ps: The third chapter of the update is being written, and it will be updated later.⊙.

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Slobozia is a city in southeastern Romania, the capital of Yalomita County, located on the banks of the Yalomita River.

The city is more than 90 kilometers west of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and is an important railway and highway hub.

The headquarters of the Fourth Mechanized Army of the Soviet Army is located in the southern suburbs of Slobozia.

Since the war began on May 20, the Fourth Mechanized Army has crossed the Danube from the eastern part of the Romanian border city of Breila, and broke through the defense line of the Fourth Romanian Army on the same day. It then defeated the Romanian First Armored Division who came to support it, and completely opened the road to Romania.

The left wing was protected by the Black Sea coast and the right wing with the Eighth Mechanized Army. The infantry of the 18th Army of the Southern Front followed in the rear.

Lieutenant General Vlasov led the Fourth Mechanized Army to cross the Romanian territory with a thunderous force, and advanced more than 240 kilometers in four days, from the Soviet Romanian border to the Romania and Bulgaria border.

Just as Bulgaria was in a panic and was preparing for the land defense battle with fear, Vlasov commanded his troops, turned right in a daze, pointed his spearhead to the west, rushed towards Bucharest, the capital of Romania, and occupied the traffic city of Slobozia on the afternoon of May 25.

Bucharest is right west, with a straight line of about ninety kilometers. If you launch another round of fierce attack, you can occupy the city in two to three days and win the first merit in the Battle of Romania. However, Lieutenant General Vlasov had to stop the offensive momentum of the Fourth Mechanized Army.

The reasons come from both internal and external aspects.

The external reason was about twenty-five kilometers west of the front line of Jokina Town, and the scouts found a position lying in front.

The Air Force's reconnaissance planes also sent the same information.

When Vlasov learned that the defenders were Germans, he had to sigh that the Germans' speed of movement was far beyond his imagination.

The internal reason for Vlasov's stopping the troops was his own loss. The Fourth Mechanized Army made rapid progress, which seemed extremely cool, but it was also his own pain.

Vlasov led his troops to march behind the large army, and the scenes he saw along the way were shocking.

The road was full of dead and dead corpses of people and animals. There were also weapons and equipment abandoned by Luo Jun, and the most were the long queues of Romanian refugees.

Romanian refugees look at them, most of the fear of death, but behind the fear is more anger.

The military police force of the military headquarters severely dealt with several morally corrupt violations such as robbery of property, harassing Romanian women, and shooting more than a dozen villains who corrupted the Red Army's military discipline. When Vlasov looked at the refugees again, the guilt brought by the invaders in his heart was reduced.

Vrasov greeted the political and industrial departments in the army and strongly demanded that they punish illegal and disorderly behavior. The political and industrial departments agreed immediately and comforted Vrasov.

"If we don't take the lead, everything you see will happen to our territory."

After receiving comfort from the political and industrial departments, the last trace of guilt in Vlasov's heart completely disappeared, and he turned to focus on military affairs.

The combination of KV-1 tank and T-34 tanks was gratifying. In the face of these powerful tanks, the Romanian army was completely vulnerable.

The failure rate of the KV-1 tank and T-34 tanks was heartbreaking, and the intact tanks were parked on the side of the road along the way. The crew was helpless around the faulty tank and could only wait for the repair staff to deal with it.

The following belongs to the Eighth Tank Division as an example. The heavy armored battalion in the two tank regiments, 62 KV-1 tanks, four of which were damaged in combat, and 48 faults. Only ten of them followed the Eighth Tank Division to the front line of Slobozia.

The performance of t-34 is better, with a failure rate of about 40%.

In addition to the heartbreaking failure rate, Vlasov also had two major problems, one was the logistics problem. The other was the 122 and 152 howitzers of military artillery were unable to keep up with the marching speed of the tank troops.

The stz-3 tractors are responsible for traction of these heavy firepower. This tractor is more like a tractor than a truck. Its maximum speed is only a pitiful eight kilometers per hour, and it cannot keep up with the marching speed of the tank troops at all.

Under the attack of both internal and external factors, Vlasov decided to stop the troops and rectify first, wait for heavy firepower, wait for supplies, and wait for the follow-up of the Infantry Division of the 18th Group Army behind.

Staring at Bucharest, which was close to the map, Vlasov thought confidently.

