Who is most qualified to evaluate the results caused by Tao Zhenyu? Naturally, it was the Germans who were beaten! When Tao Zhenyu retreated with the rest of the troops, Kruger was still sorting out the chaotic troops in the rear. Although the other side did not rush to its own material base, airfield or headquarters and other fatal measures, the three battles that broke out in a few days still left a lot of blood in the German Army!

"Counting the sneak attack on the first day, we completely lost 2 battalions of tanks and armored vehicles. Add to this the constant pursuit of vehicles and the vehicles of damaged vehicles these days, and we currently have no more than 150 tanks at our disposal! We have only 2 armored divisions in total, and all the tanks together do not exceed 600, and now counting the losses after the start of the war, we only have about 300 of them, and in terms of armored strength, we will not be able to continue the offensive for a long time to come. If there is another problem with air supremacy, we may have to face the attack of the other side! ”

"The opposing side does not send many heavily armored units, but they do have a lot of wheeled tank destroyers, their defense is strong enough to resist small-caliber machine guns, and the firepower is enough to destroy most of the armored units, the most important feature of this vehicle is that it is fast and has little dependence on logistics. And Huaxia relied on such light vehicles to make up for the lack of heavy anti-armor firepower. And their tanks are equipped with advanced night vision equipment, which gives Huaxia a considerable advantage at night. The staff officer explained both his own losses and the technical characteristics of the other side.

"Very good, let the front-line troops be prepared for a possible counterattack by the other side, and besides, I would like to contact the Air Force, I would like to know their opinion!" Kruger's main concern now is not his own strength and the opponent's technological superiority, but to know whether Huaxia has used the general reserve for this attack! This is a very critical issue, if it is used, then it means that Huaxia will not have any other follow-up moves, and it can continue to fight after its strength is restored, after all, most of the damaged tanks can be pulled back for repair and use. Although the Huaxia achieved very large results, their losses were not small, according to the statistics of the front, they lost at least 50 tanks and nearly 80 or so various half-tracks and wheeled combat vehicles. How can these forces have about one-third of the strength of a mechanic, although the number of tanks is certainly less, but the number of wheeled vehicles and half-tracks is definitely more than one-third!

This strength is very delicate, if the three divisions in the front of China get together, they can also save up this bit of possessions, and if they call in reserves, they can also squeeze out this army. But the result is completely different, if it is a front-line army to make up, it means that Huaxia still has formed armored units to use. Even if he breaks through the opponent's defense line, he will definitely not be pleased, and if it is the latter, he still doesn't seem to be able to take advantage of it, but it is an opportunity for the southern front! Krueger still has a big picture of the big picture, and he may not be the one who can successfully reach the top in the end, but as long as he can win the German army, he will not care too much.

The short rainy day will soon pass. The Luftwaffe quickly regained its vitality, or when Tao Zhenyu retreated, they had already exchanged hands with the group of aircraft that Huaxia was responsible for covering, and after a few rounds, the Germans also felt that the opponent's strength recovered quickly, at least in the local battlefield, the number of fighters in Huaxia was not much less than that of the Germans! "We must find out if the other party's reserves are still in place!" According to the request of the army, the German long-range reconnaissance aircraft unit once crossed the defense line to find the reserves of Huaxia, and after paying a heavy price, they did find some clues, such as the change in the position of the opponent's air defense forces, such as the traces of a large number of vehicles on the road, and some of the vehicles suspected to be tanks in the photos. All this seems to prove that Huaxia has used their valuable reserves.

It is impossible for Brauchitsch not to know that such a big thing is happening on the northern front! On the contrary, he did his best to gather intelligence about the battle and the movements in the rear of the Chinese army. And the information that has been compiled and collated makes him quite optimistic. "Huaxia has finally overdrawn their strength in advance, but their main direction of attack is not us but Kruger in the north, this blow is really powerful, and it is very bold!" Brauchitsch commented on his opponent in this way, and he was more open than Kruger, who believed that whether Huaxia used reserves or drew some troops from various units on the front, it caused the consumption of troops. Unlike the complete losses of Germany, the vehicles that Huaxia threw behind enemy lines were completely gone. Hundreds of various vehicles! This is not a small number, and if you include the vehicles that need to be repaired when you run back, then the number is even greater!

