Confirming that the "someone" he was looking for was still in the city of Pustoshka and clamoring for a bloody battle with his troops to the end, the commander of the North-Western Front, General Kuznetsov, did not hesitate any longer and immediately gave the order for a general attack, and strongly ordered the 22nd Army, the 21st Mechanized Army and the 10th Mechanized Army, which participated in the battle, to end the battle within 48 hours of the start of the general offensive.

The current situation seemed to be in favor of the North-Western Front, with the German 46th Panzer Corps surrounded by Soviet superior forces in the city of Pustoska, but Kuznetsov was well aware that his forces had only the upper hand on the surface.

The reason is very simple, the periphery of this encirclement, in the north, south and west, is full of powerful German forces, and these German troops will never sit back and watch the 46th Panzer Army be annihilated, and will inevitably come to relieve the siege, not to mention the existence of such a special person as the famous "Your Excellency Brother-in-law" in the encirclement.

Forced by the situation, Kuznetsov had to give an unsympathetic order to attack.

However, after the general offensive was launched, Kuznetsov learned that his orders had gone beyond impersonal and escalated into a ruthless situation.

From the city of Pustoska, where the headquarters of the 46th Panzer Army is located, to Idricsa, where the headquarters of the 21st Mechanized Corps of the Soviet Army is located, only two forest roads can be used.

The wide road barely allowed a KV-2 heavy tank and a T-60 light tank to drive side by side, while on the other dirt road, when a KV-2 heavy tank was running proudly on the road, only one infantry could be allowed to go hand in hand with him, and there was no room for larger vehicles.

The poor terrain doomed the Soviet tank troops to a dilemma, and also doomed the Soviet infantry to tragedy.

On each road, the 10th Panzer Division sent only two E-40 tanks and two Tank IV destroyers. With the cooperation of a small number of infantry, it acted as a roadblock, and successfully played the record of "four vehicles as a pass, ten thousand vehicles cannot be driven".

Two E-40 tanks were concealed behind infantry positions on both sides of the road, blocking the road with crossfire, and even the KV-2 heavy tanks, known for their thick skin, were slaughtered and reduced to black smoke steel coffins. Stay on the road and act as a free barricade for the German army.

As the Germans expected, there was no way to break through the roadblocks, and it was logical for Lelyushenko to focus the breakthrough on the jungles on both sides of the road.

However, the dim light and narrow vision in the woodland made it impossible for the Soviet air force and artillery to find the exact location of the German positions, and to confirm the lines of fire between the two sides in time, let alone provide the necessary fire support. The Soviet infantry could only rush through the seemingly non-existent but seemingly ubiquitous lines of the German army with their flesh and blood.

Soon, the front of the 21st Mechanized Corps of the USSR and the 10th Panzer Division of Germany was full of terrible scenes left by the war.

Distorted steel helmets, discarded gas masks, and blood-soaked fragments of military uniforms can be seen everywhere.

Mottled craters and bloodstained tree trunks, Soviet corpses lay in a staggered manner on the ground littered with branches and leaves, interspersed with a few German corpses.

As the side that won the battle. German figures with M35 steel helmets roamed the battlefield, collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades. Weapons and equipment littered on the ground were confiscated.

The wounded, both enemy and friendly, were carried to the rear, where they would be properly treated.

More infantry seized advantage of the precious gap between battles to continue to strengthen the defenses of their positions.

Since the launch of the general offensive at 4 p.m., the 21st Mechanized Corps has launched three attacks in succession, except for throwing a pile of tank wreckage to block the road. Aside from leaving a pile of corpses to use as fertilizer for the forest, little progress has been made.

To the east of Pustoshka City, the terrain of the 10th Mechanized Army is similar, but compared to the 21st Mechanized Army, their situation is even more desolate.

On both sides of the three roads leading from Velikiya Luki to the city of Pustoska. It is not only the lush forests that stand here, but also the lakes and swamps that can be called a disaster for the tank troops.

The first time he went to the battlefield, he lacked combat experience and encountered disastrous terrain, and the 10th Mechanized Corps, which was approaching with great momentum, was attacked head-on by the Waffen-SS Imperial Division, and was instantly beaten from wolves to dogs, throwing corpses and scrap steel everywhere, and retreating to a safe place "**** wound".

