Red Moscow

  Chapter 415 Attack (2)

Sokov looked at the infantry who were following the tanks and using the crater to use the short-leap tactics to quickly approach the forward position. He worried that the platoon on the position alone would not be able to resist them, so he picked up the phone again and connected The second battalion command post.

  As soon as the phone was connected, he said bluntly: "Is this Captain Vasily? I am Sokov! The German army is charging towards the first battalion. You immediately let the two machine guns shoot at the infantry behind the tank, understand?"

   "Comrade Brigadier, hasn't the first battalion already abandoned the position and retreated?" Vasily said with some surprise: "If we fire prematurely, will the firepower point on the position be exposed?"

"There is still a platoon of fighters from the first battalion standing firm." Sukov knew that the other party was worried that there was no one in the forward position, and firing prematurely would not only lower the hit rate, but also easily expose the target, so he quickly said to him: "If It's going to be very difficult for them to hold their ground if you don't provide them with fire support."

   "But, Comrade Brigadier, we don't have anti-tank weapons." Vasily said with low confidence: "It's no problem to destroy the infantry behind the tanks. But we have nothing to do with the enemy's tanks."

   "The enemy's tanks are naturally dealt with by artillery companies." Sokov said loudly into the microphone: "You can't let our artillery use armor-piercing bullets to destroy the enemy's infantry."

   "Understood, Comrade Brigadier Commander." Vasily learned that the enemy's tanks had artillery to deal with, and immediately replied loudly: "We will cooperate with the comrades of the first battalion to destroy the enemy's infantry."

  After receiving Sokov's order, Vasily rushed to the trench on the hillside immediately, arranged two machine guns, and aimed at the German infantry approaching the friendly front. But when the enemy entered the range of 800 meters, a machine gunner next to Vasily asked in a low voice: "Comrade battalion commander, can we shoot?"

"Wait a little longer." Although the German infantry had already entered the effective range of 800 meters, Vasily knew very well that if he fired now, the chance of hitting the target would be very low, so he said decisively: " Bring the enemy closer and fight again."

  The machine gunner said anxiously: "However, if you put the enemy too close, the bullets will hit your own people."

"The front of the first battalion is 350 meters away from our position, and then shoot when the enemy is still 500 meters away." Vasily calculated the range of the machine gun like an old accountant: "When the time comes, your target , 150 meters away from the trenches of the first battalion, as long as they don't launch a countercharge, the bullets will never hit the heads of their own people."

  While Vasily was assigning shooting tasks to his subordinates, the six cannons on the top of the mountain were still firing at the enemy tanks. Sokov stood in the observation post, staring at the shells that exploded around the tank, thinking to himself that the German tanks had insufficient elevation angles, and facing our artillery attack, they could only choose to evade, and could not fight back effectively. . It seems that there should be no problem in repelling the enemy's attack.

  The commanders and fighters of the platoon who stayed in the forward position, when they saw the enemy tanks and armored vehicles rushing towards them, thought that they would die here today, but they soon realized that they were thinking too much. The tanks that opened the way ahead had to slow down because more and more bomb craters appeared. As a result, one of them was destroyed by the artillery on the top of the hill, and it stopped burning violently more than 300 meters in front of the trench. None of the tank men escaped.

The German infantry was not much better, but the defending platoon leader saw that the enemy was 150 meters away from the trench, and was about to order the soldiers to shoot, but the machine gun on the hill behind made a rattling noise. Get up and block the enemy's way forward. After the few German soldiers who rushed to the front were knocked down, the ones behind rushed forward again, but they still did not escape the fate of being knocked down. Seeing the comrades in front of them, they were beaten into a sieve by the machine gun, and fell to the ground while spinning, and the remaining soldiers hid in the bomb crater.

  The cannons and machine guns on the hills firmly blocked the way forward for the German army. As the tanks were destroyed one after another, the infantry hiding in the crater was terrified. They realized that if they continued to stay, the whole army would be destroyed, so they used the crater to turn back.

