The summer rain is like the temper of a Russian, straightforward, bold, and unreserved. With lightning and thunder, heavy rain comes to the ground. Walking outdoors, even if most of the whole journey is a car, you will be wet and embarrassed when you come back. Such weather is common in Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Western Europe or North America. Usually, such heavy rain will not last too long. Once the sky is eye-catching, the hot sun will quickly dry the ground, making it suitable for the needs of military operations again. Therefore, the North Road combat cluster led

The generals of the Allied Powers were at the command center. After overnight consultation, they finally decided to adopt an active defense and wait for an opportunity to attack, and switch to position defense in the Baltic coastal areas where heavy rain first arrived. In eastern Lithuania and western Belarus, the preparatory army continued to advance towards the established goals. Among them, the 3rd Army of the United States and part of the French Expeditionary Force had approached the Soviet capital of Lithuania, the 2nd Army of the United States, the 1st Army of the British Expeditionary Force and the 3rd Mechanized Division of the Polish Army will enter the western suburbs of Minsk.

The night when the German Marshal and Interim Allied Advisor Manstein arrived at the Battle Cluster Command of the Confederate North Road, the Allied Front, which was thousands of kilometers long, was safe and sound. This situation continued until the dawn of the next day. Before the sun rose, the officers on duty had to knock on the doors of the generals one by one, informing them of the Soviet army's counterattack in Kaunas, Lithuania, Lida, Belarus and other places. With a shock that almost left the body, the generals hurried to the command room. However, when they carefully analyzed the situation and received follow-up reports from the front line, they were immediately annoyed by the recklessness of the officers on duty.

Fire - It turns out that the Dawn Offensive launched by the Soviet army in those areas was only a tactical counterattack of regiment-level scale, aiming to capture their previously lost and valuable positions. They cooperated with this counterattack at most, and at most they only invested in division-level fire support, and there were not many armored troops participating in the war. By the morning, the confirmed report was sent back from the front line, and the five positions attacked by the Soviet army were lost everywhere. After the Soviet army captured the position, they basically stopped attacking. The only position that was not lost was directly supported by artillery and tank troops. The Soviet army knew that it was defeated, and after leaving hundreds of corpses, it temporarily stopped.[]

Afterwards, at the request of the army, the front-line combat troops of the British Air Force sent several Spitfire fighter jets for low-altitude eye training and observation. The areas where they were active included opposite the front positions of the North Road combat cluster and part of the Soviet army's depth. No signs of large-scale mobilization of the Soviet army were observed. As soon as the news arrived, Lieutenant General Renka of the British Army said proudly to his colleagues: "Look! What did the Nazi marshal say yesterday? The Soviet attack was basically imagined. He was scared by the Soviets like this German officer! Well, is he still sleeping in the room now?"

Bradley looked at the British check-up in disappointment. He knew that the two world wars made the European generals have a strong subjective and meticulous attitude, and it was impossible to reconcile them in just a few words. However, the real commander should have the authority of the real commander, and he said so coldly:

"I asked him to rest in the room and call him up if he needed his help, so as not to become a battlefield before we defeat the real enemy!"

The generals heard his unhappiness from Bradrey's tone and words, and that was to put aside the words he had originally planned to mock Manstein. General Petit, who had two French divisions under his command, changed the topic: "From the current situation, the rain in northeastern Poland and Lithuania was heavy, which was not conducive to the night battle of troops. The northwestern Belarus was less affected by the rain. There was no rain in this place. Should we take advantage of this time to organize our first attack on Minsk, first to test the Soviet army's defense deployment there, second to attract the attention of the Soviet commander, so that our front line can safely survive this continuous rainy weather."

Bradley stopped when he saw the problem, and there was no need to catch the problem just now. He nodded and said, "This is a good idea. It would be better if we could contact the troops on the southern front to cooperate with the offensive. In this way, we would be very likely to fully control the southern Soviet Union before the bottom. Then we would repair a solid aviation base to carry out strategic bombing of the Soviet industrial zone east of the Urals and Urals. Without this major industrial resource, their speed of refining and enriching uranium would be greatly reduced. By the beginning of next spring, perhaps there would be no need to wait until that time, the Soviet Union in extreme difficulties would collapse."

As the representative of the 60,000 British Expeditionary Forces to jointly conduct combat affairs at the Allied North Cluster Command, General Karen said confidently: "Our offensive strategy is much wiser than Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. Because if we find the enemy's weakness, we will definitely be able to achieve the strategies that our predecessors have not achieved... General Petit, one day, standing in Moscow as a victorious person, your achievements will surpass those of Emperor Napoleon, how glorious it would be!"

It would be fine if you don't say this. Everyone knows that Napoleon, the greatest military commander in France in history, was defeated by the European anti-French alliance composed of Britain, hungry countries, Prussia, Austria and other countries, and was eventually exiled to the distant mouth of St. Helena, the French general replied hatefully: "In my mind, no one can surpass Emperor Napoleon, that is a glory that no one can copy!"

