Dmiyansk, Minsosk.

German SS skeleton division.

"General Ludwig, the third attack of the Russians today was repelled by us, but our casualties were also heavy."

"I don't need to hear casualties!" Commander of the Skull Division, Waffen-SS Lieutenant General Ludwig. Erilster's face was grim: "I must hold on here, this is the order given to me by the Führer himself!" ”

"Yes, General, but we need supplies. Also, we don't have much food left, and the current situation is very critical. ”

"Colonel Vanderwiny, commander of the 2nd Skull Infantry Regiment, haven't you understood one thing until now?" Ludwig stared at his subordinates: "You have to understand to me, the name of this unit was once called the Skeleton Commando, it was the unit commanded by Baron Alexon, and this is an undefeated army!" If anyone ends the glory of this army with defeat, it will be the most unforgivable sinner in Germany! ”

"Yes, General, I see."

Ludwig sorted out his military uniform: "Now, let's go to the front and have a look." ”

On the front line, German soldiers, who had just repelled an enemy attack, were reorganizing their battlefields and repairing trenches that had been attacked countless times by Soviet artillery.

"General."

"General."

Seeing General Ludwig appear, the German officers and soldiers stood up one after another.

"Leave me alone and go about your own business." Ludwig came up to a soldier who looked very badly wounded and crouched down: "Hey. How's it going, lad? ”

"General, I'm in pain" The wounded soldier gasped heavily: "I'm going to die." Is it? ”

"My dear soldier, you won't die." Ludwig tried to make his expression look as relaxed as possible: "Look, we have the best doctor, right?" You've got to live, you've got to be in good shape, and then we're going to Stalingrad together and we're going to kill the Russians together. ”

A smile appeared on the wounded soldier's face: "I will try." General"

When he finished saying this, his body twitched violently, and after a while. And he died.

Ludwig closed his eyes and stood up: "Doctor, what else can you do?" ”

"General, there is nothing we can do. I'm running out of medicines. And what's even more terrifying is that it's so cold in Russia, and many soldiers could have been cured, but because of the damn cold weather."

"Yes, the cold weather, we still lack medical medicine, we always come up with excuses for ourselves." Ludwig smiled coldly: "But, if Baron Alexon is still here." He never makes any excuses for himself, and he doesn't need any excuses! Doctor. This is the Skeleton Division, every soldier's life is precious, I order, you must do everything in your power to save every soldier's life! ”

"Yes, General!"

"General, new information!" The chief of staff, Colonel Reiter, hurriedly walked over: "The 118th and 133rd divisions of the Soviet Union 118th Belorussian Front have arrived at the battlefield. That is, now 4 divisions of the Soviets have gathered around us! We were completely surrounded! ”

Ludwig didn't panic at all, but laughed: "Colonel Whitle, this is really good news, the Russians actually used four divisions against us, hey, we are invincible skeleton divisions!" ”

Wrightle shrugged, he didn't dare to be as optimistic as the general. Around him, there are 4 divisions of the Soviets!

"There's really good news, though." Wrightel perked up: "The 2nd SS Panzer Corps planned to organize a rescue operation codenamed 'Goddess de Nolandes', and they hoped that the SS Panzer Corps would break through the lines of the 91st Army of the Belorussian Front and the Leningrad Front."

"What about our mission?"

"As the vanguard of the encircled troops, tear a hole in the encirclement of the Soviets!"

"Who came up with this plan? It's nonsense! Ludwig suddenly became furious: "Around us, there are 4 Russian divisions!" We are under siege, how can we break through? Kindness? Can anyone tell me how I should act as a spearhead? ”

Whitter shrugged, he couldn't answer the general's question either.

"General, the Soviets are ready to attack."

The sudden arrival of information calmed Ludwig. Now is not the time to think about how to break through, but how to repel this attack of the enemy!

"All troops, positional positions, ready for battle!"

The Soviets opened fire, and shells fell around the position, as if to test the willpower and endurance of the German soldiers.

However, these lads of the Skeleton Division have long been accustomed to this way of fighting.

When the artillery was ready to end, the Soviet troops, who were black and pressed and could not see the end at a glance, shouted "Ula" and rushed towards the German positions.