Precious minutes and seconds are passing quickly, the light in the sky is getting darker, and night is about to fall.

The rumbling roar of the engine roared from west to east, like an invisible wall pressing against the battlefield.

A whole flying group of 40 ME-109 fighters flew over the battlefield, and then dispersed into 20 two-plane formations, each looking for a target to join the battle.

Their appearance quickly upset the balance of the air battlefield, and the sky was filled with images of German fighters chasing down Soviet bombers.

The red flames of the plane's volley explosion, the black smoke dragged out of the tail after being shot, and the white umbrella flowers fluttering above the pilot's head when he parachuted were embedded in the background wall made of gray sky, which opened the eyes of the army brothers on the ground.

The one-sided battle did not last long, and the surviving Soviet fighters fled the battlefield in a hurry.

Perhaps because the Soviet Army on the ground was reorganizing and would not launch a new offensive for the time being, the Soviet Air Force did not send new forces to the battlefield, and for a time it disappeared over the battlefield.

Knowing that the fighter group in front drove away the biggest threat, the transport group following behind immediately increased its horsepower.

Thirty JU-52 Junkers haul planes slowly and clumsily hovered over Pustoshka, and as they circled, white parachute flowers fell like dandelions in the city and suburbs.

The German soldiers rushed out of the hidden buildings and positions, rushed to the spot where the white umbrella flowers landed, happily opened the supply boxes that fell from the sky, looted the food and cigarettes inside, and then brought them back to the comrades in the position to share.

More valuable medicines, fuel and ammunition were pooled and distributed by the military headquarters.

The clock was past ten o'clock, and night finally took over the sky completely.

With the cover of night, the Luftwaffe transport fleet moved even more boldly, and almost every moment the roar of aircraft engines hung over the city of Pustoska.

The Luftwaffe and the Army worked closely together to carry out air resupply of the Forty-sixth Panzer Corps overnight, on the ground. The Soviet Army was also not idle.

To the south of Pustoshka, Captain Waski, armed with a submachine gun, cautiously weaves through the woodland.

Beside him, there was a lot of blackness, and there were countless soldiers like him.

They carried a variety of weapons and touched from one tree to the other. Drilling from bushes to bushes, sneakily reaching the German positions to the north.

Before dark, after the general assault on the city of Pustoshka began, Captain Vaski's 51st Infantry Corps also launched a simultaneous attack, and the first target of the attack was the village of Zaporot, where Captain Vasky had suffered.

After the usual 15-minute shelling, all the houses in Zaporot village were reduced to rubble.

Following behind the tanks directly under the military headquarters, the Soviet infantry rushed to the village of Zaporot like a tsunami, but crashed headlong into the slaughterhouse set up by the Germans.

The PAK40 75-mm anti-tank gun and the No. 3 assault gun were bombarded with crisp shelling. The T-60 light tanks that rushed to the front were paralyzed one after another, and the two tanks that were lucky enough to rush into the German infantry positions also died tragically under the "iron fist" of hot metal jets.

The small and agile figure of the Great Lynx light tank is still elusive, and each tank is a mobile pillbox.

Twenty-millimeter machine guns and vehicle-mounted machine guns swept the area, leaving the corpses of Soviet infantry everywhere.

Armored vehicles and German infantry positions formed a breakwater, on which the Soviet infantry smashed into pieces like waves, but could not shake the breakwater in the slightest.

Until dark, the Soviet man's wave charge did not break the German defenses.

Under the strong pressure of the Front Command to destroy the Germans in forty-eight hours, the headquarters of the 51st Infantry Corps had to make a decision about the coming night.

After nightfall. Hordes of Soviet infantry disappeared into the jungles on both sides of the road, including the remnants of the Vasky Company, which had rested throughout the day.

Holding a submachine gun. Captain Waski stumbled through the dense forest with one foot deep and one foot shallow, barely reaching for his fingers.

After walking another five or six meters, Captain Waski's eyes suddenly lit up, and his body quickly flashed behind a bush.

Looking up at the outside of the forest, a flare was rising, bright light. Through the gaps in the branches and leaves of trees, it is projected onto the ground.

By the residual light, Captain Waski looked left and right, and could barely make out five or six of his men within about ten meters of him, and farther away. Only a group of humanoid objects can be seen moving.

Damn, how can you command the whole company to fight under such a line of sight? Captain Waski cursed inwardly.

