Shatilov stayed at the headquarters of the 756th Regiment for an hour before the tank brigade commander came in with a soldier.
"Comrade Colonel," Shatilov looked at the tank brigade commander and said expressionlessly: "Your troops are late!"
"There is no way, Comrade General." The tank brigade commander shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "There are either bomb craters or masonry rubble on the road, which makes our tanks have to slow down when driving. In the end,
The troublesome thing is that no one can tell whether there are German anti-tank fighters hidden in those ruins. On my way here, at least eight tanks were killed by German anti-tank fighters."
Shatilov did not care about the number of casualties of the tank brigade. He only cared about whether the other party still had combat capability: "Comrade Colonel, please tell me truthfully, how many tanks can you still invest? What I need is an accurate number, and
It’s not an estimate.”
"There are 38 tanks still in use today, all of which are T-34/85 tanks." The tank brigade commander said: "The task I received is to use artillery fire to cover your capture of the Capitol. Comrade General, what should I do?
Do it, please give the order."
Shatilov took the tank brigade commander to the side where he could see the Capitol Building, preparing to let him take a look at the situation ahead.
The tank brigade commander saw that the glass of all the windows was shattered, and the walls in some locations were even blasted with holes of different sizes. He couldn't help but shook his head and said: "It seems that the battle to capture this place is really fierce."
With that said, he was about to walk towards the hole in the wall closest to him.
Unexpectedly, Shadilov was caught before he walked over: "Comrade Colonel, be careful, don't get too close to the hole in the wall. There are German snipers in the nearby buildings. I saw someone appearing in the window or hole.
, they will shoot, and five or six of our soldiers have been shot by them."
Hearing that there were German snipers in nearby buildings, the tank brigade commander was startled and stood there daring not to move. Finally, Shatilov pulled him to a hole in the wall.
Shatilov raised his hand and turned the brim of his big-brimmed hat to the back of his head, quickly poked his head out to take a look, then retracted his head and said to the tank brigade commander: "Colonel, you can see the German Parliament Building from here.
.Although the possibility of being hit by German snipers at this location is relatively small, you still have to be careful when you poke your head out."
The tank brigade commander nodded, slowly poked his head out, and looked towards the Capitol Building in the distance, carefully observing the situation he wanted to know.
After the tank brigade commander retracted his head, Shatilov said: "Comrade Colonel, do you see clearly?"
"Well, I took a rough look." The tank brigade commander nodded, and then said: "The windows on the wall facing us are all blocked by bricks and turned into shooting holes. Once you
When launching a charge, the enemy can pass through these shooting holes and block your path with fire, causing you huge casualties."
"You are right, Comrade Colonel." Shatilov agreed with the tank brigade commander's statement: "When the 171st Division launched an attack on the Capitol, not only did it suffer artillery fire from the roof, but more importantly,
They finally broke into the blind spot of the artillery fire, but they were hit by intensive machine gun fire, causing the attack to fail. However, after their attack failed, the commander had requested the air force to attack and destroy the German artillery positions deployed on the roof.
; At the same time, the heavy artillery units of the group army were also used to blast several gaps in the walls of the Capitol Building, so that our commanders and soldiers could rush into the building through these gaps."
"Comrade General, before I came here, I was quite worried. I was worried that you would let us use artillery fire to blast a few holes in the front wall of the Capitol, because the artillery of our tanks is simply not enough to complete such a task." Tank Brigade.
The commander said: "Now that the wall has been blown open by heavy artillery, our task is much simpler. We only need to use artillery fire to bombard the windows sealed with masonry, destroy the enemy's fire points, and cover your soldiers' rush in.
to the Capitol.”
"Yes, that's it." After Shatilov waited for the tank brigade commander to finish speaking, he nodded and said with satisfaction: "Just follow the method you said."
"Comrade General, in order to facilitate the coordination between our two armies." The tank brigade commander called the subordinates who came with him and said to Shadilov: "This is my radio operator. Let him follow the commander of the assault force.
