There were only fifteen minutes left before the attack time. Yang Mingzhi personally held the walkie-talkie and ordered: "Rachev, Bondanov, get ready for battle! Everything is going according to plan! Wait for my attack instructions!"
The other party's response was very simple, a plain word "Да". After the order was conveyed, the three battalions began the final preparations.
Two paratrooper battalions each carried six mortars. Now, twelve M37 82mm mortars began to assume artillery positions. The artillery of the two battalions was organized, and this artillery fire could easily cover a radius of two kilometers.
Area! In fact, the wooden boxes carried by the donkeys contained a number of accessory shells for these mortars.
This weapon is very powerful. Considering that it is mainly used to attack buildings, the ammunition is mainly high-explosive incendiary bombs. One weighs 4.5 kilograms, which is as heavy as a Mosin Nagant!
The gunners in the paratroopers are all professional veterans. They only need five minutes to assume a good position!
No longer needing to hide, they lined up twelve mortars in a zigzag pattern in the open area outside the woods, with ammunition boxes placed next to them. There were four boxes for each gun, four in each box. This powerful
The firepower can completely cover the entire Leopovka! Not to mention the even more devastating rocket launcher with a caliber of up to 107 mm!
Before the attack, it was very reasonable for the Soviet army to conduct a wave of fire coverage to weaken the enemy. In order to avoid injuring prisoners of war, the area for artillery bombardment was strictly limited unless there were additional orders during the battle.
The battle was about to break out, and all the soldiers were half-kneeling in the hidden forest. Even the semi-automatic rifles were equipped with lances, and the submachine guns were ready to "spray wildly".
All the battalion commanders and Yang Mingzhi adjusted their watches. He stared at the watch in his left hand and held the walkie-talkie in his right hand. He waited very rigorously for the minute and second hands to align with 12 at the same time.
Finally! The time has come.
"Attention comrades! Start taking action!"
The battle officially began! The soldiers who received the exact order left their hiding places, without artillery preparations and cover, and without Ula shaking the forest. For the sake of privacy, everyone lowered their bodies as much as possible and walked quickly in small steps.
When they were about 500 meters away from the target, all personnel lay down.
Yang Mingzhi lay on the ground and held up his binoculars to observe for a moment. He knew that with one charge, Balzen would be able to rush to the enemy's "killing factory" in more than a minute, and the paratrooper battalion could also tear down the wire fence of the prisoner of war camp.
broken.
Now he first ordered the artillerymen in the rear: "All mortar positions, high-explosive shells, four rounds of rapid fire!"
Suddenly, there was an unreasonable crisp sound in the quiet night, and the heavy 82mm mortar came out and hit the center of Leopovka with a very high parabola!
The main target of a mortar attack is none other than its warehouse. Because everyone knows that if there is ammunition there, a large number of enemies can be destroyed instantly by a sudden explosion! Although it may also hurt prisoners of war, there is nothing that can be done about it.
It is very difficult to rescue everyone and ensure minimal losses to our own troops.
The tragic explosion occurred more than 20 seconds after the projectile was launched, giving the enemy a wave of 48 high-explosive bombs! Each shell with a TNT charge of nearly two kilograms, the shock wave tore through the roof and surroundings of the warehouse.
All buildings were covered with glass, and air waves swept across the entire Leopovka.
The five wooden towers had poor structural stress. They were shaken by the shock wave and air waves, and four of them fell down. The only searchlight was also extinguished because the generator was blown to pieces in the explosion!
There are three warehouses here, which store part of the flour looted by the German army from the villages under the control of this area. The 734th Division planned to directly support these "results" to the front line. Unfortunately, the warehouses here were caught in a sea of fire.
After all, the flour did not explode. They and the sacks began to burn, and a strange burnt smell quickly wafted into the air.
The explosion woke up everyone in Leopovka. The people in the prisoner of war camp were actually transported here four days ago. The German army killed some injured people, and the rest were in good physical condition. Half a month ago
, they were all Red Army soldiers who had been captured for various reasons and had been trying to escape. Therefore, everyone wanted to believe that this unusual attack provided them with an excellent opportunity to escape.
Yang Mingzhi had no idea that the prisoners of war actually started to riot! Some barracks were shaken loose by the shock wave, and some of the originally strong locked doors were damaged. As a result, the prisoners of war filed out of the barracks, even though they were very hungry.
Only a fool would pass up this opportunity to escape.
The unarmed people came face-to-face with the panicked German defenders and pseudo-police. A shootout broke out immediately, and the scene was extremely chaotic.
The prisoners of war had no time to fight with the enemy. They rushed towards the wall of the prisoner of war camp, trying to tear up the iron wire and escape. Dozens of people began to break the iron wire with their bare hands. Unfortunately, how could they break it with just human power?
Just as they were trying their best to suck the milk, an astonishing scene happened in front of them.
A large group of people emerged from the ground like moles. They shouted "Ula", making all those who were trying to escape cry. Under the strong firelight, they could clearly see the people running towards them. They were wearing the uniforms of Red Army soldiers.
Wearing earth-green military uniforms, he looked like a brown bear rushing towards the barbed wire fence.
Perhaps because of the misunderstanding caused by seeing the figure, they were suddenly hit by bullets, and many people were shot and killed.
Those who came back to their senses lay on the ground, waved their hands, and shouted with all their strength: "Don't hit us! Comrades of the Red Army! We are friendly forces!"
Who can hear this cry amid the chaos of cannon fire and gunfire?
Reichev's battalion quickly rushed to the barbed wire fence, and the soldiers were shocked to see the guys with Slavic faces.
"Who are you? Are you captured by the Germans?"
"Yes! We all are! Thank God, comrades guerrillas, you actually came to save us!"
The prisoner who spoke was crying, but his answer was more straightforward.
"We are paratroopers! Not guerrillas! We are ordered to rescue all of you and completely destroy this place! Now, you dozen people are not allowed to escape. Lead us to release all the brothers. After that, everyone goes
Hide in the forest over there!”
The paratrooper spoke a long paragraph, and regardless of whether the prisoner understood it or not, the barbed wire was quickly cut with a vise.
Dozens of gaps appeared in a barbed wire wall instantly, some of which were simply blown up by grenades.
Everything is like Balzen's reconnaissance. The number of defenders here is very small. Except for two infantry companies that are not satisfied with the establishment, they are a group of pseudo-railway police with worrying combat effectiveness. They are a ragtag group of Ukrainians, Belarusians and Poles.
Serving the Germans was mainly about making a living, and these guys with poor training levels were able to eliminate all the guerrillas whose equipment was even worse and who always lacked medical treatment.
Faced with such a fierce attack, the German defenders were completely dumbfounded. They initially suppressed the escaping prisoners of war and prepared to fight the enemy.
Unfortunately, when the battle actually began, they suddenly discovered that with only the Mausers, French rifles and a few old MG13s in their hands, they were no match for the enemy.
The attackers were even equipped with anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades that only elite front-line troops were equipped with. No matter how incredible, these missiles were killing the defenders.
The Germans found that they were unable to defeat them. Under the leadership of their company commander, a group of people wearing only underwear and a gun in their hands instinctively broke out in the direction of Mozyr. Unfortunately, this was in vain!
They have to pass through the blazing warehouse and surrounding areas. The people under the scorching flames are very desperate. To make things even more desperate, the enemy's shelling has begun again!
The 82mm mortars blocked the enemies fleeing in this direction, and more than a dozen people were completely blown to pieces. Two of the rounds even landed at very tricky locations, and the railway track was blown apart!