"Brothers! Guard for me! We can't let the enemy attack the city! We can't let them get their hands on the bridge!"
On the one hand, the German commander in the town gave the troops a hold order, that is, the position must not be lost unless killed in action. On the other hand, he also sent a war warning to the division headquarters!
Unlike the town of Lilchuch, the town of Slovechna has a telephone line.
The town's defenders belong to the German 611th Division, whose headquarters is now located in the Ukrainian city of Ovrich. There is a road directly leading to the town of Slovechna. After this road passes through the river, it will eventually lead to Mozyr. Of course.
, the road started to become bumpy and bumpy after crossing the Slovitchna River.
Most of the road is still flat. There are a series of telephone poles on both sides of the road. Telephone lines connect multiple German strongholds north of Ovruch, the northernmost of which is the ferry town of Slovechna.
The call went directly to the 611th Division headquarters. The town garrison commander no longer cared about honorifics and reported the news of the town attack to the caller.
The caller didn't have the slightest doubt, because the loud noise in the background was simply the sound of intensive gunfire! Fierce fighting was taking place in the town.
The war warning shocked the 611th Division headquarters, especially the staff staff who contacted the intelligence they had received before and realized the seriousness of the situation.
For this reason, the division had to hold an emergency military meeting.
Based on the intelligence, the division chief of staff analyzed a guerrilla action route.
"The Marshland guerrillas sent a force to attack Mozyr, then attacked all the way to the west, and then suddenly turned to attack the town of Lilchuch. They did not have the strength to occupy the town, so two days later they attacked Slovechna, where our troops were stationed.
The town launched a fierce attack.
In Lierchuch Town, our friendly 60th Division has a garrison of up to 4,000 people. It is reasonable for the guerrillas to choose to avoid fighting.
Our army's Slovecna town has less than 400 defenders combined. Since the enemy was able to capture half of Mozyr, I think the loss of Slovecna town is inevitable."
What the chief of staff said was reasonable and reasonable, and the division commander fully agreed with it.
"But by allowing the town to be taken and we do nothing. It will be a disgrace to our troops and we have to do something."
"Yes! The town is still resisting tenaciously, and they have the ability to defend the city until dawn! I think..." The chief of staff hesitated and said boldly: "I think we have reason to ensure that the town is in our hands. We are very close to the battlefield.
If anyone can eliminate this gangster who is harming one side, it is us. So my attitude is to use the town of Slovechna as the battlefield to start a decisive battle with the gangsters!"
This is quite encouraging! As part of the defense of Kiev, who of the officers and soldiers of the 611th Division really wants to stay behind the front lines and do nothing? The comrades who are attacking South Russia are creating new great achievements. On August 1, the troops have already
After breaking through the Soviet Don River defense line, some troops approached Stalingrad. Only three days later, on August 4, the first German army invaded Stalingrad.
The first troops to enter the city became the targets of all the German troops. The German army launched an all-out war with the Soviet army in the entire Don River Basin and continued to expand the results. Southern Russia seemed to be within easy reach.
Looking at the rear, the glory of victory on the frontline belongs only to the frontline officers and soldiers. The biggest task of the soldiers defending Kiev is to protect the communication lines and prevent the guerrillas from getting involved.
The 611th Division had this kind of mission, so the fact that the guerrillas stormed the town of Slovechna deeply touched their nerves.
The division commander intended to send troops for reinforcements. He estimated that if the strength reached a regiment, the guerrillas would choose to withdraw.
From the general activity pattern of the guerrillas marked on the map, the division commander realized that the ultimate goal of the guerrillas was not to go south to provoke and threaten Kiev. They would continue to go east and return to their swampland.
While their meeting was going on, the Soviet army's first round of attack on the town of Slovechna also became known.
This time, Reichev had to take responsibility for his recklessness. The troops' offensive encountered strong resistance. The German army was seen setting up a large number of machine gun positions in the grass and on the roofs. There were also a large number of skirmishers who were extremely clever at hiding!
On the other hand, the Soviet army was in an abandoned potato field. The vegetation here was very sparse and there was almost no hiding place.
In addition, the sky was beginning to darken, and the Soviet army was attacking from the west. What was there in the west? A huge sunset!
