"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel," just as the adjutant was about to drive the soldiers into the water, a veteran stood up and said to the adjutant: "We are not familiar with the situation in the swamp. We cannot rush into the water like this, otherwise many people will die if we go in.
How many people are there?"
Just now, the four soldiers only walked twenty or thirty meters into the swamp. If they were not careful, they were quickly swallowed up by the swamp. If they act recklessly now, even if ten times more people go to explore the road, they will probably end up with no return.
.
Considering this, the adjutant put away the arrogance on his face and humbly asked the veteran for advice: "Do you have any good ideas?"
The veteran did not answer the adjutant's question immediately, but picked up a branch on the ground, used a dagger to cut off the branches and leaves, and muttered: "Russia is full of such swamps. In winter, it is extremely hard, and people can walk through it."
Walk over it. In summer, it becomes a quagmire. People fall into it, and the harder they struggle to get out, the deeper they sink, until they are drowned in the quagmire."
"I know that Russia is full of swamps like this," the adjutant said to the veteran impatiently, "what I want to know now is how we can get through this swamp."
After the veteran whittled the stick, he handed it to a young private next to him: "Hans, take this stick. It will come in handy when crossing the swamp later."
In full view of everyone, the veteran quickly whittled a wooden stick, raised it high above his head, and said to the soldiers around him: "If you want to pass through the swamp safely, a wooden stick is indispensable. Hans, let's explore the path first."
Let's do it." Although the adjutant did not designate the veteran to participate in exploring the path, the veteran still took the initiative to undertake this dangerous task.
Before stepping into the swamp, he reached out and grabbed Hans' hand and said loudly: "In addition to using wooden sticks, it is best to move in groups of two or three when marching in the swamp. Even if someone accidentally falls into the swamp,
, his companions can also rescue him in time."
The veteran held Hans's hand and walked forward. As he walked, he kept saying: "If you want to survive, you must pay attention to the route I took, and you can't make a mistake in even a step."
The surrounding German officers and soldiers watched the veteran and Hans step into the swamp. The muddy water quickly reached their waists. Every step they took seemed as if they were stepping on a spring cushion. Their whole bodies were swaying, and they felt like they were shaking at any time.
There is a possibility of falling.
After the veteran and Hans walked more than 20 meters, they stopped. The veteran turned around and shouted to the officers and soldiers still standing on the shore: "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you get down quickly?"
Hearing the shouts of the veterans, a young second lieutenant stepped into the swamp rashly. Unexpectedly, he lost his balance and threw himself directly into the muddy water. Several soldiers on the shore quickly stepped forward, scrambling.
Helped him up.
"It is not a wise thing to cross the swamp empty-handed." Seeing that the second lieutenant fell down as soon as he entered the swamp, the veteran quickly reminded the others, "If you don't want to die in the swamp, you'd better prepare a wooden stick each.
, can be used to support your body when crossing the swamp."
Hearing what the veteran said, the officers and soldiers standing on the shore dispersed and looked for sticks to support their bodies. Fortunately, this was the edge of the forest, with various trees and shrubs everywhere. The officers and soldiers pulled out sticks
Use the dagger to chop branches and make sticks for crossing the swamp.
The adjutant waited for the soldiers to make wooden sticks, and then picked out three sticks. One stick was kept for himself, and the other two were given to Holt and Merinjin.
The officers and soldiers made wooden sticks and came to the edge of the swamp. When they saw the veteran and Hans still standing in the swamp, waiting for them, they walked into the swamp in pairs and walked towards the position of the veteran and the others.
The veteran was very patient. He waited until one of the groups of soldiers came to him and said to them: "You stay here and wait for the others. We will go to the front to explore the way." After that, he used the wooden stick in his hand.
He tested his feet and walked forward cautiously.
When the German officers and soldiers entered the swamp, they were all very nervous. After all, they all saw with their own eyes that the four soldiers were swallowed up by the man-eating swamp of Russia without even having a chance to call for help. But along the road that the veterans found out
Walking forward, although your feet will be soft, you will not fall into the quagmire.
