It was raining, and it was almost inevitable that the Don River would rise.

At this time, it was simply impossible to organize an armed swim or erect a pontoon bridge.

If the Don Bridge were blown up at this time, the eight French divisions on the east side of the bridge and two Italian divisions would have only one dead end.

The only way to survive may be to surrender!

This is the back road of more than 100,000 people, and Leclerc actually said that he would blow it up.

"The bridge was there, and there were no names written on the shells.

Of course, this is the last resort.

Besides, after blowing up the Don bridge. Our troops on the east bank of the Don are alone, but the Ming army on the west side of the Don is also alone.

Although they have tanks, there are artillery pieces of the kind that you say can go on their own.

But there are so many of us!

Concentrate superior forces and take out this tank force.

What are the dozen or so divisions that were lost?

His Majesty the Emperor will not punish you, but will commend you. ”

Leclerc continued to explain to Ebbock.

In short, in a word, block the Ming army on the west bank of the Don River at all costs, and deny them the opportunity to enter Kharkov.

"This ......," Abbock was a little moved.

"General Abbock, you are my respected general, you should know what Kharkov means to the war once it is occupied.

We must not only think about the hundreds of thousands of people in the eight divisions on the front line, but also consider the safety of the entire French expeditionary force. ”

"Alright! This is the last resort, give me a little time, organize them to break out. ”

Aibock sighed helplessly, saying that the organization broke out completely unexpectedly.

Now, he can't even get in touch with many troops.

"Have all the troops lost contact?" The question of the general direction was solved, and Leclerc began to inquire about the basic situation of the troops at the front.

"Two divisions are completely out of contact, and the remaining troops are gradually resuming contact.

Many of our telephone lines were laid directly through the Don River.

These telephone lines have not been cut off.

The losses of the front-line troops are still being assessed, but I think they will be very heavy. ”

There was silence in the carriage for a while, and they all knew that the two divisions that could not be contacted at all were already unlucky.

"It is necessary to immediately organize the men and launch an attack in the direction of the Don bridge.

Now at night, night combat melee combat is in our favor.

Tell the front-line troops whether they can break out of the encirclement or not depends on tonight.

Blow up all unnecessary heavy equipment, and blow up everything that can't be taken away.

Lay as many mines as you can, and lay all the mines on hand on the positions. ”

The carriage reached the French headquarters, and Leclerc kept talking.

Just twenty kilometers away from them, Zu Kuan was looking at the Li Xiao warrant brought by the airship.

Attacking to the north, passing through the Great River Meander, it was under the command of the 1st Cavalry Division.

Zu Kuan read the warrant, and then lay down in front of the map.

The distance of the march was more than 100 kilometers, and it would not have been a problem if it had been this distance in the past.

How could a night of rapid marching arrive before dawn.

But now ......!

It was raining heavily, and the raindrops were "crackling" on the glass of the command vehicle.

A few hundred meters near the riverbank, it has become a swamp.

The news from the bridge over the Don River shows that the river has begun to rise sharply.

The sky was full of the roar of airship engines, and both the French and the Ming were using airships to desperately deliver supplies to the front line and evacuate the wounded.

So much so that sometimes, the airships of both sides will pass by in the air.

This kind of scene has not happened for a long time.

Because of the presence of anti-aircraft guns and Ming fighters, the airships of both sides honestly stayed behind their battle lines.

Even some airships have been turned into pure transports, and the double-two-five rapid-fire cannons on them have been dismantled.

The airships on both sides have no intention of firing, everyone is in the sky, and firing at this time is tantamount to shooting each other.

Moreover, the commanders of both sides also issued strict orders not to take the initiative to fire at enemy airships.

Their first task was to deliver the supplies carried on the airship to the front-line troops.

The anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground also subsided.

Because in the darkness, they couldn't tell which was their own airship and which was the enemy airship.

The Daming Air Force completely lost its sense of existence at this time.

No way, Stuka can't fight in such a stormy and dark environment.

"Let the transport tractors and war-damaged vehicles return along the Don bridge.

All tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled guns, these combat vehicles.

