Lawrence led his infantry regiment on the dangerous road to aid friendly forces, and he had no illusions about the future.
"My superiors ordered me to send troops to support the people of the 805th Division. I decided that your regiment will launch support. Don't hesitate, go down and prepare immediately."
The division commander's order was very firm, and there was no chance of Lawrence bargaining. To be honest, he really didn't want to go south to fight, and he didn't want to die in such a useless battle.
In today's 707th Division, all officers and soldiers of the division have been staying at the current station to build defense lines for three months. In these three months, the soldiers have rarely participated in military activities. Their daily job is to strengthen the defense lines and patrol. The rest of the time
Just eating and entertainment.
The relatively comfortable life is especially satisfying to the officers and soldiers of the Lawrence Regiment. On days when they are not digging pits or hanging barbed wire, they have endless beer to eat and sausages to drink, and they can also go to the city to find women for fun during holidays. It is comfortable.
As time went by, the soldiers' nervousness gradually disappeared. As long as they did not leave this line of defense, they would be in great safety.
However, their good life finally ended after Operation RUHE was launched. The 707th Division entered the most difficult period after they returned to the defense line, as if the entire infantry division would be put into combat immediately.
As reports of defeats came one after another from the front line, the entire defense line of the 707th Division simply turned into a war front. Everyone estimated that if the Russians, with their incredibly powerful combat capabilities, defeated all the troops participating in the RUHE operation, then,
The next battle belongs to you.
For a time, the entire 707th Division officers and soldiers were in danger, fearing that they would be killed in the ensuing conflict.
Division Commander Herzmann received the order from the Army Commander as expected, but his troops had too much work to do. To the north, they had to guard against the sudden appearance of a large number of guerrillas, and in the south, they had to guard against the attack of the Soviet 63rd Group Army. The environment in which the 707th Division was located
What's even more subtle is that behind it is the city of Lechica, which is also the closest to the last German troops participating in the RUHE operation in the south.
Today's 707th Division is a third-rate force no matter how you look at it. They can serve as a rear garrison and forget about offensive operations. After all, this unit has many bad deeds, especially killing good people and taking merit. The top brass of the German Wehrmacht also pinched their noses and dismissed this unit.
The disabled troops were re-armed to cope with the increasingly deteriorating security environment in the occupied areas.
Lawrence thought that the division commander was worried about the woman, so he sent his regiment south to reinforce. The division commander ordered him to leave even though he knew that going south would be more dangerous. No matter how you think about it, it was an act of revenge. "Yes, I am a man who fooled him."
Shameful officer!"
Lawrence thought so, but the actual situation was not the case. Hertzman looked at the several regiment commanders at hand. Except for Lawrence, the others seriously lacked combat experience. If the inexperienced troops were sent to go, it would be better to surrender directly when encountering the Russians.
.
Herzmann was confident in encircling and suppressing the general guerrillas, but when faced with the so-called Soviet 63rd Army over there, his attitude could be described in one word - cowardly.
Hertzman simply cowarded the guerrilla republic. In order not to make the fight too ugly after the war, he could only bear the pain and take out the elite troops. This was the only reason why Lawrence's regiment went south.
Lawrence had 2,700 men under his command, including three infantry battalions and an artillery battalion, as well as a baggage battalion and a reconnaissance company.
The weapons and equipment of this regiment are also third-rate among the German army. The main weapon of the infantry is Mauser rifle. The infantry squad is equipped with a large number of light machine guns such as ZB26. They seriously lack heavy machine guns.
The artillery battalion is even more superficial. There is not a single 75mm Krupp cannon that should be equipped, and even a 45mm gun does not exist. The artillery battalion has only twenty 80mm mortars for the 500 people. A large number of soldiers
Become an artillery carrier and fight as an infantryman when necessary.
Lawrence's mission was not to fight the Soviet army with such strength. The mission he was given was to join the German troops on the front line around noon on July 14th, transport a large amount of supplies, and then launch defense on the spot with friendly forces.
Based on such a task, Lawrence's troops drove a large number of carriages, including 500 military horses and as many as 200 carriages. So they were not so much reinforcements as a huge transport team of mules and horses.
