The type of battle that follows completely belongs to the mode of standing fire between the two armies in ancient warfare. Not only the riflemen were standing, but even the MG34 machine gun crew was all shooting upright, one was responsible for losing, one was responsible for firing, and one used his shoulder as a gun carriage, and the dense bullets swept towards the Soviet soldiers who were struggling to march in the snow. Slowly, machine-gun fire cut off the enemy's attacking formation, then extended the trajectory backwards to the end of the line, sweeping to the front until there was no longer a single Soviet soldier left standing in the snow.

After the ceasefire. Some German soldiers slowly pulled cigarettes out of their pockets, lit one and took a few puffs before passing it on to their brothers, cigarettes were the best tranquilizer for soldiers, and the Germans could only smoke one among several people under the conditions of supply shortage. Although the Soviet counteroffensive was crushed, there was no joy on the faces of these battle-hardened grenadiers. They knew that the battle that had just passed was terrible, but it was only the beginning. The sound of "Ula", which had stopped, was heard from the top of the hill again, and the German furious fire once again wiped it out. (It's not that Falling Leaves wrote about the Soviet Army so stupidly, but that's really the case!) ）

The Soviets continued to rush down from the top of the hill to the Germans halfway up the hill to carry out counterattacks, but most of them turned into ghosts in front of machine guns, rifles, submachine guns and grenades. In the end, the Soviets on the hill threw in all their reserves to launch a large-scale counterattack for the last time, and the German queue finally could not support it, and all the soldiers were forced to retreat to the foot of the 72.7 heights.

Although they themselves did not want to admit it, the 39th Panzer Army's attempt to make contact with the defenders of Holm was a failure. However, the efforts and sacrifices of the German infantry also won a favorable condition for the compatriots in the encirclement, that is, they had wedged a shallow salient in the Soviet encirclement from the perimeter, and the heavy artillery of the 39th Panzer Corps could now provide long-range fire support to the Scherel battle group from this position.

It was an "unconventional" artillery position, and he played a crucial supporting role in the course of the subsequent campaign. The artillery group located here is under the command of General Ukman, also known as the "Ukman Artillery Group". It is located 10 km west of the town of Holm, near Dubrovo/Talaknovo. Since it was a salient in the midst of Soviet encirclement, it was vulnerable to Soviet attacks from the north and south.

It is "unconventional" because these artillery batteries (including units of the 218th Artillery Regiment and the 536th Heavy Artillery Battalion, respectively) were actually at the forefront of the German front, and such a positional position resulted in heavy artillery casualties, but it was necessary to do so, and the rain of steel they fired provided protection for their fellow guards in Holmund. According to this post-battle report estimates. The "Ukman artillery group" fired more than 1,000 shells a day from this position at the Soviet offensive ranks.

Although now it is supported directly and strongly by artillery. The defenders in the town of Homge were still disappointed that the 39th Panzer Corps was unable to relieve the siege as they had hoped, and the friendly efforts to break the siege failed once again, but Brigadier General Scherrell did not withdraw his attacking force from the hill he had already occupied, but ordered them to continue to hold the strong position. These soldiers on the mountain were under tremendous mental stress, both physically and mentally. All fell into an unexpected hell of insomnia.

Because the attack of the Red Army could be launched at any time. So they have to keep their eyes wide and vigilant day and night. Some rotations and supply convoys were able to quietly ascend to the summit at night. And they try to sleep and rest as much as possible before departure. The journey up and down the mountain in the dark was also fraught with danger, not only to rely entirely on the compass to guide the way to avoid breaking into the Soviet positions, but also to be wary of encountering the Siberian skiers roaming the area.

In terms of numbers and equipment, it is in a disadvantageous situation. The day-to-day success of holding out speaks volumes about the tactical correctness and the will of the besieged Germans in Holm, but at the same time the shadow of over-fatigue is beginning to appear. Many soldiers have become sluggish in their senses and movements due to the lack of rest for a long time, and those Siberian snipers who have been lurking in the snow for a long time without fear of the cold have come into play, using accurate bullets to kill these careless German soldiers one by one, making the Scherel battle group, which has been reduced by disease and malnutrition, even worse.

The dwindling number of front-line combatants forced Brigadier General Sherel to make a difficult decision to retreat his remaining personnel into a smaller defensive circle. This decision, relatively speaking, of course, would have increased the number of German troops on the effective defensive front, but also for the numerically superior Soviet army, the smaller encirclement also made it more impactful. The daily routine infantry assault of the Soviet army continued, and the dense waves of people had no intention of making a good live target in front of the desperately defending Germans. But now that the Germans have taken the initiative to reduce the area of their defenses, more and more hand-to-hand combat is taking place among the ruins of houses in the town.

On the night of 11 February, German sentries heard the roar of a large number of tank engines, which clearly indicated that a large-scale Soviet attack with mainly tanks was imminent.

Early in the morning of February 12, the Germans were not waiting for the expected tank charge cluster. In areas where previous infantry assaults had not achieved their goals, the Soviet commanders concentrated all their artillery fire and decided to use their "god of war" to deliver the most severe blows to the defenders before throwing tanks.

The first thunderous roar was the Soviet army's 152-mm heavy howitzer, which was also called the "black sow" by the German officers and soldiers, and then other caliber guns also opened fire one after another, as if the dense barrage seemed to destroy all life in the encirclement. The intense Soviet artillery fire continued all day and night, the town of Holm shook like an earthquake, and all the German troops went into bunkers or basements to huddle to escape the catastrophe, and they all knew that the prelude was coming to an influx of Soviet tanks and infantry.

Surprised, the Germans found a 37mm anti-tank gun that had been dropped by an unknown unit, and its performance was quite good, but the scope was damaged, probably left by the friendly troops stationed here to be repaired, but it was forgotten here due to a hasty retreat, and what was even more amazing was that they also found several boxes of shells.

Despite the limited armor-piercing capabilities of the 37-mm gun, it was only possible to deal with Soviet tanks if fired at very close range, and it itself lacked a scope, requiring the gunner to fire at close to a suicidal distance. But it is better to have it than to sit still, and there is no shortage of brave volunteers under Sherrell.

…… (To be continued......)

PS: Acknowledgements:

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