Struggle in Soviet Russia

Yaltsovo, the defense position of the 38th Division of the Soviet Infantry, a military jeep drove into the headquarters of the division.

The door opened, and the tall Rokosovsky and his new chief of staff, Colonel Malinin, got out of the car one after another. Before the former stood firm, he asked the 38th division commander Colonel Kirilov hurriedly. Said: "Comrade Kirilov, you must redeploy your troops."

After these words, Colonel Kirilov walked up to him and shook hands with the Colonel. Rokosovsky continued: “Abandon those lone foxholes. What we need is to be able to establish mutual connections. Bunkers in the trenches."

According to the regulations issued by the Soviet Army in 1939, the construction of defensive positions was realized in the form of foxholes. Therefore, any trench bunkers that appeared in movies and appeared before the Battle of Moscow were inconsistent with the facts. Ping pit is the form of formation of the Soviet army position.

Although Rokosovsky's request did not comply with the combat doctrine, Colonel Kirilov did not refute it. He directly accepted the order and asked the division chief to quickly issue the order to the grassroots units.

"Get in touch with Comrade Lidyukov?" Rokosovsky asked when he walked into the division headquarters accompanied by Colonel Kirilov.

"Contact has been made," said Colonel Kirilov. "His troops have been deployed between the Solovyovsk Ferry and the Rakino Ferry and have repelled two German attacks."

Rokosovsky quickly found the location of the two ferry crossings on the map.

Rokosovsky’s situation now is more tragic. The base camp order he received was to come to Smolensk to take over the command of the 16th Army. In order to get acquainted with the situation of the troops as soon as possible, he left the entire command headquarters. Later, he rushed over with only a few staff officers.

But after arriving in Smolensk, he learned that most of the 16th Army's troops were not yet in place, and the small part that was in place was caught in the fierce battle in Smolensk, and General Lukin took over theirs again. Command.

Subsequently, he received the order from the base camp again, requesting him to organize a battle group named after him on the Dnieper River line, and take the lead in Holm-Zerkovsky, Jaltsovo and Yeli. Nya deploys defenses on the front line.

A battle cluster sounds very large, but in fact, there are only two troops that Rokosovsky has taken over. One is the 38th Infantry Division and the other is the 101st Tank Division. The base camp promised to allocate him the mechanization. The 7th Army was still on its way, and was not deployed in place. Opposite him, the German paratroopers and the Eighth Army had advanced to Yaltsovo. In the direction of Yelnya on the south wing, the 46th Mechanized Army of the Germans was rapidly advancing towards Milleyevo.

Rokosovsky’s problem now is that he has a serious shortage of troops, and at the same time, he is unable to communicate well with his subordinate units, because his dilapidated command headquarters does not even have a radio station. The radio station and corresponding equipment will be mechanized. The 7th Army brought him here.

On the map, Rokosovsky’s gaze shifted from the various crossings of the Dnieper River to the Hermosti River. What is a bit magical is that on this map, the Hermosti River is in the direction of Milejevo. , It was marked with the designation of the Mechanized 5th Corps. In other words, in the information held by the Rokosovsky battle cluster, the Mechanized 5th Corps has already completed its deployment on the Hermosti River.

But in fact, there are indeed troops stationed in the direction from the Hermosti River to Milleyevo, but it is not the unit of the mechanized 5th Army, but the group of remnants under the command of Victor. As for the mechanized No. The troops belonging to the 5th Army are still gathering in the Yelnya region.

According to Rokosovsky, the Soviet troops east of Smolensk have roughly deployed a fragile line of defense. The existence of this line of defense can be the 19th, 20th and the first. The 16th Army provides a retreat channel, on the one hand, it can prevent the German army from advancing quickly in the direction of Vyazma.

However, due to poor communication, Rokosovsky did not realize that there was a gap in the line of defense he constructed. Once the gap was used by the Germans, for the Soviet troops still staying in the Smolensk area, It will be a catastrophe.

The problem now is that not only the Rokosovsky battle cluster command can’t reach the Mechanized 5th Corps, but the forces led by Victor can’t reach any friendly forces either. He doesn’t even have a radio in his hands. .

……………………………

A deafening explosion blasted out of the trench just seven or eight meters away. The body of a German soldier was blown into the air, and fell into the trench like a piece of rag. The fragments and pieces of flesh and the dark purple organs were scattered. Are everywhere.

