A German armored vehicle was slowly advancing through the field, and the commander on the turret leaning against the hatch was watching the movement in the distance with a telescope. In fact, the German Army Group G had already collided with the Soviet troops moving south, but neither side immediately attacked.

As a result, the German armored reconnaissance force began to be active frequently, and they wanted to find out for their troops how many enemies there were in front of them, what their numbers were, and whether they were coming with tanks or pure infantry. Or to put it another way: see if the other side is here to find trouble, or to send death.

Of course, the German reconnaissance troops' method of judging the opponent's strength is also very simple, they will attack once, and then use the results of this attack to intuitively reflect the opponent's strength: if they lose, the opponent will be more ruthless, and if they win, the opponent will be more vegetable-simple and clear.

This German Sd. Kfz。 The Type 222 armored vehicle is a small four-wheeled armored car, which belongs to the equipment that is not very popular in the reconnaissance unit, and the real main force will generally find a way to equip its troops with a six-wheeled SD. Kfz。 The Type 231 is much superior in terms of maneuverability and interior space.

But Sd. Kfz。 The Type 222 armored vehicle also has many advantages, such as the production process is relatively "material-saving", so it is mass-produced and equipped for the temporary expansion of armored units and infantry division reconnaissance battalions. And here, in order to save costs and ease of production, German armored vehicles have eliminated a lot of angular designs and replaced them with vertical welded steel plates.

"No Soviet armored units were found, and I suspect that the woods in front are where they were stationed. The commander put down the binoculars in his hand and radioed the reconnaissance company behind him: "If necessary, you can provide me with some support and launch a small attack nearby to test the opponent." ”

The headphones looked a little anxious, and the voice was even a little out of tune: "Be careful of your position! About a kilometer away from your left flank, car No. 4 was ambushed by the Soviets, and the other party is not a rookie!"

The commander was stunned, when he came out, the battalion headquarters had already emphasized the strength of the enemy when he set up the mission, so most of the reconnaissance troops, including himself, kept a very careful state. However, there are still vehicles that have been killed by the other party, which has to make him more cautious.

"We're too far forward, which doesn't bode well, so we're steering while reversing and paying attention to what's going on around us. After cutting off communication with the company, the commander hurriedly gave the order to retreat. It was one thing to be brave and fearless, but it was another thing to go up and die stupidly, and there was no need to take risks in this case, it was something he had already thought clearly in his mind.

Just as his armored car started and just retreated a few meters away, a shell obviously flew towards them, but due to accuracy problems, the shell hit the ground more than ten meters away from where they had just stopped, and kicked up a cloud of black dirt.

"Oh my God! We're being attacked! We're being attacked! The other side has a high-speed anti-tank gun! Reverse! Reverse!" the commander had no time to retract his head into the turret of the armored car, and the dirt from the shells splashed all over his head. He slapped the steel plates on the perimeter of his armored car's turret as he shouted the order to retreat.

So under his urging, or rather under the threat of the enemy's shells, the armored car quickly reversed and retreated into the dense weeds. Soon the second shell arrived as expected, hitting the straw field, kicking up a cloud of weeds and dirt, black smoke obscured the view of the armored vehicle, and seemed to block the view of the other side, so that no more shells flew out of the woods, and the German armored vehicle quickly retreated from the other side of the weeds to the bushes next to the road.

"Look at the destructive power of the shells is not the Soviet 45 mm caliber guns, so they are not easy to deal with T-26 tanks...... It's not the 34mm guns of the T-76 tanks, it's the kind of monster called Stalin. The commander wiped the cold sweat oozing from his forehead and said to his driver in a trembling voice.

"Oh my God, they almost hit us just now. The driver was also a little scared and said, "Don't be stunned, what should we do next? When you cross the road, they won't continue to fire, right?"

Just as the two of them were discussing how to escape, a T-34 tank smashed into a small tree and came out of the woods, which were already slightly green. This tank was followed by another T-34 tank, and then right next to them, another T-34 also rushed out of the woods.

