Due to a large number of guerrilla activities, the entire railway line from Mozyr to Gomel was in a state of emergency. Soviet guerrillas from the north had already carried out many blasts against the railway tracks. In order to avoid losses, the German army immediately stopped this
Daily transportation on the railway.
As a result, there are no trains stopping at the railway station in Lechica, and there is not much material inventory in the freight warehouse. Some of the finished gasoline should have been transported to the front line, but now not only cannot it be transported, but it has become a dangerous place.
The train station is so important that the German army deployed two entire battalions here! Herzmann also made a simple plan. If the Soviet army wanted to storm the train station, then troops from all over the station would attack the train station.
.After all, once the railway station is lost, it means the collapse of Lechica's entire city defense system.
However, the Soviet army knew the details of the German army in Lechica and did not want to enter. All the spies in the city were eliminated by the German army. When the battle entered mid-July, the Soviet command headquarters did not receive any more telegrams from Lechica.
Based on the current battle situation, Yang Mingzhi believed that there were not many defenders in the city of Lechica. Since the troops had broken through the German defense line, they should pursue the victory and complete the liberation of Lechica on the evening of the 18th, or before eight o'clock in the evening.
Difficult matter.
Even if the German army is stronger, the minimum time for the troops to liberate the city must be at dawn on the 19th.
The Soviet army had already launched a full-scale offensive at the agreed three o'clock in the afternoon.
"Brothers, you have to be patient. When you get to your destination, you may be the hero who takes the lead in fighting the enemy! You will be the pride of the brothers behind you." Chekov, who lifted up the tank's top cover and leaned out half of his body, teased like this.
.
However, the soldiers tied to the tank were all complaining, and they looked like they were constipated, which made Chekov both funny and worried.
The squad leader endured the pain in his tailbone and said with all his strength: "Don't worry, our bones are very strong! This...this bump is nothing!"
"Well, I admire your patience. If we keep this speed, I estimate that we will soon contact the enemy's possible defenders. Please check your weapons."
"Okay... okay! Comrades, check the ammunition! Pull out the dagger again and prepare to cut the rope."
The BT tanks' northward march was relatively flat. They gradually left the wasteland and began to enter the so-called wheat fields.
Chekov recognized these abandoned fields as wheat fields. Under the Soviet collective farm model, the newly cultivated fields were very large. Such large fields were cultivated by tractors, which made the appearance of the farmland, even though it had been abandoned, and
The real wasteland is still very different.
"Haha, it seems that the Germans have no time to sow seeds this spring. I thought our tanks would crush the wheat fields that were about to be harvested." Chekov couldn't help but sigh.
The infantry squad leader held his numb buttocks and said, "The Germans are all predators. They are not producers, or they only enslave civilians to farm the land for them."
"But the Germans have killed too many civilians. How can they let the ghosts farm the land for them? So I don't think there are many civilians in Lechica, at least not farmers."
"You're right. I don't see that you tank crews have some strategy."
Chekov burst out laughing, and then said confidently: "Nonsense, without any strategy, I would have died a long time ago."
The tank had already penetrated at least ten kilometers alone, and this cross-country journey only took forty minutes.
During the morning battle, a small number of collapsed German troops fled to the north. They all retreated to the northeast, because that was the town of Donajci, the closest German stronghold. It was only at two o'clock in the afternoon that the first batch of German troops who fled north arrived.
It was here, at this time, that Hertzman received the most detailed intelligence from the front line.
The strength of the Soviet army is definitely more than 10,000. This number sounds very shocking at first and is difficult to believe. With the detailed confessions of the officers and soldiers who returned from the front line, this information seems to be a fact. The 10,000 Soviet soldiers also tried their best to report to
Sweeping both wings, their purpose for doing so is obvious.
Fortunately, at 3:30 in the afternoon, Hertzman finally received gratifying news. That is, the 722nd Division would detach a regiment and immediately go along the road to reinforce Lechica. Although there was only one regiment of 2,000 men, once they arrived
, there are three standard infantry regiments in the city. Although the number of troops is still not as large as that of the Soviet army, with one or two thousand fewer people, the situation between the enemy and ourselves is not too bad.
