious, sometimes minus 10 degrees Celsius, and then more than 10 degrees Celsius, which directly turned the relevant area into a big quagmire. To make matters worse, the Germans were located in numerous rivers, which further deteriorated the terrain.

As early as the operation of the south wind, the German army suffered from the terrain, not to mention the march in the field, even the road was a muddy inch. Ironically, the Romanian puppet army and the Hungarians once reminded the Germans: the location here is not at all suitable for large-scale armored group operations! But these "superstitions" and "gossip" were taken by Hitler as the wind on deaf ears.

So when Operation Rainstorm actually begins, the Germans will have to pay their tuition. Shortly after advancing from the starting point of the attack, the Germans found that the situation was not good, the snow-mixed roads were turned into a quagmire, and many of the tanks that were struggling to move forward were either flooded or stuck in the mud. The immobile steel beast flung its mud-covered tracks desperately, but could not stand up like an arrow in its knee. One by one, they slowly collapsed in the mud, only the Maybach engine still let out a dying hiss in vain.

Tank crews and car drivers cursed the damn weather, the damn road conditions, but despite their fists and kicks, the car remained motionless. And at this very moment. The Red Army began to greet them. Countless orange halos flashed from the muzzles of the guns on the opposite position. Anti-tank shells rained down on the Germans from all directions, screeching and sparks on the tank's turret and front armor, and then turned into dazzling meteors in all directions.

LSSAG Division Commander Otto. Major General Qom SS recalled: "The area of our attack was so soft due to the thaw that it could not bear the weight of tanks and armored vehicles. Coupled with the fact that the enemy was full of mines, almost all the tanks that we threw into the first wave of attacks were lost. To put it bluntly, our attacks had no effect other than tickling the enemy, but we were embarrassed by the terrible terrain! ”

The assault sappers who followed the tanks to clear the line of fire and the Panzergrenadiers, who had been slightly behind the formation, also found themselves in despair in a dense rain of machine-gun, mortar and rocket shells. Crushed against the cold, muddy ground, unable to move. The German soldiers, barely getting up and charging, let out a constant wail, harvested in the mud piece by piece by the scythe of death.

The terrain severely affected the German ammunition supply and tank effectiveness, and only extremely limited and lucky tanks and assault guns could pass through the swamp, and the rest could only stare helplessly at the quagmire.

Due to the limited number of aircraft, as well as bad weather, and most importantly, the Red Army's powerful fighter aviation seized air supremacy, it was difficult for the Luftwaffe to implement effective ground support from the air. In this case, the deeper you went into the lines of the Red Army, the more immobile the Germans became. Although the SS Youth Division to the right of the LSSAH Division had some success at the beginning, it was only half an hour later that it could no longer move, just like the LSSAH Division. And directly exposed to the well-constructed and fierce positions of the Red Army. Under the blows of the 233rd Infantry Division of the Red Army, the SS Youth Division suffered heavy casualties. The commander had to order the troops to temporarily suspend the operation and wait for the tanks to follow up and support.

In order to expand the strength of the breakthrough, Dietrich ordered nine artillery regiments to be put into the battlefield for support, and the 1st Panzer Division and the 356th Infantry Division barely made a hole in the defense line of the 155th Infantry Division after more than a dozen rounds of fierce attacks with artillery support.

However, the Germans' gains that day were limited to that, and the battle became more difficult in the next day, as the temperature on the battlefield rose above freezing, the ground became softer, and the road conditions deteriorated further.

In the early hours of the morning, the 3rd German Panzergrenadier Regiment of the Reich Division was the first to enter the battle, and under the cover of heavy artillery fire, grenadiers and tanks desperately stormed the left flank of the positions of the 155th Infantry Division of the Red Army. The Red Army fighters used all the weapons they could use to fend off the enemy's attacks, many foxholes were flattened by tanks, and the brave Red Army soldiers often threw the last anti-tank grenade or ****** at the tanks before they died, and finally the Red Army soldiers even pulled anti-aircraft guns to intercept the German tanks pouring into the defensive line.

At the critical moment, the 170th Tank Brigade and the 1016th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment on the second line of defense of the Red Army adopted dexterous ambush tactics, and after intensive artillery bombardment, they constantly and skillfully used the terrain to change their firing positions, weakening the assault force of the German offensive spearhead.

They first resisted the onslaught of the tanks of the Imperial Division, and then decisively adopted a coordinated offensive and began a series of counter-attacks, which interrupted the good offensive momentum of the German army, and even forced the German troops to retreat in some areas. In desperation, they realized that the resistance of the Red Army seemed insurmountable, let alone continuing the offensive, and even the wedge that their own side had cut into the defensive line was in danger.

After a day of concentrated attacks, the 1st Panzer Corps of the SS, which had attacked later than the Imperial Divisions, was still struggling to make an attempt to expand the breakthrough in the positions of the 233rd Infantry Division and the 68th Infantry Division. The LSSAH division, on the other hand, abandoned a frontal assault and tried to make a detour from the southwest.

About forty tanks took cover from the grenadiers in half-track armored vehicles into the battle. However, the Red Army did not get the LSSAH division as expected, and reacted quickly by deploying mobile anti-tank units into key positions, with the 43rd Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment of the 1965th Anti-Tank Brigade playing a crucial role in the ensuing battle.