If before that, Huaxia could barely maintain the balance of power between the two fronts through deterrence, then now it seems that it is no longer possible, they have gained an advantage on the northern front, but they do not have more forces to support the southern front! A large number of defensive forces were solidified in fortifications and trenches. There is only one armored division plus a brigade that the Southern Front can have! Maybe this army would have had a chance to resist Brauchitsch's attack a few months ago, but if it were put to now, I'm afraid it wouldn't work, the reason is very simple, Huaxia not only overdrew their forces in advance, but also overdrew their technological superiority! The appearance of the Type 29 tank destroyer did make the German armored forces uncomfortable for a long time, and now, the appearance of the No. 4 tank destroyer also made the tank troops in China uncomfortable! In the same way, there is a large number of rocket artillery into service, although the Germans are later than Huaxia, and the performance is also worse, but with the recovery of this time, the technical level of the two sides has been narrowed a lot.

"This is an opportunity, a chance to be ashamed!" When the staff officer informed Brauchitsch of the news that the Huaxia Reserve had been mobilized, he said excitedly in the headquarters. For Brauchitsch, this is a very good opportunity, and all the forces that Huaxia can use will also be at a disadvantage. And on their side, they still have the advantage of the air force, and the other side is scattered and deployed, and their own forces are relatively concentrated. If the forces of the three divisions are pushed over in one line, it will be difficult for the other side to stop them at all.

However, although there is a good situation, Brauchitsch still made some deployment, and he bypassed the opponent from the flank and marched in depth, so he must guard against the Chinese defense troops to attack the flank, the opponent probably has a division and a brigade of troops, so in order to ensure the safety of the flank, he must have at least one armored division! Moreover, this division must strengthen the anti-armor forces, and the No. 4 tank destroyer needs to be drawn from other units, after all, the long-horned rhinoceros has already knocked the German armored forces out of the shadows. Without strong anti-armor firepower, Brauchitsch felt uneasy.

According to Brauchitsch's estimates, the remaining reserves of the opposing side were at most one brigade, and his remaining attacking forces had at least one division superiority. Considering the revival of the Chinese Air Force, the German Army needed to rely on its own firepower, so Brauchitsch had to carry bulky support guns such as the K18 heavy gun. And this will slow down the pace of the offensive of the troops. In order to make up for this, Brauchitsch considered using a multi-point breakthrough method, using tanks, tank destroyers and wheeled armored vehicles to form a rapid cluster to quickly intersperse, anyway, there is no continuous front behind the opponent, and it is not a big problem to venture into some places.

And just as Brauchitsch was ambitiously planning his offensive plan, and the German army on the southern front was preparing for the final battle of the war, the Huaxia Reserve Division and Xu Huaide's division on the southern front were also making preparations, and they were ready to lay a huge trap for the German army going north. "Compared with the German army, our forces are at a slight disadvantage, and with the large number of tank destroyers No. 4 in service, our technical advantage has become smaller, so it is better for us to be on the defensive at the beginning of the campaign, to wear down the opponent in the constant defensive battle, rather than launching a pincer offensive at the beginning, the beginning of the attack is very unfavorable for our army, on the one hand, the German army in a defensive state will be very strong, and on the other hand, the air force needs time to resume fighting. The longer the battle drags on, the better it will be for us, and Brauchitsch is not a novice, so he will definitely protect the flanks well! Xu Huaide still has an extraordinary understanding of the situation.

