The counterattack attack time in the Mamayevgang area was set at 6 a.m. on September 14. However, the troops involved in the attack were not the three divisions mentioned by Cui Kov, but the 10th Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 38th Motorized Infantry Brigade, and the 42nd Independent Infantry Brigade.
According to the prior combat plan, the 38th Motorized Infantry Brigade, with the cooperation of a strengthened Motorized Infantry Company and its affiliated artillery battalion, attacked the village southeast of Razgulyayevka; the 10th Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out counterattacks on the enemy with a regiment of troops, targeting the 126.3 Heights and then the 144.3 Heights; and the mixed regiment and a tank brigade carried out counterattacks on the direction of Ananda Agorodok and 153.7 Heights. The 42nd Independent Infantry Brigade was preparing to carry out assaults on the hospital and 153.7 Heights in order to support this counterattack.
However, due to the lack of air support and the number of artillery troops that can provide artillery support to counterattack forces is also very limited, and the degree of damage to German field fortifications was limited, which led to the Soviet counterattack forces having to pay a huge price to seize these fortifications.
After learning that the Soviet army had launched a counterattack in the Mamayevgang area, Paulus immediately sent air forces to bomb the counterattack troops and the positions they occupied. The shelling and bombing caused heavy casualties of the Soviet counterattack troops. In order to avoid the destruction of the counterattack troops, at noon, Cuikov issued an order to stop the attack and transfer to Mamayevgang.
Seeing that the Soviet attack was repelled, the German army took the opportunity to invest a large number of infantry and tanks and launched an attack on the retreating Soviet army. The first to achieve the results was General Hartman's 71st Infantry Division. After breaking through the Soviet defense, they successfully passed through the city center and established a narrow passage directly to the Volga River.
The German army always cared about the commanding heights of Mamayevgang, so the 295th Infantry Division they invested launched an attack on Beigang in Mamayevgang with the support of the 204th Armored Regiment, which belonged to the 22nd Armored Division.
Otherwise, Beigang defended the Fourth Battalion and the 192nd Battalion. After the enemy's attack began, the Fourth Battalion Commander Brisky immediately reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the enemy dispatched a regiment of infantry and launched a fierce attack on our position under the cover of more than 30 tanks? We do not have anti-tank weapons. Please send anti-tank dog companies to support us."
"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Sokov considered that the North Bank had complete tunnel fortifications like his own, and even if the German offensive was strong, it would not be easy to occupy Beigang smoothly. But if the German tanks approached Shangang, they could use artillery fire to support the infantry attacking Beigang, so he replied simply: "I will immediately send Captain Oshenin to support you with his military dog ​​company."
The reason why Sokov only sent military dog ​​companies to support was that, considering that the surface position space of Beigang was limited, there was not much force; but because a German army passed through the old city and seized the Central Railway Station from the Soviet army, directly threatening the security of the flank of Mamayevgang.
After he put down the phone, he called a staff officer and asked him to inform Oshanin to lead people from the tunnel to Beigang, and cooperate with the defenders there to eliminate the enemy's tanks. After doing all this, he returned to the table and looked at Cidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, have the scouts we sent have not returned yet? What part of the enemy who occupied the Central Railway Station?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Seeing Sokov's uneasy look, Sidolin hurriedly comforted him and said, "It is Lieutenant Christopher, the reconnaissance company commander, who is personally led by Lieutenant Christopher. I believe he will definitely get the information we need in urgent need."
The reason why Sokov was so impatient was because he knew that the most difficult period in Stalingrad was coming. Although the German army had conducted tentative attacks on Mamayev's hills many times before and finally returned in failure, Sokov was in a bottomless heart whether he could defend his position this time. In addition, the commanders and fighters in the brigade witnessed the counterattack organized by Cuikov and ended in failure, which would have an adverse impact on the morale of his own troops.
The battle in the north slope began.
The military dog ​​platoon sent by Captain Oshanin showed his power on the battlefield. With Sokov's guidance, the military dogs' attacks were changed to single or double dogs' attacks, which greatly prevented the occurrence of four or five military dogs from blowing up the same tank. In less than twenty minutes, thirteen German tanks were blown up by military dogs and parked on the open ground to burn. The infantry, who had lost the cover of the tank, rushed to the foot of the Beigang Mountain, were beaten by the commanders and soldiers of the Fourth Battalion with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and grenades, and had to retreat temporarily.
When Sokov heard that the north shore was fighting well, he took a guard and walked along the hidden corridor to an observation center that had just been built on the top of the mountain to observe the battle between the two sides with his own eyes. Unexpectedly, shortly after entering, the enemy artillery observers discovered the observation center and immediately guided the direction of the artillery.
Sokov was looking into the distance with his telescope when he suddenly heard the sound of shells slashing through the air. After a moment, a shell fell into an open space more than 20 meters away and exploded, causing a huge piece of soil.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," an observation post had rich experience and knew that it was a German test launch. He quickly reminded Sokov: "This place should be discovered by the enemy, so we should transfer it immediately!"
Hearing the observation post say this, Sokov also realized something was wrong and quickly put down his telescope and ran outside. Unexpectedly, as soon as he ran out of the observation post, one after another, a series of shells fell near the observation post and exploded. The soil caused by the air waves spread out Sokov. Sokov didn't care about dusting off the soil on his body, so he bent down and continued to run towards a nearby hole, preparing to return to his command center through there.
When Sokov returned to his command center with dust and a little embarrassed, he unexpectedly found that Christopher, whom he had sent to reconnaissance, was here. He quickly grabbed Christopher and asked nervously: "How is it, have you figured it out? What is the German number that occupies the railway station?"
