Red Moscow

  Chapter 359 Defense (Part 2)

   Lieutenant Colonel Siknius was driven out of his garrison by the Soviet army. This matter was a great shame to him. So at dawn, his 2nd Armored Regiment launched a counterattack from the north against the defensive positions of the 149th Brigade. Although the tanks and armored vehicles were almost lost during the retreat, fortunately there are still a dozen mortars that can provide artillery support for the infantry during the attack.

  When the mortars were bombarding the position of the 149th Brigade, the German machine gunners were not idle. They quickly established a machine gun position more than 100 meters away from the trench, pointing their guns to the front.

  As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the German infantry charged. The disgraced soldiers hurriedly put their guns on the edge of the trench, aimed at the rushing enemy and pulled the trigger. Seeing that the Soviet positions had begun to fire, the German machine guns also fired. They concentrated on the most threatening machine gun fire points on the ground to suppress firepower.

   Seeing the lively fighting ahead, the German mortars were not idle. They bombarded the exposed firepower points with artillery fire from a distance to reduce the casualties of the attacking infantry. The gunner fired very accurately, and a few shells blasted the two Soviet machine guns together with the shooter into the sky.

  With the destruction of the machine gun firepower point, the firepower on the Soviet army's position suddenly weakened a lot, and the German infantry approached the Soviet army's position without paying much casualties. Seeing that in just a few seconds, the fastest soldiers could jump into the Soviet trenches and start close combat with the defenders inside, suddenly there was an earth-shattering "Ula" sound from the trenches, and then Hundreds of soldiers jumped out of the trenches, and they bravely rushed towards the Germans with Mosin Nagant on the bayonet.

  The German soldiers never dreamed that the Soviet army would carry out a countercharge at this time, and suddenly became a mess. The officers and soldiers of the two sides collided suddenly, bayonet to bayonet, scuffling and fighting each other face to face, just like a duel between cold weapons in the Middle Ages. Howling, they stabbed each other fiercely, picked with bayonets, smashed with gun butts, without any fancy pretensions, and did everything they could to kill each other.

  The stabbing between the two sides lasted for half an hour, and the German officers and soldiers who were not as skilled as others retreated in a broken army. Seeing that the enemy retreated, the living Soviet soldiers returned to the trenches one after another, and some even carried the wounded into the trenches.

  Borvinov witnessed the fight between his subordinates and the Germans in the observation post not far away. Although his troops won, the price they paid was not small. He told his chief of staff: "Go outside and see how many troops have rushed out of the encirclement?"

  The Chief of Staff did not leave immediately, but stood behind him and asked, "Comrade Brigadier, how long are we going to hold on here?"

   "I don't know." Borvinov said with a burst of anger: "In order to ensure that the besieged troops can successfully break out of the encirclement, we must hold on here until we are ordered to retreat."

  For the troops surrounded by the German army, some were close to the breakthrough, while others were far away. The troops close to the breakthrough may have successfully rushed out of the encirclement within a few hours; while the troops far away, due to poor communication, they did not know that there was a breakthrough here, but were like headless flies. It seems to be running around, struggling to find a way to escape.

  Borvinov obviously knows this. In order to ensure that more troops in the encirclement can successfully break through, he must stick here so that the enemy cannot close the encirclement. In order to achieve this, he could not take half a step back even if he wiped out all his troops before receiving the order to retreat.

  After the chief of staff left, Borvinov called Gorokhov in the south and asked with a forced smile: "Colonel Gorokhov, how is the situation on your side?"

"The German army just launched an attack on us, but it was repulsed by our soldiers." Gorokhov said triumphantly: "Those captured German tanks are the best forts for us. It's a pity There are no more shells, otherwise we could have done more damage to the Germans."

