After the new offensive battle started, a large number of bombers appeared in the sky above the attack area of Sokov's troops. They began to drop bombs before they flew to the German defense line. This move made the Germans confused. They didn't understand what happened to the Soviet aircraft. Why did they start dropping bombs before they reached the sky above their positions?
But the next scene confused the Germans even more. These Russian planes dropped not bombs, but smoke bombs. In just a few minutes, thick white fog rose in the middle of the Soviet and German positions, blocking the German army's view. At this moment, the piercing scream of artillery shells piercing the air came from the air. After a while, countless artillery shells fell on the German position and exploded, setting off sheets of fire and shrouding the position in smoke.
Seeing that the Soviet artillery bombardment had begun, the German army quickly withdrew from the first line of positions according to the original plan and withdrew to the second line of defense along the communication trenches, leaving only a few observation posts to monitor the Soviet army's movements. But this time the Germans miscalculated. The smoke bombs dropped by Soviet bombers severely blocked the view of the German observation posts. They could not even see the movement ten meters away, let alone the Soviet movements further away. .
Sokov knew that even if there was no wind on the battlefield, the smoke would probably not last too long, so the shelling of the German positions could not last for two or three hours. Instead, after only half an hour, he ordered the bombardment to stop, and ordered the frontline troops to attack and advance towards the German positions.
When the German observation posts saw that the Soviet artillery bombardment had stopped, they could not see clearly the movements of the Soviet army due to the obstruction of the smoke. They could only send an alarm to the second-line positions, asking them to immediately return to the first line of defense to resist the Soviet attack.
But what the Germans didn't expect was that as soon as their infantry reached the halfway point, the originally silent artillery fire rang out again. As if the shells had eyes, they landed in the German ranks and exploded. The German soldiers near the explosion point were either shattered to pieces in an instant, or were blown far away by the air waves. The German soldiers who were under shelling suddenly became confused. Some continued to run forward, while others turned around and ran back, all trying to get out of the shelling area as quickly as possible. But the result of their doing so was nothing more than increased casualties.
Fortunately, the shelling was short-lived and stopped after only a quarter of an hour. But the Germans who had retreated to the second line of defense did not dare to act rashly anymore. They were deeply afraid that the Soviet army had set a trap for them again. What if they were halfway through and were hit by another intensive artillery fire? What should they do?
While the Germans hesitated, Sokov's force's ground attack began. In order to pass through the thick smoke smoothly, the commanders and fighters followed Sokov's instructions and fired rockets at the edge of the smoke in the direction of the opposite German position. As the rockets were launched, the flight tracks of the rockets soon appeared in the smoke, and the commanders and fighters involved in the attack rushed toward the German positions along this passage.
Because the Germans were confused by Sokov's tactics and worried that the other side might have some conspiracy to end the shelling so quickly, they all stayed in the second-line position. No one dared to easily return to the first-line position to avoid being shelled again. The last time I was bombarded, I had a chance to escape. It was my luck. Who knows if I will have such good luck next time. It was precisely because of the hesitation of the Germans that the number of German troops on the first line of defense was pitifully small. Facing the tide of Soviet commanders and fighters pouring into the position, their resistance was like waves in the sea, tossing and disappearing without a trace. No trace.
When they saw the Soviet troops occupying the first-line positions and continuing to rush towards the second-line positions, those German soldiers who had not returned to the defensive positions in time realized that they had been deceived again and wanted to stop the resistance, but it was too late. Their resistance did not last long and ended in failure. The Soviet army successfully occupied the German second line of defense.
Sokov was very happy to learn that the troops had successfully occupied the second line of defense. He immediately called Rokossovsky to report the incident.
After receiving the call, Rokossovsky listened to Sokov's report and asked hesitantly: "Misha, are you really sure that your troops have occupied both German defense lines?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said confidently: "I believe in my subordinates. They will never deceive me on such a matter."
Rokossovsky also understood that Sokov could not do this kind of false reporting of military exploits. Even if he wants to do it, he only needs to send someone to verify the situation on the battlefield and the truth will be revealed. "Well done, Misha." Now that he was sure that the opponent's results were real, Rokossovsky ordered the opponent: "Don't stop, keep pushing forward, and be sure to push to Egypt in the shortest possible time. Erbin area. Got it?”
