Before the battle ended, the granary was bombed by the Germans.
Bombing involves artillery and aviation.
However, as mentioned before, because the granary is strong and covers a large area, and at the same time there are not many Soviet troops stationed in the granary, this kind of bombing is difficult to be effective.
However, the power of the aerial bombs still caused some damage... One bomb penetrated the two-story ceiling and exploded in the granary, causing the central part to collapse.
This is also the power of the German "Stuka" dive bombers. These bombers dive at high speed from the air so that the bombs thrown have a high velocity, just like the fired artillery shells.
And because the bombs are equipped with delayed fuses, if these bombs accurately hit the target, they can penetrate the surface of the target and explode in a relatively closed space inside. Such bombs are often fatal to buildings, as they will destroy load-bearing columns from the inside.
The explosion caused the entire building to collapse.
If it weren't for the large number and thick load-bearing pillars inside the granary... there are groups of more than a dozen pillars every twenty meters, and each group requires two people to hug each other to surround them. I'm afraid the granary would have been destroyed on the spot.
This design is for air defense. Even if a part of the bearing column is blown off, it will only partially collapse and not the whole thing.
It is precisely because of this that the German artillery bombing has little effect on the granary... It is not unreasonable for the granary to be so strong but only designed with five floors. The relatively low floors make it harder for artillery shells to hit, and many shells fly over the granary.
On the other side, most of the cannonballs that hit the granary only caused some damage to the surface.
In fact, this result was within Major Paul's expectation.
So the bombing stopped after ten minutes... The bombing was just to boost the morale of the soldiers. After being severely slapped by the enemy, they used artillery shells and bombs to regain some face, so that the soldiers would have the confidence to continue fighting.
How can a battalion of German soldiers find confidence when facing a platoon of enemies?
Of course, at this time, Major Paul did not know that there was only one platoon stationed at the granary, otherwise he would have been so angry that he would vomit blood.
"We can't capture that granary, General!" Major Paul said this when reporting to Jonas: "At least we can't capture it in a short time because the granary is very strong and the enemy has made sufficient preparations and deployments.
At least two companies’ strength was lost!”
Major Paul actually knew that there were not that many enemies in the granary, but of course he would not say so.
"So, how do you think we should solve it?" Major General Jonas asked.
"I think we should go around it!" Major Paul replied: "Surround it and cut off its supplies!"
"I don't care what you do!" Major General Jonas said: "In short, you must ensure the safety of the main force at the rear!"
This is normal for the German army. They usually tell their subordinates their goals and then complete them no matter what method they use. This is a reflection of the German army's operational freedom.
"Yes, General!" Major Paul felt that Jonas was about to hang up the phone, so he quickly added: "But if we want to surround it, our troops will be seriously insufficient..."
"God!" Major General Jonas said, "I just gave you an additional armored company!"
But Major General Jonas soon realized that saying this was of no use, because the armored company was finished and could not be resurrected, so the current reality was that the troops were insufficient. Either replenish it or don't do it.
After thinking about it, Major General Jonas agreed: "I will send you two companies, Major, and a few tanks and armored vehicles. This is your last chance, do you understand?"
"Understood, General!"
After putting down the phone, Major Paul breathed a sigh of relief.
This was an opportunity for him to redeem himself and make meritorious service. Otherwise, if he were held accountable afterwards, an armored company would fall into a trap and be completely burned. There would be no escape from command errors.
"Xavier!" Major Paul called the staff officer in front of him, then pointed at the map and said: "Go and reconnoiter, here, here, and here... Do you understand?"
"Understood, Major!" Xavier replied.
He did understand that the German army had formed a tacit understanding in combat. There was no need to say too much. After pointing out these points, the staff immediately knew that they had to bypass the granary and surround it.
At the same time, this is also a commonly used tactic of the German army: if it is difficult to attack frontally, just go around and surround it.
As a result, several German reconnaissance units set off quickly.
They were divided into two teams, each with a platoon, and then went about 500 meters deep along the two wings of the granary and tried to capture the building.
Obviously, as long as the German army occupied the buildings around the granary and surrounded it, the granary would be surrounded and lose contact with the main force.
Once this situation occurs, the granary will be self-defeating or even if there are still people inside, it will not pose much threat to the German flank... Without ammunition, the machine gun will shoot out all the bullets with a few clicks.
On the other hand, the fact that the granary is strong does not mean that the buildings in other directions are also strong. The fact that the granary can attack itself with fire does not mean that the buildings in other directions are also strong.
From a strategic perspective, this consideration is completely correct.
The problem is that Shulka's team is only part of the student force.
At this time, it is training time for the students...
Soon after the German troops moved along the building, gunshots were heard one after another.
Major Paul felt something bad as soon as he heard the gunfire, because the gunshots were sparse and not chaotic.
With combat experience, he certainly knew that this was the work of a sniper.
Sure enough, the next second I heard the staff report: "Major, we are blocked by enemy snipers, they are everywhere!"
One of the functions of a sniper is to make the enemy feel like they are surrounded by grass and trees, because a few people can easily block the path of a platoon in one direction, making it easy for people to feel that the enemy is everywhere.
"Have you forgotten how to fight?" Major Paul roared to the staff: "Press them and kill them!"
What Major Paul meant by holding them down was mortars.
This is a common tactic used by the German army... Enemy snipers are often powerless against mortars, especially mortars that coordinate with each other.
Because mortars can often hide in blind spots for enemy sniper rifles, such as craters, behind broken walls, etc., they don't even need to show up, but fire based on information passed to them by artillery observers or nearby infantry.
So the enemy snipers either changed their positions or stayed where they were and were bombed.
It was only a matter of shells and time for the German mortars to hit the target.
However, before Major Paul finished speaking, there were continuous explosions coming from the battlefield.
It's a mortar, but a Soviet mortar. (To be continued)