At around 10 o'clock in the morning, just as the Soviet and German sides were fighting in several areas, Captain Xida, the company commander of the 3rd Company of the Mo Infantry Battalion of the 389th Infantry Division of the German Army, took his 187 soldiers to bypass the Soviet army's defense line at the silicate factory, and quietly entered the ditch, preparing to go through here to the bank of the Volga River and disrupt the rear of the Soviet army.
In order to deal with the ambush or blocking of the Soviet army, Captain Xida divided the troops into three parts, two of which were lined up on the edge of the ditch on both sides of the ditch; while he led the remaining troops to walk in the middle of the ditch. If the Soviet army had ambush on the edge of the ditch, the troops on both sides could discover them in time and fight with them; and if the Soviet army blocked in the ditch, the troops on both sides could also take advantage of the terrain to attack the Soviet army in the ditch from a high point to cover the troops in the ditch to break through the Soviet army's defense.
It has to be said that Captain Xida's arrangement is very reasonable. Once he encounters the Soviet army, even if he cannot win, he can escape unstoppable. However, the plan cannot keep up with the changes. After the troops walked a kilometer or two along the ditch, Captain Xida found that the ditch was getting deeper and deeper, and the depth changed from the initial two or three meters to seven or eight meters, and there was a trend of deeper.
Seeing this, Captain Xida, who was worried that the terrain would be inconvenient to contact due to changes in the terrain, made the most wrong decision. He ordered the troops on both sides of the ditch to enter the bottom of the ditch, and after joining forces, he continued to advance east along the ditch filled with ash.
The company walked forward for more than half an hour, and suddenly there were dense gunfire sounds. Sida, who was walking in the middle of the team, couldn't help but feel a little shocked, and thought to herself: "Oh, I've met a Russian. He quickly called a correspondent soldier and ordered: "Go ahead and see what happened?"
Before the communications officers left, the platoon leader of the vanguard had sent a soldier back to report to Hida: "Sir Captain, there is a Russian position in front of us, and we have already launched a fire with them."
Xida listened for a moment and found that only gunfire and grenade explosions came from the front, proving that the Russians did not have any heavy weapons, which made him feel a little more at ease: "What kind of fortifications do the Russians have?"
"The Russians blocked the intersection with mine trucks and sandbags, and set up machine guns in a two-story building behind, which suppressed us on the road and could not move forward." The soldier quickly replied, "Sir Captain, the platoon leader asked me to tell you that as long as there are a few mortars, they can quickly destroy the Russian fortifications."
Captain Xida thought it was very reasonable for his subordinates to ask for his request. The company was equipped with five 50 mm caliber mortars, each with 50 rounds of shells. If these shells were smashed on the opponent's fortifications in one breath, his troops could easily break through the defense line.
Thinking of this, Xida called the mortar platoon leader and asked him to lead people to support the vanguard platoon, and it was necessary to use artillery fire to destroy the Soviet defense line, and the company opened up a passage to the Volga River.
Mortars were quickly deployed. With the order of the mortar platoon leader, five mortars opened fire at the simple Soviet positions at the same time. The German artillery was well-trained, and at such a close distance, their hit rate was very high. Two consecutive rounds of artillery bombardment bombed several gaps in the sandbag fortifications blocking the intersection of the Soviet army.
The German soldiers who were originally suppressed by the Soviet firepower, lying on the ground or lying in the pile of ashes jumped up, jumped over the wounded or corpses on the ground with guns, and rushed towards the area where they were being bombarded.
Seeing that his troops were still twenty or thirty meters away from the opponent's position, in order to prevent accidental injuries, mortar fire began to extend to bombard the buildings behind. The charging soldiers took advantage of the opportunity that the defenders at the intersection were so pressed by artillery fire that they could not raise their heads and rushed in quickly through the exploded gap.
If the troops who were defending the intersection were Sokov's direct line, they would use their excellent equipment to quickly eliminate or drive out the enemies that rushed into the gap. However, the sailors guarding here at this moment were the sailors of the Marine Battalion, who were holding rifles with one shot and one bolt, and could not gain an advantage in firepower. Therefore, sailors usually rushed forward with bayonets and fought with the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
Yakuda, the deputy battalion commander who was staying on the second floor, saw the fierce battle at the intersection from the window, and hurriedly asked Shamrich for help by phone: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy launched an attack on our defensive positions. Our soldiers were suppressed by artillery fire, requesting support, requesting support."
