Yang Mingzhi was very aware of the current trends of the German army, because he had foresight and knew the danger of the situation better than Pavlov, the commander-in-chief of the Western Front.
Army Group Center was running wildly under the command of Marshal von Bock. His goal was to capture Moscow in an attempt to replicate the success in France.
The German army occupied Grodno at the beginning of the war. On the 24th, Hoth's troops did not entangle with the Soviet army and directly occupied Vilnius, causing the Soviet Western Front to come under heavy pressure in the north. At the same time, Guderian's troops also
Trying to outflank the Soviet army from the south, the German army was trying to form a huge pincer offensive to complete the encirclement of Minsk and the entire Western Front.
Therefore, in front of Yang Mingzhi's 284th Infantry Division, multiple enemy tank groups rushed towards them like tigers descending a mountain.
The Soviet army's first line of defense was torn open at the beginning of the war. The Soviet army was unable to parry. The Western Front was suffering a serious setback, and a large number of troops were forced to shrink towards Minsk.
Many of the maimed and scattered troops were retreating on their own, and a large amount of supplies were abandoned, including heavy artillery and damaged tanks.
There was a huge roar in the west. Standing in the trench, Yang Mingzhi stared at the periscope. In theory, on the distant horizon, the enemy's tank column and motorized troops were attacking the city of Minsk, and the war would break out in the next few days.
After experiencing such a huge battle, Yang Mingzhi could not face it as calmly as he had decided before. He was blaming himself in his heart, saying that he was really playing with fire. The Soviet army's failure in this Minsk battle was inevitable.
Why did you risk your life to come here? Just to participate in World War II?
Look at the wife next to you. She was also brought here from the Northeast, and her life is in danger at a young age.
But now, all regrets are meaningless, the blocking war will come soon.
On the 25th, there was a lot of noise in the sky, and countless soldiers saw this scene. A BF109 fighter jet was chasing an I153 Seagull fighter jet.
The Soviet planes could not outfly the Germans, and in full view of the crowd, the tail fins of the Soviet fighter planes were already burning.
"No, he will be shot down if this continues. Soldiers, shoot into the sky!" Yang Mingzhi ordered his men to fire, with the muzzles of the DP light machine guns pointed upward, and more soldiers' Mosin Nagants aimed at the enemy aircraft.
Pugachev urgently ordered the twin anti-aircraft machine guns to save his compatriots. Everyone's efforts did not cause the enemy plane to crash. The enemy gave up the target and retreated, and the Soviet aircraft also made an emergency landing less than one kilometer away from the position.
"Comrades, follow me up." Yang Mingzhi climbed out of the trench first. He rushed to the scene with a company of soldiers and pulled out the injured and exhausted pilots.
When the pilot returned to his position, he stammered out the horrific facts about the front line.
"Our frontline air force is finished!"
Pugachev also wanted to loudly question why the Air Force was so stupid, but the pilot directly stated that basically all the planes were destroyed at the airport, and most of the airport's runways were blown up.
Pilot Magnushev also fought hard, and in the end his plane had no chance of taking off again.
He had tried his best, and Pugachev had no more harsh words. Yang Mingzhi asked: "Comrade, you can see further in the air, so what are the current trends of the German army?"
"It's an attack, a devastating attack. Our troops are suffering terrible losses. In two days at most, they will advance here." The pilot said in horror.
Pugachev shook his head, the man was frightened.
A large number of broken Soviet troops were retreating to Minsk, some were stragglers, and some retained relatively intact structures. Soon these people appeared in the telescope, and Yang Mingzhi saw many familiar figures.
On the horizon, many stone-like things were seen moving. As they got closer and closer to the position, Yang Mingzhi saw the true appearance of these guys clearly.
"Those are actually KV tanks!" Yang Mingzhi was very surprised. Why are these guys also retreating?
The KV2 heavy tank is equipped with the currently very exaggerated 152 mm caliber howitzer. For this reason, it has a huge head and the thickness of the armor is also very exaggerated. This tank was born at the wrong time. In the face of a possible war, it was rushed to the shelves. As a result, during the war
It exposed too many problems. In fact, in Yang Mingzhi's view, this tank is more like a self-propelled artillery.
The defeated troops had a small number of tanks, mainly KV2 heavy tanks and special 3476 medium tanks. Other types of tanks, such as special 26 tanks, had been completely wiped out.
The defeated troops tried to pass through the position of the 284th Infantry Division. Yang Mingzhi immediately asked Pugachev to stop these people and at least block the tank troops. "Aren't you very angry that our artillery regiment suffered heavy losses from German planes? Now there is a new
The tanks can serve as heavy firepower, and we will supplement the firepower now."
Pugachev suddenly realized that this young man's constructive opinions were too good! He immediately ordered his soldiers to fix their bayonets and forced the broken troops to stop.
However, the defeated troops panicked and chose no route, and at the critical moment they actually opened fire on their former compatriots.
Yang Mingzhi was also shocked. Could it be that they were not the Soviet Red Army?
