It was already July 1, and the offensive of the German Army Group Center was stubbornly resisted outside Minsk, and the German advance had to be slowed down.

The morale of the 284th Guards Infantry Division, which had just received the title of Guards and the successful annihilation of an enemy armored division, was at its peak.

Yang Mingzhi ordered his troops to step up the construction of fortifications. He placed his 57-mm anti-tank guns in front of the array, and next to each of these guns were two 37-mm secondary guns.

After the final count, only 52 RPG rockets remained, of which the armor-piercing shells were exhausted.

The anti-tank capability of the Soviet army has been transformed to its original state, and Yang Mingzhi knows that even if the morale of the army is high now, it will not be able to withstand the onslaught of a crazy German armored unit.

The Desert Fox is very cunning and always avoids going head-to-head with his opponents. He is more like an eagle eye, always able to detect the enemy's flaws, and then chase after the place.

Therefore, for defeating them, Yang Mingzhi has no chance of winning at all. If there is, it is also a percentage, that is, when the blocking battle is at the most critical moment, Kuznetsov's army, which is retreating on a large scale, can urgently move closer to itself, so that the 7th Panzer Division can be forced to tactically evade.

The early morning dawn shone on the battlefield, and the ground to which the position was headed was already scorched and smashed. The battle dead were all buried, leaving only the remains of the enemy's armored units scattered in pieces.

What a lot of energy, Yang Mingzhi lit a cigarette.

He didn't smoke much, but what happened after the war, he boasted that he was very calm and calm, but his little heart was very honest in "drag racing", and he quickly took a few puffs of cigarettes to suppress his shock.

Early in the morning, many soldiers got up early and were stepping up their defensive offensive, and he saw the new chemistry professor, who had also picked up a shovel to dig in the earth.

"Hey! Sir, you don't need to work so hard. Yang Mingzhi grabbed him.

"But the Cheka people ordered us to obey the orders of the division commander. All we have to do is strengthen our positions. ”

Yang Mingzhi shook his head, "You still forget it, this damn war is still fought by us soldiers." You're a scholar, and I hope you survive. Maybe I'll need you later. ”

As the battalion commander, Yang Mingzhi asked the old guy to withdraw. His scholarly outfit was also thrown away, and he was changed into the clothes of an ordinary soldier, except that he had no armed belt. His pupils were young and strong young men, eager to fight, and since they had inexhaustible strength, let them carry barbed wires and pull nets in front of the trenches to drive stakes.

His wife was still resting, and she and other hygienists were late in rescuing the wounded.

This girl, who is only the equivalent of a sophomore in high school in the future world, showed strong psychological qualities during the war years. Even though her hands were stained with blood, she still took the bullets out of the warrior's wound with pliers, or stitched up the wound roughly.

"You go back to sleep, we won't be able to rest well for the next few days." Yang Mingzhi thought silently in his heart, and he continued to stare at the west with a telescope.

Early in the morning, Pugachev called him away. The Cheka girl remained at the divisional headquarters, so that she finally met Berekov.

"Is it your battalion that directly wiped out the enemy's division headquarters? And kill the enemy? Judging by your looks, you are not Russian. ”

Yang Mingzhi stood up and saluted. "Yes, comrade. You must know that our 284th Guards Division came from the Far East, and I responded to the call of the motherland to join the army. ”

Of course, these are all, and Yang Mingzhi knows very well what the Cheka is, even if the Cheka has a new name now. If they look deeper, they will know their true identity, and it is clear that the war is now critical, and these people have no time to think about anything else.

After some questioning, the girl called herself Yerenkina, who was 25 years old and still unmarried. These are not the main problems, the marriage of their group of spies can drag on until thirty, so Yang Mingzhi asked more about her mission here.

It turns out that this person is quite a "supervising war" existence. The so-called Western Front has no possibility of complete collapse, and all fighting is necessary. "The order given to the 284th Guards Division was to hold this line until the retreating Kuznetsov troops arrived."

This is a death order, and Pugachev must accept it. Therefore, he also needs a guarantee from Yang Mingzhi.

"Berekov, the battle ahead must be very hard. I know that our defenses have been greatly reduced, but if we and our three infantry divisions in our neighborhood, if we fail to defend, the enemy's armored division will be able to drive straight in. ”

"Yes, I get it." Yang Mingzhi said solemnly, "According to the intelligence before the prisoner was executed, the German Seventh Panzer Division was rushing towards our army, and it was he that we will face in the future." The victory over this German army was the key to the defense of Minsk, and the successful withdrawal of large forces around the city allowed us to hold back the entire German Army Group Center through this node. ”

Pugachev was satisfied, this man had a keen insight into the entire battlefield, and he should be his staff officer.

