As soon as the German shelling ended, a regiment of the 24th Armored Division, deployed near the Red October factory, launched an attack on the defensive zone of the 39th Guards Division.
Although the shelling was over, the residential area where the Guards Division stationed was still shrouded in the rising smoke and dust. The sun hung high in the sky like a chestnut-colored highlight, and it was rare to reveal a ray of light from the smoke.
Under the fierce bombardment, almost all the buildings and fortifications that the Soviet soldiers were defending were destroyed by German artillery fire. Commanders at all levels who crawled out of the ruins, even had time to dust off the dust on their bodies, bent over and looked for their surviving soldiers in the ruins, and loudly told them to prepare for battle.
Just as the surviving soldiers struggled to climb out of collapsed buildings or trenches full of floating soil, the enemy had already followed the tanks or armored vehicles and rushed into the streets that were originally defended by the Soviet army. Due to the piles of bricks and rubble on the streets, the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles drove very slowly. The soldiers holding guns bent over and followed the vehicles, staring vigilantly at the ruins on both sides of the street.
Although they were advancing very slowly, the Soviet commanders and soldiers could not stop them from advancing. They finally set up a machine gun in the ruins. After firing half a shuttle, they were blown up to the sky by German tank artillery fire. Seeing that the enemy's tanks were so difficult, some soldiers took cluster grenades and hid in the ruins, preparing to use grenades to blow them up when the tank passed by. However, the actions of these soldiers were discovered by soldiers following the vehicles. Before they could drop the cluster grenades, they were knocked down by the enemy's dense bullets...
Seeing that the position he was holding was lost little by little, Guriev was anxious and quickly called Cuikov to report his situation to him, and requested: "Comrade Commander, my troops have completely lost their establishment in the artillery attack that just ended. Now the commanders and fighters are fighting on their own. If they do not receive support, I am worried that once the enemy breaks through our defense in the residential area, they will rush to the factory area."
Guriev's words moved Cuikov. He knew very well that once the German army broke through the residential area west of the 39th Guards Division in the Red October factory, the enemy might drive straight in, pass through the factory, and come to the Volga River. Thinking of this, he hurriedly said to the microphone: "General Guriev, behind us is the Volga River. If you don't want your troops to be driven into the river by the Germans, then try your best to hold on. As for reinforcements, I will find a way."
Although Cuikov did not clearly express his intention to send reinforcements to himself, Guriev saw hope and quickly said, "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. As long as I am still alive, I will definitely be able to guard my defense zone."
After putting down the phone, Trekov turned his head and said to Krelov: "Chief of Staff, the situation in Guriev is now very bad. Do you see if Sokov will take people to support me?"
"Comrade Commander!" Krelov's face showed a laughing expression: "I guess Mamayevgang is also fighting fiercely at this moment. How can we draw troops at will? You must know that the Red October factory is lost, and the enemy will at most rush to the Volga River and drive us down the river. But if Mamayevgang is lost, not only will our defense line in the city be divided into two sections, but even the ferry where we contact the outside world will be occupied by the enemy, and the consequences will be unimaginable."
"But the situation in Guriyev is very bad." Cuikov knew that Krelov was telling the truth, but the 39th Guard Division was in a critical situation and he could not refuse to save him, so he said in embarrassment: "However, let's send the headquarters' guards out?"
"Comrade Commander, I want to remind you," Krelov quickly reminded him: "You handed over our original guard battalion to Sokov. Now the person in charge of the security of the headquarters was transferred from the other side two days ago. If they were sent to the Red October factory, who would be responsible for the safety of the headquarters?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if we do not save us, once the enemy has occupied Guriyev's defense zone, they can drive straight through the Red October factory, break to the Volga River, and drive us all into the river." Cuikov said with a serious expression: "Send the guard battalion not only to save Guriyev, but also to ensure the safety of our headquarters."
"I don't think there is any need to send a guard battalion." Krelov knew from the artillery that ended not long ago that the Germans used strong forces to try to break through the Soviet defense line in one fell swoop and rushed to the Volga River. Even if Guriyev blocked the Germans, they might rush to the river from other directions. If there is no guard force in the headquarters, there is a danger of being taken over by the Germans at any time. It is precisely for this reason that he insisted: "I think troops can be drawn from other places to strengthen General Guriyev's defense zone."
"But didn't you just say that Sokov might be attacked by the enemy, and it is impossible to draw troops?"
"Yes, I said this." Krelov said to Trikov: "But now in the Red October factory, in addition to the mixed regiment composed of the remnants of the 184th Infantry Division, there is also the 308th Infantry Division of Colonel Gurdiev. No matter which unit they are, they can rush to support Guryev."
Hearing Krelov say this, Trekov raised his hand and slapped his forehead hard, and said repeatedly: "I'm so confused, I'm so confused! How could I forget that there are other troops in the Red October factory? The Chief of Staff immediately called Colonel Gurdiev and ordered him to send the 347th Regiment to support Guryev immediately."
Before Krelov picked up the microphone, there were shouts coming from outside: "Air raid, air raid sir, hide, everyone, hide!"
"Air raid?!" Although German planes often appeared over the Volga River and bombed ships on the ferry and river surface, it seemed that they had never bombed other targets on the banks of the Volga River. Therefore, when Cuikov heard such shouts, he felt very strange. He walked to the door and asked a soldier looking out into the air: "What happened? Why is it so noisy outside?"
"Comrade Commander." Seeing that the commander was asking him, the soldier quickly stood up and replied respectfully: "There are about twenty enemy planes coming towards us, and I'm afraid they are preparing to bomb us."
