The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The battle lasted for half an hour before it ended.

The reason why it took half an hour was not because the Soviet army was still organized or had the power to recover... From the moment the Soviet army broke through the Lovaj River, they were doomed to fail.

You must know that tunnel warfare is difficult to deal with even at dawn, because the enemy will suddenly appear at any unexpected point and launch a surprise attack, not to mention it is still at night.

It took so long simply because the battlefield was so chaotic that even the Germans themselves couldn't tell who was who by the end of the fight.

In fact, the German army also suffered "friendly casualties" in this battle. For example, some German soldiers were suppressed by Soviet firepower and tried to get back into the tunnel, but they were mistaken for enemies by the German soldiers in the tunnel and were shot dead at the entrance of the tunnel.

War, especially melee, is always unavoidable.

As long as this kind of friendly fire can defeat the enemy and cause a greater blow to the enemy, then it is worth it.

On the other hand, the German army knew that the victory or defeat was determined at this time, so they were not in a hurry to eliminate the chaotic Soviet troops.

Therefore, the battle did not really end until the Soviet troops raised their hands and surrendered.

The rest of the Soviet army knew that there would be no point in continuing to fight, so they had no choice but to retreat.

When taking inventory of the battlefield, what I saw were the bodies of Soviet soldiers lying in the buildings and ruins in patches. There were at least more than a thousand people, and there were about 2,000 prisoners. In addition, a large amount of Soviet equipment and personal belongings were also seized. Ammunition... The Soviet army obviously did not expect that their attack would fail, so everyone carried sufficient ammunition and supplies.

What is even more exciting is that the German army also captured two T34 tanks and three T26 tanks.

The German soldiers ended the war with a burst of cheers. One soldier even raised a loudspeaker in the trench and shouted in the direction of the Soviet army: "Soviet friends, we accept your surrender. Come to our side. Although We can't give you more food and a better bed, but we can give you the most important thing...your life!"

The Soviet army responded angrily with a row of artillery shells, causing the German soldiers to laugh.

"That's great, Captain!" Gerhard said excitedly when he returned to the cellar that served as the headquarters: "This is the most enjoyable battle I have ever fought. It's unbelievable that we can be wiped out overnight. There are so many enemies, that’s one regiment..."

Kuhn smiled and replied: "You will get used to this in the future, Colonel, this is nothing to a captain!"

"Yes, of course!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard nodded and said, "Do you know what they think? Captain, they believe they can hold this place until the main force launches a counterattack!"

Qin Chuan understood what Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard meant.

The skirmishers had gathered together because they had no choice... If they didn't resist, they would die. They knew the Soviet methods of dealing with prisoners of war.

Therefore, at that time, they persisted here with the thought of death, even if they had tunnel fortifications and warm cellars later. After all, Holm is surrounded by the Soviet army, and the Soviet army has several armies... Although there is only one division directly surrounding Holm, additional troops can be deployed from the three armies at any time.

As a result, no one was confident that they could win this battle.

But now, because of this huge victory and the realization that tunnel fortifications could play such a role, ideas changed.

"That's great, Lieutenant Colonel!" Qin Chuan said, "But I believe we still have a long way to go!"

"Of course!" Gerhard replied.

This failed attack caused a great shock to the Soviet army. The panicked Major General Valdani could only hope to find a way to shirk his responsibility...exaggerate the results.

"Comrade Pukaev!" Major General Vardani straightened his body and reported on the phone with a pale face: "Although we suffered huge casualties, we also killed and wounded more than 3,000 enemies..."

"Shut your mouth, Vardany!" General Pukaev's angry roar came from the other end of the phone: "More than three thousand enemies? Do you know what that means? There are only five thousand Germans in Holm." , do you want to tell me that there are only more than a thousand people there now? So what are you waiting for? They can't even hold the trench with these people, and you can take down Holm with just one charge!"

Major General Valdani did not dare to answer, because he knew that this lie could not be fulfilled... The intelligence from the beginning detailed the strength and even composition of the Holm German Army.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then General Pukayev ordered: "I'm sorry, Vardani, I have to relieve you from your post..."

"But Comrade Pukaev!" Major General Vardani said unwillingly: "I still have three days..."

"Vardany!" General Pukayev interrupted him impatiently: "Do you think I will let you continue to waste the Soviet army and my time under such circumstances?"

After a pause, General Pukayev continued: "You hand over the command to Comrade Matevitch and go back to Moscow to explain to Comrade Stalin!"

With that, Pukayev hung up the phone.

Valdani froze on the spot holding the phone and did not move for a long time.

Matevich looked at Vardani with unbearable expression... He knew what the words "explain to Comrade Stalin" meant.

After a while, Valdani put down the phone, then walked back to his room in a daze and closed the door.

Matevich knew what Vardani was going to do, but he did not stop Vardani because he knew it was inevitable.

Sure enough, a few minutes later there was a gunshot from the next room.

Matevich and the guards pushed open the door and saw Vardani lying in a pool of blood, with his hanging right hand holding a Tokarev pistol that had been with him for several years.

Matevich sighed and looked at the pistol on his waist... He didn't know if he would be next.

The Soviet guards seemed to have been used to all this, and they carried Vardani's body out calmly.

Matevich knew that a car would be called to take the body back, and that it wouldn't be long before another man took Vardani's place.

The phone rang again and Matevich answered.

"You are the commander!" General Pukayev asked: "How much time do you need?"

"I don't know, Comrade Pukaev!" Matevich replied: "The Germans are very cunning. They have built underground fortifications. This means... our artillery bombing has no effect on them at all!"

Of course, Matevich didn't dare to set any more dates, because he knew it would cost him his life.