In the town of Sabo Roger, in the basement of the ruins of the church, Lieutenant Colonel Gale hurried up to Figlein, pointed to the map, and said: "We are in great trouble, all the garrisons of our three cavalry regiments have been attacked, and the regimental commanders have sent telegrams asking us to send reinforcements, especially from the air force. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Figlein took out a box of Cosmic brand cigarettes, took out a cigarette and bit it in his mouth, hesitated slightly, and then took it back in his hand.

"The Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft has not yet reported back? What is the size of the Russians' troops? ”

"No news yet." Lieutenant Colonel Gale replied.

The cigarette in Feiglein's right hand tapped lightly on the cigarette case, and after thinking for a few seconds, he said: "Brute force is not our combat style, send a telegram to the regiment commanders, tell them to hold out until dark, and then use the night to retreat and retreat to the northwest." ”

Lieutenant Colonel Gale was about to leave after jotting down the contents, when a communications staff officer burst into the basement.

"We have just received a telegram from Army Group Center Command that our division has been transferred to the command of General Student, whose headquarters is located in Pinsk, and this is the contact information of General Student's command."

Lieutenant Colonel Gale and Figlein looked at each other, and then asked, "Has the communications battalion made contact with General Student's command?" Did General Stockent have any assignments assigned to us? ”

"We are in contact and there will be results soon."

As soon as the communications staff officer finished speaking, another communications staff officer rushed into the basement.

"We have just received a telegram from General Student that the enemy's attacking strength is more than one army group, and he orders us to delay the enemy's march at least twenty-four hours."

After reading the telegram, Lieutenant Colonel Gale handed it to Figlein and said depressedly: "It seems that we can only hold out here for twenty-four hours. ”

Figlein glanced at the telegram twice, and immediately retorted: "No, carry out the order I have just given, hold out until dark, and then retreat to the northwest and assemble in the Sarne area. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Gale reminded with embarrassment: "But General Spudent has given us the order to delay the enemy for at least twenty-four hours, and if we retreat・・・・・・"

Figlein interrupted Lieutenant Colonel Gale's reminder.

"He only said that he wanted us to delay the Russians for twenty-four hours, but he did not say which way to delay, and we had to complete the task according to our own combat style."

Seeing that Feglein turned his back and lit a cigarette, Lieutenant Colonel Gale did not persuade him any longer, and immediately drew up a telegram for Figlein to sign and distribute.

Figlein had just finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, looked up at the ceiling in the basement, and turned to walk out of the basement.

Walking out of the ruins of the church, Feglein was confronted by the commander of the guard company, Captain Majer.

Looking up at the sky around him, Fieglein asked, "Where did the fleet come from?" Ours or the enemy's? ”

Captain Majel pointed to the northern sky and replied: "From the Russians, the scale is huge, at least fifty. ”

Figlein stared at the distant fleet and muttered, "The larger the enemy, the better, to borrow a famous phrase from the Russians, let the storm come more violently." ”

Under the watchful eye of Figlein, the Soviet fleet flew all the way north, guided by radio waves, over the vast Pripyat marshes.

Almost as soon as he crossed the swamp, the captain's radio was filled with excited shouts on the pilot.

"I see you, I'll send you a signal right away."

The captain immediately spoke to the rest of the fleet via radio.

"We have arrived at the intended airborne area, pay attention to the search for signals on the ground."

Soon, the pilot's captain noticed a large cloud of white smoke rising from an empty meadow on the ground, and the group immediately turned around and flew in the direction of the smoke.

Flying over the grass where the smoke rose, the group slowed down, the cabin door was wide open, paratroopers jumped out one by one, and more than 500 white parachute flowers floated in the sky, and the scene was spectacular.

For a whole day, Soviet transport planes and bombers shuttled over the Pripyat marshes, airdropping groups of paratroopers to the northern part of the Pripyat marshes.

At 9:20 p.m., the town of Sarne, in the marshes of Pripyat, was the first to retreat to the town of Figlein to welcome the first successfully retreating unit, the regimental headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

After the greetings, the commander of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Colonel Schheine, said indignantly: "Our regiment has lost at least four hundred men, and about fifty wounded have not had time to retreat. ”

Taking off the military cap on his head and throwing it on the table, Colonel Schheiner continued: "The main casualties of our regiment come from the Black Reaper, and the small and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns are very lethal to them, and if you want to win them, you must have the support of the air force. ”

Although it was the nth time in a day that we had heard the need for air support, Figlein did not show the slightest impatience.

Patting Colonel Schhainer on the shoulder, Figlein said, "I know, arrange for your people to rest first, and we'll meet after dawn." ”

In the course of one night, Figlein received telegrams from his subordinate units that three cavalry regiments, artillery regiments, assault gun battalions, reconnaissance battalions and other units had successfully broken away from contact with the Soviet troops and were moving towards the vicinity of the town of Sarne.

After confirming that no troops were surrounded, Feglein breathed a sigh of relief.

"The 3rd Cavalry Regiment suffered the greatest losses, amounting to nine hundred men, but it didn't matter. Although we have suffered certain losses, we have regained the ability to maneuver, and now it is our turn to attack. ”

・・・・・・

The 8th Cavalry Division of Figlein moved overnight to the town of Sarne, and when it regrouped, it was on the north bank of the bridge in the basin of the village of Zfoni on the Pripyat River in the northern part of the Pripyat marshes.

Two companies of Soviet paratroopers hid in trenches by the river and spent the first night of the counteroffensive in a daze.

At about 4:20 a.m., a paratrooper walking around the bridge with a gun in his hand suddenly stopped, stuck his head out and looked south.

Soon, the strangeness of this paratrooper attracted the attention of the other sentries.

When a paratrooper captain was notified to rush to the bridgehead, the sentry pointed to the road to the south and said: "Someone is coming, it's cavalry." ”

The paratrooper captain nervously picked up his binoculars and looked south.

After a few seconds, the paratrooper captain put down his binoculars and excitedly shouted: "It's our men, it's the Cossack cavalry, report to your superiors quickly." ”

After the captain finished speaking, he jumped up, rushed across the bridge, and ran towards the cavalry in the distance・・・・・・

Half an hour later, Moscow.

Stalin walked into the General Staff with a pipe in his mouth.

Seeing the smiles on the faces of Vasilevsky and others, Stalin said: "I know by looking at your expressions that there is good news. ”

Vasilevsky handed the telegram to Stalin like a treasure.

"Yes, Comrade General Secretary. This was a telegram just sent by Marshal Budyonny, that our main forces had repelled the scattered German troops in the Pripyat marshes, and that the two Cossack cavalry divisions, which were the vanguard, had rushed out of the marshes and made peace with the paratroopers in victory. ”

Stalin laughed and spat out a smoke ring.

"The mission of the first phase of Operation Guillotine is complete, and that mustachioed villain will definitely not sleep well today, no, not only today, but for a long time to come, he will spend it in nightmares."

*********

PS: At half past ten in the evening, update the second chapter. (To be continued.) )