The soldiers of the reconnaissance company were all covered in black and gray linen, which was very close to the color of the soil. The ice and snow no longer existed, and the new camouflage made them lie on the ground. At first glance, they were just mounds of earth.
Balzen sent a telegram to the division headquarters, reporting his encounter with German corpse collectors on the battlefield.
Yevlov's order was simple - keep an eye on them.
The soldiers of the reconnaissance company have learned about the news that the German 707th Division has changed its defense again. In previous battles, the overall performance of the German 707th Division was not good. But in the battle of Kuta Town, their defense was indeed tenacious.
Some people had participated in that battle and knew that the enemy's combat effectiveness was stronger than that of the 715th Division.
The soldiers lay on the ground, quietly watching every move of the enemy. They saw that these German soldiers simply moved away the corpses and piled them on the car like piles of wood.
The enemy was transporting bodies in trucks, not mule-drawn wagons. Their trucks were plentiful? So was fuel?
The second platoon leader who had led the makeup investigation asked again this time: "Sir, why don't we open up an enemy tent at night, grab a tongue, and express the enemy's current situation? Wouldn't it be beautiful?"
This method worked very well in the past, but the military order dictated that you should not take the initiative to provoke. Balzen shook his head and refused: "The enemy must be more vigilant when they find that there are missing people. We'd better think of them smarter. If the enemy can openly use the truck, I guess
The enemy's equipment is better. After a few months of rest, our defeated generals should be smarter."
To fall down twice in one place, unless you are an idiot! Balzen knows the importance of vigilance, and the closer you are to the road, the more careful you must be.
Balzen made up his mind, and since the truck had made ruts in the soft soil, he would follow the tracks and continue north.
In order to avoid being exposed, everyone hid in the forest to watch and rest during the day. In the dead of night, they continued walking north under the faint moonlight.
This used to be a battlefield, and everyone in the reconnaissance company had been here before. Walking up to twenty kilometers further north is the road. Theoretically, you can arrive there in one night if you walk quickly!
The entire company still advanced in the triangle formation, and the soldiers had their bullets loaded and were always ready for battle.
One hundred and forty people advanced under the cover of darkness. The soil covered their footsteps, and no one whispered to each other. In the silent night, there was only the sound of wind and the hoot of owls.
The five vanguard soldiers were at the forefront. Their eyesight was very good, and they finally discovered something unusual in the distance at the edge of the forest.
The vanguard hurried over and said alertly: "We saw light in the distance. Although it was very dark, we can conclude that it was not natural light."
"It must be the enemy smoking," Balzen said casually.
"Yes! It will be possible soon, because the light is very dim and the color is yellow."
Balzen, who was squatting half-crouched, smiled. He called a few soldiers over and spread out a huge linen cloth to drape over his body. A few people propped up the simple tent and illuminated the map with a flashlight. Balzen marked the new location.
It's already too close to the road.
He called each platoon leader over again and ordered: "Everyone forms a platoon unit and is divided into four groups. Everyone establishes their own positions and is prepared to meet the enemy."
The reconnaissance company moved quickly, and a fan-shaped temporary blocking position had been established outside the woods. Although Balzen did not believe that there would be a large-scale German attack. He also ordered a few soldiers who were good at climbing to establish observation posts on the red pine trees.
, bring the antenna up by the way to establish communication with the division headquarters.
Everything went on step by step until the sky gradually turned blue at dawn.
The soldier who tied himself to the top of the tree gradually saw the outline in the distance clearly, and the appearance there had changed.
Balzen slept for a while, but was pushed awake by soldiers. As if the enemy was attacking, he subconsciously drew his pistol.
"Company commander! Don't be nervous! The enemy hasn't come here yet!" The soldier held down his pistol and pointed to the north. "The enemy really exists and they are building fortifications!"
"What else is there?!" Balzen regained consciousness immediately and came to the forefront observation post. According to the ruler on the telescope film, the shaking figure was 700 meters away from him!
Before becoming a "guerilla warfare expert," Balzen was naturally a veteran of conventional warfare. He still had experience in how to build infantry fortifications and establish firepower points.
What was displayed in front of him at this moment was indeed the fortification system being built. When he observed more carefully, he easily discovered the horror within it.
"My God, is the enemy going to build a permanent firepower point? I saw they used concrete!" Balzen realized that the problem was complicated and immediately ordered to contact the division headquarters.
So what exactly did the reconnaissance company commander see?
It turns out that the 707th Division has changed its countermeasures and currently has no orders to take the initiative to attack. The core order of its division commander Hertzman is to guard the communication lines. The Mozyr-Gomel road must be restored to traffic to ensure that there are no guerrillas in the vicinity or damage. This is
The top priority of the mission.
The enemy is hidden in the swamps in the south, which is already full of mud, making a full-scale attack impractical. For this reason, it is imperative to establish a complete defense system.
The unit discovered by Balzen was an infantry regiment affiliated with the 707th Division. An additional engineer battalion was dispatched due to engineering needs.
In terms of the ability to dig trenches, the Germans did very well. In the trench warfare of World War I, the German army was also very wretched at the beginning. With its excellent trench system and machine gun preparation, the British army on the Marne River was defeated on the first day of the attack.
Sixty thousand people lost!
Balzen's notebook recorded the enemy's defensive arrangements in detail, and as the sun rose, it all became clearer and clearer.
At dawn, a large number of people wearing white vests came out and began to work waving tools.
"The temperature is still low, these Germans are not afraid of the cold? Or is it because they exercise too much and are sweating like rain?" Balzen certainly believed that not long after the battle ended, their positions were already well built.
The scouts at the top of the tree briefly drew a layout map of the German army. The enemy's crooked trenches extended for a long time. The enemy did not build trenches like the Great Wall, they seemed to be building a cluster of bunkers.
The trenches seemed to be built in a disorderly manner, but in fact they had a complete energy supply. There were tents set up at some nodes, which were probably resting places for the defenders. Theoretically, they would also dig underground and build some individual air raid shelters to avoid shelling.
There are artillery positions and machine gun positions here, arranged in multi-layered trenches with cross-fire. In addition to machine gun forts built with wood and sandbags, there are also ones obviously built with concrete stones.
Barbed wire fences were also put up around the perimeter of the trenches. Balzen estimated that there must be some minefields around the perimeter of his position. Because he saw some Germans wearing steel helmets moving around the perimeter of their positions. It didn't look like they were digging the ground.
But he is burying something.
All the observed intelligence was recorded, and the key contents written in the notebook were transmitted to the division headquarters along with the electromagnetic waves!
This was really an explosive discovery. Yevlov, who was the first to learn the information, could realize what the Germans meant no matter how stupid he was.
Standing in the telegraph room, bleary-eyed from getting up early, he had no sleepiness at all and laughed while holding the document.
"It seems that the Germans are really scared. They are building defensive positions even though they are overpowering them. They even use concrete. Is this because they are afraid that we will continue to move north to launch a large-scale military operation?!"
This matter was of great importance. Yevlov was in urgent need of help from a think tank. With this important information, he simply rushed directly to Yang Mingzhi's house and pulled the guy out of the bed.