"Quick! The train is coming, and the ministries are ready. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info Be sure to bring all your gear on the train within half an hour. A regiment commander ordered the officers and men of the battalions and companies below.

Tennanberg Railway Station has become the busiest railway station in East Prussia. The 8th Army's 11th Army, the 20th Army, and the 8th Panzer Division had to be transferred from here to Lake Masuri.

The 8th Panzer Division has already left first, and they need to receive new tanks, and then take the time to familiarize themselves with their new tanks, so that they can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible and catch up with this big battle against the Russian 1st Army.

A few minutes later, a train entered the station. During the time when the train was filled with water and coal, the soldiers entered the carriages in order. Of course, in order to carry as many soldiers and equipment as possible, each carriage was packed to the brim, as if it were canned sardines. Although it is not as good as the Spring Festival in later generations, it is not much better. In particular, the Germans are generally taller, and it is undoubtedly even more aggrieved for them to squeeze into the carriage.

It's just that these Germans have a tough character. Soldiers, in particular, are able to endure pain, and no one cries out for suffering.

In order to transport as many troops as possible to Lake Masuri, road transport was essential in addition to rail transport. Maybach trucks, loaded with heavily armed German soldiers, rushed to Lake Masuri. Although the weight of the current truck is not large, a truck can only transport a squad of soldiers and their equipment. However, Qin Tian equipped the 8th Army Corps with more than 2,000 trucks, and after deducting those trucks used to transport supplies, he was able to transport a division of soldiers and their equipment to Masuri Lake at one time.

Thanks to Germany's great attention to transportation construction, whether it is rail or road, the density in the whole of Europe is the largest, and the quality is also the best, which makes the German 8th Army Corps able to move quickly.

According to the plan of the staff of the 8th Army Corps, it would take only two days to transport the 11th Army, the 20th Army and the 8th Panzer Division to Lake Masuri. That is, on the evening of August 23, they were all able to reach the eastern part of Lake Masurian and enter their intended positions. From 24 August, the offensive was possible.

And the 1st Army of the Russian Army, if it wants to withdraw from the Masurian Lake area in two days, it is almost impossible. In particular, the 17th Army followed them and launched an attack. Previously, they had been delaying the Russian 1st Army, and many times they had to retreat so as not to frighten the Russians. Therefore, most of the combat effectiveness cannot be brought into play. Now it is undoubtedly for them to let go of their hands and feet, which can naturally make the combat effectiveness of the 17th Army fully brought into play, thereby further inflicting greater casualties on the Russian army, delaying their retreat, and creating opportunities for the main force to catch up, and buying more time.

"Fire!"

On the morning of August 23, on the artillery position of the 87th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the German Army, a 75-mm field gun, a 105-mm light howitzer and a 155-mm heavy howitzer had raised their muzzles and aimed at a blocking position of the Russian army.

When the commander of the Russian 1st Army, General Leinkenamp, also expected that the Germans would pursue them when they retreated, so they left a lot of Russian troops to block layer by layer, so as to delay the Germans and buy more time for their main forces to retreat.

The 1st Army suffered heavy losses in the previous battles. However, the main force is still there. After all, this group army is a huge group army with 20 infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions, and its strength is very strong, with a total strength of more than 300,000 troops. Even after deducting the battle losses, there are still nearly 300,000, which is still a powerful group army.

It's just that Admiral Leinenkamp was already frightened and didn't dare to stay and continue the fight at all. The fact that the German 8th Army was able to easily eat the 2nd Army undoubtedly proved that their combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the Russian 2nd Army. You must know that even the 1st Army is not capable of defeating the 2nd Army in such a short time. Therefore, Admiral Leningkamp naturally believed that his 1st Army was far from being an opponent of the German army. Then, for him, retreat undoubtedly became the best option.

Even Ivan, who stayed in Warsaw? Admiral Gilinsky also held the same view. Therefore, Admiral Leningkamp was able to make up his mind to speed up the retreat and ignore the rest.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

The German artillery opened fire fiercely, smashing one shell after another into the positions of the Russian infantry division. Dense explosions sounded, and the Russian army, which had only built an improvised defensive position, could not withstand the heavy shelling of the German army at all. Their fortifications were easily destroyed by the shelling. The Russian soldiers hiding inside were either dead or wounded.

The German shelling lasted for half an hour. Such a fierce artillery bombardment directly smashed the Russian defense line to pieces, and the casualties were even heavier.

Even, the Russian army in some sections has already retreated voluntarily because of heavy casualties.

Subsequently, the Germans went on the offensive.

The strong firepower gave the Germans a great advantage when defending, and they could kill the enemy with the help of powerful firepower. When attacking, the strong firepower also makes them extremely powerful to attack.

When the Germans attacked, the Russian troops on the defensive line were often suppressed by powerful firepower and could not even lift their heads, let alone counterattack. In addition, the morale of the broken troops was already relatively low, and the will to fight was also very weak. In the face of a powerful German offensive, their defenses soon crumbled.

After the defensive line was breached, a large number of Russian troops scattered and fled. Once caught up, these Russian soldiers tend to throw up their hands in surrender. For them who have a weak will to fight, saving their lives is the most important thing.

This made the German 17th Army capture a lot of Russian officers and soldiers in the process of pursuing the Russian army. A lot of their time was wasted in order to accommodate these prisoners of war.

But even so, it will not be so easy for the 1st Army of the Russian Army to leave Lake Masuri.

In order to escape the encirclement and interception of the German army, the Russian army even took the initiative to give up a large amount of heavy equipment. They didn't think about how they would fight the Germans without these heavy equipment once they were blocked by the Germans.