Krist and his men, who were trapped in the city of Loev, finally did not receive the reinforcements they had been waiting for on June 26.
The breakout not only failed, but also further shrunk their already stretched troops. These German puppet troops had a mental breakdown, and they returned to the cellars in the city. They just sat quietly, no longer caring about the daily shelling of the Soviet army, and they had lost the ability to continue fighting.
Confidence.
However, they have not yet thought of surrender.
Krist had no good solution and could only call on his subordinates: "Everyone, continue to hold on to the city. Our food and drinking water can last for a few days. Let's look forward to a miracle! I believe that our superiors will not abandon us!"
His words became the soldiers' last hope. It was a very cold-blooded fact. Originally, there was only enough food for three days. Because some more people died, the food was enough for four days! If you save a little more, it will be completely useless to hold on for another week.
Question. The premise is that the Soviet army will not launch a stormy attack. At least judging from the fact that the Soviet army is still shelling at fixed points, it seems that they have no substantive intention to attack the city.
On June 26, with the end of the battle, it passed peacefully.
The German command headquarters, fifty kilometers away, was anything but peaceful.
Because Quetzal's troops sent the last telegram to their division headquarters, the telegram showed that they were encountering a fierce siege by the Soviet army.
The time for sending the message was ten o'clock in the morning. After that, all the messages sent by the 722nd Division to the frontline troops did not receive any response.
The haze of defeat quickly emerged at the division headquarters. Division Commander Floride clutched the pen in agony. He was so anxious that he broke it off, and the ink stained the entire glove black.
His move was noticed by the chief of staff: "Division commander, I'm afraid that our army's operation to reinforce Loyev has failed."
"Nonsense! I know! Quetzal, this guy vowed to attack, but he was defeated in the end. I am also stupid, how could I exclude him by accident? Besides, are those Russians just a group of monsters?! That's close to
Five thousand people, that is, five thousand pigs. Can the Russians catch them all in two or three days?"
"However, our enemy should be Russia's so-called 63rd Army. We have been fighting against them for a year. To this day, we really have not won any battles."
"Didn't win a single game!? Really?"
"Yes! All lost." The chief of staff explained this fact regretfully, and he listed the various defeats of the 722nd Division.
After hearing a few words, Florid became furious: "That's enough! These are all our scars, and now the newly healed scars have been stabbed again. We have lost contact with Quetzal, so Loev's defenders
What? Do they have a new telegram?!"
"Correspondent!" the chief of staff shouted casually.
Loyev's defenders did send a telegram to the division headquarters. The content was the same as before, saying that their city defense was on the verge of collapse. Only this time the wording was harsher. The telegram specifically emphasized that there were only three combat units left in the city.
Hundreds of people, as well as a bunch of soldiers and civilians, no matter whether they can defend the city or not, the food will eventually be exhausted within a week.
The cable also describes the June 26 battle they experienced from their perspective, that is, the reinforcements were repulsed by the Russians and their breakout failed.
Unable to contact Quetzal directly, the division commander Floride still fantasized that the radio station under his command might have been damaged and thus lost contact. They might still be fighting. Although this possibility is very slim, it is still possible to believe it as much as possible now.
Now that he had received the telegram from the Loev garrison, Florid judged that the city's garrison could continue to hold on. They had been defending the city for several days with difficulty, and they should be able to continue to defend the city for a few more days.
Floride held his chin and stared at the map, thinking about his next move.
The chief of staff said: "I think we still need to continue sending reinforcements. Loev's strategic location is very important. It is obvious that the Russians have also crawled out of the swamp in this battle. They must be gathering around Loev.
If we have heavy troops, we should seize this opportunity and send heavy troops, it is very likely to severely damage it!"
"That's easy to say! Quetzal thought the same way before, but what's the result? The life or death of our 5,000-strong army is uncertain! There's nothing wrong with your reasoning, but we are just an infantry division with a severely reduced strength. Our task is to hold the current line of defense.
, doing everything possible to prevent the guerrillas from destroying the communication lines. Don’t you know that the trouble we have now is not only the so-called Russian 63rd Army in the swamps in the south, but also a group of guerrillas in the north. They are targeting transport convoys and railways.
There are many more attacks than in May, and our army no longer has the strength to deal with them."
"Indeed, the combat effectiveness of those police regiments is extremely weak. If we cannot defeat the enemy, they will be just cannon fodder. However, the army group requires us to recapture Loev, and we must not give up. We still have to seek reinforcements..."
"Insufficient troops!" Floride was sweating. How much he hoped that this battle could be resolved by his own troops. At present, it seems that this is absolutely impossible!
He suddenly recalled the battle in January, and felt increasingly that the battle situation was so familiar.
Florid stared at the map on the wall and suddenly realized: "Damn it! The Russians are recreating history! Today's Loyev is the Homnich half a year ago! What the hell, no wonder the 707th Division fought so many times
They were very resistant. After that battle, their system almost collapsed."
The chief of staff looked regretful: "You still have to carry out the reinforcement order. We don't know the situation on the front line yet, so we will send scouts to investigate! For example, the Air Force, that aviation brigade was originally to assist us, but now, you don't
We should stop inviting them to join the war just to save face. Because we no longer have much ability to take the initiative to attack."
"Okay! Okay... I will report our defeat to the group army, but we believe that some troops will successfully escape. I will apply for the Air Force to investigate, and we will bring another batch of food and ammunition to the airport. We have to
Let the defenders have the confidence to defend the city!"
In this way, with the enemy's situation unknown and our own side unknown, the headquarters of the German 722nd Division suddenly became blind and deaf.
Floride still hoped to get a reply from Quetzal until the sun went down. When he did not receive any telegram, the group army command instead inquired about the battle situation of the 722nd Division.
What should we do? Florid had no choice but to bite the bullet and report to the Army Group Commander himself that he was basically certain of defeat.
On the phone, he could only endure the filthy words from his superiors with silence. The abuse was just the commander's vent. Florid knew that his defeat was enough to get him fired and to be investigated by the Gestapo.
However, his immediate superior did not do this. Instead, he ordered his 722nd Division to stick to the current defense line and prevent any form of Russian attack.
Floride finally felt at ease, because the army commander was already recruiting troops to continue the fight for Loyev!
The next battle, regardless of success or failure, is not what Florid should consider. Of course, the army also made harsh words: "If the defense line of the 722nd Division is breached by the Soviet army, then the division commander will commit suicide to apologize!"
In this way, the 722nd Division took the only active attack in two months, and it was basically certain to be a new defeat. The officers and soldiers of the entire division had to strengthen the defensive line arrangement, all soldiers' vacations were terminated, and the city of Gomel was under complete martial law. The division could mobilize all
The two police regiments also had to divide their forces to strengthen the front-line defense, which inevitably weakened their daily patrols. Didn't this also objectively reduce the pressure on other Soviet guerrillas?!
What else can the 722nd Division do? Counting the Eastern Battalion troops with poor combat effectiveness such as the Police Regiment, the number of troops it can control is only 12,000. Their strength on the defense line is as high as 8,000, excluding Gomel
There are only 3,000 defenders of the city and airport patrolling the huge defense area.
He knew that the guerrillas in the defense zone were at the level of stragglers, nothing more than a group of mosquitoes, while the group of Russians in the south were a group of tigers.
He thought: I have eight thousand people on the front line, equipped with machine guns and artillery, as well as minefields and anti-infantry barbed wire. How can you Russians break through such a line of defense?!