On February 18, in Mosul, a city on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Tbilisi River, at the southern foot of the Persian Plateau, more than 300 kilometers north of Baghdad, the main force of the German Third Army arrived here, but Army Commander Ron Desch Ted had no intention of stopping.
"Offensive, continue to attack, our tanks must be the first to drive into Baghdad, and we must not give up this honor to those shameless bitches of the Second Army!"
Every German military officer wants the honor of being the first to win a decisive victory in the war against China.
But he didn¡¯t know what he was about to face.
The main force of the 17th Group Army of the Chinese National Defense Forces, which Cao Chong personally led from Baghdad, was already less than 60 kilometers away from him, with a large net waiting for him.
¡¡
"The Air Force must ensure that there will be no enemy fighter planes in the skies over Iraq in the next seven days. I don't want a group of enemy air force support to suddenly pop out and destroy everything when I am launching an offensive against the enemy."
"Yes! No problem!"
"Heavy artillery unit! The targets you need have been clearly divided for you. The moment the battle starts, I want you to use all your strength to fight. All the artillery shells must be given to me within half an hour. Fight out!"
"Yes, I promise to complete the task!"
Seeing his commanders gearing up and eager to try, Cao Chong said nothing more about mobilization. The hearts of the soldiers were already hungry and thirsty. Now, only the enemy's blood donation and tragic defeat can satisfy the hearts of these soldiers who long for victory. .
On the 19th, a Chinese armored division suddenly traveled 200 kilometers and seized Abu Kamal in the Euphrates River Valley from the Germans. It cut off the Second Army's path to continue southward and dragged the Second Army here.
?Then the Chinese Air Force launched a full-scale campaign, frantically bombing and attacking the German Air Force. In the next three days of air battles. The Germans lost almost one-third of their nearly 400 fighter planes and lost their ability to provide air support to the front line in a short period of time.
Immediately afterwards, the 17th Army Airborne Division repeated its old tricks and suddenly airborne into Qamishli, setting fire to the German logistics warehouse in Qamishli and burning all the fuel and ammunition stored for the front line. The German troops who had received reinforcements here and from the surrounding areas fought hard for two days and one night before finally retreating. At this time, if nothing happens to the logistics of the Second and Third Army, they will face a supply shortage for at least half a month.
The German general headquarters in Turkey realized something was wrong. Immediately send reinforcements from the rear to support the front line, and order the front line corps to stop advancing immediately and defend in place.
It¡¯s just that at this time, everything is too late.
¡¡
In the early morning of the 20th, the Third Army tank unit, which had traveled more than 100 kilometers from Mosul, encountered bombing from the Chinese Air Force, a sweeping bombing of unprecedented scale. Almost a layer of the ground was cut off, and the German armored forces suffered one-third of the losses.
At this time, a Chinese armored force appeared. More than two hundred tanks were like the most vigorous light cavalry. With a roar, they rushed into the German armored cluster that was scattered by the air raid at an unimaginable high speed. Here, suddenly caused a large number of casualties to the German armored forces. but. The attack of the Chinese *** team started smoothly at first, but when it encountered Germany's new tank, the No. 4 heavy tank weighing more than 30 tons, it finally met its opponent.
The 60mm thick front sloped armor of the Panzer IV makes the 37mm main gun of the Chinese Bactrian light tank completely useless, while the 75mm main gun of the Tiger tank is completely fatal to the Bactrian camel.
This Chinese tank group almost collapsed in front of the German heavy tanks arranged in the middle of the queue, which surprised the German armored soldiers who were stunned at first.
"Quick! Charge and hold off these tanks! Tank No. 4 will follow. I will wipe them all out!"
The entire German armored group was completely enraged by the Chinese armored forces' advance, and counterattacks followed one after another.
The light tanks charged on both wings, opening two huge pincers to surround the Chinese armored force inside, while the heavy tanks, self-propelled artillery, and other troops in the rear followed from the front. This arrogant Chinese armored force must be completely surrounded and annihilated.
Unfortunately, at this moment, suddenly, the earth began to shake from the distant sky. Countless meteors in broad daylight quickly rose up, covering the sky, and then quickly poured down here.
China has already ambushed a heavy artillery cluster here, firing more than a thousand heavy artillery pieces with a caliber of 150mm or above from dozens of artillery positions within a radius of more than ten kilometers. Howitzer, self-propelled artillery, rocket launchers, the concentrated firepower instantly became a nightmare for the German armored group.
