"Comrade Colonel," Sokov said to Merkulov: "Let the artillery move the artillery forward immediately, and once the enemy's fire point appears, they will be destroyed immediately."
Sokov directly assigned the artillery regiment that was fighting in concert to the 67th Guards Division. Therefore, he only needed to give orders to Merkulov.
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Merkulov agreed, and walked to the telephone line on the side, called the artillery regiment, and ordered them to move the artillery forward immediately and cover the infantry's attack at close range.
Just as the commanders and soldiers who broke into the lobby of the railway station were retreating in a dusty state, a telephone in the observation station rang. The political commissar of the division, Sheyike, picked up the phone and listened for a moment, handed the microphone to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, is it your phone?"
"My phone number?" Sokov thought it was Sidolin's call from Mamayevgang, so he asked casually: "Did he call from the cluster command of Mamayevgang?"
"No." Sheiko shook his head and said, "It's the phone call of General Batov, the commander of the 65th Army."
"General Batov's phone number?" Sokov was stunned when he heard Batov's name, thinking that why did the other party suddenly call him at such a time? After receiving the call, he immediately said in a respectful tone: "Hello, General Batov, I am Sokov. What instructions do you have?"
"Instructions, what instructions can I have?" Batov said angrily on the phone: "I am the commander of the group army. You are now the commander of the combat cluster. Our level is similar. How dare I give you any instructions."
"General Batov," Sokov heard anger from Batov's tone. He didn't know where he had offended him, so he asked carefully: "You seem a little unhappy. Did I offend you accidentally? If so, please tell me and I will definitely apologize to you."
"There is no need to apologize." Batov said angrily: "I just want to figure out what kind of ecstasy soup did you give General Rokosovsky? How could he actually draw so many troops from my army to give you command?"
"General Batov, I have never had a few deals with General Rokosovsky, how could I give him a ecstasy soup?" Sokov understood at this moment that it must be because the other party felt that he had given his troops too much and felt so painful, so he would complain to himself. If he were to chat with him for a while, but now he is commanding the battle, how can he waste his precious military communication routes? It is precisely for this reason that he hurriedly pointed at the microphone: "I'm sorry, I'm commanding the battle. What's the matter? I'll talk about it after the battle is over. Is it okay?"
"What, are you attacking the enemy?" Batov immediately asked in surprise when he heard Sokov say this: "Col. Sokov, can you tell me what location you are attacking?"
"Central Railway Station." Sokov quickly replied: "Col. Merkulov's 67th Guard Division is now attacking the Central Railway Station occupied by the enemy."
"Thank God, you finally started attacking." Batov's tone suddenly became much more relaxed: "How is the situation? Have they attacked?"
"I rushed into the ticket hall for a while, but I was attacked by landmines and bombs preset by the enemy, and the troops suffered certain casualties. However, I have ordered them to withdraw temporarily and launch an attack on the enemy after reassembling."
Sokov changed his tone from Batov and vaguely guessed that the reason why the other party called for no reason was definitely related to the combat cluster he commanded. After all, one-third of the troops were drawn from the 65th Army, but he kept holding the troops. It would be strange if Batov was not angry.
"Don't worry, General Batov." After thinking about the other party's thoughts, Sokov comforted the other party and said, "Your divisions will be built intact after they have wiped out Paulus."
Hearing Sokov guessing his thoughts, Batov laughed embarrassedly, then said, "Col. Sokov, you misunderstood. I'm calling you just to ask you how the situation is there and whether we need our cooperation."
"Comrade General," Sokov basically transferred all his troops to the direction of the central area. Now the defense force in the Mamayevgang area has become extremely weak. If the enemy in the factory knows this situation, he will send even a regiment to carry out an assault and may occupy Mamayevgang. Sokov is often worried about this matter. When he hears Batov say this, he feels like he wants to sleep. Someone handed over the pillow and said quickly: "I really have something to trouble you."
"What's the matter?" Batov said generously: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely agree to you."
"Comrade General, I will tell you that I have basically transferred all my troops to the central area now. So much so that the defense of Mamayevgang has become extremely weak. As long as the enemy launches a regiment-level attack, there is a possibility of loss."
"Col. Sokov," Batov heard this and rebuked the other party: "You are so rash. As a group commander who commands tens of thousands of people, you will make such a low-level mistake. If you really lose Mamayev's post, you can wait to go to the military court."
"Yes, yes, comrade General, you criticized a lot." Sokov deliberately lowered his figure when he spoke to Batov to gain the favor of the other party. "This is the first time I have held such an important position and have no experience. I also need a commander with rich experience like you, so I will give me more guidance."
Sokov's flattery made Batov very useful. He asked with a laugh, "You guy, do you want me to send troops to strengthen the defense in the direction of Mamayev's gang?"
"General Batov, what did I say just now?" Sokov heard that the other party was willing to send troops, so he struck and said while the iron was hot: "It is still an experienced commander like you who can see clearly and know that I want to ask you for help. I want to ask, how many troops can you send to take over the defense of Mamayevgang?"
"I plan to send the 24th Infantry Division." Batov said on the phone: "I have drawn so many troops to you, and now I have a shortage of troops. If I send too many troops to you, it may affect our next action."
Sokov originally thought that the other party sent him a regiment at most, but he didn't expect that it was a division, and it was a division with extremely strong combat power. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Batov to the microphone: "Thank you, Comrade General, I thank you on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire cluster."
"Okay, okay, go and command the battle." Batov said angrily: "I will arrange the troops to Mamayev's hill to strengthen your defense."