If you need anything, you can contact me through the radio in time."
"Comrade Colonel, you are very thoughtful." Shatilov said with a smile: "Originally, I was worried that if the troops entering the Capitol want to get your support, they need to call the regiment or division headquarters first, and then
We will contact you again. Doing so will inevitably delay the fighter plane. Since you sent a radio operator to follow the commander of the assault force, the troops entering the building can call for your artillery support at any time."
When the attack began, although it was already dark, the firelight from the burning buildings everywhere was enough to illuminate the path for the commanders and soldiers to attack.
As a red flare flew into the air, the attack officially began.
Thousands of commanders and fighters rushed towards the Capitol from all directions. Since the artillery position on the roof was destroyed and there was no blocking fire from the large-caliber artillery, the attacking troops quickly entered the square in front of the building. The German machine guns opened fire, with dense
Fire blocked the infantry's path forward. Two mortars were placed in a wall hole and fired at the approaching Soviet troops.
Shatilov stood in the observation post, holding a telescope to watch the situation on the battlefield. When he saw a mortar shell falling in the attacking formation and exploding, blowing several commanders and soldiers away, he stamped his feet anxiously.
, he wanted to immediately order the artillery to fire and destroy the German mortars. But then he thought about it, the offensive troops were already approaching the Capitol Building, and if they fired at this moment, it would inevitably cause accidental damage, so he had to give up such an idea.
The next moment, he saw several charging soldiers suddenly lying down on the spot. Just when he was feeling strange, he saw a cannonball falling not far away and exploding. The gravel kicked up by the air wave flew everywhere, and even some
Some of them hit the soldiers. Before the smoke cleared, the soldiers got up from the ground and rushed forward with their guns in hand.
However, when Shatilov saw one of the first soldiers to lie down, he raised his head, propped up half of his body on the ground with his elbows, and tried to stand up from the ground. But unfortunately, he failed. When he fell heavily,
After falling to the ground, there was no more movement. Shatilov didn't know whether he was injured by shrapnel from the shell just now, or whether he was hit by a bullet from the Capitol when he stood up. Anyway, the soldier was lying there
There was no movement there.
The commanders and soldiers who rushed across the square rushed inward along the steps. But the enemy's firepower was too fierce. Every time they took a step forward, several soldiers would fall on the steps. Some were only wounded, and some sacrificed themselves.
Young life. Although the soldiers in front kept falling, the soldiers behind still rushed forward without hesitation. However, when they went up the steps, they still tried hard to avoid the soldiers who fell on the steps to avoid stepping on them.
.
Seeing the groups of soldiers rushing into the Capitol, Shatilov secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the troops entered the building, the shooting holes facing the square would soon be ineffective under the attack of the soldiers. The remaining
Yes, it depends on how long it takes for your troops to capture the Capitol.
Half an hour later, the assault battalion commander asked the tank brigade radio operator to report to Colonel Zinchenko, the commander of the 756 regiment: "Comrade commander, the assault battalion has captured the second floor of the Capitol Building!"
When Zinchenko heard this, he thought this was good news. He quickly answered the phone at the division headquarters and informed Shatilov of the assault battalion commander's report: "Comrade division commander, the assault battalion has captured the second floor of the Capitol Building and is heading towards
Attack on the third floor and advance!"
"The second floor has been taken." Shatilov felt that the troops' attack speed was faster than he thought, and he couldn't help but said with relief: "The assault battalion is really good."
After putting down the phone, Shatilov bypassed the army commander and reported directly to Army Commander Kuznetsov: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the 756th Regiment reported to me that his commando battalion has successfully occupied the second floor of the Capitol Building.
Building, we are launching an attack on the third floor."
I originally thought that after his report, Kuznetsov would give a few compliments, but after hearing this, the other party frowned and said: "What, just to take down the second floor? General Shatilov, your progress is too slow!"
Where is the No. 5 assault flag I gave you? Have someone put it on the roof of the building quickly!"
