In any case, the divisional personnel of the 715th Division must be replaced, and the commander of the army group, Wagner, must give an explanation to his colleagues, to the Führer, and to John Kubet. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

In mid-March 1942, the Battle of Rzhev-Sechovka was still underway, not far east of Belarus, and the Soviets were trying to make a strategic breakthrough, but the Germans were strong in defense and the Soviets made little progress. But the Germans had lost the absolute initiative on the Northern Front, Moscow was powerless to take it, and the encirclement of Leningrad continued.

Wagner also had his own tasks, relying heavily on the Belarusian side for supplies on the northern front, and his area of control was covered by several roads, a railway, and the southernmost part of the country was the Mozyr-Lechtsa-Gomel road, which borders the marshes.

All three cities were small, and the Soviet authorities did not build railways on them, and a dirt road became the only reliable line of communication.

Spring is gradually coming in Russia, when the snow and ice melt completely in most areas, excess water seeps into the land, the land becomes muddy, and some roads become muddy swamps.

The road from Mozyr to Gomel, although it is a dirt road, must have been due to the fact that there are more vehicles on weekdays, or it is deliberately rammed, and the ground is harder, but it is still smooth and smooth at the moment.

More and more materials were needed at the front, and because of the frequent harassment of the guerrillas, the loss of materials during transportation began to increase. The only way to meet the needs of the front line is to increase the number of communication routes, because peace must be restored on the war-torn Moziri-Gomel road.

The recent major war unexpectedly turned into a bloody battle, and although it was the Soviets hiding in the forest who broke out with strong combat effectiveness, the troops who did not experience this battle must take it for granted that the combat effectiveness of the troops carrying out the combat mission was poor and the level of the commander was extremely poor.

The 284th Guards Division of the Soviet Army, which was able to take out the elite tank regiment of the 7th Panzer Division at the very beginning of the war, destroyed one hundred and fifty tanks! Such combat effectiveness was rare, and he knew that Scholz and Swagge were clearly attacking according to orders, and the huge losses of the troops were not entirely due to their improper command.

The 722nd Division, which also participated in the operation, was even more miserable, and a regiment was wiped out! Simply this division has more troops, and the scapegoat did not choose them.

Scholz's 715th Division was saddled with all sorts of humiliation, and Wagner was well aware of his own guilt. Because of the miscalculation of the Soviet guerrillas in the south of Belarus, not only did they expand their strength, but their own troops did not adjust in time when they encountered setbacks, which finally led to this fiasco.

"If I want to shoot those commanders, I might as well kill myself by drinking bullets first." Wagner had no intention of shooting Scholz and Swagger, who had been in Germany since the First World War anyway.

Of course, their punishment must go through a court-martial, and Wagner feels that "forced discharge" of the two men is enough. They lose their military status, or spend a few years in prison, and they no longer get involved in the affairs of the army, and the vacant positions are replaced by others, so that the best of both worlds is solved.

But Kube was a little more thoughtful, and said on the phone to Wagner: "I suspect that there are internal ghosts in your 715th Division personnel, and I have received many reports of the recent fiasco." Not to mention the large number of partisans, and why the Soviet 284th Division, which should have been eliminated, appeared. So many enemies are very strong in combat, but they frequently appear when our army is most tired, appear in unexpected positions and suddenly attack, such means have been achieved again and again. This is completely counterintuitive. ”

This is indeed very unreasonable, Wagner thought about it, or should interrogate the division commander and chief of staff of the 715th Division, and then investigate the officers and staff officers of the division headquarters among them. At present, what needs to be done is to stabilize these people, and the investigation work is gradually unfolding.

The immediate priority remains to guard the lines of communication, and the Mozili-Gomel road has stopped transporting supplies due to the war. While the main way to transport goods to the east was by train, road transport could still bring large quantities of essential goods.

Looking at the current map of the German occupation, the Pripyat Marshes has been marked as German occupation, and in fact there must be a large Soviet resistance force entrenched there.

