The situation was far worse than Gnus thought. The casualties of his troops had exceeded a thousand people. Summit 23S.
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This is a crazy number, but it actually happened. In this world war, street fighting in the Soviet Union was the bloodiest. From a macro perspective, the main force of the German army in the south was about to invade Stalingrad, and the Soviet Union and Germany would fight for the city.
A fight for control is a real meat grinder, so much so that soldiers who go into battle often die in less than ten minutes. It will become normal for an infantry division to be wiped out in a short period of time.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the German army suffered heavy casualties in the face of the well-prepared Soviet army in Lechitsa.
Fortunately, the German troops chose to withdraw from the city after two and a half hours of fighting, so they would not suffer further casualties.
When the German army began to be ordered to retreat, an infantry company of the German army in the northwest of the city had already invaded the playground of Lechica Primary School. Yes, this was the focus of competition between the Soviet Union and Germany ten days ago, and the primary school was shelled again.
The teaching building almost completely collapsed. Because this is a rare open space in the city, it is a good place to establish a mortar position.
The brave German infantry company has sacrificed more than 20 people. They used German-made RPGs and 50mm small mortars to wildly bombard the Soviet firepower points. The two Soviet infantry squads guarding here can continue to resist.
There are only five people left. The German army will obviously be able to occupy this place if they work harder.
The German army still withdrew, and a large number of soldiers whose eyes were red and who saw their comrades killed in action had to withdraw in grief and anger. They not only received a withdrawal order, they also learned that when the infantry withdrew, the artillery would bomb wildly.
This operation will blow the bodies of a large number of fallen comrades into pieces.
Is there anything more sadistic than this? Many of the people who died were brothers who drank red wine together in France. This was their first battle on the Eastern Front, and a large number of them died.
But an order is an order. The living people should remove the dog tags from the corpses as much as possible. Although the corpses will become fragments, the dog tags will prove the fact that they were killed in action. In the future, this will also be an explanation to the families of the war dead.
A large number of German young men in their twenties died in the city of Lechitsa just three days after they entered the occupied Belarusian territory.
The German army retreated completely, and Schumacher's infantry regiment had the most difficult time retreating. Because almost all the horses accompanying the army were dead, a lot of ammunition could not be taken away at all. Since it could not be taken away, it could not be used by the enemy, so a large number of wooden boxes filled with bullets were directly used by the soldiers.
They were doused with gasoline and burned. The burning gasoline brought billowing black smoke, and the Germans threw some white phosphorus smoke bombs and withdrew westward.
However, the German army never captured the train station. Lavrenti had gradually led his troops to withdraw to the construction area of the train station, using a large number of collapsed buildings as cover to block the German offensive. Therefore, even if the German army increased its troops, there was no attack
Down.
The German troops retreated in full force and they walked around the train station.
Lavrenti's old, blackened face, covered with stubble, finally showed a long-lost smile. When he saw the backs of a large number of German soldiers, he couldn't help but laugh wildly.
"Get out of here! *** elements, it's a hundred years too early for you to capture Lieqi Cha!"
Whether it is the German army or the Soviet army, these young bodies on the front line of the war have just experienced a bloody and cruel street battle.
Already full of rubble, the whole city was filled with broken walls and ruins, and a large number of corpses were added to the city.
The gun battle in the city soon subsided with the complete withdrawal of the German infantry. Although the German troops withdrew, their retreat was in an orderly manner, with a large number of machine guns and mortars covering the infantry's retreat until the infantry had basically withdrawn to five hundred people outside the city.
After about 30 meters, the covering fire stopped. In this way, not only was it impossible for the Soviet army to pursue the victory, but they also suffered some casualties.
The battle seemed to be over, and Lavrenti did not hesitate to order the city defenders to clean up the battlefield.
After all, the Soviet ammunition depots and grain warehouses in the city, and the materials that had not been removed were almost all blown to pieces by German heavy artillery, or buried by bricks and stones. Lavrenti believed that the Germans suffered heavy casualties, and they would come again
Yes, before the enemy comes back, it is really necessary to use all the available munitions on the German corpses for my use.
However, just as the Soviet army started "licking the bag", a sharp whistling sound suddenly sounded in the sky.
Lavrenti, who was leading people to search for dead enemy corpses around the train station, heard these sounds and couldn't help but raise his head in depression and despair.
"Damn it, you bullied us again because we don't have heavy artillery."
But his body was more alert than his mind. Amidst the whistling sound, Lavrenti lay on the ground, with his mouth wide open, and his arms slightly raising his chest and ribs. This was the usual anti-cannon posture of infantrymen. Lavrenti thought that he
It would be blasted by enemy artillery and would most likely be blown to pieces. However, the Germans did not bombard the train station, at least not yet.