This force set out at noon on July 13th. They passed through the safe passage in the minefield and left the empty positions to the friendly forces who came up to fill them.
After leaving the minefield, the cautious Lawrence ordered the troops to immediately form a circular formation and hit all the baggage carriages in the middle. The artillery battalion and the baggage battalion closely guarded all the supplies. Three infantry battalions, in company units, formed the core regiment.
Surround.
Lawrence's caution gave the soldiers a little peace of mind. Everyone knew very well that as they got farther and farther away from the defense line, the danger might become greater and greater.
For various reasons, Womansky's horse patrol, which was supposed to have discovered the German reinforcements, strangely did not find this team. It was not that Lawrence had any hidden tricks, it was just a coincidence. The Soviet army just didn't have it.
Found such a German reinforcement.
When night fell on July 13, Lawrence ordered the troops to set up camp. He emphasized in particular: "No one is allowed to light a fire, only eat the prepared pieces of bread. No one is allowed to smoke, and any offender will be court-martialed."
Without any firelight, it was really difficult for the Soviet army to find the enemy hiding and resting in the night. Furthermore, the victory of the Soviet army made Womansky a little elated. His men were no longer as cautious as before, and
It may be that the long-term fighting made the soldiers mentally weak.
In the quiet night, a man was melancholy sitting on the grass in front of his tent. He was Lawrence himself.
After Kaya was "executed" by him, the division commander gave him symbolic praise and encouragement, saying that he had made great contributions to Germany.
However, since the blank bomb sounded, Kya was considered dead, and he let her go.
"Kaya, are you dead, or have you been taken in by your compatriots? You shouldn't die. If you are still alive, you should be safe now, right? Damn it, I was ordered to lead my troops to attack south. This battle
Our German army has failed. I really don’t want to go south, nor do I want to fight with you Russians. As a soldier, I must obey orders. But...if we can still meet, I hope we..."
Lawrence didn't mutter any more, because those were meaningless things.
He had been imagining that he and that woman were living in peaceful times, and that Kaya was not a Russian, but an out-and-out German. At that moment, he, a handsome man, took his newlywed wife's wedding dress and accepted the invitations from relatives and friends.
Blessings. Perhaps, such a scene can only exist in dreams.
But Lawrence still had a thought. After all, he led his troops south. If Kaya was still alive, the further south he went, the closer he would be to her.
He didn't think about it anymore and got back into the tent, expecting to dream of his dear woman in his dream.
Lawrence never imagined that he would have such a deep obsession with a Russian woman. He slept peacefully that night. When he woke up, he suddenly remembered that he was actually the brother who led the entire regiment and went south to reinforce the friendly forces of the 805th Division.
A serious sense of disharmony arose spontaneously.
The Germans did not hesitate. They carried a large amount of baggage. The heavily loaded carriages walked on the soft ground, and the ruts were surprisingly deep. Therefore, the soldiers could not maintain a fast speed at all, especially when marching in the morning fog, and they had to be cautious.
.
Suddenly, a dull roar came from the south, making all German officers and soldiers shudder.
The veterans in the team instinctively realized that it was an artillery battle in the distance. The dull roar was nothing but the power of heavy artillery.
The entire army was in a state of tension. The troops on the periphery lay down on the ground reflexively with their guns pointing outwards. The soldiers in the center also squatted down and looked around nervously.
The roar in the south continued, and Lawrence nervously spread out the map of the area.
"We are still ten kilometers away from their position! The sound of artillery is still so obvious from such a distance. It should be our army's artillery that is exerting its power."
However, the deputy regiment commander raised objections: "Regiment commander, according to intelligence, the 508th Regiment of the 805th Division is not equipped with heavy artillery with a caliber above 100 mm. I don't believe that the explosion of the 75 mm cannon can still reach here."
"They are only equipped with 75mm cannons?" Lawrence shook his finger, and a terrible thought suddenly came to his mind. "Oops, it couldn't be Russian artillery fire!"
He stood up suddenly and ordered loudly: "Everyone, get into battle formation! Everyone spread out! Order the reconnaissance company to search and conduct southward reconnaissance!"