On this day, the 131st Division pursued the Germans for fifty kilometers.

This is not to say that the Soviet army likes to chase the Germans, the quality of the German 198th Infantry Division is very good, and the will to fight is also very tenacious, and it is defeated but not defeated every time.

If they could, the Soviets preferred to bypass this opponent.

The problem was that this German infantry division was quite conceited, they fought one division against the Soviet army, and one army, and even possibly two corps, dared to divide into several parts and guard the main communication routes.

However, from the overall strategic point of view, this is true, and there is not much point in concentrating troops in one place, because there is often only one favorable terrain that needs to be defended, and being broken through is a breakthrough.

On the other hand, the German defense was somewhat similar to the "drum" defense used by Shulka in front of Kyiv, that is, it was divided into several lines of defense and then retreated layer by layer.

Obviously, as long as the German 198th Infantry Division stopped or even delayed the Soviet advance, the defeated Romanian 1st Panzer Division in the west would have time to regroup, and the Italian expeditionary force in the east would arrive two days later, so that the Soviet army could be completely blocked in the Uman area.

The problem is that the German army has too few troops, and the first line of defense is quickly broken through by the Soviet army...... "drum" defense is often the most important line of defense, because whether the first line of defense achieves the set goal directly determines whether the second line of defense has enough time to prepare, and then the third line of defense is likely to be unprepared, and the entire defense rhythm collapses as a result.

That's how the rest of the battle went.

Perhaps knowing that their forces were insufficient, the German lines were 7 kilometers apart.

Later Shulka learned that the distance of 7 km was not only to strengthen the connection between the two lines of defense, but also to the range of German artillery.

The German army at this time was armed with mainly 105 mm le. FH18 howitzer, this howitzer has a range of 10 km.

If the two lines of defense were 7 kilometers apart, the Germans would be able to provide artillery assistance to the first line by placing artillery positions behind the second line of defense...... The Germans did exactly that, which is why the Soviets encountered so much resistance when attacking the first line of defense.

But after the collapse of the first line of German defense, these artillery pieces were largely ineffective.

The artillerymen had already calculated that Zhuyuan had set up several artillery blockades, but because of the retreat of the German army, they could not open fire on these blockade areas.

The Soviets followed the German deserters all the way forward.

At this time, the role of the Soviet mechanized division was reflected, and as soon as the car drove forward, troops and equipment were transported forward in batches...... Although the roads were in poor condition and the Germans blew up the roads during the retreat, cars were still faster than walking.

When he was in the car, the actor asked curiously: "Why didn't they plant mines?" That's what we did when we retreated! ”

"They're scared, there's no time to lay mines!" The thief replied.

The soldiers all laughed, but the answer was not satisfactory, because everyone knew in their hearts that the Germans were not in such a mess.

"They believe they can stop us!" Shulka replied as he poured out the water from the jug to wash the mud off his hands.

"Yes!" The veteran replied: "Because this is their logistical supply line, their own tanks, cars, etc. have to pass through here, and if they think they can stop us, there is no need to lay too many mines!" ”

Shulka wasn't entirely right.

Another reason why the Germans did not lay mines was that the Germans were on the attacking side, and the attack was very smooth, so mines were not very necessary...... What the attackers need more are bullets, shells, gasoline, and mines are mainly used for defense.

In addition, the heavy rain in the past few days has worsened the transportation situation, so the mines have been backlogged in the rear and have not been transported to the front line.

Of course, the Germans believed that they could hold off the Soviet army was also one of the reasons, if they knew early on that they would be in such a predicament, how could they find a batch of mines to block the pursuit of the Soviet army.

If this is the case, the Soviets will be in trouble, they will have to clear mines while advancing, or run over mines at the expense of tanks, either option will give the Germans more time to prepare.

But now, the Soviet advance almost stepped on the corpses of the Germans to break into its second line of defense, and by the time Shulka and others arrived, the battle was over.

The core ......of the "blitzkrieg" is the word "fast", the forward is blocked and consumes a certain amount of kinetic energy, and the follow-up troops should continue to push forward like waves of the sea.

As a result, this push hit the jackpot, and a battalion plunged headlong into the German artillery unit.

At that time, the German artillery units were urgently retreating, and they obviously did not expect this to happen, and the two lines of defense, which were supposed to hold back the enemy for at least two days, were broken through within two hours.

This caused the German artillery units to be in a mess, and they hurriedly collected their guns and moved the shells.

As mentioned before, vehicles and other means of transport are generally given priority to armored units, and artillery units assigned to infantry, even in the German army, many of them are transported by animal power, and of course all kinds of troubles will be encountered in an emergency retreat:

First of all, the cannon shield must be removed...... This is not necessary and does not need to be done until the rainy season.

BUT NOW, THE GERMAN 105MM HOWITZER WEIGHS A TOTAL OF 1525 KG, AND IF IT IS LOADED WITH A GUN SHIELD AND GOES ON THE ROAD IN THE RAIN, IT IS ALMOST INEVITABLE THAT IT WILL GET STUCK IN A MUD PUDDLE.

The second is to load and unload ammunition or tow artillery.

This was not a difficult task in the first place, and the German artillery had practiced many times in normal times, and they were able to complete this series of actions in an orderly manner in the shortest possible time, even if it was pouring rain at this time.

The problem is that the training ground is not the same as the real battlefield: the mules and horses on the battlefield are easily frightened, and when a shell comes from a distance, these animals run around, and they can't pull any way.

So they shouted, and they exclaimed, and they urged...... The whole artillery position was as chaotic as a vegetable market.

Some of the people who were transported by car tried to get ahead, but they were blocked by horse-drawn carriages that were stuck in the middle of the road because they were running around.

"Get the damn carriage out of the way!" The driver poked his head out of the cab and called out loudly.

"You see, we're doing it!" The soldier who was driving the car replied loudly.

"Why don't you take the things off the car?" The driver yelled, "Let's go first!" ”

"I think it might be quicker for you to get out of the car and help!"

……

But soon they realized that there was no need to dwell on the problem, because a burst of machine guns rang out from the rear, followed by a few more cannon shots, and several tanks drove out of the road under the rain curtain.

Tanks, tanks of the Soviet army.