"I beg you, come quickly for reinforcements."
Herzmann was still standing on the rooftop, inspecting his surroundings and praying for efficient reinforcements.
He never expected that the advance troops of the Soviet Army would reach the road at 3:50 in the afternoon and even collide with a German reconnaissance squad.
There are a lot of woods on both sides of the Mozyr-Gomel highway, especially about five kilometers south of Lechica, and a four-kilometer-long forest belt, almost all of which is pine. Because of the long-term timber
Mining has left forests relatively sparse with trees, allowing trucks to drive through them.
Chekov was very happy to face all this. After all, according to the map, after passing through this forest, which is only two kilometers deep, and through the road in the middle, you can see the buildings in Lechica!
"Brothers, get out of the car. If there is an ambush here, we will fight right away!"
The squad leader cut off the rope in a numb manner. The moment he touched the ground, his numb thighs could not support his body. He sat on the ground and rested for more than ten seconds before he managed to stand up. The same was true for other soldiers, all of them were complaining about themselves.
It was a mistake, the so-called "if I had known it would happen, I would have brought a blanket to cushion my butt".
Chekov didn't care about them. After getting back into the tank, he ordered the driver to drive slowly. Those purely lightly-armed infantrymen endured the pain and followed behind the tank. After all, no one wanted to become a potential German sniper.
Target.
The infantrymen hunched their backs, their submachine guns already loaded.
Suddenly, there was a sudden gunshot, and the head of a Soviet soldier exploded into a large number of pieces. The whole man died on the spot!
"Sniper! Get down!" the squad leader yelled, aiming his gun in any suspicious direction. He was so nervous that he didn't even care about the blood all over his body.
Then, the gunfire rang out again, this time hitting the side of the tank. The bullet made some sparks and flew into the trunk of a tree.
The sudden sniper attack also surprised the people in the car, and Chekov tried to stay calm.
"Pilot, have you found the enemy?"
"No."
"Damn it! Gunner, adjust the turret. You have sharp eyes and search carefully."
"As you command!"
Chekov was eager to quickly find the enemy's position and then cover it with fierce firepower. However, two minutes passed and everything seemed to have returned to calm.
Have the snipers withdrawn?
Just as the infantry squad leader raised his head slightly, gunshots rang out again, and the bullet directly knocked off the squad leader's helmet.
"Okay! It's eleven o'clock!" The gunner didn't hesitate. He fired a shell at the light, followed by dozens of machine gun rounds.
Chekov watched nervously: "Did you hit it?"
"Let's wait until the dust settles."
"I can't wait. Pilot, push in there!"
The machine guns and artillery shells did not kill the German snipers. Only when the tanks rushed over, they realized that they could not defeat the steel turtle snipers and ran away.
"You are not a qualified sniper, and you were suddenly exposed!" The gunner did not give him another chance this time, and ended his life with a shell.
However, when the sniper fired the first shot, it was equivalent to the exposure of the Soviet army. The tanks were fired by machine guns and bombarded by artillery, which made a lot of noise.
The most critical thing was the smoke and dust that rose up after the shell exploded. Although the smoke was not very large, in Belarus, where the air was clear, Herzmann, who had been standing on the rooftop five kilometers away and looking south, actually saw the unusual smoke and dust.
Because the tank fired three shots in total, three clouds of smoke rose up.
"Russians! You...you are finally here!"
Herzmann's hands were trembling. He thought that the Soviet army would have to wait another hour before appearing. At this time, the communications soldier climbed up to the rooftop panting.
"Report to the division commander! Over there on the highway! Over there on the highway!"
"Don't panic! Speak quickly!"
"It's the Russians! Their vanguard has appeared!"
After receiving all this solid information, Hertzman, who had been nervous all day, actually relaxed.
He breathed a sigh of relief: "The vanguard must be followed by its huge main force, and we cannot escape what is coming. Guards! Come downstairs with me and return to the headquarters."