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Report from the Leningrad Front to Field Marshal von Loeb, September 941-9, 16:

16:15 on the 00th: The city of Pushi (18 kilometers away from the city) has been captured, and it is planned to detour to the left to the highland due south of Leningrad, and to the right to detour to the southeast area...

18:00: Uritsko (10 kilometers away from the city) has been occupied, and it is planned to take the tram to Leningrad tomorrow morning...

……

18:18 on the 00th: The frontline troops encountered the most stubborn resistance since the offensive, and the front line barely advanced...

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The German army was still advancing slowly. On September 9, an advance team of the German army occupied the tram station around the city, preparing to use public trams to transport infantry into the city; but since then, the German army's progress has become very difficult.Marshal von Loeb, commander of the German Army Group North, knew very well that these few days were their last chance to capture Leningrad before dividing their troops into Moscow. The German artillery shells could almost reach the square in the center of the city, but the city was still like a fork. The Bavarian sausage in your mouth is not served on the fork.

Kulik moved the headquarters to the rear of the independent regiment's position, where he can relatively easily grasp the situation of the three sub-positions, mainly because he is worried about the state of the defense line.

Not long after the fighting on the 18th began, the defenses failed; a battalion defending the flank along Highway 104 lost its position.German tanks quickly assembled in this area, intending to completely break through the Soviet resistance. After receiving the report, Kulik only said one sentence to the staff: "Let a heavy artillery battalion go to Highway 104 now."

The officers of Highway 104 were very surprised to see Kulik when they retreated with their troops, but before they could react, they had already been scolded. The face of their new division commander turned pale due to nervousness and anger. However, the cheeks are flushed: "We can't regain the position before the German tanks rush in. Everyone here will be court-martialed now!"

People quickly began to organize a counterattack, and a dozen heavy artillery bombarded the Germans violently, and this attack had the desired effect.In fact, the German army occupying the position did not have a strong backup, and the fierce artillery fire of the Soviet army made them mistakenly think that they had encountered the main force.According to the thinking of the Germans, the units that can be equipped with heavy artillery of this caliber should be at least at the brigade level. Therefore, the German commander on the ground sent a telegram urgently requesting reinforcements to his superiors, and the reply was "If it is indeed the main force." , this place is not suitable as a breakthrough point for the defense line, and the tank troops will turn elsewhere." The German army began to waver, and the defensive organization on the position showed signs of loosening. At this time, the Soviet infantry launched a round of brave attacks to regain the position.

That night, Sasha went to the headquarters to find kulik.

He cut to the chase: "I want another artillery battalion, or at least 10 guns."

"You've got a battalion of fire support yourselves."

"I need more, to overwhelm the German tanks and artillery."

"The division can meet your fire support requirements, but I don't want the artillery to be too scattered."

"No, no, Ilia, that's different, I want my own artillery at my disposal."

Sasha's statement is not unreasonable. At that time, the communication system of the Soviet army was not always safe, and the real-time deployment of firepower on the battlefield was not always in place. Kulik said slowly: "If this is the case - I will go to your position with you now to see the caliber and quantity of artillery you need. Let's go now, let's go together," he said, standing up, putting on his military cap and going out . Sasha stood still, he heard Kulik whispering to himself as he passed by him, "You still love these noisy big guys so much..."

They went to see the situation on the No. 4 highland. Kulik asked Sasha to tell him the new layout plan after the artillery was transferred. Finally, Sasha suggested, "Look at it from a high place, and you will feel clearer."

After that, they didn't talk much between them until they got to the commanding heights together; when they stood there, Sasha suddenly said: "I know what you're worried about: what if this position can't be defended—but I'll follow you If you want artillery, you have to be prepared to stand there."

Kulik didn't answer, he just said, "I want a telescope."

He took the binoculars from the soldier next to him and held them in his hands, but he didn't look at anything - the sky was already dark, and in fact, he couldn't see anything clearly through the binoculars at this time.The air was filled with the choking smell of mud and gunpowder smoke, but he took a deep breath, trying to calm down his increasingly violent heartbeat. These violent impacts in his chest made him almost unable to suppress the throbbing All kinds of questions; when he thought about it later, he felt that it seemed a little ridiculous-in fact, there was no strong reason to stop him from grabbing Sasha and asking "what happened in the past few years", but it seemed to be an instinctive escape and resistance, At that point, they hadn't talked about anything before.

He remembered that he finally said in a rambling way: "We all don't like death, but none of us can resist responsibility."

Sasha smiled and said, "Okay, don't get crazy; we both know what to do."

Kulik bet he hated that man for the big smile he always had on his face at that moment.

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Marshal von Loeb's order to the front-line troops on September 1941, 9:

…The tank unit should give the infantry unit the fullest cover, and the artillery and air force should give the Soviet army the most violent and uninterrupted bombardment...It is necessary to destroy the Soviet army's defense line and quickly capture the high ground around the city...

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September 9 - just one day until Hitler's deadline to grant von Loeb a reprieve.Old Loeb decided to make a last-ditch effort at all costs.The German offensive reached its peak on this day, and the infantry under the cover of tanks launched a fierce attack on the Pulkovo Heights and other places.According to the statistics of the German army, the German artillery bombarded Leningrad for 19 consecutive hours, and the aviation team dispatched nearly 17 sorties to bomb the city in 300 waves.A Leningrad citizen recalled after the war: "That day, the intestines of the sparrows on the trees in Leningrad were blown out."

