Beloborodov was so anxious that sweat broke down on his forehead, because he could not find a place where he could hold the enemy at his risk, and just when he was at his most anxious, Petrovsky's telegram arrived.

In the telegram, Petrovsky ordered Beloborodov to move quickly north, cross the Bug River as fast as he could, and then advance in the direction of the Narev River, and as for blocking the enemy, Petrovsky said: "I have already arranged it! ”

It was indeed arranged, and at the very beginning Petrovsky considered the possibility of Beloborodov being entangled, and in case he could not completely shake off the enemy, it was necessary to have a strong blocking force to help Beloborodov get out.

At that time, Petrovsky glanced at the terrain south of the Bug River and east of the Levitz River, and he, like Beloborodov, suddenly cooled down half a waist, and the terrain here was flat and completely undefendable!

But no danger to defend does not mean that you really can't defend, after some thought, Petrovsky left a battalion of infantry in the small city of Vohov, and explained to them: "Do your best to repair the fortifications, and the work of the main force will be handed over to you!" ”

This was not an easy task, but the battalion commander Berdyaev took it without complaint, and he assured Petrovsky: "Even if there is only one man left in my battalion, I will not let the enemy go beyond Vohov!" ”

Berdyaev said so, and did so, after the capture of Vohov, his battalion began to repair the fortifications day and night, almost dug Vhokhov to the bottom, and laid out four lines of defense along the small city, especially in the city, where the fortifications were almost covered with cobwebs.

When Beloborodov's armored forces arrived at Vohov. They were all taken aback. He couldn't imagine that such a tight fortification could be repaired in a day or two.

"Comrade Berdyaev. You've done a great job! Can you tell us how you did that? ”

Berdyaev smiled and replied: "Of course, we can't do it with more than 500 fighters in our battalion alone, and we have fully mobilized the residents of Vohuv!" ”

This made Beloborodov even more astonishing, because he had not dealt with the Poles, and generally the footcloths were not very cooperative, either outright refusing or passively sabotaging, and in general these men were unlikely to take the initiative to help the Red Army.

"How did you do that?" Beloborodov asked in surprise.

Berdyaev looked around and did not find the NKVD and the commissar after the deposit. Only then did he reply in a low voice: "Bayonet and machine gun!" ”

Beloborodov immediately understood that Berdyaev was probably coercing the Poles to cooperate by force, and it was not even ruled out that he had already used the means of killing chickens and monkeys. However, this Qiē Belorodov does not care, he is not a pedantic person, and he can't care so much at critical moments. As long as the troops can be safely out of danger, it is understandable to use some unconventional means when necessary.

Beloborodov patted Berdyaev on the shoulder and whispered: "Be sure to pay attention to secrecy, and when your superiors ask you about it in the future, you will say that the Poles took the initiative to assist us, as for the Poles who died." Let's just say that they are accomplices and supporters of the Nazis! ”

Berdyaev nodded slightly, and then asked with some embarrassment: "Comrade Beloborodov." My troops lack fire support, do you have extra artillery to support us a little? ”

When he asked this, Berdyaev felt blushing, who didn't know that their troops were all put together, most of the troops' heavy weapons were lost, and every piece of artillery was incomparably precious, where was there anything superfluous!

But Belorodov was really interesting enough, and immediately said: "In this way, I have captured some German tanks, and now there are five or six left, and if your people can drive, I will give them all to you!" ”

Berdyaev hurriedly replied: "I have a tankman here!" ”

Beloborodov immediately called his staff officer, left three tanks No. 3 and two tanks No. 2 to Berdyaev, and shook hands with Berdyaev to say goodbye. It's just that neither of them knew that this was the last time they met, and in the battle that followed, Major Berdyaev, who was a little ghostly, died heroically. Of the more than 500 people in his department, only more than 100 people successfully entered East Prussia.

The Germans came quickly, and after only an hour and a half of Beloborodov had gone, the German pursuers reached the outskirts of Vohov, and the battle soon began. This time the Germans were quite anxious, and did not let the Polish footcloth take the lead as cannon fodder as before, but personally went into battle at the beginning!

About a platoon of German infantry, under the cover of 77-mm field guns, launched an attack on Berdyaev's outlying positions, and it was evident that the Germans were in a hurry, and the shelling was short, barely causing any trouble to Berdyaev's boys, and after a short shelling, the German infantry rushed to charge.

Berdyaev calmly ordered: "Don't shoot, listen to my orders, get closer, and eat these dogs in one go!" ”

The silence of the Red Army made the Germans even more presumptuous, presumably thinking that the Russians in the city had been frightened and that perhaps a single armed march would retake Vokhov. But they were wrong, and when they came within two hundred meters of the Red Army's position, the light and heavy machine guns opened fire violently in disguise, and in a matter of minutes there were no bones left for this platoon to eat.

"Shift the machine-gun positions and get ready for enemy shelling!"

