The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After carrying the supplies, Qin Chuan and others spent more than ten minutes dismantling the glider.

The structure of the German DFS230 glider is very simple and very cheap. It consists of a frame of the aircraft welded with steel pipes and then covered with linen skin.

Of course, in order for it to land smoothly on the snow, the German army also made some necessary modifications to it, such as installing wooden skateboards on the landing gear, and tying circles of iron wires to the skateboards and the bottom of the belly... ...The iron wire is tied to increase the friction between the skateboard, the belly of the aircraft and the snow, so that the glider can stop in the shortest possible distance when landing.

The reason why it was dismantled was that Qinchuan did not want the Soviets to observe gliders landing at Holm, which would allow the Soviets to discover their air defense loopholes and seek countermeasures.

Then Holm's German troops would have new troubles.

But Qinchuan still underestimated the Soviets, and they discovered this soon...

Matevitch was a smart man, and his strategy against Holm was simple, which was to consume the German ammunition and supplies while blockading.

The newly appointed commander of the 33rd Division, Petrolev, said to Matevich: "We should launch an attack on Holm immediately. We have sufficient strength and have added two tank battalions..."

"Comrade Petrolev!" Matevitch interrupted: "Your predecessor, Major General Vardany, thought so too, and you know the result!"

"But our tanks and troops are much stronger than then!"

"This is not a question of tanks and troops!" Matevich retorted: "No matter how many tanks we have, we can only attack along the openings of the two bridges, and the same is true for our soldiers! In this case No amount of troops will be effective!"

"So, we just wait until they run out of ammunition and food?"

"Yes!" Matevich said: "This may be the only way, and we also have time. But I feel strange... Why don't they airdrop these days?"

"Perhaps they realized that airdrops would not work!" Petrolev said: "Or they were ready to give up on Holm!"

"No!" Matevich shook his head and said: "They will never give up on Holm. If they don't airdrop, it is more likely that... they will get supplies in other ways!"

Thinking of this, Matovich immediately turned around and said: "Comrade Petrolev, they may have completed the airdrop at night. I think we must strengthen the night blockade!"

"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar!" Petrolev replied: "I will make arrangements!"

Petrolev actually didn't believe this... What could be gained by airdropping at night? Holm is so small, what kind of skills do German pilots need to be able to airdrop supplies into it at night?

But because this was Matevitch's order, Petrolev arranged the matter anyway... He ordered the air defense troops and blockade troops to be organized into companies, and each company added two sentries to monitor the sky at high altitudes.

As expected, the Soviet army soon discovered the secret...the glider.

The next German transportation was not so lucky: whenever a glider appeared, the Soviet army would use searchlights and anti-aircraft guns to intercept it with all their strength, and at the same time use violent artillery fire to bombard the location where the glider might land.

Many gliders were shot down on the way to Holm.

However, because the terrain of Holm is higher than that of the surrounding areas, and the flight of gliders is silent, the Soviet army will let one or two slip in if they are not careful, and the supplies carried by one or two are completely sufficient. That's enough for Holm's troops in one day.

Even sometimes, the German army would take advantage of the air and unexpectedly dispatch a large number of bombers and fighter planes to cover the landing of gliders during the day...

It was the tenth day when the Soviet army implemented a night blockade. Just when the Soviet army launched a feint attack on Holm as usual, a black group of aircraft suddenly appeared in the sky.

It was not difficult to tell that those were German aircraft. These aircraft swooped down amidst the panicked cries and piercing air defense sirens of the Soviet army, and bombarded the Soviet positions indiscriminately. Especially the roar of the Stuka dive bomber, which makes people feel sick as if their internal organs are being torn apart.

It turned out that this was the Luftwaffe's observations during several airdrops and glider landings, which determined the location of the Soviet air defense forces. This bombing was mainly aimed at their air defense forces.

This also made Matevich realize something: when the German army has air superiority, it is definitely difficult or even unrealistic to trap Holm to death and run out of ammunition.

While they were having a great time fighting outside, Qin Chuan and others were eating dumplings and warming themselves in the warm cellar.

"Tell your story, sergeant!" Kuhn said to Thomas.

"Story?" Thomas asked vaguely while stuffing dumplings into his mouth greedily: "What story?"

"Why do you volunteer to come here!" Kuhn said: "Or more specifically... why do you want to fight with the captain!"

"Because he likes the captain!" said Werner.

The soldiers couldn't help laughing.

"The reason is simple!" Thomas replied: "I want to be a hero like the captain, don't you?"

The soldiers were a little speechless when asked. It seemed that this was a guy who dreamed of being a hero.

"I think..." After a pause, Alfredo said: "It would be better for the captain to answer this question himself!"

"He will understand later!" Qin Chuan shook his head.

"I just don't know if he has this chance!" said the baker: "Maybe before he understands, he has already..."

As he spoke, the baker made a cut on his neck.

"At least I know something!" Alfredo said to Thomas: "I should be ashamed because I am the opposite of you!"

"What do you mean?" Thomas was a little confused.

"Oh, no!" Alfredo said: "It's not what you think. To be precise...it was the opposite of you before! You joined to become a hero, and I...I was a coward when I became one of them!

The soldiers laughed again.

"I don't think I did anything wrong!" Thomas said, "In fact, there are many people who have the same idea as me!"

"That's because they have experienced too few battles!" Qin Chuan replied: "If you fight a few more battles, believe me, you will try your best to get out of here!"

"No, Captain!" Thomas looked at Qin Chuan with an incredible expression: "How can you say such a thing?"

"Then what should I say, sergeant?" Qin Chuan asked: "I still said the same thing, you will know in the future!"