Shamrich didn't expect that the battle had just a few minutes before, and the company that was at the bottom of the ditch could not support it. He quickly issued an order to attack the troops hidden on both sides of the ditch: "Start an attack from both sides of the ditch immediately, and be sure to wipe out the enemy."
As the order was issued, the commanders and soldiers who were ambushing the ravines on both sides of the ditch rushed to the edge of the ditch. Since the distance was about ten meters from the bottom of the ditch, the ashes were also unable to stand, so the soldiers did not jump down, but stood on the edge of the ditch and threw grenades at the bottom of the ditch.
The black grenades fell from the sky, landed on the ground or exploded in the air, blowing the German soldiers crowded at the bottom of the ditch to overturn the horses. Before the smoke of gunpowder dissipated, another wave was thrown from the edge of the ditch, with almost no dead corners or interruptions. The grenades seemed endless, throwing them down one after another.
The German soldiers at the bottom of the ditch either lie down on the ground or run around like headless flies. However, no matter whether they are lying on the ground or running around, at the bottom of the ditch without dead corners, they are lambs waiting to be slaughtered. After only two or three minutes, there were no people in the activity where more than one hundred German soldiers were crowded.
When those soldiers who broke through the Soviet defense line and were engaged in hand-to-hand combat heard the earth-shaking explosions behind and smelled the strong bloody smell mixed with the choking smoke, they knew that the troops behind were finished. In this case, they did not have the courage to continue fighting, so they stopped fighting one after another, threw down their weapons and surrendered with their hands.
Seeing that his troops had dealt with a German company within twenty minutes, Shamrich couldn't help but feel a little complacent, so he quickly called Sokov to announce the good news. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sokov could only utter lightly, without even saying a word to praise them, and then directly ordered: "Comrade Captain, hurry up and clean the battlefield, pay attention to collecting more guns and ammunition that can still be used. In addition, your fortifications need to be strengthened to prevent enemies from entering the ditch."
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Although Sokov's attitude was a little cold, Shamrich was not angry at all. He knew very well that the achievements he had achieved were nothing in Sokov's eyes, so he put his mentality on and assigned tasks as soon as he put down the phone.
After finishing the call, Sokov said to the radio operator: "The radio operator, send a message to the Chief of Staff that we had just wiped out a German company in the ditch."
The radio operator immediately followed his order and informed Sidolin of Mamayevgang via telegram. Shortly after the telegram was sent, he received a reply from the division headquarters. After the translation of the telegram, he was shocked. He hurriedly walked to Sokov with the telegram and said nervously: "Comrade Commander, this is an emergency telegram from Mamayevgang."
"Emergency Telegram?" Sokov's face couldn't help but show a surprised expression on his face. He quickly took the telegram from the other party and browsed it carefully. Unexpectedly, as soon as he read it halfway, his face turned ashen.
Selyosha, who was sitting on the mound next to him, could not help but ask curiously when he saw Sokov's reaction: "Misha, what happened? I see why your face changed?"
Sokov held the telegram in his hand and looked at Selyosha and said, "The Army Command informed us that the enemy had broken through the defense line of the 37th Guards Division and occupied the stadium of the Derzhinsky Tractor Factory, which was less than a kilometer away from the factory. The guard here was a battalion of the 109th Guards Regiment. Now they have been compressed by the enemy to a group of stone buildings on the south side. The command ordered me to immediately lead the troops to support."
"What, let us rush to Derrynsky Tractor Factory to support?" Seriosha jumped up immediately after hearing Sokov's words and said excitedly: "Misha, why should we transfer us from Mamayev's hill to this place. He had just wiped out a German army. Before he had time to breathe, he asked us to rush a few kilometers away to support friendly forces in combat. The superiors really regarded us as a battlefield firefighting team..."
