July 30, 1943, Rostov.

A Third Reich transport plane landed slowly on the bumpy airport runway. The airport was surrounded by soldiers on alert, and all kinds of anti-aircraft firepower were ready.

After the plane came to a stop, a group of senior generals of Army Group South who had been waiting for a long time quickly came forward to greet it.

The door of the plane slowly opened, and the first thing that caught everyone's eyes was a red field marshal's scepter.

Behind the scepter lies the face of its master, Field Marshal Bock.

The entire 6th Army surrendered to the enemy. The 11th Army and the 2nd Armored Army were surrounded by the enemy on the east bank of the Don River. The 17th Army was retreating and was very likely to be surrounded by the enemy.

The entire Army Group South will be in a desperate situation.

The Eastern Front battlefield will be greatly shaken by the defeat of Army Group South.

Under such circumstances, the furious Mustache dismissed Field Marshal Rundstedt from his position as commander-in-chief of Army Group South.

Resurrect Marshal Bock and send him to the southern battlefield to put out the fire.

Mustache has wanted to replace Rundstedt for a long time, but has been struggling with the lack of a suitable candidate, so the matter has been delayed for two or three months.

Unexpectedly, in just two or three months, the situation would change drastically.

At this critical moment, he could only think of Marshal Bock, the fire-fighting general.

Marshal Bock has participated in battles in Austria, France, Poland and other places. He has rich battlefield command experience and is the only candidate that Mustache can currently find.

Manstein, Guderian and others have gradually grown up. If they are given some time, Mustache believes that these people can replace the veteran generals within the Third Reich.

In Mustache's heart, Manstein was the most suitable commander-in-chief of Army Group South.

But now Manstein was surrounded and was about to follow in Paulus' footsteps.

The scepter is a reflection of the marshal's authority. After seeing the scepter, Lieutenant General Friedrich, the chief of staff of Army Group South, took the lead in saluting Marshal Bock.

Marshal Bock, who stepped off the transport plane, looked gloomy and his eyes were reserved.

He first glanced at the pitted and dilapidated airport, then turned his gaze to the faces of Friedrich and others, raised his right hand slightly, and returned a military salute very casually.

"Marshal, the airport is not safe. We have prepared a car for you. Please go to the headquarters immediately."

Chief of Staff Friedrich spoke first and showed respect and submission.

Marshal Bock nodded and walked toward the black car next to him, surrounded by a group of people.

The roads in the city are also dilapidated, and some buildings beside the roads are still burning with raging fires.

Marshal Bock's frown never relaxed and he asked:

"When did the enemy start bombing Rostov?"

Chief of Staff Friedrich replied:

"It was after the Sixth Army surrendered collectively and the enemy completely exposed its strategic intentions."

Marshal Bock nodded thoughtfully.

After more than ten hours of flying, he arrived at Rostov in a dusty mess, only to find devastation in front of him.

The battlefield conditions did not allow him to rest, so he rushed directly to the army group headquarters and started working.

The first order issued by Marshal Bock was to have the two light divisions that had been sent out to support the Don River defense line return immediately.

He dispersed the use of more than 300 tanks and had them camouflaged and hidden to the north and east of Rostov. Once he found that the enemy was approaching, he used the excellent performance of his tanks to carry out small harassment operations.

This is Rostov's first line of defense.

Behind the first line of defense were the Romanian, Hungarian and Slovak servant armies.

These troops totaled more than 15,000 people, all drawn from nearby cities.

Some servant armies were originally responsible for maintaining security in the occupied areas, and their combat effectiveness was not guaranteed.

But now the situation is serious, Marshal Bock has to send them to the front line.

Servant troops formed the second line of defense.

The third line of defense consisted of two light divisions that had retreated and some guard troops.

Marshal Bock did not expect these three lines of defense to hold out for a day or two. He only hoped to hold on until the 17th Army arrived in Rostov.

The various troops who received the order quickly became busy, and three lines of defense were quickly formed.

After arriving, Marshal Bock issued a series of orders, and all work was done in an orderly manner, which calmed the officers of the previously panic-stricken Army Group South headquarters.

It seems that the backbone has been found.

"Marshal, the forward reconnaissance force reported that the enemy's Don Front is likely to arrive at Rostov in the early morning of July 1." Chief of Staff Friedrich personally brought a cup of coffee to Marshal Bock and continued:

"In about 10 hours, the outermost troops will come into contact with the enemy."

"The 17th Army will not arrive until the morning of the next day at the earliest."

Marshal Bock thoughtfully said:

"That is to say, we must hold on for five or six hours with the current strength."

"Yes!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The piercing air-raid sirens suddenly sounded, and Marshal Bock said no more.

The army group headquarters is a reinforced concrete building. The enemy only bombs it normally and does not need to retreat at all.

"Boom boom boom......"

Marshal Bock finally felt the carpet bombing, and he felt that the naming was very appropriate at this moment.

Chinese people should not be underestimated!

All the troops were nervously building defenses, and it soon became dark.

The atmosphere inside and outside Rostov is oppressive, dull and tense.

The air seems to have become stuffy and hot, and many people find it difficult to breathe.

…………

"Commander-in-Chief, the T34 tanks and Sherman tanks are not equipped with infrared night vision. I am afraid they will arrive in Rostov a few hours later than expected!"

Wu Zhan said to Jiang Dong:

"However, a corps of troops arrived in front of the Third Tank Army in a car and should launch an attack on Rostov around 3 o'clock in the morning."

"The two armies of the Don Front are also on the march and will be able to reach the battlefield at 5 a.m. at the latest."

The enemy and we are now evenly matched in the direction of Rostov. If we want to break the balance, we can only rely on speed and time.

Even half an hour in advance will have a positive impact on the battle situation.

Jiangdong quickly found the location of the 17th Army on the map.

At present, it seems that the enemy should arrive at Rostov after the Don Front, but this is not absolute.

Jiang Dong pondered for a while and then said:

"Deploy another large group of jet fighters to attack the leading troops of the 17th Army and slow down their retreat as much as possible."

"clear."

"Are Manstein and Guderian ready to surrender?" Jiang Dong asked again.

"They are still stubbornly resisting." Wu Zhan said:

"Intelligence shows that Manstein should still have three armored divisions on hand."

"This is his last trump card, and he has never been willing to use it. Perhaps he is waiting for Rostov's change of direction."

"Yeah." Jiang Dong narrowed his eyes slightly:

"Tell Xiao Jiang, Zhang Shengqing, and Li Zhaoying that we must destroy Manstein's armored division tomorrow, force it to negotiate a surrender, and end the battle on the east coast as soon as possible!"
Chapter completed!