Lieutenant Colonel Brandt never dreamed that he ordered the Second Battalion to attack the barricade factory where the Russians were defending under the cover of assault guns. Unexpectedly, he was attacked by artillery fire without even seeing the other party's shadow. Not only did the troops suffer heavy losses, but even the battalion commander was killed and the corpse was not snatched back.
"Damn, what's going on?" Brandt shouted at the group of officers standing in front of him: "Who can tell me what's going on? In just a few hours, the Russians in the barricade factory had cannons and beat you to flee." The officers who had just retreated, saw that their regiment commander was angry, and no one dared to say anything, lest they would be angry.
Brandt yelled for a while, and when his officers were not speaking, he became more and more angry. Just as he was about to draw out his pistol and shoot one or two disliked officers to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, the Chief of Staff of the regiment walked to him and whispered to him: "Mr. Colonel, your phone number."
"What phone number?!" Brandt, who was angry, waved his hand and said sternly: "I won't answer!"
Seeing that Brandt didn't want to answer the phone, the Chief of Staff quickly whispered: "It was the call from the division commander."
Although the Chief of Staff of the regiment was not loud, the officers present heard clearly that it was the call from the division commander. They knew that it must have been to provoke the army for the sake of the defeat of the offense, so they all cast sympathetic eyes at Brandt.
Brandt walked to the table, raised his hand to wipe away the sweat from his forehead, then carefully picked up the microphone on the table, nodded and said, "Hello, Master, I am Brandt, what instructions do you have?"
"I heard that your attack on the barricade factory failed!" Steinmetz asked coldly on the phone: "Is it true?"
"It's true, Master of the Division!" Although Brandt had known for a long time that Steinmetz called him to seek punishment, he felt a sense of silence when he heard the other party ask this: "The troops we attacked the factory were attacked by the Russians violent artillery fire, which ended in failure."
"Before you attack, don't I let you figure out the number of Russian troops in the factory?" Before the 577th Regiment attacked the Barrier Factory, Steinmetz ordered Brandt to figure out the number of Russian troops in the reinforcement factory within half an hour, but Brandt ignored the matter and did not complete the reconnaissance at all, so he rushed to attack. As a result, the loss of troops was defeated and retreated. This incident made Steinmetz very annoyed: "You did not obey my orders, and ordered the troops to attack the Barrier Factory without authorization, resulting in serious casualties in the troops..."
Don't see Brandt not reporting the news of the attack failure, but Steinmetz obtained the news of the failure of the attack barricade factory from the assault gun battalion that cooperated to fight. He was already annoyed enough about Brandt's disobeying orders and acting without authorization. Now Brandt's failure to report the news of the attack failure in time made him even more angry: "I want to revoke your position as commander and send you to military court..."
"Secretary Commander," Steinmetz said to scare Brandt to death. He knew that if he was sent to the military court at this moment, he might be sentenced to death. While wiping the sweat on his forehead, he defended himself: "Please give me another chance. I will definitely take down the barricade factory before dark."
Just when Steinmetz wanted to officially announce the removal of Brandt, the Chief of Staff came over and leaned into his ear and whispered: "Sir, the Commander of the Division, call you."
Hearing that the commander of the army, Kurtzbach, was looking for him, Steinmetz guessed that the other party might have known the news of the failure of the attack on the barricade factory, and might ask how to deal with Brandt. However, before knowing Kurtzbach's true intentions, Steinmetz decided to temporarily put Brandt a digit and settle the score with him later.
Steinmetz ended the conversation with Brandt and took the call from the chief of staff. He said to the microphone with respect: "Hello, General Kurtzbach, do you have any instructions?"
"General Steinmetz," Kurtzbach asked coldly on the phone: "I heard that your attack on the barricade factory ended in failure?"
"Yes, General." Steinmetz replied awkwardly: "Our troops attacking the barricade factory were hit by fierce Russian artillery fire, which led to the failure of the offense."
"Have you figured out the number of defenders in the factory before attacking?" Kurtzbach asked calmly.