When this opinion was put forward, Yang Mingzhi thought about it or forgot it. "I continue my special anti-tank battalion commander, and when encountering enemy units, I will fight back. We still have some of our remaining secret weapons, and we hope to be able to complete the blocking. ”

On the other hand, the 7th Panzer Division was advancing, specifically the Motorized Division, to which it belonged, was advancing towards the 284th Division.

By noon on 1 July, the 6th Mechanized Corps on the front had engaged the Germans, and it seemed that the Germans were about to be defeated. The commander ordered the troops to pursue, trying to repeat a new victory.

Pugachev's heart was itching, he couldn't trust his stupid staff officers anymore, so he simply went to the front of the position to ask Yang Mingzhi's opinion.

The 6th Mechanized Corps launched a counteroffensive ?! Yang Mingzhi simply felt incredible. "Didn't they hold on to their orders?"

"Phew! After the war started, what did they care so much, maybe they could really annihilate the enemy? ”

Yang Mingzhi thought about it for a while, could this be a trap of the German army? Wrong! It should be a trap.

He immediately faced Pugachev in a panic: "The enemy will not be stupid to fight a decisive battle with the 30,000 Soviet troops, and now these troops have actually left their positions, which is clearly a feint attack by the German army." We are the main direction of their attack! ”

Pugachev suddenly tried his best, and immediately pulled Yang Mingzhi to the division headquarters. A map shows the location of your troops, and four infantry divisions defend the front of Minsk. The troops on the flanks had already engaged the two armoured armoured groups of the flanked Germans, and thankfully the Stalin Line, which had been built a decade earlier, had been slowed down by Soviet pillboxes.

Yang Mingzhi sensed that the enemy was using a strategy to divert the tiger away from the mountain, and his main force would definitely try to directly break through the defensive line controlled by the infantry.

Yang Mingzhi knelt on the table and said coldly: "Unless we succeed in blocking this enemy, the fastest time for Minsk to break the city will be two days." He had already deduced that the enemy's large forces were making a strategic turn, and he would make a detour from the front of the Soviet Sixth Mechanized Corps and quickly penetrate its rear.

Therefore, the resistance battle will definitely start the next day.

This night, Yang Mingzhi forced himself to fall asleep, but he was overly nervous and tossed and turned.

Star fruit doesn't want him to be like this, even if there is a war tomorrow, he should have a good rest. "Husband, it's better for you to sleep in peace. No matter what happens tomorrow, we should be quiet now. ”

"Well, I worry at the thought of tomorrow." Yang Mingzhi turned over and knelt on top of his wife. "Momo, tomorrow we will face an enemy who is stronger than the already dead Kuhn. I didn't have the confidence to beat him. ”

"Even then you can't be discouraged. We've all come this far, and you can't change your promise. And I will pray that we will be absolutely okay and that you will lead everyone to victory. Is that right? ”

"Yes, yes." Yang Mingzhi's body sank, and the primitive impulses of his physiology had been stimulated. He finally avoided the fact that his wife would get pregnant at the wrong time, and finally fell asleep after venting his tiredness.

By five o'clock in the morning, a reconnaissance jeep was frantically advancing towards the position, and the scouts reported that a large number of German tanks were moving. Suddenly, the rallying cry sounded in the barracks, Yang Mingzhi woke up, quickly put on his pants, and woke his wife up. "Today is a very critical day. Xiao Tao, no matter what time it is, you have to follow me and follow our battalion. If our infantry division is surrounded, only I can lead everyone to break through. “

His words were full of hope, and the star fruit nodded vigorously. The heart is already his, what other difficulties can be difficult?

Now, the German 7th Panzer Division was advancing bravely, and the division commander von Fonck ordered the tank vanguard to stop the 284th Guards Division as its main target.

Although these Soviet troops routed Kuhn's divisions, they also massacred prisoners. Von Fonk was very sensible, he knew that the key to victory was not to destroy this force, but to Minsk behind them.

He ordered the armored division and the motorized division to separate, and only a small part of the tanks cooperated with the motorized division to attack the front of the Soviet 284th Division.

"Since it was found that only this Soviet army had secret weapons, we bypassed them. Our armored forces were still invincible, and our target was immediately changed to Minsk. As long as we break through the defensive line, our army will be able to smoothly storm the city, and the great encirclement of the Soviet Western Front will be realized. “

He gave such an order, and immediately the tank crews under his command knew their mission. The smooth advance of Army Group Center as a whole required the capture of Minsk, and the key to the battle was a breakthrough.

Two tank regiments stormed the friendly positions north of the 284th Division. Pugachev was surprised to find this, and now the plan could not be adjusted, because a large number of German troops had already appeared in the distance.