Three more are offered, ask for a recommendation vote...... There are too few tickets, brothers, there are more than 600 of them.

*************

The gas mask does have a good seal, and the extension tube is thick enough to breathe smoothly underwater.

Shulka liked the feeling: he couldn't hear the gunfire outside, and he didn't smell the stench of blood and mud, and when he looked up through the round window, the light of the cannon fire outside was like fireworks...... It's like being cut off from the world, as if all the pain and danger are gone.

Of course, the only downside is that it's a bit cold.

Shulka shuddered and curled up together, and then he saw his comrades go into the water one by one and gather around...... It's a bit scary, the Soviet gas mask is ugly, the soldiers call it a "dead man's head", plus the light is not good and it's in the water, and the bunch of zombies gathered together looks like a zombie in a horror movie.

Shulka crouched at the bottom of the water, with a special flashlight...... The so-called "special" is actually wrapped in a black cloth to reduce the brightness and then tightly wrapped with several layers of tarpaulin, only a small hole is made in the bright light, as long as it is used carefully, the German troops in the opposite direction cannot see the light.

The flashlight illuminates the watch to let Shulka see the time, and guides the fighters towards it and in the right direction.

Similar things were common on the battlefield, such as the Germans' special glow sticks, which their scouts used to guide their tanks through the darkness, while the Soviets did not see the light at all and did not reveal their positions.

With great difficulty, Shulka was able to see the time: it was 3:50 a.m., just over an hour before dawn, and as Major Gavrilov had said, the time was indeed tight.

Pukarev also had one such flashlight, he held it up and drew a circle, and then the soldiers approached him.

Then, with a flashlight in his hand, Pukarev took the lead towards the other side of the river...... This is something Shulka can't do, his sense of direction is very poor, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a road idiot, and he didn't know which direction to go in just now.

Luckily, though, he just had to follow the light in front of him.

The group moved slowly underwater, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "crossing the river by feeling the stones", although it can be observed through the circular window on the gas mask, but the visibility is very poor, and only a small shadow can be seen.

Several times, several fighters tripped over something without knowing it.

Luckily, all this was done underwater, and there was no big anomaly on the surface of the water at all, so there was no danger along the way, and after twenty minutes, we reached the opposite shore smoothly.

There was a burst of gunfire from above...... It was the German soldiers who blocked the river bank with fire so that the Soviets could not get water, which proved that Shulka and others were not on the wrong path.

Then the fighters waited in the water, staring at Shulka and Pukarev for their orders.

Shulka looked at his watch, watching the clock tick by minute.

At 4:30 a.m., with the order of Major Gavrilov, the Soviet troops in ambush in the east fired a few shells on the other side of the river, followed by a shout, and groups of Soviet soldiers carrying rafts rushed out of the darkness and went straight to the Bug River.

Then there was another burst of artillery fire, and more than a dozen smoke bombs hit the surroundings, and soon a thick fog rose near the river.

Seeing this, the German commander in charge of defending the river bank was none other than Colonel Lucas, and the sound of artillery immediately woke him up while he was resting in bed...... In fact, Colonel Lucas did not fall asleep, he knew that in this case the Soviets had a chance to break through only at night, so he could sleep peacefully only during the day.

The adjutant once said to him: "Don't worry, colonel, the Soviets have no chance of breaking through!" ”

But Colonel Lucas did not dare to take it lightly.

"Never underestimate your enemies, Andrey!" Colonel Lucas said: "Besides, our opponent fought so valiantly that not long ago he almost succeeded in breaking through by being fooled, who can guarantee that there will not be another one?" ”

Colonel Lucas was proved right, but he didn't want it himself!

At this time, Colonel Lucas raised his binoculars and looked out after getting out of the headquarters, and there was a cloud of smoke, although there were flares, but nothing could be seen, only a faint raft and the figure of the Soviet army.

Relying on smoke to force the crossing?

Lucas couldn't help but frown, this is not a good way...... He was a little puzzled by why the Soviet commander on the other side was sometimes smart and sometimes stupid.

For example, now, the Germans have long demarcated this river channel with artillery fire, and as long as an order is given, no matter whether there is smoke or cannonballs, they can accurately explode in the river.

So, their offensive was doomed to failure.

"Colonel!" The adjutant urged.

If they do not contact to give the order to open fire, there is a high probability that the Soviets will cross the cordon.

The communications soldier looked at the colonel with the microphone, he had already contacted the artillery to get them ready, just waiting for Colonel Lucas to give the order.

Colonel Lucas, though he had some doubts in his heart, hesitated, and finally he nodded.

"Fire!" As soon as the messenger gave the order, the whistling of shells sounded in the air.

Then, I only heard a chaotic sound of "boom", and a piece of shells exploded near the river, and the explosions in the river caused columns of water to soar into the sky.

There are also a few violent vibrations once in a while...... It was a German super-caliber mortar.

The purpose of the Germans using this mortar at this time was not to blow up the walls of the fortress or how many enemies were killed, but to create some kind of psychological deterrent to the enemy and make them surrender.

What the Germans and Colonel Lucas didn't know was that these cannons not only failed to serve as a deterrent, but instead became the beginning or even a cover for the Soviet breakout......

The forced crossing to the east was, of course, fake, and the smoke bombs were not intended to cover the forced crossing, but to prevent the Germans from seeing through it as a feint.

The aim was to get the Germans to open fire.

Shulka believed that the Germans would open fire, partly because the Germans were not short of shells at this time, and partly because there was a military principle, that is, in the case of unclear circumstances, it was better to believe what was there than what was not.

What do you have to lose by firing the artillery? At most, it consumes some shells.

But if the Soviet offensive was real and the Germans did not open fire, then the losses of the Germans would be great...... This is not to say that the Soviets will succeed in breaking through, but that the Soviets will at least be able to cross the river smoothly and engage the Germans in close combat, which will in any case inflict some casualties on the Germans.

Colonel Lucas, of course, was reluctant to take the risk, so even if he had doubts, he would eventually open fire.

Thereupon......

Under the Holm bridge, Pukarev, who was hiding in the water, gave a signal with a flashlight, and the fighters climbed out of the water one by one.