The Nemunas River flows from Belarus to Lithuania, and its two main tributaries meet at the city of Myarkine, forming the main downstream channel of the river. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

According to the plan of the commander of the Front, Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky, if the city of Myarkine could be captured this summer, a salient with a width of 80 km and a length of almost 100 km would be formed on the northern front of the German army, along the Nemunas River, along the line between Vilnius and Kaunas.

It is like a big wedge, the south can be used to encircle the Belarusian German army, and the west can be used as the fulcrum for attacking East Prussia and Poland, and the initiative of the entire northern front will be in their own hands!

However, although the Central Committee has approved the marshal's plan, due to indications that an unprecedented scale of general war will break out in Ukraine this summer, Tukhachevsky has limited troops, otherwise his original plan was to take the whole of East Prussia and half of Poland before the winter of this year!

He could only wait a little longer: when the combat losses of several of his army groups were replenished -- the rival Northern German Army Group was also accumulating strength, and it was still vigorous, as evidenced by the fact that the Red Army in northern Lithuania had been beaten back a few dozen kilometers after a rapid assault some time ago.

The rainy season hampered both sides' plans for an offensive, but it also gave both sides the best opportunity to recuperate their forces. Everyone understands that the moment when the muddy season is over, it is when a big war breaks out on the Northern Front!

Vilnius, railway station.

Lieutenant Schucklin finally got the four tractors he needed, and the original ones of his company either blew up the shells to scrap metal, or they didn't know that they had been collected by that unit.

Four medium jeeps, this is the real ZIS-3 anti-tank gun suitable towing vehicle, the original small jeep that is a small horse-drawn cannon!

At two o'clock in the afternoon, an engineer major appeared in the area of the railway station, just in time to meet Shuklin, who had just asked someone to find a parking spot for the tractor.

"Comrade Ivanov, why did you come to us." Shuklin greeted him without even a military salute: I had dealt with him many times these days, and I knew that this major, who had been transferred from the other side of Eurasia, was very kind and did not care about these courtesies.

"Let's go, go to your observation post, the city defense command wants me to see if there is any problem with the defense facilities on the front line."

Ivanov said as he walked.

Most of the minefields and barbed wire fences on the outskirts of Vilnius are under his jurisdiction, and many of them have been damaged by targeted regional shelling by both sides these days, and they have had to add more minefields at night on both sides.

However, the minefields that had been laid were inaccessible to people, and in the end the minefields on the front line were a mess, and for the infantry they were everywhere a death zone, and unless they were cleared by covering artillery before launching a large-scale attack, it would be dangerous for tanks to pass.

Through the artillery mirror, Ivanov carefully observed for a long time.

"The offensive channel we originally set aside is right in front of their minefield, damn it!" Having listened to observations, Ivanov, an expert in mine defense, can discern some of the details from all sorts of details.

Shuklin didn't care, "Just wait for the attack to cover the artillery with artillery bombardment." ”

Ivanov put on the hat he had taken off and said with a smile: "Then don't worry, the logistics department has sent me new equipment, which can quickly open up the offensive channel." ”

"Today I looked along the battle line, these ten kilometers are the same as this one, we have to open a few passages enough for a few artillery regiments to be busy for a while, and then we will use explosives."

"That's going to kill a lot of people." Shuklin frowned.

"It's not a manual blasting canister, it's an explosive cable that is ejected by rocket power, and one is several hundred meters long.

"I haven't seen it."

Ivanov sat down, "I haven't seen it before, just sent from the rear, the firing guns are mounted on armored vehicles, it is said that there are 20 of them for the entire front, and 12 for us in Vilnius." ”

When Shuklin heard this, he thought of another place: "You are in charge?" It is estimated that he will be promoted, and he will have a treat when the time comes. ”

"The day before yesterday, my major had already been promoted to a higher rank, and the new rank had not yet been issued. But I don't like to be the head of any regiment, otherwise it will be troublesome to lay mines on the front line. ”

"It is said that in the Far Eastern Army, it is troublesome to raise the ranks?" Shuklin, after congratulating Ivanov, handed him a cigarette.

"The military ranks are not troublesome, according to the regulations, those that are set in peacetime. It's just that the promotion of the position is very slow, there is no way, there is no fight. Veterans are not discharged, and the number of recruits replenished each year is less than one-tenth of what it was before the war. The same is true for officers, colonels, regimental commanders, and captains and company commanders in those units that have not been mobilized have grabbed a handful. ”

Ivanov said that this "colonel, regimental commander, captain and company commander" is a normal phenomenon in peacetime, but compared with the situation in the Soviet-German battlefield, it is a petty officer with a high rank - the number of officers lost is extremely large, and in extreme cases, even sergeants hold the position of company commander; Their commander of the city defense, the commander of the 284th Infantry Division, Nikolai Filippovich Batyuk, was still a lieutenant colonel ten days ago!

A few days ago, in view of the merits of the battle to capture Vilnius and the importance of the position, the decision of the Central Committee was adopted, and Batyuk was directly promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel to major general.

"Ivanov, I heard that people say that you and the deputy commander are friends?"

"They just have a little bit of understanding." Ivanov seems to recall that moment: "At the meeting at Lake Hassan to teach little Japan, the marshal inspected our position and awarded me the Order of the Red Star, which I had seen once before I came to Vilnius, and I did not expect the deputy commander to remember me. ”

Speaking of this medal, Ivanov said: "Our troops in the Far East envy you for being able to fight for the Motherland. In the Far East, not to mention being able to win medals and medals like here, there is very little chance of even grabbing it. Every day is to patrol the border line and train in the camp, not a human life! ”

"Who would have thought? Peaceful days can also become days that are not lived by people. Shuklin smiled wryly.

(Historically, when Germany surrendered, a large number of Red Army troops were transferred to the Far East to prepare for war against Japan, and it was clear from the troops stationed in the Far East that had been stationed in the Far East: on one side, a private could be full of medals, at least a few battle medals, and on the other side, a captain was often empty in his chest.) ）

At this time, a gunshot suddenly rang out from outside the observation post, and Shuklin and the two sat near the entrance, and the direction of the gunfire could be heard clearly.

Shuklin stood up at once and shouted outside: "Watch out for the German shelling, watch for cover, watch for cover!" ”

"Vallekin, Glebov, prepare to fight back!"

Several gunners in the outer trenches slipped into the observation post in their Scuds, and went through the other side of the trench with anti-tank gun bunkers attached to the exit.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, yours will be here first, I have to be busy for a while." Shuklin smiled: his cannon hadn't been opened today.

"What's going on?" Ivanov was still a little confused.

"Listen to the gunshots, it's our snipers at the train station, the Germans must react, they're all used to it, let's give them a few shots!"

In retaliation for the shelling, sure enough, less than two minutes later, there was a scream of shells tearing through the air in the air. (To be continued.) )