"Remember, the mission of this campaign, codenamed Desert Storm, is to capture Isfahan and stabilize the battle line at Qom, Kashan, and Zavare. At this time, let Huaxia realize our awesomeness, so that they dare not act rashly, instead of continuing to advance north. Fight a decisive battle with Huaxia in Iran. Before Guderian left, Army Commander-in-Chief Kluge reminded.

"If we can use Isfahan as a bait to lure the other side to send reinforcements from the direction of Qom, and then we concentrate our forces to fight an ambush on the other side, the situation in the whole Iran will change, Huaxia has concentrated 1 heavy division and 1 ** armored brigade and 2 infantry divisions in the southern region of Isfahan, plus Iranian troops, this army has more than 100,000 people! If we eat some of the reinforcements at the same time as this heavy army group, Huaxia will lose at least a quarter of its troops in this battle! Guderian hesitated for a moment, but still told his plan.

"You want to eat Qom and block Huaxia's southward passage?" Kluge asked, confused. If China attacked the German army, there were only a few ways to choose, one was to attack the two river valleys to the west, but this area was relatively narrow. Moreover, the German Army and the Turkish Army have built a number of fortifications, and they belong to the hinterland of the German army, and the defense force is strong. It is not a good idea for Huaxia, which does not have enough troops. The other was the Eastern Front, which was attacked from the Iranian province of Khorasan, and this attack route was directed at the forward departure positions of the German army. The Germans were very strong and had a long way to go. It's not a good option either.

And the most worrying thing for the German Army was the passage in Isfahan. This is the place where the German army is at its deepest. And it's closer. In the end, one of the fundamental reasons why Kluge and others agreed to launch an offensive was to protect their flanks. And Guderian's idea was even more radical, directly pushing the front to the southern gate of Tehran, so as to contain the Chinese forces in Iran! Tehran cannot afford not to defend. With this burden, not only was the most likely plan for a central advance disrupted, but when operating on the other two fronts, Huaxia also had to consider leaving enough troops near Tehran. Strategically. This is a very good move, and the key is to see if Guderian can realize this plan!

"At least we have the advantage in numbers, and we still have plenty of supplies and Tiger tanks, although I've heard that Huaxia has made some new toys, but I don't think it can fight our Tiger! Our armored units have been tested by blood and fire, and the personnel and equipment are running in very well. And after the outbreak of World War II, the Chinese Army has not yet conducted a major campaign. Just keep the logistics and the safety of our heads. I think it's entirely possible. Guderian insisted.

"Then go ahead, I'll allocate you 4 Tiger heavy tank battalions. Make good use of them. Klug nodded. Don't push yourself too hard, after reaching the minimum goal. You can choose to give up. According to the German high-level plan, since there was no way to quickly resolve the war by landing in Britain, another opportunity to resolve the war was to capture India and then force Britain to negotiate. As long as you can control India. Then it would be tantamount to casting a breakwater outside the sphere of influence of the Allies. It is unlikely that the Entente will drive the Germans back again! After all, Myanmar is not a good springboard. And all kinds of raw materials in India are enough to support the consumption of the Allies!

As a result, Guderian, with the full assistance of the Air Force and Army, confidently went to the Middle East to direct his northward group, and as many as 15 divisions were deployed on both sides of the Isfahan salient. Manstein and Moder would continue to command more than 700,000 German troops and Austro-Hungarian and Turkish legions to attack British India. And in the face of the long-planned attack of the Germans, both China and the Entente have been preparing for a long time.

At this time, Guderian's old opponent Xu Huaide was waiting for the arrival of the Germans in the Isfahan generation, and Huaxia also knew that the wedge he had driven into was really unbearable for the Germans, and it was expected that the German Army would take the initiative to remove the nail before attacking India. And if you don't act, it's weird! At the beginning of the war, the Chinese Army had repeatedly deduced the situation in northern Iran, and came to the conclusion that the salient of Isfahan Province could not stand it at all, and that under the superior strength and determination of the Germans, all that China could do was to delay and wear down the opponent, and it was not appropriate to fight a decisive battle in a zone that was too deep into the opponent. The forces deployed by the Chinese in northern Iran were considered to be insufficient to attack and more than to be defended. Before the German Army advanced deep into the South Asian subcontinent, the large-scale offensive launched by China outweighed the losses.

