Another major problem that is increasingly serious during the battle is the injury. In the early stages of the battle, the wounded were able to leave on the ju52 transport plane that flew into the encirclement to transport reinforcements, but the supply plan implemented later made the evacuation operation unable to continue.

Day after day battles led to the continuous increase in the number of wounded people, especially when the German defense area slowly shrank under the continuous pressure of the enemy. Brutal battles broke out in almost every place, and fewer places could accommodate wounded people. The initial main medical unit was located in the east of the town, but after the buildings here were destroyed by Soviet artillery fire, the wounded were also transferred to the west of the town. This was the relatively safest area during the entire battle, also known as the "Faojian Zone", which means that the area here is not much larger than Faojian.

However, the disadvantage here is that the houses are all wooden structures and have no basement, so as long as a shell is next to it or hit the house directly, the injured will easily be injured by flying sharp wood chips. This situation is not very rare but often occurs. Many wounded people have just recovered from previous combat injuries and have been hit by wood chips again or multiple times before they have fully recovered.

Under these unfavorable conditions, the German medical team composed of Dr. Hooker, Okog and other unknown medical staff was extremely demanding, and their performance in reality showed extraordinary professional qualities. The German army's death rate in combat was as high as 25%, and the number of wounded people was even greater, about 2,200 people (at least 40% of the total number). Although the medical team has tried their best to treat, many seriously injured people still died after the treatment was ineffective, or left for lifelong disability from then on.

Although the Soviet army's offensive on the front line did not make much progress, their logistics supply was countless times better than those enduring German defenders. They could perform frequent rotations at will, as well as sufficient food rations and warm clothing. Despite this, some Soviet soldiers would rather give up these superior conditions and run across the German positions to surrender. Two Soviet soldiers who came to surrender at the end of February reported an important piece of information that the Soviet army would use a whole division of infantry to launch a large-scale offensive with the cooperation of tanks on the "Soviet Red Army Day" on February 23.

In addition, based on other situations they reported, the German army will still use the tactics that are already familiar to the German army, that is, to attack only in one place in the encirclement for a certain period of time. In this offensive mode, the German army can completely concentrate troops from other areas with less threats to the places where the Soviet army is about to attack. Moreover, the German army has summarized a new defensive tactic at this time, that is, when the Soviet infantry charged intensively, they will first shoot the officers and political commissars in it, and then go to the charge queue and retreat because there is no core, and their tanks will lose protection after the infantry flees.

The next important step is to destroy the Soviet command tank, because only this tank is equipped with radio reception and transmission devices at the same time, and only it can issue orders. Other tanks are only equipped with receivers to kill the command vehicle and other Soviet tanks will be at a loss because they have no commands. At this time, the German anti-tank team can use the chaos to approach these confused guys and destroy them one by one with iron fists.

The Soviet infantry retreated from the east of Holm quickly made a comeback after being reorganized, but the new charge was disintegrated again. Then it was reorganized, and the attack continued again, but was repelled. These people were put in rows of falling into the snow like wheat being cut.

The German military police standing in the front of the team all held automatic weapons that could shoot quickly. The crowded Soviet army could not fight back at all. No one could stand where their fierce firepower passed. One fell swoop, and most of them could not get up without a single shot. Gradually, the soldiers in the front row began to retreat step by step with the crowd behind, facing such serious casualties. The Soviet army chose to retreat, and then it turned into a hurry to escape. The German military police recovered all the original lost ground in one go.

The failure of the Red Army Street attack that day did not mean that the Soviet troops had given up the idea of ​​seizing Holm. The other two infantry divisions of the 3rd Assault Army that was rotating in the 3rd Assault Army also took turns to invest their infantry forces. In the next two days and two nights, they continued to step on the corpses of the comrades everywhere, and their friendly forces left thicker piles of corpses behind every unsuccessful attack, and attacked again and again.

In short, there were no less than 18 main attacks in the past two days, some were cooperated by tanks, but most were pure infantry charges. Whether it was the main attack or the secondary attack, each Soviet attack was accompanied by fierce fire support from artillery. In addition, due to the better weather, the air competition between the Soviet Air Force and the Luftwaffe 1st Air Force also became more intense. Over Holm, the fighter jets of the Luftwaffe and the Soviet Air Force chased each other, and Stuka roared and dived to bomb Soviet ground targets. As well as the Ju52 landed and unloaded supplies and replenished soldiers, and then loaded with seriously injured people to take off and leave.

The weather gradually warmed in late February and early March. This weather not only brought thick fog, but typhus caused by lice bites also began to spread among the soldiers. From the personal perspective of the soldiers, lice are far more disgusting than thick fog; but from a military perspective, thick fog has a more dangerous significance. Its appearance means that winter will end soon, and a new spring offensive will break out in the following spring.

The important strategic significance of the land bridge where Holm is located is deeply understood by both sides of the war. The Soviet army would definitely launch a large-scale offensive aimed at occupying this military springboard, but the Germans first made strategic maneuvers here. During March, General Anim's 39th Armored Army sent reinforcements to attack eastward to try to approach the town of Holm. Due to poor ground conditions and the Soviet army's tenacious resistance, their advancement speed was forced to slow down.

Holm's Germans knew clearly that the rescue operations of friendly forces were underway, but at the same time they estimated that the Supreme Commander of the Red Army would not order the Soviet troops surrounding him to launch a full attack on International Women's Day on March 8. If they could not repel the attack, then any rescue operations would no longer have any meaning. To the surprise of the Sherell battle group, the Soviet army's first attack on that day was not fierce, and it quickly retreated after losing 5 tanks. The next day, a new but equally weak attack continued to launch, and it was disintegrated after suffering losses of 4 tanks again.

…(To be continued)
Chapter completed!