Battle of the Third Reich

"The specific plan is like this, what do you think? Does anyone have any additional comments?"

Snyder took a lit cigarette from a captain's hand and took a sip, then spit out a smoke ring proudly.

"It should be no problem, but I don’t know whether those infantry units and cover artillery can meet us on time. If they are late, wouldn’t we have to fight another night battle, if so, can the headquarters agree to let us rest Attack later." A long line of second lieutenant Zaft crouched on an empty oil barrel, holding a battle map in his hand and frowning at his company commander.

"You said that the military command would agree to this. We have fallen behind a lot of other troops. But rest assured that when we reach the meeting point, the mechanized infantry of that battalion and the two heavy artillery companies should have been waiting. It was there. The telegram I just received said that these troops had already departed from their station. And before we arrived, they would also do the necessary reconnaissance work for us." Snyder replied lightly.

"Where are the troops, have you met them before?" Three rows of long Rulf put down the kettle in his hand, he asked as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the cuff of the combat uniform.

"The headquarters said it was the 77th Mechanized Infantry Battalion. They used to be the Fourth Army. I only remember that their commander was Feng. Lieutenant Colonel Fullshaogen was a hero who fought in the last war. Iron Cross winner. But he should be more than fifty years old now." Snyder replied with a smile.

"Seventy-seven mechanized infantry battalion, I have never heard of it?" Zaft scratched his head.

"They just reorganized into a mechanized battalion, before they were just a second-line infantry battalion."

"Second-line troops, that is to say, the army transferred a group of guards from behind to support us." Rulf opened his mouth and looked at Snyder in surprise.

"Is there any way? Now the first-line troops of our army have suffered heavy losses and must be withdrawn to rest. The second-line troops are not too bad, nor are they required to charge, as long as they attract the French firepower for us, then give We provide cover and consolidate the positions we occupy. The key attack is still on our own." Zaft smiled and patted three rows of long shoulders.

"Zaft is right, we are the protagonist of this game. Well, you have no problem with this operation. If there is no problem, go back and convey the order, let all the personnel make preparations before sending out. . Pack everything up. We are..." Snyder raised his wrist and looked at his watch.

"We set off on time half an hour later, at 13 o'clock German time. Don't let the infantry wait for a long time."

"Observe, sir."

The platoon leaders quickly stood up and nodded to Snyder. Then the officers turned and ran towards their armor platoons. Snyder squatted down, carefully folded the map on the ammunition box and stuffed it into his file bag.

"Chief... Commander-in-chief... Chief Snider..."

At this moment, a man yelled loudly and hurried along the street toward Snyder. Lieutenant Snyder was taken aback, and he looked up suspiciously. It turned out to be his young armorer.

"What happened." Snyder asked loudly.

The bomber ran to the commander quickly, and his face was now flushed because he ran too fast.

The young armourer gasped violently and reported to Snyder: "Report... report... sir. The outpost on the outskirts met two of our soldiers, they... they said that their troops suffered When the French attacked suddenly, Sergeant Hank... asked me to report it to you, and he wanted you to see it immediately."

"What... there is such a thing." Snyder carried his file bag and ran towards the entrance of the village, and the small gunner quickly followed his face with a hard face.

"Are they only two?" Snyder asked his subordinates while running.

"I only saw two people." Karl replied quickly.

"Do you know which unit they are?"

"I don't know. Sergeant Hank talked to them and hurriedly asked me to come to you. I don't know what happened. I only heard that they were attacked by the French." The gunner panted. Answered.

It seemed that it was impossible to ask something from this subordinate's mouth, and Snyder couldn't help but quicken his pace. The fact that the two German soldiers were able to run to their station indicates that their troops were attacked near their station, and in this period of time, it is quite abnormal for the French to actively attack the German squad, Snyder thought A bit of ominous premonition emerged.

