Early in the morning on August 24, the officers and soldiers of the German army were still asleep, but they were all awakened by the emergency military situation. After dawn, the observation post discovered that a large number of Russian troops appeared two kilometers in front of the position. It's densely packed, I don't know how many there are. The observation post immediately issued a warning.

   Even though the officers and soldiers were very tired, many of them didn't wake up at all. But the military situation is an order, which makes them take up arms at the first time and prepare to fight. Whether it is infantry, artillery, or the armored soldiers of the 8th Armored Division, they all entered a state of combat readiness immediately.

   "What's going on?" Lieutenant General Francois also rushed to the front line.

"General, the Russians launched a tentative attack on our defense line last night. At first, I thought they would give up. But I didn't expect that they started preparing to attack early this morning." A major general reported. .

"These Russians, have their brains caught by the door? Don't they know that when the Russian Second Army was in Tannenberg, it also tried to break through our position. As a result, in front of our position, there were piles of dead bodies. " Lieutenant General Francois said in disbelief. After all, the Russian Second Army has already served as a lesson for the past, and the Russian army should have been prepared for this.

   "Who knows! Maybe those Russians are like this." The major general said.

"Well, no matter what the Russians are going to do. Since they plan to take the initiative to attack, that is our advantage. Order the ministries and prepare for battle. Once the Russians dare to attack, I will wipe them all out." Lieutenant General Rancois ordered.

   "Yes, General." The Major General nodded.

   "Get the artillery ready. Once the Russians fire, suppress them immediately. We can't let the Russian artillery fire cause us too much damage." Lieutenant General Francois urged.

  Although, I learned from the 17th Army that the Russian army had discarded a lot of cannons during their escape. But the Russian 1st Army has 20 infantry divisions. If it is full, it will be equipped with at least 960 76.2mm field guns. Although so many cannons are small-caliber field guns, they are enough to pose a serious threat to the German army.

   "Yes, General." The Major General's face was serious.

  Lieutenant General François inspected the positions and was very satisfied to see that the soldiers were confidently preparing to meet the Russian attack. It only rang when he was about to return to his command post. The soldiers were woken up early in the morning, and they didn't even have time to eat breakfast.

"Let the cooking soldiers prepare breakfast and send it to the front line, even if it's all bread. You can't let the soldiers fight hungry. Who knows how long this battle will last?" Lieutenant General Francois ordered .

  Once the Russian army launches a full-scale offensive, a large-scale battle will inevitably break out. The battle may last for a long time, even more than a day. In battle, it may be difficult for soldiers to find opportunities to fill their stomachs. Therefore, Lieutenant General Francois had to prepare early.

  The commander of the major general was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, general, I will give orders immediately."

  On the opposite Russian army position, officers at all levels of the Russian army are giving lectures to the troops. There is only one general content, that is, they are in a very dangerous situation now, and there are chasing soldiers after they are intercepted. If they cannot defeat the German army blocking the front in today's battle, then they will only have a dead end.

  The speeches of the Russian officers made the Russian soldiers understand how dangerous their situation was. Although, they have no culture. However, this does not prevent them from having a strong desire to survive. In the eyes of almost every Russian soldier, there is a strong desire to survive. None of them wanted to die, they wanted to live. And the only way to survive is to defeat the Russians blocking their retreat.

  These Russian soldiers once again mustered up their courage and forgot their timidity.

  This is also the reason why the ancient Chinese art of war said, 'Don't stop when you return to your teacher'. If a troop is cut off from retreating, it will explode with extremely strong fighting power. Especially in the era of cold weapons, it often determines the outcome of a battle.

  Of course, now is the era of hot weapons, especially the German army is equipped with a large number of automatic weapons. Therefore, they had no worries about cutting off the Russians' retreat. They have enough firepower to make even the Russian army full of fighting spirit fall into the sand.

"Order the artillery, hit me hard. Fire all the shells. If you can't break through the German defense line, those cannons and shells are useless." Admiral Leiningkamp ordered .

   "Yes, General."

   A few minutes later, the Russian artillery began shelling. Their remaining cannon, more than three hundred more, were assembled. Although, these cannons are all 76.2 mm field guns. However, with so many field artillery shelling, the power is still amazing.

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

   One by one shells roared and smashed into the German positions. The gunners of the Russian army fired hard and fired more shells. Because they knew that once the Germans started to fight back, they would never have another chance.

  Just two minutes after the Russian shelling started, the German shelling began to counterattack. The artillery of one of the infantry divisions of sir launched a counterattack, and then the other artillery joined in. In terms of quantity, it is no better than the Russian army's cannons, and in terms of caliber, range and power, it can suppress the Russian army's artillery fire.

  But even the German artillery suppression caused great losses to the Russian artillery. But their bombardment never stopped, but became more powerful.

  The shelling of the Russian army forced the frontline troops of the German army to withdraw to the fortifications. Many of the fortifications they built were also destroyed. After all, this is just a fortification built hastily by the German army overnight, and it is not very strong and cannot withstand the attack of artillery shells.

  But the officers and soldiers of the German army believed that under their artillery counterattack, the Russian artillery would soon be destroyed. At that time, it will no longer be a threat to them.

   It's just that, what everyone didn't expect was that the Russian infantry launched an attack before the Russian artillery stopped shelling. More than 20,000 Russian soldiers, holding rifles and roaring loudly, attacked the German positions. They seemed not at all afraid of being accidentally injured by their own shells.