Twenty-five kilometres northeast of Minsk, on the south side of Highway 53, Sarabada is a small village of less than 100 households.

There was no one in the village at this time, not a single villager to be exact.

In the streets of the village and in the corners of the houses, the figures of German soldiers as they charged were everywhere.

Captain Winter, carrying an assault rifle, hid behind the earthen wall of a warehouse, and slightly probed to see that the Soviet troops behind the corner of the warehouse had been suppressed by machine gun fire, and then waved his hand to the soldiers behind him.

Two soldiers rushed around the corner, trotted diagonally to the window of a house facing the street, and threw an M24 grenade into it.

The explosion spewed waves of air and debris out of the windows, filling the air with dust mixed with painful wails.

A German soldier stood up, fired several shots into the window, ending the suffering of the wounded Soviet soldiers in the house, and then rolled over and rushed into the house.

After clearing the house, Captain Winter waved his hand to the street behind him, and two SDKFZ250 armored vehicles slowly drove up to him, the MG-42 machine gun on the front of the car sneered and spewed tongues of fire, strafing the fleeing Soviet infantry in the far side of the street, two Soviet soldiers were shot in the back and fell to the ground, and more soldiers fled from the village of Sarabada in confusion and plunged into the cornfield outside the village.

After firing a few shuttles at the cornfield and breaking numerous corn stalks, the two armoured vehicles withdrew to the village.

In a gray-and-white wooden house on the north side of the village, near the road, Captain Winter waited for the battalion commander, Major Koch.

"It seems that this battle is easier than expected, and I thought it would be at least half an hour before I saw you." Major Koch said.

"It was an easy battle indeed. The enemy numbered less than a platoon and, it seems, was a logistics unit, not very combat-ready. We took out seven of them. Twenty-one were captured alive, and some escaped into the cornfields outside the village, but because it was dark, I did not let people pursue them. Captain Winter said.

Major Koch raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said, "It's already nine thirty o'clock, and we're going to spend the night here, bring your people." Placement of cordoned off positions around the village. ”

"Yes." Captain Winter stood up and was about to leave when Major Koch suddenly stopped him.

"The 25th Panzer Regiment is marching towards us, remember not to be injured by mistake."

Captain Winter had just placed his men around the village. On the west side of the highway there was a rumbling sound.

With the help of Starlight, Captain Winter saw a group of behemoths driving in the distance of the road.

Although he knew that the other party might be a tank of the 25th Panzer Regiment, Captain Winter cautiously sent someone to stop the other party and ask about his identity.

Five minutes later, Colonel Rosenberg's Tank Command No. 4 stopped in front of the gray-and-white wooden house.

Seeing the gloomy expression on Colonel Rosenberg's face. Major Koch asked, "Colonel." Looks like you're exhausted. Come, let's have a hot cup of coffee and then have dinner, I think you must be hungry. ”

Colonel Rosenberg said with a calm face: "Let's not be busy eating, let's study the next battle plan first." ”

Major Koch noticed the strangeness on Colonel Rosenberg's face and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" Why is your face so ugly? ”

Colonel Rosenberg shook his head at Major Schultz beside him.

"You told Major Koch what we saw?"

Major Koch spoke 1510 about the battle of the 25th Panzer Regiment near the town of Rados, and the torture and killing of prisoners of war by the Soviets.

"What are you going to do? My suggestion is"

Colonel Rosenberg interrupted Major Koch and said hurriedly: "I have only one purpose. That is, to cut off the lines of communication of the Soviet troops and the rear in the Minsk region, surround them and then take them out. ”

"The road outside the house is Route 53. The highway leads to Minsk in the west, Borisov in the east, then Orsha, Smolensk and then Moscow. It is the most important main road from Minsk to the rear, and our occupation of this place is equivalent to completing half of the mission, and the other half of the task needs the 2nd Panzer Army to cooperate with us. ”

"I know the importance of this road, but this village is too small to accommodate so many of our troops, and my plan is to continue the offensive to the east, occupy Smollevich, fifteen kilometers away, and expand the depth of our encirclement."

"When are we going to do it?"

"We will leave tonight, and we will attack at dawn, and we must complete the task before the enemy detects our movement."

Lieutenant General Funk gave Major Koch an order to cooperate with Colonel Rosenberg, who unreservedly placed command in the hands of Colonel Rosenberg.

After consulting with Colonel Rosenberg for a while, he left the second company under Captain Winter to guard the village, and then led the troops to march through the night.

By the light of the stars, the reconnaissance battalion led by Major Scholz and Major Koch formed a battle group and rushed to the outside of Smollevich.

