East of Lake Masuria, the German 11th Army and 20th Army are building defensive positions based on the terrain, relying on villages and small towns. As for the 8th Armored Division, they are getting acquainted with their tanks. Early tomorrow morning, if the Russian army does not launch an attack, they will start to advance westward in an orderly manner, further reducing the living space of the Russian army.
After the Russian 2nd Army was dealt with in Tannenberg, the officers and soldiers of the German 8th Army had a clearer understanding of their combat effectiveness. This made them more confident in this battle.
"General, a telegram from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." A staff officer found Lieutenant General François who was patrolling the defense line, and handed him the telegram from Qin Tian.
After Lieutenant General Francois read the telegram, he couldn't help showing a smile on his face: "Everyone, Your Royal Highness is very concerned about our next battle. After we have solved the Russian 1st Army, We will have a week's rest. However, His Royal Highness also hopes that we can keep all the Russians who invaded the German Empire and destroyed our homeland."
"Kill all the Russians! We can definitely kill all the invading Russians. Those Russians have no other advantage except for a little more numbers."
"It would be too cheap to kill them all. We can capture them all and use them to rebuild the destroyed homeland."
The generals began to discuss how to deal with these Russians, as if these Russians were not scary at all and could be easily dealt with by them.
The 20th Army and the 8th Armored Division also received a telegram from Qin Tian. They are also full of confidence in tomorrow's battle.
At this moment, the Russian 1st Army is on its way overnight. In the case of chasing troops after blocking back and forth, they can only escape as fast as possible. But soon, the Russian army still discovered that they could not run past the German army. The road ahead has been cut off by the German army.
On the night of August 23, Admiral Leiningkamp issued an order to march overnight. Because he found that the German army would stop pursuing at night, which made it easier for them to retreat.
It's just that this makes the soldiers of the Russian army more tired. Many people were very sleepy. If their lives were not threatened, they would probably fall asleep directly on the road.
"General, the 4th Infantry Division reported that they had exchanged fire with the Germans." A staff officer reported to Major General Leiningkamp in panic.
"What? They found the Germans? How is this possible? How could the Germans run ahead of us?" Admiral Leiningkamp jumped up, his face full of disbelief.
The other Russian generals also panicked. They always wanted to rush out and escape before the formation of the German encirclement. Unexpectedly, they rushed day and night, and even let many troops go to the rear, but in the end they still failed.
"General, what should we do now? The Germans have really blocked us." A major general said in horror.
"God! Are we going to follow in the footsteps of the 2nd Army?"
The generals of the Russian army also panicked into a group. No matter how proud they are usually, but at this time, they are nothing but clowns whose lives are threatened.
"The speed of the Germans is faster than we imagined! It seems that we have seriously underestimated them. However, this is also understandable. The transportation construction of the Germans is far more developed than that of Russia. So , they were able to complete the mobilization of troops in such a short period of time." General Leiningkamp said with a wry smile.
"Generals, for us, the current situation is undoubtedly very dangerous. If we are not careful, we will follow in the footsteps of the 2nd Army and be wiped out by the Germans. Don't think that our troops are stronger than the 2nd Army. There are many 2nd armies, so I doubt this. At least, in my opinion, the Germans can easily eliminate the 2nd army, so their combat effectiveness is much stronger than ours. Therefore, we are now almost dead. General Leiningkamp continued.
"General, what should we do now? Is it possible to do nothing and just wait for death?" a general asked.
"Of course we can't just wait to die like this. Although the situation is very unfavorable to us. But we must try our best to fight for a chance. I decided to let the troops stop retreating and rest for one night. Tomorrow during the day, launch an attack on the German positions Onslaught. If we can break through the direction of the Germans within a day, we still have a chance to escape. If we fail, then everyone will accept their fate!" Admiral Leiningkamp said.
The generals were silent. Of course, they also know that there is no way to do this. The reason why Admiral Leiningkamp decided to put all his eggs in one basket was because there was no other way. If you don't work hard, it is really a dead end.
"The general is right. There is only one way in front of us now. If we want to survive, we have to fight the Germans. As long as we can break through the German defenses and escape back, we will survive." Hope." One of the generals said.
Of course, in addition to this road, if you want to survive, there is another way, and that is to surrender to the Germans. As generals, if they surrender, they can at least guarantee their lives. However, on this occasion, no one dared to say this method.
"Since this is the case, let's fight the Germans. Anyway, as long as we can escape, we will have a chance to make a comeback. It doesn't matter if the troops are exhausted. I believe that enough soldiers have been mobilized in the country .As long as we go back, we can get supplements immediately." Another general said.
This point of view has been recognized by other generals. Indeed, these Russian generals did not take the lives of ordinary soldiers seriously. In their view, they are nothing more than cannon fodder. If they could use these cannon fodder to guarantee their own lives, they would not hesitate to abandon these cannon fodder.
Soon, the generals of the Russian army reached a consensus and decided to invest in the army to launch an attack early tomorrow morning. This time, they will put all their eggs in one basket and devote all their main forces to fight for that chance of survival.
"Everyone, everyone, go back and prepare! May God bless us and the Russian Empire!" Admiral Leiningkamp prayed.
"God bless us, bless the Russian Empire!" All the generals prayed very devoutly.