While the 7th Panzer Division was engaged in the battle with the Soviet 17th Division in Molodizno, the 20th Panzer Division on the right flank also encountered the Soviets in the Varozhen area, and after a day of fierce fighting, the counterattack of the Soviet 21st Infantry Corps failed on all fronts.

Less than sixty kilometers from Minsk, Molodizno chased the back of the retreating Soviet army, and the commander of the 25th Panzer Regiment led by Colonel Rosenberg drove straight into Minsk, the final target.

Wherever the marching column of Tank No. 4 passed, the Soviets fled to the forests and bushes on both sides of the road, and the Soviets, who had no time to dodge, either surrendered with their hands raised, or were killed by German guns and corpses on the side of the road, and then surrounded by countless flies and mosquitoes.

In just over two hours, Colonel Rosenberg and his men walked the last 50 kilometers to the outskirts of northern Minsk and joined the 37th Reconnaissance Battalion.

Although it was still about ten kilometers from the city of Minsk, the tight Soviet defense line blocked the way of Colonel Rosenberg and his men.

When Colonel Rosenberg found the battalion headquarters of the 37th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Major Koch, the commander of the 37th Reconnaissance Battalion, was hospitably entertaining two Soviet officers.

Although the style of hospitality of Soviet officers by the reconnaissance battalion was contrary to the honor of the German soldiers, special circumstances should be treated specially, after all, the essence of war is to destroy the enemy by unlimited violent means.

Seeing the arrival of his old friend, Colonel Rosenberg, Major Koch warmly invited him for coffee.

Under violent beatings, there will be cowards. Colonel Rosenberg sat on the side, and Major Koch did not finish even a cup of coffee. The sergeant, who was in charge of entertaining two Soviet officers, walked up to them and handed him the confessions of two Soviet friends.

"Opposite us are units of the Second Army of the Thirteenth Army, with two divisions. The numbers are the 100th Division and the 161st Division. They are few in number, but they have a well-fortified body. Are we waiting for the arrival of follow-up troops before launching an attack? Major Koch asked.

"As soon as the infantry in the rear catches up, we will immediately launch an offensive and try to capture Minsk before dark." Colonel Rosenberg said.

"Well, good luck. I led my men to the east and northeast of Minsk to try their luck and see if we could find holes in the enemy's defenses. ”

Gulping down the remaining coffee from their cups, Colonel Rosenberg and Major Koch waved goodbye.

After studying the information obtained from the torture of the captives. Colonel Rosenberg learned that the front of the defense of the Soviet 161st Infantry Division was about 9 kilometers, the depth of the position was about five kilometers, and the defense was an infantry regiment on the front line.

The defensive front of the 100 Infantry Division was 18 kilometers wide. The defensive position was six kilometers deep, and the defensive forces deployed on the front line were two regiments.

As a veteran of armored warfare, Colonel Rosenberg knew that this was a strong force density. A position with a certain depth of defense was one of the most reluctant enemies for the armored corps.

After thinking about it for a while. Colonel Rosenberg made careful arrangements, waiting for the arrival of the follow-up infantry not to be wasted, and had to be the first to destroy the enemy's defensive positions and form a psychological suppression of the defenders.

After some radio contact, Colonel Rosenberg summoned the god of artillery on the battlefield.

Four FI-282 Hummingbird helicopters arrived on the battlefield one after another, roaming around the Soviet positions, and the fire of the division's 78th self-propelled artillery regiment immediately descended, and a dense rain of shells fell on his pre-selected breakthrough like meteors. Around the town of Rados.

Not long after the start of the shelling, the 16th Waffen-SS Air Artillery Division. The unit, which was tasked with providing fire support to the 3rd Panzer Army, sent 12 Stuka dive bombers and 8 ME-109 fighters into the field to support the 7th Panzer Division's upcoming offensive.

Stuka blew the terrible horn of Jericho and swooped to the ground, bombs of various types accurately slammed into the heads of the defenders, and ME-109 fighters also lowered their altitude, one by one strafing the Soviet positions.

Contrary to Colonel Rosenberg's expectations, in the French campaign, when French soldiers and even British soldiers encountered Stuka for the first time, they only heard the scream of Stuka dive bombers, or saw Stuka launch a dive, they would be frightened and lose the courage to resist and become deserters.

It was also the first time that the Stuka dive bombers were bombed, and the Soviet positions on the opposite side were barely shaken, and there were only heavy anti-aircraft fire.

37-mm anti-aircraft guns, 12.7-mm anti-aircraft machine guns, light machine guns on the positions, and even Bobosha submachine guns pointed at the sky, and the rain of bullets was woven into a net of fire that guarded the sky above the positions.

A ME-109 fighter and a Stuka dive bomber were hit one after the other, dragging black smoke and staggering off the battlefield to the west.