The battalion political commissar has basically lost the right to command the army's tactics. He can only inspire the soldiers at the spiritual level. Faced with the current situation, he hopes that Berekov will not show mercy. "Comrade Battalion Commander, the Soviet Red Army will not fire on our own troops. These people
They are cowards, and they are traitors to the great motherland. I hope you will follow Comrade Stalin’s orders and eliminate these evil people."
Yang Mingzhi held up his hat, but before he could give the order, troops fired warning shots. Some soldiers who mutinied were killed, while other soldiers were stunned.
Pugachev immediately dispatched troops to attack and disarm the broken troops in front of him. The 284th Infantry Division intercepted more than 2,000 broken troops. Now as the division commander, he gave these people two ways. "You can either pick up your weapons and continue fighting.
Or I will treat you as deserters directly!"
Many soldiers were restrained, and Yang Mingzhi wrote a paragraph and gave it to Pugachev. This was a speech: "Are you going to be a hero or a coward, even if it's only for a few days? You need not only courage, but also
We have a patriotic life creed from the bottom of our hearts. We stay here to defeat the enemy and wake up the cowards in the army. We, the Soviet Union, will definitely defeat the enemy!"
The soldiers had no applause or cheers, and many of them were frightened. Pugachev made a decisive decision, and some of the cowards were shot, while the rest had to join the 284th Infantry Division to participate in the defense.
However, troops retreating in other directions have passed Minsk's outer defense line, and they are still retreating inland.
The tank troops must stay, and there are a total of five KV2 tanks that can still move normally. Many of them have various problems. According to the tank crew, the 10th Army to which they belong has been defeated, and the army retreated in chaos.
A tank crewman sighed sadly and looked at Yang Mingzhi, an officer with an oriental face. "What awaits us is death. Do you know how we survive until now? Our T26 is simply vulnerable, even if its artillery is very effective."
.Our only effective tank also has many problems. Let’s take our KV tank as an example. Most of it was damaged due to its own problems.”
These five KV2 tanks were very lucky to have no structural damage. At least they can still run. However, the tanker said that they will break down after walking for at most 20 kilometers. This is not because the fuel tank is exhausted, but because the engine is about to explode.
.
Yang Mingzhi's balls ached when he heard these weird reasons. The defeat of the Soviet army was indeed inevitable. The most elite armored forces were either thin-skinned and lame, or they were lame as soon as they left. Only five KV2s could be left for themselves.
It was a lucky move, so all twenty tanks intercepted were used as forward firepower, and the big-headed KV2 was even used as a fixed turret.
In this way, the losses caused by the German air raids were over, and now more personnel were added. However, the lack of heavy equipment undoubtedly seriously reduced the army's firepower.
Faced with this situation, the Soviet army had no choice. Yang Mingzhi knew that tomorrow, June 26, the vanguard of the German army would attack the outskirts of Minsk.
For this reason, his wife must be with him. Yang Mingzhi carried a PPSH and also gave one to his wife, and told him: "Xiao Tao, no matter how bad the war gets, you have to follow me. Wherever I go, you go."
, you have to follow me all the time."
Yang Tao nodded deeply. The future wars would completely refresh her already unhealthy outlook on life. Now, like the officers and soldiers of the Special Anti-Tank Battalion, she looked confused. When the enemy armored forces came over,
, everything is unknown.
The blocking battle was destined to begin, and Pugachev issued the final order.
On the night of the 25th, the soldiers slept in the trench. The trench was divided into two, and there were communication trenches connecting the front and rear. Considering the rampage nature of the enemy's armored vehicles, Pugachev deliberately widened the distance between the battle lines, and there were buried trenches in the middle of the two trenches.
Got some mines.
According to the description of the broken troops on the front line, their combat defense artillery distribution was easily torn apart by the German army. For this reason, Yang Mingzhi was ordered to the division headquarters.
"Maybe I should consider your plan before the war. The anti-tank guns really shouldn't be placed evenly."
Political Commissar Batykin objected to this: "The defeat of our friendly forces was entirely due to the lack of firm will. Soviet soldiers armed with patriotism will be invincible. If we oppose the arrangements of our superiors, it will be difficult to win."
"Shut up!" Pugachev was about to give the political commissar a big-eared melon seed. "Comrade Badykin, I don't know how you came to power? You are just loyal to the Bolsheviks. You are not an army commander at all. You are just
The iron bastard who can brainwash soldiers into using their red skulls to hit the enemy!"
After being accused like this, Bajikin shut up.
"According to Belekov's decision, we slightly changed the defense layout. Combat artillery and howitzers formed a small anti-tank position, with five guns forming a defense node."
Yang Mingzhi was very satisfied with this arrangement. When the artillery fire formed a barrage to name the enemy tanks, the chance of a salvo would be greatly increased. These slight changes could be completed quickly even in the dark.
Of course, Yang Mingzhi does not think that his troops will lose in the blocking battle tomorrow or the day after. The RPG has 500 warheads, each of which can destroy a Panzer III tank.