Snyder could clearly see his tank at this time. He saw a large group of people in front of his car. What made him strange was that there were two tall horses standing beside his tank. Warhorse.

"It seems that the two soldiers were riding." Snyder's company was an armored company, and there were only four horses up and down the whole company. It was also a stallion used by the logistics class to pull field cooking vehicles. None of them was. This tall warhorse.

"Quick off, the company commander is coming." Several sharp-eyed tankers saw Snyder running in the distance and yelled at the crowd quickly, and the soldiers quickly gave way to their commander Enter the circle.

Snyder slowed down, he tried to calm his breath, and then walked towards the group of men. Before walking into the crowd, he carefully looked at the two horses. It seemed that they had been exhausted, the muscles in his legs were still shaking, and there was still foam in the corners of his mouth. It was dust mixed with sweat. The beautiful fur had lost its original luster and looked dirty. It looked really embarrassed. The two soldiers took their reins to appease them.

Snyder walked into the crowd and came to the center of the circle. At first glance, he saw two gray-faced German soldiers sitting on the ground with their backs on the tracks of the tank. The medical doctor Dale of Lien was bandaging one of the soldiers on his arm. The wound, while his gunner and driver squatted next to another soldier with a water bottle talking about something.

Seeing Snyder's arrival, his two crew members and military doctors stood up and greeted each other. The two soldiers also struggled to stand up and salute, and Snyder squatted down and pressed them.

"Which unit are you, what happened?" Snyder asked eagerly.

"Reporter, I am Lowe, the senior soldier. He is the Bruce. We are the 77th mechanized infantry battalion reconnaissance company. Our battalion was suddenly attacked by French troops. Sir, we must prepare for the defense immediately, the French. Moving forward here, and, please report this situation to the Legion Command immediately." The superior soldier with an injured arm responded weakly.

"What! Seventy-seven battalion battalion? Hurry, what the **** is going on, aren't you going to meet us at the meeting place? How is your battalion now, and the artillery. Where were you The French attacked, how many troops did they... quickly, tell me this thing from beginning to end." Snyder was almost stunned by the news, he never thought that what was attacked was to contact He joined forces, he was anxious to know the details of the matter.

"We set off from the village of Cadot early this morning towards the meeting point with you. Our battalion walked in the front, and the two heavy artillery companies immediately followed us. The two of us were scout cavalry. There were seven people in our class. Responsible for searching the right wing of the troops. It was very smooth at the beginning, and there was no trouble on the road. We were still on the road for half an hour for lunch. At that time, no one thought that we would be attacked by the French ** team, and those comrades were still there. Talk about how to come and teach the French well." Lowe said weakly, with a wry smile on his face.

"Then, let's go on. How did you get attacked by the French squad." Snyder handed a cigarette to Lowe.

"Thank you, sir." Rowe took a strong breath and took a strong breath. After coughing a few times, he then said to Snyder: "Later we will march. Just before we reach the meeting point At that time, the forward reconnaissance team found anomalies, and I didn’t know exactly what they found, but Lieutenant Colonel von Fulshaugen immediately ordered the troops to stop advancing. He also ordered us to expand the search range to the two wings, and the result was in the right wing. We found that a large number of French squads were moving towards us. Then the left wing also found the same situation. We ran into a large French force. In terms of numbers, there were at least three regiments of French infantry."

Lowe picked up the cigarette with a tremble and took a sip, with a painful expression on his face. Then he said: "Then the French attacked us. The French soldiers rushed at us like crazy. They screamed and charged at us. We were only scouts and could not resist their attack at all. We had to retreat backwards to get closer to the brigade.

Feng. Lieutenant Colonel Fowles ordered a full-speed retreat, but it was too late. The French attack was so sudden that they beat us by surprise. The heavy artillery units in the back had no way to turn around and retreat immediately. They blocked our retreat. Before the battalion could form, the French had already rushed in front of us. The flanking defense line collapsed at that time, and infantrymen could only rely on the armored car body cover to shoot at the French. Then the French shells hit our heads. We were all beaten up and the troops almost lost their command. This was a massacre, the officers were knocked down one by one like a target, and the screams of our soldiers were everywhere. . . . "When it came to tears in Rowe's eyes, his face wrinkled in pain.

