Chapter 1243 Kzeelselus's Smoke

Looking east from the telescope, you can see the faint smoke floating in the distant sky. Under the setting sun, it is like sunset glow, a bit magnificent, but also a bit hideous. (Niuwen Novel~ Read novels online)

It was not sunset at all, that was the smoke of gunpowder on the battlefield. Although the battlefield there was more than ten kilometers away from the Bridgehead and the noise on the battlefield could not be heard, Qi Chengfeng was sure that it was the battlefield, the Nastarus battlefield. The reason why he was so sure was because he had received a telegram from the Nastarus battlefield. The person who shot the telegram was Ji Liangcai, the commander of the tank regiment who commanded the armored troops to fight fiercely with the German blocking troops on the Nastarus battlefield. He told the commander of the paratroopers guarding the bridgehead that his troops would arrive at the bridgehead before dark today to deal with the defense.

However, in Qi Chengfeng's opinion, Ji Liangcai's estimate was too optimistic. Before dark, the Chinese armored force that reinforced the bridgehead battlefield was unlikely to meet with the paratroopers. The reason was not complicated, because just after the battle of Nastarus broke out, the German heavy armored force that originally assisted the German infantry in attacking the east bridgehead suddenly turned around and advanced eastward. The purpose was obviously to reinforce Nastarus. According to the conclusion drawn by the paratroopers through today's battle, the German heavy armored force participating in the attack at the bridgehead was at least one tank regiment.

Therefore, after receiving the telegram from the armored forces, Qi Chengfeng sent a telegram to Commander Ji Liangcai as the highest commander of the paratroopers. In the telegram, he told the other party that most of the German heavy armored forces had turned to Nastarus, and the Chinese armored forces must be vigilant about this. The paratroopers can hold on until dawn tomorrow, and then, subsequent reinforcements will also arrive at the battlefield of Nastarus. In other words, the bridgehead can at least hold on until dawn tomorrow, and the armored forces do not have to rush forward to avoid falling into the German encirclement.

In fact, Qi Chengfeng's telegram was also a bit optimistic. This can be seen from one detail that Qi Chengfeng's original position was the battalion commander of the paratrooper battalion, and the airborne combat carried out on the railway bridge was originally an air assault brigade of the Chinese Airborne Forces. Now, Qi Chengfeng also serves as the brigade commander of the paratrooper assault brigade assault brigade because the brigade commander of the brigade was killed in the battle this afternoon. Among the three regiment commanders, two were killed and one was seriously injured. Therefore, the highest commander of the brigade could only be represented by the battalion commander. Qi Chengfeng is the most experienced in all battalion commanders and is also the most popular. Therefore, he has now become the acting brigade commander of the first air assault brigade of the Chinese Airborne Forces, responsible for commanding the battles of the entire brigade.

Before the airborne operation began, the First Air Assault Brigade had a total of 3,751 paratroopers, the First Air Assault Paratroopers dropped by 1,500, and the Second Air Assault Paratroopers dropped by more than 2,000. This is the total strength of the staff and support units. Now, after more than a day of battle, the brigade had only 1,600 officers and soldiers left, half of them were injured. In other words, in this battle over more than a day, the First Air Assault Brigade reduced its combat personnel by more than 2,000. According to the rules of military engagement, the brigade should have "lost its combat effectiveness."

It is precisely because of this that the German offensive was so fierce, and the Turkish and Italian troops also changed their past scattering and cooperated with the German offensive forces in a very tacit understanding. More importantly, in order to rescue the tens of thousands of elite German troops in the southern battlefield, the Nazi Luftwaffe took the risk of launching a very rare air battle, actively attacking the Asian League Air Force, which had a technical advantage, and exchanged the sacrifice of the air force for the security of the army.

The combat plan of the German Army Command has proved to be very effective. From yesterday's battle to this morning, there were only dozens of Asian League Air Force aircraft that arrived at the Kzelserus battlefield to support Chinese paratroopers, while more Asian League aircraft were attracted to the southern battlefield because the Luftwaffe was there to attack the southern wing tactical cluster of Asian League Army forces.

However, the strategic significance of the Kzel Railway Bridge cannot be ignored. Therefore, starting this afternoon, the Asian League Air Force quickly strengthened its air support for the bridgehead paratroopers. Just twenty minutes ago, when the Nastalus battle broke out, two Chinese Air Force "torna" attack aircraft once again attacked the German armored forces on the west coast of the bridgehead, destroyed some German tanks and armored vehicles, and fired the German and Turkish infantry units with machine guns, and safely evacuated the battlefield before the Luftwaffe fighter jets arrived.

Relying on that aerial assault, the Chinese paratroopers guarding the bridgehead on the west side of the railway bridge got a temporary breathing opportunity, but how long can they last? Qi Chengfeng was completely unsure. After all, the strength of the bridgehead on the west side was too thin, and Qi Chengfeng was even hesitating whether to completely abandon the defense position of the bridgehead on the west side and concentrate all his troops on the higher terrain of the east side?

With this idea, Qi Chengfeng stood on the roof of a hotel in Kzeelserus Town, holding a telescope to look at the battlefield of Nastarus in the east. From time to time, stray bullets flew past his head. The battle in the town was still very fierce. Although most of the heavy tanks of the German army rushed to the battlefield of Nastarus in the east to reinforce, the German infantry and armored grenadiers were still launching a fierce attack, fighting fiercely with Chinese paratroopers in every house and every street. This was a battle between troops and weapons, but it was even more a battle of will. This battle in Kzeelserus Town was the most cruel battle that Qi Chengfeng encountered in his entire career.

From the telescope, Qi Chengfeng saw that the smoke above the Nastarus battlefield became thicker and thicker. He realized that the battle there was also in a white-hot stage. Even if the regiment commander Ji Liangcai could lead the tank troops to break through the German army's blockade in the town, on the way to advance westward, Ji Liangcai's troops would still bump into the German heavy armored troops that reinforced Nastarus, which was another even more cruel battle.

Qi Chengfeng can only rely on the Air Force now. He hopes that before dark, the Air Force can send some more planes to the bridgehead for reinforcements, or attack the German armored unit that reinforces Nastarus on the east road to clear the road for Chinese reinforcements to arrive at the bridgehead as soon as possible.

After following the Nastalus battlefield in the east, Qi Chengfeng turned the telescope camera to the west, looking at the railway bridge and the slightly smaller town on the west side of the railway bridge, which should also be considered part of Kzeelserus. According to the brigade commander's regulations, Chinese paratroopers called the west town "Xizhen", and the east was called "Dongzhen". Now, Qi Chengfeng's command center is located in Dongzhen, and it is in the wine cellar of the hotel under his feet, which is also a field hospital. The seriously injured are concentrated there, and there is no lightly injured.

Now, like Dongzhen, the west town on the other side of the river is also filled with black smoke, gunfire, and explosions are heard one after another. Standing on the roof of the hotel, Qi Chengfeng could even see the German tanks rushing around on the streets of Xizhen, as well as the violent explosion flashes caused by rockets fired by paratroopers hitting the tanks.

Anti-tank rocket launchers are indeed sharp weapons in the hands of paratroopers. Without such weapons, the bridgehead would not have been held to this point. However, the paratroopers in the Xizhen position were at the end of their strength. The battle there was more intense than the battle in the East Town, because in the West Coast, there were no reinforcements from the Chinese Army armored forces to attract the attention of the German and Turkish troops.

"Issuing an order to the West Town troops, asking them to immediately give up their positions and retreat to the East Town."
Chapter completed!