Early the next morning, the two hills in Mamayev Hill were bombarded by German troops at the same time.
Sokov, who was staying in the tunnel, heard the faint sound of cannons from outside and knew that this was a sign of the German army's large-scale attack. He issued an order to the battalion commanders by phone, allowing them to immediately enter the surface position after the enemy's artillery was over, preparing to block the attacking enemy.
In the past, the tasks assigned by Sidolin were completed by Sidolin. Looking at Sokov, who was seriously assigned tasks to battalion commanders of each battalion, Sidolin approached Belkin and whispered: "Comrade Political Commissar, have you noticed that something was wrong with the brigade commander today?"
Belkin nodded: "Yes, I also realized that you are responsible for these tasks. But today he personally called each battalion commander and after assigning the task, he repeatedly reminded the other party to pay attention. It seems that the next battle will be very fierce."
After Sokov finished calling the battalion commanders, Belkin asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, isn't the chief of staff responsible for the tasks assigned to each battalion? Why did you call the battalion commanders yourself today?"
In Sokov's memory, the German army launched a continuous fierce attack on Mamayevgang in three days from September 13 to 15, and fought a cruel tug-of-war with the 13th Guard Division, who had just arrived in Stalingrad, resulting in all casualties of Rodimtev's troops.
Although there are tunnels that are difficult to destroy by the enemy's artillery fire in Mamayevgang, if we want to prevent the enemy from seizing the commanding heights of the city, the subsequent battle will still be particularly tragic. Therefore, Sokov called the battalion commanders and personally deployed defense matters to them. When he heard Belkin's question, he hesitated for a moment and replied: "Comrade Political Commissar, have you not heard that the two hills we are defending were violently bombarded by the German army? This shows that the Germans will soon launch a large-scale attack on Mamayevgang."
Belkin tilted his head and listened to the movement outside. Since the command center was deep underground, the sound of cannons had become very light. After hearing for a while, he nodded and said, "Yes, comrade brigade commander, the shelling outside is very fierce." After sitting upright, he said disapprovingly, "The enemy will carry out such shelling before every attack. I don't think something is wrong."
"Before the enemy's previous attack, the targets of the shelling were either Beigang or Nangang, but they never shelled both hills at the same time." Sokov said with a stern face: "This means that once the shelling is over, the enemy will launch a fierce attack on both hills at the same time. I guess the battle will be extremely tragic."
Perhaps every time the German attacked Mamayevgang, it ended in a crushing defeat. Not to mention the political commissar Beerkin, even Chief of Staff Cidolin did not realize the difference between the shelling before the German attack today and the usual ones.
…………
When Mamayevgang was violently bombarded, the 21st German Grenadier Regiment launched an attack on the Central Railway Station again. Colonel Lungek learned that there were no less than one battalion of defenders in the station, and adjusted his tactics in time. He did not directly attack the station, but instead used the staff dormitory area near the station as a new target of attack.
The reason for his decision was that the Soviet army concentrated all its main forces at the station, and the defense power in the dormitory area was weak. Once he occupied the dormitory area, he could use it as a starting point for an offensive station to shorten the impact distance. If the station could be occupied, it could form a corner with the station. Even if the Soviet army launched a counterattack on the station, it could attack the Soviet army from the side and rear.
The station staff dormitory is about one kilometer away from the station, and there are more than fifty four-story buildings. Although the Soviet army did not arrange too many troops here, and the defenders are mainly militias composed of railway employees, it is not easy for the Germans to occupy the place.
When Major Haydn's troops rushed forward along the street, they were fired by a Maxim heavy machine gun, and many soldiers were killed in the street. When they were hiding beside the walls of buildings on both sides of the street, they were attacked by cold guns from the buildings on both sides. In just a few minutes, twenty German soldiers were killed, and more than thirty people were injured to varying degrees.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Haydn quickly called the regiment commander Lungek: "Mr. Commander, my battalion was attacked by cold guns while attacking the dormitory area. It is difficult to continue to move forward. Please provide support for us."
After receiving a call from Major Haydn, Lungek immediately rushed to support him with two tanks. Since Lungek determined that the defenders in the dormitory area did not have anti-tank weapons, he ordered the infantry to follow the tank and rushed forward.
Facing the rushing tanks, the soldiers and militia hiding behind the windows in the house, they hurriedly began to shoot. Although the bullets hit the armor plate like hail, they did not stop the tank from advancing forward at all.
There are many ways to deal with the exposed fire points. The infantry following behind the tanks rushed to the window where the soldiers were located, and threw the grenades with white smoke in it. After a loud bang, the soldiers or militias hiding in the house were cleared.
Some firepower points that cannot be approached can stop, the tanks that opened the road in front stop, turn the gun, and just need to shoot a shot there, and then the whole world will be quiet and the Germans can advance forward again.
Although the German tanks and infantry kept clearing the firepower points hidden in the buildings of the Soviet army, they never found where the Soviet heavy machine guns were. As soon as the Soviet heavy machine guns were fired, they would take away the lives of several German soldiers.
Haydn was so angry that he was itchy about the casualties caused to his subordinates by this ghost heavy machine gun, but he could not do anything about it. Although the tank brought by the regiment commander Lungek had destroyed many of the Soviet firepower points, so far, no one has discovered the location of the heavy machine gun. Even if he wanted the tank to destroy it, he could not find the target.
Seeing Haydn lose his composure, Lungeck said lightly: "Major, as a commander, you must always be calm on the battlefield so that you can defeat your enemies. Do you understand?"
