Chapter 97 The Legend of the Leopard King

The small bucket truck that drove bumpily along the way finally arrived at the destination at the scheduled time. Guderian opened the door and pushed out, and then he saw a very familiar face.

"Commander Guderian, you are welcome to come for inspection and guidance."

Looking at the respectable middle-aged SS man in front of him, Guderian, who was smiling and quite calm, immediately spoke.

"General Hausser, tell me about the current progress of your division. I'm very interested."

"With great pleasure, Commander Guderian."

A group of more than ten senior German generals, including Guderian and Hausser, and their entourage walked along the Dnieper River while talking. They looked at the SS soldiers who were crossing the river while building a pontoon bridge, because the front line The war was progressing smoothly and Guderian, who was in a good mood, immediately heard the report he hoped for.

"The leading armored force and part of the infantry detachment have successfully crossed the river, and can continue to advance after a short rest. However, there are still a considerable number of follow-up armored forces and baggage materials still behind the division. We really want to launch a major attack on the Soviets. A large-scale attack will have to wait until all these large forces have crossed the river."

After hearing the report from Commander Hauser next to him, he rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the noon time on his watch. Guderian realized that he had to rush to the next location and spoke again.

"Earlier, I received an aerial reconnaissance report from the Air Force. The Soviet troops southwest of Gorki were advancing towards the Dnieper River. It seemed that they wanted to carry out a breakthrough counterattack."

"Your Imperial Division must speed up its advance, Commander Hausser. At the same time, we must strengthen our reconnaissance in the direction of Monastrshina, south of Smolensk, to prevent the Russians from taking advantage of our loopholes! Do not hesitate to do so! We cannot take these Ivans lightly, they are the most powerful opponents we have ever encountered so far!”

After finishing the sentence, he paused for a moment. After thinking that he had just received a telegram from the intelligence department, Guderian felt that it was necessary to let his subordinates understand the seriousness of the strategic situation. Guderian then continued. .

"In addition, the intelligence department has just informed me of the latest developments of the Soviet Western Front, our enemy. Moscow has replaced Pavlov, the former commander of the Western Front, who had poor command. The new commander of the Western Front is a veteran marshal of the Soviet army. Timoshenko.”

"No matter what, this veteran Bolshevik marshal is a very fierce guy. He is more difficult to deal with than the original commander of the Western Front Pavlov! What awaits us is undoubtedly a tough battle, Commander Hausser, we must Let your imperial divisions prepare as soon as possible!"

After hearing Guderian's order in front of him, SS Lieutenant General Paul Hausser, who had great respect for the father of the German Army's armored forces and blitz hero, immediately raised his right arm.

"The Imperial Division will crush all enemies who dare to stand in front of the Imperial chariot! This is the same unquestionable result as our loyalty and belief in the Führer, Commander Guderian."

After getting the assurance he wanted from the SS Lieutenant General, who had always been known as a tough guy, Guderian, who looked satisfied, was about to turn around and leave after giving some details at the end, but he didn't notice. An ordinary SS infantryman holding an MP38 submachine gun was looking at him quietly not far away after crossing the pontoon bridge.

"Hey! Buckman! What are you doing standing there, you little idiot? If you don't follow me, I'll kick you into the river!"

Hearing his squad leader, an uncle who was nearly forty years old and somewhat grumpy, calling his name at the top of his lungs not far away, the young Ernst Bachmann immediately hurriedly covered his helmet with his hands and headed towards where his squad leader was. Follow the direction quickly.

"Hey, Haynes, is that big man over there General Guderian? I feel like he is!"

Hearing Bachman, who was quickly following behind him, ask in a hurried tone. When he turned around and looked in the direction of Bachman's finger, monitor Haynes responded very simply.

"You little guy has very good eyesight. Yes, that is General Guderian, the commander of our 2nd Armored Group."

After receiving the confirmed information from his squad leader, Buckman's eyes sparkled with adoration, just like a later star-chasing fan.

"This is the first time I have been so close to him, Haynes, he is simply my idol! I heard that it was General Guderian who assisted the Führer in establishing our armored forces. I really hope that one day I can also drive those glorious tanks, which is really something that makes people look forward to it!”

Looking at the young Buckman next to him who occasionally looked back in the direction of the adults, monitor Haynes, who did not take his words seriously at all, just regarded them as the lofty ideals casually spoken by young people on a whim.

"I don't know if you can become an armored soldier in the future. I only know that if you don't cheer up for me now and keep up with the team, I will kick your ass! Move quickly, soldier!"

What Squad Leader Haynes, who was shouting orders at the young Ernst Bachmann at this moment, did not expect was that the "lofty ideals" spoken by this ordinary young infantryman who was even a bit whimsical in his eyes turned out to be true. One day in the future, it will go down in the history of armored warfare of mankind in a legendary way that can be recorded in history, and will always be remembered by future generations.

He knew nothing about the actions of General Guderian, who was not far ahead, and was mobilizing troops to prepare for the Soviet counterattack. After checking his car, Malashenko, who was quite satisfied, was holding a The copy was handed over to him by Captain Karamov for careful review of the establishment list of the 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion.

According to this organization table representing the complete organization of the 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion commanded by Malashenko, this battalion-level heavy armored unit directly under the command of Rokossovsky’s 16th Army Headquarters can be described as It is extremely powerful.

First of all, as the most important combat unit under the 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion, the main combat unit of the total four heavy armor companies is already considered an additional level of reinforcement in the current Soviet tank force organization.

Each heavy armored company has three tank platoons, and each platoon is equipped with three KV1 heavy tanks and one T34 medium tank as standard.

In addition, as the company-level command unit of the armored company headquarters, the tank company commander and deputy company commander each command an additional KV1 heavy tank.