In the early morning of July 4, the sun quietly emerged from the east horizon and climbed slowly and firmly towards the sky. From a distance, it looked like a red disk.↖,

The persistent spirit of the sun infected every soldier of the fourteenth armored army. They wore military uniforms that were still full of moisture, endured the bites of lice in the military uniform, faced the harassment of General Mud fearlessly, and set out on the road to advance east without hesitation.

Like the previous few days, the armored vehicle Chen Dao was riding was stuck in the queue of the 9th Armored Division's artillery regiment as usual, and stumbled into the mud all over the ground.

While enjoying the beautiful Belarusian scenery along the way, Chen Dao saw that the mud on both sides of the road was filled with all kinds of abandoned vehicles.

There are all kinds of horse-drawn trucks, bulky gas trucks and tanks used in rural areas, as well as corpses with a rotten smell.

Groups of flies surrounded the swollen and white corpse run away by the rain. Some German soldiers with dense phobia turned their heads and did not dare to watch the terrible scene.

It is obvious that the Soviet 47th Infantry Army retreated in a hurry, and there was no time to deal with the faulty vehicles, nor did they have time to bury the bodies of their comrades, so they could only throw them roughly on the road as obstacles to intercept the German army behind.

The Soviet army's bad habit of littering all over the ground played a significant role. The 9th Armored Division's troops marched all the way, dealing with all the various rags left by the Soviet army, and the speed of the marching was inevitably hindered.

Through the radio, Chen Dao knew everything about the road ahead, but was unmoved. War was originally an infinite use of violence, as long as it could defeat the enemy.

What Chen Dao really cares about is when he will arrive at Orsha at the current speed.

Two days have passed, and Orsha is hundreds of kilometers away from Krupki City. At the current marching speed of ten to fifteen kilometers per hour, it can barely arrive. This is still an ideal situation without the harassment of the Soviet army.

And even if you successfully arrive at Orsha, how much combat power can the troops still be left, and whether the remaining power can support the troops in a battle is still a difficult problem.

On both sides of the highway, there are not only various ragged equipment thrown by the Soviet army, but also various combat vehicles that have failed in the German army, ranging from BMW motorcycles and e-40 tanks, and the frequency of occurrence is getting higher and higher. Wherever Chen Dao's sight is reaching on the highway, vehicles that have broken down due to various faults will inevitably be seen.

However, no matter how difficult or obstacles are, they cannot stop the Ninth Armored Division from advancing.

The target location of the Ninth Armored Division, the outer periphery of Orsha City, was also a bustling atmosphere.

The town of Balan, about five kilometers west of Orsha, was unsurprisingly an important support point on the Soviet defense line because the roads of Borisov and Orsha passed through the town.

Under the strict orders of Yelemenko from the city of Orsha, apart from some elderly, weak, sick and disabled people, almost all of the town were mobilized.

Every man and every woman were included in the war machine. They were divided into three shifts and cooperated with the regular troops stationed in the garrison to dig trenches, pull barbed wire, and build anti-tank trenches.

The sound of logging also sounded in the birch forest in the south of the town. Hundreds of birch trees were sawed off and then sawed into several sections. Supporting columns used as underground bunkers.

The serene NKVD soldiers in blue military uniforms wandered among the crowd. Anyone with the intention to escape would be sent to the town and tried by a military court, whether the person was a soldier or a civilian.

Inside and outside the Orsha City to the east, a larger mobilization is underway, and how many citizens of 20,000 people have been requisitioned by the military.

Unlike in Balan Town, the citizens of Orsha not only cooperated with the army to build fortifications. They also lined up in temporary training camps to collect rifles and grenades, and then were organized into independent battalions.

Yelemenko received the order from Stalin that all the hostile elements who disrupted public order would be immediately handed over to the military court, and all the sabotage elements, spies and incitementists must be shot. All forces must be integrated and devoted to the great Patriotic War.

It was inspired by Stalin's majesty and under Yelemenko's personal whipping, at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon that the reconnaissance battalion of the 9th Armored Division overcomes all difficulties and hurried outside Balan Town to peek at the Soviet defense line, and saw a very complete fortification.

Instead of attacking recklessly, the reconnaissance battalion sent a company to sneak into the nearby forest carefully, trying to use the woods to secretly approach Balan Town and check the weaknesses on the defense line nearby.

