According to Sokov's idea, since his troops occupied the bridge over the Oud River without anyone noticing, they would have to wait at least until dawn before they were discovered by the enemy. But the plan could not keep up with the changes.
When the soldiers of the battalion took the time to rest, a huge motorcade appeared in the sight of the sentry on duty.
The sentry did not dare to neglect and quickly reported the situation to Shamrih.
Shamrih hurriedly walked out of the temporary headquarters, and unexpectedly looked into the distance with his binoculars. Sure enough, he found countless car lights on the road, which looked like a large convoy.
Seeing this situation, the deputy battalion commander, Captain Yakuda, said with surprise: "What the hell, where did these enemies come from?"
Shamrih only thought for a moment before he understood the origin of the other party: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, these should be German troops withdrawn from somewhere. I asked why the defenders on the bridge not only did not stop us when they saw us appearing,
, on the contrary, they used searchlights to illuminate us, feeling that they regarded us as this German army."
After Shamrih explained, Yakuda also realized that the first battalion could easily capture the bridge on the Oud River without firing a shot. It must be the German army guarding the bridge, and he regarded himself as the German army in front of him.
The troops were gone. He turned to Shamrih and asked: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"
"Wake up the soldiers immediately and get them ready for battle." After assigning the task, Shamrih returned to his temporary command post and reported to the regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Granin, by phone.
Granin was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of the phone. Although he was unhappy, when he thought that the person who called him was the man who had just captured the bridge over the Oud River, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and ask directly.
: "Comrade Major, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander," Shamrich reported to Granin: "There is a German convoy heading towards the bridge where we are. In five minutes at most, they will reach us."
"I will immediately send the second battalion and the first part of the third battalion to support you." Knowing that the German convoy was approaching the bridge, Granin did not dare to neglect, and asked nervously: "Can you hold it before reinforcements arrive?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Hearing that Granin did not trust his troops, Shamrih felt very uncomfortable. However, with the war approaching, he still tried hard to control his emotions and suppress his anger.
In my heart, "As long as there is one soldier alive in our battalion, I feel that the enemy's convoy will not be allowed to pass through the bridge."
After putting down the phone, Yakuda ran back and reported to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I have passed on your order. I believe that it will not be long before all commanders and fighters can enter combat positions."
Shamrih nodded, and then said: "Tell the soldiers that the enemies who are rushing towards the bridge have not discovered that the bridge has been occupied by our troops, so no one is allowed to fire before getting the order. We have to wait for the enemy
Once you get close, hit them by surprise."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Yakuda said carelessly as he looked at the approaching German convoy, "otherwise, if we fire a salvo at them with rockets, we will be able to wipe out at least a dozen of their trucks."
"No, rockets cannot be used." But Shamrih rejected Yakuda's proposal, "The number of rockets we carry is limited, and it would be a waste to use them to deal with these enemies."
Hearing that Shamrih rejected his suggestion, Yakuda said with regret: "What a good target. As long as you give them a volley, you can kill at least a dozen enemy trucks, as well as the people sitting on the truck."
enemies."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, why don't I want to use rockets?" Shamrih said with a wry smile: "But no, once we use rockets against this German army, not only will our strength be exposed, but also our strength will be exposed.
The precious rockets are used up. If the Germans launch a fierce attack during the day, what kind of weapons will we use to deal with them?"
Seeing the disappointed expression on Yakov's face, he continued: "Didn't we capture two anti-tank guns? They are perfect for use against German trucks."
After hearing this, Yakuda couldn't help but smile and quickly agreed: "Okay, comrade battalion commander, I will immediately arrange the artillery position and strive for the first artillery success."
A few minutes later, when the German convoy was only fifty or sixty meters away from the bridge, two anti-tank guns deployed on the outer positions opened fire at the same time. The shells accurately hit the slow-moving truck, turning the two trucks in front into two groups.
Fireball. Soldiers covered in flames jumped out of the carriage, scurrying around like headless flies, and let out horrifying screams.
The German soldiers behind saw the vehicle in front of them hit by bullets and on fire, and they quickly stopped the vehicle. Without waiting for the officer to give orders, the German soldiers in the vehicle jumped out of the car one after another and chose a suitable location to hide in order to figure out what happened.
