At five o'clock in the morning on 8 August, as soon as the dawn had covered the Pripyat swamps, six FI-156 reconnaissance planes flew over the dense jungle from north to south.

In the town of Sabo Roger, Feigrain stood at the door of the church, watching a FI-156 reconnaissance plane disappear into the southern sky before turning and walking into the church.

Seeing Figlein enter the church, Lieutenant Colonel Gale said to him: "I have given orders to all three cavalry regiments under my command to stop clearing the surrounding guerrillas, turn to a defensive state on the spot, and strengthen the reconnaissance of the south. ”

"I hope our judgment is correct, I hope that the Russians will really launch a large-scale attack on our jurisdiction, and it is too slow to accumulate merit points by exterminating the guerrillas." Feglein said.

"I hope so, too, but to be on the safe side, I have informed the 252nd Infantry Division in my friendly neighborhood, as well as the headquarters of Army Group Center in the rear. In the unlikely event that the enemy rushes towards us with an army or a group of armies, we can get support in time, even if we can't resist it. ”

"Okay, that's it, but in order to face a possible big battle, we'd better stock up on as many weapons and ammunition as possible before engaging the enemy." Feglein said.

"Calculate the time, the convoy that left yesterday should be about to arrive at the rear base, and I will contact them and ask them to set off as soon as possible and send us a batch of combat materials." Lieutenant Colonel Gale said.

"Yes, if you get in touch with the Air Force again, you must ensure smooth communication. If the battle does start, the Air Force will be the first reinforcements we get. ”

"I know that Your Excellency the Governor has said that there are difficulties. Find the Air Force. Lieutenant Colonel Gale said with a smile.

When the two talked. North on the north bank of the Pripyat River. A dirt road south of the village of Zfny near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

A convoy of four Opel lightning trucks and six Mercedes trucks crossed the bridge over the Piripiat River and drove along the dirt road leading to the village of Zfni, dragging the yellow smoke and dust rising high behind them.

At the head of a truck, two machine gunners lay behind the front of the truck, four vigilant eyes swept to the distance of the road, and the muzzle of the MG-42 machine gun in their hands dangled in the bumps of the truck.

behind them. Eight infantrymen leaned back to the carriages on either side, holding their respective weapons, some looking up at the sky, others hanging their heads and drowsy.

The convoy made its way unimpeded and approached the village of Zfoni at high speed.

As the convoy drove along the dirt road into the woods south of the village of Zfni, countless green figures flashed in the pine forests on both sides of the road.

When the convoy entered the woods, the silence of the woods was shattered by the sudden sound of gunfire.

On the left side of the road, a Maxim heavy machine gun roared and opened the door to killing.

Dense bullets flew out of the woods. Sweep the left side of the cab of the Opel Lightning truck.

The wheels that were spinning at high speed were hit by bullets, and a dazzling burst of fire flashed. The tires make a dull "pop" sound.

There was a clanging metal crash from the cockpit door, and in an instant there were more than a dozen honeycomb bullet holes, and the driver threw himself headlong on the steering wheel.

The truck, which lost control, rushed out of the road and then flipped on its side into the field on the side of the dirt road, and the soldiers in the truck were thrown out and rolled down into the mud on the side of the road.

Before the SS soldiers could stand up, bullets had already penetrated their bodies and claimed their lives.

A grenade flew out of the woods and landed behind the overturned truck, and in the explosion, an SS soldier who had just crouched down fell to the ground with a wail, turning into a bloodied corpse.

Almost in the blink of an eye, all the German soldiers in the first truck were killed.

The nine trucks behind them also failed to snatch the Grim Reaper's harvest, and grenades and machine-gun bullets rained down on them.

The exposed fuel tanks of the two trucks burst one after another, igniting a raging flame, and the smoke emitted enveloped around the trucks, and then converged into a black column of smoke and soared into the sky.

The last truck of the convoy was hit by shells flying from the woods, and a terrifying fire erupted from the cockpit, and shards of steel and glass flew in all directions, hitting the nearby German soldiers who were struggling to dodge.

The few SS soldiers who managed to jump out of the car were armed and tried to resist by relying on the wreckage of the truck, but they were caught in the crossfire from both sides of the road, and one by one they convulsed and fell in a pool of blood.

