Forty-eight kilometers southeast of Orsha City, in the city of Gorky, Yeremenko saw Major General Krivoshin walking into the headquarters, like a drowning man grasping a straw floating on the water, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute and shake hands with him.

"Dear Comrade Krivoshin, you are finally here, there is an important task waiting for you."

"Comrade commander, it looks like I'm not too late, the air force of the Germans is so hateful, they are frantically bombing Smolensk, ignoring civilian casualties, paralyzing the railway system there, where the train we are riding is blocked" Krivoshin said indignantly.

Major General Krivoshin in the reserve of the base camp of the Supreme Command of the USSR, commander of the 25th Mechanized Army.

His troops traveled from Moscow by train to the Orsha front, passing through the city of Smolensk, where he witnessed the devastation of the city.

Buildings were reduced to rubble, and refugees who had lost their homes ran through the rubble in search of the bodies of their loved ones and usable household items.

The railway station is a strategic location, almost no buildings are intact, the railway line is covered with large and small craters, like the face of a pockmarked child, the train cars are torn apart, lying horizontally and vertically on the ground.

Sleepers flew everywhere, rails broke, and the fractures twisted into twists.

Everything shows the cruelty of war, and Krivoshin, although not a rookie on the battlefield, is still shocked.

Yeremenko waved his hand to interrupt Klivoshin's description of the tragic situation in Smolensk and led him to the map.

"We will repay them a hundredfold for everything that the aggressors have imposed on us, and our revenge will start with the Orsha region, here," Yeremenko pointed to the location of the city of Dubrovno on the map.

"The enemy has broken through the defense line of our troops in the area of the city of Dubrovno and built a strong bridgehead. And besieged the city of Dubrovno. Fortunately, the comrades in the city of Dubrovno are still fighting stubbornly, and we must rescue them and drive the Germans down the river. Originally, this counterattack was supposed to be launched this afternoon, but it has to be delayed until now. Your mission is to use tonight's time to get your troops out of their cars and assemble them, and launch a counterattack at dawn tomorrow. We only have this one chance, and in the event of a defeat, not only Dubrovno, but also Orsha will be lost, and even the entire defense line on the Nepro will collapse, you have to know how difficult your task is. ”

Krivoshin hunched over the map and drew a line on the map with his right index finger.

"The 50th Tank Division and the 219th Motorized Rifle Division will arrive first, and I will let them attack on the axis of the road from Smolensk to Dubrovno, and the 55th Tank Division will follow as a reserve. Our strength is still relatively complete, but the vanguard of the 50th Tank Division suffered heavy losses from Luftwaffe air raids on the way forward, and if we are to succeed in tomorrow's counterattack, we need the full cooperation of the Air Force. Krivoshin said.

Yeremenko rubbed his head in embarrassment, in today's daytime battle, although the fighters of the Soviet Air Force never disappeared from the sky, but after all, the Luftwaffe was superior. Had it not been for the interference of the Luftwaffe, the tanks of the vanguard of the 50th Tank Division would have launched an attack on the German bridgehead at the scheduled time. Drive the enemy across the river, and you won't worry about counterattacking here.

In Zhukov's opinion, Yeremenko did not have a flexible brain, but he also knew that at this time, he had to boost the morale of his subordinates and not discourage Krivoshin's enthusiasm, so he immediately said perfunctorily: "I will contact the comrades of the Air Force to provide you with the most powerful fire support." ”

"It's good to have air support. I will immediately go back and organize the assembly of troops, set out overnight, and attack early tomorrow morning. Krivoshin said.

"I await the good news of your victory." Yeremenko said and turned around, wanting to see Krivoshin off.

Krivoshin had just turned around and almost bumped into a staff officer.

"Comrade Commander. This is a telegram from Colonel Alexei in the city of Dubrovno. ”

Yeremenko sent a telegram, hurriedly swept the contents of the telegram, and then said to the intelligence staff officer: "Reply to Colonel Alexei, tell them to hold out until dawn tomorrow." ”

Walking side by side with Krivoshin to the gate of the command, Yeremenko said: "The Germans are besieging Dubrovno, and Colonel Alexei is under great pressure. It's best if his troops can hold out until dawn tomorrow, and if they can't, it's up to you to rescue him. ”

After a pause, Yeremenko continued with a blank face: "Or snatch his body back from the Germans." ”

The fiery sunset sank into the horizon, and the night began to cover the land.

