In the western part of Volkveysk, gunfire rang out one after another, clouds of gray-white gunpowder smoke erupted on the ground, and the rolling grass was full of German soldiers charging.

The No. 3 assault guns were mixed in the charging array, using their steel bodies to shield the charging soldiers from the opposite bullets, and the muzzle of the STUK40 75mm gun spat out a series of fires, and the high-explosive shells smashed into the Soviet positions one by one, clearing all the recalcitrant Soviet firepower points one by one.

The German front advanced to the west step by step, the Soviet line of defense bent to the rear section by section, and the bodies of Soviet soldiers fell in the grass where the battle lines collided, and mottled blood stained the ground next to the houses and between the trenches, and the gun parts were scattered on it.

A large foot wearing black leather boots stepped on it, and everywhere the German soldiers passed, it brought death and fear to the Soviet soldiers.

The prisoners with their hands raised were quickly taken off the battlefield, and the stubborn Soviet troops were pierced by bullets, shells, and bayonets, while more Soviet troops were defeated with the main force.

Immediately after the German Fourth and Ninth Armies met at Volkovysk, they jointly launched a siege of the encirclement and reduced the scope of activities of the Soviet troops in the encirclement.

Under the absolute disadvantage of being cut off from the retreat, surrounded on all sides by German regiments, without supplies, and without air support, the Soviet army was defeated and retreated under the powerful offensive of the German army, and the area of the encirclement was shrinking every minute.

However, on the battlefield west of Volkovysk, it was the attack from behind that really triggered the collapse of the Soviet front.

Along Route 65, which runs east-west, more than 100 Type 4G tanks sent out a wedge-shaped attack formation. Fiercely stabbed into the back of the Soviet positions.

More SDKFZ251 armored vehicles followed behind the tank cluster and pressed mightily towards the Soviet positions.

The steel storm of the 9th Panzer Division became the last straw that broke the camel's back, instantly extinguishing the last vestiges of Soviet soldiers' courage to fight.

Facing a two-sided attack from the Germans. The Soviet front completely collapsed, and the fleeing Soviet troops and the German troops who pursued them were all over the mountains, running frantically on the land.

On Route 65, Major Lorenz was lying on the front of the car, holding a megaphone he had snatched out of nowhere, and shouted at the captives on both sides of the road: "Get out of the way, get out of the way." Don't block the road, go and surrender to the infantry, don't get in the way. ”

His side. From time to time, Captain Nietzsche and Captain Nobel raised their guns and fired into the sky to deter the prisoners.

Driven to both sides of the road, Chen Dao's column of SDKFZ251 armored vehicles marched along the road and crashed headlong into another hurried convoy.

Route 65 passes through an unnamed hamlet and is approached by a convoy of trucks laden with ammunition. Both sides are congested on narrow forks. There are endless arguments over who makes way for whom.

In the cockpit of the truck convoy, a captain was arguing with the driver of the first car of the armored convoy, when he suddenly saw four figures running towards him.

In the reflection of the sun, the red wisdom line on the trouser line and epaulettes of the leading officer was so dazzling that the captain hurriedly stopped arguing, pushed the door and got out of the car, and stood next to the truck.

"Hello, Mr. Lieutenant General."

The captain glanced at the other's epaulettes. Hurriedly saluted and said hello, after seeing each other's faces. A surprising thought arose in the captain's mind, this lieutenant general is so young, no, outrageously young.

"Put down your hand, do you want to kill the general? Don't salute on the battlefield. Behind the lieutenant general, a major shouted.

Behind the major, two captains vigilantly surveyed the dark corners of the premises to see if any Soviet soldiers were hiding inside.

"I'm Heinz. Feng. General Rosen, remember, do not salute or surround senior officers at the front in the future, lest you give the enemy's snipers a direct aim. Chen Dao said.

Heinz. Feng. Rosen? The name is so familiar.

The captain recalled for a moment, and instantly remembered Chen Dao's identity.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I was ordered to deliver ammunition to the front line, and I was in a hurry, so"

"The battle ahead is over, my allies and I have stabbed the Soviets in the back, they have collapsed, your comrades are counting the number of prisoners, you don't need to rush over. I'm in a hurry to get to Volkovysk, let your people pull over to the side of the road and let us pass first. ”

The captain happily agreed to give way, and was about to get into the car, when Chen Dao grabbed him.