In less than five minutes, a one-sided killing was over.

The gunfire in the woods on both sides of the road gradually subsided, and soldiers in grass-green uniforms rushed out of the woods and began to clean up the battlefield.

At the head of the ambush was a Soviet paratrooper captain.

Carrying an SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle, the captain walked from the overturned head car on the side of the road to the last truck that was destroyed by shells.

Keep gesturing to your subordinates.

Seeing the gesture of the captain's right hand sliding over his neck, the Soviet paratroopers standing next to the wounded German soldiers took out their spears or daggers.

The dagger sliced through the throat of the wounded, and red, searing arterial blood spurted out, staining the ground and the dead man's uniform.

The spear pierced the wounded German soldiers in the heart or neck, giving them complete relief from their wounds.

The paratrooper captain watched with satisfaction as his men killed the wounded of the Germans, turned and walked to the right side of the road.

Four Soviet paratroopers surrounded the only surviving German soldier, who was only slightly wounded.

The paratrooper captain walked up to the German soldier with a red cross armband and asked through an interpreter: "Where are you from?" Where are your main forces? ”

"I don't know, I'm just looking after the wounded."

"You can see that there are no wounded people to take care of you here, if you don't want to be like those people lying on the ground, answer my questions honestly." Said the paratrooper captain.

"I'm just a medic and I only know how to take care of the wounded."

"Well, let me ask you one more question, is there a bridge along this road in the direction you appeared?"

The medic was silent for a few seconds, then whispered, "Yes, there is a bridge. ”

"How many kilometers is it from here?"

"Six or seven kilometers. Maybe ten kilometers. ”

"Is there a garrison on the bridge?" The paratrooper captain asked.

The medic was silent.

The paratrooper captain winked at his subordinates. Then he turned his back.

Four Soviet paratroopers picked up the butts of their rifles and smashed them into the backs and stomachs of the medics. The medic was smashed to the ground, screaming in pain.

After a flurry of punches and kicks, the paratrooper captain turned around and stopped his abusive men.

"If you don't want what just happened to continue, answer my question honestly, is there a garrison near the bridge, and how many people are there?"

The medic curled up, his bloodied face on his back. Stammered: "No, there is no garrison on the bridge." ”

"Very well, that's all I need to know, your life can be over."

The paratrooper captain patted a subordinate with an SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle on the shoulder, pointed to the medic on the ground and said, "Put an end to his suffering." ”

After the paratrooper captain finished speaking, he turned to leave, and a few seconds later, a crisp gunfire came from behind him.

About two hours later, the paratrooper captain pointed to the bridge in front of him and said to his subordinates: "The two sides of this bridge are our battlefields. Immediately build a position, and we will hold out until it gets dark today. The Germans must not be allowed to take it back. ”

・・・・・・

East Prussia, Wolf's Lair.

"It's paratroopers, it's definitely Russian paratroopers. The area on the northern edge of the Pripyat marshes is our focus of the sweep, and it is unlikely that such a large guerrilla force will emerge. According to a telegram from the 8th Waffen-SS Cavalry Division last night, a large number of Russian Air Force planes had flown over the Pripyat marshes, and this group was probably used to drop paratroopers.

Russian paratroopers once appeared in Hungary and seized the towns on the west side of the Carpathian Mountains to open the way for the later troops to cross the Carpathians, but I never heard of them on the battlefield again, I thought they were missing, and I did not expect them to appear north of the Pripyat marshes.

These paratroopers could not have fought alone, let alone killed themselves, and I seriously doubt that they were outposts of a massive Russian attack. ”

Hitler stared at the map for a long time with his hands on the table before looking up at Brauchitsch and Halder.

"What do you think of Heinz's analysis?"

"I think General Rosen's analysis is justified," said Halder, "that it is impossible for the partisan forces alone to attack the garrisons of six villages and towns at the same time in one night. And based on the location of these towns, we can see that these six villages and towns are all transportation hubs, or crossroads, or have bridges to cross the Pripyat River.

General Rosen has a point, the Russians suddenly airdropped so many paratroopers to our rear, presumably in preparation for a large-scale attack. ”

"Large-scale offensive? Rushing out of the Pripyat swamp? How many troops can be accommodated in this harsh terrain? Will the armored forces of the Russians be able to climb over a swamp more than two hundred kilometers wide? The submarine is about the same. Hitler shook his head, incredulous at the analysis of Halder and Chen Dao.

