"The 5th Tank Platoon of the 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion was attacked after deviating from the route, and all four tanks lost contact."

At the same time, somewhere on the Eastern Front, the commander of an armored regiment received a report from his subordinates.

"Triple Draw..."

The regiment commander frowned.

At present, the troops are fully equipped, and a steady stream of No. 4 tanks are transported from the rear, and the shortage of equipment that has been plaguing him has been completely solved, and he no longer needs to worry about the problem of supply and insufficient equipment.

But it also brings new problems.

There are not enough people.

Because of the abundant equipment and sufficient supplies, his regiment was fully equipped.

Three-camp system.

Fifty tanks per battalion, ten anti-aircraft armored vehicles.

The mobility, passability, firepower and armor of the new tank are very balanced, and the comprehensive combat effectiveness is very strong, so the previous medium-armed company below the battalion level and the light-armed company have been cancelled, all of which are medium-armed companies, and all of them are equipped with the new No. 4 tank.

The new anti-aircraft vehicle was also converted from the No. 4 tank.

In total, one hundred and eighty tanks No. 4.

There are more than one armored division before.

With so many tanks, he couldn't get together so many crews for a while, and even the logistics personnel were seriously insufficient; before June, his entire regiment had only five tanks, and the total strength was only 1,000.

As a last resort, he recruited new tankmen from the infantry to begin training.

But it's still insufficient.

There are really not many people in the infantry who can drive tanks, not to mention half-track armored vehicles and transporters.

This problem is prevalent at the division headquarters, as well as with all other armored units, and it is not just his regiment that cannot mobilize assistance from other units.

For this reason, the country urgently increased the training of armored personnel, and a large number of workers and students with intellectual ability were recruited into the army, and even recruited servant troops into the army, and after a period of training in the country, they were stuffed into the armored forces.

Although the vacancy was filled, it brought a serious problem.

More than two-thirds of the technical units are new recruits, which has seriously reduced the overall quality of the armored troops.

It has generally only been more than three months since the recruitment of new recruits, and most of them are novices, and it is almost impossible to train qualified armored soldiers in such a short time.

Even if there are enough training materials in the rear and novices can directly touch the tank, it is still too short.

With three months of training, it is okay to bully the infantry, and it is also possible to cooperate with the infantry and tanks, but the tank battle is too far away, not to mention the battle with the enemy's elite tank crews that have been on the battlefield for a long time.

For example, now, when the whole regiment is acting together, there is a situation where an armored platoon gets lost and falls behind, and is ambushed and annihilated by the enemy, which was almost impossible to happen before.

"Enemy position?"

The regimental commander looked at the staff officer who was reporting.

"The exact location is unknown, but based on the direction in which they got lost, it is speculated that it was here."

The staff officer drew an area on the map.

"Order the troops."

Looking at the approximate location on the map, the regimental commander found that it was exactly where he intended to march, so he gave the order to attack.

·····

In the evening, night gradually falls.

"Squad leader, the enemy has retreated."

A lone tank is parked in a col.

The hatch of the tank was opened, and the commander, with his head bandaged, was rushing to repair it with the rest of the crew, and their tracks had been partially destroyed and needed to be replaced and repaired before they could continue the fight.

Hearing the news, the commander suddenly breathed a long sigh of relief, and the whole person collapsed directly on the snow, panting for breath.

In the afternoon, their regiment suddenly encountered an armored cluster of the enemy, the opponent's strength was several times theirs, more than a hundred tanks, and it was too late to retreat, and they decisively engaged the enemy.

Fortunately, reinforcements arrived in time and there was air support, and in the end, under the desperate charge of the infantry, they repelled the enemy's attack and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

With the advantage of terrain, the number of tanks, and the air support of the can opener, they left the enemy with at least nearly a hundred tanks wreckage, most of which were wiped out before they had time to escape.

Of course, it also came at a heavy price.

More than 100 tanks were destroyed, a large number of crews suffered heavy casualties, and many attack planes were also shot down, especially infantry, with huge casualties.

He himself was injured again, and there were more bandages on his head.

Taking a few big breaths, the commander got up and continued to repair the tank, and soon, with the cooperation of the crew members, the tracks were repaired, the engine was started together, the driver stepped on the accelerator, the tank moved forward a few meters, and the turret rotated and pitched without any problems.

Finally, the commander stood up and looked around.

Centered on his position, there were a large number of tank wreckage all around, some four, some T34, some turrets were broken and crooked, some body armor was broken, tracks were broken, and some were burning.

Between the wreckage of the tank, some aircraft wreckage can also be seen.

"We're the only one."

This situation made the captain's eyes darken.