"If that's the case, then there's little point in holding on to our positions. Attacking from the flanks may seem beautiful, but it will be met with strong resistance from the other side, and the gains outweigh the losses. And defense is even more unnecessary, judging from the actions of the Germans in the early stage, they intend to directly bypass the existing defense line and intersperse. So I want to concentrate the main forces on the front and right flanks of the opposing side! The Germans would certainly have drawn some of their forces to defend our line on the left flank, and if we could deploy a force on the right flank, it would certainly be decisive at that time. Xu Huaide wrote in a telegram to Peng Yi. Of course, the latter half of this passage is a bit presumptuous, and he is completely based on the fact that the other side cannot obtain sufficient information, and whether this can be achieved depends on whether the air force can block the other side's reconnaissance.

"It's a lot of ideas, but it's hard to do at the beginning, but we can change it, this battle will be fought by both sides without positional support, the enemy and us battle lines are intricate, and the troops on both sides are extremely mobile, so why don't we intersperse the enemy in the subsequent counteroffensive phase after a short defense has consumed the opponent's strength? In this way, the opponent will find out later, and it will be easier to hit the opponent by surprise. Peng Yi put forward another idea in the callback.

It was not easy to hide a force in the wilderness, it was easy for the other side to find out, so why not launch a counterattack from the right flank when the Germans could not pull out after they had exhausted themselves to attack? The Germans will take the left flank well, and then remove the enemy attacking frontally, then the right flank will have very few defensive forces left, as long as the action is fast enough, it can take the opponent by surprise.

In the end, after some coordination, Peng Yi and Xu Huaide finalized the attack plan, Xu Huaide led the main force to slowly retreat from the front to block the opponent's interspersed route, while the general reserve moved to the northwest in a roundabout direction to the northwest direction of Xu Huaide and Kruger, at the beginning of the German offensive, Xu Huaide commanded the forces of two divisions to block the opponent's first round of attack, and waited until the opponent's attack was frustrated, and then launched a full-scale counterattack. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the action plan, the air force is willing to fully cooperate, and at this time, the number of fighters that Qin Yue can use on the front line has been restored to about 400, about three wings, and he said that two of them can be sent to provide cover for the battle on the southern front. Although the number of more than 200 fighters is not much, it can at least be on par with the German army on the southern front! The plans of both sides have been completed, and the entire battle on the southern front has entered the countdown stage.

Both sides have full confidence in their plans, although Brauchitsch has been reminded by the air force before this, and the air force support in the next stage of the battle may answer a discount, but Kruger, who has been preparing for this battle for a long time, will not give up because the air force support is not in place. "I have been waiting for this day for a long time, and the significance of this battle is not only that we can inflict heavy losses on our opponents and regain the initiative in the Middle East, but more importantly that we can rebuild the confidence of the German Army's armored forces. I even hope that this time the Air Force will not participate in the battle, and the decisive forces on the ground should be tanks, artillery and infantry and not those vultures hovering in the air! In his diary, Brauchitsch wrote about his pre-war feelings. As an army officer, he really didn't want to see that the decisive force for future ground wars would actually be those air forces that had not been in the army for 20 years alone!

As a friendly army, although Kruger in the north was in constant trouble and needed a period of rest, when Brauchitsch said that he was going to launch an offensive on the southern front and the order from the German headquarters was sent to his desk, the veteran general expressed his willingness to do his best to cooperate with the former's offensive, although it was difficult to launch a large-scale attack, and the probability of success was also very low, but Kruger still said that he would try his best to contain the movement of the northern front army in China. So the two German armies finally launched a pincer-like offensive, although the pincer in the north did not seem to be very useful!

"This will be a real armored battle, the two sides are almost in a state of attack, and the influence of the air force is very limited, I am also looking forward to this battle, I want to see how the Huaxia armored forces and the German armored forces are at a level without outside interference!" Before the battle began, Peng Yi received a telegram from Xu Jie, and Xu Jie was also very concerned about this tactical-level contest!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward~~~, and the book friend Rising Sun China monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued.) )