After Sokov put down the phone, he approached Ivanov's ear and whispered: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, let me tell you good news. General Batov agreed to send another division's troops to strengthen the defense of Mamayev. In this way, we don't have to worry about being sneak attacked by the enemy in our rear."
"This is really good news." Ivanov also showed joy on his face when he heard the news: "I will call the Chief of Staff and ask him to send someone to prepare for the response."
While Ivanov went to call Sidolin, Sokov asked Merkulov who was standing next to him: "Comrade Colonel, what's the situation? Have the artillery gone up and have the infantry withdrawn?"
"The infantry have all withdrawn from the ticket hall." Merkulov pointed to the distance and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, look, our artillery retreated the cannons to a position only three hundred meters away from the ticket hall and established a new shooting position in the ruins. As soon as the enemy's firepower point was exposed, they could immediately destroy the other party with artillery."
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov looked at the artillery position, then looked at the location of the ticket hall of the station, and found that if the enemy really hid in the ruins, it would be difficult for the cannon to destroy them. Thinking of this, he asked quickly: "Do you have new rockets in your division?"
"Some." Merkulov nodded and replied: "We were given twenty pieces yesterday, and three shooters were sent."
Seeing Merkulov's reluctance, Sokov smiled and asked, "Why, comrade Colonel, are you not interested in this new rocket?"
"Comrade instructor, I don't think it's useless."
"No use." Sokov smiled faintly after hearing Merkulov's comments, and then ordered: "Immediately order the rocket launcher to fire a group of rockets at the ticket hall."
Although Merkulov was not optimistic about this kind of rocket, since Sokov had already given the order, even if he had an objection in his heart, he could only execute it unconditionally. He picked up the phone, connected to the frontline regiment command post, and said to the regiment commander: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, tell your three rocket launchers in the regiment, and say it was the command of the division commander to fire a group of rockets into the ruins."
A few minutes later, Sokov saw the ruins where the Soviet army was located, and several balls of white smoke rose up, and then several rockets dragging the tail of the flames flew towards the ticket hall. The rocket fell into the ruins and exploded. First, several balls of dazzling flames rose up, and then the explosion in the ruins became a piece of explosion. The gravel on the ground was blown into the air by the explosion air waves, and then it hit hard like hail. Even in the observation center, Sokov seemed to be able to hear the sound of gravel falling from afar.
Merkulov was shocked. He didn't expect that a few rockets could make such a big noise. He knew very well that after this explosion, there were basically no living people in the wide ticket hall.
Merkulov's reaction was as expected by Sokov. He patted the other party's shoulder and said, "Comrade Colonel, the reason why the new rocket can make such a big noise is certainly related to its own power. But more importantly, the enemy buried a large number of mines and explosives in the ticket hall, and they all exploded in the explosion of the rocket, so that there would be such a big noise. Immediately call the troops in front and prepare them for attack."
"Okay, okay." Merkulov said as if he was awakened from a dream: "I will give the order immediately."
The explosion in the ruins lasted five or six minutes before gradually stopping. Although the ruins were still shrouded in smoke, the commanders and soldiers hidden hundreds of meters away left their hiding place in the whistle of their respective commanders. Instead of holding guns and charging forward, they used piles of bricks, stone rubble and craters on the square and roads as cover, and used a short leap forward to approach the ticket hall.
The enemies hidden in the ticket hall may be as Sokov guessed. They were killed or shocked by mines and bombs that were exploding, so that when the Soviet commanders and fighters rushed into the smoke, no gunshots were heard in the hall. But as more and more Soviet commanders and fighters rushed into the ruins like a tide, sporadic gunshots finally came from inside. This was the commanders and fighters who had not yet died.
"Comrade Commander," this time when he saw his troops rushing into the ticket hall without any danger, Merkulov breathed a sigh of relief and said to Sokov excitedly: "You have seen it all. Our soldiers rushed into the ticket hall this time, and there was no movement inside. It seems that the defenders are almost dead."
"Comrade Colonel, even if we successfully take the ticket hall, we should not take it lightly." Sokov was afraid that the other party would underestimate the enemy, so he specifically reminded him: "The enemy may use platforms, warehouses and abandoned cars to do fortifications and continue to resist our attack. Now, you order the artillery to push the artillery into the station."
After Merkulov saw the power of the new rocket with his own eyes, a few years suddenly popped up in his mind. He felt that this young cluster commander must have more tricks to help him seize the station that both sides had repeatedly fought for. He replied readily: "Okay, I'll do it now."
The commanders and soldiers who occupied the ticket hall rushed to the platform and started a new battle with the enemies who were standing there. The Germans probably didn't expect that the Soviet army could attack the platform so quickly that the soldiers could rely on were simple sandbag fortifications. They hid behind the sandbags and fired at the Soviet soldiers rushing up with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even pistols. Although they caused certain casualties to the Soviet army, these simple fortifications would soon be blown up by brave soldiers with grenades.
The high-ethnic commanders and fighters bravely launched attacks on the German army again and again, which made the enemy have to give up one platform after another and retreat towards the center of the station further away.
When the offensive troops approached a group of firepower points composed of cars, dense cross-fire blocked the commanders and fighters' way. There were many brave soldiers who wanted to copy the tactics they had just now, and after approaching the enemy's firepower points, they used grenades to destroy the opponent. But when they paid a huge price and finally dropped the bomb distance, they were often knocked down by the machine gun in the car or the sniper under the car as soon as they got together.
Chapter completed!