In the early morning, the Red Army infantry defending the outlying positions of the village and the menacing SS armored troops first engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and they were forced to retreat because they could not withstand the heavy pressure of the local armored forces, and more than 20 German tanks and armored vehicles took advantage of the situation to rush to the positions of the 6th Artillery Company of the 1965th Regiment.

According to the recollections of veterans of the Red Army who participated in the battle. At that time, the German tanks were supported by non-stop fire from several six-pack rocket launchers. The firing was accompanied by on-board machine-gun fire. Quickly forward at speeds in excess of 30 km/h.

The boys of the 6th Artillery Company withstood the bombardment of artillery fire, calmly searched for fighters, and lowered the enemy's King Tiger tank to a limit distance of about 100 meters before firing. In this battle of artillery fighting bayonets, the 6th Company destroyed three King Tiger tanks in one fell swoop and became a famous hero of tiger slaughter. Of course, one can see the honor of the 6 Company, but little attention is paid to their casualties, in this battle. Seventy-five percent of the company's soldiers and 90 percent of its artillery and 100 percent of its officers were killed, and after repelling the German attack, the company had only one anti-tank gun left to continue fighting.

However, the sacrifice of the 6th Company was worth it, and after this battle, the Germans immediately shrank their eggs and did not dare to make any detours, and the LSSAH division honestly shrank back and continued to gnaw at the solid frontal positions of the Red Army.

Seeing that the frontal assault during the day suffered huge losses, and the Red Army positions were never able to succeed. The Germans launched a large-scale night offensive over the next two days. However, with the exception of the grenadiers, who were supported by tanks, achieved some success in attacking anti-tank positions that were not defended by Red Army infantry, the rest of the German offensive was successfully defused by the Red Army.

At the same time, in a direct confrontation with German tanks. The Romanian First Front, which belonged to the second-line army, was also learning and growing rapidly. They began to re-optimize their positions, providing infantry divisions with mobile units of tanks and self-propelled guns for close support. Especially given the fact that the SU-100 and SU-122 self-propelled guns have played a great role in the recent defensive battles. Therefore, it is frequently used as a battlefield firefighter.

Just as the Germans were getting weaker and the Reds were becoming more savvy, on 25 March the weather deteriorated sharply again, with hail falling from the sky and rain and snow making it difficult for any non-tracked vehicle to move. Especially for the attacking side, this is nothing short of a disaster!

Lieutenant Lüsonbeck, commander of the 2nd Company of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment, recalled: "A sudden hail interrupted our attack, and the egg-sized hail crackled on the steel helmet, and we could only try to find cover. A few minutes later, we slowly moved out of our bunkers, and the hailstorm caused my company to continue to lose men, smashing a few soldiers unconscious, and a few more freezing enough...... The offensive resumed, and we climbed a section of the downhill without fire cover, a journey to hell, with machine guns and mortar shells splashing muddy and water, and the entire battlefield was covered with moisture...... We slid down the slope with a roll, and after counting the losses, we found that this distance of less than 200 meters had cost three tanks destroyed and more than 20 casualties......"

A platoon commander of the 9th company of the same regiment also recalled: "Ivan's tanks and planes came at us again and again, and the anti-tank guns were constantly bombarded from the flanks, and at the moment when we drove out of a pass, we were hit by a Red Army assault gun. Fortunately, everyone was safe and sound, and a few hundred meters behind us, the division commander radioed two Panthers to follow, but they were destroyed in an instant...... Ivan's SU-100 is too powerful, all tanks and armored vehicles, including the King Tiger tank, can't withstand its thunderous blow, of course, the King Tiger is more often self-destructive, and they are simply lame ducks on the battlefield with a bunch of problems with engines, transmission systems and running gear! ”

After another day, the clouds and fog finally cleared and the sun was shining, the temperature also rose to about 15 degrees Celsius, the ground finally began to dry, and some sections began to be suitable for tank travel. But this no longer means anything to the Germans, who have exhausted almost all their energy in the previous bad weather, and even if the weather improves, they will not be able to move a little.

At this time, the battle also entered the third stage, that is, the counterattack stage of the Red Army. Under Konev's orders, the 33rd Infantry Corps of the Red Army, under the cover of intensive artillery fire, launched several waves of counterattacks at the bridgehead positions of the 1st and 26th Panzergrenadier Regiments of the SS, pushing the Germans back step by step. Immediately after that, the Red Army on the entire front moved into action and launched a counterattack on the Germans on all fronts!

This situation was both surprising and inexplicable to Dietrich, to tell the truth, his troops had been hit hard before, and it was true that they were faltering, but this did not mean that they did not have the ability to continue the attack. According to his own plan, these two days were ready to continue the offensive. The Russians launched a counterattack without exhausting all his energy, which looks too frizzy no matter how you look at it.

So is Konev really too frizzy? No, he was also well aware that the Germans still had the strength to attack, but he had to start a counterattack immediately, because Vasilevsky's 38th Army in the south had already outflanked and was about to launch an attack on Timisoara. As soon as Dietrich discovers that there are a large number of Red troops near Timisoara, he will definitely be alarmed, and he may immediately turn around and run out of the encirclement, in order to keep this piece of fat, Konev must make a move in advance to leave the guests! (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you Admiral Hood, Idle Reading World, xxxxxxjj and Comrade Juventus!