Seidlitz originally planned to launch an attack on the Red October Tractor Factory at 8 a.m., but less than an hour left before the attack began, Dr. Kofes's 295th Infantry Division was still on the way to march.
After learning the news, Seidlitz was so angry that he smoked his teeth and asked angrily at the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, can you contact Dr. Cofes now?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Seeing Seidlitz's angry, the Chief of Staff quickly replied carefully: "Although he is in the marching, our radio station can call him."
"Ask him immediately where is the troops now?" Seidlitz said with anger. "Order him to enter the attack position at 7:30, or I will send him to the military court."
"I understand!" The Chief of Staff nodded, walked quickly to the area where the radio station was placed, and ordered the female radio operator sitting in front of the radio station: "Call immediately the 295th Division and let their division commander Dr. Kofes speak to me."
The female radio operator agreed, then picked up the mesh and started calling the 295th Infantry Division. After about two or three minutes of calling, she handed a pair of headphones to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, the phone is connected."
"Dr. Kofes, where is your division now?" The Chief of Staff spoke to Kofes very politely: "Because your division cannot reach the designated position on time, the Commander is very angry about this."
"Chief of Staff," the troops were unable to arrive at the attack site on time, and Kofes was also anxious. At this moment, he heard the Chief of Staff ask, and he complained: "Chief of Staff, it's not that I don't want to arrive at the designated location on time, but the troops are too dispersed, so it takes a lot of time to gather them together..."
The Chief of Staff originally wanted to say a few more words, but he didn't know when Seidlitz came to him, snatched the sender from his hand, and rudely interrupted Kofes: "Dr. Kofes, if your troops cannot reach the designated attack location within half an hour and delay the task of seizing the Red October factory, then you can wait to go to the military court."
If I had heard Seidlitz say this before, maybe Kofes would have gone in his left ear and left, and he would not care at all. But now he dare not take it lightly. Yesterday, the Supreme Command of Berlin issued an order to Paulus to allow Paulus to seize Stalingrad in the recent past. The news that he had disobeyed the military order at this storm, and the consequences were very serious.
It was precisely because of this consideration that Kofes could only grit his teeth and said, "I understand, Commander, my troops will arrive at the designated position within half an hour."
After the call was over, Kofes held the sending machine and stared blankly, thinking silently in his heart how to make the troops increase their marching speed and reach the designated position within the specified time. Seeing Kofes's worries, the Chief of Staff of the Division quickly asked with concern: "Doctor, what happened?"
The voice of the Chief of Staff of the Division woke Kofes from his meditation. He handed the headphones and the mezzanine in his hand back to the radio operator, and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency the Commander ordered my division to arrive at the designated position within half an hour, otherwise I may be sent to the military court."
"It is definitely impossible for the entire division to reach the designated location within half an hour." After saying this, the Chief of Staff of the Division saw that Kofes's face turned pale, and he added with a smile: "Doctor, have you forgotten that our pioneer regiment was riding trucks, armored vehicles and motorcycles. It should be no problem to let them arrive at the designated location within half an hour and receive defense from the 100th Hunter Division."
"But, it may not work just to have the vanguard team arrive at the designated location." Kofes said embarrassedly: "It will take at least three hours for the entire division to enter the attack position."
Hearing Cofes say this, the Chief of Staff laughed: "Doctor, the Commander of the Army only asked us to arrive within half an hour, but did not say that the entire division must arrive. Therefore, as long as the vanguard regiment can go to the designated area to take over the defense from the 100th Hunter Division within the specified time, it will be considered that the Commander of the Army has completed the order."
After reminding the Chief of Staff of the Division, Kofes felt that what was going on, and his frown suddenly relaxed. He quickly ordered the Chief of Staff of the Division: "Chief of Staff, immediately notify the leader of the vanguard regiment and ask them to speed up the march, and be sure to arrive at the designated location at the specified time."
The Chief of Staff of the Division cleared Kofes. The fully mechanized vanguard regiment was only seven or eight kilometers away from the designated location. After receiving Kofes' order, they immediately accelerated the march. Although there were craters of all sizes on the road, they still only took more than twenty minutes to enter the starting point of the attack.
When Seidlitz learned that the 295th Infantry Division had already been in place, he ordered the military artillery to fire at the Red October Factory. In order not to let the 39th Guards Division notice their true attack direction, most of the shells fell in the dormitory area and the main entrance of the factory. Although there were not many shells landing on the north wall of the factory, they were all 155 caliber howitzer shells.
When the German shelling began, Sokov did not follow Cousto's persuasion and went to the basement to avoid shelling. Instead, he stood on the driving track of the factory and raised his telescope to look into the distance. Although the position he chose was not as wide as the rooftop view, due to the obstruction of the wall, as long as the wall was not collapsed by artillery fire, the shrapnel would not hurt him at all.
Sokov saw a cannonball roaring in front of a sandbag bunker by the wall. After a loud bang, the bunker was shrouded in black smoke. Waiting for the smoke to dissipate, the sandbag bunker was gone, and the soldiers hiding behind also disappeared.
"Hehe," Brisky, who was standing next to Sokov, couldn't help but shouted in surprise when he saw this scene: "The Germans actually used howitzers with a caliber of 155 mm. These simple fortifications of the fighter battalion could not withstand such shells."
Sokov also agreed with Brisky's statement very much. He knew very well that the killing radius of 155 mm howitzer was fifteen meters. Within this range, even if there was no shrapnel hit, it would be killed by the shock wave. Although the number of artillery used by the German army was limited, it was more than enough for the simple fortifications such as the destroyer battalion.
"They should be asked to retreat, otherwise, without waiting for the enemy to attack, everyone will be killed in the fortifications." Sokov said this, turning his head down and looking down, hoping to see Cousto. But after looking in the crowd coming and going for a long time, he could not see Cousto. He could only shout at the top of his voice: "Hey, comrades, who have you seen Cousto?"
