At dawn the next day, the Germans on the west bank of the Wopi River began shelling their positions on the east bank. The www.biquge.info position of the Soviet army turned into an erupting crater in an instant, tightly wrapped in the rising smoke of gunpowder, and there were explosions everywhere and fires everywhere.

Orlov, who had withdrawn to the second line of defense, raised his binoculars in his observation post and saw this scene, and could not help but say to his chief of staff with some trepidation: "My God, if the commander had not ordered us to withdraw the main force of the division to the second line of defense, we would have lost at least a third or more of our commanders and fighters in this round of German artillery bombardment." ”

"What the hell is the commander," the chief of staff next to him said with emotion after listening to his words: "I can actually guess that the enemy will cover our position with fire, so we can evacuate the position in advance." I would now very much like to know what kind of face the German commander would have had when he found that there was no one in our position after crossing the river. ”

The shelling lasted almost an hour before it ended, and the artillery fire leveled the Soviet positions along the river, and a company of fighters who remained on the positions to monitor the enemy across the river was all killed in the shelling.

Seeing that the shelling was over, Orlov immediately called Rokossovsky to report: "Comrade commander, the shelling of our positions on the east coast by the Germans, after lasting an hour, has finally stopped. ”

"Is there any movement from the enemy in the West Bank?" Rokossovsky asked briefly.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know." Orlov was afraid that Rokossovsky would be angry when he heard this answer, and hurriedly added: "We lost contact with the company that remained in the position, and we don't know whether the telephone line was blown up by a shell, or all of them were killed." However, I have already sent a communications corps, and I believe that it will not be long before we know the situation of the enemy on the other side of the river. ”

"If there is any situation, report it to me in time." After saying that, Rokossovsky hung up the phone and said to Lobachev and Malinin, who were standing nearby: "The enemy has just carried out an hour-long artillery bombardment of our positions along the river, and since Colonel Orlov they have lost contact with the troops remaining in the positions, it is not clear what the losses on the positions are and whether the German troops on the opposite bank have begun to cross the river. ”

"Seeing that the enemy's determination is very resolute, they will not be reconciled if they do not succeed in crossing the Wopi River by force." After saying this, Malinin glanced at Kazakov, who was sitting not far away, and then lowered his voice and said: "Comrade commander, maybe the enemy will cross the river soon, is there really no need for artillery to shell the German flotilla crossing the river?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "The Germans now occupy air supremacy on the battlefield, as soon as our artillery fires, they will be locked by their reconnaissance planes, and then they will attract an overwhelming number of bombers." If the artillery is lost, then the next defensive battle will not be easy to fight. ”

At nine o'clock in the morning, Orlov called Rokossovsky again and reported: "Comrade commander, I have just received a report from the forward observation post that the enemy has begun to cross the river in a big way, with a total strength of about two battalions. ”

Rokossovsky, considering that if he let the Germans swagger across the river, his plan to lure the enemy might be discovered, and hurriedly ordered Orlov: "Comrade Colonel, order your troops who remain in the position by the river to open fire, and then withdraw from the position after inflicting a certain amount of damage on the enemy." ”

"Comrade Commander, I can't carry out this order of yours." Orlov said with a sad face: "One of the companies I left behind on the position by the river has all died heroically in the enemy's shelling. If they send troops over at this time, it may be too late, and perhaps they have just arrived at the river and the enemy has rushed ashore. ”

Orlov's report really made Rokossovsky cry and laugh, and his heart was clogged at the thought that he could not inflict certain losses on the enemy when they crossed the river. He pondered for a moment, and then said to Orlov: "Comrade Colonel, when the enemy comes ashore, he will definitely launch an attack on your line of defense. You have to do everything you can to hold back the rushing Germans and buy precious time for our troops on both flanks. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Orlov assured Rokossovsky: "As long as there is one living person left in our division, the enemy will never be allowed to pass through our positions." ”

The German officers and men who had crossed the Wopi River rushed into the flattened positions on the east bank in droves, and were surprised to find that there were no Soviet defenses. The German lieutenant colonel who led the team immediately reported the unexpected discovery to the division commander who remained in the West Bank via radio.

After receiving this report again, the German division commander discussed with his staff team and believed that the Soviet troops must have seen that the German artillery fire was too fierce and felt that they were not sure to hold the defensive area, so they abandoned their positions and fled.

Thinking that the Soviet army might be crushed at this moment, the German division commander decisively ordered the troops who landed on the east bank to immediately pursue them to the east, and must catch up with and annihilate the Soviet troops before they fled into Yaltsevo.

The Germans, who received the order, did not wait for the follow-up troops to erect pontoon bridges and transport motorcycles or trucks over, so they quickly advanced towards Yaltsevo at the speed of a rapid march in an effort to catch up with the fleeing Soviet troops.

After walking for more than 40 minutes, a dirt slope stretching for several kilometers appeared in front of the originally flat road, and on both sides of the slope were dense forests. The German lieutenant colonel, who was at the forefront of the troops, suddenly had a sense of foreboding, and he found that there was silence around him, except for the sound of their own marching. Looking up at the sky, there was not even a single bird except the wind. It was too quiet, the silence became more and more terrifying, his heart tightened for no reason, the further he went, his scalp began to tingle, his heart beat faster, and his vest was cold. Maomao, always feel like being targeted by some dirty thing or beast.

The German lieutenant colonel hurriedly stopped, ordered the troops to stop advancing, called out five soldiers, and asked them to go to the dirt slope in front as spearheads to explore the way. The soldiers, too, noticed the anomaly, and put their fingers on the trigger, leaning forward in an almost instinctive posture, cautiously searching forward.

Seeing that only five soldiers on the other side searched for it, while the large force stopped in the distance, Orlov couldn't help but sigh secretly and whispered: "It's a pity." Then he instructed the chief of staff beside him: "Chief of staff, prepare the troops for battle, and as soon as the enemy sets foot on the minefield, open fire." (To be continued.) )