"Enough!" Sokov knew that if he didn't stop, Selyosha would not know how long he would be nagging. He quickly stopped him and said in a stern tone: "The troops that had just eliminated the enemy are Captain Shamrich's Marine Battalion, not your Selyosha's guard company. Stop talking nonsense, assemble the troops immediately, and we must immediately arrive at a place called Liumian Street, which is a support point for friendly forces, and they are engaged in repeated tug-of-war with the enemy."
"Misha, are there too few people in our country?" Although she was scolded by Sokov, Selyosha relied on his friendship with Sokov and said with a smile: "How about you find Captain Shamrich to ask for some people?"
"Captain Shamrikh," In fact, even if Selyosha didn't mention it, Sokov would draw troops from the Marine Battalion to act with him. He would not just take more than a hundred people and rush to the most intense place of the battle to help. Therefore, he decisively took over Shamrik's command post and said straight to the point: "I will take the Guard Company and the Second Company north of the ditch to carry out the mission, and you will continue to stay where you are on the spot with the remaining troops."
When Shamrich didn't ask anything when he heard that Sokov was going to transfer one of his own company, he promised Sokov directly: "Don't worry, comrade, we will never let an enemy pass the ditch and reach the bank of the Volga River."
The reason why Sokov wanted to lead the second company of the Shanghai Marine Battalion was that the other party was stationed was the closest to him; the other was that the company had more than 300 people, which was the most complete unit in the battalion. In addition to the guard company, there were about 500 people in the two companies. When they went to Liumian Street to support friendly troops, they would not be short of their troops.
More than ten minutes later, Captain Agranov, the commander of the Second Company, appeared in front of Sokov. Instead of saluting, he straightened his back and reported briefly: "Comrade Commander, the Second Company is here by order, please give me instructions!"
"Captain Agranov," Sokov knew the company commander, and called out the other party's name without any difficulty and began to assign tasks to him: "Our friendly forces are trapped in a stone complex two kilometers away from here. In order to hold on there, they are engaged in repeated tug-of-war with the Germans. The task of your company is to rush over and support them and drive the enemy out of the block. How about it, are there any difficulties?"
"No difficulties!" Agranov replied briefly.
"Very good!" Sokov was very satisfied with Agranov's answer. He nodded, then waved his hand and said, "Since there is no problem, then go. Get to the destination as soon as possible before the enemy has eliminated our friendly forces or drove them out of the block."
When Sokov led his troops to Liumeng Street, the battle here had already reached a state of heat. Sokov thought from the name on the telegram that it must be a street, but it was actually an old residential community, with some solid stone buildings with a long history.
In order to destroy the Soviet army's resistance here, the German army used eight 75mm anti-tank guns to bombard the Soviet soldiers hiding behind the window with high-explosive grenades. Although these shells were not enough to destroy the solid stone buildings, the shrapnel flying everywhere caused heavy casualties among the soldiers on defense missions.
The German infantry rushing into the residential area, when they saw that the resistance of a building was suppressed by artillery fire, they immediately rushed into the building under the smoke of gunpowder and engaged in close combat with the Soviet commanders and fighters who were standing inside.
The battle was going on very fiercely. Although the soldiers of the Guards were at a disadvantage in terms of number and firepower, they were extremely tenacious. As soon as a building was occupied by the German army, the commander would organize the soldiers to counterattack and retake the building from the enemy.
Several buildings on the edge of the residential community were not only riddled with artillery fire, but were surrounded by the bodies of soldiers on both sides. Among these corpses, although there were still some serious wounded people who had not yet died, under such fierce war, neither the Soviet army nor the Germans did not care about the treatment of their wounded people, and could only let them live in the ruins where bullets flew everywhere and explosions were heard one after another.
The German army had just occupied a four-story building. Before they could rush out of the building, countless Soviet commanders and fighters rushed out of a building not far away. The German soldiers who were breathing in the building were surprised to find that there were actually many officers holding pistols in the charge team.
When the German commander saw this situation, he guessed that the Russian soldiers must have died, so the officers of the command had to participate in the attack. So he shouted at the soldiers around him: "Beat all the Russian soldiers to death first. If all the soldiers die, their officers will not be worried."
Chapter completed!