The setting sun objectively interfered with the Soviet offensive. They fired more than twenty RPG warheads, which indeed destroyed some German machine gun fortresses and scared many defenders.
However, none of these defenders fled their positions.
The 611th Division is qualified to defend Kiev, and its combat effectiveness cannot be lowered. Just because the soldiers play cards when they are bored, it does not mean that they are a mob. Everyone knows that escaping will result in a military court, and the humiliation of losing a town will affect the entire infantry division. They are all second-rate soldiers.
German boys in their early teens defended the honor of their country and individuals with their lives.
The battle lasted for more than half an hour, and the sky continued to darken. The Soviet offensive was so powerful that it failed to breach even a single house.
More than thirty brothers have been killed, and the remaining soldiers are lying on the ground. Everyone is suppressed by the German firepower. They raise their chests and continue to shout "Ula" and charge? No! That's being lined up to be shot!
Reichev was not that kind of pedantic person. He did not choose to think of the many grassroots Soviet commanders who desperately ordered his subordinates to charge desperately, and the commanders themselves followed suit. The result was nothing more than the annihilation of the entire army.
In that dimension, the Soviet army lost more than eight million lives, and many of the casualties were caused by this brave charge that was out of the era. In this dimension, the best infantry offensive tactics of the Soviet Union were probably only the 6th Army under the command of Yang Mingzhi.
The group army is under control.
"We have no chance! Comrades, retreat with the wounded!"
"Quickly retreat! Shoot and retreat at the same time!"
The soldiers obeyed the orders of the battalion commander. Regardless of whether they were killed or injured, the surviving ones tried their best to pull their comrades back to retreat. In the process, some soldiers fell to the ground.
The paratroopers suffered humiliation. Seeing their retreat, the German defenders behind them taunted and cursed in German and even cursed in broken Russian.
"You bastards, wait, we are just making a tentative attack! Next, we will execute you all, no one will be spared!" Reichev could not hear the Germans' dirty words at all. The fact that the attack failed was the biggest problem he encountered.
insult.
Today, the Soviet army has lost the opportunity for the second round of attack. Reichev led his men eastward to meet up with the transport team. When he saw Fyodorov again, he could not help but lower his proud head with pride.
.
"Your attack was blocked. It seems that we underestimated the strength of the German army. I should have thought of this when the general appointed me as commander."
Fyodorov subjectively did not want to accuse Rychev of being reckless, but his words objectively criticized Rychev.
"It's too late to say anything now. Our army can't break the city, so we can only spend the night here. We must capture the town!"
"Yes! I think tomorrow will be our real day of attack."
From many perspectives, the biggest reason for Reichev's failure was his arrogance and underestimation of the enemy. His overly aggressive actions exposed himself prematurely, making the suddenness of the attack non-existent.
Naturally, the defenders were not soft persimmons. Their combat effectiveness was very tenacious, which was one of the reasons for their success in blocking the attack.
If during the attack, instead of 400 Soviet troops, the entire force attacked, a half-hour fierce battle would probably be the Soviet victory. This assumption is meaningless, because it is impossible for a large force to attack on August 6
All-out attack! Everyone is so tired!
The guerrillas fled in disgrace, and the German commander in the town was ecstatic.
The military meeting of the German 611th Division in the distance was still wrangling over the details of sending troops for reinforcements, when the call from Victory came.
"Gentlemen! I have good news for you! We have defended the town!" The chief of staff announced the good news excitedly, and everyone in the conference room fell into excitement.
Many people even began to believe that because of the long battle, they were able to take down half of Mozyr a few days ago, but now they cannot even capture the small town of Slovechna.
The division commander pinched his waist and said plausibly: "It seems that we don't need to send troops for reinforcements. The bandits are just exhausted. They will not harass the town anymore, but will all go back to their hometown in the swamp. I want to reward the town defenders. Everything is fine."
Peace will return."
Hearing this, the chief of staff's face changed drastically: "Commander, are you serious?"
"Yes! Is there any need for reinforcements? No more."
"You must not be so arbitrary on this matter. How can we be sure that the guerrillas will not attack again?"
"No need. Those gangsters are not monsters, they are human beings, and they need logistical supplies. I think they are just crazy about hunger before they choose to attack the town. They will not seek death when they hit a wall. Listen, if we want to send troops, I will
You must apply to the Army Group, and even if your superiors approve it, it will take some time.
