Chapter 303 Landmines
Major Paul commanded a fairly good battle. Although the German army was defeated in the end, it caused certain losses to the Soviet army and delayed time.
This allowed the German 3rd Battalion to successfully escape from the Soviet encirclement... The Soviet army was encircled by the German army from the two wings of the road towards the center of the road. Because they had to advance while clearing mines, they could only follow behind the T26 mine-sweeping tanks, and the speed was not fast.
The reason why the German army was successfully surrounded before was mainly because the German army was caught off guard... The German army marched north and the Soviet army surrounded it south, and the two armies were facing each other, so the encirclement was naturally appropriate.
However, the German 2nd Battalion used the correct tactics to successfully delay the Soviets for a while, which gave the German 3rd Battalion time to retreat.
During this period, Major General Andreas, after retreating 20 kilometers to a small town called Sopakwei, assembled an infantry regiment and an armored battalion in the hope of forming a line of defense to block the Soviet attack. After all, they had already separated from this small town. Trapped in a minefield.
This can be said to be a kind of arrogance of the German armored divisions. Although they knew that their tanks could not compete with the T34, they still thought that they could defeat the opponent from the psychological commanding heights after they fought all the way to Moscow and had almost no generals.
But when Major General Andreas reported to Guderian, he was unceremoniously criticized by Guderian.
"Who do you think you are?!" Guderian said, "Do you think you can stop the 'T34 troops'? Do you think you can stop those tanks?"
"But the general!" Major General Andreas said still unconvinced: "They don't have many tanks. We still have two tank battalions. Our strength and tanks are twice theirs..."
"It's not about troops and tanks, you idiot!" Guderian yelled, "You think you can block their attack with the strength of two tank battalions? You must be guarding the road and the railway, right? "
"Yes, General!" Major General Andreas replied.
"Don't you understand?" Guderian said: "They have mine-sweeping tanks, mine-sweeping tanks that can quickly clear mines, and ice and snow also freeze the muddy ground, which means they don't need to rely on roads and railway lines to maneuver, They will appear in any direction, you know? Any direction, they will even bypass you and attack you from behind!"
Hearing that Major General Andreas was speechless, he really did not expect this, so obviously Guderian was right, the Soviets could attack them from any direction, and with the German 3rd Armored Division existing The strength of the army is simply not enough to defend every direction...
"Retreat immediately!" Guderian ordered: "Retreat all the way to Tula, relying on Tula to build a defense line with lakes and rivers!"
"Yes, General!" Major Andreas responded, and then loudly ordered the German soldiers who were building fortifications: "Don't worry about those fortifications, continue to retreat!"
But at this time it is not so easy for them to retreat to Tula.
Shuerka certainly took this into consideration...the trick of "luting the enemy deep" tricked the 3rd Armored Division in. There is no way to let them out like this.
Zahakavic arranged an ambush in Pukano, not far south of Sopakwei.
This ambush is the 7th Civil Defense Division that was defeated in blocking the German army before.
Their main task is not to prevent the German army from advancing, but to convince the German army that it is normal for the Soviet civil defense division to appear here... An entire civil defense division was defeated by the German army, and of course some troops would disperse nearby.
Of course, the vast majority of civil defense division officers and soldiers did not know this, so they were indeed chaotic when they retreated. Just like the Germans described, many people broke into the minefield and stepped on their own mines.
But it is precisely because of this that the German army did not take this unit seriously.
The combat effectiveness of this unit is indeed not strong, and if it is used to intercept the German 3rd Armored Division, it is indeed not enough.
The problem is that they don't need to "intercept", only "block".
The 7th Civil Defense Division was quickly reorganized. They assembled more than a thousand people, including some newly joined civilians... Originally, the Civil Defense Division was organized by the civilians after training for a few days, so they joined the civilians to fight while training. There is nothing wrong with it.
It didn't take much effort for this team to defeat the German special operations team that followed up and stationed in the villages and towns... The German army generally only deploys one company in a group of villages and towns, and in some places even deploys only one platoon.
How can this company's strength stop the attack of more than a thousand people, even if these more than a thousand people are insufficiently trained civil defense divisions or even civilians.
Then, from Pucano southwards to Tula, there are seven buried underground warehouses dug and marked along the railways and roads.
The task of the civil defense division is to take out a large number of mines stored in the underground warehouse and bury them on roads and railways.
At this time, Major General Andreas certainly didn't know this, they just got a report that the rear was attacked by enemy guerrillas.
Major General Andreas didn't take this seriously at first.
Not to mention guerrillas, even the regular Russian army is nothing, they are only afraid of the fourth tank brigade of the Russian army, the fourth tank brigade!
When he thought of the Fourth Tank Brigade, Major General Andreas gritted his teeth with hatred. If it weren't for them, if it weren't for those demining tanks...they should have already entered the gate of Moscow by this time!
However, now all this can only be a dream.
Major General Andreas knew that this was likely to be his lifelong regret!
But Major General Andreas soon realized that things were not that simple, because at this moment there was an explosion in front of him.
Major General Andreas, who was directing the retreat on a "No. 3" tank, immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and asked, "What's going on? Why was there an explosion?"
"Mines, General!" A subordinate replied: "Anti-tank mines!"
Major General Andreas couldn't help being surprised, and asked, "Is it a landmine or..."
"I don't know, General!"
Major General Andreas gritted his teeth, and then ordered: "Go ahead!"
There was a burst of "boom boom", followed by several explosions.
Then Major General Andreas's heart sank to freezing point, he knew that his way back had been blocked.
Sure enough, I heard the voice of my subordinates coming from the walkie-talkie: "General, there are mines everywhere, we have nowhere to go!"
At this time, Andreas wished he could have a demining tank in the hands of the Russians, so that they could escape.
But now...he could only look at the snow in front of him and sigh helplessly.
(end of this chapter)
