Late at night on the 25th, Position 19 also began to become extremely noisy. Mortar shells coming every now and then not only woke up the recruits and veterans in the bunker again and again, but also destroyed the nerves of the German trenches on the opposite side.
Reinforcements in that trench were also interrupted many times.
On the other hand, after this night of irregular shelling, the recruits operating the mortars quickly mastered the necessary battlefield skills under the words and deeds of the veterans.
In the early morning of the 26th, continuous rain once again enveloped Position 19 by the Don River. Even with the help of a telescope, the German trenches about 400 meters away became extremely blurry in the rain.
During this night, the launch tubes of the two 82mm mortars remained hot. On the 19th position, a trench leading directly to the German position on the opposite side was dug by many soldiers in turn.
Move forward quickly.
Thanks to the rain-soaked soil and the densely distributed shell craters, the depth of this trench was less than one meter and the width was barely enough for two people to stand face to face. The digging speed was frightening. By 5:30 in the morning,
As Vanya puffed up his cheeks and blew his whistle, the Soviet soldiers who were lying on the muddy battlefield wielding engineer shovels immediately turned over and jumped into the trench, bending over and running back to Position 19.
Trembling, he threw the engineer shovel in his hand to the open space in the trench. Wei Ran, whose raincoat was stained with yellow mud, wiped the water on his face vigorously, and then sat down on the wooden box at his feet exhausted.
At night, they had ventured to advance the trench a full hundred meters in length.
But what exactly is the purpose of this trench? Neither the Aleut Captain nor Vanya explained half a letter in detail.
"Group 5! Deepen and widen the trenches!"
Vanya raised a tin trumpet and shouted loudly, and then a rotating group of soldiers picked up the engineering shovels and took over the work that Wei Ran and others had just done without hesitation.
"Have something to eat!"
Zoya took out two steaming boiled potatoes from the basket she was carrying and gave them to Wei Ran. Behind her, there was a soldier with sideburns who was over fifty years old and was distributing to everyone a large amount of mixed potatoes.
Sawdust brown bread.
"Thanks"
While Wei Ran took the boiled potatoes, he waved down the two pieces of black bread that were no bigger than a palm. He tried eating this once two days ago. It just didn't taste good and choked his throat. It was even occasionally mixed with food.
The large pieces of wood chips almost chipped his back molars.
After eating a potato in two or three mouthfuls, Wei Ran stood up shakily and walked to the bunker not far away. He randomly found two wooden boxes containing artillery shells. He didn't even bother to take off his raincoat and just lay down on them and closed his eyes, moving forward and backward.
In just two minutes, a loud roar was heard in the damp and dark bunker.
Like other soldiers who were busy catching up on their sleep, as long as Vanya didn't blow the whistle, even the sound of mortars and explosions that sounded from time to time outside would not wake him up again.
When Wei Ran woke up again, he felt that he had only slept for less than five minutes, but the sky outside the bunker exit had already turned completely dark. Even the sound of artillery shells exploding on position 19 was denser than yesterday.
However, in the bunker, apart from himself, there were only a few soldiers injured by mortars last night, silently loading bullets into drums or magazines under the oil lamp.
Rubbing his face vigorously to wake himself up completely, Wei Ran took out the flashlight from his arms and looked at the ground. Fortunately, there was not much rainwater this time. Even the empty wine bottle lying down was still partially exposed.
on the water.
Climbing out of the bunker through the water that covered his feet, the guard tightened the German steel helmet he had picked up in the morning and ran quickly towards the trench that had not been dug that morning.
In just half a day, the hundred-meter-long trench had been widened to about two meters, and even the depth exceeded one meter. But this was far from over. At this time, almost all of the trenches in Position 19
Soldiers were mobilized here and used logs and wooden boards removed from unknown locations to reinforce the floor and walls on both sides of the trench.
He took out the potatoes he had deliberately left before going to bed from his arms and ate them in two or two bites. Wei Ran bent down and picked up a bundle of wooden planks, and ran into the trench with the flow of people.
While helping to carry it, Wei Ranye learned from several familiar soldiers that these planks and logs were removed from Position 18 next door, and that the trench had been dug to about 150 meters.
A distance of about meters.
Moreover, along the way, Wei Ran also noticed that almost every twenty or thirty meters, under the logs and planks that served as the floor, a German tank shell with an explosive pack and detonating wire was buried!
Putting down the wooden board on his shoulders, Wei Ran stumbled through the sticky mud and ran to the end. Perhaps intentionally, the trench finally stopped next to two No. 4 tanks that were rear-ending.
One of the two tanks had its turret blown away due to the explosion of ammunition. Although the other turret was still there, the hole punched by the child's fist in the front armor was particularly conspicuous.
But just under the belly of the two wrecked tanks, there was a hidden observation window connected to the trench in the opposite direction facing the German position.
At this time, the Aleutian company commander was sitting on the wooden box behind the observation window, putting black bread into his mouth while holding up a telescope, letting his sight pass through the gap under the tank chassis, and quietly peeking at the German trenches on the opposite side.
.And on another wooden box next to him, there was a teacher's hand-cranked telephone.
Less than five meters behind him, the trench dug to the end was expanding little by little, and at the same time, the wet soil packed in sacks was neatly stacked on the two 4x4 machines as the soldiers passed them hand to hand.
Around the chassis of the No. 1 tank, crucial bunkers were gradually raised and thickened.
"Is this digging an anti-tank gun emplacement?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.
After hearing this, the Aleutian company commander looked back at Wei Ran, then turned his attention to the trench on the opposite side again, and replied absently, "Yes, before tonight, one anti-tank gun and two
Machine gun position.”
"This is too dangerous..."
Wei Ran swallowed back the second half of the sentence in the middle of speaking. Danger? Where is the entire No. 19 position not dangerous? Besides, if he could see the danger himself, how could Captain Aleutian not see it?
"Although the front armor of the German tanks can't stop our anti-tank guns, it is far easier to penetrate than the sides. This arrangement is indeed dangerous, but it allows us to destroy more tanks and kill more Germans.
"
Wei Ran opened his mouth and was about to say something, but the phone next to Aleutian rang. The latter stretched out a hand to grab the phone, and then heard Vanya's gloomy loud voice, "Aleutian, I just received the call.
Order from the rear, all soldiers must hold position 19 and are not allowed to take a step back."
Wei Ran was stunned when he heard this. According to historical records, didn't the 64th Group Army withdraw to the other side of the Don River on the 29th, that is, three days later? How...
Compared to Wei Ran, who looked dull, Aleutian responded nonchalantly, "I know, notify the mortar squad to counterattack immediately. Reinforcements from the opposite side have arrived again."
After hanging up the phone happily, the Aleutian company commander picked up the iron horn at his feet and threw it to the guard, "Notify everyone that the laying work will be completed within an hour, and then the anti-tank guns will be pushed over!"