Fill up your fuel and ammo and immediately advance to the north.

The first regiment is the vanguard, the second regiment is the middle army, and the third regiment is the rear. ”

Li Xiao's order is a holy decree, which must be completed if there are difficulties, and must be completed if there are no difficulties to overcome difficulties.

Zu Kuan immediately decided to get rid of the baggage team and go into battle lightly to join the Manye.

In normal times, the tractor can also keep up with the tracked vehicle.

But now the rain is pouring down, and the original road has become a flooded country.

Tractors are a bit of a mess, and there are lying tractors everywhere, and you need a tank to pull them out of the mud puddle.

There were also some unlucky people who were dragged out of this mud pit, and before they could drive far, they fell into the mud pit over there.

While the rain hasn't been long now, it's right to let those tractors retreat to the east coast.

Compared to wheeled vehicles, the passing performance of tracked vehicles is much better.

The huge hull means that the engine is loaded with more horsepower.

The wide tracks allow for relatively easy traversing of muddy roads.

The efficiency of the Ming army in conveying orders was much stronger than that of the French army!

Most of the French heralds were still on horseback, while the Ming heralds rode in light tanks.

Moreover, each regiment of the Ming army also has a specially modified communication vehicle.

In this car, there were no weapons, only a radio.

In fact, with just such a radio, the weight of the communication vehicle almost overtook the tank.

There are only two seats in the huge communication van.

One is a telegraph operator, and the other is a driver.

No way, the radio is too big.

Shrinking the radio to fit into an armored vehicle is already a huge technological advance.

However, this kind of communication vehicle, the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty can only be equipped with regiments.

Units below the regimental level still rely on light tanks and motorcycles to transmit orders.

Now in this kind of weather, motorcycles are not to be expected.

That thing, if you can't drive very far, will get trapped.

At six o'clock in the evening, the 1st Tank Division began to divide its forces.

A small number of wounded tanks and armored vehicles, covering the retreat of heavy tractors to the east bank of the Don.

Remaining tanks and armored vehicles, self-propelled guns.

Head north along the Don River!

At eight o'clock in the evening, the rain began to fall heavier and heavier.

Zu Kuan sat in the command car, looking out of the dark window from time to time.

The roar of the Don River can seem to be heard in the distance!

It rains heavily, and it seems to be beneficial.

That is, the French army was all cowered in bunkers and could not come out, and the dark clouds obscured the moon, and the size of the Ming convoy could not be seen in the darkness.

And here is the big rear, many French troops do not have mines at all.

All these allowed the Ming army to move smoothly.

Although the marching speed is somewhat slow, it can reach 30 kilometers in an hour.

Penetrating deep into the heart of the enemy, this speed is already very fast.

At the same time as Zu Kuan was advancing northward, fierce artillery sounds rang out on the east and west banks of the Don River Bridge at the same time.

The French troops on the east bank received orders from Leclerc one after another.

All the artillery was firing frantically, and it didn't matter where the shells hit in the dark light, it was a random bombardment anyway.

The order given by the commanders was to use all the shells and blow them up, no matter what method was used.

All the French soldiers, frantically flocking to the Don Bridge.

They know that this is almost the last chance.

If you miss it, you may not have a chance to return to France in the future.

The raging and roaring Don River made people give up any idea of swimming in the past.

When a person goes down into the water, he is swept away by the rushing river before he can swim five meters away, and then disappear into the darkness and never be seen again.

In the dark, the French soldiers fought in formation no matter what.

Running in groups of camps towards the Don River bridge in the muddy water, walking in the mud was already extremely physically demanding.

They often lose their strength after a few kilometres, not to mention that as the rain gets heavier, the temperature gradually drops.

On a rainy night, near the Don bridge.

One flare after another was raised, and what the Ming soldiers saw were groups of soldiers who were as clumsy as stroke patients.

Some of them had guns, some of them didn't take anything.

Some were wearing raincoats, and some were soaking wet.

Some people are even barefoot, and in the cold and rainy night, they instinctively walk.

Not many people opened fire, and all the heavy weapons blew up after all the shells were gone, because they couldn't move.

