Chapter 1197 War of Attrition

Barbed wire has become a sharp weapon for the defense since it appeared in the last world war. The attacking party wanted to cross the barbed wire and had to stop. And this gave the defensive side a chance to exert their intensive firepower. They can take advantage of this opportunity to cause great casualties to the enemy.

Now the Russian army is facing such a problem. They have already paid a lot of losses in order to cut the barbed wire under the Polish army. Under the barbed wire, a thick layer of corpses had already been piled up.

"Boom!" A shell fell, blowing up a stake supporting the barbed wire. The Russian soldiers crowded behind took the opportunity to rush in.

"Go to hell, damn the Poles!" shouted a Russian soldier.

But the oncoming machine gun bullets killed most of these Russian soldiers. The rest of the Russian soldiers also had to lie on the ground, not daring to attack again. Bullets whizzed past their heads, scaring many of them to the point of peeing. Of course, the ground covered with thick snow was so cold that some Russian soldiers even froze.

In the night battle, many technical weapons of the German army could not play a role. Such as large-caliber heavy artillery and air force fighters. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Russian army to break through the first-line positions defended by the Polish army and the White army. Therefore, when the Russian army invested a large number of troops without losses, the strong firepower of the defenders caused huge losses to the Russian army. However, some lines of defense were inevitably broken by the Russian army.

Russian soldiers with bayonet-mounted rifles jumped into Polish trenches. But the oncoming bayonet pierced into their chests.

"I'm going to kill you, Poles!" a tall Russian soldier shouted.

However, his body was almost frozen, so that his reflexes became less sensitive. A short Polish soldier easily blocked the Russian soldier's bayonet. Then he turned around quickly and plunged the bayonet into his chest.

"Bah! Are all Russians so useless? Such a tall figure, but in fact they have no strength at all!" The Polish soldier said disdainfully. He seemed to have forgotten that the Russian soldier he killed was covered in only a single piece of clothing, and his muscles had been frozen into purple. And he was wrapped in a thick cotton coat.

Although the fighting skills of Russian soldiers are terrible, they can often take advantage of their strength in previous battles. But this time, they were frozen and trembling, but they couldn't take advantage of it in the hand-to-hand battle with the Polish Army. Instead, they were killed one after another by the Polish Army.

After discovering that these Russian soldiers were not so tough, the morale of the Polish soldiers was boosted even more.

However, as more and more Russian soldiers poured into the position, the defense lines of the Polish Army's 22nd Infantry Division and 23rd Infantry Division were also in a hurry.

Under such circumstances, Lieutenant General Vashkevich, commander of the 3rd Army of the Polish Army, had to send reinforcements to the front. Fortunately, before he ordered the other troops to dispatch an infantry regiment to stand by. Therefore, he still has enough reinforcements in his hands.

When regiment after regiment after regiment of fresh troops were thrown into the battlefield, the Polish Army finally drove out the Russian army that had invaded its own line of defense, barely maintaining the line of defense again.

"Tell the front-line troops that as long as we persist until dawn, we will win! At that time, the Luftwaffe will make these Russians pay a heavy price!" Lieutenant General Vashkevich ordered.

Although the current battle is still very fierce, their defense line may be broken by the Russians at any time. But Lieutenant General Vashkevich is still very optimistic about this battle. He still has a lot of reserves in his hands that he hasn't used. If necessary, additional troops can be drawn from other troops for reinforcement.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Russians is very strong, the cold weather and poor supplies have reduced the combat effectiveness of these Russian soldiers to a very bad level, which allows the Polish Army to resist the Russian attack at a relatively low cost. Lieutenant General Vashkevich even believed that if they could withstand the Russian attack in this tragic battle, it would be of great benefit to the Polish Army and him personally.

The Russian commanders, General Zhukov and Lieutenant General Konev, are also always paying attention to the development of the battle situation. Although the faces of the two were expressionless. However, their nervousness could be clearly seen from their eyes.

"Comrade Commander, our troops just broke through the German defense line, but they were driven out again not long after. The casualties of the troops are very heavy now!" said a Russian staff officer.

"Order the troops to continue to attack, do not order or retreat without authorization! Violators of the military law will be dealt with. This time we must tear the Polish line of defense at all costs!" Lieutenant General Konev ordered.

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer immediately went to the fleet to order.

Although, the heavy casualties of the troops made Lieutenant General Konev feel as if he was bleeding. However, the closer it is to such a juncture, the more unable to relax. Otherwise, all previous efforts will be wasted. All previous losses were in vain. Lieutenant General Konev didn't want to be like that.

"Order the 33rd Army and go into battle in an hour!" General Zhukov ordered.

The fierce battle caused the attacking 19th and 20th armies to suffer great losses. Many troops have been disabled, and the losses are extremely heavy. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to invest in a new force. Otherwise, when the 19th and 20th armies are unable to launch an offensive, they will no longer be able to pose any threat to the Polish defense line.

"Yes, Comrade Commander."

As the Russian army continues to invest more troops on the front line, both the Polish Army and the Belarusian Army are under tremendous pressure. In order to hold the line of defense, they also had to put more troops into the defense. Although the casualties of the troops are not small, they are generally much smaller than the Russian army.

Time passed little by little, and when the sky was already bright, the Russian army still failed to break through the defense lines of the Polish army and the White army. Obviously, this time the attack failed again.

In order to avoid greater losses, General Zhukov once again issued an order to retreat.

Shortly after General Zhukov's order was issued, the fighter planes of the Luftwaffe appeared. They began to bomb and straf the Russian army, further increasing the losses of the Russian army.