The Rise of the Third Reich

April 9, 1944, Bologoye, near the Red October railway line.

A German SS convoy was parked on a muddy dirt road next to the railway. It seemed that the vehicle had broken down. The front cover of one of the Sdkfz.234 armored vehicles was opened, and two SS soldiers were bending down. Playing with something.

Because there was pattering rain falling from the sky, the rainproof canopy of this Sdkfz.234 armored vehicle had been set up. There was an SS officer wearing a big-brimmed hat sitting in the carriage. He was the GC communist fighter Austrian. To Braun, he turned his attention to the railway next to him.

On the railway, a long troop transport train was passing by. Each section of the train was a flatbed car, and each flatbed car had an armored vehicle wrapped in a rainproof cloth. Judging from the appearance of the vehicles wrapped in rainproof cloth, this train was loaded with heavy tanks, either Tiger tanks or E-50 tanks!

Watching these fully loaded military columns rumbling toward the north, Otto Braun's brows tightened.

"Comrade Major," a young man with the rank of SS Second Lieutenant hanging next to Braun said at this time, "the enemy's trains are too dense and there are many patrols. I'm afraid..."

I'm afraid there's no chance of blowing up the railway!

Otto Braun's team was wreaking havoc along the way, setting fire to a warehouse where horse supplies were stored, blowing up several bridges that were not very important, cutting down many telephone poles, and making alterations along the way. There are road signs, time bombs are placed everywhere, and the most serious "crime" is murder! They killed several Belarusian or Polish officers and soldiers (including signal corps and sentries) they encountered, and also executed several local traitors (Belarusian local officials and police) who had defected to Belarus on behalf of the people.

Although these small-scale sabotage activities have caused a lot of trouble for the enemy, they cannot be said to be a heavy blow - there is no way. Although Comrade Braun has been in the army for many years, he has been serving in military academies and the regular army. He knows a lot about field warfare, but he doesn't know how to fight guerrillas.

Therefore, the team he led did not achieve any major results during the few days they penetrated behind enemy lines.

However, precisely because Comrade Braun did not do anything earth-shattering, his progress was very smooth. They passed or bypassed several German checkpoints one after another (Braun and others held high-imitation certificates from the Soviet intelligence department), and approached the Red October Railway a few hours ago.

According to Braun's original plan, he was going to blow up the railway, but when he got close to the railway, he found that it was too difficult to blow up the road. Because there happened to be a large army passing by on the railway, either a military column full of soldiers or a flatbed truck equipped with tanks and artillery. During this period, armored trains frequently patrolled back and forth, and German SS cavalry and White Russian Cossack cavalry also passed by on both sides of the railway from time to time.

If Braun didn't want to become a revolutionary martyr right away, he might as well forget about bombing the railway.

But Braun discovered a very strange situation: the German train seemed to be heading in the wrong direction!

They were not going to the battlefield where the fighting was raging in the south, but to the north.

Could it be that the German army has been defeated by the heroic Soviet Red Army and is preparing to withdraw to Petrograd?

But looking at the trains filled with heavy tanks one after another, Braun gave up this unrealistic idea.

The Germans are not retreating, they are... turning in!

…

"Comrade Commander, the German army seems to be retreating from Kalinin Oblast."

On the afternoon of April 9, the Soviet Central Front Command in Moscow had also learned of the large-scale transfer of German armored units.

General Rokossovsky, who also served as deputy commander of the Front Army, said to Zhukov: "Not only did a large number of German armored units move northward on the Red October Railway, but also Kuvshinovo, Torzhok and Likuslav The White Army, French Army and Polish Army on our front line are also shrinking their defense lines."

Zhukov folded his arms and looked at the sand table. Several staff officers were moving wooden models symbolizing the German, French, White and Polish armies northward from the front lines of Kuvshinovo, Torzhok and Likuslavl. .

Then his eyes turned to the west of Kalinin State, where the Soviet roundabout group encountered some trouble.

Toropets, the starting point of the "forest road" to Velikiy Luki, and Andreapol, which guarded several important roads, were now under German control.

"We seem to have achieved our goal of counterattack?" Zhukov withdrew his gaze and looked at Rokossovsky, "The Germans began to retreat... I think our counterattack has achieved results, and it has dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the Germans and the White Army. , taking time to organize a defensive war in Moscow."

Rokossovsky understood what Zhukov meant. He knew that Zhukov would not really think that the Germans would be defeated so easily - the current mobilization and shrinkage of the German army (allied forces) must be a conspiracy.

Zhukov had already smelled danger, so he no longer wanted to play with the Germans, so he simply gave up and ended the counterattack.

