The soldiers of the assault company hid behind the hill and silently listened to the sound of gunfire coming from the other side of the hill.

Even across a hill, the soldiers of the assault company seemed to be able to feel the slight tremors coming from the ground, which was enough to prove the strength of the bombs dropped by the bombers.

The commandos were most worried about whether the Soviet ammunition depot could withstand the devastation of aerial bombs with the defensive capabilities of the Soviet army.

On that side of the hill, bombers rushed to the ground in waves, dropping aerial bombs on the heads of the garrisons in the arsenal.

On this side of the hill, sappers were toiling at work.

They cut the barbed wire fence that surrounded the top of the hill and swept a passage through the minefield, with the infantry of the assault company following behind, step by step, rushing to the top of the hill.

When the assault company arrived at the commanding heights of the hills, overlooking the other side of the hills, the previous green pastoral scenery had long been replaced by black and red, black was gunsmoke, and red was fire and blood.

Under the command of Captain Friedrich Merck, the commander of the assault company, SS soldiers set up machine guns at the top of the hills, and mortars hid in the grass, keeping an eye on the unrecognizable village beneath the hills.

Taking advantage of the last minutes of the air strike, Captain Merck quickly sketched a brief map of the Soviet army's defense on a piece of paper, especially the positions of the anti-aircraft guns that were firing at the air force, which were highlighted and then assigned to the various mortar groups one by one.

Under the watchful eyes of Captain Merck and his men, the air raid finally ended.

Seeing that the aircraft group regrouped in the air and turned around and left, and the Soviet troops under the hills had not yet recovered from the panic caused by the air raids, Captain Merck decisively gave the order to attack.

Immediately the roar of mortar fire was heard from the top of the hill, and before the Soviet anti-aircraft gunners could come to their senses, the anti-explosive shells had already fallen on them.

With a crisp explosion, the anti-aircraft gunners were blown to pieces by the shells that fell from the sky.

Or fall on the bolt. Or lying on the ground next to the anti-aircraft guns, the corpses of the Soviet gunners are spread all over the battlefield, and the anti-aircraft guns that have just been majestically fired at the German bombers have instantly turned into piles of scrap copper and rotten iron under the continuous bombardment of the German mortars.

The MG42 machine gun was condescending, dropping bullets at the Soviet infantry at the bottom of the hills. Where the bullets passed, sparks appeared between the ruins of the ruins where the Soviet infantry were hiding, and the grass clippings that had been swept away from the grass flew everywhere.

The Soviet soldiers, who were exposed to the open space and had no time to dodge, were beaten into a sieve by hail bullets, and fell to the ground with blood spraying all over their bodies.

Soon, bullets from return fire flew out from all corners of the village, Makqin machine guns, Deg Galev light machine guns. Mortars, a variety of weapons, bullets and shells of various calibers flew to the top of the hills.

The Soviet infantry knew by this time that it was the enemies at the top of the hills who seemed to emerge from the ground to bring them the doom of death.

All the pain they had just suffered in the air raids, all the anger that had accumulated in their hearts, all the anger that had been poured out on the heads of those murderers.

However, the ideal is very full, but the reality is very cruel.

The assault company occupied by Captain Merck had the advantage in the terrain and looked out from the top of the hill. The Soviet infantry attacking the top of the hill below, every figure. Every time you move, it's extraordinarily clear.

The Soviet officers ran around the battlefield, shouting at the top of their voices, trying to gather the soldiers and attack, but each in vain.

Almost as soon as the troops were assembled, the assembly place of the troops was baptized by a rain of bullets.

The troops that had just been assembled were scattered in an instant. The disorganized soldiers went their separate ways, scrambling to find safe places to escape the attack.

After half an hour of fierce fighting, the Soviet officers failed to organize a decent offensive.

When a deafening roar was heard again in the sky, the last of the Soviet army's will to resist disappeared without a trace.

Seeing the second group of bombers rushing to the battlefield, Captain Merck decisively gathered his troops. Retreat to the other side of the hill, leaving only one squad at the top of the hill as an observation post.

Soon, white smoke rose again from the village to indicate targets for the bomber group.

The white smoke mixed with the black smoke from the trees and houses that had been set ablaze by the fire of the battlefield was particularly dazzling from the sky, tracking the direction of the smoke, and the bomber group once again reigned on the battlefield.

Unlike the previous precision bombing by Stuka dive bombers, this time the bomber group was mainly composed of HE-111 and JU-88 bombers.