The atmosphere was so awkward. During World War II, Bradley was decisively depressed, who had to devote himself to commanding the US military forces and could not worry about this kind of chicken problem. He turned around and walked to a corner of the command room to explain to the US military staff officers about the coordination and liaison with the South Road Cluster.

On this day, Manstein did not walk into the Allied Command Room, but stayed in the room with his assistant to read books and newspapers. The Polish newspaper sent that day normally published this unconfidential war news. The lines were filled with optimism, as if the Allied forces had been more than two months old.

Strategic bombing completely defied the Soviet Union's industrial foundation. Compared with Germany at its peak, in 1946, the Soviet Union had relatively sufficient oil production, except for its relatively sufficient oil production, and the number of equipment dismantled from Germany could increase the scale of the industry, but the differences in specifications also caused inefficiency and waste. Faced with the comprehensive attack of the West, the Soviet army did not organize a truly substantial battle. This situation is really abnormal. They should not have lost much main force. Judging from the situation at the end of the war, they had at least six million well-equipped and experienced standing troops. There should not be much change in just one year. Six million... have they pushed back to Russia?" Manstein murmured.

During the Soviet-German War, a small army lieutenant would not have had the opportunity to discuss strategic issues face to face with the Army Marshal. Hans hid his pride and helped analyze it seriously: "With the Russian character, no matter how strong the enemy is, they will not make them timid. They may have spent a considerable amount of their energy on dispersing industrial facilities for some time before, and by the way, let the Allies extend the supply line in continuous advancement - this should be the powerful experience they gained in the war with us!"

Manstein nodded, dipped his fingers in coffee and briefly drew an Eastern European map on a clean table. This skill is naturally possessed by every German general who participated in the Eastern Front war, because they devoted great thoughts to the same target, and had also caused pain and struggled.

"If I were the commander of the Soviet army, I would try to avoid the coastal areas where the Allied forces have absolute advantages. From eastern Lithuania to Belarus, the Ukrainian plains are open terrain that is conducive to the combat of mechanized corps. Taking advantage of the fact that the Allied fleets have not yet entered the Black Sea, the southern wing of this decisive battle should be the coast of the Black Sea. It cuts into Romania and Hungary along the southern Ukrainian and into Hungary from western Ukrainian to implement a decisive encirclement and annihilation war against the Allied South Road Group. As for the Northern Road, it is likely to be just a restraining war."

Looking at the arrow of coffee destination on the table, the situation on the battlefield was clear at a glance. Hans said admiringly: "This is indeed a combat method that the Soviet army is very good at. They probably have completed the combat deployment and are just waiting for the offensive to be launched at dawn."

"From our German standpoint, the Allies' defeat may not be a bad thing." Manstein said in a low voice, "This war may not end with the complete destruction of one of the two camps. The ending is likely to be that both sides suffer heavy losses and are unable to fight, and they confront each other with the deterrence of the atomic bomb."

"Then won't our Germany become their buffer zone?" Hans asked worriedly.

This is a sharp and realistic problem. Manstein looked up at the window. The continuous heavy rain caused a scene that was difficult to distinguish day and night. The leaping flashes between the clouds were like the most powerful explosion on the battlefield. It can be imagined that the sandy road had accumulated into puddles, which had the same impact on both sides of the war. However, after four years of Soviet-German war confrontation, the Soviet army was obviously more able to adapt to this environment. After a long time of doubt, the German marshal said in a very low voice: "With Germany's current situation, whether it is appointment or resistance, it will eventually become a victim of the war. What we can do is to make this sacrifice as small as possible and to be in a position of hope in the future at the end of the war."

Five hours later, Western Ukraine.

Dawn is the most sleepy Shi Yin, who is normal, and it is also the time for the Soviet attack to be frequently selected during World War II. This time, the Uksen Front, commanded by Marshal Rokosovsky, deployed more than 8,000 artillery and rocket launchers, and used fierce firepower to bombard the 1st Panzer Army, the 4th Army and the British Expeditionary Force's turbulence position on the other side of the Shellet River for an hour and a half. It was still not dawn when the shelling ended. More than 400 Soviet fighter jets and attack aircraft took off from hidden airports near the front line, and under the guidance of lights and fireworks signals, the Soviet ground forces also launched a river crossing offensive with more than 1,200 fighting vehicles and elite 2nd and 7th Army. The Battle of Transnistria started!

The northern part of Eastern Europe was invaded by heavy rain, but the eastern part of Ukraine was still cloudy at this time. With the early stage of full planning and preparation, the Soviet vanguard tank troops crossed the river and successfully occupied the river bank positions of the US and British troops in a short period of time. At this time, more than 100,000 American and British officers and soldiers were completely enlightened by the opponent's sudden fierce artillery fire. The troops located in frontier positions were either annihilated by the Soviet army or retreated in a mess. The deep-seated troops were ready to launch a river crossing attack a few days later. Therefore, the layout of positions and camps mainly consider the level of offensive rather than a resolute defense war. The Soviet troops crossed the river formed several sharp tank attack groups, like sharp daggers piercing the Allied positions, and divided more than 100,000 American and British troops in several areas.