The silent earth seemed to wake up from a dream, stirring its body again and again. The horizon shook for a long time. The entire battlefield was like a volcanic eruption. Smoke hundreds of meters high instantly rose up, shrouding everything inside. , shock waves from a distance swept through the sky over and over again, and countless tank limbs were lifted into the air like toys by the violent explosion, and then fell to the ground and turned into pieces.
After the bombardment, in the space covered by the shells, there was no living person in the area of ??several square kilometers. Even if the tank body was still intact, violent shock waves reverberated in the space again and again, destroying the tank. Everyone's internal organs were shattered into cavities of blood.
The power of the giant cannon!
The main group headed by the No. 4 tank in the middle of the German formation was focused on the light, and no one was missed. They were all blown into scrap metal, while the light tank groups on both wings quickly escaped from the circle of fire with their speed.
However, the German army¡¯s nightmare is not over yet.
On the two wings of the front, there are Chinese tanks gathering on standby. Three tank divisions and five motorized divisions are waiting for them in a huge arc. As soon as the bombardment ended, there was a buzzing sound and the motors all started running. A torrent of tanks like a sea instantly flooded the sky and the earth, appearing in all sights in front of the German army.
"Damn it, this is a trap, a trap!" Lundstaeder roared hysterically, but at this time, there was no regret medicine for him to take.
The Chinese armored cluster instantly smashed the German formation like a giant hammer, and then divided and surrounded it. Tanks penetrated back and forth, dividing the German army into small pieces and annihilating them one by one.
The German light tank group relied on its speed and tried to escape. Unfortunately, it met its nemesis at this time. The Bactrian camel was far more adaptable and faster than him in this semi-desert adjacent area. The German armored forces could It is said that there is no way from heaven to earth, so we can only fight to the death.
This field annihilation battle lasted for two days. The Chinese armored group chased the Third Army all the way to Mosul, and then captured it together with the city. Completely annihilated the Third Army.
Immediately afterwards, Cao Chong marched westward, aiming directly at Qamishli on the border, which the Germans had just recaptured from the Chinese airborne army.
The German Second Army, which was attacking Abu Kamal, heard the news and quickly returned to rescue. But at this moment, Cao Chong led the Seventeenth Army to turn around and head north. This time the arrow pointed to Armenia and Azerbaijan at the southern foot of the Caucasus Mountains. !
¡¡
On February 30, the Chinese Air Force air raided Armenia, hitting the Turkish Northern Theater Command, killing Naim, the Minister of Defense of the Turkish Empire who was patrolling here. In an instant, northern Xinjiang was shaken!
Chinese troops from the Caucasus Governor-General of China at the northern end of the Caucasus are also frequently dispatched, and there seem to be signs of moving south. Its air force also launched an air attack on the important Black Sea port of Sevastopol on the morning of March 1. Although it was repelled by the Luftwaffe, it did not cause any major losses.
But there is already a lot of movement from the Chinese troops in the Caucasus. It seems that China is not willing to be entangled with the German army in West Asia alone. Instead, it wants to merge the two armies of the West Asian Governorate and the Caucasus Governorate into one, rush into Turkey's Asia Minor, and cause earth-shaking changes, involving all of Europe.
This time, Germany became somewhat strategically passive.
You must know that Turkey alone this time is the largest offensive force that Germany can muster in a short period of time. Supporting a war of this scale will exhaust the entire Allies. If Ukraine, the original Russia, the Baltic region, and even the Republic of Kazan are involved. Logistics alone are beyond the support of the Allies!
The Germans¡¯ preoccupation with only launching a decisive offensive in West Asia, trying to break through one area and gain some strategic and geographical advantage over China, has been changed beyond recognition.
The German offensive in West Asia has indeed achieved some results. It has captured a small half of West Asia. It is about to connect Suez with Palestine and Syria. This is considered a small victory. But the price was that a main group army was lost, the second group army was also reduced by one-third, and the air force lost nearly half in just one month of offensive. No matter how you look at it, it¡¯s not a good deal! The General Staff was so angry that they almost cursed while weighing the gains and losses.
And the current situation is that as the war deepens, the Chinese are uneasy about playing tricks and seem to be on the verge of expanding this war without limit.
This made the Germans really dumbfounded.
Launch several main battlefields at the same time, North America, Australia, West Asia and Europe, all wars with a scale of millions! Are you Chinese really not afraid?
The Germans can only bite the bullet and continue the war, because they know that they still have a trump card that they have not yet played, and this trump card is very likely to completely reverse the situation of the war! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (.) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m to read.