   When the two brigades seized the German 2nd Armored Regiment's station and divided their forces to guard both sides of the breakthrough, Gorokhov once asked himself if he wanted to divide up a few tanks, but he refused without hesitation. Now that I think about it, I really regret it. If I put a few tanks on my own position, when the enemy's mortar bombards the position, I can destroy them with tank guns.

When the Chief of Staff returned, he reported to Borvinov: "Comrade Brigadier, I have already checked. So far, only the infantrymen of the 35th Guards Division and Colonel Jahua have come out of the encirclement. 131st Division, Colonel Sorogub's 112th Division, Colonel Avelin's 196th Division, and part of Major General Barinov's 98th Infantry Division."

  Hearing that so many divisions have successfully broken out of the encirclement, Borvinov showed a relaxed expression on his face: "I really didn't act. There are so many troops that have successfully broken out of the encirclement..."

"Comrade Brigadier," the chief of staff saw Borvinov's expression, and hurriedly continued: "The casualties of these divisions are very heavy. When I went to inquire about the news, I happened to meet the commander of the 196th Division. He He was seriously injured and was carried out on stretchers by several soldiers. There are less than a thousand people left in the division. The situation of other divisions is not much better."

Borvinov's pupils constricted violently: "What, there are less than a thousand people left in one division?" The chief of staff's report made him realize the seriousness of the problem, "Even if such troops withdraw to the city, Unable to participate in the battle, we can only be transferred back immediately to make up for it."

   Paused for a moment, he asked again: "So how many troops are there in the encirclement?"

"Not very clear." The chief of staff shook his head and said, "I have asked several commanders who passed by, but they couldn't tell me the exact number. Later, a colonel told me that there were at least seven or eight soldiers in the encirclement." teacher."

   "I see." Borvinov knew very well at this moment that it would take at least a day or two for the troops of these seven or eight divisions to break out of the encirclement smoothly. Thinking of sticking here for a day or two, he couldn't help laughing wryly, let alone sticking to it for a day or two, even if he sticks to this evening, it's still unknown how many people will be left in his army. He waved his hand at the chief of staff and said: "Go and tell our commanders, if the enemy is allowed to rush past our position, then the enemy will be able to re-seal the breakthrough that has been opened with great difficulty, and the troops we stay in the encirclement will have The danger of annihilation of the entire army."

  ...

   While the two infantry brigades were fighting fiercely with the enemy trying to re-seal the breach, the third battalion led by Sokov and Andrei was rushing towards the fighting area.

What they encountered was the teaching battalion of the 35th Guards Division. Sokov saw a group of troops in a messy formation in front of him, coming towards his position, and quickly ordered the third battalion to take cover on the spot and fight well. Prepare.

  The battalion commander of the teaching camp, Major Ibaru, also found Sokov and the others. Seeing that the opponent's troops were hiding on the spot and ready for battle, in order to prevent misunderstandings, he only brought one soldier to meet Sokov.

  Seeing a major approaching him, Sokov stood up from his hiding place and asked, "Which part are you from?"

   "I am Major Ibaru, the commander of the teaching battalion of the 35th Guards Division." After revealing his identity, Ibaru asked Sokov, "Which part are you from? What are you doing here?"

"I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Northern Group of the 62nd Army." Sokov said with his hands behind his back: "The task I accepted is to meet the main force of the army separated by the German army. If I am not mistaken, I will assist you The units protruding from the German encirclement were the 124th and 149th Brigades under my command."

  When Ibaru heard about the northern group, he thought in his heart that it was an army that emerged from somewhere, and he had never heard of it. When he heard Sokov specifically mentioning that the troops who responded to their breakout belonged to the northern group, he immediately respected Sokov. He straightened his body and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Ibaru is willing to follow your command, please instruct!"

"You have been trapped behind enemy lines for so long, you should go back to the city early to rest." Sokov turned and pointed to the road he came from and said, "Go along this road and walk for two or three hours. , you will be able to reach the factory area. There, you will find the new commander, General Chuikov. Well, I have to meet other friendly forces to break through, I wish you good luck!" Saying this, he shook hands with Ibalu, Leading the commanders and fighters of the third battalion continued to advance against the retreating troops.

