Red Moscow

  Chapter 286 Second Battalion and Second Company

  In order to ensure that the infantry behind can keep up, the German amphibious tanks can only keep advancing at a speed of four to five kilometers per hour. Seeing the German tanks advancing in the stagnant water at a slow speed, Gelia couldn't help becoming a little impatient. He thought to himself: "These tanks that can swim seem to be light tanks. If there are a few seized 37mm tanks Anti-tank guns, they'll all be wiped out."

   However, Gelia's worries quickly dissipated. The second platoon leader walked into the observation post with two soldiers from the outside and reported to him: "Comrade company commander, these two are artillery observers. They are going to observe here in order to provide shooting parameters for the artillery company in the rear." .”

"Great, this is really great." Knowing that although the artillery company has a small number of artillery pieces, they are all 152mm heavy howitzers. It is easy to clean up the German tanks marching in the pool. The two artillery observers shook hands and called them to the lookout for observation.

An observer raised his binoculars, watched the German tanks approaching the position calmly, and reported a series of shooting parameters to his comrades holding the telephone behind him: "... Scale 80, distance 2800 meters, one Send, let go!"

  Soon there was the whistling sound of shells in the air. A shell landed more than 20 meters in front of the German tank and exploded, setting off a turbid column of water that rained down on the tank body. When the explosion sounded, the German infantry behind the tank squatted down in fright. The water above their knees immediately flooded their mouths and noses, causing many German soldiers to stand up again in a hurry.

   Seeing that the first shell did not cause any casualties to the enemy, the observer did not panic, but continued: "Correct the scale and move forward 20 meters. One shot, let it go!"

  The second shell fired by the artillery company roared and flew towards the enemy again. However, as the German tank moved forward for a further distance, the falling shells still did not cause any damage to it, but it fell in the middle of the infantry formation behind. After a loud "boom", the German soldiers near the bombing point rushed forward He was blown to pieces, and fell headlong into the stagnant water, unable to get up again.

   "Great, hit! Our comrades are really great." Seeing that the shell hit the target, the observer shouted excitedly: "Just hit the infantry behind the German tank! Artillery company, fire coverage, fire!"

And Porochenko, who commanded the artillery to fire in the city, heard the observer say that the second shell fired just hit the German infantry. He couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly raised the red signal flag in his hand. Shouted: "Artillery company, listen to my password: fire!" After shouting, he waved the flag down violently.

   Several heavy howitzers from the artillery company fired at the same time, covering the area where the German army was located with artillery fire. Since the position of the German infantry was an unobstructed open area, and the water on the ground was knee-high, it was impossible for them to lie down and hide, so they suffered heavy casualties under the artillery fire of the Soviet army.

  Because of the guidance of artillery observers, the cannons deployed in the city accurately hit the middle of the enemy's formation as if they had eyes. The German infantry near the bombing point were either blown to pieces, or knocked down by shrapnel flying around, and fell into the water with a plop. In just a few minutes, the surface of the water was stained red by the blood flowing out of the German corpses.

When the enemy's infantry was almost wiped out, the artillery company aimed at the amphibious tank again, and a shell hit it. None of the four amphibious tanks escaped, and they were all blown to pieces. , and none of the tank soldiers inside escaped.

  When the German commander saw that his attacking troops had been bombarded by the Soviet army, he became furious and immediately ordered long-range artillery fire to cover the Soviet artillery positions. Fortunately, Porochenko knew that he had a small number of artillery pieces, and that he would suffer a big loss if he started shelling with the enemy. Therefore, he arranged the artillery positions in a particularly scattered manner. cause too many casualties.

   Batches of shells flew in from outside the city and fell on the street and exploded. Although they only destroyed one artillery piece of the Soviet army, within a few minutes, the originally spacious and tidy streets were full of bomb craters, bricks, rubble, and ruined walls.

   Sokov received a call from Porochenko and learned that the enemy artillery was bombarding the south of the city, so he just said lightly: "I understand, I will find a way to suppress the German artillery fire."

   After finishing the conversation with Porochenko, he ordered the communications soldier: "Get me the command of the tank army and find General Rotmistrov. I have something important to report to him."

  As soon as the phone was connected, Rotmistrov said hurriedly through the receiver: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what happened? Why is the artillery fire in the south of the city so intensive?"

"That's right, Comrade General." Sokov waited for Rotmistrov to finish speaking, and immediately reported to him: "The German troops attacking the south of the city were intercepted by our artillery fire, and the enemy fired at them with long-range artillery fire. The artillery positions in the south of the city suppressed."

  After figuring out what was going on, Rotmistrov tentatively asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you need our support?"

Sokov thought to himself that the mechanized brigade under the tank army had a large number of artillery pieces. If they bombarded the German artillery positions, they might be able to suppress the enemy's firepower, so he quickly said: "Comrade General, please order the artillery immediately , to bombard the German artillery positions to relieve the pressure on the defenders in the south of the city."

   Sokov thought that once he finished speaking, Rotmistrov would readily agree. Unexpectedly, after a long silence, the other party said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I can order the artillery to fire, but have you considered the consequences?"

   "Consequences, what consequences?" Sokov asked a little bit confused, "Comrade General, will your artillery fire at the enemy's artillery positions, will it cause any bad consequences?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Rotmistrov replied with a serious expression: "Once we fire and expose the location of the artillery positions, we will definitely be retaliated by German artillery fire. Buildings would collapse under the bombardment, and a large number of innocent citizens would fall under German artillery fire."

  Rotmistrov's words reminded Sokov that there are still more than 100,000 to 200,000 residents in the city, and they were not evacuated because the superiors ordered them to stick to Kursk at all costs. If the German army is allowed to bombard the city, it will inevitably cause heavy casualties to the residents.