The HE-111 medium bomber opened its belly hatch wide and dropped hundreds of tons of bombs onto a battlefield covered in smoke and flames.

The dense bombs were like a feather cloak that exuded the smell of death, and it was used as a hood on the battlefield.

Whether it was the houses, roads, or anti-aircraft gun emplacements that survived the first bombardment, surrounded by the dead bodies of the gunners, they were all covered in endless bombs.

In the flames and smoke of the bombs, the bodies of the dead and wounded of the Soviet soldiers were torn to pieces by the shock wave and shrapnel, and the broken corpses, parts of various weapons and branches and leaves of data flew into the sky.

Faced with a surprise attack by Captain Merck, almost all of the anti-aircraft guns were lost, and in the face of the attack from the air, the Soviets were almost powerless, only a small number of Soviet soldiers with machine guns and rifles fired volleys into the air, making fearless resistance, and then destroyed by aerial bombs.

By the time the JU-88 bombers launched the airstrike, the village had long since disappeared, leaving only a potholed, crater-riddled surface.

Under the precise dive bombardment of the JU-88, the recalcitrant Soviet troops were covered with bombs along with their hiding places, and men and men flew into the sky with weapons.

When the tremor at his feet had subsided, Captain Merck and his men reappeared at the top of the hill.

Without any hesitation, Captain Merck decisively gave the order to charge, and the attack of the assault company and the air raid of the bombers formed a perfect seamless connection, facing the SS soldiers rushing down from the top of the hill like a flood, the Soviet troops who survived the air raid were like pebbles, instantly drowned in the rolling torrent.

Either they were sieveed by oncoming bullets, or they were smashed to the ground by SS soldiers who rushed to their side, and the Soviets, who were fighting among craters and rubble, were greeted with grenades and mortar shells flying over their heads.

With a single charge, Captain Merck's assault company broke the last Soviet resistance and seized full control of the hills.

Seeing that the first goal has been achieved. Captain Merck led his sappers down the hill and headed for the final target, the entrance to the arsenal, the steel gate more than four meters high.

Near the steel gate, a platoon of SS soldiers had already blocked it.

After some shouting, more than a dozen gray-faced Soviet infantry came out of the warehouse.

The infantry escorted the prisoners out of the rear arsenal. Captain Merck's men split into two lines, with the infantry rushing deeper into the warehouses to search for hidden Soviet routers, while the sappers busily planted explosives and fuses in the mountains of munitions.

After a hurried circle around the arsenal, Captain Merck stepped out of the arsenal and walked up to the top of the hill while letting his men build fortifications near the arsenal.

Looking out over the only road leading to the hills, there seemed to be a few fleeing Soviet soldiers in the distance, and several wrecked trucks parked in the middle of the road.

Holding a telescope. Carefully scanning the surroundings of the hills, Captain Merck found no sign of a large number of Soviet troops, and the arsenal under his feet seemed to be safe.

Since the arsenal will not be threatened by the Soviet army for the time being, there should be no need to blow up this arsenal, such a huge arsenal, a mountain of ammunition, countless military uniforms, oil and food, it is a great waste to blow up all of them.

Captain Merck was born in 1919, shortly after the end of World War I. His childhood and childhood coincided with the most difficult years of life for the German name, and the war reparations had to be repaid. Food is scarce, and there is a lot of unemployment.

It was not until 1933, when Hitler's National Socialist Party came to power, that Germany's economic crisis was alleviated.

Growing up, Captain Merck always listened to his parents talk about the hardships of his childhood and early childhood at home. Over time, Captain Merck, under the influence of his parents, developed a firm belief that thrifty housekeeping is a virtue.

Driven by the belief of thrift and thrift, Captain Merck thought about it and thought that he would follow the orders of his superiors anyway. Blowing up the arsenal at his feet was not in line with his usual style of life, and it also contradicted the education he had received since childhood.

After a fierce ideological struggle, Captain Merck summoned a correspondent and handed him a telegram.

Soon, a telegram was sent to Colonel Dietrich.

Without much hesitation, Colonel Dietrich accepted Captain Merck's suggestion to change the task of blowing up the arsenal to protecting the arsenal.

Colonel Dietrich also experienced the most difficult era of German life after the First World War, and also developed the habit of living a hard, simple, and thrifty life.

Captain Merck's suggestion naturally resonated with him and received his strong support.