After dawn, more than 3,000 Soviet fighters divided into more than ten waves to carry out large-scale strong attacks on Allied airports located in western Ukraine and northeastern Romania. They launched an unprecedentedly fierce air battle with hundreds of Allied fighters taking off. The process and results can even be described as "tragic". On the southern front, although the Allied troops could not get the support of the superior navy, the powerful air force basically made up for this shortcoming. The US military alone invested 9 air wings, and the British army also had 4 air wings, including a fighter wing equipped with "meteors". The Royal Air Force believed that their jet fighter was better than the German me-262, and in the Eastern air battle, one was equivalent to three to four of the Soviet army's best propeller fighters.

Although the Soviet offensive came suddenly, the vigilance of the US and British air forces was still better than the army. They quickly took off more than 400 fighters after dawn, which was not much different from the Soviet fighters that arrived on the battlefield in the first two waves. The two sides launched a needle-point battle against the wheat at mid- and high altitudes. A large group of Soviet attack aircraft represented by Il-2 and Pe-2, and light bombers tried their best to avoid the interception of Allied fighters and pounced on the battlefield airport in depth, causing many Allied aircraft to be destroyed at the airport before they could take off. The air defense facilities around the Allied airport were also attacked strongly in the air strike and suffered heavy losses.

After unexpectedly reversing the air supremacy of local battlefields, Soviet engineers quickly set up pontoon bridges in many locations on the Transniest River. The total number of Soviet tanks, self-propelled artillery, and mechanized troops riding armored vehicles, trucks, and motorcycles rushed out of the woods through artificially covered assembly areas, and overtook the river unstoppable across the river and entered the western part of Ternopol, which had been occupied by the US and British Allied forces for less than a week. At the same time, Soviet guerrillas lurking in the Allied occupied areas were dispatched in various ways, destroying the Allied communications and transportation facilities in a flexible and changeable way, and even directly attacked many Allied commands that were not vigilant enough in defense, causing the command and communication of the Allied South Road combat cluster to fail.

On the same morning, the Soviet army invested more than 2,000 chariots and more than 300,000 officers and soldiers to launch a counterattack from the Nikolayev line in southwestern Ukraine. They easily defeated the US troops occupying Odessa Port two days ago. They quickly approached Romania from land. Looking down from the sky dominated by Soviet fighter jets, an armored column that winds for dozens of kilometers was rushing towards the far right wing of the Allied front... A nameless position in the western part of the Ternopol Prefecture of Ukraine, charred bullet craters could be seen everywhere in front of and behind the trenches, and countless yellow shells rolled down at the edges and bottoms of the trenches, especially the machine gun fire points that were blown up and built up, and the bullet shells left behind were mixed with the soil to accumulate a thick layer.

There were only a few soldiers responsible for guarding in the fox pit in front of the trenches, and there were several "Bazukka" used for anti-tank operations. This individual anti-tank rocket launcher is a landmark weapon of the US infantry. During World War II, it helped the US infantry destroy a large number of German tank armored vehicles, but it was difficult to deal with the Soviet army's terrifying heavy tanks. In the face of the Soviet surging attack cluster, many soldiers could not escape the counterattack of the Soviet army's accompanying infantry after opening fire.

Soviet artillery fire came fiercely, and officers and soldiers on the front line of positions retreated to reserve positions and special anti-aircraft bunkers along the traffic trenches as usual. This traditional tactic can minimize the casualties of soldiers in artillery attacks. Soldiers stranded in frontier positions for alert observation often need to pray for the beating mouth of heaven. With the continuous development of artillery and gunpowder technology, a large-caliber shell can directly kill life within a range of dozens of meters or even hundreds of meters. Although the solid fortress can greatly absorb shock and impact, internal personnel still face fatal threats when the shell lands close or is directly fired. The fierce artillery fire continues to hit the ground, and the anger of the former king of war can still be clearly felt through several kilometers.

Fighters flew over high altitude from time to time in the clear sky, but it was difficult to find the wild horses, fire spitting fires and meteors that were everywhere in the past. Allied officers and soldiers who were used to smooth attacks and were in a defensive situation had to bear huge psychological pressure. After the continuous shelling, there would always be a guy with weak willpower on the long front line to collapse, and more people died silently in the shelling: they were unfortunately hit by shells or shrapnel, and they were ruptured in the violent impact and died suddenly.

In contrast, the people buried by the soil raised by artillery fire are much luckier. When the officers whistled sharply and urged the soldiers to return to the front line position, countless people would rush up with dust on their heads and bodies, grab their weapons and follow the crowd to the other end of the traffic trench. At this time, the Soviet artillery fire was still extending to the depth of the front line, but due to the limit of the range of artillery fire, they could not invade the assembly area of ​​artillery and armored forces. In order to avoid suffering from the cross-fire of artillery fire, the artillery has always laid the position in a deep area, and its range is just enough to intercept fire in front of the front line position of the side.

"Each troops strictly guard their positions, and anti-tank personnel entered the front line!"
Chapter completed!