On the recovered position, the Germans quickly discovered the gathered bodies.
Judging from the clothes of the corpses, the deceased were all officers and soldiers of the police regiment. However, the helmets of many corpses were missing, and the armed belts on their bodies were even missing. What was even worse was the lack of weapons. It was obvious that the Soviet troops had lost their weapons before withdrawing.
, but took away a lot of weapons.
After the officers and soldiers of the police regiment arrived, they checked the ammunition depot at their position and found to their surprise that the ammunition had been almost completely removed.
Of course, the German army also found the bodies of some Soviet soldiers on the battlefield. They were all wearing earth-green military uniforms. The most obvious feature was their legs. Without exception, they all wore leggings.
Those present did not think of the reputation of the 284th Guards Division of the Soviet Army on May Day! They were the only ones who could encounter guerrillas wearing leggings here.
They were a group of elusive guys. Not to mention the crazy performance of this group of people on the outskirts of Minsk. Even if they fled into the swamp as a defeated army, they defeated the German army one after another. This situation was quickly informed to Muller at the rear.
, the regimental commander couldn’t help but lament that he, the lieutenant general, would have to face such a difficult group of enemies, and he was afraid that he would eventually become a failure of the 284th Guards Division.
Perhaps those Soviet soldiers were hiding in the woods in front of the position, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack after nightfall. This possibility was very high, so Muller decided to strengthen the defense of the recovered position and establish a defensive system in a surprise attack.
The situation is not optimistic for the German army. The supply transport team has been lost so far. Muller can no longer take care of those people. He can only rely on the existing weapons and equipment on hand and the limited amount of ammunition to maintain his defense line with difficulty.
On the one hand, the German army dug deep holes, and on the other hand, they also sent scouts deep into the forest.
The scouts took great risks and walked westward. After advancing about four kilometers, they finally exchanged fire with the scouts who had ambushed the Soviet army.
The German scouts had no intention of fighting at all. They ran away, successfully evaded the Soviet attack, and successfully reported the fact that the Soviet army was ambushed in the western forest.
"It seems that their main force is indeed in the forest near Homnich in the west!" Muller believed that this was the truth. According to the principle of information sharing, he not only reported to the group army, but also informed the SS59 regiment and 634th of the situation.
division.
At this point, it is already the evening of July 7th, the action started on the 4th, and now it is already the fourth day!
Wagner, the commander of the German Army Group, was somewhat dissatisfied with the performance of his troops. Although Loev had been retaken, the price paid by the troops was not small. The worst part is that the German army has not yet achieved the goal of annihilating the main force of the Soviet army near Loev.
In order to achieve the target of the battle, the Soviet army fled into the distant forest and waited for an opportunity to counterattack.
So on the evening of the 7th, after Mueller sent a telegram "finding the main force of the Soviet army", Wagner was ecstatic.
So much so that he even put aside the issue of the mysterious disappearance of the transport team, and concentrated on using limited forces to kill the main force of the Soviet army entrenched in the Homnich area.
The German army group quickly made adjustments, and Wagner decisively made an important decision, a decision that the Soviet commander-in-chief Yang Mingzhi was looking forward to - ordering the SS59 regiment to protrude from Loev City and be taken over by the officers and soldiers of the 634th Division.
This can be described as a major tactical adjustment. The Waffen SS will withdraw from the city, the entire regiment will reinforce Müller's troops, and plan to attack Homnich!
Wagner's order to Blücher was very straightforward: "You must lead your troops to move west early tomorrow morning, join the 805th Division's Muller Division, and wait for further orders."
As for who will guard Loev, it is naturally the 634th Division. Even now, Wagner believes that Loev has little strategic value unless the Germans rebuild a railway bridge.
The orders from the headquarters are absolute. Whether it is the Waffen SS or the 634th Division, they must be implemented immediately, even if there are many difficulties involved.
On the evening of the 7th, the 634th Division began special operations.
In terms of logistical supplies, among the German units, the 634th Division did the best because they had transportation facilities that other units could not enjoy. Other units relied on land carriage transportation, while the 634th Division relied on railways.
A train from Chernihiv, transporting a large amount of military rations and ammunition, set off. The train turned into the railway branch and stopped after arriving at the current position of the 634th Division.
The German soldiers transported a large amount of military rations, ammunition supplies, and as many as fifty inflatable rubber boats. After they completed transporting the supplies, the empty carriages were directly stuffed with a group of wounded people and even the bodies of the dead. Therefore, 634
The division had more reserve ammunition, and their firepower was further improved.