"The Russians used to be in the barricade factory, the 39th Guards Division, the 308th Infantry Division, the 95th and 193rd Infantry Division." Steinmetz had carefully learned about the Soviet garrison in the barricade factory, because he could answer without hesitation when facing Kurtzbach's question: "Now these troops have been defeated by us. Now the 138th Infantry Division of Lyudnikov, who is now in the factory, have suffered a lot of casualties..."
"Yes, General Steinmetz, your intelligence is very accurate." Kurtzbach nodded and said, "Since the Russians' strength has become weak, why did you lose the attack? Also, where did the Russians get so many artillery?"
Faced with a series of problems with Kurtzbach, Steinmetz organized a vocabulary in his mind and said carefully: "God of General, before we attacked, a new Russian army was stationed in the barricade factory. I think the artillery might have been brought by them."
"A new Russian troops were deployed?" This unexpected news made Kurtzbach feel very sudden. He asked tentatively: "Have you figured out the number of this troops and the weapons and equipment they carried?"
"I'm sorry, General." Steinmetz replied with a wry smile: "Before the 577th Regiment launched an attack, I ordered Lieutenant Colonel Brandt to find out the number of the Russian troops, but he did not implement my orders firmly. Without knowing the Russians, he launched an attack without authorization, which resulted in this defeat."
Kurtzbach pondered for a moment and said to the microphone: "General Steinmetz, although we don't know the number of this reinforced Russian troops and their weapons and equipment, but I feel uneasy in my heart."
Since Steinmetz heard that reinforcements from the Barrier Factory came, she felt like fifteen buckets were coming up and down. When she heard Kurtzbach, she immediately felt like she had found a soulmate: "God General, let me tell you, after I learned that reinforcements from the Barrier Factory were entering the Barrier Factory, I felt very uneasy, and I felt that they would be the biggest obstacle for us to seize the Barrier Factory."
"Oh, you feel uneasy in your heart, too?" Kurtzbach asked unexpectedly: "Which unit do you think will be the reinforcement barricade factory?"
"After this period of battle, the Russian troops in the city were basically empty by us." Seeing that Kurtzbach had finished hearing him, Steinmetz not only did not get angry, but instead asked him politely, so he took the initiative to express his guess: "I thought repeatedly and felt that the troops in the barricade factory could be reinforced at this time. Apart from Mamayevgang, there would be no other possibility."
Seeing that Steinmetz's guess coincided with him, Kurtzbach nodded secretly and said, "You are right. General Steinmetz, I am also worried that the troops that reinforce the barricade factory are from Mamayevgang. You know, my troops have been fighting with us since Kharkov to flee in a panic. But after entering the city, we fought with the defenders of Mamayevgang so many times, and never once took advantage. If they really sent people to reinforce the barricade factory, then your next battle will be difficult."
Steinmetz was relieved when he heard that Kurtzbach did not force him to continue the attack. He felt that the troops should be allowed to suspend the attack. It would not be too late to re-form the offensive plan after he figured out the number of the opponent's troops. He asked with this mentality: "Genius General, what should we do next?"
"You stop all actions against the barricade factory for the time being." Kurtzbach felt a sense of silence when he thought of the troops stationed in the barricade factory, which might be Sokov's subordinates. He said cautiously: "Send people to sneak into the factory area overnight to reconnaissance. You must be clear about the number of this Russian army so that we can take corresponding measures to seize the factory from the Russians."
After Steinmetz and Kurtzbach finished speaking, he thought of the Soviet artillery fire in the barricade factory and asked tentatively: "God General, from today's battle, the Russian artillery fire in the barricade factory was very fierce, and it completely defeated our attack in just a few minutes. Do you see if you can ask the air force to dispatch to destroy the Russian artillery positions in tomorrow's attack?"
"If the weather conditions allow, I can ask the commander to dispatch the air force to support you." Kurtzbach said: "But before that, you must find out the Russian number in the barricade factory and the specific location of their artillery positions."