The Soviet machine gunner leaning in the trench shook off a piece of meat that fell on his shoulder. Just about to stand up and continue shooting, he heard a sergeant not far away yelling: "Change position, change position!"

The machine gunner bent down again, took the blood-stained machine gun from the shooting port, and left the shooting position with his assistant bowed, looking for the next shooting point.

Just after the machine gunner and his assistant left the firing point, less than two minutes, a tank rushed into the trench with the dirt. Above the trench.

Two German soldiers hiding behind the tank jumped into the trench, but were shot and killed by the previous sergeant. At the same time, the machine gun on the tank exploded and fired at the defense line behind the trench.

More and more German soldiers poured into the trenches. The sergeant half-kneeled under the trench wall, fuse the grenade in his hand, and blew the whistle hanging on his chest.

Soviet soldiers in the nearby trenches swarmed for reinforcements. A dozen people crowded in trenches less than five meters long and one and a half meters wide to fight. Bayonets, engineer shovel, and even stones became weapons to kill each other.

"boom!"

There was a loud noise, and in the chaos, I don't know who rang a grenade, and the **** melee in the trench ended in an instant, leaving only a corpse and wounds that were either mutilated, or struggling and convulsing.

White smoke came out of the tank's exhaust, and the mud-stained track began to fall backwards. A tank without infantry cover was dangerous. So the German tank that rushed to the Soviet position was about to retreat.

In the trenches, the Soviet sergeant was already covered in blood, and he was shot in the right chest and in the lower abdomen. The blood was gurgling from the wound, but he still struggled to get up, holding the one that was finally installed. The grenade stumbled under the tank and stuffed the grenade together with his arm into the tank's track and rollers.

With a bang, the tank's tracks were directly broken. Although the runner was still spinning fast, the tank couldn't move an inch.

In the trenches, more Soviet soldiers gathered. A machine gun group filled up a vacant shooting position. Someone desperately climbed the tank turret and took the German tank that had just opened the hatch and drilled out half of its body. The driver stabbed to death and threw a grenade into the tank...

On the outskirts of the jungle less than one kilometer away from the trenches, Victor stood on a small bag of soil with a telescope in his hand, looking at the gunfire. His lips were chapped, his eyes were blood red, and the gauze wrapped around his forehead had turned khaki, but he couldn't even change it.

From noon the day before yesterday to the present, the battle at the Hermosti River ferry has lasted for two and a half days. In these two and a half days, the Germans outflanked from the direction of Milleyevo have launched a total of ten against Victor’s positions. There were four attacks and no fewer than six bombings of various air strikes. Although this unit, composed of remnants and defeated generals, suffered huge losses in the two and a half days of battle, the position was still defended and no one escaped-not that no one wanted to escape, but that they had fallen into it. Surrounded by the German army, there was nowhere to escape.

It was not that Victor never thought of retreating, but Captain Belinsky was a zealous commander. He thought it was very important to guard the Hemosti River ferry, because the main Soviet force in the direction of Smolensk had not yet retreated. So they must be nailed here like nails to create a ray of life for the main force to retreat.

According to Captain Belinsky, as long as they guard the Hermosti River Ferry, then the German encirclement can only establish a weak blockade in the area west of Milleyevo, and its defense depth will not exceed 6 kilometers. But once the Hemosti river ferry was lost and the Germans occupied the Hemosti river line, a solid line of defense could be established accordingly, and the main Soviet forces in Smolensk could be sealed tightly within the encirclement.

If Captain Belinsky’s judgment is correct, then the current battlefield situation in Smolensk is like a candied haw, the main Soviet force assembled in Smolensk is the largest hawthorn, and Victor’s The army is a much smaller hawthorn. As long as the army of Victor is eliminated, the German army is equivalent to tightening the pockets of the blockade. For Victor, he can only wait for the Soviet army in the direction of Smolensk. The main force rushed over, or the Soviet army in the direction of Yelnya counterattacked. Now, it is impossible to break through with his force alone.

Less than three kilometers wide and less than two kilometers deep, this is the position that Victor’s troops defended. In the past two days, this narrow position was still being compressed by the Germans. Victor didn’t know he could still How long to hold on, mainly because he doesn't know how long his soldiers can hold on.

The deafening explosion sounded once again on the front position. This was the German bombardment of the Soviet position. Of course, this was also a sign of a new offensive.