Wagner thought it was like a sore and that it would be necessary to send a very large number of troops, 10,000 men would no longer be enough, or at least 50,000, and the army would go into the swamp like a comb to remove all the "fleas from the hair". Or just surround it and suppress the sabotage of these enemies, leaving it to fend for itself in the swamp.

Looking at his army group, Wagner did not dare to risk gathering a seriously ill army, his defensive pressure has always been very high, except for the south, the rest of the place is full of guerrilla stragglers. These people are happy to destroy the railway, and it is not difficult to demolish the tracks, but the loss of train derailment is great.

Of course, it is the encirclement and suppression of the army that can solve the problem of the Soviet army in the swamp once and for all, Kube absolutely disagrees, and the Führer must also disdain it here. Wagner knows that Berlin is about to make another big move, even if it is still in discussions.

He looked at the war from a global perspective, and it was normal for the main offensive force to change to the south. At that time, a large number of troops and supplies will be assembled on the southern front through Ukraine, and some materials will also be transferred from Belarus to Bryansk, and then south to the front line.

If the Soviet army in the swamp is allowed to develop and leave them the opportunity to expand and destroy everywhere, they will not only break into the small city of Lechtsa and set fire, I am afraid that the target of the attack will become a big city like Babruisk, Kyiv, and Pinsk!

So Wagner doesn't think it's a good idea to meet with Scholz and the others now, they must have a thousand words, and if he tells them that "you two are the scapegoats for the defeat of the battle, and you bear most of the responsibility", it will be infamous.

According to John Kubet, he wants the occupied territories of Belarus, for which he is responsible, to stabilize and become a safe rear. Wagner is confident that his decision will be approved by this man, and as for whether there is a matter of communication with the Soviet Union, let it be reviewed slowly.

Wagner issued an order to the officers and men of the 715th Division, who were transferred to the original 707th Division: "You must remember the shame of half a year ago, and the past failures must not happen again. The 715th Division suffered heavy losses in the war that just ended, and they have become a disgrace. And you have had the shame of a fiasco, and now is your chance to be ashamed! ”

This remark is very useful to the officers and men of the 707th Division, and it is impossible for everyone to be dismissive of their old opponents. The enemy was really strong, and the former division commander died heroically defending the division headquarters.

The new division commander, Herzman, had to touch his head whenever he thought of the death of the former division commander. "I really didn't know that when the war reached its most dangerous moment, I had the courage to kill myself by drinking bullets."

The morale of the officers and men of the 707th Division was not strong, and the veterans of the unit always talked about the bloody battles in Kuta and the big explosion in Luvanka. Rumor has it that the enemy in the swamp was a Mongol, who did not know that it was a soldier from China who caused all this, but linked it all to the "Yellow Peril".

The combined casualties of the 715th and 722nd Divisions in recent battles were nearly nine thousand, which included all kinds of minor casualties. The combined strength of the two forces is 25,000 men, and the war against the guerrillas over the past few months has resulted in at least 8,000 dead and thousands wounded. Such losses were even more tragic than those on the front line, and many officers and soldiers of the 707th Division learned of these data, and they couldn't help but panic about the future.

Based on the defense of the future, the division commander Herzman also had his own set of methods.

"Our division has 12,000 troops, guarding a defensive line of several tens of kilometers, and with the help of several Eastern Battalions, the number of troops that can be mobilized is as high as 16,000 men. Even if we attack on all fronts, it will be difficult to annihilate the enemy, and we have been given the order to defend, and we should build a line of defense to prevent the enemy's offensive in our defensive area. ”

What he meant was simply to build a long line of defense, relying on fixed points of fire, to cooperate with the agitated troops. In this way, when the enemy attacks again, excellent defensive firepower can hit the enemy to the greatest extent.

At the military conference, Herzman put forward such an opinion, which undoubtedly received full support. Most of the officers here have experienced the painful experience of the past, and the enemy is very good at fighting in the forest, and it is really in vain to go south and fight them in the mud and woods of the swamps.

Building a line of defense was imperative, and seeing that there was no objection, Herzman finally made a decision. "I'll tell my superiors about this quickly! I believe that the group army will fully support it. ”