On the eastern bank of the Dnieper, the battle in the city of Dubrovno had come to an end, and as predicted by Lieutenant General Huibich, the Soviet troops in the city held out for less than two hours.

Upon learning of the breakthrough of the 9th Panzer Division in the Dubrovne area, the commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, General Wittersheim, immediately ordered the Guards Flag Division to suspend the fighting in Orsha and instead devote its main forces to the Dubrovne area to assist the 9th Panzer Division in expanding the area of the bridgehead.

Standing side by side with Chen Dao and Lieutenant General Hui Biqi, General Witsheim raised his binoculars and looked at the city of Dubrovno.

The sound of gunfire echoed through the city of Dubrovno, and the night grew thicker, and the Germans had to use flares to illuminate the battlefield.

The flares and the light from the guns in the city shone through his binoculars.

Admiral Wietsheim listened carefully for a while, and could see that the sound of gunfire in the city was extremely sparse, indicating that the battle had entered its final stage.

"Give you another hour to clean up the battlefield, and then start arranging the lines according to the plan you have set. General Rosen, this plan of yours may seem risky, but I think it will definitely leave an indelible impression on the Russians. Admiral Wiesheim said.

Chen Dao shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Admiral Wiesheim: "Defense is a more advantageous way to fight after all, especially when our combat strength has the upper hand, let this battle be a farewell gift to the 14th Armored Army before I leave." ”

"Now that the war is going on, I can probably guess some of the content of your mission, at the time of parting. I can only wish you more brilliant results in the new battlefield, and I think it won't be long before you have an extra star on your epaulettes. Admiral Wiesheim said.

"I don't think that day is too far away." Chen Dao was rarely not modest once.

After the three of them chatted about the situation on the battlefield for a while, Admiral Wietsheim left for the military headquarters, and before parting, he handed over the artillery regiment directly under the headquarters of the 14th Panzer Army to the command of Lieutenant General Huibiqi. This artillery regiment has two battalions of K18105 mm cannons and two battalions of 150 mm howitzers, with a total of 72 guns.

After a day of fierce fighting, the troops of the 9th Panzer Division and the Guard Flag Division did not have time to rest.

In the city of Dubrovno, sappers stood by the broken bridge and used the piers on the Dnieper River to repair the bridge and reopen the ground connection between the east and west banks of the city.

Tanks, armoured vehicles and infantry continued to cross the three pontoon bridges to the south of the city to the east bank, near which anti-aircraft gunners of the anti-aircraft battalion yawned as their comrades crossed the river. Disappear into the night on the eastern bank of the Dnieper.

In the darkness of the night, on the east bank of the Dnieper, soldiers who had already crossed the river were busy digging foxholes and trenches in preparation for the upcoming battle.

In the city of Dubrovno, German soldiers were busy collecting supplies captured from the Soviet army, barbed wire, sandbags, all kinds of waste furniture, in short, all the strategic materials that could be used.

These strategic goods were collected for a single purpose. That is, to turn the city of Dubrovno into a "meat grinder" overnight. A "meat grinder" designed for the Soviet army.

On the banks of the Dnieper River north of Dubrovno, at the carefully selected crossing sites during the day, the sappers of the Adolf Guard Flag Division erected two new pontoon bridges on the river overnight, and the Waffen-SS soldiers drove across the Dnieper in a steady stream, opened new bridgeheads to the east of the two pontoon bridges, and rushed to repair the fortifications overnight. Prepare for tomorrow's battle.

For a long time, on both sides of the Dnieper, the grinding of steel and the shouts of officers came and went, and near dawn, the insects and frogs by the river chirped. A slight snoring sound was heard.

In the village of Nipari, in the headquarters of the 9th Armored Division, Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Hui Biqi were busy all night, and it was not until three o'clock in the morning that the two yawned and said goodnight to each other, trying to seize the time to recuperate before the outbreak of the war.

