Whether the No. 4 bridge was lost or not was very important for the Soviet army. And now it seems that there is only one solution to this important highway bridge, whether it is lost or not.

The commander of the Soviet army in Smolensk, Budyonny, really did not dare to let the front line go wrong and guess, he decided to send the air force to blow up the bridge and use practical actions to ensure that the bridge was absolutely destroyed.

"Immediately organize attack aircraft, dispatch the most advanced Il-2 attack aircraft! I need to destroy the Route 4 bridge! This order must be carried out immediately! Budyonny looked at the telegram from Vitebsk and ordered to his own air commander.

"Comrade Marshal...... We are still not sure whether the Germans occupied the No. 4 highway bridge, and on the other side of the bridge, there are still our two corps, nearly 30,000 troops ......fighting," the commander of the air force looked at Budyonny in shock, and opened his mouth to remind.

Budyonny waved his hand and shook his head again before continuing to command: "Comrade...... War is about sacrifice......"

If he had a choice, he didn't want to isolate more than 30,000 friendly troops on the other side of the bridge and be annihilated by the Germans in vain.

But the problem now is that he has no better choice. There is definite information that the Germans are attacking in the direction of Vitebsk, and eighty percent of the highway bridge No. 4 has been taken over by the Germans.

"Securing Vitebsk is our most important task at the moment! For the sake of the motherland, let the comrades of those two armies fight until the last moment! He looked at his men and insisted word by word.

With a military salute to his commander, the commander of the Air Force went to assign the task of blowing up the bridge.

And at the same moment, the Soviet troops, who turned back to attack the railway bridge, were blocked by the Germans at a considerable distance.

"And the cannons?" Looking at his subordinates, the commander of the Soviet army, who had lost the No. 4 Highway Bridge, turned pale and asked.

The railway bridge, which seemed to be impossible to lose, was lost so inexplicably. His only thought now is to do everything in his power to destroy this vital bridge.

The safest way, the most primitive way, is to use artillery and fire desperately at that bridge.

As soon as a few shells landed on that bridge, the load-bearing design would be destroyed and the road bridge would no longer be in service.

With a little luck, we could blow up the bridge and completely block the German troops crossing the bridge on the other side of the bridge.

If this can be done, then the German army will be partially surrounded by the Soviet army, and the defeat will be successful.

"Our cannons...... It's still in front of the position......" The chief of staff replied through gritted teeth, looking at his own soldiers who had been strafed back by the German machine-gun position.

It seems that it will not work at all to rely on the counterattack of the infantry to break through the German defenses. The Germans' crossfire was very ferocious, and the position changed very quickly.

"I'm here to keep attacking! You take someone back and find a way to get the cannons you can find! The commander glanced at his chief of staff and opened his mouth to give a new order.

He can't fully pin his hopes on retaking the bridge, or he has lost hope of retaking it.

Now all he had in mind was to fire at the bridge with cannons, to keep himself and the Germans at bay forever.

The chief of staff nodded, and hurriedly led the people back. Bring back the cannon and bombard your only retreat, destroying the only possibility of retreat...... It's sad to think about.

However, he still has to carry out this order, because the motherland needs them to carry out such an order.

On the field airfield in the rear, Soviet pilots were lifting the camouflage net on their planes. The task of this take-off was simple and difficult - to destroy the Route 4 bridge.

They didn't know that there were friendly troops on the other side of the bridge, so they whispered as they prepared for the take-off mission.

"Those idiots in the army, they even forgot to blow up the bridge when they retreated?" A ground crew member asked the pilot next to him while packing up the camouflage net.

"I don't know what they're up to...... Perhaps, they didn't have time to blow up the bridge! "The pilot is not in a good mood either, and taking off at this time is almost the same as suicide.

"What else can those bastards do? Retreat retreat, the only thing they know is retreat! The ground crew put the camouflage net on the side of the plane and complained helplessly.

What he complained about was really speechless, after all, the ground forces were indeed routing all the way and retreating all the way.

But if they really want to be investigated, their air force is not much better. They have basically not dared to take off for combat since a month ago.

The sky has always belonged to German aircraft, and only in the dark of night did they dare to take off their planes and carry out some small-scale missions.

For example, throwing some ammunition on the encircled army in the rear, or bombing some places at random, proves that the Soviet Air Force was not completely wiped out.

Just as they were about to take off, the air defense sirens at the field airfield sounded harshly.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! An officer rushed onto the runway and shouted at the Soviet pilots who were about to take off: "Quick! Find a place to hide! ”

Everyone looked at the shouting officers in amazement, and then they saw the little black dots of dust in the distant sky.

If you don't look carefully, if it weren't for the early warning posts on the front, they simply wouldn't have spotted the German planes at such a distance.

If you take off at this time, you will inevitably be chased by the German escort fighters. If the plane does not take off at this time, camouflage the entire field airfield, it will be too late.

"Hell, how can they find time so well?" Looking at the enemy planes that were getting closer and closer, the Soviet pilots complained in a low voice as they ran into the bunkers next to them.

For this bombing, it was very lucky. By the time the German bombers flew near the Soviet field airfield, there were still six Il-2 attack planes parked on the runway ready to take off.

At the same time, the German ground forces launched the most fierce attack, this time not in other directions, but to squeeze the Soviet troops near the Highway 4 bridge and drive them out of the safe zone.

The sky-shattering rocket artillery covered the Soviet position, and before they could return fire, the Soviet army's long-range firepower was completely suppressed.

The general offensive of Manstein, at the most undesirable moment for the Soviets, began.