Chapter 4: The Battlefield with Gunsmoke Everywhere

  "A week ago, we were still holding the defensive positions of the Suwalki line," Suchekov said with a gloomy face, pointing to a place on the map. "That was the first line of defense built by our 11th Army Group. On our left flank were the 3rd and 10th Army Groups, while on the right flank was the main force of the 8th Army Group. According to the Supreme Command's battle plan, we should have had enough time to build defensive fortifications in that area, but the actual situation was not so optimistic. In front of us, the 3rd and 10th Army Groups retreated too quickly, those cowards even surrendered to the brutal fascists, several regiments and divisions laid down their arms and handed over almost the entire front line to the enemy. Under such circumstances, the Germans only took less than two days to advance to our unfinished defensive lines. Under the full-scale attack of the German 4th Tank Group and the 9th Army, our hastily built fragile defense line was unable to withstand it. Those two days were a lifelong nightmare for us, the German attack methods were too cruel, like locusts, planes flew over, shaking the entire earth with strong artillery fire, dropping countless bombs on our positions, followed by steel beasts like II and III tanks. Our entire company of hundreds of soldiers only withstood one charge, losing 60% of our men, and our company commander, Captain Kimikolov, was also killed..."

  Su Chekov said here, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and then fiercely said: "Those who dare to surrender to the fascist enemy will be punished. Their cowardice can only bring them temporary safety, but what awaits them in the end is endless humiliation and the death penalty of the military court. Their relatives will also be implicated... If it weren't for their weakness, we would have had time to build a solid defense line..."

  After venting his grievances, Sychyov brought the conversation back on track, pointing to a place called Vilnius on the map: "This is where we plan to set up our second line of defense. In the initial orders from the High Command, if we lose the first line of defense, we should retreat here, join forces with the 3rd, 10th and part of the 13th Army, and reorganize the defensive line. But apparently the Germans found out about our battle plan from those traitors, so..."

  Chu Siyuan had been staring at the map in front of him for half a day, and Su Chekov was saying something he didn't care about. For him, the history of defeat was not worth considering, war only cared about results, never about process. Moreover, as someone who knew military history well, he didn't need to listen to this guy telling him things he already knew.

  His gaze searched the map, and soon found the Vigi mentioned by Suchekov. The detailed map made him quickly understand why the Soviet High Command set it as the third line of defense. Because on the map, it belongs to the marshy area of Naroch Lake. The German elite motorcycle troops could not play a role in the swamp, and even became a burden for infantry advancement.

  However, in Chu Si Nan's view, gathering troops in this not-so-expansive swamp area and confronting the German army was not a good idea. In Chu Si Nan's memory, the commander-in-chief of the German Northern Group Army at that time should be General Leeb, who was not an easy opponent to deal with, having come from a civilian background and experienced World War I. Faced with the enemy in the swamp area, he would definitely order his mechanized troops to bypass them and surround them. In such a situation, the Soviet army trapped in the swamp area had no choice but to wait for death or surrender.

  In a sense, Chu Si-nan looked down on the so-called Supreme Command of the Soviet Army's passive defense tactics that only cared about the gains and losses of every inch of land during the initial period of the Soviet-German War, without considering the huge casualties. It was under the influence of this strategy and tactics that the Soviet army lost tens of millions of troops at once in the early days of the war, and also put itself in a completely passive position.

  In the strategic defense line of Vijay constructing to resist German mechanized troops, this plan is not feasible. After all, the German army that relies on blitzkrieg tactics adopts a large-scale and long front "surface" attack, and you take a "point" defense method, which can't achieve any effect at all. This is like a few reefs in a dry riverbed, when the tide comes, they will be quickly surrounded and submerged by the surging floodwaters.

  "Comrade Chu, what have you found?" Seeing Chu Si Nan frowning and staring at the map without saying a word, Sushkevich couldn't help but ask.

  Just as Suchekov asked this question, a familiar place name suddenly jumped into Chusenan's eyes, and he couldn't help but brighten up in front of him.

  Delicious!

  That's right, it was Derisa, a military stronghold located on the west bank of the Dvina River. In Chu Ci Nan's memory, during World War II, the Soviet-German war, the Soviet army also won a slightly meaningful victory here, effectively stopping the German mechanized troops from continuing to advance deep into Russia.

  "We're going there now!"

  Without any further hesitation, Chu Si Nan lifted his face and looked at Su Chekov opposite him, then pointed to Derisa on the map with his hand, saying in a firm tone.

  "What?!?" Suchekov was taken aback, hesitating to say, "That's not our designated assembly point, Comrade Chu, Derisa is over a hundred kilometers behind Vigyi, we didn't get permission from the higher-ups and ran there on our own, that's desertion! We'll be shot!"

  "Comrade Suchekov, trust my judgment," Chu Si Nan insisted. "Our troops simply cannot achieve the goal of gathering in Vigie, and if we do, it will only serve to add another heavy stroke to our enemy's military exploits. Moreover, I believe that in the face of the Germans' lightning-fast advance, the High Command should also have made adjustments to the original battle plan. On this line, only Drisa is the best place to build a defensive position. There is the Western Dvina River, which connects the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, and it will be a natural barrier to block the German mechanized troops. Only there can the German tanks and armored vehicles not quickly break through, giving us a chance to catch our breath. As long as we can temporarily stop the German army's advance, the great Comrade Stalin and the High Command he leads will certainly be able to mobilize enough forces to launch the most fierce counterattack against fascist Germany along the entire Western Dvina River..."

  Chu Si Nan said a lot of nonsense, his purpose was to make Su Chekov give up the plan to go directly north to Weiji and instead take a detour to the more ideal Delisa.

  However, his persuasion apparently did not have any effect. Lieutenant Suchekov, who came from the Soviet military advisers, was very determined and insisted on rushing to Vig first, even if at that time the team he led had only one person left, he would still complete the task. Moreover, he also had his own reason, which was that the fastest shortcut from here to Delhi was through Vig.

  Facing Suchekov's stubbornness, Chusnan felt extremely helpless. He thought to himself that this was probably the common problem left behind by Soviet military officers after the Great Purge - only worrying about orders from above and not paying attention to the actual situation on the battlefield. How could such an army not be defeated?

  Take a shortcut? Germans are all mechanized armored vehicles and tanks. Now it seems that only they are qualified to take shortcuts.