Chapter seven hundred and twenty sixth water level
Major August is the leader of the fifth anti-tank group of the German 9th Panzergrenadier Division.
In fact, he was not originally from the 9th Panzergrenadier Division, he was affiliated with the 7th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment.
Needless to say why he was incorporated into the 9th Panzergrenadier Division, the Germans needed the anti-aircraft guns in his hands on the front lines.
Major Augustus lay down on the bed after a round of inspection that night. The bed was on the upper bunk in the bunker... The lower bunk had been flooded by water, and only the upper bunk could sleep.
Fortunately, the Russians seemed to have considered this before. They built an ammunition and supply storage warehouse at a high altitude so that the water would not pose a threat to it.
August couldn't help complaining, if these Russians took this into consideration, why didn't they build drainage facilities.
But after thinking about it, August felt that the Russians could not be blamed.
Because the overall terrain of Sulovkino is low, water will accumulate here, so unless a water pump is used or the bunker is built at a high place, there is no way to solve this problem.
However, neither of these are good choices:
Using a water pump means that every bunker on the front line must have one, and its noise can easily reveal the location of the bunker.
Not to mention building the bunker higher, that is clearly telling the enemy to "shoot at me."
So August could only endure the stench from the water in the bunker, and from time to time, some clumps of feces would float in front of him as if to show off... which he and his soldiers "produced".
They didn't know that they would encounter this situation before. Because they were worried about being sniped by the enemy, they always dug a hole in the bunker to solve the problem.
But these pits are obviously not deep enough.
August turned on the flashlight covered with cloth and took out the letter paper and pen... He had not written to his family for two days.
The pen rustled on the letter paper, and August tried to paint a good picture of the situation on the front line. For example, the enemy was repulsed by them several times and suffered heavy losses. Everyone believed that the enemy could not cross the line of defense they had built (
This is a fact). Another example is that although the stagnant water poured into their bunker, the advantage was that they could take a bath without leaving the bunker.
At this moment, the adjutant reported to August: "Major, the water level seems to have risen..."
"Don't worry, Franz!" August replied while writing the letter: "We have already interrogated those Russians, and they are sure that the water level will only reach the waist!"
"Yes, Major!"
But after a while, the adjutant said with some horror: "Major, the water level has reached the waist. I hope this is normal!"
"This shows that those Russians are right!" August replied casually.
August did not understand the meaning of the adjutant's words. The water level rose to his waist in an instant, which was obviously abnormal.
But this is also very confusing, because the water level rose silently, and at this time, at 5:30 in the morning, most of the soldiers were sleeping.
The sentinels who had not slept should have noticed this, but they would have thought like August at first: it was normal for the water level to rise to the waist.
But the position of the waist is very general. Which position is considered normal, the lower waist or the upper waist?
Nobody knows.
As a result, the water level kept rising rapidly without anyone warning, until August felt a chill, and then the water overflowed the bed and soaked his letter paper... Only then did August realize that the situation was not good.
August knew that if the Russians built the upper bunk to this height, it would mean that the water had not risen to this height in previous years, which meant there was a problem.
The next second, August jumped up from the bed and shouted to the adjutant: "Quick, wake everyone up! Get out of the bunker immediately!"
"Yes, Major!" the adjutant responded and immediately yelled at the sleeping soldiers.
Major August took this moment to call the headquarters.
"General!" Major August said: "I don't know what the enemy did, but it is obvious that they intend to flood Surovino, because the water level has risen to the dangerous level, and we are almost submerged!"
Major General Ellen was stunned when he heard the news, and then he immediately turned around and ordered to his staff: "Immediately, order everyone to withdraw from Surovino!"
But it was obviously too late to order a retreat.
The actual retreat of troops refers to the orderly retreat with equipment and ammunition, so as to preserve combat effectiveness.
But the current 9th Panzergrenadier Division only received the order to retreat when the water level rose to the upper abdomen. They only had time to grab their guns and backpacks and swim out of the bunker.
In fact, there were still many German soldiers who had no time to escape... The reservoir had a large drainage capacity, and the water level overflowed the outlet in the blink of an eye. Many German soldiers drowned in their sleep without realizing it.
The same goes for the German soldiers hiding in the air-raid shelter... This air-raid shelter was built by the Soviet army. It is similar to the facilities in the bunker. It has double or even triple tiers of beds. It was originally used for soldiers and civilians to avoid bombings.
If there is any difference, it is that the air-raid shelter is a long tunnel-like one... In fact, it was transformed from an abandoned train tunnel by the Soviet army.
There is a problem with such a tunnel. There are only a few exits but there are many German soldiers and wounded hiding inside.
So as soon as the water level rose, it caused panic in the tunnel, and then everyone crowded towards the exit, shouting, calling for help, and cursing in a chaotic mess.
In fact, if everyone stays rational at this time, a considerable number of people may be able to escape by moving out in an orderly manner like ants moving.
The problem is that people can't keep calm in critical moments, so the entrance to the tunnel is quickly blocked. You pull me and I pull you. What's especially scary is that people who can't swim are splashing and struggling in the water. They will hug everyone.
Pass by the people around you.
So there was no doubt that the entrance to the tunnel was blocked, and until the water level filled the entire tunnel, few people could swim out.
Trufanov was observing with a telescope on the other side of the position.
He saw the bright light of the flashlight on the opposite side... This was originally a taboo, because it would provide a target for Russian snipers.
So it is obvious that the flooded German army was in chaos, and they no longer cared about concealment.
Looking at the pale sky again, Trufanov thought that the time was almost up, so he turned his attention to Zolotarev.
Zolotarev nodded, and Trufanov immediately ordered: "Fire!"
Suddenly, the artillery on the second line roared, and along with the sound of the artillery was the terrifying "whoosh" of rockets. (To be continued)