After sending a reply to Captain Merck, Colonel Dietrich inspected the battle ahead and decisively gave the order to let the troops withdraw while fighting, alternately covering the exit from the battlefield, and the target of the retreat was the eastern shore of Lake Shebezh.

Seeing the gradual retreat of the German troops, the Soviet infantry group followed the path of the retreat of the 1st Police Regiment and did not hesitate to launch a pursuit.

Behind the infantry group, six tanks rushed to the rescue, also in the soft grass and farmland, surrounded by infantry, rushing in the direction of the German disappearance.

On the western shore of Lake Sebezh, the police regiment built improvised fortifications along the edge of the woods along the lake's edge.

The soldiers hid under tree trunks, in the bushes, quietly waiting for the appearance of the enemy.

They didn't have to wait long, and in the distant fields, puffs of black smoke first erupted from the budding rice fields, and corn stalks fell in pieces, looking like rows of soldiers who had fallen to the ground after being killed by machine guns.

Six T-34 tanks took the lead, and countless Soviet infantry rushed out of the cornfields, trampled on the grass, followed the tanks, and rushed into the woods occupied by the 1st Police Regiment.

In their opinion, the enemies who wore fancy tricolor uniforms and had a rather performance art atmosphere could no longer resist their attack, and they were repulsed by them to the shore of Lake Sebezh, where there was no way out.

"Comrades, the Germans are going to be finished. If we make one last attack, we'll be able to drive them into the lake. For Stalin's sake, forward. ”

Seeing that the decisive battle was approaching, some officers in the Soviet infantry group brandished pistols and shouted loudly to boost the morale of their subordinates.

Squatting behind a mound of dirt at the edge of the forest, Colonel Dietrich lowered his binoculars and shook his head, a look of contempt flashing across his face.

The Russians on the opposite side really had no combat experience, so they launched a pursuit so confidently, and they used a dense infantry formation.

It was necessary to teach the Soviet commander on the other side a lesson that the pursuit of the Waffen-SS was a very dangerous act, and that the tuition fee was the life of the Soviet soldier.

"Flares." Captain Dietrich said to the herald beside him.

Two green flares shot straight into the sky, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

On the west bank of Lake Sheberge, on the position of the police artillery regiment, behind the two battalions of artillerymen and twenty-four 105-mm howitzers, the artillerymen stuffed huge shells into the chambers, and almost as soon as they completed this action, the order to open fire came from behind them.

For a whole morning, the accumulated resentment of not being able to participate in the war was now vented to the fullest.

With a thunderous roar of artillery, twenty-four shells spun and flew over Lake Shebezh, over the woods where Colonel Dietrich was located, and instantly hit the unsuspecting Soviet infantry group.

In the rounds of artillery bombardment, the infantrymen's torsos were torn apart by shrapnel or tossed by powerful air waves.

On the originally flat grass, there were more shocking craters, and corpses were scattered all over the place.

Looking at the Soviet infantry who fled in confusion during the shelling, a smile appeared on the corner of Colonel Dietrich's mouth.

Having succeeded in luring the Soviets into the range of the artillery, Colonel Dietrich considered himself successful in teaching the commander of the Soviet troops opposite a lesson that he would never forget.

Not only artillery fire, but also on the edge of the forest, SS soldiers also joined in the "teaching operation", using a dense range of bullets and shells to educate the Soviet troops on the opposite side on how to be a qualified soldier.

Six aggressive T-34 tanks, one of which was hit by a grenade that fell on the right side, broke the running gear, and was incapacitated, so it had to stop in place as a fixed battery.

The remaining five tanks, still crawling on the grass and charging into the forest where the Germans were located, were approached by SS soldiers one by one because they were not protected by infantry, and were immediately hunted by the "Iron Fist" and tank killer rockets, and became steel coffins parked on the battlefield, and the first tank wounded by the white grenade was not spared.

Seeing that the goal had been achieved, the charging formation of the Soviet troops on the opposite side had collapsed, and Colonel Dietrich decisively gave the order to attack.

Receiving the signal from the other side, the German artillery immediately extended the artillery fire behind the Soviet troops, and before the Soviet soldiers came to their senses, a sharp and piercing whistle was heard in the forest opposite, and a group of soldiers wearing tricolor camouflage, who they regarded as "performance art" artists, rushed to their eyes almost in the blink of an eye, and waved the scythe of death at them. (To be continued.) )