The bombing occurred, and the explosion area was all in the forest area south of the city.
Lavrenti couldn't believe his eyes, "Oh no! I put most of the supplies in the forest. How could they bomb there?!"
Regardless of the complaints, the forest area came under heavy bombardment, especially from 150mm howitzers.
The forest in the south of the city is relatively vast, but the German artillery fire is very accurate. Why is this? Not long ago, there were two independent regiments of recoilless rifle teams over there. Their crazy attacks, and the thick smoke ignited by black powder, really exposed the situation.
its location.
Since the German 370th Division is a front-line unit, reporting the rear artillery points is one of the essential skills for the front-line units.
When the bombardment occurred, two independent regiments were actively cleaning the battlefield. The soldiers were fortunate to have captured a lot of ammunition left behind by the Germans, and even the horses that were killed by the bombing were exciting (the so-called meat to eat). They will find
The wounded were all sent to the forest. They also moved some ammunition and retreated to the forest.
The German artillery attack area happened to cover the Soviet camp. The German artillery group with 150mm caliber howitzers as the core demonstrated strong destructive power.
The 30-meter-high red pine was torn into pieces by the explosive shock wave as efficient as a chainsaw. Everything within five meters of the blast center was completely shattered. The storm caused by the shock wave swept across a 100-meter area.
The bombing area is like a boiling oil pot, or like the earth's crust being torn apart, and magma spurting out along with huge amounts of thick smoke.
There were no logistical supplies left, all the wounded were dead, and even the ten recoilless rifle groups that had made great contributions were reduced to countless fragments in the bombing.
The "God of War" rejected Lavrenti's plan in the simplest and crudest way. He was stunned in the face of powerful firepower.
"What should I do? Should I change my strategy and live or die with this city?"
Because the train station was not bombed, the soldiers got up one after another, and one person even pulled Lavrenti up from his lying position.
Lavrenti's old face, covered with dust and small wounds, looked very melancholy, and his empty eyes proved that he was at a loss.
A soldier shouted: "Commander, we must retreat to the building. German artillery shells may bomb the city."
Regardless of the situation of his boss, Rafe was dragged to the area of the train station by his soldiers. Perhaps this was the veteran's intuition. The soldiers guarding the train station got into the basement they found one after another, even if the environment there was not good.
How about it.
The shelling of the forest forced the officers and soldiers of the two independent regiments to put down the captures at hand and run towards the city.
They were running for their lives, and the whole team was in chaos. They fled towards the city, instinctively thinking that there was a safe place.
A considerable number of people poured directly into the wide road along the river, and they collided with the troops led by Yevgeny himself.
However, the conjunction had just occurred, and the German artillery bombardment of the city had officially begun.
It's still the same routine, except that the amount of ammunition invested in this round of shelling is not much, only one-tenth of the amount of ammunition prepared for the artillery fire three hours ago.
The German army planned to fire 600 rounds of artillery shells, half of which would bomb forests and half of which would bomb cities. For the bombing of cities, 100 of the 300 rounds of artillery shells would be large ones with a caliber of 150 mm.
The German division commander held up his telescope to admire the effect of the bombing. He muttered viciously: "Oh, I have no chance in today's battle. I failed to capture the city in one fell swoop, so I will only use these shells as a gift to you bastards."
Let’s have dinner!”
In the city, the remaining concrete buildings were crumbling under the violent bombardment, and a large number of broken walls were blown to pieces by shock waves and air waves. Hundreds of Soviet soldiers had no chance to hide at all, so they
During the shelling, it was completely blown to pieces by the shells, and some of the fragments even splashed into the Dnieper River. In this way, the descendants of Kievan Rus returned to their mother river.
But most soldiers have no time to mourn for their fallen comrades. Everyone, including all commanders, cannot protect themselves.
The German army focused on bombing the western part of the city, especially the train station area. Just now, the Soviet Union and Germany were engaged in a fierce battle in a large number of narrow streets in Lechica. The bodies of a large number of German soldiers were not restrained at all. They were actually blown to pieces by their own artillery shells.
How sad this is for the German officers and soldiers.
"Well, we may still have some wounded. If the shelling is slower, we may still have a chance to rescue them." The deputy division commander looked sadly at the city hit by the shelling.
"Karl, don't be sad for the victims. For the great cause of the country, their sacrifices are worth it. We must take down Chicha, and while the main force of the Soviet army has fled back to the city, we must start bombing."
"I understand, I'm just a little sorry."
In fact, the division commander Genus was not like this. He, his deputy division commander, and all the staff officers all held telescopes and stood in an absolutely safe open space four kilometers away from the city, looking at the spectacular and terrifying scene in the distance.
