A German machine gunner asked loudly: "Company commander, are our reinforcements arriving soon?"
"Reinforcements? Ah! They're on their way, so we have to hold the bridge and let the reinforcements pass by."
"But, can we persist until that time? Once the ammunition is exhausted, won't we be finished?"
"Fool, if you run out of machine gun ammunition, just keep shooting with your rifle. We...we must stop the Russians. Otherwise, if they attack the railway, it will be a disaster for our army!"
At such a critical moment, the company commander still tried to hold on.
The machine gunner already understood everything: "I will hold on unless I am killed."
Maybe this was a big flag. He kept shooting while shouting, suppressing the attacking Soviet troops and not daring to show their heads.
The pattering raindrops instantly turned into a cloud of steam on the hot machine gun barrel. The bullets shattered the rubble not far away, and endless dirt was blasted out of the wet ground.
It was in this dirty and chaotic battlefield that Balzen had more than a dozen soldiers under his command. They carried three RPG launch tubes and crawled through it under the cover of machine guns.
They paid the price of one person's sacrifice and successfully reached the right location.
From the perspective of the German machine gunner, white smoke suddenly rose from the rubble not far away, and then three black objects smashed over...
This was the last scene they saw in their lives.
The warhead accurately hit the target. The high-explosive round overturned the sack, killed the machine gunner, and twisted the machine gun into scrap metal.
Three of the four machine gun fortresses collapsed instantly, and the remaining one also ceased fire during the explosion.
Fifteen of the twenty-one people, including the German company commander, died instantly, and the remaining few were also half-dead.
"Damn! It seems it's time to say goodbye."
The overall combat effectiveness of the German 74th Division is poor. The reason is largely due to its poor weapons and equipment. Their light weapons are in good condition, but their heavy weapons are in a mess. Especially the assault guns lost in penetration operations.
And when attacking Lechica, all 75mm howitzers were transferred there.
The division's heavy weapons were basically lost, and the task of attacking the enemy actually fell to the 80mm mortars responsible for infantry support.
The German company commander was hopeless and pulled the detonator to his side.
The half-dead wounded soldiers instantly understood the company commander's intentions.
"Do it! Company Commander! We cannot be captured by the Russians."
"Hurry up, the Russians are about to come."
…
He looked around and finally made up his mind. He held the detonator in both hands, yelled "sieg hail" with tears in his eyes, and turned the wrench hard.
The Soviet attack did not break the wires or damage the explosives.
The explosion came so suddenly that the 40-meter-long wooden bridge was completely destroyed. The bridgehead was also destroyed. All wounded soldiers, including German officers, died in the explosion.
A large amount of gravel, soil and wood chips were even thrown up, and splashed onto the heads of the besieging Soviet troops. The violent noise even stunned more than 20 people!
The bridgehead was engulfed in thick smoke, and even the gentle drizzle could not wipe away the smoke.
Balzen woke up first and rubbed his eyes in surprise.
"Oops! They blew up the bridge themselves again!"
The development of the battle was somewhat similar to the Battle of Mozyr, except that the Germans here blew up the bridge, which was clearly an act of common death.
The violent explosion became the last resistance of the German army. At this point, the war in Turov was completely over.
No one cheered for victory, and no one was sad. The ordinary soldiers were busy moving the loot and escorting the prisoners to one place.
The wounded in offensive operations mainly came from the attack on the bridgehead. More than 30 wounded with varying degrees of injuries were sent to the rear, and five of them were short-lived just after they arrived.
There is a shortage of health workers in the Kovpak army. This job is usually performed by women. Since the army was divided after the Battle of Mozyr, there are only three health workers in the streamlined army. His health workers were all hospital nurses before the war.
, performing surgery is considered a job.
With only three health workers, they were already very busy taking care of thirty wounded soldiers. Natasha's arrival somewhat relieved the medical pressure.
The number of medicines carried by the troops was not large. After all, due to the need to complete the attack mission, it was impossible for the troops to carry many important tasks. Moreover, the commander himself did not know how serious a fierce battle he would face.
The lack of preparation before the war meant that a considerable number of wounded would not receive treatment. Even if they did receive treatment, many would suffer from septicemia due to the lack of anti-inflammatory drugs.