A careless FI-282 helicopter flew too close to the Soviet position, unfortunately hit the fuselage by an anti-aircraft shell, spun like a top and fell to the ground, staging a "hummingbird fall" in front of the eyes of the soldiers of the two armies.

The other three Hummingbird helicopters had to fly farther away from the Soviet positions in order to ensure their own safety.

Colonel Rosenberg looked up at the movement of the bomber group in the sky, and when half of the Stuka had dived past, he decisively gave the order to attack.

The commander of the 1st battalion, Major Scholz, raised his right arm into the air three times in a row, and decisively gave the order for a "tank attack".

A battalion of fifty-seven tanks, all at its disposal, spewed white smoke and formed a wedge-shaped column that led a battalion of infantry to the north of the town of Rados.

When the last Stuka dive bomber completed the dive and regained its altitude, Major Schultz's troops just rushed to the Soviet position in the town of Rados, and the tank in front was only a dozen meters away from the landing point of the aerial bomb.

In the Soviet trenches, in the windows, attics and roofs of the dilapidated houses in the town of Rados, and in the bushes on the east and west sides of the town, Soviet soldiers were everywhere, as well as flaming muzzles and low-profile 45-mm anti-tank guns.

Although they suffered heavy losses under the combined German ground-air fire, the defenders in the town of Rados did not lose the courage to resist. Faced with the cluster of tanks No. 4, which had already rushed in front of them, they did not be timid, but squatted in the trenches. He allowed the tank to go over his head and then threw Molotov cocktails and cluster grenades at the risk of German infantry.

As soon as two Soviet infantrymen threw out Molotov cocktails, they were immediately honeycombed by flying bullets and fell into the trench with convulsions.

The Molotov cocktails they threw at the cost of their lives smashed into the steel plates of the tank and shattered, flammable liquid splashed on the power compartment, flames and black smoke enveloped the tank, and the members of the two No. 4 tanks had to abandon their vehicles and flee.

A Soviet soldier has just raised a cluster grenade over his shoulder. Before he could throw it, he was killed by a bullet flying from the side, and a cluster grenade fell into the trench. Another Soviet soldier hurriedly picked up a cluster grenade and threw it out of the trench, blowing up the left track of a tank four.

In the face of Soviet artillery bombardment and various anti-tank weapons, a battalion led by Colonel Scholz paid the price of six tanks being destroyed and wounded, covering the infantry to storm the town of Rados. Street fighting ensued.

With the support of Grizzly assault guns. The houses of the defenders in the town of Rados were bombarded into rubble, and the defenders were defeated and forced to retreat to the south of the town.

Seeing that the German infantry was about to sweep through the town of Rados, an angry roar sounded in the basement of a farmhouse south of the town of Rados: "The town of Rados is about to be lost, leave us alone, don't be afraid of accidental injury, open the cannon, fire the cannon quickly." ”

The roar of the defender commander dispelled the concerns of the rear artillerymen. A muffled thunder sounded behind the positions of the 100th Division.

The explosion of the shells overshadowed all the sounds in the town of Rados, all the houses, all the streets. Both the Germans and the Soviets were covered by heavy artillery fire.

The Soviet soldiers in grass-green uniforms and the German infantry in dark green uniforms were all blinded by the sudden artillery bombardment, and neither side expected that in such a hand-to-hand battle, there would be artillery frenzied shelling.

Near the place where the shells landed, both Soviet and German soldiers were full of flesh and blood, and where shrapnel and shock waves passed, flesh and blood were cut to pieces.

Broken uniforms were wrapped in pieces of flesh and splattered among the rubble, flying steel helmets carrying half of shrapnel-cut heads, and the town of Rados was littered with mutilated corpses.

The Germans occupied most of the town of Rados, and at the same time suffered even more heavy losses in this indiscriminate shelling.

The Grizzly Bear assault gun, which was still unstoppable just now, also lost its effect at this time, and hurriedly reversed and retreated with the infantry.

Reinforcements from the Soviet 100th Division rushed to the south of the town of Rados, and launched a timely counteroffensive to retake the town of Rados, which had been abandoned by the Germans.

North of the town of Rados, Colonel Rosenberg had been watching the battle, and he was watching the whole battle, and he was also shocked by the Soviet army's jade-burning style of play.

More than half an hour later, southeast of the town of Rados, the commander of the second battalion also sent a battle report, and the offensive to cut the connection between the town of Lados and the rear was also blocked by the Soviet troops, and the battle became a stalemate, and progress could not be made for a long time.

At the same time, the commander of the second battalion reported that the Soviet artillery fire was fast and fierce, and the number of shells seemed to be running out, and although the Soviet troops did not have strong anti-tank firepower, the German infantry suppressed by artillery could not move.

Lost infantry support, the tanks faced the Soviet positions alone, and also changed from the object of attack to the object of hunting, defeated by the Soviet army's Molotov cocktails and cluster grenades.

After some hesitation, Colonel Rosenberg had to order the 2nd Battalion to also withdraw from the battle.