Give me two days to reorganize the troops, and then rush into Bucharest in one go. We must never let the Eighth Mechanized Army on the right wing take the lead.

Vlasov immediately reported his ideas to the 18th Army Command, and within an hour he received a reliable reply.

"The Fourth Mechanized Army is allowed to rest on the spot until May 27, at 2:00 pm on May 27, your troops must launch an attack on the German army in person, put pressure on the enemy, and support the attack on Bucharest by the Eighth Mechanized Army of the right wing."

"May 27th? Isn't it tomorrow?" Vrasov asked in surprise.

"Yes, Comrade Commander." said the communications consultant.

"The fighting will of our dear Comrade Riyabeshev is really tenacious and worth learning from."

Vlasov originally wanted to say that Riyabeshev, the commander of the Eighth Mechanized Army, was so crazy that he did not give time to repair the troops in order to show off and to exchange for his military merits.

As his right wing, the Eighth Mechanized Army invaded Romania at the same time, successively defeating the defense of the Romanian Fourth Army, and then rushed side by side to the vicinity of Bucharest.

Vlasov did not believe that the full force of the Eighth Mechanized Army would be better than his own troops.

Just thinking about the ubiquitous eyes and ears of political workers, if they hear what they teased Riyabeshev, they may be sent to the military court in the name of "cowardice" and then taken to the execution ground to shoot a target.

Thinking of the great purge that made the Red Army scared, Vlasov shuddered.

This great purge implicated 5 million people, 30.4 million were executed, and the army was even more severely affected.

During the Great Purge, a total of 35,000 officers were suppressed, including 80% of senior officers.

Three of the five marshals were executed; 13 of the 15 army commanders were also killed; 57 of the 85 army commanders were executed; 110 of the 159 division commanders were executed.

Vlasov pushed the black-framed glasses on his nose, thinking to himself that for the sake of life safety, it would be better to have strange words rotten in his stomach.

Vlasov reorganized his troops. When preparing for tomorrow's feint attack, Riyabeshev, the commander of the Eighth Mechanized Army in Buzeu, Romania, was also reorganizing his troops to prepare for tomorrow's offensive.

The city of Buzeu is located on the left bank of the Buzeu River. It is adjacent to the Carpathian Mountains to the northwest, about 100 kilometers from Bucharest to the southwest, and about 70 kilometers from the Ploiesti Oilfield to the west. It is an important transportation and railway hub in southeastern Romania.

Following the defeat of the Romanian Fourth Army, Riyabeshev commanded the Eighth Mechanized Army. With one sprint, he won the transportation center and got tickets to the Ploiesti oil field and Bucharest.

Similar to Vrasov, Riyabeshev also encountered difficulties such as tank failure, artillery troops falling behind, and insufficient supplies.

Fortunately, the marching route of the Eighth Mechanized Army was shorter than that of the Fourth Mechanized Army. It was only more than 170 kilometers from crossing the river to Buzeu, and the road conditions were quite ideal.

Among the thousands of tanks in the entire army, more than 700 can be used.

However, Riyabeshev did not, as Vrasov thought, to show off or make achievements regardless of the fatigue of his subordinates.

The reason why he really made him determined to launch an attack was very simple. The Romanian army was deployed on the opposite side.

To be more precise, the road leading to the Ploiesti oil field was German troops, and the road leading to Bucharest was Romanians.

The fighter jets were fleeting. If time dragged on for too long, the Germans' new reinforcements arrived and replaced the Romanians and the best chance to capture Bucharest was missed in vain.

Even if his troops can defeat the Germans and take Bucharest, the consumption of time and personnel and equipment will definitely be much greater than fighting the Romanians.

Riyabeshev sent the enemy situation and thoughts he faced to the 18th Army Command at the same time, and immediately received strong support from the 18th Army Command.

A combat plan for the main attack of the Eighth Mechanized Army and the assisted by the Fourth Mechanized Army was quickly formulated and decided to start at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon

Fifty kilometers northeast of Bucharest, the town of Urzicheni, and the road leading to Bucharest from Buzzeu splits the town in two halves.

On the east side of the town, there is a small hotel called "Pathfinder" next to the highway.

In the second floor lobby of the hotel, the commander of the First Independent Armored Army under the German Balkan Army Group, Lieutenant General Balk was staring at the map of the Bucharest region on the round table and listening to the Chief of Staff report on the deployment situation.