"Hey, why are you so sure that the enemy planes are here to bomb us?" Cui Kefu said with some displeasure: "Maybe the enemy is preparing to bomb the troops that are stuck in the factory."
"Comrade Commander, the smoke of gunpowder is everywhere above the factory area, and the enemy planes cannot see the target clearly." Seeing that Cui Kefu did not believe his words, the soldier quickly explained: "And we are close to the riverside. The wind blowing from the river has blown away the smoke, and the enemy will easily discover us..."
Before the warrior could finish his words, the enemy plane had already flew over the headquarters' location and began to dive and drop bombs. The bombs fell on the shore and exploded. Water columns mixed with mud and sand soared into the sky. Various simple fortifications were torn to pieces by the power of the explosion and threw them high into the air.
A bomb fell and exploded not far away. Cui Kefu felt someone pushing him hard from the side, causing him to fall to the ground without preparation. He thought that someone pushed him from the side to save him, and fell to the ground and looked around. Except for the soldiers who were talking to him, who were lying on the ground with their heads in their arms, they could not see anyone else at all. I guess he was overturned by the explosion's air waves.
Cuikov crawled from the ground, turned around and ran into the command center, shouting loudly at Krelov: "Chief of Staff, inform the direct units of the command to pay attention to air defense!"
Krelov dropped his microphone and shouted at Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, the phone line has been blown up, and our contact with the outside world has been interrupted."
"Col. Yulin," Krelov said to Trekov, then turned around and called the director of the communications corps over and told him: "Send someone to contact the units directly under the headquarters to prepare for air defense. Go quickly and don't be too late!"
After Yulin sent a correspondent soldier, Cuikov asked Krelov again: "How is the situation in other areas except the Red October factory?"
"There were fierce battles in the silicate factory and the barricade factory." Krelov replied: "But it is strange that although the Derzhinsky tractor factory was also violently bombarded by the German army, no trace of the enemy was found in that direction after the shelling was over."
After listening to Krelov's introduction, Cuikov had a general understanding of the enemy's intentions. He walked to the table, raised his hand to brush away the dust that had fallen from the roof, pointed to the map and said: "Analysis based on the enemy's troops put into battle, the enemy tried to rush to the Volga River from the direction of the Red October factory and the Barrier Factory. Then he detoured to the rear of Mamayev's hill, occupied the ferry, and cut off our connection with the other side."
"Once our contact with the other side was interrupted." Krelov had long realized this problem. Seeing that Cui Kev had also discovered it, he said frowningly: "Not to mention that the troops needed by the troops cannot be replenished, even the ammunition will be consumed soon. Once our ammunition is used up, we can only fight with the enemy like Sokov and others."
"So we must do our best to defend the Red October factory and the Barrier Factory." Krelov also clicked on the map with his hands and said, "If necessary, we can redirect the Gurdiev and Gorishne Division back to the Red October factory to strengthen the defense there."
"No need." Cui Kefu shook his head and said, "Let them stay between the Red October factory and the Barrier factory. When you see that there is danger in any direction, you will immediately rush to that direction to support it."
"Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff." As the two were talking, they suddenly ran in from outside and shouted loudly: "A shelter in the Logistics Department was blown up by an enemy bomb."
The officer Krelov recognized at a glance was Major Zinoviev from the logistics department's supplies and maintenance station, and asked quickly: "Are there any casualties?"
Major Zinoviev raised his sleeve and wiped his face, nodded and replied, "Three people were sacrificed on the spot and five were injured. One of the officers was pressed down on his legs by a collapsed log. We are organizing manual rescue."
Although the enemy planes were still bombing outside, Cuikov had waved his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "Major Zinoviev, take me to see it immediately."
Zinoviev did not dare to make a decision, so he turned his attention to Krekov for help to see what he had reacted. Krekov knew that once Chokov had decided on something, no one could persuade him to change his mind, so he nodded at Chinovov, signaled him to obey the order, and took Chokov to see the cover that had been blown up.
Zinoviev took Cuikov through a few hundred meters of traffic trench and came to a collapsed shelter, saying, "Comrade Commander, right here."
When Cui Kefu saw more than a dozen soldiers risking the enemy's bombing, he was trying to move the burning log away from the collapsed position. He guessed that the officer Zinoviev mentioned must be still inside, so he came over.
This time, he was shocked. He saw a lieutenant officer pressed on his waist by five or six logs of horizontal lines. Although some soldiers tried to move the logs away, they failed. The military doctor standing not far away saw Cui Kefu coming in person, so he quickly walked over, approached Cui Kefu's ear, and whispered: "Comrade Commander, the collapsed log hit his waist. Even if he was rescued, he might be a useless person."
Cui Kefu heard the military doctor's meaning, saying that the officer's waist was broken by a log, and even if he was rescued, he would have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Although he agreed with the military doctor's opinion in his heart, there was no need to let the soldiers take risks to rescue a disabled man who was about to be paralyzed. However, as the superior of the officer, he could not stand by death, so he turned to the military doctor and said, "Comrade Military Doctor, as long as he is still alive, we must do everything we can to rescue him from it."
Seeing that the military doctor seemed to want to say something, he quickly raised his hand and interrupted the other party: "Comrade Military Doctor, I have made up my mind, you don't have to say anything anymore. After the soldiers rescue him later, you must treat him immediately. As for whether he can survive, it depends on his luck."
The enemy planes hovering in the air found that the shelter that had been blown up and was still emitting blue smoke, surrounded many people. He immediately realized that the destroyed might be an important command post, otherwise how could so many people be surrounded here? Thinking of this, he immediately pushed the joystick and dived towards the ground.
Chapter completed!