In order to ensure that the infantry behind them could keep up, the German amphibious tanks could only maintain a speed of four or five kilometers per hour. Seeing the German tanks traveling at a turtle speed in the water, Zheliya couldn't help but become a little impatient. He thought to himself: "
These swimming tanks look like light tanks, and if we had a few captured 37mm anti-tank guns, they could all be wiped out."
However, Zheliya's worries quickly disappeared. The second platoon leader led two soldiers into the observation post from outside and reported to him: "Comrade company commander, these two are artillery observers. They are preparing to come here."
Observations are made to provide firing parameters for the artillery batteries in the rear."
"Great, this is really great." Zhelia knew that although the number of artillery guns in the artillery company was small, they were all 152mm heavy howitzers. It was easy to clean up the German tanks marching in the pool of water. He hurriedly talked to
The two artillery observers shook hands and called them to the lookout for observation.
An observer raised his telescope and calmly looked at the German tanks heading towards the position. He reported a series of shooting parameters to his comrades holding the phone behind him: "...scale 80, distance 2800 meters.
One shot, let go!"
The whistling sound of artillery shells soon came from the air. One shell landed and exploded more than 20 meters in front of the German tank. It set off a cloud of turbid water and rained down on the body of the amphibious tank. The sound of the explosion
When the sound rang out, the German infantrymen following the tank were so frightened that they crouched down quickly. The water that had reached their knees suddenly flooded their mouths and noses, causing many German soldiers to stand up again in a hurry.
Seeing that the first shell did not cause any casualties to the enemy, the observer did not panic, but continued: "Correct the ruler and move forward twenty meters. One shot, let go!"
The second artillery shell fired by the artillery company roared towards the enemy again. However, because the German tank moved forward a certain distance, the falling shell still did not cause any damage to it, but it fell in the middle of the infantry formation behind it.
, after a loud "bomb", the German soldiers near the explosion point were blown to pieces. They fell headfirst into the water and could not get up again.
"It's great, it hit! It's great for our comrades." Seeing the artillery shell hit the target, the observer shouted excitedly: "It just hit the infantry behind the German tank! Artillery company, fire coverage, fire!"
Porochenko, who was directing the artillery fire in the city, heard the observer say that the second artillery shell fired happened to hit the German infantry. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly raised the red signal flag in his hand high and shouted loudly at the same time.
He shouted: "Artillery battery, listen to my command: fire!" After shouting, he suddenly waved the flag down.
Several heavy howitzers from the artillery company fired at the same time, covering the area where the German troops were located with artillery fire. Since the German infantry was located in an unobstructed open space, and the water on the ground was knee deep, it was impossible for them to lie down and hide.
, resulting in heavy casualties under Soviet artillery fire.
Thanks to the guidance of the artillery observers, the artillery deployed in the city seemed to have eyes, and accurately hit the middle of the enemy's queue. The German infantry near the explosion point was either blown to pieces or knocked down by shrapnel flying in all directions.
, fell into the water with a thud. In just a few minutes, the water surface was dyed red with the blood flowing from the corpses of the German soldiers.
After the enemy's infantry was almost wiped out, the artillery company aimed at the amphibious tanks again. A shell hit them. None of the four amphibious tanks escaped. They were all blown to pieces. The wreckage was parked in the pool of water and burned.
, and none of the tank soldiers inside escaped.
When the German commander saw that his offensive troops were actually being bombarded by Soviet artillery, he became furious and immediately ordered long-range artillery fire to cover the Soviet artillery positions. Fortunately, Porochenko already knew that his artillery quantity was small.
If he launched an artillery attack with the enemy, he would suffer a big loss, so he arranged the artillery positions in a particularly dispersed manner. Even if he was counterattacked by the enemy's artillery fire, he would not cause too many casualties.
Groups of artillery shells flew in from outside the city, landed on the streets and exploded. Although they only destroyed one Soviet artillery piece, in just a few minutes, the originally spacious and neat streets were filled with craters and bricks.
