After resettling the troops, Colonel Slein took his adjutant and Qin Chuan to the command center to report.

They were informed in advance that the 21st Armored Division led by Rommel was incorporated into the 4th Armored Army, and Rommel served as chief of staff in the Army Command.

Without much effort, the two of them found the Armored Army Command in a two-story cement house... In cities, it is often such a short and sturdy house with strong survival, so they are always used for the command center.

When Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan walked into the command center, Rommel was gesturing and discussing something with an officer in front of the map.

Seeing Slain and Qin Chuan, Rommel was stunned at first, then laughed and walked up to hug him enthusiastically to express his welcome.

"Colin, Major... I thought that guy Manstein would not let you go!" Rommel said: "It seems that he finally showed a little gentlemanly demeanor!"

Then Rommel introduced to the officer: "General Hort, let me introduce to you my two subordinates, Colonel Slein, Major Frick..."

"I know, I know!" General Hort came over, shook hands with Colonel Slein and Qin Chuan, and said, "I can always hear about you during this period of time. To be precise, it's not just General Rommel, but all of us know one thing... Manstein relied on you to take down the entire Transcaucasus region, especially Baku, which is amazing!"

"I said..." Rommel proudly patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder and said, "Where they go, victory will follow!"

"General!" Colonel Slain replied modestly: "That's not just our credit!"

"Yes, of course I know!" Rommel replied: "But I believe that without you, Manstein would not have even been able to cross the Transcaucasus!"

This is true, especially amphibious landing ships and amphibious tanks.

Then Rommel introduced to Qin Chuan and Colonel Slein: "The one in front of you is the commander of the 4th Armored Army, General Herman Hott!"

Colonel Slein and Qin Chuan stood up and saluted Herman Hort.

Qin Chuan also had a little understanding of Herman Hort. He was one of the commanders of the four German ace armored army and was also Rommel's old superior... Rommel served as the commander of the 7th Armored Division from 1940 to 1941. The 7th Armored Division was also under the 4th Armored Army commanded by Herman Hort. They participated in the battle against France together.

If you think of this relationship, you can understand that when the war in Africa becomes stalemate, Hort would hope that Rommel will serve as chief of staff on the Eastern Front.

However, Hott's evaluation of Rommel was a little hurt: Hott believed that Rommel was too easy to act on momentary impulse, and accused Rommel of being too narrow-minded when questioning his contributions.

(Note: Many people believe that a considerable reason why Rommel was able to succeed on the battlefield was because of Hitler's "special care" for him, and Rommel always retorted without hesitation and confronted him, which is a manifestation of narrow-mindedness in Hort's eyes)

It should be said that these two shortcomings are really something Rommel cannot avoid, but this cannot seem to be a disadvantage: the former allowed Rommel to defeat the Allies again and again on the battlefield in North Africa, while the latter is a manifestation of a straightforward personality.

"Major!" Hort said to Qin Chuan: "What surprised me the most is that... the amphibious landing ships and amphibious tanks you built should be said to have played a decisive role in the Transcaucasus battlefield!"

"Yes, general!" Qin Chuan replied, and then he vaguely guessed the reason why Hot and Rommel were so anxious to urge the first infantry regiment to return to the construction... You should know that if the B Group Army had added a reserve team, the total strength would be nearly one million (including the Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian troops), and there would be no shortage of an infantry regiment at all, even if the infantry regiment had very strong combat power.

While leading Qin Chuan to the map, Hort said, "Also, General Rommel told me that his creative inventions of you are common, because there are bazooka launchers, minesweeping tanks, etc. Of course, I have also heard of these stories, but I have never thought they were real before. I thought at least half of them were developed by scientists, but I seemed to be wrong, right?"

"You can't say that, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "They are indeed made by scientists and technicians, I just told them the method!"

Hort rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, I understand. I am indeed wrong, because everyone knows that the method is the most important!"

After pausing, Hort continued, "Sorry, I seem to be a bit off topic. You know, our battle is mainly about attacking and defending the rivers, and you think... is it necessary for us to transfer amphibious landing ships or amphibious tanks from the Transcaucasus? Or should we build these things in a larger scale?"

Hort was a little confused about what he said, and his thoughts were jumping very well without matching the preface... Smart people often speak like this because they often think that some things are too obvious and need not say too much.

Qin Chuan understood it, but in fact he had guessed it before that Hort and Rommel hoped to use amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks to fight the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Battle of Stalingrad, on the surface, was a siege against a city, but in fact, from a military perspective... it should be called an offensive and defensive battle on two rivers.

These two rivers are the Don River and the Volga River.

It should be said that it is also the Creator's credit. These two rivers that entered the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea respectively, looked at the trend and approached Stalingrad, as if they were attracted by it. Among them, the Don River, which was originally north-south, almost all the directions were pulled into east-west directions.

In this way, a natural encirclement with half of the Don River is formed, and the Soviet army defended along the Don River and Volga River.

The encirclement is only a small gap of about a hundred kilometers long, and Stalingrad is located on this gap.

(Note: In 1952, the Volga-Don Lenin canal connecting the two rivers was located in this gap, with a total length of 101 kilometers. In addition to transportation needs, this canal also has a strategic defense function because it can fill this gap)
Chapter completed!