Major William Weiman, the battalion commander of the 294th Engineer Battalion, never dreamed that his troops would step on landmines during the retreat. When he saw his subordinates being bombed into the sky and turned into fragments and scattered down, he couldn't help but feel a little shocked and said inwardly: "Hell, how could there be mines on our way to retreat?"
Major Weiman remembers clearly that in order to prevent accidental injuries, all minefields were laid on the side facing the Russian positions, so when he retreated, he did not send special personnel to explore the way. At this moment, seeing his troops in the minefield, he quickly ordered to stop moving forward and sent people to the front. He wanted to figure out one thing, which idiot ordered landmines to be buried on the retreat route.
Unexpectedly, before the sent people came back, the scream of shells cutting through the air suddenly came from the air, and then countless shells fell into the retreating queue and exploded. Countless soldiers were blown away or shattered in the flames, and the remaining people fell into chaos in the shelling.
Weiman was caught in his own soldiers and retreated to the original defense zone, trying to avoid Russian artillery attacks there. As a result, he walked not far away, but heard a shout of low-key guns coming from that direction. It was the Marine Battalion led by Captain Shamrich, who shouted "Go forward at full speed" while rushing towards the German positions with weapons.
"Ltd. Bergman, Lieutenant Bergman, where are you?" Hearing the shouts from afar, although Weiman couldn't understand what it meant, he knew very well that it was the Russians who launched an attack. He quickly called out the names of his subordinates loudly, hoping that they would organize their forces to block the Russians' attack: "Come to me quickly!"
Amid the rumbling explosion, his voice could not be heard far. Fortunately, the soldiers next to him heard it and quickly shouted. A German lieutenant bent over and ran to Weiman and asked loudly: "Mr. Major, what instructions do you have?"
"The Russians are starting to attack!" Weiman pointed his hand in the direction of the shouting, and said in a panic: "Lt. Bergman, you immediately lead the Second Company back to your original position to block the Russians' attack. Do you understand?"
"Mr. Major," said the German lieutenant known as Bergman, with a complicated expression: "My troops were shelled by the Russians and had long lost their establishment and could not be collected for the time being."
"Damn!" Weiman had actually seen his soldiers scramble like headless flies. They ran toward wherever there were many people. Once they were bombarded, they scattered again. In this case, it was a fantasy to gather the troops. But Weiman knew better that this was a time of life and death. If he did not block the attack of the Russians, his troops would be in danger of being destroyed. He grabbed Bergman's clothes and said viciously: "Lieutenant, no matter what method you use, I must block the attack of the Russians, otherwise I will shoot you."
Hearing Weiman's threat, Bergman smiled bitterly and said, "I understand, Mr. Major, I will immediately organize people to block the Russian attack."
Bergman ran aside and shouted loudly at the running soldiers, trying to calm them down. However, his voice was covered by the sound of cannons and was of no use at all. After shouting for a while, he only collected more than a dozen soldiers. The weapons he could use were except for a 50mm mortar.
Seeing that the Soviet army had broken through the position and rushed towards their position, Bergman didn't care about the containment of the troops anymore, so he directly commanded the artillery to set up mortars and launch artillery attacks on the rushing Soviet army.
Although the Germans fell into chaos after stepping on landmines and being bombarded, the artillery soldiers' technical and tactical skills were quite high. With Bergman's order, the artillery soldiers set up mortars within 20 seconds and started shelling.
The shells fell into the Soviet army and exploded. From time to time, commanders and soldiers fell down in the explosions, but the remaining people rushed up without hesitation. The mortar fired two more guns. Seeing that the Soviet soldiers had rushed to a position more than ten meters away, they knew that it would be useless to fire again, so they shouted and fled in all directions.
Lieutenant Bergman, who was commanding the artillery, rushed to him in a blink of an eye when he saw the Soviet army wearing a black uniform. He knew that he could not escape death if he rushed forward or backward. He rushed into a nearby bullet crater and pretended to be dead to avoid the Soviet commanders and fighters rushing up.
Shamrih, who was commanding the troops to charge, was stopped by his deputy battalion commander. He realized that if his troops continued to rush, they might rush into the area covered by artillery fire, causing unnecessary casualties, so he quickly issued an order to stop the attack. However, before the order was passed, the artillery fire that was still roaring just now suddenly stopped.
"What the hell is going on?" Seeing that the artillery fire stopped, Shamrich asked Yakuda in confusion: "Deputy Battalion Commander, why don't our artillery fire?"
Yakuda didn't know why the artillery stopped the artillery. He looked around and said tentatively: "Is it because the artillery was worried that we would accidentally hurt us, so he stopped the artillery."
"Not like it," Shamrich looked at the location of the artillery position, pondered for a moment, and then said to Yakuda: "I think the shells should be exhausted."
"Have the shells been exhausted?" Yakuda said with some confusion: "No, it's just a few minutes of shelling, and all the shells in stock were exhausted?"
"It's very possible." Shamrich remembered that he had talked to the commanders and fighters of the Second Battalion, and knew that their previous mission was to stay behind the entire defense line and cover the artillery positions. The reason for transferring them to the front was that the enemy's offensive was too strong and the troops at the front were tight; the second was that the shell reserves were insufficient: "I once heard from the commanders and fighters of the Second Battalion that there were not many shells left in the artillery regiment."
Since the shelling has stopped, it is obviously not enough to think of rushing hard like before, and the tactics must be adjusted in time. Therefore, Yakuda asked carefully: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do next?"
"Let the soldiers stop attacking and seize the advantageous terrain on the spot." Shamrich ordered decisively: "Be prepared to deal with the German counterattack."