But I estimate that our superiors will not allow us to send a regiment at all! The 60th Division has already deployed a total of 4,000 troops in Lierchuch. Do our superiors still want us to send troops north?
The top priority for superiors is the safety around Kiev, and there is no reason to send troops into Belarus. Follow my order, the meeting is over!"
After that, the teacher shook his sleeves and left happily.
The chief of staff grinned and cursed: "I hope what you wish for will come true. If they make a sneak attack at night, if they launch a fierce attack tomorrow, who will bear the responsibility? It's me! I have to bear a certain amount of responsibility, and you, wait
Let’s go to court martial!”
The world fell into darkness, and the world seemed to have returned to peace.
No! How could the Soviet army, whose attack was frustrated, just give up as the German division commander wished to do? The Soviet army's purpose of conquering the town has never changed!
In the dark night, the transport team sent a telegram to the headquarters, confessing the fact that the attack was frustrated that day.
Yang Mingzhi was indeed shocked when he received this information. He was not furious because they had already given themselves a reason for failure in the telegram, so what else was there to say?
What Yang Mingzhi received here was not just Fyodorov's telegram. Around 5:30 in the afternoon, the command headquarters received a telegram from Kovpak.
The Kovpak Corps has been operating along the river since it found the key river. They easily captured a small village on August 6. The troops did not encounter any resistance because there was not even a single enemy in the village.
There are many villages in Belarus, and quite a few villages may only have a few households. They are so small that they are not even recorded on the map. The German army has no emotions towards such village chiefs, and mostly arranges a village chief to manage it on his behalf. Only larger villages
Only villages have garrisons.
The town's power supply system was damaged, and only the headquarters was powered by a humming gasoline generator. The entire town was basically plunged into darkness, but the streets and alleys were not invisible.
The week-long rainy weather has finally ended, and it is not too early under the dim light of the moon and stars.
The German army seized the time to clear the battlefield, take away their fallen comrades, treat the wounded, and continue to reinforce their positions with bricks and rubble that could be seen everywhere.
The German army also sent people to the battlefield in the east to search for the corpses of the guerrillas, but strangely, not a single corpse was found!
They still made some gains, and the five soldiers who retreated handed a strange rifle to their commander.
SVT40 semi-automatic rifle, most German officers and soldiers know that the Soviet army has a semi-automatic rifle with good performance, but this gun is equipped with too little equipment.
In the battle a few hours ago, although the troops pushed back the guerrillas, the firepower they displayed was shocking.
The German casualties themselves were as high as seventy-seven, of which forty died on the spot.
"Oh my god! Are we really at war with bandits? Aren't they regular troops? They are actually equipped with semi-automatic rifles!"
The German army's shock had just begun.
At nine o'clock in the evening, the distant land to the east of the town was incredibly lit up with "starry stars".
The German commander had to rub his eyes hard to make sure he saw it right.
I saw hundreds of bright spots appearing on the dark earth. Yes! They were huge in number, echoing the stars in the sky, just like the starlight reflected on the surface of the lake. The number of bright spots was so horrifying that the commander put down the telescope tremblingly, and his
His cheeks couldn't help but tremble.
"Quick! Send a telegram to the division headquarters! The enemy is planning a night attack!"
Those "starry spots" are basically the enchantment formation created by the Soviet army. Yang Mingzhi once used this tactic, and his subordinates imitated it.
There are not many guides in the transport team. They are all veterans of the 84th Division. Tonight, they are learning and using the general's special tactics. Originally, the Soviet army had to light a bonfire and bury a pot to cook and roast potatoes. Doing so would of course attract the attention of the German army.
Odolov didn't take it seriously. They had been exposed and any cover-up was meaningless.
At the request of the guide and Reichev, more and more bonfires were burned. The German army, which originally only had more than 2,000 people, lit more than a thousand bonfires. The soldiers continued to throw flammable pine branches into the bonfires, making the flames even more intense...
…
This is the so-called conspiracy. After all, we will launch a general offensive tomorrow. First, we should scare the enemy's nerves at night. Maybe this operation will scare the enemy into abandoning the city and running away! (To be continued)