The German bombing had just ended, and the gunpowder smoke shrouding Mamayev Hill had not yet dissipated. Under the cover of more than a dozen assault guns, the German ground troops launched an attack on the Nangang position.
As soon as the enemy's attack began, Sokov received the report from the observation post. After he put down the phone, he asked Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, how many explosive packs do we have?"
After every battle, Sidorin personally counted the number of explosive packets. When Sokov asked about it, he replied without hesitation: "There are more than fifty left."
"What, just such a small amount?" When Sokov heard this number, he was surprised and asked: "Such a small amount of explosives can only fire two or three rounds at most. Have you contacted the Red October Factory and asked them to continue to provide us with it?"
Explosives?”
"Comrade Commander, before you came back yesterday, I had discussed this matter with Factory Director Peter." Sidorin replied with a wry smile: "Director Peter said that the explosive storage capacity in the factory is not unlimited. During this period of time, we
We have already received thirty tons of explosives from the factory and cannot provide us with any more explosives."
After Sidorin finished speaking, he noticed that Sokov's eyes had been staring at the phone on the table. He guessed that he might call Peter to discuss collecting explosives, and quickly added: "Comrade Commander, you
We called Director Peter a few hours ago and asked them to imitate 20,000 German hand grenades for us. I’m afraid it will also require a lot of explosives. Even if you call him now, I’m afraid he won’t provide us with explosives.
."
Without enough explosives, it would be impossible to continue to use the tactics of the previous two days to deal with the enemy. Therefore, after a brief consideration, Sokov ordered Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, I think the circular position on the top of the mountain is already in the enemy's position."
The plane's bombardment was beyond recognition. You immediately called Lieutenant Colonel Starcia and ordered him to push his position to the ridge of the front slope and resist the enemy's attack from a high position."
After receiving the order, Lieutenant Colonel Starcha immediately ordered the commanders and soldiers who had just emerged from the tunnel to use the crater to build a new defensive position on the ridge near the positive slope. However, a complete trench had not yet been dug, and the offensive
The enemy has rushed to the foot of the mountain.
After seeing clearly the uniforms worn by the enemy at the foot of the mountain, the Soviet company commander on the position couldn't help being secretly surprised, because this was not the Romanian army that had been howled by thunder cannons two days ago, but the German army that had not been seen for a long time. They fought desperately
He blew his whistle and gave the order to his soldiers to shoot.
Amidst the shrill whistles, the Soviet soldiers who entered the position opened fire on the enemies who were rushing up the hillside. The condescending soldiers poured ammunition downwards, blocking the enemy's path forward. But the German soldiers on the hillside,
They were all veterans with rich experience. The machine gunners quickly selected suitable terrain, established machine gun positions, and used intensive firepower to cover the charge of other soldiers.
The German soldiers used the cover of machine guns to lower their bodies and quickly rolled from one bomb crater to another, using the terrain to gradually approach the position on the top of the mountain. In order to eliminate the enemies on the hillside, the Soviet commanders and fighters had to move from
He leaned half out of the bunker to shoot, and he became the target of German machine gunners.
As the firepower on the top of the mountain was suppressed, the German soldiers quickly rushed to the Soviet position, and a hand-to-hand battle began inadvertently. Upon hearing the news that the German troops had rushed into the position, Starcha decisively ordered the other soldiers to attack the position.
Two companies entered the battle, rushing to support the troops who were bayoneting with the enemy.
The Soviet army's level of stabbing was much higher than that of the German soldiers. Even though they were smaller in number than the Germans, they used their skilled stabbing skills to make up for this gap. While the two sides were fighting, they were inseparable.
At this moment, the reinforcements sent by Starcha arrived. The German army, which had been fighting hard at first, saw the fresh force of the Soviet army arriving. They dared not fight anymore and hurriedly retreated down the hillside.
The assault gun parked at the foot of the mountain waited for its soldiers to retreat, and immediately bombarded the Soviet position on the top of the mountain with artillery fire. Although due to the angle, most of the shells fired by the assault gun missed the target, but there were still a few shells fired.
The artillery shells fell into the Soviet army's simple trenches at the preparation site. The air wave of the explosion lifted the soldiers near the explosion point from the ground, threw them high into the air, and then fell heavily to the ground.
Seeing the assault guns showing off at the foot of the mountain, the soldiers became a little anxious. The Soviet company commander quickly called Starcha and reported to him: "Comrade commander, the enemy has several assault guns parked at the foot of the mountain.