Seeing this, the Soviet commander on the position immediately ordered all light and heavy weapons to fire at the same time. The dense bullets rushed towards the enemies not far away like a storm, killing the German soldiers who had just jumped out of the car and had not yet understood the situation.
Officers and soldiers fell to the ground in droves.
After the brief panic of the German army, German officers soon organized their men to launch a counterattack in an attempt to recapture the bridge occupied by the Soviet army. However, their hasty attack quickly collapsed under the strong firepower of the Soviet army.
, we can only retreat to a farther area in dejection, using vehicles and gullies on the roadside to hide.
Seeing that the German troops were hiding behind the vehicles, it was difficult for guns to pose a threat to them, so the two anti-tank guns that had opened fire again opened fire, blowing up the trucks parked on the road one after another into balls of fire.
As soon as the fighting started here, the enemies in the western suburbs of Kharkov were quickly alerted. From the sound of gunfire in the distance, they judged that the two armies were exchanging fire. Although the officers had not yet figured out what happened.
Things should still be reported layer by layer in accordance with regulations.
General Kenff was woken up from his sleep and was originally unhappy. But when he learned that a fierce battle was taking place near the bridge on the Oude River, he immediately realized that the Soviet army might want to seize the bridge. He called
His chief of staff asked: "Chief of Staff, which army is holding the bridge on the Oude River?"
The chief of staff thought for a moment and replied: "It's a company of the 320th Infantry Division."
"There is only one company on the bridge and it may not be able to stop the Russian attack." Kenf did not know that the bridge had been lost. He thought the Soviet army was attacking the bridge, so he ordered his chief of staff: "Calling the commander of the 320th Infantry Division."
Telephone, ordering him to immediately send troops to reinforce the bridge, feeling that the Russian troops could not be allowed to easily cross the Oude River."
"Yes, Your Excellency, General." The chief of staff agreed, turned around and walked to the table where the phone was placed, picked up the phone and put it to his ear and said: "Get me the 320th Infantry Division."
After receiving the call, the commander of the 320th Infantry Division immediately ordered the chief of staff of the division to call the bridge guarding troops and warned them to find a way to hold the bridge. Unfortunately, the call could not be answered.
The division chief of staff put down the phone, shook his head at the division commander, and said: "Your Excellency, division commander, the phone number of the bridge guarding unit cannot be reached. I guess something is wrong with the situation."
"What's wrong?" the teacher asked.
"No matter how fierce the battle is, there will definitely be communication soldiers standing by the phone, and they can convey the instructions from their superiors as quickly as possible to those commanders who are temporarily unable to answer the phone." The division chief of staff explained: "But you have called all the times.
For such a long time, no one answered the phone. I think the reason for this situation is..."
"What is it?"
"Mr. Commander, although I try my best not to admit it, in the face of the facts, I have to tell you the worst news: the bridge on the Oude River has been lost!"
"Why did the bridge on the Oude River fall?" Regarding the Chief of Staff's statement, the German division commander simply did not believe it: "This is impossible. The sound of gunfire outside has not stopped. How could the Russians seize the bridge?"
The chief of staff didn't know how to reply to the division commander's statement. He could only shrug his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating that he couldn't figure out what happened.
The German troops trying to seize the bridge belonged to the 198th Division. They were originally ordered to strengthen the defense of the bridge. They never imagined that they were about to reach the bridge, but they were unexpectedly attacked and the troops suffered heavy casualties. Leading the team
The German battalion commander immediately sent a telegram to his division commander, giving him a detailed report on what happened here.
The commander of the 198th Infantry Division was immediately startled after receiving the telegram. After a brief discussion with the chief of staff, he felt that it was necessary to report the matter to General Kenf in a timely manner and ask him to make new instructions.
General Kenff, who was already furious, received a call from the commander of the 198th Division. He found out that it was a battalion of the division that encountered Soviet troops at the bridge, and hoped that he could send troops for reinforcements as soon as possible.
After listening to the report of the commander of the 198th Division, Kenf realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly asked: "Are you sure that the troops who exchanged fire with your troops at the bridge were Russians and not one of our own?"