Stone rubble and ruins.
Sokov received a call from Porochenko and learned that enemy artillery was bombarding the south of the city. He just said lightly: "I understand, I will find a way to suppress the German artillery fire."
After ending the call with Porochenko, he ordered the communications soldier: "Get me the command post of the tank army and see General Rotmistrov. I have important things to report to him."
As soon as the call came through, Rotmistrov said hurriedly on the receiver: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what happened? Why is the artillery fire from the south of the city so dense?"
"That's it, Comrade General." Sokov waited for Rotmistrov to finish speaking and immediately reported to him: "After the German troops attacking the south of the city were intercepted by our artillery fire, the enemy used long-range artillery fire to target them.
The artillery position in the south of the city implemented suppression."
After Rotmistrov figured out what was going on, he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you need our support?"
Sokov thought that there were a large number of artillery in the mechanized brigade under the Tank Corps. If they bombarded the German artillery positions, they might be able to suppress the enemy's firepower, so he quickly said: "Comrade General, please order the artillery immediately
, bombarded the German artillery positions to reduce the pressure on the defenders south of the city."
Sokov thought that as soon as he finished speaking, Rotmistrov would readily agree. Unexpectedly, after a long silence, the other party said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I can order the artillery to fire, but have you considered it?"
Are there any consequences?"
"Consequences, what consequences?" Some monks in Sokov asked confusedly: "Comrade General, will your artillery fire at the enemy's artillery positions cause any bad consequences?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Rotmistrov replied with a serious expression: "Once we fire artillery and expose the location of the artillery position, we will definitely be retaliated by German artillery fire. By then, the city will
Buildings would collapse under the shelling, and a large number of innocent citizens would fall under German artillery fire."
Rotmistrov's words reminded Sokov that there were still more than ten or two hundred thousand residents in the city. Since their superiors ordered to hold on to Kursk at all costs, they were not evacuated. If the Germans were allowed to bombard the city, it would be inevitable.
It will cause heavy casualties to the residents.
Sokov felt that he was faced with a difficult choice. If he did not fire, his artillery battery would be wiped out by German artillery fire; but if he fired, the enemy would shell the artillery positions of the tank army, which would inevitably spread to the enemy.
Innocent citizens. Thinking of this, Sokov became a little hesitant.
Seeing that there was no sound in the receiver, Rotmistrov guessed that Sokov was having a fierce ideological struggle, so he added: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are the commander of the infantry brigade, do you need to provide you with
Artillery support, you only need to say a word."
But before Sokov could make a decision, the German shelling stopped abruptly. When Rotmistrov heard the sound of gunfire stopped, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy
The shelling has stopped, it seems you don’t have to be in a dilemma anymore.”
As soon as the German artillery bombardment of the city stopped, the officers and soldiers gathered on the river embankment launched another charge towards the Second Company's position. Since the amphibious tanks they relied on had been destroyed by the Soviet heavy artillery, they could only use machine guns.
and mortars to suppress the firepower on the Soviet position and cover the forward charge of their companions.
The second platoon leader was sitting cross-legged in the trench, with a submachine gun that had been drained of bullets thrown beside him. He touched the blood on his forehead with lingering fear, thinking back to the shocking scene just now: he just wanted to see what the Germans were charging into.
He was in position, but as soon as he leaned out of the trench, a flying machine gun bullet blew off his helmet, and a piece of skin was scratched on his forehead. If he hadn't reacted quickly and squatted down in time, he might have died long ago.
He turned his head and glanced at the two corpses of soldiers beside him. They were all as curious as him. They stuck their heads out to see where the enemy had reached, but were shot in the head by a machine gun bullet. He never dreamed that, just a few hundred meters away,
Outside, the German machine guns were still firing so accurately that they were able to kill the soldiers who just raised their heads. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help but start beating in his heart. If the Germans rushed over, would the soldiers be able to hold their position?
A soldier bent down and ran to him, lowering his voice and saying: "Platoon commander, the enemy is less than a hundred meters away from us. Do you want to fire?"