Captain Vasili in the hillside fortification saw that the enemy had already fled, and quickly ordered the machine gun to stop firing: "Stop, stop shooting. The fleeing enemies are too scattered, and it is difficult for us to destroy them all, so don't waste bullets. "

The second lieutenant of the artillery who stood beside Sokov saw that all the German tanks were destroyed by the artillery and most of the infantry who followed the tanks were also wiped out, so he reminded Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest that you immediately destroy the hills." The top guns are concealed."

   "Why?" Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, didn't you say that it is difficult for the enemy's artillery to hit the top of the mountain?"

   "It's really unlikely that the artillery fire will hit the top of the mountain," the artillery second lieutenant said to Sokov, "But if the enemy sends out planes to bomb, it's hard to say."

   Sokov agreed very much with the statement of the second lieutenant of the artillery. He quickly called Porochenko over and told him, "Comrade lieutenant, immediately pull all the artillery into the tunnel and hide it."

"Comrade Brigadier," Porochenko, who had just won the battle, asked with a puzzled expression upon hearing Sokov's order, "Although we have just repelled the enemy's attack, they will definitely not resign themselves to defeat. There will be a comeback soon, I suggest that our company stay on the top of the mountain and destroy the enemy tanks with artillery fire..."

"Comrade Lieutenant, obey the order and immediately pull all the artillery back into the tunnel." Sokov said to Porochenko in a stern tone: "The Germans must not be reconciled to their soldiers, and they will make a comeback soon. But If you send planes to bomb here before they attack, do you think your artillery can survive the bombing?"

   Sokov's words are all for this sake. If Porochenko still can't understand, Sokov plans to change someone to be the artillery company commander. Porochenko quickly stood up and agreed: "Yes, Comrade Brigadier, we will immediately transfer the artillery back to the tunnel!" Then he ran towards the artillery position not far away, and at the same time he was about to shout loudly, "Brothers! , Move the position, and immediately move all the artillery to the tunnel."

  The soldiers of the artillery company had just won the battle and wiped out seven enemy tanks and two armored vehicles. They were having fun when they heard the company commander yelling to move all the artillery back to the tunnel. They must have felt unhappy. Although the orders of the superiors must be carried out, it is still possible to make small movements during the execution process. The soldiers tidily packed up the things on the ground, dragged the artillery and walked towards the entrance of the tunnel in a leisurely manner, but they couldn't wait for the Germans to attack again, so that they could justly stay and continue the bombardment enemy.

   However, the Germans had just suffered a defeat, so how could they start a new attack so quickly, until the last artillery was dragged into the tunnel, the German attack did not start. The artillerymen were thinking in their hearts: Comrade brigade commander is really too nervous. We are in a position where even if the Germans bombard us, they may not be able to hit us, but they want us to retreat to the tunnel.

Porochenko, who was walking at the end, was also thinking in his heart: Now that the artillery has been pulled into the tunnel, when the Germans launch a new round of attack later, we have to pull the artillery out again and rearrange the artillery positions. trouble.

At this moment, there was a strange whistling sound in the air, from far to near. As an artillery commander, Porochenko naturally knew better than others. He hurriedly shouted at the observation post where Sokov was located: "Bombardment, take cover, Comrade Brigadier, hurry up and take cover!"

In fact, it was not only Porochenko who heard the scream of the shells, but also the second lieutenant of the artillery who was staying in the observation post. His face suddenly turned pale, and he shouted at Sokov: "No, shelling!" !” Then he threw Sokov violently to the ground.

  After an earth-shattering explosion, Sokov lying on the ground felt his internal organs were shaken out of place. With the support of the Second Lieutenant of Artillery, he stood up with difficulty. Before he could speak, the Second Lieutenant approached his ear and shouted loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please go back to the headquarters immediately. There's shelling going on, it's not safe to be outside."

  Sokov heard the second lieutenant of artillery say this, and was about to ask if the top of the hill is not easy to be shelled? But the second lieutenant of artillery continued to say: "The enemy is using a 305mm heavy artillery. Even if it cannot hit the target directly, the shock wave generated during the explosion can still shock people to death."