Berdyaev gave orders in an orderly manner. Under his command, the fighters raised their machine guns and tripods and began to move in an orderly manner, and a few minutes later, when the German mortar shells fell, the original position was already empty.

"Very good, just fight like this!" Beloborodov seemed to be in a good mood and joked with the fighters: "Fight at this pace, and all of you will become Heroes of the Soviet Union!" ”

On the contrary, the Germans were a little worried, and in the previous two days of encirclement and suppression operations, they were almost led by the nose, walking dogs in a big circle, and the troops were tired and breathless.

It was easy to find the true location of the enemy, and he was ready to bully a guerrilla team with superior forces and firepower, and settle accounts with these moles. Who would have thought that it was not rats but poisonous snakes hiding in rat holes. Not only did they fail to take revenge. Instead, another platoon was put in.

"Let the artillery hit hard. Kill these bastards! The German commander scolded viciously.

And the artillery also carried out his intentions faithfully, and the field artillery and mortars opened fire at the same time, and a string of shells rained down on Vohov, blowing up the entire city into smoke and dust.

Of course, to tell the truth, this did not cause any casualties to Berdyaev, his fortifications were well built and prepared in advance for the shelling. In this round of German shelling, it was the Polish people who were really unlucky, and most of the shells that fell into the city were consumed by them.

At 9:30 a.m., the German infantry again jumped out of the trenches and rushed densely to the Red Army positions under the cover of a vast barrage. With smoke billowing from all sides of the battlefield, the German infantry, who had launched a second wave of offensives, soon rushed in front of the Red Army positions. But to their disappointment, after being ravaged by such heavy artillery fire, the Red Army soldiers did not collapse, and were able to constantly jump out of the trenches and bravely engage in bloody hand-to-hand combat with them.

In other words, as soon as they reached the front of the Red Army's position, the German army was attacked by the Red Army's ferocious blows, and the battle was very fierce and brutal at one time. After paying a heavy price in casualties, the Germans barely broke through the first line of defense of the Red Army.

The second round of the German attack appeared to be thunderous and rainy. Or rather, they still underestimate the strength and will to fight of their opponents, and they are still striking at their opponents with the strength they are using to deal with the guerrillas. The seemingly majestic artillery preparation effect is really just average, most of the Red Army fortifications that have been "kissed" by German shells can continue to shoot a string of deadly bullets, the most failed is the German army's use of tanks, because the German infantry in the lead failed to tear a real breakthrough in the Red Army's defensive line, in this "one-sided" battle, all the tanks of the German army actually became the soy sauce party on the battlefield.

After a full morning, the Germans had advanced only 500 meters, and Colonel Rudolf of the Wehrmacht, who was in charge of the pursuit, wrote in his diary: "The progress is not going well, and the battle here is much more difficult than I expected!" ”

Just when Rudolph was worried about the progress of the project, a sudden good news made him a little relieved - in view of the fact that the enemy partisans were more important and powerful than expected, with the approval of Marshal Bock, the garrison (a battalion) originally stationed in Vyshków attacked in the direction of Chichanka with the cooperation of part of the West Polish army, and cooperated with Rudolph to flank the Red Army in the north and south, and strive to wipe out the Red Army on both sides of the Bug River.

For Rudolph, if the friendly forces in the north can intercept the Red Army, then the pressure on his side will be much less, and he can calmly adjust and then level the enemy in one fell swoop.

In the afternoon of the same day, Rudolph's troops carried out only a small-scale exploratory attack, and more to test the Red Army's virtual reality and firepower disposition. After a night of preparation, at 7 o'clock the next morning, after concentrating all the artillery and receiving support from the Air Force, a new offensive was launched.

The attack was first launched by Stuka, and eight Stuka Fish jumped to attack, and the 500-pound aerial bombs blew up Vohov in smoke and dust, and after the bombs were dropped, Stuka continued to dive and strafe, causing a lot of trouble for the Red Army.

Immediately afterwards, the German artillery also began to roar, and strings of shells continued to fall on the city of Voukhov, making the small city tremble constantly. In the words of a Red Army lieutenant who was captured in Vohov and spent three terrible years in a German prisoner-of-war camp: "...... The explosion of shells echoed everywhere, and Katakata's machine guns, rumbling cannons, and thumping grenades mingled into a song of war tragedy...... The air is filled with billowing smoke and flying dust, and the bright light of the moment when the cannonball detonates flashes from time to time, this is war, the real most terrible war!! ”

"My position is not yet at the forefront, but as far as the eye can see, you can see the enemy's infantry and tanks rushing in like a tidal wave, like a black whirlwind, when this whirlwind constantly beats your position, when your ears are full of comrades' exclamations and screams, you feel no hope except fatigue and panic."

The Germans did attack fiercely, and the machine guns and mortars covering the attacking troops hit so that the Red Army in the trenches could not raise their heads at all, and the Red Army soldiers could only rely on the trenches to blindly throw grenades outward, and after throwing the grenades, they directly loaded the light mortar shells with fuses and threw them out. When repelled the German attack. Only then did the company find out that it had actually thrown three base grenades and 60-mm shells. At the forefront of their positions. It was full of German corpses. I can't count them.

