Starting from the time when the Grossdeutschland Division attacked the defense area of the 81st Guards Division, Sokov asked the telegraph operator to send a telegram to Koida every ten minutes, asking where his troops had arrived, urging them to speed up and contact Malan as soon as possible.
Jin's troops converged.
Sokov's uncharacteristic behavior was entirely because he knew the history of the Grossdeutschland Division and the strength of the opponent. The division was the most elite unit in the German Wehrmacht. It developed from a small detachment to a regiment, then to a division, and finally expanded.
It became an army. It has participated in almost all major battles in Western Europe, Southern Europe and the Eastern Front. It has won the most prestigious honor in the German Wehrmacht. A total of 84 people have been awarded the Knight's Cross. It has also been hailed as the "Eastern Front" by the German High Command.
German Fire Brigade".
Not to mention one-on-one situations, even two-on-one or even three-on-one, it is still a very difficult task to defeat the Grossdeutschland Division. Therefore, he must gather as many troops as possible in the shortest possible time.
We have enough troops to compete with the Grossdeutschland Division.
Fortunately, the 81st Guards Division successfully repelled the Grossdeutschland Division's first attack and gained a two-hour respite. Colonel Colin, the commander of the 238th Regiment, who led the troops to the front-line position
, I found that there were only more than 300 people left in the 233rd Regiment, not even enough to form a battalion, and I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
He summoned the company-level commanders of the two regiments and said to them: "Comrade commanders, although we successfully repelled the first German attack, the next battle will be more brutal, so we must
Adjust your deployment so you can hold on for longer.”
After Colin finished speaking, the acting commander of the 233rd Regiment immediately asked: "Comrade Colonel, can you tell us how to adjust the defense?"
"Comrade commanders," Colin said to everyone: "After a long period of fighting, our troops have been reduced by more than half. Especially the 233rd Regiment, the reduction has reached two-thirds. With this small force, it is necessary to
It is very difficult to block the most elite troops of the German Wehrmacht.
I estimate that before the next wave of enemy attacks begins, there will definitely be a fierce bombardment. If all the troops are placed in the trenches, even with the cover of anti-gun holes, there will probably be a lot of casualties. Therefore, I plan to
Part of the troops withdrew from the trenches and deployed on the side and front of the position."
No one of the commanders present raised any objection to Collim's plan. After all, in so many years of military career, the first thing they learned was to obey. No matter what orders were given by their superiors, all they could do was to obey them unconditionally.
implement.
"The first and second battalions of the 233rd Regiment are looking for a suitable position in the left front of the position to deploy new defenses." Collim looked at the acting regiment commander and said to him: "Comrade Major, this unit is yours.
Come to the headquarters. When the enemy attacks our positions, hit the Germans on their flanks and beat them hard."
Colin's arrangement has two purposes: first, to arrange troops to harass the enemy on the flanks, so that the enemy cannot attack his position with all his strength; second, despite the fact that the acting commander of the 233rd Regiment is only a major, he can
There are two commanders in a detachment, which can easily lead to confusion and make the commanders and soldiers not know whose command they should follow.
When the acting regiment commander heard Collim's allocation, he was still very moved, because he had reported to him as soon as the opponent entered the position, saying that the remaining troops in the regiment were mainly distributed in the first and second battalions.
The third battalion was composed entirely of lightly and seriously wounded soldiers, and its combat effectiveness was basically negligible.
Before setting off with his troops, he held Colin's hand tightly and said excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry, as long as one of us is alive, we will never let the enemy attack you with all his strength."
The troops of the 233rd Regiment quietly left their position and established a new defensive position one kilometer to the left and front of the original position. Due to the rush, there was not much time to dig trenches, so the acting regiment commander could only order the commanders and soldiers to first
Dig a single-person bunker and prepare to connect the single-person bunkers together when there is time.
Before the Grossdeutschland Division launched another attack, it concentrated its artillery fire and violently bombarded the 238th Regiment's position. Since the Germans used heavy artillery, the Soviet commanders and soldiers hiding in the anti-aircraft holes felt as if they were riding in a small boat.
