Chapter 169: The Polish Campaign (32)

"Commander, the Soviet artillery fire is too fierce. The frontline positions have been bombed to pieces and can't hold on any longer." Just as Yannick and his party were wandering around the front line, several subordinates at the Rovno Army Group Command on the Eastern Front were reporting the battle situation to Commander Slawik Rakovsky.

However, there was no anxiety on his face, because the frontline positions he mentioned were actually just some small villages with only a dozen houses. The Soviets had been attacking these small villages for three days, and the artillery fire turned the entire village into ruins but they still couldn't occupy it. Every attack would only cause the Soviets to leave countless bodies and retreat in embarrassment.

Commander Rakovsky nodded. "I know the soldiers fought bravely. Let them retreat to the permanent fortifications tonight." The Poles like the defense mode of not giving up an inch of land, but they were beaten to a pulp by the German army on the Western Front. The commanders on the Eastern Front learned their lesson and decided not to make fearless sacrifices again. "But once we retreat, the Soviet heavy artillery positions will move forward and continue to bomb our positions." They don't have advanced and numerous bombers like the Germans, otherwise the Soviet artillery positions would not be so arrogant until now.

The commander of his cavalry brigade proposed. "Commander, I think we can send a few cavalry to attack the Soviet artillery positions overnight."

Commander Rakovsky's eyes lit up and he thought this plan was feasible. "I think it's feasible. However, the target of the attack cannot be too large. It is best to use the cavalry company as the basic unit to launch a rapid counterattack against the Soviet artillery positions. That's it, send out scouts immediately, and be sure to find all the artillery positions and defeat them in one blow!"

According to the specific characteristics of artillery, the positions generally deployed on the second line are mainly large-caliber support artillery positions; while other infantry guns, anti-tank guns, etc. need to be fired at close range. These small-caliber ones are nothing, and it is the large-caliber artillery that causes trouble for them.

At this time, there were no advanced monitoring satellites that could see every move on the ground clearly, or radars that could specifically measure the trajectory of artillery shells and calculate the enemy's artillery positions; there were only a few ways to find the location of the enemy's artillery positions.

One is to use reconnaissance aircraft for aerial reconnaissance, but this method is a luxury for the current Polish army.

Another is "observation balloons". Although this thing looks stupid, in good weather, the observers on the balloons will clearly observe the location of the enemy's artillery positions, and then guide large-caliber howitzers to cover the fire. During the Battle of Nomonhan, the Soviet army repeatedly dispatched air force fighters to destroy Japanese balloons, and even triggered large-scale air battles for this. In the end, the Soviet army, which had an air advantage, still destroyed the balloons, which shows the role of this thing and the Soviet army's fear. However, if there are obstacles such as hillsides in the middle, this observation method is powerless.

The third is to rely on people, sending scouts to search, which is also the only way Poland can rely on at this time.

After the meeting, Commander Rakovsky contacted other Eastern Front Group Commands and informed them of the plan to send cavalry to attack the Soviet artillery positions. They agreed to attack at the same time tonight to destroy the Soviet artillery positions unexpectedly.

At nightfall, the scouts sent out successively reported the location of the Soviet artillery positions.

At midnight, cavalry companies quietly set out from various positions. Each horse was restrained, and each of its four hooves was wrapped with a piece of thick linen, and then tied tightly with hemp ropes. In this way, the neighing and hoof sounds of the horses became extremely small, making it easier to conceal their whereabouts.

This is the land of Poland. They are all native Poles and know every inch of land and every river here.

Everyone easily passed through the Soviet front line and continued to move towards the second-line artillery positions.

"Damn it!" Nicholas was the captain of one of the cavalry companies. Just when he came to a place about one thousand meters away from their target, the horse under his crotch suddenly raised its front hoof and the whole person fell off the horse in embarrassment. Before Nicholas could get up, he heard a Russian curse and the sound of a bolt being pulled.

"!!" He realized instantly that this was a Russian soldier's sentry. This guy must have fallen asleep and was awakened by a horse's hoof, which even scared his horse!

He didn't even bother to draw his saber. He pounced on the Russian soldier who was about to get up in the dim moonlight and grabbed his neck fiercely.

"Bang!" Before the others could react, the Russian soldier pulled the trigger, and the crisp gunshot broke the tranquility of the night.

"Asshole! Go to hell!" Nicholas was extremely angry. This gunshot might ruin their plan and even put them in a desperate situation. He pinched his hands even more desperately, shouting while pinching. "Lewan! Hurry, rush over!" Lewan was the deputy company commander of their company. The gunshot had exposed them, and there was no point in sneaking carefully.

"Gee! Gee!" Lewandowski no longer hesitated and led his men to charge towards the artillery position.

The gunshot and the neighing of the warhorse did wake up the sleeping Soviets, but before they could enter the defensive position, the aggressive Polish cavalry had already rushed to them.

The sentry on duty desperately pulled the trigger, but the Polish cavalry completely ignored the rain of bullets and rushed over like a group of madmen. The screams continued after a while of chopping melons and vegetables. The remaining Soviet troops were terrified by the scene and had no intention of holding their positions. They turned around and ran away.

By the time Nikola caught up, the Soviet troops at the artillery position had either died or fled. They "occupied" this 203mm caliber heavy artillery position with only more than 20 casualties, which was a miracle.

Seeing Nikola coming, Lewand reported to him. "Company commander, there are a total of 203mm caliber heavy artillery here. They should have just arrived not long ago. They are brand new and have never fired a single shot. It's really a big fish. They have been asked to install explosives. It's a pity. If we can pull this thing back and beat the Soviets hard, it would be so satisfying."

Nikola looked at the black muzzle and nodded with regret. "Yes, it's a pity."

At this time, bursts of gunfire came from a distance. It seemed that more Soviets were gathering here.

Fortunately, they had already installed explosives. "Quickly retreat!"

Nikola and his party rode away in the direction they came from at the fastest speed. After they ran a distance, they heard explosions one after another behind them, and the Polish soldiers shouted excitedly.

At around 3 a.m., the cavalry companies returned one after another, most of them were injured or disabled. On the way back, Nikolai's company encountered a group of Soviets and lost more than half of them, but they had a fruitful trip. They destroyed 12 of the 15 Soviet heavy artillery positions. Everyone was commended by the army headquarters, which greatly boosted the morale of the army.

While the Poles were celebrating this victory happily, the Soviets on the opposite side were not very happy.

In the front-line headquarters, Marshal Voroshilov looked at the loss report he had just received with a gloomy face and gritted his teeth. "Are you a group of pigs?!" He had just arrived at the front two days ago and took over the command of the invasion of Poland, which was close to collapse. And his predecessor had been sent to Siberia to dig potatoes a few hours after he arrived.

They destroyed 12 of the 15 heavy artillery positions, two of which were 203mm caliber heavy artillery positions that were transferred with him two days ago. In order to show his importance to the front-line attack, the great leader Comrade Stalin allocated all the newly produced 203mm caliber heavy artillery to him.

Now, these highly anticipated artillery has become a pile of scrap metal without even firing a shot. This time they actually lost nearly 200 heavy artillery. "Just a few cavalrymen beat you away?!" Even if they hold on for a while. The troops around are all their own. As long as they hold on for a while, reinforcements will arrive and encircle and annihilate these enemies.

However, at this point, he was too lazy to say more nonsense. He took the pen, quickly wrote down a bunch of names, and handed them to the adjutant. "These bastards don't need to be court-martialed, just shoot them on the spot!"