In January 1942, the long winter was still not over. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info From space, most of the USSR is still covered with snow.

The temperature is still cold in Moscow, let alone in Siberia. Even in the warmer regions of Belarus and Ukraine, the temperature is below freezing.

On January 8, the temperature in the Turov area suddenly rose, not because of the warmer weather, but because of the heat generated by the German tank engines, which brought a touch of warmth to the small city.

New German tanks drove through the streets of Turov, followed by SDFZ251 half-tracks and trucks carrying German soldiers.

The huge convoy drove out of the small city and headed as fast as it could for the battlefield to the southeast.

At the front, the 4th Tank Group, the vanguard of the German army, had been largely assembled and ready to attack at any time.

"When will the bombers arrive?" Army Group Center Commander Bock asked his nephew, Army Group Center Chief of Staff Tresko.

Tresko looked at his watch, calculated the time of the bomber's arrival, and said, "It should be almost there." ”

At this time, one after another Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, under the cover of BF109 fighters and a small number of FW190 fighters, flew over the battlefield.

At the command of the Luftwaffe commander, one after another Ju-87 "Stuka" dive bombers swooped down from high altitude and dropped bombs over the Soviet fortifications.

The bombs soon fell on the Soviet positions, the mud and black explosive residue from the bombs flew everywhere, and some Soviet soldiers who could not escape were blown into pieces of meat, but the Soviet pillboxes in the Mozyri fortress area were still standing.

Due to the limited number of bombs, and the fact that most of the Soviet troops dodged in time, the casualties caused by the air raids were not serious, and the Mozyri fortress area was still defensible.

"Order all troops to prepare," Marshal Bock looked solemn, for he knew how much his next words would affect the situation of the Soviet-German war, "to start the offensive according to the original plan!" It is necessary to break through the Russian defense line in the shortest possible time. ”

After Bock's order was given, the German artillery units began to launch artillery strikes on Soviet positions. After the shelling ended, tens of thousands of German troops rushed forward one after another like war horses on fire.

Leading the way was the No. 3 assault gun of the German artillery unit, a self-propelled gun equipped with a 75 mm assault gun, which was designed to strike fortifications and was very effective in previous battles.

Moreover, this self-propelled gun also had thick frontal armor (50 mm thick in the early model, later improved to 80 mm), and the Soviet ZIS-3 anti-tank gun simply could not penetrate this monster from the front, but this does not mean that the Soviet army did not have a way to deal with it.

"Boom!" An 85 mm armor-piercing shell was fired from the Soviet M1939 (52-K) anti-aircraft gun, easily penetrating the frontal armor of a No. 3 assault gun, and the brand new No. 3 assault gun was destroyed.

The destruction of one assault gun No. 3 did not affect the progress of the German offensive, and while the Soviet soldiers were busy dealing with the other three assault guns (the other three assault guns), the German "fortress assault team" had already avoided the fire point of the Soviet fortress and successfully rushed to the Soviet pillbox.

An assault soldier took a flamethrower and approached a small hole in the pillbox, ready to put the flamethrower into this small hole and burn the Soviet troops inside by surprise.

"Boom!" The assault soldier suddenly stepped on a mine and was killed instantly.

It turned out that the Soviet army had already made some preparations for these assault troops, and deployed mines in the area of fire dead ends next to the pillboxes to prevent the German commandos from approaching.

However, the commandos were not alone, and after the mine exploded, the other commandos rushed forward again, this time without detonating any mines.

But as they approached the hole, a grenade suddenly came out of it. It turned out that the mine explosion just now attracted the attention of the Soviet troops in the pillbox, allowing the Soviet troops inside to judge the location of the commando.

"Boom!" The grenade exploded, this time killing 1 more commando and seriously injuring the remaining 2. This move of the commandos failed, and the Mozyr Fortress remained in the hands of the Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.

"Report to the chief, the 41st Panzer Corps has broken through the enemy's defenses in the strip between the Mozyr and Krosten fortresses and is now advancing towards Ovluch (Овруч)."

When Bock heard this, he was overjoyed, and immediately ordered: "Order General Moder to advance to Ofruch as quickly as possible, occupy the city as soon as possible, and cut off the railway line between Mozyri and Krosten." ”

"Yes!"

Ofrucci is a small town with a population of less than 10,000 people, and although it is small, it is strategically important for the Krosten-Mozyri railway line.

The German occupation of Ofrucci meant that the North Germans would be cut off by railway between the two fortified areas of Mozili and Krosten, and the two fortified areas would not be able to support each other.

The 41st Army, which occupied Ofrooch, could also send one or two divisions north or south along the railway to attack the Mozyr Fortress Area or the Krosten Fortress Area from behind, so that the Soviet troops stationed in the fortress area would face the danger of being flanked from front to back, and the defense line would be easily breached, and the situation would be very dangerous for the Soviet Army.

"Sir, this is a telegram from General Modell."

Tresko took the telegram from the communicator's hand and read it from beginning to end, his brow furrowed.

"Henning (Tresko), how's the 41st Panzer Corps?" Marshal Bock asked, holding the binoculars.

"Mr. Marshal (the German Wehrmacht generally calls it Heer + rank, Heer means "sir" in moral education), the 41st Panzer Army was attacked by the Russian army, the main force was blocked by the Russian army, and there were Russian troops in front and on the flanks, and the Russian army is currently attacking the 41st Army from the southwest and northeast sides, and it is currently in a bitter battle.

General Moder estimated that the Russian army had at least 4 divisions or more deployed and requested Army Group Center and Army Group South to send at least 3 divisions of ground troops and an aviation group to reinforce them. ”

"What?" Marshal Bock couldn't quite believe this fact, "The 41st Army was caught in the middle of the Russian army?" ”

"According to Moder's telegram, they were indeed caught in the flanks by the Russian army." Tresco explained.

"Inform the command of Army Group South and request the 6th Army to immediately launch an offensive in the Krosten fortress area! The 2nd Army was ordered to advance at full speed towards the area around Ofrooch-Krosten to reinforce the 41st Panzer Corps. ”

"Yes!"