However, even so, the Chinese Army still wanted to use this opportunity to knock out a few teeth of the Germans and test the performance of the new equipment by the way. When the Huaxia Army and the German Army sometimes follow the same path, when Huaxia discovers that the Type 29 tank may not meet the requirements of future combat, the first thing to do is a Dragon heavy tank with advanced enough performance, but high cost and small quantity. And this plan is progressing very quickly, at the beginning of the outbreak of World War 2, the troops were already equipped, and now, Huaxia has no less Dragon tanks than the Germans, after the mainstay of the armored forces, Huaxia and the Germans began to upgrade their medium tanks, the Germans chose the Leopard tank, and Huaxia is equipped with 90mml50 Type 35 medium tanks.

Because Huaxia and the United States have engaged in a tank with similar performance and needs at the same time, with the cooperation of the two countries, Huaxia's Type 35 tank and the American's Pershing tank have also entered the mass production stage. Although the number is small, the Huaxia have already deployed some tanks in northern Iran, and the Americans have also deployed Pershing tanks to India! Although they did not catch up with the battle in France, they all have a chance to prove themselves in future battles!

As a leader in the Chinese Army, Peng Yi's favorite general, and a hero of the Iranian Civil War. Xu Huaide's troops were among the best in the Chinese Army. But even so, before going to the battlefield, Xu Huaide's 2 armored divisions and 4 mechanized infantry divisions still failed to complete the redress! That's right. Some problems arose with the intelligence of the Germans, in the Isfahan region. Huaxia had 6 divisions of almost 80,000 troops, not the size of 4 divisions that the Germans began to estimate! And the number of the entire Northern Iranian Chinese Army Corps is more than 420,000. The reason for the deviation is that some Chinese divisions directly used the name of the Iranian army after entering Iran.

This time it's logistically busy. Look at the Dragon heavy tanks, Type 35 medium tanks, and a handful of Type 29 tanks and tank destroyers on the staging ground. Xu Huaide couldn't help but worry about his logistical support, there are actually 3 types of tanks and more deformed vehicles in the system of a division, which is the first time in the world!

Conventionally, an armored division in China has 4 armored battalions, including 1 heavy tank battalion. 2 battalions of medium tanks and 1 mixed battalion of tank destroyers/assault guns. The heavy tank battalion of the armored division in Xu Huaide's hands was fully staffed. 60 Dragon tanks are on par with each other. 2 medium tank battalions is a big problem, in fact, the number of Type 35 tanks is not more than the Dragon tanks produced in advance, and each armored division can only be assigned to 1 Type 35 medium tank battalion, that is, 78 vehicles. An additional battalion must also be an improved version of the Type 29 tank. The mixed tank destroyer/assault gun battalion is no different from the original, the only difference is that the gun of the Type 29 tank destroyer has been upgraded from 90mmL45 to 90mmL50. and the same firepower as the Type 35 tank.

This is still the main armored division, and in the case of a mechanized infantry division, 1 reinforced armored battalion can only be divided into a maximum of 20 to 30 Type 35 tanks. The rest can only be replaced by Type 29 tanks and deformation cars. Xu Jie's idea of fading out of the Type 29 tank now seems to have to be delayed for a while to be realized, which makes Xu Huaide very unhappy, but when he thinks about the Germans, most of them are No. 4 tanks. Legend has it that the new medium tank is still in sight. There's nothing to complain about.

Although Xu Huaide's troops can be called strong and strong, he also understands that two fists are difficult to defeat four hands, and a good dog can't stand more wolves, and the Germans have at least twice as many troops. And the Germans loved to break through, divide and outflank. Therefore, not all of the six divisions commanded by Xu Huaide were cowered in the city of Isfahan. Instead, it was deployed in the northwest direction, and when the situation was not good, it immediately withdrew in the direction of Qom, and in Qom was 1 armored division, 2 ** armored brigades and 5 mechanized infantry divisions commanded by Tian Yong. This force is the key to ensuring the safety of Tehran's southern gate and the withdrawal of Xu Huaide's troops.

