Chapter 617 Scattering and concentration
The German offensive went smoothly at first.
This can be said to be due to the environment, or it can be said to be intentional by the cadet troops.
In terms of environment, the German army was in a relatively open area at the beginning of the battle, and there were few houses and buildings along the Tsaritsa River. Even a few buildings were destroyed by artillery due to previous battles.
At this time, if the German army wants to attack a certain building, it can attack or suppress fire from several directions on the open ground.
It is said that the cadet troops did it on purpose, and of course it was also because the environmental factors were not conducive to defense, so they deliberately made an opening to let the enemy enter the building complex.
Once the Germans entered the complex it was different.
It may not feel much to enter the building complex in normal life, but in battle, the building complex will be like a maze, even though sometimes it is just a very simple street.
The reason is that every building or even a ruin can be transformed into a firepower point or a sniper point, so there may be enemies hiding in every direction and every place.
Vassily has fully grasped this point and implemented scattered strikes.
The German army actually hoped that the enemy could stick to a certain point, such as relying on a certain building, and digging field fortifications on both sides of the building or placing sandbags to form an obvious line of defense for defense.
In fact, this is what the 10th division of the NKVD has been doing.
Their line of defense along the banks of the Tsaritsa River is like this. In addition, there are several similar lines of defense in the No. 2 railway station.
Apparently, such defense lines are not a big problem for the German army... The German army has the superiority in air, tanks and artillery. Destroy it, and then launch an attack under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles. It will not take long for them to take down the defense line at a small cost and cause a large number of Soviet casualties.
Vassily didn't play like this, or it can be said that it was Shulka's strategy.
The snipers and mortarers didn't have a clear line of defense. They looked chaotic here and there, but the whole was orderly.
"The most important thing for us is to know the enemy's position!" Shulka said when discussing tactics with Vasily: "Then take the enemy as the center and a radius of 300 meters, which is probably our range of activities!"
"And change with enemy activity!"
"Yes!" Shulka nodded appreciatively.
Unlike other Soviet commanders, Vasily naturally understood this guerrilla tactic.
If the Soviet army does not have a unified line of defense, then the German army will suffer.
They soon find themselves feeling overwhelmed.
The commander who led the troops into the building was Captain Lex, who had just been transferred from the main force to support Major Paul.
The reason why Captain Lex and his troops were chosen for reinforcements was because Captain Lex already had some experience in street fighting with the Russian army before that, and he even led troops into No. 2 train station.
But this time, Captain Lex found that the enemy he was facing was a little different.
"We can hardly see the enemy, Major!" Captain Lex reported to Major Paul as he commanded the troops to follow the tanks and advance down the street: "But they seem to be everywhere!"
Just as he was talking, a shell from "Boom" exploded nearby, and two soldiers who were too late to lie down for cover were injured on the spot.
Captain Lex patted the dust on his body and got up from the ground, and then he heard Major Paul's voice from the walkie-talkie: "Are you under shelling?"
"Yes!" Captain Lex replied.
"Report the coordinates of the enemy!" Major Paul replied: "Don't forget that we have more powerful artillery and air force!"
"No, Major!" Captain Lex replied with some helplessness: "We don't know the location of the enemy's artillery, and even if we do, it won't help!"
Paused, Captain Lex explained again: "Because they are moving at any time!"
Now Major Paul has nothing to say.
At this time, both Major Paul and Captain Lex knew what tricks the enemy was playing, which was to disperse and concentrate so that their advantages could not be brought into play.
The problem is that they have nothing to do with this tactic.
After a moment of silence, Major Paul gave the order: "Occupy buildings along the road and turn them into our garrisons!"
"That's exactly what I'm doing, Major!" Captain Lex replied. "I'm attacking, then occupying, step by step... The problem is our strength, we only have a hundred or so, and there are at least a hundred houses on this street .If we put one person in each house, we can only occupy this street!"
Then Captain Lex added: "In addition, we can't call it 'occupation' at all, because we are not sure whether those houses will fall into the enemy's hands in the next second, but we are still foolishly thinking that the rear is safe and safe." keep going!"
The reason why Captain Lex said this is because a similar situation had happened before... He arranged for a squad to occupy a building in an important position and led the troops to move on. Unexpectedly, in just a few minutes, the building was The enemy appeared and set up a machine gun to shoot at the rear of the main force.
Captain Lex didn't understand why it was so fast, especially the defense of a squad was not too small, but the enemy could finish it in a few minutes.
What Captain Lex didn't know was that Vasily also knew about the buildings he considered important.
So, Vasily sent people to lurk in the building in advance.
For example, under the bed, wardrobe, boxes, etc., like hide and seek.
If it is just this, the enemy cannot be successfully dealt with, because the German army is not a fool, they will search the building to ensure its safety when they enter the building.
The problem is that these hideouts are also locked on by snipers from the outside.
That is, when the German army wanted to enter the search, there was a sudden "bang", and a bullet was fired from outside the window, knocking one of them to the ground.
The German army immediately took cover to avoid the enemy snipers. When everyone was focusing on the outside, they never expected a person to emerge from the dark inside the building and surrounded them silently.
Captain Lex led the troops forward with difficulty, the deeper he went into the complex, the more powerless he became.
This is not only because the subordinates are decreasing one by one, but also because he feels that this is a trap for the enemy.
"I think we should retreat!" Captain Lex reported to Major Paul: "Because I believe that the enemy may be waiting for us somewhere ahead!"
"No, Captain!" Paul replied without thinking: "Do what you should do, we will be able to complete the encirclement soon!"
(end of this chapter)