The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Gerhard guessed correctly, the Soviet artillery had indeed been strengthened.

In fact, it was not considered a reinforcement, but the follow-up troops passed through Holm on the way to the interlude, so Pukayev was temporarily incorporated into the Soviet 33rd Division to assist in their attack.

General Pukayev firmly believes that if more troops and firepower can be invested in the attack at the same time, victory can be achieved with less damage, so why not?

Therefore, Pukaev organized a rocket artillery regiment and an infantry brigade into the 33rd Infantry Division under the command of Major General Vardani, so that he could form an absolute advantage over the German army in terms of strength and firepower.

The bombing lasted for half an hour, and then the artillery fire extended deep into the German positions. The Soviet soldiers jumped out of their hiding places and rushed towards the Lovaj River with a shout.

Gunfire soon rang out from the other side, but it was weak and weak. There were silent rifle shots from many locations, and only a few machine guns could make the charging Soviet troops feel a little threatened.

Major General Vardani was very satisfied with this situation. He turned to Matevitch beside him and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, as I said, the Germans' effective strength has been destroyed by us, and their defense line on the Lovaj River has been destroyed. Vulnerable!"

Although Matevitch still couldn't believe it, he had nothing to say when he saw the scene in front of him... The Soviet offensive was like an overwhelming force. Valdani threw a regiment of more than 3,000 people in this direction at one go, and in addition More than 20 tanks launched an attack along the two bridges in two groups. At a glance, Soviet troops were everywhere. (Note: The two bridges have been frozen in the river and even covered by thick layers of snow, so there is no point in blowing them up)

Although there is a height difference of more than five meters on the east bank of the Lovaj River and climbing is difficult, the Soviet army has prepared ladders, spikes and other tools. It seems that the Germans are indeed doomed this time.

But Matevitch still felt something was wrong.

Most of the political workers in the Soviet Union have a characteristic, that is, they are extremely lacking in military knowledge and combat experience... This is mainly due to the political workers' partial demands for ideological loyalty and firm will to Stalin rather than for actual learning. This directly led to the Soviet army making low-level mistakes again and again on the battlefield and losing a large number of soldiers.

For example, during the war with Finland, the Soviet army even appeared in an almost ridiculous situation of holding hands and singing military songs and marching towards the enemy's defense lines (otherwise there would not have been more than 300,000 casualties in the Soviet-Finnish war).

But Matevich, the political commissar, is an exception. This may be related to the fact that his father is a veteran of World War I and has instilled tactical ideas in him since he was a child.

"Comrade Vardani!" Matevich suggested as he watched the Soviet soldiers easily occupy the Lovaj River defense line, "I think we should establish a foothold on the Lovaj River and then push forward!"

"No, Comrade Comrade!" Vardani replied: "You should know that the Lovady River is not suitable for defense!"

Valdani is right in this regard. To be precise, it is not suitable for Soviet defense. The reason is that there is a five-meter-high cliff behind the Soviet army. Once attacked by the enemy, there will be no retreat.

"But it's dark now!" Matevich said: "If you advance rashly, you may fall into the trap set by the enemy!"

"What kind of trap will there be?" Vardani replied: "We have tanks but they don't. Our troops are several times theirs... No matter what is in front of them, they will crush it like a bug." Trampled by the enemy!"

After hearing this, Matevitch was speechless.

Then the correspondent passed the good news to Major General Valdani one by one:

"The first battalion takes the predetermined position!"

"The third battalion takes the predetermined position!"

…

"Keep moving forward!" Major General Vardani ordered loudly: "It's time to drive these invaders out of the Soviet Union. They will regret not surrendering!"

It is understandable that Major General Valdani ordered this. The German defense zone is a long and curved strip, like a bean.

Attacking from the west breaks through the German defense line, and advancing only a few miles further will lead to another east-facing German defense line in the east. As a result, the Soviet army could easily divide the German defense zone into two so that the head and tail could not respond, and then occupy the entire German defense zone and become unstoppable.

However, at this moment, there was a burst of gunfire from the defense line of the Lovaj River.

"These idiots!" Major General Valdani couldn't help but frowned and cursed: "They didn't even wipe out the enemy!"

Major General Vardani's first reaction was that the Soviet army was advancing too fast, leaving some remnants of the army on the Lovaj River defense line that had not been cleared.

Matevich shouted with a solemn expression: "I told you, that might be a German trap!"

Major General Valdani smiled and said: "I don't think so. It's impossible for them to suddenly appear behind us..."

Before he finished speaking, the gunfire from the Lovati River defense line became more and more intensive, and then it became louder. Then grenades continued to be thrown from the defense line, blowing up the following Soviet troops below the defense line... The Soviet army was instantly It was cut into two pieces.

Matevitch was right, this was indeed a trap prepared by Qin Chuan for the Soviet army.

The trap is actually very simple:

First, let the leading troops of the Soviet army pass the Lovaj River defense line... This move can be said to lure the enemy deeper, because the Soviet army hopes to split the German army in two in one fell swoop and win a decisive victory, so they will quickly advance forward. There will be no stopping to consolidate the position. This makes their rear a weak point as they advance.

What the Soviet army didn't know was that the German troops were hiding in the cellars under their feet as they advanced eastward, and these cellars also had passages to the Lovaj River defense line.

Of course, these passages have their exits sealed with snow.

Needless to say what happened next, when the time was right, the German troops suddenly emerged from the tunnels and reoccupied the Lovaj defense line, surrounding the Soviet troops who had broken into the defense line.

"We are surrounded!" Matevich shouted angrily at Vardani: "Because of your stupidity, a regiment and a tank battalion were surrounded by the enemy!"

Major General Vardani looked ashen. He quickly ordered the 73rd Infantry Regiment as a reserve to launch an attack on the Lovaj River defense line. On the other hand, he ordered the 164th Regiment that broke into the defense line to continue to advance regardless.

Major General Valdani's order is correct. If the 164th Regiment is allowed to turn its guns, chaos will definitely occur, and it may even collide with the attacking 73rd Regiment, causing friendly casualties.

Therefore, he could only let the 164th Regiment continue the attack, which might lead to a fight to the death.

But what Major General Valdani did not know was that the 164th Regiment jumped into a net that could not be broken.