"You're from Volkveysk?"

"Yes, my convoy is from Volkwisk." The captain said.

"Who is the supreme commander of the troops in the city? Where to stay in the city? Chen Dao asked.

The captain said: "I heard that the commander of the army, General Strauss, has entered the city with his headquarters, but I don't know where his headquarters lives? ”

It turned out to be the troops of the Ninth Army, and Chen Dao immediately figured out the identities of these infantrymen.

After a brief interlude, Chen Dao's convoy hit the road again, and after passing several convoys and infantry heading west, a city appeared in front of Chen Dao's eyes.

The armored car stopped at the entrance to the town, and Chen Dao called a lieutenant of the military police who was maintaining order with a badge on his chest, and asked, "Where is the headquarters of General Strauss?" ”

"I don't know, Mr. Lieutenant General." The lieutenant replied dryly.

"Immediately contact your superiors and tell him two things, first, let him tell you where the army group headquarters is. Second, let all the gendarmes in the city maintain traffic, and give priority to the troops of our 9th Panzer Division to pass first, hurry up, I'm in a hurry. Chen Dao said.

About twenty minutes later, Chen Dao's armored car, with a gust of wind, rushed to the town hall in the northeast of the city.

Chen Dao jumped out of the car, asked all the way and rushed up to the building, straight to the third floor of the building.

Seeing Chen Dao, who was in the dust, General Strauss, who had become a skinhead because of "young thanks", was very surprised.

"General Rosen, why are you here?" Strauss asked.

"Mr. General, listen to me first. There are three things. First, immediately ask your staff officers to look for a Soviet unit, the 14th Tank Division. See if your intelligence contains the general location of this force. Second, let my troops use the roads in the city first, and I have a secret mission from the High Command to get to Minsk in a hurry. Thirdly, contact the command of Army Group Center, contact Marshal Bock, and ask him to give orders to the various army groups. Let them look for the location of the 14th Tank Division. ”

In the face of Chen Dao's three requests, General Strauss did not answer immediately, but first asked the staff officer to hand Chen Dao a glass of water. Then he asked: "Since you have a secret mission entrusted by the Supreme Command, I can arrange for the gendarmes to clear the traffic for you." But what do you mean by your other two demands, especially the third, if Marshal Bock asks why? I have to have an explanation. ”

Chen Dao took out a blank piece of paper from his chest pocket and handed it to General Strauss. Then he said, "Let your staff officer write down the name." He was a captain officer of the 14th Tank Division, and as for his identity, I also marked it above. ”

General Strauss's face changed after seeing the contents of the note, and then he said to the staff officer beside him: "Write down this name immediately, and then carry out Lieutenant General Rosen's order, let all divisions under the group army look for the number of the 14th Tank Division, and then send a telegram to the headquarters of the group army group to report this name and the number of the 14th Tank Division." ”

Chen Dao drank half a glass of water. Then he said, "Thank you, Mr. General. Hopefully we'll catch this guy. ”

General Strauss shook his shiny head.

"We can only try to catch him. But this is very unlikely. He may have been killed in the previous battle, or he may have fled before the encirclement was closed. In short, we can only fight with all our might, hoping that he is still alive. ”

Chen Dao put down the cup and said, "Even if there is one percent hope, we must do our best one hundred percent." Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. General, I'm on my way, if you find anything here, please let me know in time, and if you stop by, I'll go hunt down that guy. ”

Bidding farewell to General Strauss, Chen Dao's armored car set off again, following the large forces of the Ninth Panzer Division through the city and heading east

South-east of the city of Minsk, the village of Smirovich.

Since joining forces with the 3rd Panzer Army here, Rommel has made this little-known village the headquarters of the 2nd Panzer Army.

After a busy day, a moment before dinner, Rommel walked to the courtyard of the headquarters, and while moving his sore neck and back, he looked at the sky,

There were three fleets hovering in the sky, the largest of which was located northwest of the village of Smirovich.

