"I agree with this view," richthofen said. "The members of the 4th Air Force are good at night warfare and are ready to support the ground battlefield. We Soviets have prepared a large number of incendiary bombs. This barbecue will be the first grand one."
Although he has been awarded the direct command of the Sixth World War, Manstein still said to Logan politely, "Marshal, I suggest that the Chinese armored forces attack the enemy in the north first. These troops originally stationed in Estonia have either never fought or suffered heavy losses before, and their strength should be the weakest. If the battle goes well, we will directly let the 3 rd Motorized Division March along the original route at night."
"I agree with you," Logan replied. Only the drunkenness has been dispelled by the fighting message, but alcohol still makes the militant blood boil.
"Well, everyone, we have regrets for dinner today, but I believe we will raise our glasses in the Kremlin soon."
With the words of Manstein, the divisional commanders returned to the troops by car with their entourage. Although the transportation efficiency dropped significantly after dark, the special bombing wing belonging to the 4th Air Force, that is, the transport aircraft unit, was still carrying war materials to Riga conscientiously. And now, with the arrival of the gasoline-filled clipper at Riga Port, almost all the engine rooms in Ke52 were battle shells and marching maintenance parts. More than an hour ago, the 22nd armored division left Riga with more than 1,000 highly mechanized troops with tanks, armored vehicles and various types of cars, thus forming a marching column nearly 20 kilometers long-but this is far away.
After receiving the battle order, the armored units belonging to the German 22nd Aircraft Descending Division immediately took action, and were absorbed by hills and Woods. Soldiers were deployed in advance to wrap hand-held tanks along the way to lead the way and attract the attention of enemy aircraft. The artillery directly under the 56th Armored Army was neither deployed in the center of the whole sector as the enemy speculated, nor dispersed, but was hidden in the northern forest zone in batches according to the range. When a few Soviet artillery pieces were wantonly jumping in the front line, the German gunners silently dragged the 75mm infantry guns out of the forest by manpower, and pulled the 1o5 and 150MM howitzers to the pre-positioned shooting positions to adjust their gun positions and load the shells.
"I haven’t smelled the midnight oil for a long time."
In a small hill overlooking the north of the city, Logan held a telescope alone. Although the enemy and the enemy were still unwilling to be lonely at night, after all, there was no fierce battle during the day. Manstein and richthofen, together with their staff officers, were physically and mentally busy and unwilling to be lonely. The commander-in-chief of the army took several guards straight to the front line-but after all, it was not as free and easy as being in a trench.
"Sir, you remember that French town named Monk. The fighting was so fierce that it almost killed us that night."
Tobias, a major who had been promoted to the army before going to Finland, was on the alert from time to time with a pistol on his waist. However, no major should be generous and elegant, but he obviously didn’t care at all
"Well, Monk," Rogan sighed with emotion, "I would never have seen this war the next day. How cruel it would be to fight side by side. Now my comrades are alive and half gone."
Tobias’s expression can’t be seen in the dark. The new major said optimistically, "Think about the French who are trampled on by us, and think about the British warships lying quietly on the bottom of the sea. It’s all worth our efforts. One day we will defeat every enemy."
"Defeat every enemy …" Luo Gendi repeated tobias’s last sentence. He thought that the United States and Japan are very vulnerable. If Italy intends to build a world empire, these will become rivals sooner or later. However, there have been many attempts to unify the world kings in human history, but they have failed in one case. Does this mean that human beings can eliminate national boundaries peacefully rather than by war?
The guns coming from the front continued violently for a while, like the swimmer slowed down gradually because of fatigue, but when it was still a long way from calming down, there was a sudden abnormal agitation in the surrounding Woods, like several warriors struggling to beat the drums-war has sometimes made people more crazy than football since ancient times. The reasons for war are ordinary, weird or complicated, or simple. Does this mean that war will always accompany human beings?
There is no barbed wire, no minefield and no trench in front of the enemy line. They will eventually win, and they are eager to win.
Chapter 17 General Commander in Chief
The wind blowing from the harbor gently shakes the branches and leaves of the trees and trees. In people’s impression, the sea breeze in summer night should be fresh and cool, but it is mixed with a kind of dryness, warmth, slight agitation, imperceptible but subtle.
On the edge of darkness, Logan was holding a cigar in his mouth, and the red light of the cigar head was mechanically reciprocating quite regularly in the dark. Listening to the thunder in the distance, he said without emotion, "Man, these deadly heavy shells were thrown at our heads in those days, but now we have turned into shelling people. Orientals call this situation’ the wind and water turn’-there is no absolute strong person in the world and there is no eternal strength."
"Hey, yes, it’s the Russian’s turn to taste this kind of abuse today," tobias complimented. "You really have a deep study of oriental culture. Is this your personal interest or your family?"
Such a heart-felt problem touched Logan’s deep memory. Although he had his own relatives and friends there, he was more obsessed with this era of making heroes.
"It’s really a long story. Every culture has its own uniqueness, for example …" Logan was just talking when he saw Karen’s hand. A communication officer leaned out of the armored communication car and shouted with a line phone microphone in his hand.
