To the east of the inner city of Romny, on the road leading to Sumy, the reconnaissance battalion of the 16th Tank Division of the 2nd Mechanized Corps rushed towards Romny at a gallop. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The remnants of the 2nd Mechanized Corps retreated to the east of the city of Romny and monitored the German forces in the Romny area nearby.

After nightfall, the soldiers watching the front sent a telegram to the military headquarters that there was the sound of a large number of motor vehicles moving in the Romny area.

The commander of the 2nd Mechanized Corps, Serskoye, received a telegram wishfully believing that it was the transfer of German troops from Priluki to Romne.

Until midnight, two men from the inner city of Rom, riding mules, were captured by the scouts ahead.

The two men claimed to be members of the Bolshevik Party, and brought shocking news to the scouts that all German troops in the inner city of Rum had been evacuated and their whereabouts were unknown.

Celskoye immediately sent out scouts and rushed towards Romne with the two of them.

Soon, a telegram flew out from the military headquarters of the 2nd Mechanized Army.

In Sumy, Rokossovsky was shocked when he received the telegram and hurriedly sent a telegram to the headquarters of the 4th Mechanized Army, receiving a reply that there was no attack.

"There was no attack, they were not going north. Could it be that they are running in the direction of Kyiv again? Rokossovsky was incredulous, Rommel was moving too erratically.

"It was reported that the headquarters of the 8th Mechanized Army sent an urgent telegram that the 12th Tank Division had encountered German troops in the Chervonozha area, and the number and number of enemy troops were unknown. They also found fighting in the Lokhvica area, southwest of Cervonoza. ”

Rokossovsky soon found two neighboring cities, Lokhvica and Chervonozha, forty kilometers south of Romny.

"Damn, Lokhvica was attacked, why didn't the people of the South-Western Front inform us. Immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the Southwestern Front, asking them about the state of the battle. If it is really Rommel's troops, they must be intercepted at all costs, and our troops will arrive immediately. The 8th Mechanized Corps was ordered to attack Chervonozza at once, remember, it was all the troops that attacked Chervonoza, not just the 12th Tank Division. ”

After issuing a new order, Rokossovsky angrily knocked on the map and shouted: "Let the 2nd Mechanized Army also set off and march to Chervonoza, we must catch up with them and kill them." ”

When Rokossovsky was furious, in Poltava, the commander of the Southwestern Front, General Kirponos, was looking at the map in horror.

"Lochvica was attacked, as was Priti to the west. Lubne, the next step of Rommel's troops was to attack Lubne, and then the Dnieper. Damn, how could he have thought of taking a long detour, damn it. ”

After a moment's thought, Kirponos immediately issued a series of orders.

"Send a telegram to the command of the 37th and 38th armies, tell them to be on alert, Rommel's troops are coming at us, and from behind. Let the Ninth Mechanized Army set off and go to the ruble, and be sure to block them in the ruble. ”

After issuing the order, Kirponos felt a sense of panic for no reason.

"No, it's not just Rommel who is in danger, come and send a telegram to the High Command. Let's just say that the Germans will launch a full-scale attack on our army's defense line in the next three days, that is, the enemy will use the defense line of the Southwestern Front as the main crossing point, and we need reinforcements, the more the better. ”

Kirponos was incoherent and it took him a long time to finish a complete order.

"Now it depends on whether Rommel occupies Lubne first, or whether the Ninth Mechanized Army rushes to Lubline first."

While the headquarters of the two Soviet fronts were jumping for Rommel, Rommel stood on the south bank of the Sura River and watched the sappers lay mines on the beach by the river.

The Sura River is the boundary between the cities of Lokhvica and Cervonoza, and is lined with woods and flats on both sides of the river.

As Rommel predicted, in the heart of Ukraine, the Soviet troops in the city of Lokhvica were few in number, vulnerable in front of the 3rd Panzer Division, relying entirely on the urban terrain and the night for more than an hour, but still defeated.

Moder went to Luble in the south with the 3rd Panzer Division, leaving the baggage troops, the wounded, and Lochvica, while leaving half of the troops to stop Rommel.

These units were a tank battalion No. 4, a company of the 502nd heavy armored battalion, a third motorized rifle regiment, three companies of a tank destroyer battalion, and the only battalion of 150-mm self-propelled howitzers.

When the armored car drove across the Sura River, Rommel, with the intuition he had cultivated over many years of military service, thought that he could use the Sura River to cause some trouble for the Soviet army.

In addition to the mines on the riverside beach, under the bridge piers, sappers were also busy planting explosives.

By the time the sappers had finished laying the explosives and reported to Rommel, all the troops had already been assigned tasks by Rommel one by one and were in their respective positions.

With Rommel's order, the troops that were blocking in the area of Cervonoza, taking advantage of the dim light, got rid of the enemy in the east of the city and withdrew to the Sura River.

Nearly half an hour after the last vehicle of the blocking force crossed the bridge, the roar of engines was heard again on the north bank of the bridge.

On the south side of the bridge, Rommel and Helmut lay behind a pile of bushes, with four sappers crouching behind them.

Rommel brushed aside the bushes and stared at the bridge, only hearing the sound of the engines of the Soviet convoy, but he did not delay in seeing the Soviet convoy driving onto the bridge.

After observing the north of the bridge for a while, it seemed that there was no danger in the south of the bridge, or that they were forced to be helpless, and six sidecar motorcycles rumbled across the bridge and drove towards Lochvica.

Six motorcycles followed, followed by BA-10 armored vehicles.

When the BA-10 drove onto the bridge, Rommel waved his right hand behind him.

The fire flew in the midst of a violent explosion, and the crumbling debris of the bridge deck fell into the Sura River along with two BA-10 armored vehicles on the bridge deck, splashing waves of white ripples on the water.

Seeing that the mission was accomplished, Rommel got up and left with Helmut.

Compared to the armored cars on the bridge deck, the motorcycle team was not much luckier.

They hadn't gone far when they heard a loud bang behind them.

This explosion kicked off the ambush, and suddenly gunfire erupted in the woods on both sides of the road.

Dense bullets flew, blood exploded on the Soviet riders, fell to the ground, and motorcycles turned into unmanned vehicles.

The Soviet army, which was only six motorcycles, was wiped out in less than a minute.

Less than five minutes after Rommel returned to his armored car, four Soviet prisoners were brought to him.

Under Rommel's influence, the four captives quickly revealed their identities.

"The 12th Tank Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps was previously encountered near Romne. So there are at least two mechanized corps to the north of me, and the opportunity to get a medal has come. ”

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PS: Today there is only a transition in this chapter, and tomorrow there will be a decisive battle on the Dnieper. (To be continued.) )