Hearing the sound of guns coming from the front, Andrei tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, listening to the sound of guns, it seems that the fighting ahead is very intense. We, like the two infantry brigades, went to stop the attack." Enemy?"

   "Who said we were going to stop the enemy?" Sokov asked back, "Did I say that?"

  Andrei said with a blank face: "Comrade Brigadier, didn't you say that Colonel Gorokhov and the others are in trouble, and we are going to help them? Why, you changed your mind."

  Sokov sneered: "Captain Andrei, do you know why I am the brigade commander and you are only the battalion commander?"

   "I don't know." Andre shook his head and replied honestly.

Sokov lightly tapped his temples with **** put together, and said to Andrei: "Comrade Captain, it is not enough to be brave in war, you have to rely on brains. Let's go help Gorokhov." Colonel them, but it does not mean that we have to stay in the trenches and fight the Germans. The Germans are attacking Gorokhov and Borvinov, and their attention is concentrated on the frontal positions, while the flanks and rear Without any defense, we can attack from their side and rear and beat them to pieces. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." Andrei has been following Sokov for not a day or two. Hearing his explanation, he immediately understood what was going on. On the bodies of the two infantry brigades, it must have never been imagined in our dreams, we will attack them from the side. As long as our soldiers charge, they will be able to defeat this enemy."

  Sokov nodded, then stared at the endless stream of soldiers on the road, and thought to himself: "If these troops can obey my command, I will be sure to wipe out part of the 16th Armored Division near here."

   But this kind of thing, Sokov can only think about it in his heart. Along the way, he saw that in the retreating troops, there were not only soldiers, but also many commanders. Some of them had higher ranks than himself, so that he had to salute them from a long distance away, and even briefly said: Report your own actions. Such a force, except Chuikov, may not be commanded by anyone.

  Sokov can judge the direction of the German army based on the sound of gunfire. After walking along the road for a certain distance, he ordered the troops to change the direction of march, and got into the forest beside the road. After he was going to pass through the forest, he would attack the German army by surprise.

  After learning of Sokov's intentions, Andrei sent scouts to scout the location of the German army. They walked in the forest for about an hour, and a scout came back to report to Andre: "Comrade battalion commander, I have found the German position."

   "Where is it?" Sokov couldn't help asking.

The scout squatted on the ground, picked up a branch, and after pulling away the fallen leaves on the ground, he began to draw a simple diagram. He said while drawing: "The enemy has an artillery position. In the northwest of this forest, there are about There are more than 30 artillery pieces. According to my observation, the enemy's artillery may have run out of shells, and the front is fighting so fiercely, but the artillerymen are all sitting on the ground to rest."

   "Besides the artillery positions," Sokov suddenly lost interest when he heard that they were artillery without shells. He then asked, "Are there any other troops besides the artillery?"

"Yes, there seems to be a German army stationed in the forest north of the artillery position." The scout said here, a little embarrassed: "The enemy's defenses are too strict, I can't touch it to find out, so I don't know How much is their actual strength?"

  Sokov knew that this kind of thing cannot be forced, so he asked casually: "How many enemies do you estimate?"

   "At least one regiment, and an infantry regiment at that."

When Andre heard this, a troubled expression appeared on his face: "Comrade Brigadier, our battalion has less than a thousand people, so we have no problem dealing with the German artillery. If we face the German infantry regiment, I'm afraid...I'm afraid... "

   "Afraid of what?" Sokov looked at Andre and asked with a sneer, "Are you worried that our troops will be completely wiped out by the Germans?"

  Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Andre nodded, and said in a positive tone: "Yes, Comrade Brigadier Commander. If our strength is strong against the German infantry regiment, there is really a possibility that the entire army will be wiped out."

  (end of this chapter)