"It's all clear." Christopher nodded and said, "The one who occupied the Central Railway Station was a grenade battalion of the 24th Armored Division of the German Army. The battalion commander was Major Fon Haydn. There were more than 500 people in the entire battalion."
"More than 500 people?" Sokov was surprised by the number that Christopher said. He thought that the enemy who occupied the Central Railway Station was at best a company, but he actually had a battalion and more than 500 people. According to the combat effectiveness of the German army, even if he brought twice as many troops, it would not be easy to get the train station from them. "Is this news true?"
Christopher nodded and replied, "In order to find out the real strength of the German army, we captured four or five prisoners. After interrogation, their confessions were the same."
Sokov did not ask how these prisoners were dealt with, but he was sure that the German army that threatened his flank was the 24th Armored Vehicle Grenadier Battalion. When he learned that there were more than 500 enemies occupying the railway station, Sokov couldn't help but hesitate. His troops were limited, and if he wanted to attack the station, it was hard to say whether he could take it down. Even if he fought, he would not be able to defend against the German army's crazy counterattack.
Seeing Sokov silent, Sidorin quickly reminded him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since the enemy has occupied the railway station, he will definitely set up a solid defense there and use it as their new starting point for offensive attacks. See if we need to send troops to fire them."
Sokov was thinking about the forces he could use in his hands: the Fourth Battalion and the 192nd Battalion are currently guarding Beigang, and these two battalions are definitely not usable. Although Nangang has three battalions, the first battalion and the second battalion must stick to its position and cannot be used; and after the third battalion performed two consecutive tasks, the troops were reduced by half.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Berkin echoed the proposal proposed by Cydolin: "I think Comrade Chief of Staff makes sense. We should take the initiative to eliminate or drive away all the enemies occupying the station..."
"Comrade Political Commissar, please wait a moment," Sokov looked at Belkin and asked back, "I want to ask, are you familiar with the terrain of the station? Do you know what the enemy is deploying in the station? Just launch an attack in a hurry, and aren't you let the commanders and soldiers die?"
Sokov's words immediately made Sidolin feel angry. According to his thoughts, Sokov heard that the German army occupied the Central Railway Station. In order to ensure the safety of the left wing, he would definitely send troops to take back the station without hesitation.
Seeing Sidolin's frustrated look, Sokov raised his hand and patted his shoulder, comforting him and said, "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not that we don't want to take back the Central Railway Station, but that the conditions are not yet ripe."
"The conditions are not yet ripe?" Sidolin suddenly widened his eyes when he heard Sokov say this: "Comrade Commander, you must know that our infantry brigade has nearly 5,000 commanders and fighters, even if only one thousand people are sent, he can take back the station from the enemy. If the troops are not moved, the enemy can launch an attack on our Mamayev hill from the direction of the station at any time."
"Yes, our brigade has more than 5,000 people." Sokov did not deny Sidolin's statement, but nodded and expressed his affirmation: "But have you ever thought that if we consume too much troops in the process of seizing the station, then how should we fight the next battle?"
Seeing that Sidolin opened his mouth and seemed to want to refute something, Sokov continued: "The reason why I say the time is not ripe is that at the latest, a guard division will come to the city, and the superiors will hand over the task of retaking the Central Railway Station to them."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidolin finally waited for Sokov to finish his words, and immediately continued, "How did you know that a guard division would enter the city and the superiors would send them to retake the train station?"
Regarding the question of Cidolin, Sokov replied without blinking: "When I went to the Army Command two days ago, I heard the commander say it himself. He said that the superior sent an elite guard division, who would cross the river to Stalingrad in these two days, so I inferred that the superior would send them to retake the train station."
Sokov said this with evidence. In real history, the day after the German army occupied Mamayev's hill, the troops of the 13th Division of the Guards of Rodimtev crossed the river and came to the city. Under Zhukov's arrangement, they divided their troops to capture Mamayev's hill, the Central Railway Station and the Expert Building respectively, stabilizing the Soviet defense line in Stalingrad. However, the division's casualties were also huge. The troops of more than 10,000 people fought for only three days, and only more than 1,000 people were left.
When he thought of Rodimtev's 13th Guard Division, Sokov inevitably thought of the famous sniper Vasirizaitev. Although in the movie "The War to the City", there were black Soviet elements, when the 13th Guard Division entered Stalingrad, there were more than a thousand soldiers without weapons. This was true. Moreover, the scene of the recruits charging was near the train station, because the sculpture of the Young Pioneers dancing around the crocodile made Sokov remember it deeply.
Sokov thought to himself: If his superiors asked him to provide them with weapons, would he consider bringing Vasirizaitev into his own troops? With such a sniper joining, he could also organize a small team to go deep into various battle sites to snipe German officers and soldiers.
Seeing Sokov not speaking, the expression on his face was extremely wonderful. He had a serious expression and a smirk. Seeing this situation, he thought that Sokov had been in the tunnel for a long time, causing his nerves to be a little abnormal. He quickly coughed heavily and continued to ask: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you haven't answered my question yet."
"It's very simple." Sokov came back to his senses and immediately replied: "Under the current circumstances, this 13th Guard Division is undoubtedly the most complete unit, and they are the most suitable for such a tough task."
Although his troops did not attack the Central Railway Station, Sokov could not watch it. He said to Christopher: "Comrade Lieutenant, although our troops did not attack the railway station, your reconnaissance must continue. You must understand the enemy's firepower configuration and distribution of troops. In this way, when friendly troops arrive, we can provide them with useful information so that they can take the Central Railway Station back from the enemy in the shortest time."
Chapter completed!