Rommel roughly counted that the group, consisting of more than forty fighters and bombers, was bombing the defenders of Minsk.

How many bombers are these today? Seventh or eighth? For a whole day, the screeching of Stuka dive bombers did not stop, and the days of the defenders of Minsk must have been very difficult.

After the two Panzer armies met, the battle plan for the attack on Minsk became the primary task, and after discussing with General Hoth, Rommel and General Hoth each sent an Panzer Army to attack, striving to take Minsk in the shortest possible time.

After a night of preparations, on June 29, the sky had just dawned and the battle for Minsk began.

What was very incomprehensible to Rommel was that despite the desperate situation, the Soviet Second Army in Minsk still stubbornly resisted the German attack, and the fighting was fiercer than ever.

On the positions of the 100th and 161st Divisions, the Soviet battalions and companies often fought to the last man, and the battle reports from the German divisions emphatically pointed out that few prisoners were captured.

To the amazement of the German army, there were often two or three Soviet tanks, guiding groups of infantry, braving the fierce fire of German machine guns, mortars and even tank guns, shouting "Ula" to launch a counter-charge, and then being hit all over the ground by the German army's dense guns and shells.

For a whole day, the battle was stalemate outside Minsk, and the plan of Rommel and General Hoult to capture Minsk for one day did not materialize.

And outside Minsk, another battle also lasted a whole day.

Since last night, the besieged Soviet troops have tried to break through the encirclement many times, they dispersed into small units, and used the cover of night and forests to find loopholes in the German positions and secretly escape from the encirclement.

After daybreak, the Soviet troops lost the cover of nightfall.

Over the course of the night, more and more German troops rushed to the vicinity of Minsk, and there were fewer and fewer loopholes in the encirclement that could be used to escape, and the Soviets were forced to switch to a strong attack.

Tanks of various models, such as KV-1, KV-2, T-34, T-26 and BT-5, were mixed together and braved the strafing fire of the Luftwaffe and frantically rushed towards the German positions.

Behind the tank cluster were hordes of cavalry, God knows where they came from, behind the cavalry were infantry, and on the tracks, an ironclad train also roared to the east.

However, under the fierce gunfire of the German army, the Soviet breakthrough force suffered a crushing defeat, the tank was paralyzed on the battlefield, and the black plume of smoke soared into the sky, becoming a steel coffin.

Near the tanks, the corpses of infantry, cavalry and horses were innumerable, and the Germans did not have time to count the results of the battle, so they could only roughly describe their results with the words "a few corpses".

Rommel once inspected the battlefield and saw the tragic scene of the battlefield, among the corpses and tank wreckage everywhere, several war horses stood there alone, bowing their heads and licking the corpse of their master on the ground, as if the master was just asleep.

"It's not a fight, it's a one-sided slaughter." Faced with the battlefield, Rommel sighed.

After a day's battle, Rommel frowned as he looked at the night that had crept into the sky.

Of course, the day is the world of the German army, but in the night, in the surrounding forests, there are still many Soviet routs who will quietly escape.

Let the Soviets in the encirclement run rampant all night, and after tonight, tomorrow the city of Minsk must be taken, and there can be no further delay.

Rommel secretly made up his mind.

"Commander, Commander." A voice rang out from behind Rommel, speaking from his adjutant.

"What's the matter?" Rommel asked.

"An urgent telegram from the command of Army Group that orders us to pay close attention to the movements of the 14th Tank Division of the Soviet Union, and if the position of this unit is discovered, we must eliminate it as a priority, and we must pay close attention to this person among the captured prisoners."

The adjutant gave Rommel the general contents of the telegram as he handed it to Rommel.

"The Fourteenth Tank Division?" Rommel asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's the 14th Tank Division."

The 14th Tank Division was one of the numbers of the Soviet units that launched a decisive charge during the day, along with the 12th, 89th, and 103rd Infantry Divisions, which Rommel learned from his captives.

Looking down at the telegram, Rommel whispered the name.

"Yakov. Dzhugashvili, captain of an armored corps of the 14th Tank Division? (To be continued.) )