Chapter 746 Water Level
Major August is the leader of the fifth anti-tank group of the German 29th Panzergrenadier Division.
In fact, he was not originally from the 29th Panzergrenadier Division, he belonged to the 72nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment.
Needless to say why he was incorporated into the 29th Panzergrenadier Division, the German army needs the anti-aircraft guns in his hands on the front line.
Major August was lying on the bed after making a tour this night. The bed was on the upper bunk in the fortification... The lower bunk had been flooded by stagnant water, and only the upper bunk could sleep.
Fortunately, the Russians seemed to have taken this into consideration before that, and they built an ammunition and supply storage warehouse at a high place so that the stagnant water could not pose a threat to it.
August couldn't help complaining, if these Russians take this into consideration, why didn't they make good drainage facilities.
But after thinking about it, August felt that the Russians could not be blamed for this.
Because the overall low terrain of Surovikino, the accumulated water would have reached this location, so unless a water pump is used or a bunker is built to a high place, this problem cannot be solved.
Neither of these are good choices, however:
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 a bunker higher, that is to tell the enemy to "shoot at me".
So August could only endure the stench from the stagnant water in the bunker, and from time to time, some feces would float up and dangle in front of him as if to show off... It was "produced" by him and his soldiers. They didn't know they would encounter this situation before, because they were worried about being attacked by the enemy, so they always dug a hole in the bunker to solve the problem.
But these pits are obviously not deep enough.
August switched on the cloth-covered flashlight, took out the letter paper and pen... He hadn't written to his family for two days.
The pen was "rustling" on the letter paper, and August tried hard to describe the situation on the front line. For example, the enemy was repelled by them several times and suffered heavy losses. Everyone believed that the enemy could not cross the line of defense they built ( This is a fact), and another example is that although the stagnant water is poured into their bunker, the advantage is that they can take a bath without going out of 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 interrogated the 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, and the water level rose to his waist in an instant, which was obviously abnormal.
But it is also very deceptive, because the water level is rising silently, and it is 5:30 in the morning and most of the soldiers are sleeping.
Sentinels who weren't sleeping should have sensed this, but they'd have thought the same thing as August at first: It's normal for the water to rise to the waist.
But the position of the waist is very general, the lower part of the waist or the upper part of the waist, which position is normal?
Nobody knows.
So, the water level has been rising rapidly without anyone warning, until August felt a burst of cold, and then the water overflowed the bed and soaked his letter paper... Only then did August realize that something was wrong.
August knew that if the Russians would build the upper bunk to this height, it would mean that the accumulated 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 up everyone! Get out of the bunker immediately!"
"Yes, Major!" The adjutant responded and immediately yelled at the sleeping soldiers.
Major August took advantage of this time to call the headquarters.
"General!" Major August said, "I don't know what the enemy has done, but it is clear that they intend to flood Surovikino, because the water level has risen to a dangerous level, and we are almost submerged!"
Major General Ellen couldn't help being stunned when he heard the news, and then he immediately turned around and ordered to the staff: "Immediately, order everyone to withdraw from Surovikino!"
But it was obviously too late to order a retreat at this time.
The actual retreat of troops refers to an orderly retreat with equipment and ammunition, so as to preserve combat effectiveness.
But the current 29th Panzergrenadier Division received an 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 are still many German soldiers who have no time to escape at all... The reservoir has a large displacement, and the water level overflows the outlet in the blink of an eye. Many German soldiers drowned in their sleep in a daze.
The German soldiers hiding in the air-raid shelter are similar... This air-raid shelter was built by the Soviet army. It is similar to the facilities in the bunker. They all have double or even three-layer beds, which were originally used for soldiers and civilians to avoid bombing.
If there is any difference, the air-raid shelter is a long tunnel-like... In fact, it was transformed from an abandoned train tunnel by the Soviet army.
There will be a problem with such a tunnel. There are only a few exits and there are many German soldiers and wounded hiding inside.
So immediately after the water level rose, there was panic in the tunnel, and then everyone rushed to the exit, shouting, calling for help, and cursing.
Actually, if everyone stays rational at this time, perhaps a considerable number of people can escape if they swim out in an orderly manner like ants moving house.
The problem is that people are always unable to keep calm in critical moments, so the entrance of the tunnel is quickly blocked, you pull me and you pull you, what is especially scary is that people who can't swim are flopping and struggling in the water, they will hug everyone Pass by people around you.
There is no doubt that the entrance of the tunnel was blocked, and few people could swim out until the water level overflowed the entire tunnel.
Trufanov observed with a telescope on the other side of the position.
He saw the light of the flashlight on the opposite side... This was originally a big no-no, because it would provide targets for Russian snipers.
So obviously, this is the chaos of the flooded German army, and they no longer care about concealment.
Looking at the pale sky again, Trufanov thought it was almost time, so he turned his attention to Zolotarev.
Zolotarev nodded, and Trufanov immediately ordered: "Fire!"
In an instant, the artillery on the second line roared, and the sound of the artillery was accompanied by the terrifying "swish" sound of rockets.
(end of this chapter)