The defenders of Smollevich had only one battalion, and most of them were logistical troops, and from the soldiers who had escaped from the village of Sarabada, they had learned that the German troops were only about fifteen kilometers away from them.

After careful questioning, the defending commander heard from the fleeing soldiers that the heaviest German firepower was armored vehicles, and the largest number was one company.

Cautiously reporting the enemy situation and requesting reinforcements, the defender commander ordered the troops to intensify patrols and increase vigilance.

However, what he never expected was that the German army, both in terms of numbers and weapons and equipment, had far exceeded his imagination.

In the quiet of the night, the roar of the No. 4 tank and armored car column woke up the Soviet troops in the city early.

Flare projectiles shot into the air, illuminating the night and the Germans under the cover of the night.

The scouts followed the armored vehicles and rushed into the city in three or four straggler lines, while Tank No. 4 was left behind, turning into an assault gun to provide fire support to the scouts in front.

Despite the illumination of flares, the tankmen's field of view was still insufficient, which greatly reduced their combat effectiveness, and they had to resort to this unconventional tactic, allowing the infantry with better visibility to rush forward to lure the Soviets into fire.

Flares come and go. Eclipse the brilliance of the stars.

In the buildings on the outskirts of the city and along the streets, the flames of Soviet machine gun fire were so dazzling that German tankers could spot and lock on to their targets from a distance.

The muzzle of tank No. 4 was quickly pointed at the exposed firing points of the Soviet troops. A crisp sound of shelling rang out, and 75-millimeter high-explosive shells smashed into Soviet firing points one after another, blasting the Soviet machine gunners and machine guns to pieces.

After each No. 4 tank fired an average of two shots, the Soviet firing points on the outskirts of the city were swept away, and the machine guns on the SDKFZ250 armored vehicles swept across the Soviet positions on the opposite side, and the Soviet infantry was overwhelmed, and the scouts quickly rushed through the armored vehicles. Shouting and rushing into the building occupied by the Soviet troops.

The long-handled grenade flew into the windows and the main entrance with white smoke, causing the Soviet soldiers inside to cry wolf.

The crisp sound of pistols and the sapper shovel chopping bones followed, and everywhere there were shouts of killing between soldiers on both sides.

Not long after the street fighting. The tide of battle quickly turned one-sided.

The Soviet army was blinded by the powerful firepower and rapid attack of the German army, and the Soviet army, which was on the battlefield for the first time, was also shocked by the strong combat effectiveness of the German veterans. Those who fled slowly were either killed on the spot. Either raise your hands and surrender.

When Colonel Rosenberg led the 2nd Tank Battalion and the 7th Motorized Battalion to the battlefield, it instantly became the last straw that crushed the Soviet army.

At twelve o'clock in the night, after more than an hour of fighting, Colonel Rosenberg became the conqueror of the city of Smoljewicz.

"The troops are already tired and must rest." Major Koch said.

Colonel Rosenberg knew that Major Koch was telling the truth, and that not only his subordinates, but even himself could not support the rapid marching and fighting for days. Not to mention the wounded to take care of.

"You lead your men and set out tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. Go south along Highway 69 and go southeast of Minsk to conduct reconnaissance, pay attention to the movements of the Second Panzer Army, and strive to join them at an early date and close the encirclement. ”

On the same night, in the city of Stolbutsy, 70 kilometers southwest of Minsk, a convoy of barrel trucks and SDKFZ251 armored vehicles drove to the east of the city and stopped around a steeple-roofed church in the east of the city.

The commander of the 2nd Panzer Army, Admiral Rommel, jumped out of the armored car, moved his aching waist and back, and then walked briskly into the church.

The hall on the first floor of the church has long been emptied, and tables have been set up and covered with maps.

The guards at the gate saw Rommel and shouted, "Stand upright." ”

All the people in the hall stopped what they were doing and stood in place.

"Take a break." Rommel said.

Walking quickly to an officer with the rank of major general, Rommel asked: "General Erling, when will we get to Minsk?" ”

"Arrive tomorrow, Commander." This was stated by the commander of the 17th Armored Division, Major General Erling.

Rommel's finger drew a circle on the map northeast of Minsk.

"On my way here I received a telegram from General Hoth, saying that his troops had arrived here, the city of Smollevich. They have cut off the most important road from Minsk to the rear, Highway 53, and if we are fast enough, we will be able to join their forward forces tomorrow, but judging from the map, we will have to run at least a hundred kilometers tomorrow even from the fight to the march, are you confident that you will complete the task? ”

"I'm confident that I'll get the job done." Erling said.

"Well, tomorrow I will act with your division." Rommel said.