Hearing this, Sokov knew that if he stayed here, his life would be in danger, so he didn't insist. He said loudly to the second lieutenant of the artillery: "Comrade second lieutenant, you also retreat to the tunnel as soon as possible. If you have any problems , but no one pointed out the firing direction for the artillery on the east bank!"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," but the second lieutenant of artillery stood still and said to Sokov: "I will take advantage of the opportunity of the German heavy artillery to find out where they are, and then call on the artillery on the east bank to destroy them." they."

  From the words of the Second Lieutenant of the Artillery, Sokov understood that no matter how violent the shelling was, the artillery observers would not leave their posts. They had to direct the rear artillery fire to suppress the enemy after testing out the location of the enemy's artillery. Looking at the brave artillery lieutenant in front of him, Sokov's eyes were red. He grabbed the other's hand and shook it vigorously a few times, saying: "Be careful!" Then he stumbled back to the tunnel from the hidden entrance .

  When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Belkin saw that he was covered in dirt, and asked with concern: "Comrade Brigadier, are you injured?"

   "No." Sokov shook his head and replied, "The enemy has started shelling our position again. The dust on my body was got on me when I lay down to avoid the artillery."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Sidolin walked around Sokov and asked curiously, "Has the forward position been held?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, our forward position has been defended." Sokov said with a normal expression: "Because the defenders are supported by the artillery and machine guns on the south hill, the attacking enemy has lost more than half of the trenches before they approach the trenches." , had to retreat in desperation."

  Sidorin raised his hand and brushed off the dirt on his shoulders, and continued to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, is the enemy's shelling more intense than before?"

"I heard from Comrade Artillery that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery." Although there was a layer of soil about ten meters thick above his head, Sokov said with some guilt: "I hope our tunnel fortifications can withstand the enemy's shelling." .”

  Belkin felt that the ground was trembling slightly with the explosion of each shell, and he couldn't help saying with emotion: "If the first battalion remained in its original position with such a violent shelling, there must be a lot of casualties."

"That's right." Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement: "The original position of the First Battalion could not withstand such shelling at all. If we hadn't moved them, they should have suffered heavy casualties by now. .”

Chuikov's phone call came in at this time, and he asked cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I heard that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery to violently shell Nangang and the forward position. How about your forward position? Can it withstand such a bombardment?"

"No, Comrade Commander, the fortifications at the front can't withstand such shelling at all." Sokov knew that the artillery commander on the east bank must have reported to Chuikov after learning of the enemy's use of heavy artillery, and replied truthfully: "Even if the artillery shells cannot destroy our army's forward fortifications, the soldiers hiding in the fortifications will be shocked to death by the huge shock wave."

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Chuikov suddenly apologized to him unexpectedly: "It was my stubbornness that killed the commanders and fighters of the First Battalion. If you had followed your order in advance, they should all be dead at this moment." Stay in a relatively safe place instead of sacrificing your life in vain like now."

Sokov was still worried about his disobedience, but when he heard Chuikov say this, he immediately realized that the crisis was over, so he quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask you to forgive me for one thing. You ordered me to let I did not carry out the order to stop the transfer of the first battalion, and now there is only one platoon in the forward position, and the main force of the first battalion has been transferred to the reverse **** position at Nangang."

  Chuikov was taken aback when he heard what Sokov said, and then he said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you would still disobey orders on the battlefield. Are you not afraid that I will send you to a military court?"

"I'm afraid, I'm very scared." From Chuikov's tone of voice, Sokov knew that he would not pursue the matter any more, so he hurriedly said, "But in order to avoid unnecessary casualties to the commanders and fighters of the first battalion, I can only At the risk of being court-martialed, against your orders, have them evacuate to a safe place."

"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, this matter is over." Although Cuikov will not pursue Sokov's disobedience, in order to prevent similar things from happening in the future, he still feels it is necessary to beat the other party: " If this happens again next time, I will never forgive you lightly."

  (end of this chapter)