"Sir Colonel," Haydn said hesitantly: "The Russian machine gun poses too great a threat to us. If we do not destroy it, we will not be able to occupy the entire residential area at all."
"According to my guess, the heavy machine gun of the Russian must be hidden behind the window of a building. Because the muzzle does not extend out, our people cannot find it at all." Lungek held up the telescope and said while observing: "So we must be patient and find the heavy machine gun of the Russians. As long as the machine gun is killed, the Russians' resistance in the dormitory area will collapse."
About three hundred meters away from Lungek and Haydn, there was a half-depressed building. In the ruins of the building, there were two men and women, soldiers wearing steel helmets. They were lying among a pile of rubble, one holding a rifle with a scope, aiming at the soldiers moving in the streets in the distance. The woman was Jina from the sniper team of the Guard Company, and the man was Vasily, who had just been asked by Sokov from the 42nd Guard Regiment last night.
When Ji Na received a sniper mission with Vasily this morning, she felt very uncomfortable. She didn't understand what her superiors would arrange for her and a newly enlisted recruit to perform such a mission. She was worried that Vasily would panic and expose her target during the mission, which would lead to failure of the mission and even threaten the lives of the two. Therefore, she specifically said to the company commander Xie Lesha: "Comrade Commander, how can you let me lead a recruit to perform such a dangerous mission? Maybe a shell landed fifty meters away from him and exploded, which would make it scared like a frightened rabbit..."
When Ji Na said this, Vasily stood not far from her. He just smiled honestly and did not express any opinions. For the guard company commander Selyosha, he was unwilling to let Vasily perform such a task, but Sokov personally explained this matter and he could not object. Faced with Ji Na's complaint, he could only say helplessly: "Comrade Ji Na, letting the new soldier Vasily perform such a sniper mission was arranged by the brigade commander, and his orders could only be executed unconditionally. Do you understand?"
When Jina heard that Selyosha had moved out of Sokov, she knew that no matter how much she objected, she could only accept such reality. She nodded and said helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Corps, since it was the order of the superior, I firmly obeyed. But I want to declare to you in advance that only once, I will never perform such a task with him in the future."
Ji Na took Vasily to the employee dormitory area and found an inconspicuous ruin to hide. In order to prevent Vasily from exposing his target due to nervousness, Ji Na also specifically reminded him: "We are snipers, not ordinary soldiers, so our target is not ordinary German soldiers, but officers, machine gunners, gunners, and communications soldiers; before I order the shooting, you cannot fire casually. Do you understand?"
The good-tempered Vasily waited patiently for Ji Na to finish her words, then nodded and replied in a muffled voice: "I understand."
When the German army rushed in from outside the dormitory area, Ji Na's heart was in her throat. She was afraid that Vasily would not be able to calm down for a moment, so she fired at the enemy without following his orders. From time to time, she glanced at Vasily from the corner of her eyes. Seeing Vasily lying there like a sculpture, she felt a little more at ease.
Lungek and Haydn stood at the window of the command post, raised their telescopes and searched the buildings on the roadside bit by bit, trying to find out the location of the Soviet heavy machine guns. He looked very carefully, and almost every window on the second floor of the roadside buildings was about to stop. After looking for a while, he suddenly said, "Major, I have found the heavy machine guns of the Russians."
"What, found?" Haydn heard Rengeck say this, and he showed a surprise expression on his face, and he asked quickly: "Mr. Commander, where is the position?"
Lungek held the telescope, pointed to the distance, and said, "Look at the building number 17 on the right side of the street, in the window on the far left of the third floor."
Haydn looked along the direction provided by Rengeck, and after looking for a moment, he said with some doubt: "Sir, do you really think the Russian heavy machine gun position is there? I saw that the windows of that window were all closed."
"Major, because the windows are closed, we often ignore these places when searching for targets." Lungeck explained to Haydn with a smile: "But if you look closely, the two glasses at the bottom of the window are gone, and the heavy machine guns in the house are shooting out through the window without glass."
Although Lungek had already made the words so clearly, Haydn was still a little skeptical. He did not immediately order the communications soldiers to contact the tanks and let them attack the window, but continued to raise the telescope to make sure. Seeing that Haydn had not performed his orders for a long time, Lungek guessed that the other party might have doubts about his words, so he did not speak, but raised the telescope to look in another direction.
After waiting for about two or three minutes, Haydn saw a half-foot-long flame mouth appearing in the window. He couldn't help but feel shocked, and said intimately that the regiment commander was right. The Russians indeed hid the heavy machine gun in that window. If the regiment commander had not been careful, he would definitely not have discovered this firepower point.
Haydn quickly put down his telescope, turned his head and rushed to the radio operator not far away and shouted: "Immediately contact the tanks in front and let them attack the first window on the left side of the third floor of Building 17..."
After receiving the order, the German tank immediately turned the gun and aimed at the window where the Soviet heavy machine gun was located to fire. After the shells flew in through the window, an explosion soon occurred. A Soviet soldier and some machine gun parts were lifted out of the house and landed straight downstairs.
"Mr. Commander," Haydn was so excited that he danced with excitement: "Our tanks killed the Russian heavy machine guns."
"Major," Lungek raised his hand and looked at his watch and said to Haydn: "Since the Russian heavy machine gun has been killed, I hope you can completely occupy this residential area before noon, do you understand?"
"I understand, Mr. Commander." Haydn immediately became confident when he saw that the heavy machine gun fire point that threatened him the most was cleared. He quickly assured Lungek, "I will definitely take down this residential area before noon." Lungek nodded, then left the command center with a accompanying staff officer and walked outside.
Chapter completed!