However, the reality is even worse. After the heavy rain, more than 200 people under Kovpak's command fell ill with colds on August 1. If it was a mild cold, it would not affect the battle much if you tolerate it. Only three of them
More than a dozen people had a fever, and they used their strong endurance to support their bodies from collapsing.
The battle was over, and their patience had reached its limit. The temporary field hospital at the rear now had a group of pure patients.
Thanks to a large-scale raid on the town of Turov, the Soviet army discovered the German medical facility.
After all, this town was under the rule of the German army, and they had to live here without the need for food and medicine. The seizure of those medicines solved the urgent need, but more medicines were needed to cure all the sick and wounded.
From the perspective of a military doctor, the battle should not continue. The troops had already deviated from the original goal and had been fighting westward for nearly 100 kilometers from Mozyri. The bodies of all the soldiers were being overloaded and they continued to march westward.
, because there will be more and more towns in the West, the strength of the German garrison will also become stronger.
The enemy would be on guard as a matter of course, and they would even set a trap, just waiting for Kovpak to jump into it.
After the battle, Balzen, carrying a gun, went to the bridge to check. Coincidentally, Kovpak himself put on his leather jacket and walked over in high spirits.
"That's it, comrade," said Balzen.
"It's time to stop large-scale active attacks! I never expected that they would blow up the bridge again!"
"None of the enemy survived, and they even refused to be our prisoners." Balzen shook his head, "I can't believe that they are actually soldiers of the 74th Division. They relied on just a few troops and caused hundreds of casualties to us.
!”
"They are indeed very strong, but they were not completely wiped out. Our army also captured a group of prisoners of war, including several Germans."
"Oh?" Balzen immediately became excited: "Did you interrogate them? I have to ask them who is guarding this bridge."
"Then come with me!"
In this battle, Kovpak suffered heavy losses. In the second round of the attack, the casualties of the troops reached another hundred. Adding in the presence of sick people, permanent losses and those who lost combat power, the total number reached 500.
In other words, this team of nearly 4,000 people lost one-eighth of its combat strength after the Turov battle. If it were to fight an ambush like usual, Kovpak believed that his casualties would be very small. Now it is strong
If you attack a city and fight like a regular army, you will inevitably suffer casualties like a regular army.
No more fighting! It’s time to retreat as planned!
Kovpak decided to evacuate, and the aftermath of the city's occupation also needed to be resolved, especially the aftermath of the group of prisoners of war.
Balzen accompanied him and arrived at the city empty field where all the prisoners of war were held. The captain of the second brigade had already conducted an interrogation, and when he saw the captain of the regiment coming, he immediately gave a brief report.
"Commander of the Corps, we discovered a massacre scene during the detour. The dead were all civilians in the town. The captured puppet soldiers unanimously stated that it was yesterday morning because the German army was worried that our army would attack the city and kill all the civilians."
This kind of thing is not surprising to everyone. After all, the German army's policy towards the occupying forces was very cruel. If civilians were suspected of collaborating with the guerrillas, the lightest penalty was hanging.
** Adding to the list of crimes, Kovpak asked: "Didn't we also capture a few German soldiers? Did they confess to the massacre?"
"Yes!"
"Then kill them all!"
When speaking, Kovpak showed a completely sinister expression.
Balzen quickly stopped him: "Before executing the murderer, please let me interrogate him. I just want to know who is guarding the bridge."
Among all the captured personnel, there were forty puppet soldiers and five German soldiers.
Those five Germans, their eyes dull, sat on the ground dejectedly, waiting for their death sentences. They had no illusions about their future, but they also had a sense of glory that they could persevere to the end.
Balzen pulled the interpreter from the team over and began to ask: "Hey! Germans! Tell me, who is defending the bridge! Who blew up the bridge!"
The soldiers looked disdainful, and one of them even said disdainfully: "Kill us quickly!"
"Haha, all I have to do to kill you is pull the trigger. Just like you killed those unarmed civilians." Balzen curled his lips slightly and said contemptuously: "You think you are soldiers? You are just a group of butchers. You guys
Wearing the uniform of the Wehrmacht, why do you do the work of the Waffen-SS? Or is your officer ordering you to kill children? Does this make you feel honored?"
