Henschel's troops had been completely wiped out, and he himself unfortunately became a prisoner of war.{(Including those traitors, only seven people in the team of more than 500 people survived. They were all Germans because they were still valuable.
, was not immediately executed.
In this way, they completely lost contact with their superiors.
The German 715th Infantry Division took over the defense of the 7o7th Division, which suffered heavy losses. In order to prevent his colleagues from encountering tragedy, the division commander Rudolf Schulz took proactive action.
"We cannot sit still and wait for death. The Soviets are better at fighting in winter than we are. That Schneider was killed by the enemy, right here with us. We must remain vigilant to avoid another tragedy."
He held a small meeting with the officers at the division headquarters and issued the order to "keep your eyes open and stay vigilant."
He also knew that he could not sit still and wait for death. The enemy was probably in the swamps to the south. So after discussing this with the division chief of staff Felix Swager, he decided to send a small team to investigate.
Swager, just like his last name, this man is shorter and older, so he is bald. He also has his own glory. The Iron Cross medal on his chest is not elegant because this medal was obtained during World War I.
Just like Hitler.
Schultz and Swager are both veterans of World War I. Now they are no longer ordinary non-commissioned officers, but have become division-level commanders.
Because the two cherish their current positions, they are content even if they are responsible for the security of the occupied areas as second-line troops.
Swager did not choose to take risks. "There are many signs now that there is a large Soviet force hidden in the swamp in the area where the Pripet River and the Dnieper River meet. We must detect their location, which is convenient."
Our future defense. So we can send small teams to investigate."
Protecting the road from Mozyr to Rechica or even to Gomel is the task of the 707 Division and the 715th Division.
Schulz knew very well that this road was becoming more and more important to the front-line troops. Therefore, a large number of trucks and mules and carriages were transporting supplies to the front line every day. Horse-drawn rollers compacted the snowy roads in the forest, making the roads excellent.
Later, the German army paid more attention to this branch line of communication.
However, the previous large-scale attack by the Soviet army resulted in the destruction of two towns on the road, causing huge losses in personnel and materials, and even objectively affected the supply to the front line.
Schulz was under a lot of pressure. In order to deal with the frequently active guerrillas, his predecessor implemented a three-light policy on the villages around the road. The villages were burned and destroyed one after another. The Soviets were either killed or fled. It's a pity that Schneider
has been killed by the enemy and the division headquarters was destroyed.
Now that Schultz has taken over the task, his first priority is to strengthen patrols to avoid sudden attacks by guerrillas. However, attacks are still happening, and German patrols frequently encounter cold gun attacks or "armed robberies."
The patrols always achieved some results. They did not capture any prisoners from the guerrillas, but they recorded the battle in detail.
Schultz and Swager discussed it.
"Judging from the current situation, these guerrillas are just stragglers. They lack clothes and are fighting with us with crude weapons." Swager admired these people a little. These guerrillas were simply struggling to their death.
"Soviet soldiers are very patriotic. As soldiers, this is a good thing. But they are trapped beasts and they are not the enemy I am most worried about. The swamps in the south are probably our most serious trouble. Now we must send personnel to investigate
." Schulz said.
"Reconnaissance? But that area is very large. We have to defend the road. If we divide our troops, the weakness of insufficient troops will be easily discovered by the enemy." But Swager did not deny the division commander's determination. "In my opinion, we only need to dispatch
A small number of people is enough. If there are not enough people, we still have some Soviet people who cooperate with us."
Schulz, a collaborator in the occupied areas, quickly agreed with the staff's opinion. German lives are very valuable. Those who betrayed the Soviet Union are now involved in this reconnaissance operation. If they encounter danger, they can minimize the number of Germans.
of casualties.
This is why Henschel led his troops into action.
The German reconnaissance operation involved three companies, each of which led a battalion of defectors.
In the hearts of the German army, these traitors have little fighting power. They are not worried about these people rebelling against Germany again, because the selected people are basically people who have a grudge against the Bolsheviks. They were persecuted during the Great Purge and supported by the White Army during the Civil War.
Germany gave them a big pie, that is, the establishment of a new Belarus after the defeat of the Soviet Union.
But if they knew that the true intention of the German army was to slowly genocide the Slavic people over a period of time, they probably would not choose to cooperate.
So, three reconnaissance troops moved forward when the cold wave was raging. One troop went all the way south, which was Henschel. The other two troops were one to the southeast and one to the southwest. The latter two were too far away from the military camp in the swamp.
In the distance, the Soviet sentry did not appear.
It had been several days since the reconnaissance troops set out. Seeing that the search in the heavy snow had yielded no results, only food was left for the return journey, and some people also suffered from frostbite. The last two troops began to retreat, and only Henschel did not report to the division headquarters.
information.
A bad premonition emerged in the mind of division commander Schulz, because Schulz had not reported news for several days and other troops had begun to return.
The meeting was held immediately, and Schultz simply expressed his concerns: "I think the troops that have been out of contact with us for a long time have been completely wiped out."
Many staff officers, including Chief of Staff Schwager, did not believe that the troops would disappear for nothing.
"I know it's very cold outside now, and they have taken very good measures to keep out the cold. But they have lost contact!" Schultz increased the intensity of his words and looked at the regional map hanging on the wall involuntarily.
"Maybe the battery is frozen, so the radio can no longer send information to us."
"Yes! That must be the case. The temperature every night is about minus ten degrees. The battery is easily damaged by freezing."
"But why did the other two troops report information to us intact? The last communication was just two hours ago, and Schulz's troops have not contacted us for three days!"
There were many discussions among the staff, and what everyone said seemed to make sense.
Why was the connection lost? The battery was broken, the radio was lost, the soldier in charge of the telegraph froze to death, and finally there was an attack.
Schultz slammed the table and everyone fell silent. He looked at the staff present and said, "Gentlemen, the occupied area we are in is not peaceful. Our plan this time is to explore the behind-the-scenes attack on the 707 Division.
Black Hand, Kuta Town, Luwanka Town, Mozyr City, Chenobi City, these attacked towns are all surrounding the swamp. Our Schulz troops also lost contact outside the swamp. The last time
Communications, they were almost entering the swamp area, but there was no word from them."
Schultz cleared his throat: "Now we have to continue investigating. The snow has stopped and we can dispatch reconnaissance planes."
"Reconnaissance plane?! Is it taking off in the snow?" Swager thought this was a huge risk.
"That's it. Order the 756th Regiment to immediately open up a snow airport. I want the reconnaissance plane to take off immediately. That's right! Let the pilot bring a radio and report immediately if there are traces of the enemy. Now, start taking action."
As a division commander, orders are orders, and even Chief of Staff Swager has to hold back every one of them.
The German 756th Infantry Regiment is affiliated to the 715th Infantry Division. This is still a second-line unit responsible for security. They have no tanks and only five half-track armored vehicles, and the accompanying trucks have been requisitioned by friendly forces to transport supplies.
German soldiers immediately began to level the land and used multiple horse-drawn rollers to build an airstrip.
In this era, airplanes were relatively rudimentary, and reconnaissance aircraft were even more rudimentary. They did not need much flat land as a runway, and the runways quickly improved by German soldiers were very suitable for the takeoff of reconnaissance aircraft.
A pilot and a radio operator operate the radio, and they even carry cameras. If they see a Soviet military camp or residential area, they will immediately take pictures from high altitude. (To be continued.) 8