Major General Erling's eyebrows twitched a few times involuntarily, and it seemed that the commander was still not confident about his abilities.

After forwarding Rommel's decision to his immediate superior, the headquarters of the 47th Panzer Corps, Major General Erling secretly made up his mind that he would leave tomorrow two hours earlier than scheduled.

June 28, the seventh day of Operation Barbarossa, is destined to be a day that will be remembered by history.

At four o'clock in the morning, in a hotel across the street to the south of the church, Rommel walked out of his temporary lodgings in good spirits, and saw a barrel cart parked in front of the church opposite, and Major General Erling jumped into the bucket cart.

Rommel nodded in satisfaction, pleased with Rear Admiral Erling's move to leave early.

Hearing that Rommel was going to accompany the 17th Panzer Division and that it was strictly ordered to complete the task of encircling Minsk on 28 July, the headquarters of the 47th Panzer Corps adjusted its operational deployment overnight and changed the route of the 17th Panzer Division.

The task of going straight to Minsk was handed over to the 18th Panzer Division, and the troops of the 17th Panzer Division turned to the east and then turned north, rounding east of Minsk to join the forces of the 3rd Panzer Army.

As soon as it was dawn, the convoy of Major General Erling and Rommel drove out of the city of Stolbuzzi and headed east along Route 68.

Major General Erling's barrel carts were mixed in the convoy of the divisional guards, and along the way, he searched for the 39th Panzer Regiment, the main force of the division, while watching the brutal scenes of war on both sides of the road.

On both sides of Highway 68, there are wreckage of vehicles, including trucks, tanks and horse-drawn carriages used by civilians, these vehicles are abandoned on the side of the road, most of the motor vehicles have been destroyed, the bodies are burned all over the body and the body is charred and miserable, next to the wreckage of the vehicles, without exception, a different number of Soviet corpses have been killed, and some of the corpses have been burned to the ground.

More corpses were already swollen in the sweltering heat, crawling with flies, and the air was filled with the stench of rotting corpses.

Major General Erling knew very well that the 39th Panzer Regiment had fought a tank battle here yesterday, as evidenced by the wreckage of tanks scattered on the grass on both sides of the road.

While admiring the masterpieces of his subordinates, Major General Erling checked the speed of his march against the road signs on the side of the road and the map in his hand.

Passing a group of Soviet prisoners who had been escorted to the rear, Major General Erling's convoy was in a small town called Luka, where Highway 68 forked, and the convoy would turn north and turn to Route 69 to detour southeast of Minsk.

Half an hour after driving on Route 69, a large area of woods appeared next to the road.

It was only after five or six minutes that Major General Erling saw the convoy drive out of the forest, and vast meadows and fields of crops reappeared in front of him.

At this moment, behind him, without warning, there was a dense burst of gunfire.

Major General Erling was stunned for a moment, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

The convoy of the commander of the army group Rommel was right behind him, listening to the loudness of the gunfire, there was no doubt that it must have been Rommel's convoy that was under attack and was exchanging fire with the enemy.

Jumping out of the car, Major General Erling pulled out the pistol at his waist and shouted: "Turn back, protect the commander." ”

The soldiers of the guard company jumped out of the trucks and armored vehicles, armed with their weapons, and followed Erling to the woods behind, and the armored vehicles also made an emergency U-turn and rushed towards the forest on the way they came.

By the time Major General Erling led his men to rush to the spot where the battle broke out, the situation of the battle was already clear.

Hundreds of German soldiers had already rushed into the forest, chasing down the fleeing Soviet troops.

Passing over the seven or eight corpses of Soviet soldiers on the side of the road, Major General Erling turned around and did not see Rommel.

"Where's General Rommel?" Erling asked, pulling the captain in charge of the vehicle that stayed behind.

"He's in the forest," said the captain, "and you see the officer, he's the one with the submachine gun in his hand." ”

Erling looked up, and sure enough, he saw a figure with a red wisdom line on his uniform among the German soldiers in the woods.

General Rommel's style of conduct was so elusive that he used himself as an infantryman, Erling thought silently.

Soon, Rommel was dragged away from the battlefield by Major General Erling.

"A couple of Soviet miscellaneous soldiers even dared to attack my convoy, who gave them the guts?" Rommel said indignantly.

After an interlude, the convoy resumed.

After another hour of marching, at about 1:20 p.m., the convoy arrived at a village called Smilovic.

At the southern entrance of the village, Major Koch of the 37th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion saw Rommel approaching him, his eyes lit up at first, and then he reflexively stood up straight and saluted Rommel.

"Hello teacher." (To be continued.) )