"It's absolutely certain, General." Seeing that Kenf didn't trust him, the German division commander said cautiously: "My troops were originally ordered to take over the defense of the bridge. As a result, as soon as the convoy approached the bridge, it encountered intensive firepower from the Russians.
The interception caused great casualties to our army."
"I understand." Kenf said coldly: "The number of Russians occupying the bridge must be small. You must increase your offensive intensity. You must recapture the bridge before dawn and eliminate this group of damn Russians."
"Don't worry, General." The German division commander vowed: "Even if we step on them with our feet, we will trample all these damn Russians to death before dawn."
Regarding the heroic words of the German division commander, Kenf listened in one ear and out the other, and did not pay attention to it at all. After he put down the microphone, he said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, I think if the 198th Division wants to capture the bridge,
is very difficult."
"The troops guarding the bridge are from the 320th Infantry Division." When he learned that the battle was not going well, Kenf couldn't help but feel a little angry: "How did they do it? Why didn't they report to me in time that the bridge was lost?"
"Your Excellency, General," the Chief of Staff said cautiously after he finished speaking, "I think the Russian attack may have come too suddenly, and the soldiers guarding the bridge were killed by the Russians before they had time to recover."
"There was a whole company on the bridge, with about two hundred men, and they were killed by the Russians without any sound?"
"This is normal, General." The chief of staff explained to the furious Kenf: "The enemy we face is the 27th Army commanded by Sokov. His best tactic is to let his men wear my
Wear military uniforms and sneak into the depths of our defense lines to carry out sabotage or collect intelligence."
Hearing what the Chief of Staff said, Kenf seemed to realize something: "Chief of Staff, if according to your statement, the Russians pretended to be our army and deceived the defenders on the bridge, and then captured the bridge by surprise."
"I think this is very likely."
"Damn Sokov, this time I will give him an order he will never forget." Kenfu raised his voice and said: "Have the 106th and 320th Divisions immediately launch an attack from the east of the bridge, and be sure to recapture the bridge.
.”
"Do they need artillery to provide them with artillery support?"
"It's not necessary for the time being." Kenf shook his head and said: "It's still dark today. If we shell the bridge, it may not only cause accidental damage to our attacking troops, but also destroy the bridge. We still have to crush the Russian attack.
Strength, retaining the bridges on the river will be conducive to the mobilization of our army."
"Your Excellency, General," the chief of staff reminded Kenf: "Sokov's troops are very good at defensive warfare. If our offensive troops do not have the support of artillery fire, they will definitely pay a heavy price if they want to seize the bridge."
"Okay then, Chief of Staff." Kenf felt that what the Chief of Staff said made a lot of sense, so he nodded and said: "If our army has not been able to recapture the bridge after daybreak, then order the artillery positions to bombard the Russian positions with
The intensive artillery fire blew them all to pieces."
The German attack from the east side of the bridge had just begun. The German troops blocked on the west side of the bridge were quickly eliminated as Soviet reinforcements arrived. In this way, Shamrih was able to destroy all the troops.
The troops were mobilized to the east of the bridge to resist the German attack.
After Granin arrived with the main force of the regiment, he immediately ordered people to establish a rocket launching position on the west bank of the Oude River, preparing to use it to deal with the German artillery positions.
After dawn, German artillery shells pounded the Soviet position east of the bridge overwhelmingly, and soon the entire position was shrouded in flames and smoke. Seeing that the enemy's artillery had begun to move, Granin understood that the firing positions on the east bank were firing.
As the order was issued, new rockets from the positions on the east coast fired wildly, dragging long lines of smoke into the sky and flying towards the German artillery positions.
After more than ten seconds, these rockets hit the German artillery position. The entire position was covered by rockets. For a moment, the ground shook and flames shot into the sky. The German artillery was shrouded in thick clouds of smoke.
They looked like paper toys and turned into piles of scrap metal in an instant.
The German artillerymen ran around in panic, but they were in the area where the rockets exploded, and a large number of artillery shells exploded. Wherever they could escape, they were quickly thrown up by the blast of air like ants.
the sky.
Granin stood in his regiment's command post. Through his telescope, he could clearly see clumps of fire, which suddenly exploded at the German artillery position, like fireworks. Although they were far away, the huge sound was accompanied by the ground.