They are constantly bombarding our positions, do we need to use mine cannons to destroy them?"
If it had been two days ago, Starcha would have agreed to the company commander's request without hesitation, but at this moment, he could only say helplessly: "Comrade company commander, we don't have many explosive packs anymore.
Destroying a few enemy assault guns will consume all the explosive packets. So in the following battle, when the enemy's attack becomes more fierce, what weapons will we use to deal with them?"
"I understand, comrade commander." After hearing what Starcha said, the company commander knew that the other party did not intend to use thunder cannons to deal with the German assault guns, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "I will find a way to kill them.
Enemy assault gun."
After Starca ended the call with his subordinates, he felt that he should report the matter to Sokov to see if he had any solution. Thinking of this, he immediately called Sokov's headquarters.
"I am Sokov!" When Sokov's voice came from the receiver, Starcha immediately said into the microphone: "Comrade division commander, the assault guns at the foot of the mountain are bombarding the positions on the top of the mountain. The soldiers requested to use flying thunder.
Use the gun to kill the enemy's assault gun."
"No! Lieutenant Colonel Starcha, we can't waste precious explosive bags in such a meaningless place." Sokov said to Starcha on the phone: "You have used flying thunder cannons, you should
We know that it is not very accurate. If you want to kill an enemy assault gun, you need to spend at least seven or eight explosive packs. We currently have no way to get explosives to make new explosive packs, so we need to save the remaining explosive packs.
Use it."
Seeing that Sokov did not allow the use of thunder cannons, Starcha sighed secretly in his heart and asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, since the thunder cannon cannot be used, can I send someone to blow up the enemy's assault cannon?"
?”
"Send someone to bomb?" Sokov couldn't help but sneered when he heard this, and then said: "Lieutenant Colonel Starcha, as soon as the soldiers leave the position, they will be attacked by the enemy on the unobstructed hillside.
If the machine gun is used as a sieve, not only will it not be able to blow up the enemy's assault gun, but it will have a negative impact on the morale of the troops."
"Then what should we do?" Starcia asked cautiously.
"The enemy's assault guns are intended to be used against fortifications," Sokov said thoughtfully: "As long as the soldiers hide in the trenches, the assault guns will not pose much of a threat to us."
After receiving Sokov's instructions, Starca immediately ordered the soldiers near the ridge to hide in simple trenches. At the same time, he sent people to dig a new trench more than 20 meters behind, preparing to wait.
When the enemy rushes up the hillside again, withdraw your troops here to temporarily avoid the enemy.
After the German assault artillery bombarded for a while, when they saw that there was no counterattack on the top of the mountain, they stopped firing and allowed the infantry hiding behind the assault artillery to launch a new attack. With the lesson of the recent failure, the German army should be cautious in this attack.
Much more, they first established more than a dozen machine gun fire points, and after starting to shoot at the top of the mountain with intensive firepower, the infantry hunkered down and cautiously launched the attack.
Suppressed by German machine gun fire, the firepower on the top of the mountain was very weak and could not prevent the Germans from approaching the top of the mountain. The German soldiers used bomb craters and corpses to skillfully approach the top of the mountain. When they were still more than 20 meters away from the top of the mountain,
They all stopped, took out a grenade, pulled the string and threw it upward. Before the grenade could land, they had jumped out of the crater and rushed toward the top of the mountain.
Dozens of grenades landed in the trenches and exploded, causing misery to the Soviet soldiers hiding inside. As soon as the explosions stopped, the Germans had rushed to the edge of the trenches, pointing submachine guns at the Soviet soldiers who were in a mess in the trenches.
The soldiers fired at them, causing them to fall in pieces like rice in autumn.
Not to be outdone, the soldiers who came to their senses also raised their guns and fired back. The German soldiers who were hit by bullets either fell backwards and rolled down the hillside; or they fell headlong into the trenches.
When the commanders and soldiers who were digging trenches behind saw the Germans rushing into the trenches near the edge again, they put down their engineering shovels and bravely rushed forward with their bayonets drawn. They planned to use their skilled stabbing skills to drive the enemy back down again.
hillside.