"Comrade Commander," Rokossovsky asked, "we are going to advance the front to Toropets-Andreapol-Kuvshinovo-Tornok-Likuslavl. First line?"

"Yes!" Zhukov thought for a while, nodded and said, "We have recaptured 5 medium-sized towns and pushed the front line dozens of kilometers north, which is very good."

"Yes, it's pretty good." Rokossovsky also knew that this counterattack had only hit the cotton with one punch, and he couldn't exert any force at all.

But just because one punch doesn't work hard doesn't mean that another punch can work hard... Rokossovsky is very familiar with the German's so-called "elastic defense" or "large defense in depth" tactics.

One punch will result in cotton, and the next punch will probably still be cotton. However, when the kinetic energy of the Red Army's attack is exhausted, it will be time for the Germans to counterattack, and then the armored forces will come overwhelmingly.

However, even after knowing the German plot, Rokossovsky still believed that it was necessary to capture Toropets, Andreapol, Kuvshinovo, Tornok and Likuslavl.

Because only in this way can we have an explanation in front of Comrade Stalin - we captured 5 cities and killed many enemies. How can it be considered an inspiring victory?

…

On the morning of April 10, Andrea Bol.

Thin raindrops fell from the leaden sky one after another, like pearls with broken strings. The raindrops fell on the snow that had become somewhat slushy, accelerating the melting of the heavy snow and frozen land that had accumulated over the winter.

The temperature has also risen significantly. The spring breeze blowing from the south blows on Lieutenant Colonel Skornez's scarred face, and there is no longer the feeling of needles pricking the skin in winter.

However, although Lieutenant Colonel Skornez's face felt comfortable, there was a cold and damp feeling inside the boots. It seemed that water was leaking somewhere, and even the foot wraps wrapped around his feet (no matter how thick they were during the Russian winter combat) The socks were not warm enough, it was better to wrap the feet with cloth) and they seemed to be soaked by the melted snow.

Skornez, who had been on the battlefield in the Soviet Union for almost two years, knew that his boots were not leaking, otherwise his feet would have been frozen long ago. The current feeling was caused by the boots being soaked in snow all the time, and every time he got muddy Seasonal boots have this uncomfortable feeling inside.

But Skornez could not return to the warm and comfortable indoors now. He had to stay on the muddy and wet battlefield, probably for a whole mud season, and most likely would have to go to the trenches.

boom! boom! boom……

The roar of the cannon rang out, immediately driving away the cold and damp feeling from Skornez's feet.

However, he did not jump into the bomb shelter that had been dug nearby - the bottom of the bomb shelter was filled with melted snow, and it was not pleasant to squat in it. Now the impact point of the Soviet artillery shell is still far away from where Skornez is standing. He will not jump into the crater to find fault.

What was being bombarded was the forward position of the 2nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. This position was located south of the small town of Andreapol, in a forest on the east bank of the West Dvina River (which flows east of the town of Andreapol). . An important road leading north from Kozlovo passes through this forest. To the east of the woods is a large swamp. During the ice season, the swamp was a passable plain, but now it is full of deadly traps. Infantry can still barely pass (at most some will drown), and armored troops can still pass through. There is no way to pass.

Therefore, the experienced Skornez chose this place as a position to block the Soviet army!

However, the intensity of the Soviet offensive greatly exceeded Skornez's expectations. Starting from April 8, wave after wave of fierce attacks never stopped. The Soviet mechanized troops not only attacked from the southern highway, An attack was launched in the north, and a large number of infantrymen ventured across the swamps to attack the 2nd German Parachute Regiment entrenched in the woods guarding the road.

Therefore, the 2nd Paratrooper Regiment was in a hard fight from the beginning!

The 6th Paratrooper Regiment of the German Wehrmacht (also part of the 2nd Paratrooper Division), which is only separated from the 2nd Paratrooper Regiment by a river, and the 7th Paratrooper Regiment (also part of the 2nd Paratrooper Division) holding on to the small town of Andreapol, are also Starting from the night of April 8, they all encountered endless offensives from the overwhelmingly superior Soviet infantry and mechanized troops.

Skornez knew that Andrea Bol was now a key target of the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets must want to move east or north from Andreapol and outflank the main German forces along the Red October Railway!

And he also knew that his 2nd Paratrooper Division of the German Wehrmacht would soon be surrounded. Although Andreapol is surrounded by swamps and woods, dozens of improvised roads were built through the woods and swamps because large units of the Soviet Kalinin Front passed in and out of this area in 1943. Even if the 2nd Paratrooper Division blocked some of the most important roads, the Soviet army still had a way to get around it.