Shortly after the counterattack of the Barrier Factory began, the commanders and soldiers of the 122nd Regiment who were standing in the workers' new village discovered it. They promptly reported the situation to Lieutenant Colonel Papuchinko. Papuchinko found a commanding height, raised his telescope and looked towards the Barrier Factory for a long time, and then ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, call the division headquarters and report to them that the troops of the Barrier Factory have launched a counterattack against the German army. Ask the division commander, should we also attack and support?"
After receiving a call from the Chief of Staff of the 122nd Regiment, Sidolin reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to the report of the 122nd Regiment, the defenders in the barricade factory are launching a counterattack against the enemy."
"What, the counterattack has begun?" Sokov said unexpectedly when he heard Cidolin's report: "Why didn't Commander Belkin report to me?"
"Maybe the progress they have made is not much, so Commander Belkin has not reported to you for the time being." After Sidolin finished his guess, he asked Sokov again: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchinko asked, does his regiment also need to fight back against the enemy?"
"It's so irritating, it's dark, what's his troops moving?" Sokov pointed at Cidolin with his hand and said sternly: "Order them to continue to stay on the position. Without my order, you are not allowed to attack without authorization."
After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up another phone and ordered the communications troop to connect to the deflation regiment headquarters. After hearing Belkin's voice, Sokov asked straight to the point: "My political commissar, why don't you report to the division headquarters in time for your regiment to counterattack against the German army?"
"Misa." Belkin replied on the phone: "Our counterattack has just begun and no decent progress has been made yet, so I took my own initiative and did not report to you. I hope you will not be angry."
Sokov was eager to understand the situation in the barricade factory and was not able to blame Berkin, so he continued to ask: "How is the counterattack of the Lyudnikov division? Is it going smoothly?"
"Misha," Berkin hesitated for a moment when he heard Sokov's question, and decided to tell the truth: "They did not launch a counterattack against the Germans."
"What, they didn't launch a counterattack against the German army?" Sokov looked at Golikov, who was sitting beside him, and asked, "Why?"
"They felt that the situation was impossible for the German army to take off their positions during the day, but they wanted to withdraw from their positions at night, so they planned to wait for the day to see the situation." Perhaps because they were worried that Sokov would report to Cuikov, Berkin also added: "But when our regiment counterattacked, the division's artillery regiment also provided us with necessary artillery support."
While Sokov was making the phone call, Golikov sat next to him and never spoke. After Sokov put down the microphone, he asked: "Col. Sokov, I want to ask you why you didn't let the 122nd Regiment launch a counterattack against the enemy."
"Comrade, Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov had expected Golikov to ask this question, so he answered confidently: "The situation in the Workers' New Village and the Barrier Factory is different. There is an open land between us and the enemy, without the cover of artillery fire and tanks, and it is very difficult to pass through that open land. Moreover, once the Barrier Factory is fought, the enemy opposite the Mamayevgang and the Workers' New Village must have been alarmed. When we launch a counterattack at this time, we can only use strong attacks. You also know that artillery soldiers cannot accurately strike the enemies in the distance at night. Without the cover of artillery fire, our attack will be easily defeated by the enemy."
Golikov thought about the opportunity to explain Sokov, and finally nodded, expressing his approval. But he continued to ask: "Then tell me, why is the Lyudnikov division unwilling to work with your troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy? As far as I know, he should have received the counterattack order issued by Cuikov."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I want to ask a question," Sokov saw Golikov nodding slightly and agreeing to ask the question, and then said: "If your defense zone is attacked by the enemy during the day, but someone has told you that the enemy will retreat at night and ask you to fight back against them. What would you do?"
After Golkov finished speaking, he did not answer immediately, but frowned and gently tapped his fingers on the table, as if thinking about the question raised by Sokov. After a long time, his brows stretched out and looked at Sokov and said with a wry smile: "Col. Sokov, I may also take a cautious attitude like Colonel Lyudnikov, and not dispatch troops to fight back for the time being, but observe the situation before talking."
Sidolin was worried that Sokov's words would anger Golikov, and he couldn't help but raise his heart to his throat. But at this moment, seeing that Golikov agreed with Sokov's statement, the hanging heart was put back in his stomach. After a long breath, he said to Golikov: "Comrade, the deputy commander of the Front Army, if the division commander is right, I guess there is no counterattack against the enemy in the Derrensky factory at this moment."
"It's totally possible." Golikov expressed his support for Sidolin's statement: "The enemy's crazy attack during the day has made our commanders cautious. Even if they know that the enemy is likely to retreat, they dare not take risks easily. Instead, a young commander like Sokov has a momentum to launch necessary counterattacks against the enemy according to the intentions of his superiors in a timely manner and confine them to the city."
After a moment of pause, Golikov asked Sokov again: "Col. Sokov, I want to ask, can your troops launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemies in front of Mamayev hills and the workers' new village during the day?"
"It's hard to say, comrade, deputy commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied cautiously: "If there is support from artillery and tank troops, I can definitely launch a counterattack during the day. But now Colonel Bere has not arrived yet, it is still unknown whether our daytime attack can get support from tank troops."
After Sokov's reminder, Colonel Bere hasn't shown up yet. I wonder if it was Cui Kov's refusal to release the person or if he had an accident on the way. Sidolin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you see if you send a small army to pick up Colonel Bere and the others?"
"Yes." Sokov knew very well that in the next battle, the tank troops commanded by Bere will be an important role. He could not have any accidents, so he said to Sidolin: "Lt. Samoilov took a platoon and went out to respond, and be sure to ensure that Colonel Bere arrives safely at Mamayev."
"Misha, don't bother your people to go for a trip." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a loud voice came from the door: "I have arrived here safely."
Chapter completed!