Since crossing the swamp is a very physically demanding task, after walking more than three hundred meters in the swamp, the officers and soldiers were all out of breath from exhaustion.
Hans, who was exploring the road with the veteran in front, was also a little tired and couldn't bear it. He asked tentatively: "I really can't walk anymore. Can I rest here for a while?"
"No." The veteran replied without hesitation: "The soil under our feet here is too soft and cannot support anyone. We cannot stop to rest and continue walking forward."
The two walked forward for another ten meters. The veteran accidentally turned back and found that many groups of soldiers were stopping in place to rest. He quickly shouted to them: "The soil here is too soft and there is no way for people to stand on it. Everyone is here."
Don't stop, keep moving forward."
But it was too late when the veteran shouted. An exhausted soldier tilted his body and fell directly into the mud. The soldier holding hands with him was dragged into the mud. The two of them were soaked in the muddy water.
After a while, they all started calling for help.
The soldiers following behind quickly stretched out their sticks towards them and shouted loudly: "Grab the stick, grab the stick quickly."
The soldier who fell in later quickly stretched out his hands, grabbed the stick stretched out by his companion, and struggled to crawl out of the swamp. But the soldier who fell first was not so lucky. He had already fallen into the swamp.
It fell into a deep quagmire and disappeared.
It took the officers and soldiers an hour to finally pass through this wide swamp. Although there were veterans and Hans exploring the way in front, more than thirty soldiers and officers still lost their lives in the swamp.
Holt and Melinjin were lucky enough to pass through the swamp smoothly with the support of several strong soldiers. The two German generals, who had always paid attention to their appearance, were now covered in mud and sitting in a swamp without any appearance.
He was standing on a fallen tree trunk, breathing heavily.
"Your Excellency, Commander," the adjutant came over and said to Holt: "It's getting dark. Should we find a place to camp and rest?"
"Your Excellency, Commander," Merlinjin was worried that Huote would order them to march overnight, so he quickly reminded him: "Going further, there is another forest. We don't know if there is a swamp in the forest. If we march rashly, we may encounter
to danger.”
How could Holt, who had just walked out of the swamp, take risks? Hearing what the chief of staff said, he quickly ordered his adjutant: "Adjutant, order everyone to rest on the spot."
When the adjutant was about to leave, he added: "It is very cold at night in the Russian summer, especially in the forest. Let the soldiers light more fires to keep warm. Don't get cold. There is still a long way to go tomorrow."
Woolen cloth."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Merinjin said in horror after hearing Huot ordering his men to stay warm: "If we light a fire here, will we attract the Russians nearby?"
"Don't worry, my chief of staff." Holt had already figured out at this moment that even if there were pursuers, they would be blocked by the swamp they had just passed. No matter how brave the Russians were, they would not dare to pass through the unfamiliar swamp area at night.
That's why he boldly ordered the soldiers to set up bonfires in the forest. "If the Russians wanted to catch up with us, they would have caught up with us long ago. I think Sokov didn't have enough troops. In order to deal with us with all his strength, he
The main force cannot spare any troops to pursue us."
In order to find out what the situation was like outside, Holt ordered the communications soldiers to turn on the radio and get in touch with Manstein.
As soon as the signal soldier turned on the radio, he received a call from Manstein's headquarters. He quickly reported to Holt: "Your Excellency, Commander, Marshal Manstein is calling us."
"Can I talk to him?" Holt stood up and walked behind the signal soldier and asked.
"The location where we are now is an effective call area, and wireless calls are completely possible."
"I want to speak to Marshal Manstein."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Merlinjin saw that Holt wanted to speak directly to Manstein and quickly came out to dissuade him: "This will expose our location."
"Chief of Staff, we must do everything we can to leave this damn place as soon as possible." Holt said displeasedly: "Even if the Russians monitored our calls, they would not be able to come in time. No.
By the time they arrive, maybe we will have rejoined the corresponding troops and returned safely."
Hearing what Holt said, Merinjin shut up. In order to get out of danger as soon as possible, it is indeed necessary to take risks. Now that his group is in the forest, even if the Russians monitor his location, they have to get here.
, I’m afraid I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon, by which time I might have reached a safe place.