Chen Dao had just walked out of the headquarters and was about to rest in the courtyard next to the headquarters, when Major Lorenz hurriedly walked towards him, followed by several shadowy figures.

"Your Excellency, who do you see coming?" Major Lorenz excitedly stood beside Chen Dao and pointed to a few people behind him and asked.

Those figures took a few steps quickly, rushed to Chen Dao's side and saluted Chen Dao, led by his adjutant major, Major Bach.

He was followed by two people, Captain Nobel and Captain Nietzsche.

Chen Dao stretched out his right hand to Major Bach.

"It's been a hard walk from Warsaw to here, isn't it?" Chen Dao asked.

Major Bach held Chen Dao's hand tightly.

"On the way here, we saw souvenirs left by the Russians, tanks, trucks, artillery, even planes, and of course, more enemy corpses. You have cleared the way forward for us, and we can say that it is unimpeded, except for the rotten Russian-style roads. ”

Chen Dao smiled dumbly, it seems that Major Bach was also tormented by the bad road conditions of the Soviet Union.

"We will often deal with Russia's bad roads in the future, and you have to adapt to it as soon as possible."

Walking up to Captain Nobel, Chen Dao shook Captain Nobel's hand and asked, "How is our son of Stalin doing in Warsaw?" ”

Captain Nobel said: "In accordance with your instructions, I have only arranged for him to be neighbors with Mrs. Brushilov, without mentioning politics and military affairs. I think that our son of Stalin must now be full of questions, but there is no one to confide in. ”

"If you can't find anyone else, let him go to Mrs. Brushilov and let them get along slowly, as fellow villagers, they can always find a common language." Chen Dao said.

Letting go of Captain Nobel's hand, Chen Dao walked up to Captain Nietzsche, and instead of shaking hands, he suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

Captain Nietzsche hissed, his body twitching.

Putting his right hand on Captain Nietzsche's shoulder, Chen Dao said softly: "At this time, you should be in the hospital in the rear, telling your heroic deeds to the beautiful nurses and ladies, and enjoying their adoring gaze, instead of standing in front of me." ”

Captain Nietzsche said: "You often say that we are a collective, you are all on the front line, and I, as a member of the collective, cannot be separated from the collective. ”

Chen Dao said to Major Bach: "Well, all I can say is welcome back, and back to me when I need you the most. Are they all here? ”

"Your Excellency, your guards are assembling and encamping in the north of the village, but we got off the train from Borisov and marched all the way here on tracks, and on the way we encountered a Russian-style bad road, and seven E-40 tanks were left behind." Major Bach said.

"It's more than 150 kilometers from Borisov to here, and only seven E-40 tanks have been left behind, so you're really lucky." Chen Dao said.

"What is our mission?" Major Bach asked.

"As an armored soldier, I can't think of any other task than attacking. However, your current task is to rest, and I will go and discuss with Lieutenant General Hui Biqi to arrange a combat mission for you, and since you are here, you must leave some souvenirs for the Russians. Chen Dao said.

Two minutes later, Lieutenant General Hui Biqi turned his bloodshot eyes, stared at Chen Dao and asked, "Your guards have arrived?" What preparation? How many people are there? ”

"A brigade has an E-40 heavy armored battalion, which is the core combat force of the whole brigade, a reconnaissance company, an armored infantry battalion, an armored engineer battalion, a self-propelled artillery battalion, a self-propelled air defense battalion, plus the brigade headquarters, a supplementary battalion and logistics units, with nearly 5,000 people."

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi kept blinking his eyes for a long time before digesting this important information, and then shook his head and said to Chen Dao: "I don't have any other thoughts now than jealousy. ”

"Do a good job and use your record to get the right to change clothes first." Chen Dao said.

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi nodded confidently.

"I'll get that priority. Although it hurts, I suggest that your guards go to support the Guard Flag Division, I have the 503 Heavy Armored Battalion here, and the Guard Flag Division is the unit that needs you the most. ”

"Well, let's join forces to fight a beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle and leave a memento for the Russians." Chen Dao said. (To be continued.) )