Red Moscow

  Chapter 353 The situation is getting worse

   "Lieutenant Briski, take us to your battalion headquarters." Sokov said to Briski: "We need to carefully study the route of the convoy so that they can transport the supplies safely."

  Bliski just wanted to ask Sokov, when night falls, just drive the convoy over, what else is there to study? But before he could speak, he heard Sokov say first: "Although the convoy is only 20 kilometers away from here, such a large convoy has to pass through the defense lines of the German army and our army. There will be annihilation of the whole army."

   Regarding Sokov's statement, Briski thinks it is quite reliable. Among other things, just a few minutes ago, when the armored vehicle in which Christopher was riding was approaching his position, the brigade commander himself directed the artillery to fire at them. A convoy of twenty trucks and several armored vehicles had a much larger target than one armored vehicle. No matter who the enemy or the enemy opened fire on, it would cause huge losses to the convoy.

However, before going to the battalion headquarters, Sokov ordered his subordinates in an unquestionable tone to transfer the remaining personnel and equipment of the women's antiaircraft artillery battalion to the two hillsides. This wrong location became the target of German artillery fire.

Arriving at the battalion command post in the tunnel, Sokov walked to the table, leaned over and slapped the map twice, and then said to Christopher: "Comrade Lieutenant, come and point out the hiding place of the convoy to I read."

Christoph stood beside Sokov, looked down at the map for a while, then pointed to a spot, and said decisively: "Comrade Brigadier, it's here. Two kilometers away from our hiding place, there are German troops. A defensive position, probably held by a platoon. When the armored vehicle I was riding passed there, they did not arouse their alertness. Therefore, I think it is not reasonable to let the convoy pass there under the banner of the German army after dark any questions."

  Because the battle situation is in chaos, where the defense lines of the Soviet Union and Germany are, not to mention the grassroots commanders, even the commanders of the front army may not be able to figure it out. However, Christopher had just returned from the enemy's rear, and he should still have some understanding of the situation of the defense line, so he continued to ask: "Then where is our army's defense line?"

"There is one place here," Christopher pointed to a location on the map, and then quickly pointed to another place and said, "There is another place here. On the way back, the only defense line I found was These two places."

Sokov glanced at the position of the Soviet defense line, and found that there was no detour from nearby, so he asked with a serious expression: "Comrade Lieutenant, without negotiating with the friendly forces, the convoy you led , can you successfully pass through the two lines of defense of our army?"

"Comrade Brigadier, I think we can only gamble on luck." Christopher pondered for a while, and replied: "I am coming back this time, one is to contact the brigade headquarters, and the other is to explore the way. In my opinion Well, the two lines of defense of our army seem to be in vain, but when our armored vehicles passed by the line of defense, there was no reaction inside. I even doubted whether there are troops of our army stationed in the line of defense."

  Christopher's words reminded Sokov of the German tank unit that caused heavy losses to the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion. The enemy should also infiltrate the rear of the Soviet defense line from that direction. Since the Germans can pass, then Christopher's team should also be able to pass.

  Thinking of this, he said to Christopher: "Comrade Lieutenant, return to the convoy's hiding place immediately, and after dark, bring them along the route we have chosen!"

  Before he left, Christopher asked: "Comrade Brigadier, where will the supplies be stored after they are brought back?"

Briski, who was standing aside, his eyes lit up when he heard Christopher's question, and he could not wait to say to Sokov immediately: "Comrade Brigadier, our warehouse here is still empty, you can put The materials are all stored here on the North Slope." However, he only said these words in his heart, but did not say them out of his mouth, and he had to wait for Sokov's final decision.

Unexpectedly, Sokov said to Christopher: "Comrade Lieutenant, after the supplies are shipped back, all kinds of military supplies are stored here on the north slope. As for weapons and ammunition, they are all transported to the warehouse on the south **** for storage. In addition, those Trucks are of no use to us, send people to the docks and hand them over to the transport troops there, they should be able to use them.”

"Comrade Brigadier," Briski seemed very dissatisfied with Sokov's arrangement: "Why do we store weapons and ammunition in the warehouse on the south slope? You know, we also have enough space on the north **** to store Comrade Lieutenant's convoy Bring back the supplies."

"Comrade Captain," Sokov looked at Briski and said, "I know you still have enough space in the warehouse here, but I dare not put weapons and ammunition here." With a blank look on his face, he explained to him, "Don't forget, there are more than a dozen oil storage tanks above your heads. Once the oil tank is hit by a shell or bomb, causing a violent explosion, even if it is separated by a few meters The soil layer, the high temperature generated by the combustion, may also detonate the weapons and ammunition in the warehouse, I can't take this risk."

  After listening to Sokov's explanation, Briski obediently closed his mouth, knowing in his heart that what Sokov said was true. In order to protect the oil storage tanks above their heads, the city defense committee even transferred a women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion to stop the German air strikes on the north slope.

   After Sokov finished handling the affairs on the north slope, he returned to the brigade headquarters behind the south slope. As soon as he entered the tent, Sidolin greeted him and said: "Comrade Brigadier, a few minutes ago, I received a call from the Front Army Command, and the situation has become even worse."

From the time when the German tank unit passed through the Soviet defense line and rushed to the northern **** of Mamayev Hill to show off its power, Sokov had an ominous premonition in his heart. He felt that the Soviet army's rout was about to begin, so he Walking quickly to the table, he said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me about the situation."

"According to the notification from the Front Command, the 16th Tank Division of the German Army, with the help of the 3rd and 60th Motorized Rifle Divisions, stormed the 62nd Army and the 62nd Tank Division from Vilgach to Reynock, north of Stalingrad. The junction of the 4th Army..."

