At dusk on July 25, 1942, at the front of Position No. 19 on the Don River, soldiers armed with hammers and engineer shovels, led by Vanya, buried various tank shells collected on the battlefield near the wreckage of those tanks.
In the trenches, hundreds of German-made M24 long-handled grenades were also distributed to the hands of every soldier. The fragments of these grenades were also tied with strips of cloth or wire with varying amounts of Mauser bullets.
Also distributed were the collected submachine guns or machine guns and their corresponding ammunition. Further away, the five Zis-3 anti-tank guns and the only two 120 mm caliber heavy mortars were also sent.
Ready to fire.
Even the remaining gasoline and leaked lubricating oil that could be found in the wreckage of the tanks were brought back by every means, and combined with various other materials that could be found to make incendiary bottles.
In the temporary command post, Vanya put down the phone in disappointment, "The rear has sent almost all reinforcements and supplies to the main battlefield on the easternmost side, and they don't believe that the German army may launch an attack from us."
'Damn bureaucracy'
The Aleutian captain who had just come in cursed with an ugly expression on his face, "Hasn't there been any news from Kaze yet?"
Vanya shook his head again, "There has been no response since the last call for artillery strikes. He is probably..."
"Captain Aleutian!"
A soldier with his head wrapped in gauze ran into the command post shouting, "Aleutian company commander, the Germans! The Germans have begun to attack!"
"Walk!"
Everyone ran out of the command post like a swarm. When they climbed up the ladder to the trench, they immediately saw blue smoke rising from the end of their sight, and at the same time, the roar of the tank engine became clearer and clearer!
"Tank 4!"
A nearby gunner held up his binoculars and said, "There are sandbags piled up in the front. It's probably difficult for our anti-tank guns to penetrate directly!"
"Put it in more," the Aleutian company commander shouted, holding up the loudspeaker, "82mm mortar! Kill the infantry behind the tank first!"
Before he could finish his words, the dozen or so German tanks coming from the opposite side were the first to roar. Suddenly, a series of damages were made to the barbed wire fence in front of the trench.
Before those tanks could fire their second round of shells, the 82mm mortars in the trench had each fired a high-explosive shell under the control of the surrounding soldiers.
Amidst the loud rumbling noise, two artillery shells struck in an arc behind the row of tanks. The dust and smoke evaporated by the explosion were vaguely visible, but Aleutian and others showed no happy expressions at all.
Even Wei Ran, who was lying not far away, knew the reason. The German soldiers were too spread out. The damage caused by the two mortars was far beyond everyone's expectations. Even if it were replaced by the two 120
mm heavy mortar, the results will not be much greater.
"Put them closer, bring them closer and then fight." Captain Aleutian shouted quickly.
Wei Ran clenched the submachine gun in his hand, and from time to time, he would turn his head and glance at the soldier not far away who was responsible for using the anti-tank gun. According to the task assigned to him, once the soldier died in battle, he would immediately take over!
While everyone on both sides was waiting anxiously, the tanks bumped up and down over the craters full of rainwater and corpses, reducing the distance between the two to less than 500 meters!
"beep--!"
As the sharp whistle sounded, the five anti-tank guns immediately started to fight back fiercely against the fire of the opponent's tanks. The 76mm armor-piercing shells continued to hit the turret of the oncoming tank one after another with the whistle.
Or frontal armor.
In the violent explosion, several of the tanks were first turned into fireballs, and one of them even exploded directly, lifting the entire turret into the air.
From this moment on, from the water-cooled Maxim to the powerful Deshka, to the captured German mg34 machine gun, the machine gun fire points extending from all over the position spewed out deadly fire snakes, like inefficient machines.
A tall but absolutely deadly scythe that harvests the enemy's life.
But from this moment on, the soldiers holding position 19 also began to suffer casualties one after another. Every time the opponent's mortars and tank artillery exploded, the smoke and dust were accompanied by familiar or unfamiliar screams from around them.
Amidst the continuous screams, the female soldier Zoya was lying on the slope of the trench, pointing the camera at the soldiers who were fighting back and pressing the shutter again and again, even if the mud from the explosion was smashed down, this woman who looked aged
The first action the small female soldier made was to protect the camera in her arms.
Under the repeated counterattacks of the five anti-tank guns, all the tanks coming from the opposite side were finally pinned in place, but at the same time, the shell craters behind those tanks were also filled with German soldiers. At this point, both sides
For the first time, the seizure distance was less than 400 meters.
Under Aleutian's command, the five anti-tank guns were the first to stop firing, and then quickly moved their positions one after another amidst the trumpets of the artillery squad.
What made them particularly fortunate was that although the small-caliber mortars from the opposite side hit the trenches again and again, this time from before the exchange of fire until the two sides reached a stalemate, the German artillery did not come to cause trouble.
"It seems that Kaze has really solved their artillery position"
Aleutian's frowning brows finally relaxed somewhat, "Vanya, report our situation to the rear and try to see if we can send some reinforcements."
In everyone's expectation, Vanya took the order and left, but not long after, he brought back bad news with a gloomy face, "The Germans have launched a general attack on the entire right-wing position of the 64th Group Army, and now it is impossible for us to get any more
Reinforcements are coming."
"Save ammunition!" Aleutian gritted his teeth and issued a new order.
Soon, there were only cold gunshots ringing out from time to time on Position 19, but the German mortars on the opposite side acted as if they were free of charge. Whenever gunshots were heard here, several shells would be fired in retaliation.
.
"Captain Aleutian, why do I feel like they are stalling for time?"
Weiran was the first to see something was wrong. The Germans sent out more than a dozen tanks with great fanfare, but they just sent the soldiers who came with the tanks to a position less than 500 meters away from position 19 and stopped. How do you think this operation works?
Why is it so weird?
Captain Aleutian glanced at Wei Ran in surprise and handed the binoculars directly to his hand, "You'll understand after you take a look."
Wei Ran took the telescope without knowing why, and looked through the gap between the two sandbags. He could vaguely see the German soldiers hiding in the shell crater, who seemed to be throwing something out.
"Are they digging trenches?" Wei Ran asked confused.
Captain Aleutian nodded worriedly, "The attack just now was to test our counterattack distance, and then we opened trenches as close as possible. The next battle will probably be particularly difficult..."
"Don't we have mortars?" Wei Ran returned the telescope to the other party, "Even if the two largest ones have limited ammunition, we still have..."
"Keep talking," Captain Aleutian looked at Wei Ran and urged with interest.
Wei Ran thought for a moment, then a look of realization appeared on his face, "I understand!"
