At two o'clock in the morning on June 18, Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner, Chief of Staff of the German Ninth Army Headquarters, was woken up by his adjutant.

   "What happened?" Erich Hoepner asked sleepily.

   "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, this is an urgent telegram from Berlin from Your Excellency the Commander." The adjutant handed a telegram to Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner.

   Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner took the telegram and read it. Later, when he saw the contents of the telegram, the sleepiness on his face disappeared completely.

In the telegram, Marshal Rommel asked Lieutenant General Erich Hoepner to lead the 9th Panzer Division, the 99th Panzer Division, the 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, the 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, the 83rd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 84th Mechanized Infantry Division , launched an attack on Nizhny Novgodero at the fastest speed, chasing and killing Joseph who escaped from Moscow.

  Marshal Rommel hoped that Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner would do his best to complete this task. Once Joseph is successfully captured or killed, then he will gain great military exploits.

   Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner also knew this, so he was very excited. He knew that this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for him. If he can seize this opportunity, then his promotion from lieutenant general to admiral, or even a real position, will be a sure thing.

   "God! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that must not be missed. Otherwise, there will be no such opportunity again." Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner told himself.

"Come on, let the commanders of the 9th Armored Division, the 99th Armored Division, the 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, the 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, the 83rd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 84th Mechanized Infantry Division come to see me. In addition, let the six The first division should be mobilized immediately to get them ready for battle!" Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner ordered.

   "Yes, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff!" The adjutant immediately went to make arrangements.

  The two armored divisions and four mechanized infantry divisions of the German Ninth Army are stationed at the headquarters of the group army, some are relatively close, and some are relatively far. However, after receiving the order, the division commanders of these divisions rushed to the commander of the group army immediately. An hour later, everyone gathered in the war room of the headquarters.

  Although, these teachers have unconcealable tiredness on their faces. However, they all knew that the urgent summoning by the headquarters meant that something big was about to happen. This is also an excellent opportunity for generals like them.

  When Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner walked into the war room, the division commanders stood up and saluted.

"Everyone, please sit down. Your Excellency, Commander, is still in Berlin and will return to the headquarters early tomorrow morning. However, I have received orders from Your Excellency. Our two armored divisions and four mechanized infantry divisions, after dawn We must set off and carry out a top-secret operation!" Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner said.

   "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, what action? Is it going to close the encirclement of Moscow?" asked the commander of the 9th Armored Division.

  Although the Moscow offensive and defensive battle is in full swing. However, this is nothing to the armored and mechanized units of the German army. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, a small number of German infantry plus a large number of servants invaded the city of Moscow. The armored and mechanized units of the German army were resting outside the city and did not participate in the attack on Moscow.

Lieutenant General Erich Hoepner shook his head: "Everyone, this is a top-secret operation. We have received news that Joseph escaped Moscow by train last night and is fleeing eastward. Our task is to launch an attack immediately. , Intercept Joseph in one fell swoop. It would be best if he could be captured alive. If not, kill him."

   "What? Go after Joseph?" Several division commanders were stunned. Obviously none of them thought that they would be asked to perform such a task.

   "How did Joseph escape from Moscow? Didn't he know that if he escaped from Moscow, he would die faster?"

   "Who knows what he thought? Maybe he thought he could escape to the east of the Ural Mountains successfully!"

"Okay, everyone. Are your troops ready? After dawn, launch an attack. The air force will be dispatched first to blow up the train Joseph is riding on and slow down his escape speed. At that time, it will be up to us. If Under such circumstances, Joseph was allowed to escape. That would be too inappropriate." Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner said.

   "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, what if the guys from the Air Force blow up Joseph to death during an air strike?" A division commander asked.

Lieutenant General Erich Hoepner was taken aback for a moment, and then replied: "If that's the case, then those guys in the Air Force will be out of luck. They will make great achievements, and we can only watch helplessly." .”

   "Shit! We must not let the guys from the Air Force take away our military exploits. We want to capture Joseph alive, and we will kill him no matter how bad it is!" said the commander of the 99th Armored Division.

   "Yes, this is our military exploit!" The other teachers also said one after another.

  They all know that this is undoubtedly a huge achievement for them. If they let the military exploits slip away like this, then they will lose a lot. Everyone wants to get this battle feat, so as to get a promotion.

"Very good, everyone is aware of this problem. Then, we will set off after dawn. No matter how powerful the enemy is in front of us, we must complete the task and capture Joseph!" Erich Huo Lieutenant General Puna ordered.

   "Yes, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff!" Several division commanders replied.

  Of course, they didn't think that the enemy in front of them would be so strong. The current main force of the Russian army is surrounded by the German army in Moscow and Josephgrad, and the rest of the troops, although there are still a lot of them. But that's just a bunch of rabble. It is simply impossible to resist the attack of the German army's huge armored and mechanized forces. It is foreseeable that they will rush to Nizhny Novgorodro in a very short time. Then search around and find Joseph. Undoubtedly, it would be great to be able to capture Joseph alive. Even if you can't capture him alive, make sure to find his body.

At six o'clock in the morning, the German 9th Armored Division, 99th Armored Division, 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, 83rd Mechanized Infantry Division and 84th Mechanized Infantry Division left the station and headed northeast The direction launched a fierce attack.