Although it was extremely difficult to hold the position, but the Red Army also paid a lot of price, Berdyaev's reserves were depleted, and the guard company had to be sent to the first line, and even the guard company was not a problem, and when the defense line was crumbling, Berdyaev gritted his teeth and issued the strictest order: "I received the task of holding on to Vohov until the moment when the superiors agreed to our retreat." Therefore, every inch of Vouhuv must not be lost, and I demand that all men be engaged in defensive operations in the name of the word. Every soldier is not allowed to retreat, and every trench, every crater and every bunker is held. Once the line is broken through by the enemy's tanks, the infantry should stay in position and use a single means to destroy the enemy's tanks in the forward position or in the depth of the defense...... The honor of the military is to defend every inch of land entrusted to us, and all the Soviet people are waiting for us to fulfill their duty! For the sake of the great Motherland, for the sake of the hundreds of millions of Soviet people, Davarich, please do your duty and persevere until the last moment! ”

Some comrades may wonder that they have been holding out for almost two days, and it stands to reason that Berdyaev and his lads are already interesting enough, why not retreat quickly?

It all started with the battle on the other side of the Bug River. As mentioned earlier, Vishkov's enemies suddenly attacked. Petrovsky was taken by surprise and prevented from attacking north with all his might, and the previous afternoon, a squadron of Stuka had suddenly visited the Bug River and completely destroyed the pontoon bridge, and by that time Beloborodov had not crossed the river with more than half of his troops.

After a night of emergency repairs, the pontoon bridge was repaired, but after dawn, the Luftwaffe launched a round of air raids, which greatly delayed the speed of Beloborodov crossing the river, and by 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, more than half of the tanks were transported across the river.

"Damn German planes, make trouble for Lao Tzu!" Petrovsky was also tormented by the Luftwaffe and lost his temper, so he could only look at the sky and wave his fists.

Also, since the outbreak of the war, the biggest enemy of the Red Army was not the German Panzer Corps, which had previously shone in the blitzkrieg of Poland and France, but the Luftwaffe, and it can be said that almost half of the Red Army tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed by the Luftwaffe. And every time a critical moment comes, German planes come looking for trouble.

After some contemplation, Petrovsky gave the order: "There can be no more delay at night, order all the troops to fight all night!" ”

You must know that this is very unusual, for European armies, there is no tradition of night fighting, they are naturally not good at night fighting. But then again, the organization of night battles is indeed quite complicated, and the slightest mistake is stealing chickens and rice, which requires extremely skillful cooperation. Moreover, high-tech weapons, such as tanks and airplanes, are blind at night and are almost useless because of the lack of night vision equipment.

And now, Petrovsky has changed his routine to fight all night, one can imagine how tight the time is, in his own words: "I can't afford to delay every second!" ”

After the sun set, the Luftwaffe, which had been raging all day, finally disappeared, and after a short breath and a casual meal, Beloborodov's battle group resumed its journey, their mission was to go straight north, force the Narev River, and just as they were heading north, the battle of Vohov finally reached its final moments.

After two days of fierce fighting, the Berdyaev battalion suffered heavy losses, from more than 500 people before the battle to more than 100 people, please note that the attrition here is not counted as wounded, that is to say, the battalion lost more than 300 people!! Of the remaining 100 people, almost all of them were wounded, and even the battalion commander Berdyaev was shot.

"Prepare the comrades for retreat." On the one hand, Berdyaev asked the hygienist to help change the dressing, and on the other hand, he said firmly: "All comrades must be brought with us, and not a single comrade must be left to the enemy!" ”

The breakthrough of the Berdyaev battalion was very sudden, because by the time it was dark, they did not show the slightest intention of running, but stubbornly withstood the German attacks round by round, fighting to the death. But no one expected that in fact, in the afternoon, Berdyaev received an order to tell him that he could retreat.

The reason why Berdyaev did not retreat immediately was very simple, Petrovsky told him that it was better to have an extra hour or two, and that if he retreated during the day, he would inevitably face the full pursuit of the enemy, and if he did not do so, he would be completely annihilated.

So Berdyaev continued to hold his position with great perseverance until after nightfall, when the order to retreat was given. Probably God thought that the Berdyaev battalion was too heroic, and silently filled them with luck, and the retreat was very smooth, and the Germans did not react at all.

Berdyaev retreated with the remaining 100 fighters until he was on the banks of the Bug River, where he joined up with Petrovsky's troops before the Germans reacted. At this time, in order to prevent being harassed by the Luftwaffe, the Berdyaev battalion hurriedly crossed the river, but no one expected that when Berdyaev was the last to leave the south bank of the Bug River, Stuka appeared, and a string of aerial bombs fell right near him...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Gundam0080, Katyusha, and Juventus!