Hitler suddenly raised his head and looked at Goering.

"Herman, in addition to the Army and SS patrolling the Pripyat marsh, there are also air force reconnaissance planes, did you find a large number of Soviet troops in the Pripyat swamp a few days ago?"

"Uh・・・・・・" Goering looked at the Chief of the Air Staff, Yeshunek, in embarrassment.

"The reconnaissance planes of the Second Air Force did not detect the presence of large-scale Soviet troops in the Pripyat marshes, but because of the high frequency of reconnaissance, they attracted the attention of the Central Front of the Soviet Army in the south.

They probably thought that we intended to move south through the Pripyat marshes, so they sent a lot of reconnaissance planes and fighters to intercept our reconnaissance planes and conduct large-scale reconnaissance of the Pripyat marshes. Jeshunek said.

Hearing Yesunek's analysis, Chen Dao's face changed.

"This morning, at the request of the Eighth Cavalry Division, the Second Air Force again sent a reconnaissance plane deep into the Pripyat swamp to reconnoitre, and there has been no feedback yet." Jeshunek said.

Halder suddenly said solemnly: "The Russians in the south sent a lot of reconnaissance planes and fighters to patrol the Pripyat swamps, and it is also possible that they are covering for the large-scale movement of their army. The Air Force's reconnaissance planes were intercepted by Soviet fighters and could not conduct in-depth reconnaissance, and the Russian Army was likely to hide in places that the Air Force could not detect. ”

Seeing Halder questioning the analysis of his right-hand men, Goering's eyebrows furrowed.

Goering was about to speak, but Chen Dao took the lead: "I agree with the Führer, it is impossible for the Russians to stuff the heavy army group into the Pripyat swamp.

However, General Halder's analysis is also plausible, the Russians will not send a heavy group through the Pripyat marshes, but it is possible to send a large number of paratroopers and a small number of other troops.

With the cooperation of the air force, they may disrupt our lines of communication, such as blowing up bridges or railways and other obscene actions, after all, this is the rear, we do not have too many garrisons, as long as a small number of enemies to disrupt the logistics line, they can cause great damage to the operation of Army Group Center in the front.

Therefore, we must immediately send troops to exterminate this group of paratroopers who have penetrated deep into the rear of our army, and I can guarantee that if we do not start today, the number of Russian paratroopers entering the rear of our army will multiply every night. ”

"To be on the safe side," Brauchitsch said, "we must immediately move our forces and annihilate this group of Russian paratroopers." ”

Hitler said: "You're right, we should shoot these bugs to death, and the task will be left to ・・・・・・."

"Leave it to General Bootdent's paratroopers, and it's better to deal with paratroopers. The Polish Governor's Office will also send a unit to assist the paratroopers in this task, and we must concentrate our superior forces as soon as possible to fight a battle of annihilation and kill the Russian paratroopers before the second group of Russian paratroopers arrives. Chen Dao said first.

"Well, this kind of skirmish is really not suitable for transferring troops from the front, let the paratroopers and the troops of the Polish Governor's Palace do it, remember to be fast." Hitler said.

Leaving the operational command room, Goering asked Chen Dao: "The last time it was the 7th Parachute Division, this time I should send the 22nd Parachute Division, lest the paratrooper boys say that I am biased." How many troops are you going to send? A regiment, or a division? ”

"I intend to send all the corps of the Honorable Jewish Army, and as for the paratroopers, you had better immediately let General Spudent prepare to relocate the headquarters to Belarus, as well as all the paratroopers under his command, the 7th Parachute Division, the 22nd Airborne Division, the 101st Special Air Service Regiment, and the newly formed paratrooper division, in short, not a single one, all of them will be sent to Belarus.

I don't have time to say why now, I'm going to give an order for the 1st Aviation Division of the Naval Aviation to transfer to Belarus. ”

"What are you going to do? How many paratroopers can be used to dispatch so many troops? Goering asked.

"We don't have to deal with a few paratroopers, get ready for a big battle, but I am risking the Führer to win us the opportunity to make a great contribution this time, you don't let me take a risk in vain." Chen Dao said. (To be continued.) )