There were 2,397 skirmishers.

Of course, this does not include the wounded who have been hors de combat and the police battalions that maintain law and order in the town.

Colonel Slane has preliminarily organized these units into three battalions of a regiment, each with more than 700 men, and has registered in detail the commanders and company commanders of each battalion, and the regiment commander is Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard.

Of course, this makes sense, because only in this way can the entire force be organized into a whole to carry out a planned operation, and there will not be a bunch of people here and there who cannot command at all.

Of course, at this time, in principle, this force is only the situation as a whole...... Usually, after the establishment, the whole training is carried out, so that the soldiers are familiar with each other and are familiar with their superiors, so that it is possible to cooperate more closely in combat.

"So, what they say is true?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard asked Qin Chuan, "I mean, what are your achievements in North Africa?" ”

"So to speak!" Qin Chuan replied: "Of course, those are not my credit alone!" ”

"It's remarkable!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard looked at Qin Chuan with envy and said, "You know, I'm an engineer, and I also hope to be able to fight a few battles like you!" ”

"Didn't you command two battles on your own?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Oh, forget about it!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard replied with some embarrassment: "Those two ...... It's just that the guerrillas, you know, we're building roads, and then the guerrillas launched a sneak attack on us without knowing whether they are alive or dead! ”

Judging from Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard's expression, Qin Chuan guessed that the number of those guerrillas was not large, which made Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard embarrassed to say in more detail.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Qin Chuan said: "Believe me, you won't be willing to face this kind of 'painful and happy' scene!" ”

"It's not up to us to want to, is it?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard spread his hands: "We must face it now!" ”

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement.

Then he quickly realized why this straggler, which included more than 5,000 wounded, maintained its morale in the face of a Soviet army group...... It's not because they're so good, it's because they're quite a part of them who haven't experienced real war.

This kind of psychology is easy to understand, most of them are second-line troops, such as engineers, police, transport troops, etc., these troops have been coming and going behind the front line for a long time, holding guns in their hands but always unable to use them, and they have been subjected to rounds of enemy air raids and bombardment...... Naturally, I will hold my breath in my heart, thinking that one day I can fight the enemy face to face.

It's kind of like a recruit, but it's better than a recruit, because at least they've been bombed or dealt with guerrillas.

"So, Captain!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard asked, "What should we do?" ”

"In addition to defense, you need to withdraw all our supplies to the east of the Lovati River in the shortest possible time!" Qin Chuan said: "Especially the supplies at the airport, look at what is left in the warehouse!" ”

"Retreat to the east?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard was a little puzzled: "Why?" ”

"The terrain west of the Lovady River is low!" Qin Chuan replied: "And there is no danger to defend, you have to give up your preparation!" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard couldn't help but open his mouth wide, that was almost giving up a third of Holm's territory.

Qin Chuan glanced up at Gerhard, who hurriedly responded: "Yes, Captain!" ”

And then immediately passed the order down.

The search was quite fruitful, a few barrels of gasoline and some boxes of cans that had been forgotten in the corners were found in the warehouses at the airport, a PAK40 anti-tank gun and several boxes of shells were found in the cellars, as well as a T34 tank parked in the repair shop...... Apparently, it was a tank captured by the Germans, but it was left here because it broke down.

"Do any of us fix tanks?" Qin Chuan asked.

"I need to ask!" Gerhard replied.

Luckily, there were a few mechanics among the skirmishers, and a few tankmen were also assigned to take charge of the tank.

For this tank, Qin Chuan just held the attitude of a dead horse as a live horse doctor, but he didn't expect that in the end it not only played a role but also made a great contribution.

At 3:05 p.m., while Qin Chuan was still looking at the topographic map, there was a whistling sound of cannonballs in the sky, followed by several German soldiers shouting: "They are coming!" ”

Qin Chuan and Gerhard ran out of the headquarters to take a look, and sure enough, they saw a group of skiers firing mortars at the town in an open field a few miles away.

However, they also knew that it was impossible for them to attack the town of Holm with the light weapons carried by the skiers, and perhaps because of the destruction of a previous ski battalion, they did not plan to attack, but only fired mortars at random outside.

"Boom" a shell exploded on a building, and the building was blown up with a large hole on the spot, and several screams of the Soviet people were heard inside.

Kuhn couldn't help but exclaim, "God, don't they know that there are still their people in town?" ”

Gerhard smiled and replied, "They don't care, Lieutenant!" ”

"Yes!" Another German soldier said: "You didn't see what they did when they retreated......

"What's the matter?" Kuhn asked.

"They burned down the people's houses and food!" The German soldier replied.

"What? Why? Kuhn was surprised.

"To keep us from getting supplies!" Gerhard replied: "By the way, leave us a large number of people in need of food!" ”

Kuhn looked at Gerhard in disbelief, he couldn't believe it was true.

But Qin Chuan knew that this was true.

This is what the Soviets were doing, one might even say premeditated...... Along the way, the Germans were left with nothing, and then when the Germans reached Moscow, it was winter.

However, the Soviets had nothing to do to do so, otherwise the Germans would have only had to scavenge the Soviet civilians for clothing and food along the way to survive the winter, and then the Battle of Moscow might have been a different outcome.

Therefore, as now, it can be said that the Soviet army bombed the houses of its own people without any scruples.

"Do you need to fight back, Captain?" Kuhn asked, a hint of hatred in his eyes.

"No!" Qin Chuan replied: "It's better to save some shells, they will stop soon!" ”

Sure enough, after firing more than a dozen shells, there was no response inside, and the skiers lost interest...... They just wanted to test how much firepower there was in the town and where the enemy lines were.

But the town neither fired nor fired a gun, and it would be a waste of shells to continue to fight blindly.