The battle losses of the two battalions were quickly handed over to him, and Colonel Rosenberg saw it dark.

In less than two hours of fighting, the regiment lost 15 tanks, and at present the number of tanks available to the regiment is only 102, and the total number of losses has reached 98.

At this moment, Colonel Rosenberg received a call from the division commander, Lieutenant General Funk.

Walking to an armored communications vehicle, Colonel Rosenberg listened to Lieutenant General Funk say: "I heard that your offensive outside Minsk is not going well? ”

"Who told you?" Colonel Rosenberg asked curiously, he had not yet sent the battle report to the division headquarters, and theoretically Lieutenant General Funk should not know.

"You forgot the helicopters on your head, their mission is not only to find targets for the artillery, they are also my eyes." Lieutenant General Funk said.

Colonel Rosenberg glanced up at the helicopter in the sky, and then said: "Well, our first attack was indeed a heavy loss, fifteen tanks alone. ”

Listening to Colonel Rosenberg's concise account of the battle, Lieutenant General Funk said: "Since the enemy on the opposite side has strong fortifications, tenacious fighting spirit, strong artillery, and most importantly, the enemy has absolute superiority in numbers, should we think of other ways?" ”

"I am scouting the enemy's positions, looking for areas where the enemy's defenses are weak." Rosenberg said.

General Funk said: "You are right, General Guderian said that the Panzer Division is a light sword, not a heavy war hammer, and it is not our duty to smash the enemy's strong positions with brute force. You contact Major Koch of the reconnaissance battalion, I think he will give you a little advice. ”

Receiving the advice of Lieutenant General Funk, Colonel Rosenberg turned to the correspondent to contact the 30th Reconnaissance Battalion.

Before the connection was complete, Major Schultz suddenly ran to him.

Seeing that Major Schultz's face was full of anger, Colonel Rosenberg asked curiously, "What's the matter?" ”

"Colonel, you'd better go to the front and see what those damned Russians are up to?" Major Schultz said.

Colonel Rosenberg hurriedly followed Major Schultz to the front of the position, hiding behind a bush to peek at the movements of the town of Rados.

Two Soviet soldiers climbed onto a No. 4 tank at the entrance of the town, pulled a cluster grenade into the turret, and then jumped off the tank and hid in a nearby trench.

There was a thunderous explosion in Tank IV, and the turret of the tank soared into the sky, spun and flew to the ground, lying on its back on the ground.

Colonel Rosenberg immediately guessed that the cluster grenade detonated the ammunition in the tank to make such a thrilling scene, and he was all too familiar with this kind of scene, but most of the scenes he had seen before had happened to French and Russian tanks.

"That tank was just abandoned with broken tracks, we had to give it up temporarily, we originally wanted to wait until the town was occupied and then recycled, but we didn't expect the Russians to do this." Major Schultz said indignantly.

"It's normal, and we'd do the same in a similar situation." Colonel Rosenberg said.

While the two were talking in a low voice, another strange scene appeared.

The three of them walked out of the town, led by a Soviet soldier, who walked in the back was also a Soviet soldier, and in the middle was a German soldier.

The German soldier, who was not wearing a steel helmet, had a bloody face, and was clearly wounded when he walked with his left leg exerting force and dragging his right leg on the ground.

What are they going to do? A question mark popped up in the minds of Colonel Rosenberg and Major Schultz at the same time.

The Soviet soldier escorted the wounded German soldier to a burning tank No. 4, and the Soviet soldier behind him kicked the wounded German soldier in the left leg and knocked him to the ground.

A heinous scene appeared in the binoculars of the two men, two Soviet soldiers raised their rifles and stabbed the wounded German soldiers who fell to the ground with their spears.

After stabbing the wounded German soldier to death, the two Soviet soldiers were still satisfied, and they worked together to pick up the corpse on the ground and throw it on top of the burning engine compartment of tank No. 4.

Moments later, the corpse's uniforms and hair were the first to ignite. Although far away, Colonel Rosenberg, driven by anger, seemed to smell a smell of roasted meat.

"Let's attack, take out those Russians, they're just too much." Major Schultz shouted angrily.

Colonel Rosenberg was also indignant, and almost blurted out to Major Schultz's proposal.

A voice came from behind him.

"Colonel, Major Koch of the reconnaissance battalion has asked to speak to you."

Five minutes later, Colonel Rosenberg summoned Major Schultz to the communications car.

"The reconnaissance battalion has discovered a hole in the enemy's defensive line, and we are going to move to support the reconnaissance battalion. Wait for the revenge of that comrade-in-arms. ”

Seeing that Major Schultz was still full of anger, Colonel Rosenberg said: "Don't worry, I will not forget the blood debt owed by the enemy, and we will come back." ”

Half an hour later, the 25th Panzer Regiment resumed its journey and turned around and headed north. (To be continued.) )