"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied: "My troops will continue to advance."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, the order given to us by Comrade Marshal is to order the troops to continue advancing and to reach the Elbin area in the shortest possible time. You immediately give the order to the troops and let them They took advantage of the confusion of the German army to advance quickly, chasing the enemy towards Elbing."
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin waited for Sokov to finish and pointed at the map to remind him: "Look, there is a small city called 'Lezen' here, which can be described as a fortress. A small and small city The bridge separates two large lakes, and Lötzen is located on the eastern section of the bridge. Even if the Germans deploy a battalion of troops here, even if we use a division, we will not be able to break through the defenses here in a short time. "
Sokov stared at the map for a while, and then a relaxed expression appeared on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, it's not summer now. The frozen lake does not pose any threat to our infantry. This is how I think about it. , sending a division across the small city of Steuben and advancing towards Rosengarten is tantamount to detouring back to Lötzen's flank. In this way, Lötzen will not only fail to function as a fortress, on the contrary, it will even fall into our Under siege."
There is now a regiment of the German 368th Infantry Division in the city of Lezen. When the regiment leader, Colonel Kleiner, learned that the Soviet army had broken through the defense line and was heading towards his city, he couldn't help but fall into panic and quickly summoned his men. Discuss countermeasures.
When the battalion commanders came to the regiment headquarters for a meeting, they were all frightened to death when they learned that the Soviet army was advancing towards Lötzen. An older battalion commander said: "Mr. Colonel, the Russians have much more troops than we do. Even if we want to hold on to our position, I'm afraid we won't be able to sustain it for long."
"No, our regiment's mission is to hold on to Lezen, how can we give up casually?" The second battalion commander directly rejected the first battalion commander's proposal, and proactively said to Kleiner: "Mr. Colonel, I think we should seize the time." Build fortifications and prepare to meet the Russian attack. You know, this city can be called a 'fortress'. As long as we stick to the east end of the bridge, it will be useless even if the Russians invest more troops. The command will only increase casualties. "
"I don't know if you understand the current situation." The first battalion commander said angrily: "It is winter instead of summer. The lake that could have blocked the Russian attack is now frozen. The thickness of the ice is enough Support their infantry. In other words, if the Russians want to attack Lezen, they don't have to go through the bridge at all, but rush directly from the ice. Can we stop them then?"
The old battalion commander's words silenced everyone in the room. Everyone knows very well that under the current circumstances, it is simply impossible to block the Russian army. But if they want to retreat, their superiors will definitely not allow it, which means that everyone can only stay in the city and wait to die.
At this time, the chief of staff, who had been silent for a long time, spoke: "Since we can't defeat it, why do we declare Letzen an undefended city to prevent the city from being destroyed by the Russians?"
In fact, everyone understands that what the chief of staff calls "no defense" is synonymous with "surrender". Everyone was somewhat moved by the Chief of Staff's proposal, but thinking of their relatives who were still in Germany, they swallowed the words again. No one dared to be the first to agree with the Chief of Staff's proposal.
Seeing that no one expressed their opinions, the chief of staff had no choice but to turn to Kleiner for help: "Mr. Colonel, I wonder what you think about? Should you resist, retreat, or send someone to contact the Russians and announce that Lezen is here?" The city is undefended?”
Kleine's relatives were basically in Germany at the moment. He did not have the guts to issue the order to surrender, otherwise his family might be sent to a concentration camp. In order to avoid such a tragedy, after repeated thinking, he finally made a painful decision: "Letzen is our German land, how can we give it up so easily. In order to defend this land, we must fight tenaciously." fighting."
As soon as Kleine's words came out, everyone present showed disappointed expressions on their faces. They felt that they might die in this city. But at this moment, Kleiner was heard saying: "Of course our strength is limited and we cannot resist the Russians' crazy attack. It is forgivable that we were forced to stop resisting after a period of fighting."
After hearing Kleine's words, everyone was stunned for a moment and then understood. Kleine's meaning was clear: retreat or declaring the city undefended was unacceptable. But if the troops resisted in the city and found that they could not block the Soviet attack with their own strength, then it would be logical to lay down their weapons and surrender.