However, the reconnaissance battalion sent the company into a hellish battle.

There was no Soviet army outside the forests south of Balan Town, nor were there foxgloves or trenches, and the scouts sneaked into the forest without any obstacles.

However, when the scouts walking forward walked to the depths of the birch forest and moved inch by inch by inch by foot, the black muzzle behind them was pointing at their unprepared backs.

Unlike the German tactics, the Soviet soldiers did not build the defense line on the edge of the forest, but in the depths.

What is even more savvy or vicious is that the Soviet army's fox pits and trenches' shooting boundaries are not opened in the front, but in the rear, and carefully disguised.

The scouts of the Ninth Armored Division encountered this combat mode for the first time. They passed by the enemy's defense line with confidence and boldness, exposing their backs to the enemy.

The gunshot suddenly rang out, and under the fierce firepower of the **sha and the svt-40 semi-automatic rifle, the scouts were corpses everywhere.

The grenade flew out like raindrops, shrapnel and bullets together form the sickle of the god of death, and almost instantly harvested more than half of the scouts' forces.

Surviving scouts flew into bushes or depressions, avoiding bullets from dark corners, and then snatched weapons to fight back.

Endless shooting and explosions break the tranquility of the woods and kick off the battle of Orsha.

Outside the woods, both the Soviet army in Balan Town and the German army near the highway were alarmed by the battle in the woods, and both sides sent reinforcements to reinforce their comrades without hesitation.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the scale of the battle in the birch forest expanded like a snowball, and the combat distance became closer and closer, until the zero-distance hand-to-hand combat was staged.

After all, the battlefield was close to the enemy's defense line, and the Soviet army had an absolute numerical advantage. The scouts could only barely support the surviving soldiers and broke through the siege. Then they fought and retreated in the enemy's pursuit, and fled out of the forest in a hurry until they escaped to the edge of the forest and received fire support from the armored vehicles on the road.

With the regret and self-blame of being unable to abandon the wounded in the forest, the reconnaissance battalion hurriedly retreated and retreated to a relatively safe distance, waiting for the arrival of the large army.

The subsequent troops of the Ninth Armored Division came smoothly. After understanding the Soviet combat style, Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Huibiqi decisively came to second the motorized infantry battalion with the Guard Banner Division, allowing the battalion to cooperate with the artillery regiment and logistics convoy of the Ninth Armored Division to protect the safety of logistics supplies along the way.

After receiving reminder from Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Huibichi, Dietrich also used the same means to protect the safety of his logistics forces.

Chen Dao and Hui Biqi's measures gained a lot. When the logistics convoy passed by two woods on the way, they were indeed attacked by small guerrilla troops of the Soviet army, but were repelled by the escorted SS soldiers. After only a slight loss, they passed through the danger. The Soviet army in the forest was immediately encircled by the main force of the guard flag division.

The same experience as in the cities of Ruojino and Krupki, the night on July 4 was destined to be an uneasy night.

Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Huibiqi arrived late with the artillery regiment and logistics forces, and it was already evening when they arrived near Orsha.

They chose to stay in a small village that was not marked on the military map for overnight stays. The villagers of this small village had already fled. However, shortly after the guard company entered the village, sparse sounds of grenade explosions came from the village.

Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Lieutenant General Huibiqi thought there were hidden enemies in the village, but soon saw the medical soldiers running into the village.

Soon a soldier carried a stretcher out of the village. On the stretcher were bloody wounded soldiers.

The Soviets set up thunders in the village, which required the support of engineers to eliminate it. They were temporarily unable to move in.

As a last resort, Lieutenant General Chen Dao and Hui Biqi could only wait patiently for the support of the engineers, and then set up a command center after clearing out a few houses in the village.

While waiting, the two of them did not waste their precious time and met the reconnaissance battalion commander who returned in disappointment.

After listening to the reconnaissance battalion commander talk about the battle in the forest, Chen Dao immediately asked Major Lorentz to record his combat diary.

Lieutenant General Huibiqi comforted the reconnaissance battalion commander and said, "It is sad to throw down the subordinates in his hand to retreat. But it is not your fault, but the harsh situation at that time forced you to do so, and you had no choice."