From the description of Lowe and the sad expression, Snyder felt the tragedy of the battle, as if he heard the loud cry of the German soldiers who were desperately resisting.

Snyder took off his military hat with a heavy expression, and then patted the shoulders of the weeping soldiers gently. The lieutenant stood up and looked towards the surrounding men. His platoon leader had received the news and arrived here. The officers and tankers followed their company commander to take off the military cap and looked solemnly for the soldiers who died in battle. Mourning.

Snyder squatted down, and he kindly asked Lowe, "What about the soldiers, and how did you escape from that disaster?"

"We rushed out desperately, Feng. Lieutenant Colonel Fowles ordered us to rush out of the French siege to report our attack to the command. Because the radio has been destroyed, we cannot report to our superiors.

The Lieutenant Colonel ordered us to break through the French siege and come here to find you. You are the German team closest to us. The Lieutenant Colonel asked us to inform you of this situation. He also said that you need to prepare for the defense immediately. If the French continue to attack, the next goal will definitely be here. He also wants you to use your radio station to report the situation to the headquarters immediately. The lieutenant colonel finally asked me to bring you a sentence, please tell his family, he said that the sacrifice for the motherland is the most glorious thing, he hopes that his sacrifice can make a contribution to the final victory of the great Germany. So it is not necessary to be sad for his family. When I finally saw the lieutenant colonel, he was standing in his command car and personally shot the Frenchmen with a machine gun, the Frenchmen were only three or four meters away from him. My scout cavalry team and I desperately made a big break. Seven people left me and Bruce. "

Lowe shuddered and pulled out a delicate wooden box from his pocket. He handed the box to Snyder.

"This is what the lieutenant colonel asked me to bring to you, please give it to his family if possible."

Snyder opened the box with a serious expression, and inside it was a first-class iron cross medal, with the words 1914 cast on it, and the silver-white rim gleamed in the sunlight.

"No, soldier. It's up to you to keep it." Snyder snapped the lid tightly, and he carefully put the box into Lowe's hand.

"It’s up to you to give to the Lieutenant Colonel’s family. This is a great soldier’s request. A fierce battle is about to begin here. This may be the most difficult test for our company. As a commander, I will Stand on the front line and command the battle. So, I don’t know if I can still complete the mission given to me by the lieutenant colonel. I ask you, the superior soldier Lowe, you can complete this mission for me.”

"But, sir..."]

"Don't, however, this is the task I gave you. Well, we have no time to be sad. You tell me how many troops the French have and whether they have tanks. And how long will they reach us." Naide pulled out his map.

"The situation was very confusing at that time, and it was difficult for me to give you accurate information, but according to the proficiency of their troops involved in the offensive, the French had at least one division, and they also had a lot of heavy artillery. At that time, French shells were overwhelming. Tanks What? I didn’t see it. I only saw some armored vehicles."

"They have tanks, I saw them." Bruce, who had been listening, said aloud.

"What, the French have a tank, what type and how many." Snyder grabbed Bruce's shoulder and asked anxiously.

"It is indeed a tank. I saw a lot of French tanks when passing orders to the forward. Although their speed is very slow, the forward troops have no way to stop them. I don’t know the specific model, but there seem to be two. One The species is about the same size as the Type II, but it is much taller. There is also a very large ratio.... It is larger and higher than this tank. But their speed is very slow." Bruce pointed to the number four behind him. The tank said.

"Why didn't you tell me about the tank in front of you?" Lowe asked to Bruce.

"I told you, maybe you didn't listen to it at the time." Bruce whispered.