"Get ready to fight!" Although the German troops were knee-deep in water and were moving very slowly, if he didn't stop them now, they would be able to rush into the trenches very quickly, so he decisively issued an order: "Everyone get into combat positions.
, ready to fire at any time!" He picked up his helmet from the ground, which had a hole drilled by bullets, buckled it on his head, and replaced the submachine gun with a new drum, then stood up carefully and looked out.
Go. I saw seventy or eighty German soldiers bending down, holding guns, and cautiously coming towards their position.
Seeing that the enemy was only 80 meters away from the position, he decisively shouted: "Fire!" After shouting, he took the lead and pulled the trigger. Even though the Popov submachine gun has a ammunition capacity of 71 rounds, it is very difficult to
Accurately hitting the target more than 80 meters away. Although the sound of gunfire on the position was loud, very few enemies were knocked down by bullets, and most of them continued to advance.
Seeing that the enemy was about to rush to the position, the roar of machine guns suddenly came from several reinforced concrete fortifications that had been silent. The veterans using MG34 general machine guns calmly opened fire at the dense formation of the German army.
, beating them into pieces in the water.
The German officers and soldiers who originally had the confidence to rush into the Soviet position were intercepted by intensive machine gun fire. Knowing that continuing to charge would lead to death, they decisively gave up the attack, turned around and ran back.
When Zheliya saw that the German attack was repelled, not only was he not surprised, but he was secretly thinking: "We have repelled two German attacks in a row. Next, they may shell our position again."
, hoping to destroy our position and eliminate the defenders on the position through fierce artillery fire."
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the German troops were still regrouping on the river embankment, Zhelia quickly called the battalion commander Vasily and asked him for instructions: "Comrade battalion commander, the enemy's attack has been repelled by us. What should we do next?"
What should I do, follow and pursue?"
"No, no need to pursue." Vasily still had a certain understanding of the situation on the battlefield. When he heard that Zheliya was planning to lead his troops to attack, he immediately stopped him: "Don't forget the water area in front of the position.
Since when the enemy passed there, he paid a huge price under the tenacious defense of our army. If you pursue it, the slow-moving soldiers will be slow in their movements when passing through the water area and will be regarded by the enemy as
Target shooting.”
After understanding the situation at the front, Captain Vasily called Sokov and reported to him: "Report to Comrade Brigade Commander that the commanders and fighters of the second company have successfully repelled the German attack. What should we do next?"
Do?"
"Immediately organize soldiers to reinforce the fortifications and rescue the wounded." Sokov was afraid that Vasily would take it lightly, so he reminded him specifically: "The Second Battalion and the Second Company have repelled the enemy's attacks twice in a row. I think the enemy will never
We are willing to accept their defeat. Next, they will definitely carry out crazy revenge. You need to be prepared in advance. As long as there are strong fortifications, it will not be that easy for the enemy to break through our positions."
Sokov was thinking about the artillery company that was shelled by the Germans. As soon as the call with Vasily ended, he immediately called Porochenko and asked with concern: "Comrade Porochenko, what are the losses of your company?"
"Reporting to Comrade Brigade Commander," Porochenko said in a serious tone: "During the enemy's artillery fire, two of our artillery were blown up. Seven artillery soldiers were killed and more than twenty were injured."
"Immediately move the artillery positions." Sokov was worried that enemy shelling and bombing might follow, so he ordered Porochenko: "After sending the wounded to the military hospital, move all the artillery to new positions.
."
In response to Sokov's instructions, Porochenko gave a wry smile and then said: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will move the remaining artillery and infantry to new places as soon as possible to avoid being exposed to enemy long-range artillery fire again."
Strike.”
From the tone of Porochenko's words, Sokov heard that the other party was in many difficulties, so he arranged for him to say: "Don't worry, Comrade Porochenko, although you have suffered certain losses in today's battle.
.But the brigade headquarters will not sit idly by and we will replenish you with new soldiers and technical equipment as soon as possible."