Chen Dao continued: "If the Soviets dare to do anything excessive to the wounded, General Huibiqi and I will allow you to retaliate against them ten times more."

After seeing off the reconnaissance battalion commander, Lieutenant General Huibiqi asked: "Our mission is to advance eastward as much as possible in two days. Today is the second day. With the intelligence sent by the reconnaissance battalion, the enemy's defense line is very strong. It is very unwise to launch an attack on the enemy on such nights. But if we follow the original plan, we will leave early tomorrow morning, I am really unwilling to accept it."

"Are you unwilling to be unable to avenge the reconnaissance battalion? If I was not wrong, tonight, General Wittsheim will issue a new order, and you have enough time to avenge your subordinates." Chen Dao said.

"At this stage of the battle, can you reveal some information to me, what is our real mission?" Lieutenant General Huibiqi asked.

"During the march, I reported on the progress of the task with the Supreme Command and obtained new instructions from the Supreme Command. We currently have three tasks, the first is to replace the vest, the second is to conquer Orsha City, and the third is to say goodbye."

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi was covered in confusion. He only understood one and a half of Chen Dao's three tasks.

Is the farewell meaning that the Polish governor in front of him is leaving his troops?

As for the vest change mentioned in the first mission, Lieutenant General Huibiqi can only sigh that there is a deep generation gap between himself and the young Over-Governor, and he does not understand the vocabulary used by young people at all.

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi also understood that modesty is a virtue, and he humbly asked Chen Dao about the profound meaning of "changing the vest"?

Chen Dao vividly told Lieutenant General Hui Biqi about the love-hate story between tigers, snakes and turtles, and finally ended with "I still know you if I change my vest."

Lieutenant General Huibiqi has amazing comprehension and can be said to be clear at a glance.

"You mean, we want to change the number?"

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi's face was full of disappointment. It turned out to be just a simple change of number. He thought it was a difficult task, which made it so mysterious.

"Don't underestimate the task of changing the vest. The time and location of changing the vest is a big problem."

Before Chen Dao finished speaking, a communications officer rushed into the command center and handed a telegram to Lieutenant General Huibiqi.

The content of the telegram was indeed as Chen Dao said, including two days of content.

The first is to launch an attack on Orsha as soon as possible, and work with the Vikings and the guard flag team to seize Orsha and the bridges on the Dnieper River in the east of the city.

The second mission is very intriguing. It turned out to inform Lieutenant General Huibiqi that after occupying Orsha, the entire 14th Armored Army was assigned to the command of the Second Armored Army.

Faced with these two tasks, Lieutenant General Huibiqi was very confused.

Regarding Orsha City, the original mission of the 14th Panzer Army was a harassing nature, but now it has suddenly changed to a strong attack. The telegram also emphasized that the number of the Second Panzer Army must be played after the Orsha City is captured. What secret is hidden at this point in time?

Chen Dao said: "After taking down Orsha City, it is the time for us to change our vests and the time for us to break up, so we must cherish the last few days of good times and join forces to teach the Russians opposite, especially the guy named Yeliaumko."

"Okay, we're happy to work together."

Hui Biqi was busy contacting the division's division's departments and deploying the locations of each department to prepare for tomorrow's attack, and was busy until late at night.

Chen Daoze and Major Lorentz studied the Soviet army's jungle tactics and slept very late.

In the early morning of July 5, when Chen Dao walked out of his residence with a sleepy eyes, he saw the reconnaissance battalion commander walking towards the gate of the command center like an enclave, his face turned ashen and his anger was emitting from head to toe.

Is there a new military situation?

Chen Dao followed up at the command center curiously, and heard the voice of the reconnaissance battalion commander tremblingly and said to Lieutenant General Huibiqi: "General, please come with me. There is someone I need you to see with your own eyes."

Lieutenant General Huibiqi followed the reconnaissance battalion commander out of the command center and came to the street.

Pointing at an SD250 armored vehicle, the reconnaissance battalion commander said, "He is in the carriage. Look, what did the Russians do to our people?"

He suddenly opened the cabin door of the rear compartment. After Chen Dao and Hui Biqi saw the people in the compartment, their eyebrows stood up at the same time.

"Damn Russian." The two of them cursed in unison. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!