"To the east and southeast of ours, there are the Seventh Paratrooper Division, the Twenty-Second Armour Division and the Three Infantry Divisions of the Twelfth Army on defense, in the northeast. The 60th Motorized Division has blocked the road from Buzeu to Ploesti oilfield. The only thing we have to worry about is the road from Buzeu to Bucharest, and the ones responsible for defending the Romanian 14th Infantry Division and the Seventh Infantry Division. With their strength, it is difficult to block the Soviet tanks."

"They will definitely not be able to stop the Soviet attack. It is too difficult to use these eight divisions to defend a 130-kilometer-long front. The two airborne divisions of the Air Force lack heavy equipment, and the two Romanian divisions have vulnerable combat power. If you want to protect the Bucharest and Ploiesti oil fields before the main force arrives, you can only rely on the strength of the twenty-four armored divisions."

Barke leaned on his cane and looked at the map again, and suddenly asked, "What troops will arrive tonight? Has the Army Command notified us?"

"The 23rd Panzer Division's troops will arrive tonight, but there is only one motorized infantry regiment. When their entire division arrives in Bucharest, then leave the city and arrives at the battlefield, at least the day after tomorrow. As for when other troops arrive, the Army Command has not responded to me yet."

"snort"

Balk's nostrils spewed a long and thick air.

"We just pretend that there are no new reinforcements, only more than 240 tanks from the 24th Armored Division can be used as reserves. Notify the Air Force and inform the Twelfth Army of our current situation of insufficient reserves, and tell them that we must strengthen reconnaissance work so that we can master the first-hand information of the Soviets, otherwise neither Bucharest nor Ploiesti would be able to defend either."

After the military officials were busy until one o'clock in the morning, Balk returned to the bedroom to rest after persuading the adjutant and the staff.

At 6:30 the next morning, Balk walked into the command hall again.

On Balk's wide chin, his beard was shaved cleanly.

Her blonde hair was meticulously combed to the right, and her straight military uniform was also impeccable.

The lack of rest time did not affect his appearance, except for the red blood in his eyes.

Balk hurriedly stuffed two slices of bread with tomato sauce into his mouth with hot coffee, and then asked, "What is the good news? What is the bad news?"

"The good news is that the vanguard of the 23rd Armored Division has arrived and has been unloaded, and is now moving outside the city. The bad news is that it is just dawn today. The Soviets conducted a full-line reconnaissance on us. The fighter jets of the Sixth Air Force are driving their reconnaissance aircraft, and our ground forces have had more than a dozen small-scale exchanges of fire with their reconnaissance soldiers.

And our air force sent a warning that the enemy's armored forces were frequently mobilized in the direction of Buzeu City and Slobozia, and there seemed to be signs of attack."

Balk's eyes flashed with a flash of light. He looked refreshed.

The Chief of Staff couldn't help but rub his eyes, thinking he had an illusion.

"Why do you look happy?" the chief of staff couldn't help asking.

"For us, the Soviets want to attack, which is a good opportunity to obtain military achievements. Of course I must be happy." Balk said with a smile.

"The enemy's tanks are at least twice as many as ours, or even three times as many as ours." The Chief of Staff reminded Balk not to be too optimistic.

"If the war is just about the number, what else should I do in a military academy?" Balk said with a smile.

Before the Chief of Staff could speak, Barke immediately dictated an order and asked the Chief of Staff to forward the Army Command. Then, with his adjutant and two staff officers, he stood up and rushed to the 24th Armored Division.

Time flies. The afternoon of May 27th is coming.

At about 1:40, more than 300 Pe-2 and Il-2 bombers flew over the Axis military positions around Bucharest under the escort of fighter jets. Then they divided into two groups and bombed the German infantry positions opposite the Fourth Mechanized Army and the Romanian infantry positions opposite the Eighth Mechanized Army.

The German Sixth Air Force fighter jets and the Royal Romanian Air Force fighter jets took off urgently to face the Soviet Air Force.

In the sky, nearly 200 fighter jets chased each other, fighting each other's life and death.

Riding the bombardment of German ground air defense artillery and regardless of the pursuit of enemy aircraft behind them, the Soviet Air Force bombers faithfully carried out their mission. Regardless of casualties and danger, they used aviation bombs and machine guns to attack enemy positions frantically.
To be continued...