The soldiers of the Ming army shot at these French soldiers who were moving forward like stroke patients.

The heavy machine guns not only fired one short burst after another in the wind and rain, but also turned one after another into cold corpses under the flares.

The French were so miserable that they didn't even have a chance to surrender.

Because at this time, the Ming soldiers did not have time to capture them. As long as it can move, all of them are taken care of by the bullets.

If you can still move after taking care of it, you need to make up the second bullet.

The French mortars, because there were not a few shells, were muted after a few rounds.

These are the same gunners who are loyal to their duties, and more gunners are on the way, so they throw away the heavy and tired broken iron pipes.

Leclerc's imaginary retreat turned into a rout before midnight.

On this rainy night, everything was chaotic.

Everyone received only one order to assemble towards the Don bridge.

The French army in the back was completely unaware of what happened to the French army in front.

The cold numbed their senses, and many emaciated soldiers collapsed into the muddy water along the way.

No one cared about them, everyone thought that if they returned to the West Bank, they would be victorious.

From division commanders to ordinary privates, all of them are advancing under this belief.

No one rides, or rather, no one dares to ride a horse.

We all know that riding a horse saves effort, but everyone knows that riding a horse will be taken care of by machine guns.

Even, it will attract the attention of those twenty-five-mm rapid-fire guns.

Targeted by that thing, both humans and horses will be shattered to pieces.

Ten kilometers ahead of the Don Bridge, flares are constantly rising from the horizon.

Shine a rainy night like day!

Under the miserable white magnesium light, the muddy water was full of corpses.

The corpses were mixed with muddy water, and it was impossible to tell the number.

But the hands and thighs that were propped up were as many as reeds on the banks of the Don.

"Rush! Rush past is victory, rush past is France. The officers mustered their last strength and led the soldiers, howling and firing their guns.

Some of the soldiers' mouths opened and closed up and down, and they no longer had the strength to howl.

They shivered, charging like lone wolves.

Then the positions of the Ming army would have heard the sound of tearing linen.

One by one, the men fell to the ground like wheat harvesters.

Many people stepped on the dead and fell into the mud.

Many of them didn't get up again, and the mud and cold drained almost all the strength in their bodies.

If you stand up, you will be killed by a machine gun, and lying down like this is also death, but it is a little colder.

They themselves have given up hope of survival before others give up on them.

More than 100,000 people, like hundreds of thousands of moths fighting fire.

The machine guns of the Ming army rang out for a whole night and did not stop for a moment.

It was dawn, and the rain had not stopped.

On the muddy earth, everywhere erected out of the water are hands and feet.

In some places, there were so many corpses that they were stacked in two or three layers.

The rain in that place turned a shocking crimson.

The crimson rain meandered into the tumbling Don River.

The soldiers of the Ming army, huddled in tanks and armored vehicles, wore cotton clothes worn in winter, and wore cotton hats on their heads.

Even on their hands, they wear gloves.

Next to the tank armored car, there are countless bullet casings scattered around.

At this time, there was no smoke on the battlefield, only endless cold.

In contrast to the defeat on the east bank, the offensive on the west bank proceeded unusually well.

The French occupied the west bank of the Don with almost no shots wasted.

Those damned Ming troops retreated!

At dawn, the Ming army and the French army faced each other across the Don River, and neither had any intention of attacking.

The Don River Bridge was in a raging flood and was garrisoned by Ming and French troops on both sides.

They were so harmonious that they didn't even shoot at each other.

Of course, no one thought of blowing up the Don bridge either.

The Ming army did not do this, and neither did the French army.

The tank moved slowly through the mud, trying to find someone alive.

Behind the tank is an armored vehicle ready to load people!

Not a few people were found, not a few alive to be exact.

Everywhere were the corpses of the French, whose already pale skin had been soaked whiter by the rain.

Some were killed by gunfire, while others were killed by mines.

Many more fell into the mud and froze to death because of physical exhaustion.

The Ming army searched in the heavy rain for a morning, and only caught more than 500 people.

Chapter 157: A Tragic Rainy Night