This was the most tragic battle, and those Soviet troops used the tactics of a sea of people, layer by layer, stacked on top of each other, like a tide, rushing towards the position wave after wave.

The "Ula" chanting in their mouths seemed to be able to give them the courage to win

The German soldiers of the Skeleton Division behaved very calmly, and they waited until the Soviets were within range before all their weapons opened fire at the same time.

It was a terrible killing

An SS lieutenant in the 401st Panzer Battalion of the SS Skeleton Division, Os. Hannemann wrote in his diary:

"We don't have any equipment left, decent equipment is frozen in the snow, and our guns can't shoot bullets, fortunately, the air force bears dropped a batch of more reliable weapons, but after dropping the weapons, the Air Force's Junkers 87 transport aircraft fell into the Soviet anti-aircraft fire, like a butterfly that fell into a spider's web, and a wing was broken under Soviet fire. It was planted on the ground like a spinning top and became as beautiful as a firework, and the Soviet tanks were much more unlucky. Our anti-tank guns opened fire like madmen, and the Soviet tanks were effortlessly torn into a ball of steel and flames, and we had a private discussion about what the Soviet soldiers in the tanks would be burned into. No one knows what to do, because no one cares about them, and everyone cares about whether they can succeed or not."

Bloody battles are going on on every inch of the position!

The German soldiers cheered up and showed all their skills, submachine guns, rifles, and machine guns in their hands. Bullets rained down on the Russians who tried to rush to their positions.

They can't abandon their positions here, they have to fight to the end!

For the glory of Germany, and for the sake of living up to this holy name:

Skeleton Division!

Ludwig watched the battle nervously. He can't wait to pick up a gun and fight the Russians to the death now!

The Russians are dying in large numbers, and the casualties of the Skeleton Division are also increasing. The death of every soldier made Ludwig's heart feel as if he had been stabbed with a knife.

That's the most precious treasure of all!

What would Baron Alexon do if he was here? Ludwig suddenly thought of this question.

No, the baron would not allow his troops to suffer such casualties. The Baron will definitely come up with something else! Pity. He is not a baron, and the only thing he can do is to command these brave soldiers to live up to the name of "skeleton"!

The Russians were beaten down in a batch, and then rushed in another. There are so many of them that they can't be killed!

Time has become so precious!

Only when it gets dark will the Russians temporarily stop the offensive

Finally, the hardest time passed. As the sky began to darken, the Russian offensive began to slow down. Gradually. They stopped the offensive.

The air was filled with the smell of blood

The German soldiers sat on their positions tiredly and survived another terrible day full of death threats. These who have not yet died are undoubtedly some of the lucky ones.

But what about tomorrow? What will happen tomorrow? No one can know the Tao

Ludwig looked at the battlefield irritably, and today he resisted the attack of the Russians, but what about the breakthrough required by his superiors? Hell how to break through!

A large number of bonfires were lit, which would have made the Germans a target for Soviet snipers, but the cold weather had made it impossible for the German soldiers to care.

The sentinels did not forget to perform their duties, and they watched their surroundings vigilantly

Suddenly, a sergeant seemed to notice something, and someone seemed to be walking over there!

He raised his gun nervously and asked in a low voice, "Who?" Stand still! ”

"Don't shoot!" An unmuffled voice came.

The sergeant and the soldiers beside him saw the people who came clearly, and they almost wondered if they were mistaken.

The man who walked in front, wearing an M1899 eagle helmet and a military general's field uniform, wore a medal of merit on it. On the feet, it is the M1865 type high boot.

The man in the back wears an M1896 officer's cap, a Bavarian light infantry double cuff on the sleeve of his field uniform, and an M1894 Bavarian version of the 6th class marksman ribbon on his shoulder.

These two men looked unusually young.

How many years ago was this military uniform?

"Who are you?" The sergeant did not let his guard down, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked.

"I'm going to see Ludwig right away. Erilster! The leading general said.

The sergeant was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that he was talking about his division commander: "Oh, this is not good, you have to tell me who you are first, the general is not easy to see." ”

There seemed to be an irresistible majesty in the young general's voice: "I must see him at once!" ”

The officer behind him, wearing a double cuff of the Bavarian light infantry, suddenly "hula" unfurled a flag.

That's—the Skeleton Battle Banner! (To be continued.) )