It's raining, and it's almost inevitable that the Don River will rise.

At this time, it was impossible to organize an armed swim or build a pontoon bridge.

If the Don Bridge is blown up at this time, the eight French divisions and two Italian divisions to the east of the bridge will be dead.

The only way to survive may be to surrender!

This is the escape route for hundreds of thousands of people, and Leclerc actually said he wanted to blow it up.

"The bridge is there, and there are no names written on the cannonballs.

Of course, this is the last resort.

Besides, after blowing up the Don River Bridge, our troops on the east bank of the Don River became alone, but the Ming Army's troops on the west side of the Don River were also alone.

Although they have tanks and the artillery you mentioned that can move on its own.

But there are many of us!

Concentrate superior forces to kill this tank force.

What do those dozen lost divisions count for?

Not only will His Majesty the Emperor not punish you, but he will commend you."

Leclerc continued to explain to Albock.

In short, it is just one sentence: block the Ming army on the west bank of the Don River at all costs and prevent them from entering Kharkov.

"This..." Aibok was a little moved.

"General Aibok, you are a general I respect. You should know what it will mean for the war situation once Kharkov is captured.

We not only have to think about the hundreds of thousands of people in the eight divisions on the front line, but we also have to consider the safety of the entire French Expeditionary Force."

"Okay! This is the final plan. Give me some time to organize them to break out."

Aibok sighed helplessly and said that organizing a breakout was a complete fantasy.

Now, he can't even contact many troops.

"Have all the troops lost contact?" After the general direction issue was settled, Leclerc began to ask about the basic situation of the frontline troops.

"Two divisions are completely out of contact, and the remaining units are gradually restoring contact.

Many of our telephone lines are laid directly across the Don River.

These phone lines have not been cut off.

The losses to the frontline troops are still being assessed, but I think they will be very heavy."

There was silence in the carriage for a while, and they all knew that the two divisions that could not be contacted at all were probably in serious danger.

"People must be organized immediately to launch an attack in the direction of the Don Bridge.

Now at night, close combat at night is beneficial to us.

Tell the frontline troops whether they can break through the encirclement depends on tonight.

Blow up all unnecessary heavy equipment and everything that cannot be taken away.

Lay out as many mines as possible, and put all the mines you have on the position."

The carriage arrived at the French headquarters, and Leclerc kept talking.

Just twenty kilometers away from them, Zu Kuan was looking at Li Xiao's warrant brought by the airship.

Attacking northward, passing through the Dahe bend, it was under the command of Man Ye, the 1st Cavalry Division.

Zu Kuan finished reading the warrant and then lay down in front of the map.

The marching distance is more than a hundred kilometers. If we go by this distance in the past, it will not be a problem.

After a night of rapid march, there was no way we could arrive before dawn.

But now...!

It was raining heavily, and the raindrops were "cracking" on the glass of the command vehicle.

A few hundred meters close to the river bank has completely turned into a swamp.

News came from the Don River Bridge that the river water has begun to surge.

The sky was filled with the roar of airship engines. Both the French and the Ming Dynasty were using airships to desperately transport supplies to the front lines and evacuate the wounded.

So sometimes, airships from both sides pass each other in the air.

This kind of scene has not happened for a long time.

Because of the presence of anti-aircraft guns and Ming fighter jets, airships from both sides stayed behind their own lines.

Some airships have even been turned into pure transportation vehicles, and the twin 25-inch rapid-fire cannons on them have been removed.

The airships on both sides have no intention of firing. Everyone is in the sky. To fire at this time is to shoot each other dead.

Moreover, the commanders of both sides also issued strict orders not to actively fire at enemy airships.

Their first task is to deliver the supplies carried on the airship to the frontline troops.

The anti-aircraft fire on the ground also stopped.

Because they couldn't tell clearly in the darkness which was their own airship and which was the enemy's airship.

The Ming Air Force completely lost its sense of existence at this time.

There is no way, the Stuka cannot fight in such a windy, rainy and dark environment.

"Let the transport tractors and battle-damaged vehicles retreat along the Don River Bridge.

All tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery and other combat vehicles.

Fill up the fuel and ammunition, and immediately attack to the north.

The first regiment is the vanguard, the second regiment is the middle army, and the third regiment is the rear."

Li Xiao's order is an imperial edict. It must be completed if there are difficulties, and it must be completed if there are no difficulties.

Zu Kuan immediately decided to throw away the heavy baggage team and go into battle lightly to join Man Ye.

Under normal circumstances, the tractor can still keep up with the tracked vehicle.

But now it's raining heavily, and the original road has turned into a swamp.

Things like tractors are a little hard to play with. There are tractors lying around everywhere, and they need a tank to pull them out of the mud pit.

There are also some unlucky ones who were dragged out of this mud pit and fell into the mud pit on the other side before they could drive far.

While it hasn't been raining for a long time, it's wise to get those tractors to withdraw from the east coast as soon as possible.

Compared with wheeled vehicles, the passing performance of tracked vehicles is much better.

The huge body means that there is a more powerful engine inside.

The wide tracks make it relatively easy to traverse muddy roads.

The efficiency of the Ming army in conveying orders was much better than that of the French army!

Most of the French messengers were still riding horses, while the Ming army's messengers rode light tanks.

Moreover, each regiment of the Ming Army also had a specially modified communication vehicle.

There are no weapons on this car, only a radio.

In fact, with just such a radio, the weight of the communications vehicle almost exceeds that of a tank.

There are only two seats in the huge communication vehicle.

One is the telegraph operator and the other is the driver.

There is no way, the radio is too big.

Shrinking the radio so that it can be installed in an armored vehicle is already a huge technological advancement.

However, this kind of communication vehicle could only be equipped to regiments of the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty.

Troops below the regiment level still rely on light tanks and motorcycles to deliver orders.

Don't count on motorcycles in this weather condition.

That thing can't drive very far before it gets stuck.

At six o'clock in the evening, the 1st Tank Division began to divide its troops.

A few wounded tanks and armored vehicles covered the retreat of the baggage tractors towards the east bank of the Don River.

Remaining tanks and armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery.

Drive north along the Don River!

At eight o'clock in the evening, the rain became heavier and heavier.

Zu Kuan was sitting in the command vehicle, looking out the dark window from time to time.

It seems that the roar of the Don River can be heard in the distance!
To be continued...