On that day, there was unprecedented violent artillery fire on the positions in the No. 2 area. Almost every minute, 1-3 German shells exploded on the position. Many Soviet soldiers were directly knocked off their heads by the shells; When the line of defense was at its tightest, the fortifications of the Independent Regiment on Height No. 4 were almost completely destroyed by shelling and bombing.According to this situation, it is difficult for the first-line company to support it, but if the reserve echelon is used too early, it may face the danger of having no soldiers available and the whole line will collapse.

Staff officers and commissars surrounded him, and Sasha knew they needed someone to make a decision, whatever that decision was; he walked to the phone—unfortunately, he wasn't the one with the choice.

The acting head of the independent regiment, Abt, personally called the division headquarters and reported the situation on the No. 4 highland in detail. Finally, he asked politely: "I want to know whether the headquarters' determination to stick to the front line of defense remains unchanged."

There was silence on the phone for two seconds, and Commander Kulik said, "I don't want casualty numbers, I want Height No. 4; no one can take a step back until there are no troops left."

Sasha subconsciously stood up straight, the answer did not surprise him, he said: "Understood; if you see that the position is lost but I am still there, you can shoot me immediately."

They stood at both ends of the telephone line and did not know that the atmosphere felt by the people surrounded by the telephones on both sides was so similar: According to the memories of those present in the division headquarters, when Kulik spoke, the sharp eyes flashed suddenly, "The tone was so resolute that it was murderous." Zaitsev recalled that when Abt hung up the phone, he didn't say anything, but he looked around at the people around him "as if he had a determination to die."

By 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the German army still had no way to break through the line of defense head-on, and the tank group began to change formation and route, and detour to the rear of the position.After a brief consideration, Kulik called the artillery position: "Please enter the stand-by independent mortar company."

In fact, he was talking about a rocket battery.

For the sake of secrecy, the various units of such an artillery company will have different deceptive names.The БМ-13 rocket launcher that passed the test a few months ago has been quickly equipped into the Soviet army, also known as the "Katyusha".That was also the first time that Kulik saw the launch of "Katyusha" so closely. Accompanied by the roar of the shells and the loud explosion, dazzling flames and thick smoke rose from the position, the sky was burning, and the earth followed. trembling.The scorching air wave hit him, and in the flames, life and steel melted together invisible.

Two hours later, Kulik took the initiative to contact No. 4 Highland once: "Abt please answer the phone."

He waited for two or three minutes, and then heard the faint voice of the operator amidst the rumbling explosion: "Comrade commander, the commander's ears are shaking and he can't hear the sound clearly; he asked me to tell you that he is still there!"

Kulik didn't speak again, he hung up the phone and walked to the map on the table alone; he picked up the pencil on the table and dropped it, the staff officer next to him clearly saw his slender fingers trembling slightly.

It is said that later measurements showed that the elevation of No. 69 Heights, which was 4 meters before the war, was only 67 meters after the war; that is to say, during those few days of fighting, No. 4 Heights was flattened by 2 meters by violent artillery fire. .

After that day, Sasha, like many of his comrades, looked the same as before, except that his ears were damaged by the heavy artillery fire, and he could no longer hear all sounds as clearly as before.

By 11 o'clock in the evening, the sound of the guns gradually faded: Leningrad finally withstood the last blow of the German Army Group North before the division of Moscow.

Sasha slid slowly to the ground against the cover.

He knew that the gunfire had stopped, but his ears were still buzzing. He saw the signal soldier on the opposite side talking to him, but he couldn't make out a word.This night seemed to be extraordinarily hot, he felt sticky all over his body and face, and the dry and hot air enveloped him, and he was suddenly so sleepy that he couldn't even open his eyes.

The overwhelmed communicator called Zaitsev. The old political commissar looked at him for a while and said softly, "Don't disturb him, let him rest."

The ground seemed to vibrate slightly, and he felt slightly nauseous, like motion sickness; it felt familiar—in the spring of 1936, they rode in that troop carrier, and the end of their journey was Siberia.

It is not the crowded stuffy tank car in people's impression, it is a special train to send young officers drawn from various military academies to the Far East; as the saying goes, some of them will become the "stars of hope" of the Soviet Red Army .

The train drove for several days, and Sasha felt uncomfortable almost from the moment he got on the train. These long-distance transport vehicles always made him uncomfortable.

He hardly ate anything for dinner, and kulik asked him, "What's wrong with you?"

By the way, Kulik was sitting in the same car with him at that time, and that guy didn't talk much along the way, he was always looking out of the car window at the rapidly retreating birch forests.

"Probably motion sickness," he said.

It's ridiculous, he turned out to be an armored soldier who was a car mechanic, but he got motion sickness.

Kulik said with a serious face: "Then you sit next to the car window, or take a nap."

Oh, he is always so serious, calm and mature, and serious.

But when he smiled innocently, that expression was clearly still a boy.

Sasha was moved to the window, and he leaned his head against the corner and closed his eyes.

The sky gradually darkened, and then the night was so dark that there was no light at all.

No, no, it wasn't that dark. He saw scattered lights far away on the open field, which might be the wooden house of the forester; in the distant velvet night sky, those twinkling stars were like Sparkling waves on the water.

Kulik was next to him, and he didn't seem to be comfortable after changing positions. The nights on the road were always the hardest. "Sasha?" he heard his traveling companion call out tentatively.

"You slept so soundly last night, didn't you hear me call you?" Kulik asked him the next morning.

He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm not the one who really slept soundly." He laughed secretly - when the train stopped suddenly in the middle of the night, when kulik fell to his side, he kindly helped him back to his original position. "Maybe I should laugh at him," he thought mischievously.The sun shone warmly into the carriage, and he couldn't help smiling softly.

The author has something to say: In summary, the head of state's strategic thinking is like a blind man breaking corn...