Cursing is cursing, but the pace of attack cannot be stopped.

Skirting the clump of Daur juniper, Captain Waski set out on the night road again.

About fifty meters away in the dark, a row of huge figures made Captain Wasky's heart beat to his throat.

The huge row of figures consisted of fallen pine trees, branches and needles extending from the main trunk like a wall in front of the eyes of the Soviet soldiers.

It is clear that these pine trees were sawn off here to serve as a barricade.

With the barricades, it means that the Germans' positions are nearby, and perhaps their guns are already aimed at themselves.

Captain Wasky looked around and saw only dark trees and figures of Soviet soldiers.

Driven by a strong sense of crisis, Captain Wasky slowed his advance.

The soldiers at the front of the line began to tear away the thorny branches and leaves of the pine trees, and one by one they stepped over the trunks of the trees that lay across the ground, and continued to advance deeper into the forest.

About twenty meters to Captain Waski's right, a soldier enduring the stinging pain of pine needles in disgust, wrapped his sleeve in his palm to separate the branches that were in the way, and was about to step over the trunk, but he did not notice the thin steel wire tied to the branches.

As the branches were separated, the taut wires were pulled and the fuse attached to the other end was torn off, and a slight "snort" sound was heard on the pine trees, and fine white smoke lingered between the branches.

Five seconds later, the silence of the forest was shattered by the explosion of the M24 grenade, along with the wails of the wounded as they died.

Captain Wasky saw a blinding flash of fire suddenly erupt on his right, and a figure flew out upside down.

The sudden scene almost made his hanging heart jump out of his throat.

Oops, exposed.

While secretly screaming in his heart, Captain Wasky bent over and fell to the ground.

Almost as he lay down, countless bright flames flashed from the dense forest.

Tracer bullets pierced the darkness of the night, as well as the fragile bodies of Soviet soldiers.

One by one, the Soviet soldiers fell, and in almost the blink of an eye, there was not a single soldier standing in the woodland.

Some were killed and wounded by the sudden fire, and many more Soviet soldiers took the initiative to lie down and hide.

Soon, following the tracer bullets and the flame of the muzzle of the German soldier, the Soviet soldier found the position of the German soldier, and even could faintly see the silhouette of the German soldier with the help of the light of the muzzle flame.

Returning fire began, with the Bobosha submachine gun and SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle firing first, followed by the Dzhegarev light machine gun, and then the bulky Makqin heavy machine gun.

Soon, the explosion of grenades and mortar shells joined in, and the various gunfire sounds played together to play a song called "Forest Rhapsody".

"Take a detour, find a way to make a detour, outflank those Germans."

The battalion headquarters herald was so powerful that he touched Captain Waski's side at some point and brought the battalion commander's supreme instructions.

As a last resort, Captain Waski could only observe the battlefield area, and then decided to move westward, looking for a detour route that could outflank the German army.

"Come with me・・・・・・"

Because of the lack of light, Captain Wasky could only gather his soldiers along the way, who looked like his own company, and stumbled westward into the dark.

Captain Waski was caught in the middle of the line, observing the movement of the battlefield as he hurried, and as he was about to bypass the battlefield, he suddenly found that the team had stopped.

"What's the matter? Why stop? Captain Wasky asked in an angry whisper.

"Comrade company commander, it seems that something is going on in front of you." A soldier pointed to the front of the line, a figure standing upright and motionless.

"Who's standing there? Why not move. Waski shouted.

"I'm Vanya・・・・・・ I've stepped on a mine." A crying voice came.

"Are you sure?" Waski asked.

"I think ・・・・・・ should be a mine."

"Retreat, retreat." Captain Waski hurriedly shouted to the soldiers beside him, but his shouting was completely excessive, and when he heard someone stepping on a mine, the other soldiers had wisely stayed away from the unlucky man.

"Comrade Company Commander, remember to give me ・・・・・・"

Vanya was about to give his last words to Vaski, when a "lightning light" suddenly flew from the jungle on the right.

A volley of tracer bullets passed through Vanya's body, and before his body could fall to the ground, a ball of fire erupted from beneath his feet・・・・・・

Ten seconds later, Captain Waski shouted to the herald: "You go back and tell Comrade Battalion Commander that either let us retreat, or send us sappers." (To be continued.) )