"Yes, yes, Mr. Colonel is right." Everyone said quickly: "We must not abandon the city, nor can we take the initiative to surrender to the Russians. Facing the Russian attack, we will do our best to resist. But if we find that there is a disparity in strength between the two sides, in order to save more precious lives, we can only endure the humiliation and stop resisting the Russians."
Kleine listened to his subordinates saying such ridiculous things, and nodded and said: "Yes, what you said is correct. Now, you all go back to your respective troops and convey this to your subordinates. Battle orders."
After the battalion commanders agreed loudly, they turned around and left the regiment headquarters, going back to convey the regiment commander's orders.
After the chief of staff waited for everyone in the room to leave, he said to Kleiner: "Mr. Colonel, I believe that all the officers and soldiers of the regiment will thank you in the future for the right decision you made." After a pause, he Then he asked, “Do we need to send someone to contact the Russians?”
Kleine hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and rejected the chief of staff's proposal: "I think it's better to forget it. We don't know who is responsible for the Russian troops that are about to attack here. Even if we want to contact them, we can't find them in a short time. Once we reach the door, we won’t mess around. At most, we can wait until the Russians arrive in the city, and after a symbolic resistance for a while, we can just lay down our weapons and surrender.”
Now that Kleine had made a decision, the chief of staff felt that it was inappropriate to persuade him again, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, Mr. Colonel, since you have made a decision, then do what you think. "
The Soviet troops attacking Letzen were the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Major General Kirillov. When the troops came not far from Lezen, they stopped advancing. Kirillov and Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Myakov began to study how to attack the city.
"Comrade Division Commander," Miyakov pointed to the bridge and said to Kirillov: "This bridge is two to three hundred meters long, and the bridge deck is narrow. If we directly send tanks to open the road, it will be destroyed by German anti-tank fighters. , it will block the passage on the bridge..."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Kirillov interrupted Miyakov before he could finish his words: "To seize the city on the opposite side, you don't necessarily have to pass the bridge. Look at the frozen lake below. I think the ice should be able to bear the weight of our infantry."
"So, are you planning on having the infantry attack from the ice?"
"Yes." Kirillov nodded and told his plan: "Let a regiment launch a feint attack on the enemy through the bridge from the front, making them think that the focus of our attack is on the bridge. The real direction of attack , just rushing from the lake to the other side."
"Well, not bad. Comrade Division Commander, your plan is very good." Miyakov nodded, and then said: "I immediately issued an order to each regiment, asking them to divide their troops into three groups and launch an attack on the opposite city at the same time. "
The next battle became a bit dramatic. The main regiment responsible for the frontal assault, in order to make the feint attack more decent, the regiment leader sent two companies to charge across the bridge towards the other side. His idea was simple, to attract the attention of the Germans and cover the friendly troops to launch attacks from the lake. .
But what was unexpected was that as soon as the two companies involved in the feint attack stepped onto the bridge, the sound of machine gun shooting was heard from the other side. The commanders and fighters dispersed in a hurry, looking for suitable cover along the way. Unexpectedly, the gunshots on the other side rang out for a long time, but no one on this side was hurt. The regiment leader who was supervising the battle by the bridge discovered through his telescope that the Germans on the other side were actually shooting in the air.
This scene shocked him.
After a long time, he turned to the first battalion commander and said: "First battalion commander, you rush forward with the whole battalion immediately, do you understand?"
Although the commander of the first battalion did not know why the regiment commander issued such an order, he always chose to obey the orders of his superiors unconditionally, so he led the remaining company and rushed onto the bridge, calling for the lying troops to follow. He rushed forward. Although they were charging, the machine guns on the other side were still firing loudly, but not a single commander was hit and fell to the ground. This situation shocked everyone, but they continued to move forward.
As soon as the fast-running commanders and soldiers reached the east end of the bridge, the gunfire on the German position suddenly stopped, and then several white flags were raised. The soldiers holding the white flag waved it desperately, as if they were afraid that the Soviet commanders and soldiers would not see it.
The commanders and fighters with doubts entered the German position in a daze. The Germans put down their weapons quite cooperatively and surrendered to the Soviet commanders and soldiers with their hands raised.
(End of chapter)