"No!" The tough-talking soldier suddenly stood up with a surprising move. "We are soldiers, and we must execute orders! It's our company commander! He also received orders from his superiors, so we..."
"So, who's guarding that damn wooden bridge?!"
"Yes... it's our company commander! He personally guarded the place, and he was the one who blew up the bridge in the end."
"A few hours ago, our army's attack was ambushed. Whose tactic was this?"
"He is also our company commander. He set the trap."
Hearing this, Balzen couldn't help but feel in awe of the guy who had died in the battle. If that man was not a company commander, but a more senior commander, and if that kind of person was guarding Mozyri, how could the army use two men?
Capture most of the city in just a few hours?
Maybe that kind of person is a pure soldier, who has been trained to be a pure war machine. He obeys all orders from his superiors and does not feel guilty even if he kills civilians.
Suddenly, Balzen's attitude toward these German soldiers changed somewhat, but after all, they had killed civilians, and their fate still had to be decided by Kovpak.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind.
Balzen continued to ask: "Hey! Germans, do you know which army we are?"
"You? Aren't you the 84th Guards Division? We fought with you three months ago."
"Haha, what a pity, you guessed wrong!"
The German company commander who died in the battle never imagined that he would be defeated by a group of Ukrainians who had traveled more than 400 kilometers.
The captured soldier looked shocked. Balzen did not intend to let the enemy know who defeated him before he died. He continued to ask: "Now tell me, is there a concentration camp or prisoner of war camp near Turov?"
There is no answer to this matter!
Balzen roared fiercely: "Idiots! Tell me if there is a prisoner of war or concentration camp nearby."
"Forget it, these murderers must die!" Kovpak stepped forward. He raised his right hand, and more than a dozen soldiers carrying submachine guns stepped forward.
"Wait a minute!" Balzen continued to ask: "This is my last question! It is an indisputable fact that you killed civilians. As far as I know, you also treated the women in the town as playthings. Your death is deserved. Now I give
Your only chance to make amends for your past mistakes. If anyone knows the specific locations of the concentration camps and prisoner-of-war camps, please come forward. If our army can successfully rescue some people, the guilt of those who led the way will be reduced!
Germans, you also have parents, and maybe wives. Don’t you want to live until the end of the war and see them again? Could it be that Hitler would be happy because of your death today? Just think about yourself!”
Carrots and sticks, Balzen also learned this trick.
He sensed the touching of the hearts of the prisoners of war from their eyes. Finally, the guy who had just stood up stood up again and said loudly: "I know! I know where it is!"
"Oh? You know?"
"Yes! Our company commander blew up the bridge because he was afraid that you would go north to blow up the railway. There is a prisoner of war camp near the railway. But we learned that the local defenders executed all the prisoners of war yesterday morning."
Balzen's heart tightened, and he continued to ask: "If our army does not go north or west, but fights south, will it encounter a prisoner of war camp? In other words, are there any prisoners in the prisoner of war camp who have not been executed?"
"This..." the German soldier paused and pointed out that there is a relatively secret camp in the southern forest. "I know one. It is managed by the armed SS, and many Jews are imprisoned there. Their job is logging, and sometimes trucks
Will pass through Turov carrying logs."
"Really? How can we trust you?"
Or perhaps seeing the hope of survival, the person immediately stood up and promised: "I swear on my character. If I do anything wrong, you can kill me."
"I'm very satisfied with your answer." After saying that, Balzen turned his head and pointed at the standing man with his right hand: "Comrade Kovpak. This *** is valuable to us. He can lead us to save many civilians. As for
Others, I have no objection to whatever you want."
"Okay! No matter what, we are going south. If we can save some people on the way, I will be happy to do so."
Kovpak signaled to his men to pull out the prisoner of war. After that, gunfire erupted in the empty space of the town.
Just like the German army killed those civilians yesterday morning, murderers must kill themselves, traitors to the great motherland and terrorist murderers, only thirty hours have passed, and they have all been executed.
The last prisoner of war who saw this scene was so shocked that he collapsed to the ground. The guerrilla soldiers who detained him could not control him so much. They tied his hands as usual and pulled him aside like a stubborn donkey.