A large number of German soldiers are retreating, and their ranks are still in good order. They will soon return to the camp and will rest all night.
At the moment, Gnus doesn't know the extent of his own losses. Judging from the telegrams, the casualties are quite large. He has never experienced a tragic street fight. A fierce battle only involves three small street fights. Even if the casualties are very high,
It's big, so it won't be shockingly big, right? He thought so.
Genus kept watching. Twenty minutes passed before the artillery fired all the planned shells.
These twenty points? For the Soviet army, it was like a field. Lavrenti himself escaped the deadly German bombardment at the train station. The battalion he personally led lost 30% of its troops. The last 300 or so people moved towards the north of the city with all their strength.
ran to the riverside.
Almost all the soldiers who could not find cellars or bunkers ran along the gravel-filled streets and towards the road along the river.
In this case, a battalion was sent from the other side of the river to assist in the battle, and the raft they carried immediately became a tool for escape. Even the gunboat served as a temporary ferry.
After all, the German heavy artillery fired in a straight direction, and they did not set their primary attack target on the riverside area. Genus did not plan to attack again at night. The reason was very simple. His troops had been frustrated after attacking during the day and needed to take a good rest. So for tomorrow
In a decisive battle, the entire west area of the city will be blown up, which will objectively reduce the casualties in tomorrow's battle.
Only a small number of artillery shells hit the riverside area. Although the number of artillery shells was small, it really caused panic among the Soviet soldiers.
Who is absolutely brave in the face of the absolute violence of the "God of War"?
Before the battle, Lavrenti and Yevgeny tried their best to create a desperate atmosphere of a last-ditch fight. The right way is to risk one's life and survive. The Russians also learned this truth in the war.
But the problem was that the two independent regiments on the other side of the river couldn't bear the friendly troops being bombarded, so they devoted all the rafts they had to emergency rescue.
Without these rafts, everyone would have gathered in the riverside area and endured the bombardment until it was over.
More than a dozen rafts docked, and there were more than a dozen rafts moving on the river. The Soviet soldiers who retreated to the river immediately fell into chaos.
They scrambled to get to the rafts, so much so that some rafts carried too many people and sank directly.
When the disgraced Lavrenti retreated to the river, he saw exactly this chaotic scene of crossing the river. Panic actually spread to the entire team, and the most chaotic ones he saw were those in casual clothes. They were coming from the forest area.
The combat effectiveness of the two independent regiments that had withdrawn was indeed poor. This chaotic scene alone is the best proof of this.
"Idiots! Stop messing around and stay with me to defend the city!"
Lavrenti roared, his roar easily drowned out by the noise of the shelling.
There was also a large amount of smoke and dust rising from the west of the city, as well as the deafening sound of bombings, which further aggravated the chaos of the army.
"Damn it, if we let them escape, the commander will have to kill me!" Rafe made up his mind. If no one acted evil at this time, the entire team would be in danger of collapse.
Lavrenti shook his neck: "Brothers, follow me, we must prevent this group of people from retreating!"
He led more than 300 soldiers and quickly moved to the riverside.
In the name of "city defense commander", Lavrenti ordered the people of the Independent Regiment to stop crossing the river. More than 300 people bravely stood on the river bank while diving. They used the black muzzles of their rifles and submachine guns to force them onto the raft.
All the people came down.
This coercive measure achieved good results, and even the three rafts that were slowly crossing the river with their maximum load capacity had to be withdrawn.
However, there are always people who want to be independent. Three soldiers forced themselves onto the raft and ignored Lavrenti's orders. After they left the river, they started paddling desperately in an attempt to escape.
"Assholes! Are you going to be deserters?! Come back quickly, or we'll shoot!" Lavrenti yelled.
Perhaps it was because the cannon was too loud that they could not hear it, or perhaps they selectively ignored it, but Lavrenti's order had no effect.
"Damn it, machine gunner, shoot those three deserters to death!"
Deserters, their escape in a critical situation is a great blasphemy to the fighters and sacrifices. Three mg34s poured firepower towards the target, and the three people who struggled to paddle died on the spot.
The Soviet army generally enforced battlefield discipline by grassroots political commissars and military courts. It was rare to conduct a surprise execution of deserters like Lavrenti's.
The deserters were executed and the whole situation immediately stabilized.
"Comrades, if you dare to escape, those three people will be punished. Now we must ambush in this riverside area. After the enemy artillery is over, the Japanese will attack again. We must reoccupy the position and attack them head-on!"
Lavrenti didn't know how many people heard his roar. Since everyone saw the execution of deserters, no one should take the risk again.
Then, he sent a telegram to two independent regiments on the other side of the river, criticizing their actions fiercely.