Less than an hour after Ruhle's troops left, part of the German 15th Armored Regiment following them appeared at the position they had abandoned.
The leading German company commander, after carefully inspecting the hastily constructed field fortifications, immediately ordered the communications personnel: "Immediately report to the regiment headquarters that our company has successfully occupied the Russian position after a fierce battle.
."
"Mr. Captain." Seeing that his company commander was about to lie to his superiors about the military situation, the radio operator quickly reminded him cautiously: "But we occupied the Russian position without firing a single shot."
"The regiment headquarters is still more than ten kilometers behind us." The German company commander sneered at the signalmen's worries: "I reported to the regiment commander that our company was fighting the Russians, but he didn't know whether it was true or not."
"But, Mr. Captain," the signal soldier said tremblingly, "If my superiors pursue me, I may be sent to a military court or even be shot directly."
"Don't worry, if you send the report according to what I said, your superiors will definitely not send you to a military court or shoot you on the spot." The German company commander threatened the signal soldier: "But if you don't send the report, I will now
I can shoot you."
The communications soldier was frightened and hurriedly followed the company commander's instructions and sent the telegram to the regiment headquarters.
Seeing that the communications soldier followed his instructions and sent a telegram to the regiment headquarters, the German company commander smiled and nodded and said: "Did you see the burning tanks and armored vehicles in the distance? I can definitely send those burning tanks
and armored vehicles, counted as the victory of our company. When I write a report in the future, I will specifically emphasize that after a fierce battle between my troops and the Russians, they successfully destroyed the tanks covering the Russian infantry attack. The Russians saw that the situation was not good, so they
Abandoned the position and ran away."
The communications soldier looked at the burning tanks and armored vehicles in the distance, and suddenly felt more at ease. Even if the tanks and armored vehicles were set on fire by the Russians when they fled in panic, they could still be fully included in the victory of this company.
If you do this, you might even have a chance to get a Cross of Medal.
Ruhle's tank brigade, after blowing up the tanks and armored vehicles that had no fuel, marched quickly along the forest on the roadside towards the assembly point in the east. In order to prevent any soldiers from falling behind, or someone who was greedy for life and became a deserter
, he also ordered the chief of staff to organize a special reception team to take in soldiers who fell behind or attempted to become deserters.
After walking for more than two hours, there were close to a hundred soldiers taken in by the containment team.
Ruhelie was shocked when he received the report from the Chief of Staff. He quickly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why are there so many deserters?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, these people have just been incorporated into our troops and their emotions are not yet stable. If there is any disturbance, they may become panicked." The Chief of Staff reported: "I am worried that if any deserters are captured by the Germans,
, I’m afraid our whereabouts will be exposed.”
"Go tell those soldiers who are lagging behind or trying to be deserters, just say that from now on, no matter what they thought before, I can put it past them." Ruhle said with a straight face: "But if the battle starts, who will
If you dare to become a deserter, I will enforce battlefield discipline."
"Understood, comrade brigade commander." The chief of staff agreed, turned around and ran to convey Ruhle's order.
After walking forward for more than two hours, the battalion commander of the leading battalion sent someone to report that a small village had been discovered ahead. German sentries were found at both the east and west entrances of the village.
After listening to the report, Ruhle asked the soldier: "How many enemies are there in the village?"
"Ah, how many enemies are there?" The soldier couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Ruhle's question, and then replied awkwardly: "Our scouts saw enemies in the village in front and felt the need to report to you immediately, so they didn't
Close to the village for reconnaissance."
"What nonsense, you are simply making nonsense." Ruhle said angrily: "As a scout, you don't even know how many troops the enemy has. You know, when we as commanders formulate combat plans, we rely on
The intelligence obtained by the scouts. Now that you are asking questions, what order should I give to the soldiers? Should I attack the village or bypass the village?"
The soldier blushed and replied: "I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander. I will go back and report to the battalion commander immediately and ask him to send someone to conduct reconnaissance."
"It's too late." Ruhelie knew very well that if he wanted to get rid of the enemy behind him, he had to speed up his march, so he said to the soldier: "Tell your battalion commander to launch a tentative attack on the village."
"I understand, I'll tell him immediately."
After the soldiers ran away, the chief of staff asked with some worry: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we ordered the troops to attack without even understanding the enemy's situation. Isn't this decision too hasty?"
"It's not rash at all." Ruhelie waved his hand and said: "The village in the distance is not big. Even if it is full of enemies, there will only be more than 200 people in total. But we have thousands of people now, so we can still kill them.
owned."
"However, we can definitely find other roads and bypass this village." The chief of staff was always worried that the enemy behind would catch up, so he reminded Ruhle: "If the battle starts, it cannot be ended within two hours.
, we may fall into an enemy encirclement, and then our entire army may be destroyed.”
"Bypassing the village is easy to say, but not so easy to do." Ruhle denied the chief of staff's statement: "If you want to bypass the village, not only do you need to walk a longer distance, but you also have the possibility of getting lost.
Most of the soldiers in the brigade are now in a state of low morale. If we choose to take a detour, it will make them even more depressed. Maybe after we bypass the village, some of them will be missing."
Seeing the thoughtful expression on the chief of staff's face, Ruhle continued: "But if we launch an attack on the village and eliminate the enemies entrenched in the village, it will boost the morale of the troops.
effect."
The chief of staff thought for a long time and finally nodded: "Comrade Brigade Commander, your view is completely correct. Our army, which has low morale and unstable military morale, really needs a victory to unite people's hearts."
After the order to attack was given, the leading battalion commander led his troops to use the cover of the forest to quietly approach the village. However, he did not immediately give the order to attack. Instead, he called a sharpshooter and said to him: "See the people at the entrance of the village.
Is that sentry there? I order you to kill him!"
While the sharpshooters were looking for shooting positions, the battalion commander said to his several company commanders: "Attention, everyone, as soon as the sharpshooters kill the sentries at the entrance of the village, they will immediately launch an attack. The first company will attack from the front, and the second and third companies will detour from the two wings.
To outflank, I will lead the troops directly under the battalion as the reserve team."
The sharpshooter quickly found an ideal shooting position. He set up his gun, locked the German sentry at the entrance of the village, and fired decisively. The place where he was hiding was only more than 200 meters away from the German sentry, and the sentry was unable to move because of the cold weather.
He stood still and stamped his feet, which undoubtedly made him the best target. After the sound of gunshots, the German sentry fell to the ground.
"Comrades, brothers!" Seeing that the German sentries were killed by sharpshooters, the leading battalion commander raised his pistol and shouted to the soldiers lying in the snow: "Forward!"
Hearing the battalion commander's shouts, the officers and soldiers lying in the snow climbed up from the ground, holding their weapons, shouting "Ula", stepping on the snow that covered the uppers of their shoes, and staggered forward.