"Okay, let's not argue about this issue. There is not so much time now. You tell me, how far are those French people from us and how long will they be here? Lowe?" Snyder asked.

"We were attacked about three kilometers east of the rendezvous point. We ran on horses for more than an hour before we arrived here. At that time, fighting continued there. They could not have been as fast as ours. My Lance is the fastest horse in the army. I think if the French were infantry and the slow tanks, it would take at least three or four hours to get here."

"Three or four hours, I understand. Well, you and your companion must be very tired, and you must have been injured. You first follow the medic Lieutenant Dells to rest in the back. You have done great work this time, I I will ask the command to give you a medal. Okay, don’t insist anymore. This is an order." Snyder stopped the protest of the two soldiers. They obviously wanted to help a little in their preparations for the battle, but in Under Snyder's harsh eyes, they had to give up their intention to continue the argument and obediently follow the medic to the tent of the duty station to rest.

"Okay, I think everyone has heard and understood our current situation. You don’t need to say anything. You should be clear about what to do. All of you are ready to fight immediately. Remember, what we are going to face this time Among the enemies are French armored soldiers. Signal soldiers, you should immediately report this information to the command post. Ask them to give us immediate instructions for the next step, and notify me as soon as there is news. The few of you follow me, now we have to take care Discuss the next plan of action." Snyder ordered loudly to the surrounding men, and then he took four platoon leaders to his temporary office.

Behind them, the tank drivers scattered towards their respective tanks, and they now decided to seriously check their tanks again. Because this time, they will be faced with peers who also have this kind of steel behemoth. Any slight mistake in the battle of the tank will cause the entire car group to lose their lives at the same time.

"What do you think?" Snyder sat on an ammunition box and looked at his platoon leaders.

"I think we are in danger this time. It is difficult to hold this village by tank alone. We need infantry support." A row of long Zaft said with a frown.

"Yeah, we only have 19 Type 4 tanks left, and the two Type 3 and Type 2 light outfits that have been cooperating with us have been transferred to the rear to rest. For infantry, we now have only A platoon of logistics. If we stay here, anyone can guess the end." The second platoon leader Kongs also nodded in agreement.

"In any case, I will obey your orders, sir." Rulf said loudly to Snyder.

"If in my opinion, this battle can never be fought, we simply don't have this strength. If I mean, we will immediately retreat now and give up the village. Anyway, here is already a ruin, the French want Just let them know, and they won’t be of much use. We immediately retreated to the rear, and then built fortifications where it was easier to defend, and gathered enough strength to give those French soldiers a painful lesson. But now look It’s not possible to come here. The headquarters will not let us retreat, otherwise the rear will not be ready to defend in the future. I guess the above command must let us stay here and try to delay the French attack and consume their Power." Snyder said solemnly.

"According to the current situation, our victory is too small. If the command orders us to defend, we will now be ready to build fortifications, and we will also develop defensive tactics. Time is really too tight." The platoon leader Garwan said slowly.

"Yes, our time is very tight, now let's start discussing the defense plan. I just found a problem from Lowe's words. If my guess is correct, we may still be able to make the French Taste a bit hard," Snyder said, scratching his head.

"Sir, the command called back." At this time, the signal soldier rushed into the tent with a telegram. Snyder stood up and took the telegram, and the officers' expressions began to get nervous.

"Can you tell me what was said above? Sir," Rulf asked quietly.

"Stop."

Snyder tucked the telegram into his military uniform pocket.

"General Guderian personally ordered that he must order us to stop the attack of the French ** team at all costs. Less than a last resort, we are not allowed to give up our positions. Our mission is the same as I thought before. Speed, to get time for the backup troops to arrive."

Snyder glanced coldly at his men and then ordered aloud: "Gentlemen, it is now our turn to defend the glory of the German ** team. Just like Von. Fühlschagen As the lieutenant colonel said, the death of a soldier for his country is his highest honor. Prepare for the final battle."

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