On June 24, Balzen was worried that the German army would suddenly appear on this day. For this reason, he not only placed the defense center to the north of Loev, but also intensified the frequency of artillery attacks in order to prevent the enemies in the city from breaking through.
However, by noon that day, the Soviet scouts still found no trace of the enemy. They did find signs of movement, which turned out to be nothing more than wandering wild deer. There were quite a lot of wild animals in this area, including hares and rabbits in the forest.
There are many squirrels and few large animals.
Apart from this, there are indeed no signs of the German army. In particular, some soldiers climbed to the tops of tall red pine trees like monkeys, tied themselves to the tree trunks with ropes, and then scanned the distance with high-power telescopes in their hands.
On both sides of the Dnieper River, look for all abnormalities.
The Soviet soldiers all knew that if the German army came to rescue Loev, it would be impossible to send fewer troops. In this case, the reinforcements would definitely mobilize a large number of troops, so it was unlikely that they would come through the forest and advance along the plains beside the river. What else could be better than this?
A more reliable path?
Balzen thinks so, and so does Yang Mingzhi, who is dozens of kilometers away.
The most intense battlefield in the future may be the narrow plain sandwiched between the forest and river mud north of Loyev City. As long as the visibility is acceptable, the sentries are likely to detect them early.
On the afternoon of the 24th, the artillery bombardment against Loev was still carried out step by step. The Soviet army fired a burst of artillery almost every hour, and gradually, the besieged German army got used to it.
"The Soviet artillery fire is like a clock. They have so many shells that I don't even dare to leave this damn cellar!" The German battalion commander could only be a coward. He ordered the signal soldier: "Send the division immediately
Send a report to the Ministry of Defense, asking where the reinforcements are."
"Battal Commander, they have already marched towards us!"
"That's great!" Battalion Commander Krist, who was sitting on pins and needles, finally cheered up. "These days, I've almost had my head blown apart by these damn Russians. Inform the brothers and prepare to cooperate with the reinforcements! It's time for us
Get out of this damn ruined city!"
What the battalion commander said is true. The long-term shelling by the Soviet army has caused great damage to this city. After all, it is a small city. There are not many cement buildings. Now they have been bombed. There are no traces in the city.
A building untouched by gunfire.
The streets of the city are covered with rubble. At least the human corpses that died in the city have been collected and buried. The dead bodies outside the city are lying alone and have even begun to rot!
Furthermore, there were originally a lot of food reserves in the city, but what was even worse was that the kitchen was bombed. The Germans couldn't even find a place to bake bread. They had little flour, and cooking was still very troublesome. They had no choice but to make some porridge.
Satisfied.
This is what the city of Loyev looks like. In the Dnipra swampland, which is only separated by a river, on the 24th, when there was no fighting, the main force of the 233rd Paratrooper Brigade completed its garrison.
The paratroopers have been busy making rafts. The officers and soldiers of Rechev Battalion took the time to sleep after daylight entered. Officers and soldiers of two more battalions arrived here one after another and continued to make rafts. The rafts manufactured by Rechev Battalion became a standard, and subsequent generations
The builders continued to build, and within one day, ninety rafts were completed.
This is a result that Brigadier Zero Tepunov is satisfied with. He does not know how other troops are preparing for the battle. Here, the paratroopers boast that they have delivered a satisfactory answer.
As long as time permits, the rafting work will continue, so everyone at Camp Reichev wakes up and the logging work continues.
Looking back on a whole day's work, my main force was camped in this swamp. Little Ivansky's so-called guerrillas were actually four hundred refugees. They crossed the Sozhi River and took the waiting carriage to the south.
After leaving. After all the refugees were transported away, the carriage and the three captured half-track motorcycles came back with some ammunition and supplies.
This was the situation of the Soviet army throughout the day on June 24. Around Loev, the Soviet army deployed a total of four battle groups.
The main force of the blocking battle was the troops under Balzen's command. On the left were the more than 4,000 elite troops of the Homnich Military Station, on the right were the 17th Guerrilla Brigade and a battalion of the Paratrooper Brigade.
camp.
With such a sophisticated layout, such a huge force, and powerful weapons, the Soviet army laid a trap and waited for the German army to jump here.
But how the Germans jumped into the trap, no one knows.
The waiting was depressing, and Balzen wished he could fight the enemy early so that he could beat them with the weapons at hand.
Damn it, the enemy just didn't show up. He even suspected that the enemy had cruelly abandoned the defenders in Loyev City.
He explained this concern to his commander Yang Mingzhi. Yang Mingzhi's attitude did not change at all. He only had one order: "Your troops continue to wait. Without my order, Loyev is not allowed to be captured, nor is there any retreat or northward movement."
Proceed."
If it were in the past, Balzen would try to find the enemy personally, and once he found it, he would fight. This time, he was favored by the commander. If he dared to disobey orders again, it would be over!
Balzen chose to be patient. He held the regiment headquarters in his semi-crypt. Since there was nothing to do, he simply sat there. When it was time to eat, he ate on time and went to bed after eating. Everything seemed to be fine.
Balzen really doesn't have to worry too much. The position has been set up, with machine guns and recoilless rifles. The soldiers are also widely equipped with RPGs. Even if the enemy dispatches heavy artillery, he still has catfish rockets on hand! No matter what the enemy is like,
The Soviet army is in no way lacking in armaments.
He had already deployed sentries in an area as far as five kilometers north of the position, and all that was left was to wait for the sentry's early warning.
The sun rose as usual on June 25, and on the Soviet positions, the soldiers began another day of boring life.
Everyone knows that a battle may break out at any time, and how pleasant it is to enjoy the calm peace before the battle begins. They sit in the trenches, eating potatoes, or shaving in front of their goggles, and some continue to check their firearms.
Even gathering people to smoke cigarettes.
The comfortable life of the soldiers ended suddenly as the forest fog gradually dispersed. Because the Soviet scouts on the treetops in the distance really saw a mighty team approaching south along the river.
!
They! are the enemy!
The sentry quickly got down from the tree and quickly walked to notify other sentries.
Almost at the same time, at least three sentries saw the team. Thanks to the high-power telescopes in their hands, they discovered a surprising situation - the enemy actually had tanks.
After all, tanks are like huge iron boxes. What they saw was a Panzer IV tank, so they judged that the ones following them were all of the same model. The enemy was coming in force, and if there were still tanks participating in the battle, their own defense would really be under some pressure.
The sentries did not dare to neglect. They lacked radio stations and had no choice but to rely on running wildly to report the enemy's situation to the regiment headquarters.
These sentries are direct descendants of Balzen. They are veterans of hundreds of battles, and their physical fitness is the best in the entire army. On their daily training days, the five-kilometer light cross-country course is a compulsory course. Therefore, it only took 18 minutes to run back to the defense line and directly to the
Balzen's regimental headquarters.
When the panting soldiers saw their headquarters, they all pointed to the north: "The enemy! The enemy has appeared! It is estimated that we are still seven kilometers away from our defense line."
"Haha! That's great!" Balzen even broke a pencil because he was so excited.
He immediately took action and summoned all the communication troops: "Now, you send a report to all the troops to inform them that the enemy has appeared, only seven kilometers away from our defense line! Misha, please contact the group army headquarters directly and inform the commander.
, the battle will begin in an hour at the earliest!"