Hendryson, commander of the 634th Division, immediately took action after receiving the order from his superiors.
The soldiers quickly used pumps to fill up the compressed rubber boats. Each boat could only hold five fully armed people. They used wood pulp to paddle across the calm water of the Dnieper River, and one after another a battalion of officers and soldiers were crossed.
Loev was already in ruins, and the enemy was elusive. Hendryson was too lazy to take risks, so he sent a battalion to take over the ruined city. His main force was still on the left bank of the river, and
The enemy on the left bank confronts the forest.
Many of the German troop movements were carried out after six o'clock in the afternoon, and every move they made was discovered by the Soviet scouts, especially the paratrooper brigade, which was still in ambush.
Thanks to the large amount of military rations they brought with them and the fish in the dense water net in the Denipla swamp, the officers and soldiers of the Parachute Brigade were able to ambush peacefully. In order to maximize their concealment, they only lit a few bonfires and waited for the firewood to burn out.
After that, the fresh potatoes are thrown into the hot plant ashes to roast the cooked food.
Survival in the wild is one of the compulsory courses for paratroopers. Their ability to stay calm even after hibernating here for many days proves their extraordinary endurance.
They discovered the fact that a large number of German troops were crossing the river in kayaks and immediately reported it via radio.
On July 7, the Soviet command headquarters compiled a large number of important telegrams.
There are combat situations of the troops on the Homnich side, as well as the reconnaissance situation of the troops on the left bank of the river. Based on this information, Yang Mingzhi is absolutely sure that the German army has shifted its tactical focus from Loev to the direction of Homnich. For example, the German 634th Division
After occupying the current position, their ten-thousand-strong army never attempted to move south on a large scale. Perhaps they considered that there was no reliable crossing to the south, or the German command prohibited them from doing so.
The battle situation on the left bank of the river stabilized, and within two days there were only sporadic seizures by scouts. The Soviet army took the opportunity to strengthen the defense line in the forest, and more supplies were transported to the other side through the ferry at Misi Ferry.
Opposite to the battle on the river was the bloody storm in the direction of Homnich. The battles on all battlefields were very fierce. Often, once a war started, a short period of combat would definitely cause massive casualties to both the enemy and ourselves.
So far, the fighting on the right bank of the river has caused the death of 1,100 Soviet troops (including the puppet soldiers who rejoined the Soviet army), and as many as 500 wounded people have been brought back to the Blacksmith Village General Hospital. Such casualties are serious
Yang Mingzhi felt very distressed, and what was even worse was that the battle so far had deviated greatly from his original battle plan.
Balzen's reconnaissance camp did not become a decoy at all. Instead, several fierce battles on the Homnich side attracted the main enemy force.
After the parachute brigade sent intelligence that the enemy was crossing the river on a large scale, Yang Mingzhi made a wrong judgment.
He sent a telegram to all units: "Attention! The German 634th Division is crossing the river by kayak. A large number of German soldiers will participate in the battle on the right bank of the river. All units on the right bank of the river must remain vigilant!"
Yang Mingzhi didn't know exactly how many Germans had to cross the river. In short, the enemy would not all cross the river. Based on his experience, the Germans could only cross two regiments of soldiers at most, otherwise they would voluntarily abandon their positions on the left bank of the river.
At this moment, Yang Mingzhi's dispatches tended to be conservative. The total casualties of 1,700 people had exceeded previous battles, and the German army's Ruhe operation was still in progress, which meant that as long as the operation was improper, the Soviet casualties would increase!
Yang Mingzhi made the worst estimate, that is, two German regiments crossing the river, and then taking a step back to consider the size of three German regiments crossing the river. The German army's strength on the right bank will reach an astonishing seven regiments, regardless of their combat effectiveness, seven regiments.
The group is a behemoth. To defeat them completely, we can only look for flaws in their connection with each other in order to defeat them one by one.
At present, Yang Mingzhi also has his own capital. The main forces of the 63rd Army are on the left bank of the river. If they really face the seven German regiments, the Soviet army, which is good at mobile combat, can rely on the cover of the forest and lakes to slowly wear down the enemy.
, then divide, surround and annihilate them.
The Soviet troops on the left bank have currently received orders only to strengthen their vigilance, and the overall situation remains unchanged in response to changes. Only Balzen's reconnaissance battalion received a special order.