After a battle, he had dozens of tanks in his entire regiment, and he was the only one left who could fight.

Not many survived.

In the entire small battlefield where he was located, there were more than 200 of his own tanks, of which no more than 25 survived, and only about a dozen of them could move.

Heavy losses.

As for the accompanying infantry, the casualties were only a little more.

"We need the iron fist of the Germans, preferably anti-tank weapons with a longer range, grenades are too dangerous."

The head of the regiment summed it up in his heart.

Because the number of tanks is insufficient, or rather, the number of enemy tanks is only a little more, and there is a clear advantage in quality, the pressure on the anti-tank is partly on the infantry.

And their infantry only had anti-tank grenades, and as for the anti-tank guns, even in the back, they could not penetrate the armor of tank four.

And the thirty-meter range of the Iron Fist is also a little too close.

At this time, the explosions continued to rise and fall, and as night fell, the trajectory of shells could be seen across the sky, and it was clear that in other places, larger and more tragic battles were taking place simultaneously.

"Collect a little more fuel from the Germans, and lubricating oil."

"Collect a little more ammo."

Taking a deep breath, the commander gave the order.

"Let's move on."

With the enemy's high-quality fuel and oil, there is no need to carry gasoline to dry the engine and gearbox, which can save a lot of time and energy.

Ten minutes later, the remnants of a dozen tanks gathered into a team, and in the night, in the starlight, rushed in the direction of the fiercest artillery fire.

·····

"Fifty lost crews."

During the retreat, the commander of the German Panzer Regiment was thinking about today's gains and losses.

After learning that the lost troops had been ambushed, he judged from the map and recent front-line intelligence that the lost troops were encountering an enemy regimental force.

A regimental-sized armored unit of the enemy, about a few dozen tanks, no more than seventy, is half of his, and is very suitable for acquainting these recruits with tank combat.

And where he is located is the edge of the battlefield, the edge of the flanks, and at this time and the main forces, it is impossible to appear armored forces above the regimental level.

Only then did he let his troops continue to advance and prepare for battle.

In the beginning, it was indeed as he had predicted, and he had an absolute advantage in numbers.

But this advantage lasted only ten minutes, and the enemy's reinforcements arrived, and even not only tanks, but also attack aircraft, and the condescending attack of the 23-mm cannon could completely break through the weak top armor of tank No. 4.

His reinforcements were pinned down and unable to arrive, eventually leading to the battle spiraling out of control.

Even if he retreated in time, due to the low execution of the troops due to the large number of new recruits, the retreat failed, and he was forced to continue fighting with the enemy until he finally broke away from the engagement.

According to later statistics, there were 93 tanks that were destroyed and could not be returned, of which 50 crews suffered personnel losses.

Although the new No. 4 tank has excellent overall performance, it is impossible to withstand 85mm guns at close range.

"Lost tanks can be quickly replenished."

"After this battle, the troops have been trained, and although there are large losses in personnel, the overall combat effectiveness will be stronger than before, and the enemy's losses will be greater."

A battalion commander on the side analyzed.

Now the troops have plenty of tanks, and the above speaks, and the tank losses will be replenished as much as possible.

The regimental commander did not, but the satisfied smile betrayed his opinion.

The battalion commander is telling the truth.

Although there are 50 car groups lost, there are still more than 120 car groups in a group, and the combat effectiveness is still very strong, and the ones eliminated this time are all rookies, the group of people who are relatively stupid.

After this battle, the troops can even be said to have been reborn, and they will certainly be able to exert stronger combat effectiveness in the next battle.

The overall strength is indeed getting stronger.

The enemy lost a lot more than them.

"And it seems that the enemy's tanks have deteriorated, especially in terms of protection."

The words of another battalion commander attracted the attention of the regiment commander.

"Why do you say that?"

The head of the regiment asked curiously.

"The breakdown distance is a few hundred meters more than before."

The battalion commander replied.

"Tell me about it."

The regimental commander came interested.

·····

Three days later.

Front.

The command of a certain armored corps.

"General, there is no hardening process for the enemy's armor plates, the defensive capability is reduced by at least three percent, and the quality of other parts is also generally reduced, especially for artillery, the barrel life has been reduced by half."

A staff officer walked in and handed the general a data sheet for the research survey.

It was widely reported at the front that the enemy's new tank defense had declined, and the command organized personnel to investigate the matter, and through the testing of some captured tanks, such a data was finally obtained.

The staff officer's tone was excited.

The quality of the enemy's weapons has decreased, which is a good thing, and can greatly increase your chances of victory.

Hearing the news, the marshal in the command room did not change his expression, and still frowned deeply.