"My God, let alone a battalion of tanks, this is definitely the main force of the Soviet Union!" The commander didn't use his binoculars to see these steel monsters rushing out of the woods, and after he exclaimed, he hurriedly continued to order: "Hurry over the road and return to the company headquarters as quickly as possible." ”

After finishing speaking, he grabbed the radio microphone in the shaking armored car, and reported loudly: "The position of the No. 2 armored reconnaissance vehicle, at least one battalion of enemy armored troops, the main force is the T-34 tank, it is not ruled out that there are Stalin tanks, we are retreating!"

"Roger! The position of car No. 1 and car No. 4 is also similar, the other side has at least one armored division, and I have already reported to the battalion headquarters. Now immediately get rid of the enemy and retreat to our positions. Inside the headset, the company commander also discovered the huge offensive force of the Soviets, and ordered anxiously.

The German reconnaissance detachment, which would not easily retreat in the face of several times the enemy, had to retreat in the face of superior Soviet tanks. Everywhere the news came back that Soviet armored forces had begun a large-scale offensive from the southern Kursk region, targeting the German-occupied northern Belgorod region of Gubkin and Stara Oskol.

Once the Soviets broke through the small number of German garrisons here, they would face the Italian and Romanian units in the back, and it seems that at least during the reconnaissance operations nearby, the Soviets found the weak points of the German troops and intended to find an opportunity to break through the German lines from here.

Just now, the ground reconnaissance force discovered a new armored division of the Soviet Union, and they were heading south. The chief of staff put down the phone in his hand, and then looked at Guderian, who was busy: "Your Excellency, the defense line of our army is too long, and in this case, we will not be able to organize forces to counterattack the Soviet army." ”

Guderian shook his head and said helplessly to his subordinates: "The purpose of our northward movement is not to encircle Moscow, to put it bluntly. That's just a slogan shouted to the outside world, but it's not. ”

He pointed to the German Central Theater troops in front of the Soviet Union, and then looked at his staff officer: "If you want to attack Moscow, wouldn't it be more time-saving to attack from the nearest Smolensk?

"I understand that the roundabout outflanking is just a plan of attack that piggybacks on when everything goes smoothly, and in fact our main task is to buy time for the M and N armies, right?" replied the chief of staff, apparently understanding what Guderian meant.

Guderian nodded, and then swiped his hand on the wide front of his army: "We are the troops covering the flanks of the southern cluster, and now we are only completing our most important task." Get ready to fight to the very end, like General Liszt's Army Group E. ”

"So, we are now going to be at the forefront and hold out until General Modell's Army Group D comes closer, and then we can be considered to have completed the task?" The chief of staff smiled bitterly: "Then the tank troops that we have painstakingly accumulated over the years are not ......?"

"What can be done? If you don't consume it here and the Soviet armored forces in the field, will you not be able to consume it in the ruins of Stalingrad?" Guderian looked very unscrupulous: "Since from the very beginning, we have been preparing for the battle of the field armored group, then this battle is the last chapter of our Army Group G." ”

"Let the 3rd Panzer Division continue to move westward, preferably in time to deploy its defensive positions before the troops officially exchange fire. After Guderian sighed, he began to assign his own tasks: "The two light infantry divisions on the front line can shrink the defensive line, let the Italians go and help us test the depth of these Soviets first." ”

"Yes! General!" The chief of staff obviously did not object to the plan to let the Italians fight the vanguard, he was worried about the logistical supply of his troops and the fire support of the Romanians: "Although we have reinforced an infantry division to the west these days, the strength there is still too thin. ”

Guderian looked at the long western salient of his troops on the map, and replied helplessly: "What can I do? I can only take one step at a time, and if I really can't do it, I can only find the air force and ask for paratrooper support." Once the Soviets retake Belgorod Oblast, our logistical supply lines will be even farther away, and the advantage will be on the Soviet side. ”

In modern warfare, it is all about resources and consumption, and the supply bases of the German army are far away in Ukraine and Poland, while the supply lines of the Soviet army are more than half shorter than those of Germany. Therefore, the Germans could no longer give up their supply lines, and then the battle would not have to be fought any longer.

"In order to compete for resources, this war is too embarrassing. The chief of staff complained: "We went all the way south from near Kharkov, then all the way north, and now we are panning westwards - it's a circle at all!"

"Even if we go around ten circles, as long as the war can be won, we will go around it willingly!" Guderian said firmly.