Sokov felt that he was facing a difficult choice. If he did not fire, his artillery company would be wiped out by the German artillery; but if he fired, the enemy would shell the artillery positions of the tank army, which would inevitably affect the innocent citizens. Thinking of this, Sokov became a little hesitant.

Seeing that there was no sound in the receiver, Rotmistrov guessed that Sokov was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, and added: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are the brigade commander of the infantry brigade, do you need to provide For artillery support, you only need to say one word."

   But before Sokov could make a decision, the German shelling stopped abruptly. Rotmistrov breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the gunfire stopped, and then said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy's shelling has stopped. It seems that you don't have to be in a dilemma anymore."

  As soon as the German bombardment of the city stopped, the officers and soldiers assembled on the river embankment charged again at the position of the second company. Since the amphibious tanks they relied on had been destroyed by the Soviet heavy artillery, they could only use machine guns and mortars to suppress the firepower on the Soviet positions and cover their companions charging forward.

  The second platoon sat cross-legged in the trench, with a submachine gun that had been emptied of bullets thrown beside him. He touched the blood on his forehead with lingering fear, recalling the shocking scene just now: he just wanted to see where the German army rushed to, but who knew that the machine gun bullets flying from the trench knocked off the helmet as soon as he came out of the trench , and a piece of skin was scratched on his forehead. If he hadn't reacted quickly and squatted down in time, he might have died long ago.

  He turned his head and glanced at the corpses of the two soldiers beside him. They were all as curious as himself. They probed out to see where the enemy had reached, but were shot in the head by machine gun bullets. He never dreamed that, hundreds of meters away, the German machine guns were still so accurate that they could kill the soldier who just raised his head. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help but start beating drums in his heart. If the German army rushed over, would the soldiers be able to hold their positions?

  A soldier bent over and ran to his side, lowering his voice and said: "Platoon leader, the enemy is less than a hundred meters away from us, should we fire?"

"Get ready to fight!" Although the German army is moving slowly in the knee-high water, if they don't stop now, they will soon be able to rush into the trenches, so he decisively issued an order: "Everyone enter the combat position , ready to fire at any time!" He picked up his steel helmet with a hole drilled by a bullet from the ground, buckled it on his head, and replaced the submachine gun with a new drum, stood up cautiously, and looked out. go. I saw seventy or eighty German soldiers bending over, holding guns, and approaching their positions cautiously.

   Seeing that the enemy was only 80 meters away from the position, he shouted decisively: "Fire!" After shouting, he took the lead in pulling the trigger. Regardless of the fact that the Popov submachine gun has a capacity of 71 rounds, it is difficult to accurately hit a target more than 80 meters away. Although the gunshots rang out on the ground, there were very few enemies knocked down by the bullets, and most of them were still moving forward.

  Seeing that the enemy was about to rush to the front of the position, the roar of machine guns suddenly came from several reinforced concrete fortifications that had remained silent. Veterans using MG34 general-purpose machine guns unhurriedly fired at the dense formation of the German army, hitting them in pieces in the water.

   Originally, the German officers and soldiers who had the confidence to rush into the Soviet positions were intercepted by intensive machine gun fire. Knowing that they would die if they continued to charge, they resolutely gave up the attack and turned around and ran back.

Seeing that the German attack was repulsed, Gelia was not surprised, but secretly thought: "We have repelled two German attacks in a row. Next, they may bombard our position again." , hoping to destroy our position and wipe out the defenders on the position through fierce artillery fire."

Taking advantage of the chance that the German army was still regrouping on the river embankment, Gelia quickly called Battalion Commander Vasily and asked him for instructions: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy's attack has been repelled by us. What should we do next?" What should we do, follow and chase?"

"No, no need to pursue." Vasili still had a certain understanding of the situation on the battlefield, and when he heard that Gelia was going to lead the troops to attack, he immediately stopped him: "Don't forget the waterlogged area in front of the position, Since the enemy paid a great price under the tenacious defense of our army when passing through there, if you pursue them, then the slow-moving soldiers will be slow to move when passing through the stagnant water area, and the enemy will treat them as Target hit."

After learning about the situation at the front, Captain Vasily called Sokov and reported to him: "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander, the commanders and fighters of the Second Company have successfully repelled the German attack. What should we do next?" Do?"

"Immediately organize the soldiers to reinforce the fortifications and rescue the wounded." Sukov was afraid that Vasily would take it lightly, and specially reminded him: "The second battalion and the second company have repelled the enemy's attack twice in a row. I think the enemy will never Willing to their failure, next, they will definitely carry out crazy revenge, you need to be prepared in advance, as long as there are strong fortifications, it will not be so easy for the enemy to break through our position."

  Sokov was thinking about the artillery company that was shelled by the Germans. As soon as the conversation with Vasily ended, he immediately called Porochenko and asked with concern: "Comrade Porochenko, what is the loss of your company?"

   "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander," Porochenko said in a heavy tone: "During the enemy's shelling, two of our artillery were blown up. Seven artillery soldiers died and more than 20 people were injured."

"Transfer the artillery positions immediately." Sokov worried that the enemy's shelling and bombing might come one after another, so he ordered Porochenko: "After sending the wounded to the military hospital, move all the artillery to the new position. .”

Regarding Sokov's order, Porochenko smiled bitterly, and then said: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier, I will move the remaining artillery and infantry to a new place as soon as possible, so as not to be subject to long-range enemy fire again." hit."

From Porochenko's tone of voice, Sokov heard that the other party was in a lot of trouble, so he arranged for him to say: "Don't worry, Comrade Porochenko, although you have suffered certain losses in today's battle .But the brigade will not sit idly by, we will replenish you with new soldiers and technical equipment as soon as possible."

  (end of this chapter)