Theoretically, the total strength of these two forces is no less than Guderian's troops after they are mixed together, but in practice, it is impossible for Tian Yong to send all the troops, and Guderian has reinforcements to mobilize in addition to the 17 divisions on the front line. Overall, Xu Huaide's troops were an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers.

As the first large-scale land battle since China's participation in the war, Xu Jie instructed that we must win and play majestic, even if we have to evacuate in the end, but teach the Germans a good lesson! Under Qin Yue's instructions, the Air Force tried its best to cooperate with the Army's operations, and they said that even if they could not provide on-call fire support to the Army's brothers, they would at least ensure that the Germans' bombs did not fall on the heads of the brothers. Of course, if you say that, the actual situation depends on the situation on the battlefield!

Unlike Guderian, Xu Huaide did not care about the gains and losses of one city or one place in this operation, and the main purpose of the operation was to kill and injure the elite of the German Army. So Xu Huaide decisively concentrated the troops, and now the 6 divisions under him are like a contraction of fists. It was decided to deal a heavy blow in the German movement. Compared to the German army, the Chinese armored forces were more mobile, and one division had about 2,500 vehicles of various types to provide supplies. With the addition of some preset supply depots and repair depots, in the range of Isfahan Province, the mobility of the Huaxia armored forces has been exerted to the extreme!

And what about the Germans? The 5 armored divisions are genuine armored units, equipped with a lot of trucks and half-tracks, and the mobility is first-class, but only 4 of the 11 infantry divisions can meet the Chinese standard mechanized infantry divisions, and the other 7 divisions are preparing to establish a solid defensive line and finally participate in the siege battle, and the means of logistics and transportation are also a mixture of mules, horses and vehicles. After all, in terms of front-line troops, the Germans were much larger in size than in China, and the resources that could be allocated to the army were less than in China, and while ensuring quantity, the quality would naturally be worse. However, even so, the number of mobile forces in Guderian's hands was still stronger than that of Huaxia.

"The whole province of Isfahan is under the pinch of the Germans, and if we want to go, there is only a choice of Qom to the north-west. Although the northeast direction is also a theoretical breakthrough, it is difficult for a large army to cross the desert and the next door. The Germans knew this very well, so the most likely tactic they would adopt was to launch a centripetal assault on the city of Isfahan from the east and west, while sending elite forces to cut off the link between us and Qom. If you're conservative, they'll build a line of defense, and if you're aggressive, they'll be able to surround and send reinforcements! Humble Huaide said.

Guderian is a man who is good at interspersing and dividing opponents. He doesn't like to engage the opponent very much, he prefers to cut off the opponent's retreat with elite armored troops, and then hand over the enemy who has lost supplies to the infantry unit to solve. So he wouldn't besiege a fortified point like a bull like other German commanders. And the current situation between the two sides has determined that Guderian only needs to card the gap in the northwest direction. Therefore, Xu Huaide decided to set up an ambush in the northwest of Isfahan Province, first inflicting heavy losses on Guderian's heavily armored division, and then attacking the flank of his besieging corps.

"Let's hope Huaxia Dragon won't let us down." Since it is a mobile battle in the wilderness, the performance of the equipment directly determines the victory or defeat of the battle. The German Tiger tank broke down in blood and fire, and its great prestige was even heard of by Xu Huaide. After the Americans acquired a near-complete Tiger tank, Huaxia technicians also studied this tank. After many measurements and artillery fire, the results were somewhat unencouraging. The current Type 29 tank and its variants pose little threat to the Tiger tank. The Type 90 tank, equipped with the 50mml 35 gun, also had a hard time penetrating the nose and turret of the Tiger tank. Although the performance on the shooting range was okay, Void Wisdom knew very well that there were so many opportunities for you to fire at your opponent on the battlefield. Both sides have some dip bonuses during the battle! Face the German Tigers. The only thing Xu Huaide can rely on is the new Dragon tank!

Thanks to the book friend First Tank Guards Brigade for the reward~~~, and the book friend Lin Yi's monthly pass support ~~~~~. (To be continued.) )