"Don't worry, General." Steinmetz felt that he would be able to figure out what Kurtzbach wanted to know in a day and night, so he patted his chest and assured him: "I will definitely put the accurate information on your desk before dawn tomorrow."
"If this is the case, it would be the best." Kurtzbach chose to believe Steinmetz's bold words: "I am waiting for your information, and I hope you don't let me down."
After Steinmetz put down the phone, he immediately called the Chief of Staff and told him: "Chief of Staff, call Lieutenant Colonel Brandt and let his regiment go to the defense on the spot. When it gets dark, immediately send reconnaissance personnel to the factory. Be sure to figure out the numbers of Russian troops in the factory and the distribution of Russian artillery positions before dawn."
"Yes, your Excellency Commander." The Chief of Staff quickly repeated Steinmetz's order: "I immediately called Commander Brandt and asked him to go to the defense on the spot, and sent scouts after dark to find out the numbers of the Russian troops and the distribution of Russian artillery positions."
"Chief of Staff, I haven't finished speaking." Seeing the Chief of Staff pick up the phone on the table and preparing to call Brandt, Steinmetz added: "If the troops stationed in the Barrier Factory are really from Mamayevgang, then it is far from enough to rely on Brandt's 577th Regiment to attack the Barrier Factory. Therefore, we must transfer the 576th and 578th Regiments overnight and deploy them on the left and right wings of the 577th Regiment."
Steinmetz said proudly: "As long as the other two regiments are deployed in place, even if the reinforcements are from Mamayevgang, there is nothing scary. They only have more than a thousand people, while the three regiments have 6,000 people. Basically, five of them beat him one, can't they even beat him?"
"Secretary Commander, we can't underestimate the enemy." Seeing that Steinmetz was a little proud, the Chief of Staff quickly reminded him: "You know, Colonel Sokov, who commanded this army, is very good at fighting with less. We have suffered such losses in the past. I think it's better to be cautious."
"Okay, OK, Chief of Staff, stop talking nonsense." Steinmetz waved his hand at the Chief of Staff and said unhappily: "Call a few commanders quickly and convey my orders."
Seeing that Steinmetz didn't listen to different opinions, the Chief of Staff was not good at persuading him, so he could only agree, pick up the phone and call the several regiment commanders, and convey the order issued by Steinmetz to them.
When Brandt received the call from the Chief of Staff of the Division, he was nervous, afraid that he would hear the news of sending him to the military court. When he heard the command of the division commander clearly, he temporarily turned to the defense and sent scouts at night to figure out the number of defenders in the factory and the location of the artillery positions that caused them huge casualties. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and promised the Chief of Staff of the Division: "Don't worry, Chief of Staff, I will definitely clarify the situation of the Russians before dawn and report it to the division headquarters."
Seeing Brandt put down the phone, the regiment chief of staff asked quickly: "Mr. Colonel, the battalion commander of the second battalion was killed in the battle. Who are you planning to command the second battalion?"
Hearing the reminder of the regiment chief of staff, Brandt's eyes glanced back and forth among the silent officers in front of him, and finally his eyes were on a tall and thin officer. He pointed his hand at the other party and announced loudly: "Because the second battalion commander was killed in the battle, from now on, there will be the acting battalion commander of the 7th Company Winkler."
Captain Winkler in the crowd never dreamed that the regiment commander would appoint himself as the acting battalion commander, quickly walked out of the crowd, straightened his body and said to Brandt: "Mr. Colonel, I want to go back and reorganize the troops immediately, launch an attack on the barricade factory again, and strive to take down the factory before dark."
"No hurry, no hurry, Captain Winkler." Brandt waved his hand at Winkler and said, "We are not sure about the Russians' forces and the distribution of artillery positions in the factory. If we launch an attack rashly again, it will only cause unnecessary casualties. I now order you to immediately move into defense and send reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance in the factory after dark. It is necessary to understand the Russians' forces and the distribution of artillery positions. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Mr. Colonel." Winkler answered loudly.
Chapter completed!