USSR 1941

  Chapter 65 Encirclement

   It’s not just Colonel Ovich who can’t figure it out, the German commander, General Kleist, and even Major Muller, who participated in this battle, can’t figure it out either.

   "What happened?" Admiral Kleist summoned Major Muller himself: "How did you lose?"

   Kleist, who was watching the battle from the rear, was not aware of the specific situation because he was some distance away from the front line.

   "We were ambushed by them, Your Excellency General!" Major Muller straightened his body, but the bandage on his forehead and the dust on his face still made him look very embarrassed.

   "Ambush, what ambush?" Admiral Kleist asked puzzled.

   "I don't know, Your Excellency General!" Major Muller replied: "They suddenly appeared behind us!"

   "And you don't know how they appeared behind?" Admiral Kleist asked.

  Major Muller looked embarrassed. Although he should know, he really didn't.

"General!" replied one of Major Müller's guards, "I think I know how they got behind us... I was retreating and found a hole in the ground. At first I thought it was a bomb crater, but now I think about it." That's not like a crater!"

   "Ground?" Admiral Kleist couldn't help but frowned: "So, they are hiding underground like mice?"

   No answer because no one can be sure of this.

   "It's impossible!" the adjutant said: "Our intelligence didn't mention this at all, I mean...if they still have underground fortifications in front of the defense line, our intelligence personnel will find out!"

  The adjutant's words are reasonable. You must know that it was the information obtained by the Brandenburg troops. They even investigated the weapons used by the Soviets in the bunker.

   It is conceivable that if there are other underground fortifications, it is unlikely to escape their detection.

   The guard recalled, and replied: "It looks like it was dug temporarily, because the hole is very rough.

"No, no..." The adjutant still didn't believe it: "They don't have so much time, I mean, it will take at least a week to dig a series of underground fortifications to hide enough troops to pose a threat to us. And these Russians came a few days ago Just retreated here!"

   After a moment of silence, Admiral Kleist turned his attention to Major Muller: "How many enemies appear behind you?"

   "I'm not sure, General!" Major Muller replied: "But the gunshots are quite large, and there should be a company!"

   After thinking for a while, Kleist replied: "Then there is only one possibility, gentlemen, have you seen that the people here are used to digging cellars?"

   Several people cast puzzled eyes at Kleist.

   "General, you mean..." the adjutant said dubiously, "They are hiding in the cellar?"

   Kleist did not answer, but turned his gaze to the guard and asked, "Is the hole you found next to the wooden house?"

  The guard recalled for a while, then nodded: "It seems to be true, General, but the wooden house has been blown into ruins!"

  Kleist spread his hands towards everyone, and continued: "So, they don't need to spend much time preparing, they just need to dig a tunnel from the cellar, and then they can hide the troops inside!"

  Everyone couldn't help but "oh".

  Kleist shook his head and sighed: "It's a good way, isn't it? We always thought that it would be safe to blow up the wooden house. Who would have thought that they would be hiding under the ruins?"

   "I can't believe it!" The adjutant said: "The Russians would think of such a way..."

   "The fact is that they thought of it, David!" Admiral Kleist said: "And it has been used on the battlefield, although I don't believe it!"

   "Is there any way to solve it?" Major Muller looked indignant: "For example, can we blow up these cellars?"

"It's hard to do!" The adjutant shook his head: "Because we have blown it up, I mean the wooden house...unless we can move the pile of ruins! As for the entrance of the ground, we don't even know where it is. It can be anywhere near the cabin!"

   "Then find it!" Major Muller would certainly not be reconciled. His troops had never suffered such heavy casualties on the battlefield like today, especially when he was still fleeing in front of his subordinates.

   This is a great shame to him, and he wants revenge, or it can be said to wash away the shame.

"How do you find it?" Admiral Kleist asked, "Dig and dig every inch of the land? No, major, you must know that this is a battlefield, where the enemy's bullets and shells will not be killed. Hesitantly pouring out towards us, no one can calmly find the tunnel entrance under such circumstances!"

   "But General, what else can we do?" Major Muller was a little confused.

  There was a silence in the headquarters, because no one could find any suitable solution.

There is actually no good way to deal with this kind of tactics, let alone Kleist during World War II, even decades later, there is no effective way to deal with it... Americans with much more advanced weapons, equipment and tactics are still in Vietnam Frustrated in the tunnel battle.

  It is actually breaking up the regular battle into guerrilla warfare, with a few people here and a few people there, and they can also run around to make the enemy's powerful equipment useless like hitting a pile of cotton.

Admiral Kleist couldn't help but secretly startled. Fortunately, only a small part of the Soviets used this tactic. If this tactic was used on a large scale or even in the areas they captured, the German army would be in trouble. In the quagmire.

  At the same time, Admiral Kleist is also a little strange...Why didn't this effective tactic become popular in the Soviet army? !

   Of course, this is not what he needs to consider.

   After thinking about it, Admiral Kleist touched his chin and said to the map: "Gentlemen, if you can't attack a fortress for a long time, what will you do?"

  The adjutant and Major Muller immediately understood the meaning of Admiral Kleist's words: go around and surround it!

   This was a common tactic used by the Germans, as they did in most battles, including the Brest Fortress.

  So the battle on the front of the 333rd Regiment weakened. Instead, the defense area adjacent to them rang out with violent gunshots and artillery sounds, while fighter jets and bombers continued to circle the sky.

  Major Gavrilov observed the battle outside for a while, and when he returned to the headquarters, he said to Commissar Fumin: "The situation is not good. The enemy seems to want to surround us!"

   "If they can't stop the German attack..." Commissar Fumin said: "Then we have no choice but to retreat!"

   This is common sense, because the bunker fortifications are facing the front, and if the enemy goes around the back, they will basically have no defense.

  (end of this chapter)