"The 16th Armored Division was commanded by the famous German one-armed general Huber." Sokov looked at the map on the table and said with a frown, "His choice of breakthrough was very good. , are usually the weakest. With the combat effectiveness of this division, even a single division can break through our defense, not to mention that his left and right flanks are assisted by two motorized infantry divisions. It seems that our defense line It will collapse soon, and then it will be street fighting with the enemy."

"The situation can't be so bad, right?!" Regarding Sokov's statement, Belkin said with some doubts: "Although it was an armored division and two motorized infantry divisions that stormed our army's defense line, our tank No. The 4th Army can counterattack them and smash their attempts to break through our defense lines."

"Comrade Commissar, our army does not have the power to fight back." Sidolin said with a bitter face: "Although we have a tank army, but only in name, the army is composed of infantry divisions. They can block the German tanks The assault is very good, where there is excess power, counterattack the German troops."

"I remember that in this area, there is the famous Tatar trench, which is 20 meters deep, and there are strong fortifications nearby." Belgin said a little unconvinced: "I believe our troops will definitely be able to use the trenches here. Good terrain to block the enemy trying to rush to the Volga."

Belkin's words sparked hope in Sidolin's heart: "The political commissar is right. I have carefully observed the terrain here. Even if the German army broke through our army's defense line, because there are many small rivers here The German tanks can only advance along the roads. On both sides of these roads, there are only some hills. The troops deployed on the hills can slow down the advancing speed of the German tanks.”

"If our army can deploy more anti-tank fighters on the hills on both sides of the road, then we can wipe out a large number of German tanks in the march." Belgin said with some pride: "In the newspaper some time ago, Didn’t it mean that four soldiers, relying on four anti-tank rifles, wiped out 17 enemy tanks within half a day? I believe such a deed will happen soon in the area from Virgach to Reynock .”

  Sokov really wanted to pour cold water on both of them and make them both sober. But after thinking about it, the current situation of the battle is not good for the Soviet army, and it is time to boost morale. If the commander has no confidence, can the soldiers' morale be high? So he kept silent, quietly listening to the two men flirting there.

   After the two were quiet, Sokov said to them: "I have good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first?"

  Belkin thought that he had heard too much bad news recently, so he said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, let's talk about the good news first."

"The good news is that the troops led by Christopher have successfully captured a German warehouse in the Mali Rossoška area, and the captured materials will be transported back by truck tonight to supplement the weapons needed by our department Ammunition and various supplies."

   "This is really good news." Although after this period of storage, there are already a lot of weapons, ammunition and various military supplies in the warehouse, but if there are new supplies, no one will think too much. After this news made Belgin happy for a while, he asked again: "Comrade Brigadier, what about the bad news?"

"The bad news is about the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion." Sokov said with a straight face: "I think you have all seen that when they were bombarded by the German army, they didn't have the slightest ability to fight back. When I go to find out, I just realized that the female soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion have only received simple anti-aircraft artillery training, and they don't know how to use anti-aircraft artillery to deal with enemy tanks, resulting in heavy casualties. I just went to see the whole battalion There used to be 15 85mm anti-aircraft guns and 197 commanders and fighters. Now there are only five anti-aircraft guns and more than 60 commanders and fighters left, and the organizational system has almost been abolished."

"I really didn't expect that the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion suffered such heavy casualties in the battle just now." Belgin said with some distress: "We should immediately contact the leaders of the Red October Tractor Factory and ask them to send this unit Withdrew to rest."

"You don't need to contact the factory leader." Regarding Belkin's proposal, Sokov immediately expressed his objection, "Since the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion was ordered by the city defense committee to enter and establish an air defense position near the north slope. Before the soldiers died, I thought the superior would not give them an order to retreat. Therefore, I sent people to place them in the open space between the north and south slopes, so that they would not be directly attacked by German artillery.”

"The situation today is getting worse, so we must prepare for battle in advance." Sokov began to issue orders to Sidolin: "Order the battalions to immediately close the roads in the minefield and send troops into the field fortifications. Although it is ready to fight the enemy who rushed to the vicinity of Mamayev's hill."

"Comrade Brigadier, I think the soldiers will be very happy to hear your order." Sidolin said with a smile on his face when he heard Sukov's order: "They hide in the tunnel fortifications every day." They are almost suffocated here, and it is a kind of enjoyment for them to be able to stay on the surface outside and breathe the fresh air."

"Compared with fresh air, life is more important." Sokov felt that he had to sound the alarm to Belgin and Sidolin again: "In order to reduce the losses of our brigade commanders and fighters in the enemy's shelling and bombing, we have It may make the fighters stay in the tunnel that is depressing and difficult for each other for a long time, I hope everyone can be mentally prepared."

Although Belkin and Sidolin also felt very uncomfortable when they stayed in the tunnel, they knew very well in their hearts that if they wanted to save their lives in battle, staying in such a fortification was the safest . After listening to Sokov's words, Sidolin even proposed: "Comrade brigade commander, our brigade headquarters is located at the foot of the hillside. If it encounters German bombing, it may be in danger of being destroyed. I think it is better to move to Go into the tunnel."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right to remind." If it weren't for hearing that Huber's troops were attacking the junction of the 62nd Army and friendly forces, Sokov would not have felt any crisis. But at this moment, he felt that it was a wrong decision to put the brigade headquarters outside the tunnel, so he nodded and said: "We should move the brigade headquarters to the tunnel, there is no longer any delay, and we should move now. "

  (end of this chapter)