Although Kuznetsov criticized the 150th Division's progress for being too slow, he was secretly happy that after spending so much time, the troops finally broke into the Capitol and occupied the second floor. He decided to
I reported this good news to the commander of the front army, Marshal Zhukov, and wanted to hear what he thought.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished his report, he heard Zhukov say in a stern tone: "What, just occupy the second floor? General Kuznetsov, your speed is too slow, it is really too slow. According to your attack
I'm afraid we won't be able to occupy the Capitol before dark today."
Kuznetsov, who was criticized, smiled bitterly and said: "Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will greet General Shatilov and ask them to speed up the attack and make sure to capture the Capitol before dark."
After Zhukov ended the call with Kuznetsov, he thought that Stalin, who was far away in Moscow, had been waiting for news of the troops storming the Capitol. The time was ripe now, so he could tell him. He called the director of the communications corps,
Instruct the other party: "Comrade Director of the Communications Corps, help me get through to the Kremlin immediately. I want to speak to Comrade Stalin."
News that the Soviet troops had stormed into the Capitol quickly reached the bunker.
Mustache, who was still rejoicing over Roosevelt's death two days ago, seemed to be completely stunned like a deflated rubber ball. He knew very well that the Reichstag was the highest symbol of Germany. Once it fell, it would be a huge blow to this moment.
It dealt a fatal blow to the morale of the still-fighting defenders in Berlin.
After some careful consideration, Mustache finally made a difficult decision. After hurriedly holding a wedding with Eva, he shot himself after taking poison. Before he died, he told his adjutant that he must not let anyone
The Russians get their own bodies.
The senior officers in the bunker took the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Mustache out of the bunker, put them into a bomb crater at the door, poured gasoline on them and set them on fire. Before the bodies were completely burned, Soviet artillery shells landed nearby and exploded. Senior
The officers were so frightened that they hid in the bunker.
But Zhukov, as the supreme commander of the Soviet army, did not know all this. He was on the phone with Marshal Konev at the moment, asking him to learn about the details of the meeting between the Ukrainian First Front and the US military. Inevitably, he talked about what was going on.
The storming of the Capitol.
After Konev waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, he said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I think it is completely unworthy to use the lives of our soldiers to capture this building. We can use powerful artillery fire to destroy this damn building.
Everything will be razed to the ground, and those Germans who stayed inside will also be wiped out."
"Marshal Konev," Zhukov explained to him after listening to Konev's words: "According to my original idea, I also wanted to raze the Reichstag to the ground through shelling and bombing. But my campaign to attack Berlin has just started.
, Comrade Stalin called me personally and ordered me to send troops to seize the Reichstag Building. It was best not to destroy this building that was of great significance to the Germans. It was precisely because of his order that I
The plan was temporarily changed, the operation to destroy the Capitol was abandoned, and infantry was used to occupy it."
"So that's it." After listening to Zhukov's words, Konev finally understood why the other party wanted to seize the Capitol even at great sacrifice. He nodded and said sympathetically: "Comrade Marshal, you are right. Since
It is an order issued by the supreme commander himself, and we as subordinates can only carry it out unconditionally."
Before putting down the phone, Konev suddenly remembered something important: "By the way, Comrade Marshal, a general of the US military invited us to attend their celebration banquet. I wonder if you are interested in participating?"
"Who is it?" Zhukov asked: "Which general of the US military is it?"
"General Patton!"
"Oh, General Patton!" Hearing Konev's name, Zhukov nodded and said approvingly: "He is one of the more capable generals in the US military. I particularly appreciate his words: 'Attack, attack.
, We will never defend!' I think what he said is very correct. Only by constantly attacking can we completely defeat the enemy."
Konev did not expect Zhukov to have such an evaluation of Patton, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, will you go to the celebration banquet he held?"
"Now that Berlin has not been captured, I have no intention of attending a celebration banquet." Zhukov muttered, "Let's wait until our army captures Berlin."
This chapter has been completed!