There were 2397 straitors in total.

Of course, this does not include the wounded who have lost their combat effectiveness and the police battalion that maintains public order in the town.

Colonel Slain has initially organized these troops into one regiment and three battalions, each with more than 700 people, and has registered the battalion commanders, company commanders, etc. in the document, and the regiment commander was Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard.

Of course, it makes sense to do this, because only by organizing the entire army in this way can one form a whole and conduct planned operations, without the fact that there are a bunch of people here and there that cannot be commanded at all.

Of course, in principle, this force is just a whole situation... Usually, after organization, there must be training to make the soldiers familiar with each other and their superiors, so that they can cooperate more closely during combat.

"So, what they said is true?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard asked Qin Chuan: "I mean, what are your achievements in North Africa?"

"Can you say that!" Qin Chuan replied: "Of course, those are not me alone!"

"This is amazing!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard looked at Qin Chuan with envy and said, "You know, I am an engineer, and I also hope to fight several battles as hard as you!"

"Have you ever commanded two battles independently?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Oh, forget it!" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard replied awkwardly: "Those two games... are just guerrillas. You know, we are building roads, and then the guerrillas launched a sneak attack on us without knowing the death!"

Judging from Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard's expression, Qin Chuan guessed that the number of guerrillas was not large, which made Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard embarrassed to say it in more detail.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Qin Chuan said: "Believe me, you will not be willing to face such a 'painful' scene!"

"We can't help but be willing or not, right?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard spread his hands: "We must face it now!"

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement.

Then he soon realized why this scattered soldiers, including only more than 5,000 wounded soldiers, still maintained their morale in this situation... This is not because they are too outstanding, but because a considerable number of them have not experienced real wars.

This kind of psychology is easy to understand. Most of them are second-line troops, such as engineers, police, transport soldiers, etc. These troops have been back and forth in the back of the front line for a long time, but they are always unable to use it when holding guns in their hands. And they are also air strikes and bombarded by the enemy... They will naturally feel angry and think that one day they can fight face to face with the enemy.

This is a bit like a recruit, but it will be better than a recruit, because at least they have been bombed or dealt with guerrillas.

"So, Captain!" asked Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard, "What should we do?"

"In addition to defense, you need to withdraw all our supplies to the east of the Lovati River in the shortest time!" Qin Chuan said: "Especially the supplies at the airport, see what is left in the warehouse!"

"Retreat to the east?" Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard was a little puzzled: "Why?"

"The terrain is low to the west of the Lovati River!" Qin Chuan replied: "And there is no danger to guard, you must give up the preparation!"

Lieutenant Colonel Gerhard couldn't help but open his mouth wide, and he almost gave up one-third of Holm's territory.

Qin Chuan looked up at Gerhard, and Gerhard hurriedly responded: "Yes, Captain!"

Then he immediately passed the order.

This search was quite rewarding. I found several barrels of gasoline and some boxes of canned food that were forgotten in the corner in the warehouse of the airport. I found a pak40 anti-tank gun and a few boxes of shells in the cellar. There was also a T34 tank parked in the repair shop... Obviously, this was a tank seized by the German army, but it was left here because it had a malfunction.

"Any of us who repair tanks?" Qin Chuan asked.

"I need to ask!" Gerhard replied.

Fortunately, there were actually several mechanics among the stragglers, and several other tank soldiers were also ordered to take charge of the tank together.

Qin Chuan just took the attitude of treating this tank as a living horse, but he didn't expect that it not only played a role but also made great contributions in the end.

At 3:50 p.m., while Qin Chuan was still looking at the topographic map, a whistling of shells came from the sky, and then several German soldiers shouted: "They are here!"

Qin Chuan and Gerhard ran out of the command center and saw a team of ski soldiers firing mortars into the town in an open space several miles away.

However, they also knew that it was impossible to attack Holm Town with the light weapons carried by the ski soldiers. Perhaps because of the destruction of a ski camp before, they did not intend to attack, but were just shooting mortars casually outside.

"Boom" A shell exploded on a building, and a big hole was blown up on the spot, and several screams of Soviet people came from inside.

Kuhn couldn't help but scream: "God, don't they know that there are still their people in the town?"

Gerhard smiled and replied, "They don't care about these, Lieutenant!"

"Yes!" said another German soldier: "You haven't seen what they did when they retreated before..."

"What's the matter?" Kuhn asked.

"They burned down the people's houses and food!" the German soldiers replied.

"What? Why?" Kuhn was very surprised.

"In order not to get supplies!" Gerhard replied: "By the way, leave a lot of people who need food for us!"

Kuhn looked at Gerhard in disbelief, he couldn't believe that these were true.

But Qin Chuan knew that this was true.

This was the Soviets' method, and it could even be said to be premeditated... Along the way, the walls and cleared the fields without leaving anything for the Germans, and then when the Germans fought to Moscow, it became winter again.

However, it was understandable that the Soviets did this. Otherwise, the Germans would have to search for the clothes and food of the Soviet people along the way, and it would have been almost enough for the winter. At that time, the Battle of Moscow might be another result.

So, like now, the Soviet army bombarded the houses of its own people without any scruples, which was a piece of cake.

"Do we need to fight back, Captain?" Coon asked, with some hatred in his eyes.

"No!" Qin Chuan replied: "It's better to save some shells, they will stop soon!"

Sure enough, after firing more than a dozen more shells, the ski soldiers lost interest when they saw that they did not respond... They just wanted to test how much firepower there was in the town and where the enemy's defense line was.
Chapter completed!