"Your Majesty Marshal," Huot soon started talking to Manstein: "I am Huot."
"My God, General Hoth, you're still alive." Although the effect of using a walkie-talkie for wireless communication was not good, Manstein was still secretly relieved when he heard Hoth's familiar voice coming from the earphones.
Tone: "Where are you now?"
"I don't know. My people and I are completely lost." Holt looked around. Since it was getting late, he could only see the faint outlines of trees. "We should be in the forest southwest of Oboyan.
inside."
Seeing that Holt was unable to tell his exact location, Manstein called a communications staff officer and asked, "Do you have a way to lock the location of General Holt's radio station?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." The communications staff officer quickly replied: "As long as he keeps talking to you, I can lock his specific location within three hours."
Although three hours is a bit too long, Manstein understands that with today's communication technology, it is still very fast to be able to locate Holt's specific location in such a short time. He waved his hand to the communications staff and signaled the other party to start immediately.
Do this and find Holt's location as soon as possible.
In order to prevent Holt from shutting down his phone and losing the opportunity to locate, Manstein also specifically told Holt: "General Holt, tell your communications troops not to turn off the radio at any time, otherwise the people I sent to pick you up will not be able to
Find your place."
"Understood, Your Majesty Marshal." After expressing his gratitude to Manstein, Holt thought of his miserable armored group and asked tentatively: "I want to ask, how is my army doing?"
"According to the latest report, your Armored Group has successfully returned to Belgorod with two armored divisions and three infantry divisions, including General Herlein's Grossdeutschland Division." Manstein lamented.
Said: "Although the troops withdrew to Belgorod, they were attacked by Sokov's troops during the retreat and lost a large number of soldiers and almost all technical equipment."
Hearing what Manstein said, Holt's heart felt like it was in an ice cellar. If he really lost almost all of his technical equipment, his armored army would become an ordinary infantry army.
After a long silence, Holt continued to ask: "Have the 11th and 17th Armored Divisions been withdrawn?"
"They are still fighting." Manstein said in an emotionless tone: "But the Russians used troops from two armies to attack them, and the retreat was cut off by Sokov's troops. I think
They won’t be able to hold on for long.”
"Your Majesty Marshal," when he learned that the 11th and 17th Armored Divisions were still fighting, Holt seemed to see a glimmer of hope. He quickly said into the microphone: "I implore you to dispatch the air force to support the two armored divisions after dawn.
, covering them to break through the Russian encirclement and return to Belgorod safely."
"General Holt, you should know that this is simply impossible." Unexpectedly, Manstein said on the other end of the phone: "Not to mention that the Russian Air Force has already mastered the air supremacy on the battlefield, even if the air supremacy lies with us.
Do you think they can successfully walk more than 30 kilometers full of Russians?"
Although Holt was obsessed with getting his only two armored divisions out of danger, he was still very self-aware. In order to break through Sokov's troops and establish a blocking position, his most elite Grossdeutschland division attacked almost two
For days and days, it was only through the cooperation of other troops that we managed to break through the opponent's defense.
Now there are only two incomplete armored divisions left. Not only do they have to deal with the two Russian armies coming from Oboyan, but they also have to find a way to break through the blockade of Sokov's troops. This is simply impossible.
Thinking of this, he answered truthfully: "No, Your Majesty Marshal. If they are allowed to continue retreating south, even if they get air cover, they may not be able to return to Belgorod."
"I think so too, General Hott." Manstein said to Hott: "The only way now is to let them change their retreat route from south to west, towards the weakest defense point of the Russians.
If the area is retreated, more troops may be saved."
In fact, as early as when the troops moved south and were blocked by Sokov's troops, Holt had considered withdrawing his troops to the west. There were no Soviet troops in that direction, and more troops and technical equipment could be withdrawn there.
The new location was deployed. But unfortunately, his plan at the time was directly rejected by Manstein, and the troops paid a heavy price.
Now that Manstein has realized that there is no future in going south and plans to withdraw the remaining troops to the west, Holt naturally followed the trend and said: "Marshal, I agree with your plan."
This chapter has been completed!