Red Moscow

  Chapter 343 Breakthrough (Part 2)

  After the sound of explosions one after another, those soldiers with grenades on their bodies all died heroically. Although their sacrifices only resulted in the destruction of two tanks, the German tank soldiers were frightened by the fearlessness of the soldiers. Soviet positions.

  It wasn't until the German soldiers arrived that the tanks restarted, and with the cooperation of the infantry, they continued to rush towards the Soviet positions. Because the 157th Division did not lay minefields in front of the position when building fortifications, so the German army quickly rushed to a distance of more than 50 meters from the trenches.

  Seeing that the German tanks and infantry were approaching the position of the 157th Division step by step, and the weak firepower in the trenches could not stop the advance of the German army at all, Cuikov, standing on the high ground, couldn't help feeling anxious. At this moment, Klimov suddenly shouted in surprise: "Comrade commander, look quickly, tanks, our tanks."

  Sokov looked in the direction that Klimov pointed, and he saw four tanks running towards the front position of the 157th Division at high speed. "Where is it?" Chuikov also put down the binoculars and asked.

   "There!" Before Klimov could speak, Sokov rushed to say: "There are four T-34s. The German Panzer IV is not their opponent..."

Before Sokov finished speaking, a German tank near the forward position suddenly emitted black smoke with flames from its body, and soon the fire spread to the entire body, enveloping the entire tank in flames .

   Seeing the tank on fire, Sokov thought to himself: What's going on? How could the German tank catch fire suddenly? Could it be that brave soldier who carried the cluster grenade and the enemy tank died together? Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw two streams of soil rising into the sky next to another German tank, and he suddenly realized that it was the Soviet tank that had just arrived that fired the gun.

   I don't know which unit these four tanks came from. They didn't line up like other tanks and charged forward at full speed. Instead, a two-vehicle tactic is used, alternately covering and rushing forward. When the previous tank rushed forward, the rear tank stopped and fired; the tank that finished firing continued to rush forward, while the tank that rushed ahead stopped and fired towards the discovered target.

  The German tanks parked in front of the Soviet positions, although they also fired back, their shells could not penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 at a distance of more than 500 meters. On the contrary, once the Soviet tanks fired, they could overturn their turrets. It didn't take much time. Those German tanks that once had the upper hand have become burning torches on the battlefield.

  Seeing that all their tanks were destroyed, the German soldiers who followed the tanks turned around and ran back, crossed the pontoon bridge, and fled back to the south bank.

"Great, our tank soldiers are really great." Seeing the Germans fleeing back to the south bank, Klimov said a little excitedly: "They destroyed the enemy's tanks, crushed the enemy's attack, and successfully held the position .”

"Comrade General, something is wrong." Seeing the German infantry fleeing across the floating bridge in a hurry, Sokov felt an ominous premonition, and he quickly said to Chuikov: "Even if the German tanks are killed by us The army is destroyed, and their infantry can also retreat to the river to stand firm. Why retreat to the other side of the river?"

   "Chief of Staff, what do you mean?" Chuikov looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you think the retreat of the German army is a conspiracy?"

   "Very likely." Sokov nodded and said with certainty: "I think the German infantry has all retreated to the opposite bank, and it may be preparing to shell our army's position."

Chuikov did not refute Sokov's statement, he just looked at the four tanks parked behind the trench, sighed softly, and said: "God bless, I hope these tanks will be hit by the bombardment that will come later." , can survive. With these tanks as fixed turrets, we can strengthen our army's defense force."

   As soon as Chuikov's voice fell, the German shelling began. In a short while, the forward positions of the 157th Division were blown up into a sea of ​​flames, and shrapnel shot in all directions and mud splashed in all directions. The earthworks on the ground, like paper toys, were torn apart by the power of the explosion and then lifted high into the air.

  Looking at the dense shells exploding on the ground, Sokov's heart tightened. He didn't know how many commanders and fighters staying in these simple fortifications survived after this round of shelling. Maybe there are some companies, or battalion-level combat units, the moment the gunfire ends, the number can be canceled because of the exhaustion of casualties.

   Before the shelling ended, another group of German tanks began to pass the pontoon bridge and headed for the north bank. On the south bank, hundreds of German soldiers could clearly be seen gathering, and it seemed that they were preparing to launch a new offensive.

  After the German tanks passed the pontoon bridge, they quickly launched an offensive formation. However, they did not attack immediately, but stopped and waited, waiting for the end of the shelling and the infantry who were crossing the bridge.

  The German army was very good at summing up the lessons of failure. As soon as the shelling stopped, before the smoke on the Soviet army's position cleared, it immediately launched an attack. Hundreds of German soldiers, following more than a dozen tanks, flooded towards the Soviet defensive positions like a rising tide.

  They were getting closer and closer to the position, one hundred meters, ninety meters, eighty meters... However, the Soviet army's position was still quiet, and there was no movement at all. This scene irritated Cuikov, he only felt the darkness in front of his eyes, his heart was like a stabbing knife, his body shook twice, and then he fell backwards. Fortunately, Sokov and Klimov had sharp eyes and quick hands, and supported him in time, so that he didn't let him fall to the ground.

   "Comrade Commander, what's wrong with you?" Klimov asked with concern.

Chuikov opened his eyes, shook his head, and said: "It seems that the position of the 157th Division cannot be defended. The enemy not only has an advantage in strength, but also has much more technical equipment than us. If we continue to fight, it will be too late." There is no need, it will only let the soldiers die in vain. Immediately call Colonel Kuropatenko and ask him to withdraw the surviving troops to the second line, and use the method of continuous resistance to delay the German advance to Stalingrad speed."

   After Chuikov struggled to stabilize his body, he said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, from now on, I will relieve you from the position of Chief of Staff of the Southern Group."

  Sokov didn't expect that Cuikov would suddenly dismiss him without warning, and he couldn't help asking in surprise, "Comrade General, why is that?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, don't forget, your real position is the brigade commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade." Chuikov raised his hand and patted Sokov on the shoulder, saying: "The Germans rushed to Stalingrad , is already an unchangeable fact. Since this place can no longer be defended, we can only continue to fight with them in the city. We will never hand over the city to the Germans easily. Go ahead, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, Lead your troops on Mamayev Post and teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget."

   In this way, while the German 14th Armored Division successfully broke through the defense line of the Soviet 157th Division, Sokov was dismissed by Chuikov as chief of staff and returned to Mamayev Post to continue commanding his troops.

  (end of this chapter)