In the dull afternoon, there was a sense of restlessness and uneasiness in the air. Not far away, several trucks slowly drove towards the army. After these trucks arrived at their destination, a stout man wearing an officer's military cap got out of the leading truck.
The man, company commander Loya knew him. This man was called Modly, a captain in the logistics force. Loya understood what his arrival meant. Everyone had been looking forward to his appearance these days.
Captain Modly walked past Loya, smiled slightly, and said to the truck drivers behind him: "Distribute the extra rations to every vehicle here immediately."
Modly lowered the tailgate of his truck and opened a large box containing liquor, cigarettes and chocolate.
"30 cigarettes per person, and a bottle of brandy for every four people," Modly said generously.
"Long live!" The soldiers immediately let out thunderous cheers after hearing this.
Alcohol and cigarettes have always been the traditional needs of the army. The solace of tobacco and alcohol can make people relax and temporarily forget the anxiety and fear of reality. It is like an antidote for soldiers who have to deal with death.
Modly's eyes signaled Loya to step aside. When Loya saw this, he did not dare to follow Modly to the side carelessly.
"Go ahead and arrange it. Two platoons from your company will be responsible for the demolition and relocation of the camp. Tell your regimental commander later to have the main battalion and artillery battalion ready to obey orders at any time. We are going to attack the bridge where the Soviet army is stationed!"
After hearing this, Loya immediately saluted and replied: "Yes!"
Then he trotted away to deliver the order.
The reason why Modly did not go directly to Loya and his group leader, but came to Loya's camp first and asked Loya to help spread the message, was that there was an inside story.
The leader of Loya's 135th Infantry Regiment was unfortunately killed in action a few days ago. Also killed in the battle was the deputy commander of the 135th Infantry Regiment. The temporary acting commander who took over the commander's job was a person of not too high standard.
Lieutenant Colonel Felix.
The situation of generals whose level is inconsistent with their positions is not unique to the Soviet Union. Although these phenomena are more common in the Soviet army due to the Great Purge, there are also a few such situations in the German army.
For example, Felix, although his military literacy is almost a mess, he joined the Wehrmacht as early as the first round of the 100,000-thousand-thousand-thousand-strong Wehrmacht expansion, and later happened to participate in military operations in the Rhineland, Austria, Poland, France and other regions.
, he was also considered to have rich experience, so he managed to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel along the way.
During the war, it took more than ten years to be promoted from private to lieutenant colonel. This speed was not very fast, especially when this officer participated in a large number of key battles.
If it weren't for the repeated interruptions of sudden military operations, Felix should have entered the military academy long ago. However, due to a series of accidents, Felix has never been able to enter the military academy, but his military rank has been promoted.
Arrive at the Lieutenant Colonel.
Fortunately, Felix is very self-aware. Although his military level is not high, he is good at listening to the opinions of his subordinates who graduated from the military academy. For example, in the 135th Regiment, Felix likes to ask Loya, a graduate of the military academy, for advice on everything.
The top student company commander.
This can be regarded as one of Felix's great advantages. You know, in the Soviet army, General Pavlov not only listened to the suggestions of his subordinates, but even Zhukov's warnings were ignored by him, and it also caused him to criticize Zhukov.
Framed and revenge.
In the Soviet army, people like Pavlov could reach the level of general. In contrast, in the German army, the very few people like Felix who were promoted as a result of the war only reached the level of lieutenant colonel.
.
From this point of view, even if the German army's officer selection mechanism still has shortcomings, it is much better than that of the Soviet army.
So later on, even Modly from the logistics department knew that the real person in charge of the 135th Regiment was not their acting commander, but the little company commander Loya.
Not long after, the 135th Regiment camp was abuzz with tension and hustle and bustle. Tents were being dismantled, tanks were being prepared, and soldiers were busy loading bullets.
After finishing their work, the soldiers waited for the departure order from acting commander Felix and rested on the spot.
Although Loya's opinions are often Felix's orders, Felix is still the de facto acting commander after all, and the 135th Regiment has to wait for his orders.
Before the operation, the troops not only faced huge physical and mental pressure, but also had to encourage themselves over and over again. They smoked cigarettes before charging into battle, and few of them touched the brandy. Although sulfa drugs were distributed, the fear of injury and death still persisted.
Still bothering and tormenting them. Today is destined to have a sleepless night. The night is so long, and the whole team is filled with a tense atmosphere. The relaxation when they were stationed has disappeared. Some people are lying down and taking a nap, while others are sitting in a daze.
A soldier of the company, Charles, kept wiping his machine gun. Occasionally he would stop and look ahead as if he was thinking about something, although there was nothing worth seeing in front of him except a thin soldier who seemed to be asleep.
Something, but he still looked ahead from time to time. In fact, if he looked carefully, he found that he was not really looking at anything.
In the early morning, Second Lieutenant Congpei of the 3rd Company of the 135th Infantry Regiment watched the second hand on his watch run out the last few seconds before 2:22. As soon as the sound of artillery sounded, he jumped out of the pre-dug trench.
.
"Let's go!" he shouted to the brothers in the commando team.
"Charge!" Helmets rose from the tall grass. These German soldiers rushed across the railway bridge like sprinters, with the second lieutenant rushing at the front. The sound of gunfire drowned their boots on the heavy bridge planks.
There was a crashing sound on the bridge. Along the towering guardrails on both sides of the bridge, they rushed towards the opposite side of the bridge.
Deep in their hearts, there is always a lingering worry: Will the bridge be blown up?
After all, this is a bridge where the Soviets had planted explosives in advance. If Stalin's counterattack order had not required the use of these bridges, the Soviet army would have blown it up long ago.
Fortunately, the bridge was not bombed until the end. All the Soviet sentry had time to do was to fire a burst with his submachine gun, and then he was shot and fell to the ground.
At this moment, a DP-27 light machine gun roared from the air defense trench of the Soviet bridge guards.
Fortunately, a clearing team from the 1st Company of the 87th Engineer Battalion has been assigned to Second Lieutenant Congpei's commando team. The four soldiers of the clearing team quickly rushed toward the target machine gun, and the leading noncommissioned officer accurately threw
He picked up a grenade and smashed it into the air raid trench.
Accompanied by a dull "bang" sound and smoke rising, the sound of the DP-27 light machine gun stopped.
Second Lieutenant Congpei and the engineers rushed through the air-raid trenches that were shattered by the bombing, and then descended from the left and right sides of the bridge to the railway embankment, setting up their machine guns to prevent the Soviet army from recapturing the bridge.
At this location, they discovered that the Soviets had tied explosives to the middle pier of the bridge, but they had never detonated them.
As a result, the soldiers of the debris removal team quickly ran to dismantle it. At the same time, Congpei checked the bridge piers with a flashlight beam from time to time to ensure that there were no other detonating devices hidden elsewhere.
After confirming that there was nothing, Congpei slid off a piece of green glass on the flashlight, and the beam turned green. Then, like a stationmaster at a train station, he raised the flashlight above his head and waved it behind him, signaling that the bridge had been blocked.
occupied!
Immediately, the first German armored reconnaissance vehicle quickly drove across the bridge.
They crossed a bridge on the upper reaches of the Dniester River, and then they could march towards Kiev.