Because the cannon sound outside was too loud, the workers below couldn't hear clearly what they were calling. Fortunately, when Brisky came up, there was a signal soldier beside him. He quickly ordered the signal soldier to wave a small flag to sing flags to the soldiers below. After seeing the flag, the soldiers below immediately went to the basement to call Cousto out.
Cousto followed the stairs of the driving, climbed onto the track, and came to Sokov, and asked in anger: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are you doing anything to me?"
Sokov pointed to the fighter camp position in the distance, which was being bombarded by German shelling, and said to Cousto: "Comrade in the workshop, the enemy is bombarding the fighter camp's positions with heavy artillery. They do not have strong fortifications. If you continue to stay there, you will die in vain. Call the battalion commander immediately and ask them to retreat to the workshop factory immediately."
Sokov thought that when he said this, Cousto could not wait to call the battalion commander of the fighter battalion and asked them to withdraw the factory of the assembly workshop along the traffic trench first. Who knew that after saying that, Cousto stood there motionless. Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Director of the workshop, why don't you call?"
"Lt. Col., you don't know anything." Cousto said in embarrassment: "The Killing Battalion is not under our jurisdiction. Even if I call the Killing Battalion Commander Ballshaq, he may not listen to me."
When Sokov heard what Cousto said, he couldn't help but get angry. He pointed his finger at the area covered by gunpowder in the distance and said sternly: "Comrade Director of the Workshop, are you going to watch your comrades-in-arms die in vain in the enemy's artillery fire?"
"Okay, I can only try." Cousto turned around and walked towards the stairs of the driving, muttering quietly: "As for whether Ballshaq listens to me, I don't know."
Cousto returned to the basement, thought for a long time, and decided to call Ballshaq. After the phone was connected, he did not ask who was answering the phone, and shouted loudly: "Hey, I am Cousto, the workshop director, you should immediately withdraw to the workshop and factory, otherwise the German shells will destroy you all."
The person who answered the phone was the correspondent of the fighter battalion. He heard what Custo said clearly and did not dare to make decisions without authorization. He rushed out of the command post in artillery fire, found Ballshaq in the trenches, and leaned close to his ear and shouted loudly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the director of the assembly workshop, Cousto calls you, please take the troops to the assembly workshop immediately."
"What, what did you say?" The loud explosions made Ballshaq's ears a little deaf. Even if the communication soldier approached his ear, he still felt like a ball of cotton stuffed into his ears. He couldn't hear it clearly, so he shouted at the communication soldier: "Say it again."
The communications soldier hurriedly approached Ballshak's ear and repeated it again. Hearing clearly that Cousto asked him to take his troops to the assembly workshop, Ballshak couldn't help but feel a little surprised: When did Cousto become so knowledgeable about others? Although he didn't understand the reason why the other party did this, he knew very well that he would stay in such a simple fortification and endure the German shelling. Perhaps the enemy's shelling would be killed before the enemy's shelling stopped.
Thinking of this, Ballshaq felt that he should follow Cousto's advice and take his troops to the assembly workshop and factory. It would not be too late to carry out counterattack from the factory when the enemy attacked. He made up his mind and issued a decisive order to retreat.
The third company commander heard that he was going to retreat, but was afraid that he would hear it wrong, so he ran to Ballshake to verify: "Comrade Battalion Commander, was it your retreat order?"
"Yes, it was my order." Ballshaq shouted at the third company commander: "If we continue here, our people will die soon. Please order your people to retreat quickly."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," after confirming the order, the third company commander did not take the people to retreat, but reminded Ballshaq: "Do you forget Order No. 227, and before you get permission from your superiors, no one is allowed to take a step back, otherwise you will be shot as a deserter."
Ballsack also knew what the consequences would be if the order No. 227 would be if he had the permission of his superiors. But if he continued to stay in this simple position, without waiting for the Germans to attack, everyone including himself would be killed by shells. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, he said in an unquestionable tone: "The third company commander is my retreat order. If the superiors investigate in the future, I will take the responsibility. Now, immediately take your people to the factory in the assembly workshop."
Seeing that Ballshaq's attitude was so firm, the third company commander couldn't say anything else, so he could only agree, and then ran to greet the soldiers in the company to prepare for retreat. Looking at the third company commander's back disappearing from the other end of the trench, Ballshaq thought to himself: I don't know how the superiors would punish me when they learned that I ordered the troops to retreat without authorization? But even if I was going to shoot me, it would be a matter in the future. If we don't retreat, we will all die now.
With the withdrawal order issued, the people who were still alive on the position retreated along the traffic trench and stooped toward the factory in the assembly workshop in the distance. No one asked why they retreated, and they had only one thought in their minds that as long as they ran to the factory, their lives would be saved.
Sokov in the factory continued to hold the telescope and stared at the distant position without moving. When he saw the figures coming out of the smoke, he couldn't help but feel that the decision he made had saved many lives. But when he saw that the number of people running out of the smoke was only more than twenty, he couldn't help but feel a sudden slap in his heart: Why, are there only so many people left in the fighter battalion?
After Cousto made the phone call, he came to report to Sokov, and happened to see the soldiers running out of the smoke. He knew how many people were in the fighter battalion standing beside the wall. Now he saw only one-fifth of the people running out, and the muscles on his face twitched violently. He thought to himself: "If Lieutenant Colonel Sokov didn't urge me to call Ballshak and asked them to withdraw, the fighter battalion might have been destroyed at this moment."
Sokov turned his head and ordered Brisky: "Comrade Captain, I think there are still several wounded people in the middle. You should immediately send a platoon to pick up the comrades from the destroyer battalion."
Chapter completed!