A few months ago, the Air Force carried out a large-scale bombing of the enemy's rear production and industrial bases, dropping tens of thousands of tons of bombs each time, greatly damaging the enemy's weapons production capacity.

It stands to reason that the weapons and equipment obtained at the enemy's front line have dropped significantly, but judging by the situation of the engagement, this is not the case.

The enemy still has a large number of tanks, far more than expected before the start of the battle.

He guessed before the report came out.

It is nothing more than to ensure the supply of quantities by reducing the quality of weapons, of course, these alone are not enough, there must be other reasons, such as support from other countries.

If it's a skirmish, it's deadly.

However, at present, the weakness of tank performance has been weakened to the greatest extent in large-scale battles involving more than a dozen group armies, more than 10,000 tanks, and thousands of aircraft, and the battlefield has spread over a radius of several hundred kilometers.

In the case of both sides being able to penetrate the opposing frontal armor at the combat distance, quantity takes precedence over quality.

What really determines the victory in a battle is the collection of battlefield intelligence, the formulation and implementation of strategies and tactics, and the logistical supply, and the test of the wits and courage of the command headquarters and staff departments of the two sides.

The marshal believed that if the war continued, it would be Germany that would win.

Drawing lessons from the past, Germany is fully prepared this time, both in terms of weapons and equipment and logistical materials.

With adequate preparation, their tanks can adapt to the winter, and even more than the enemy, in this battle, the number of tanks on both sides is actually about the same, and even their own side has a clear advantage in quality.

However, the enemy has absolute superiority in strength, as well as air superiority.

The main force of the German Air Force was pinned down by the Western Front and could not move, especially the bombing of Britain and the bombing of the enemy, which forced the mainland to transfer the air force of the Eastern Front.

As a result, air supremacy on the Eastern Front was completely in the hands of the enemy.

As a result, the attacking forces suffered large losses.

Just like the results of the fortress plan.

During the period of the fortress plan, their own side was forced to abandon the attack because of the continuous offensive attrition could not be replenished in time, unable to maintain the results of the battle, and began to retreat, but now, the rear tanks and supplies are sufficient, and they can quickly complete the repair after breaking through the position and then continue the attack.

At this time, the position had advanced more than 200 kilometers from the beginning of the war.

But it also poses some problems.

The weapons lost in the battle can be replenished in a relatively timely manner, and the materials consumed can also be replenished in a relatively timely manner, but the people who lose cannot, and the human resources of Germany are seriously insufficient today.

And also.

With the advance of the battle line, the supply line was lengthened, and a large number of technical arms were replenished into the tank unit, resulting in a shortage of manpower in the logistics unit.

This gave the enemy time to organize a retreat, as well as take away damaged weapons and equipment.

This is actually quite normal.

But the problem is that he remembered that Air Marshal Albert, the head of the logistics warehouse, said that the warehouse could advance as the troops advanced, and he also developed a battle plan based on this.

So, what's wrong?

·····

That day.

Hamburg.

The old fox walked into Albert's headquarters:

"What's going on?"

"Something is wrong with the warehouse?"

The old fox's tone was anxious.

Although he and Albert Kesselring have been working to reduce Germany's dependence on warehouses.

For example, the Opel truck production line, the No. 5 tank and the No. 6 tank production line, as well as to promote the development of new tanks, promote the development of new jet aircraft, and the development of new artillery, and ensure a certain output.

and strengthening agricultural production.

But at this time, Germany's old disease was too deep, and in just a few months, it had been completely tied to the warehouse.

Without the warehouse, Germany will not last more than three months, and it will collapse on its own, and this is still when the two of them are fully stockpiling supplies.

"There is no problem with the supplies in the warehouse, there is still a sufficient supply, and there are even more tanks."

Kesselring sighed:

"But I now know that the total number of warehouses is only ten, and the warehouses that have been placed cannot be moved, only destroyed."

"Only ten in total?"

The old fox's face changed.

There are restrictions in the warehouse, which is normal, such a terrible thing, there are restrictions, but the total number of ten, it is not possible to move yet, such important information, they only know now, this is obviously a problem.

If they had known that there were only ten of them, and they couldn't move, they would never want to waste it now.

·····

At the same time.

Zhao Jiayu.

"What is this?"

Zhao Gang watched Li Yunlong play with a new weapon.

It looks like an iron fist, but there is a noticeable difference, there is also a scope on top.

"Rocket-propelled grenade, abbreviated as ...

Grand Master Li paused, and suddenly held back a few words of English:

“RPG。”

"The firing range is one hundred and fifty meters, and at this distance, it can penetrate armor a hundred millimeters thick." (To be continued.) )