"Marshal General Manstein asked to speak to you."
Walkie-talkies are by no means unique to the US team. The technical level of German lines was also in the leading position throughout World War II. However, in ground warfare, they relied more on wired communication, which seemed to prevent the soldiers from being intercepted by the enemy.
"It’s my general. What is the good news?" Logan asked briskly.
"Marshal, can you please return to the headquarters as soon as possible? There is an emergency." There is some distortion in the line, but there is no doubt that Steinstein’s tone is not easy at all.
Logan immediately said seriously, "Okay, I’ll go back."
Wheeled armored vehicles flexibly turned around the hill and then galloped towards the mountain road. At this time, a low roar passed overhead, and the naked eye method was used to identify how many fast-flying black spots there were
A moment later, the reverse light was obviously enhanced. Logan turned around from the car and saw a big flame rising from the distant field and reflected the dark night into a stove iron pot.
Armored troops have already gone to the battlefield road. Besides guarding the sentry, they saw communication soldiers wearing trench coats and riding "BMW". Although many Latvians welcomed the "liberation" of their German team from the Soviet army, after all, it was in the area occupied by the Soviet army for a long time. The German army set up many checkpoints along the road. Logan did not put his photo on the front of the car as a pass, so the process of checking documents and asking for passwords was not too complicated. The journey was not far away. After a quarter of an hour, he arrived at the "Riga Port Defense Command" near the airport.
Seeing that Logan had just buried himself in the map, Manstein said in some haste, "I received an urgent call from the group headquarters. The third army has been breached by the Soviet army in Yergava, and the battle lasted less than one eye. This Soviet army has turned to Riga Port to advance the situation. I am afraid it will be very unfavorable for us."
"A hundred cars?"
Surprised, Yu Luogen immediately realized that this was probably a wrong battlefield information, and the strength of Soviet armored forces was greatly weakened after the early consumption. Although the remaining tanks could still reach 10,000, which seemed to be amazing in scale, the output of 34 medium-sized tanks and kv heavy tanks was far from being lost in this large-scale strategic counterattack by the German army. The report of Soviet heavy tanks only appeared in a few key areas, and the scale was often limited to dozens of vehicles with obvious advantages, equipped with No.4 f2 tanks in batches and slightly improved mm guns. The German army did not give these iron guys a chance to "disrupt" at all.
If you think about it carefully, Logan thinks that the night fighting environment may have caused the brothers to misjudge. If the enemy intentionally misleads, it is not surprising that the war report exaggerates the strength of the other side.
"General, please be calm. If the Soviets really set up elite armored reserves in this direction, although we will face great pressure, we will also reduce the pressure on the front line troops."
Logan walked quickly to the table and estimated that the time formula was not complicated. With the help of straightedge and compass, he quickly delineated a fan-shaped area in the hilly area near the Latvian border in northern Lithuania and then explained
"Since this armored unit was not detected by us during the day, it means that it is not too far to calculate the hiding place when they move the kv1 tank on the highest highway at night … This means that they stayed very close to the front line for a whole day. General, these two days are exactly the most stalemate period of the front line. Both sides have invested heavily in the frontal battlefield, and this area is more than 50 kilometers away from the frontal line. If you are a Soviet commander, will you hide a powerful unit in the Woods like a gopher instead of investing in key battles?"
"Maybe they have always regarded Riga as a more valuable goal," Manstein speculated. "It seems much easier to encircle us than to dig a big stone from a solid wall."
Logan shook his head decisively. "No, it doesn’t conform to the logic of Soviet commanders, and it doesn’t conform to the actual situation of the battlefield. I have an idea that fierce fighting also means a lot of loss, and we haven’t pushed forward the front in depth these two days. How many Soviet troops have had the opportunity to drag their damaged tanks back to the rear to repair them? Do you think this will be …"
Manstein pondered for a long time and clapped his hands. "Yeah, why didn’t I think of that?"
"Actually, it’s another thing that I’m more curious than the origin of this Soviet army," Rogan said tepidly. "The general in my impression is a very stable and wise man. Is it because we are betting too much or because I am the commander-in-chief of the famous army that makes you so impetuous?"
Manstein took a very surprised look at Logan, and all kinds of complicated looks were intertwined. In a short moment, he experienced a change of shock, anger, awakening, frustration and flatness. The whole person was like riding a roller coaster and finally stopped at a stable "platform".
"I’m sorry, Marshal, I just did have some … we didn’t receive the reconnaissance report of this unit before dark. Their appearance greatly surprised me, and the situation was very sure and out of balance …" Manstein’s voice was very low-it was not easy for such a proud German general to admit his gaffe.
Although the glory of the victory in the Battle of Britain has not dissipated, Logan knew that he was still a layman in the Sixth World War, and his limited military accomplishment was worthless in front of Stein, so he cheered like a cheerleader.
"No matter whether that sudden force is strong enough for us to adjust and deploy this battle urgently, we are bound to win, and we deserve a great victory after our efforts."