In this way, the Soviet Union and Germany launched repeated tug-of-war around the ridgeline position close to the positive slope. As soon as the German troops rushed into the position, they were driven out with bayonets by Soviet soldiers who surged up like a tide. Before the Soviet troops could wait,
After gaining a foothold, the enemy rushed forward again under the cover of breakthroughs and machine gun fire.
Within an hour of fighting, nearly 500 people from both sides fell in this small area, and the trenches were filled with corpses of officers and soldiers from both sides.
After finally waiting for the German army to retreat again, Starcha found that one of his battalions deployed on the top of the mountain had suffered one-third casualties. He quickly withdrew the battalion into the tunnel and moved another battalion up to take over their defense.
After the defensive troops arrived, Starcia called the battalion commander in front of him and said to him: "Comrade Major, it is not the Romanian army that is attacking the high ground today, but the Germans. You cannot take it lightly."
"Don't worry, comrade commander." After hearing what Starcha said, the battalion commander quickly expressed his position: "Since other troops have not lost the high ground, as long as there is one person alive in our battalion, we will never let the Germans
Get into position here."
According to the battalion commander's thinking, since the attacking Romanian army could be beaten to pieces here a few days ago, even if the attacking enemy today is replaced by the Germans, they can still be beaten into chaos and flee.
However, his idea changed fundamentally half an hour later. The enemy, who had just been driven away by friendly forces, actually dispatched planes again to bomb the hills indiscriminately. In order to prevent the troops from suffering during the bombing, the battalion commander
After suffering huge losses, they decisively ordered to withdraw from the tunnel.
As soon as the battalion commander returned to the tunnel, someone grabbed his arm. Just as he was about to shake off the other person's arm, he heard the familiar voice of the regiment commander: "Major, please pull everyone down. Are there any observation posts on the top of the mountain?"
ah?"
Recognizing the voice of the regiment commander, the battalion commander quickly and respectfully replied: "Comrade comrade regiment commander, I have left a squad on the top of the mountain to monitor the enemy's movements. If they find the enemy is attacking, they will send someone to report it to us."
of."
As a rule, after the enemy's artillery shelling or bombing ends, the observation posts remaining on the position will use whistles to notify the people hiding in the tunnels. Unexpectedly, the enemy bombers have flown away for a while, and no bombs are heard from the top of the mountain.
The whistle sounded. Seeing this, Starcha couldn't help but frowned. He asked the battalion commander: "Major, why is there still no movement on the top of the mountain? Did something happen?"
"No way." The battalion commander said in an uncertain tone: "I left a squad at the top of the mountain. No matter what, someone will always give us a signal."
"I feel something is wrong." Starcia said with a straight face: "Send someone out immediately to see what is going on outside."
The battalion commander had no choice but to send two soldiers to the top of the mountain to see why the observation posts had not sent a signal until now. Shortly after the two soldiers left, one of them ran back and reported to the battalion commander:
"Comrade Battalion Commander, all the observation posts we left on the top of the mountain are dead."
"What, they're all dead?" When the battalion commander heard the soldier's report, his first reaction was that the other party was lying: "There are ten people in a class, how can they all be dead?"
"It's true, comrade battalion commander." Seeing that the battalion commander did not believe what he said, the soldier became a little anxious: "The fortifications on the top of the mountain were all destroyed by enemy bombs. None of the observation posts we left on the top of the mountain survived.
Come down."
After confirming the news that the observation post had been sacrificed, the battalion commander was a little panicked. He looked at Starcia and asked: "Comrade Commander, what should we do next?"
"What else can we do? Immediately order the troops to enter the position." Seeing the helpless look of his subordinates, Starr was so angry that he raised his hand and slapped his helmet hard: "If you don't want to be hit by the enemy's shells,
If he is killed by a bomb or a machine gun, as soon as he goes out, the soldiers must seize the time to repair the fortifications. Do you understand?"
"Understood, comrade commander." The battalion commander agreed in a panic and shouted to the soldiers squatting in the tunnel: "Comrades, the enemy's bombing has stopped. Everyone should enter the position immediately."
Upon hearing the battalion commander's order, the soldiers who were squatting or sitting in the tunnel immediately stood up, carried their weapons, walked along the exit of the tunnel, and entered the position on the top of the mountain.
The battalion commander walked out of the tunnel and saw that the fortifications on the top of the mountain were indeed gone. He shouted at the top of his lungs: "Attention, company commanders, the enemy is about to attack us. Please seize the time to repair the fortifications immediately."
This chapter has been completed!