Bumping on the turbulent sea, the strong shock wave shook everyone's internal organs as if they were out of place. There were even several seriously injured people who were shaken to death in the shell-proof cave.
After finally waiting for the shelling outside to end, Collim, who was dizzy and shocked, shouted: "Enter the position and prepare to fight!" However, he felt that his voice was inaudible, and then he realized that his ears had just been damaged.
temporarily deafened by the shelling.
Fortunately, he had already considered a similar situation, and most of the commanders carried whistles. Colin quickly pulled out the whistle hanging around his neck, blew it hard, and used the whistle to inform the commanders and soldiers in the trenches.
, you should enter your combat position, be ready for battle, and be ready to meet the German attack at any time.
The commanders who heard the whistle of Corim also blew their whistles one after another, reminding the soldiers who were still in the anti-gun caves that they should come out and prepare for battle.
Colin came to the observation post whose roof was blown down, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. Through the billowing smoke, he saw German tanks forming a battle formation, rushing towards his position.
.Behind the tank were infantry as densely packed as ants.
Seeing this scene, Colin put down the telescope in his hand and walked to the telephone nearby. He picked up the phone and reported to Malankin: "Comrade Division Commander, the enemy has sent out a large number of tanks and infantry. It seems that he wants to break through us."
The regiment’s position.”
"How about it? Can you hold it?" Malanjin asked.
"We can hold it, comrade division commander." After Corim said this, he made a request to Malankin: "But when the enemy approaches our position, the artillery must bombard the infantry following the tanks. As long as the artillery fire
If I can separate the enemy's tanks from the infantry, I can send people to destroy the enemy's tanks."
"Colonel Collim, you are very thoughtful." Malankin said on the phone: "Don't be busy shooting tanks first, let them get close to your position, and then use anti-tank rifles and anti-tank grenades to destroy them."
Ten minutes later, the German tanks and infantry were less than 300 meters away from the 238th Regiment's position. At this time, the artillery regiment deployed in the rear opened fire. The whizzing shells landed in the infantry formation behind the tanks and exploded.
One German infantryman after another was blown to pieces.
"Great, our artillery is really great." Seeing the German infantry suffering casualties under the bombardment of artillery fire, Collim couldn't help but smile. He kept saying: "Keep fighting at this speed, and wait for the German infantry to
As they approached our position, there were not many of them left."
After being happy for a while, Collim couldn't help but ask his chief of staff: "Why haven't those tanks deployed behind the positions fired?"
"Comrade Colonel," the chief of staff quickly replied: "The tanks deployed behind the position are basically old T-70 tanks. The artillery they have cannot penetrate the German armor at such a long distance. If
If you fire rashly, your position will be exposed."
"If the German tanks never approach our positions, does that mean that General Trufanov's tank troops will not fire?"
"It is entirely possible, Comrade Colonel." the chief of staff replied.
"That's such a pity." Colin said helplessly: "I thought that when the enemy approached our position, they could provide us with fire support."
"Before our regiment came up, I once watched the battle fought by the 233rd regiment." The chief of staff said to Colin: "During the entire battle, only a few tanks used tank guns or machine guns to bombard or attack the enemy.
Strafing, most of the tanks remained silent."
"Have those tanks that remained silent been destroyed by enemy shelling?"
"Not at all, Comrade Colonel." The chief of staff shook his head and said to Colin: "When I followed the troops up, I passed by those tanks and found that many tanks without firing guns were still intact. This shows that
, they either lacked ammunition, or were unable to use the German tanks covering the infantry charge.
They were deeply afraid that once they opened fire, they would not be able to penetrate the armor of the German tanks and would instead expose their targets. At that time, as long as the German tanks opened fire, they would be in danger of being destroyed."
Hearing what the chief of staff said, Colin could only shake his head and said with a wry smile: "The tank troops are under the command of General Trufanov. They only assist us in our defense. We have no right to decide when to fire."
While the two were talking, the tanks separated from the infantry stopped more than a hundred meters away from the trenches and fired at the Soviet position. One of the shells landed near the observation post and exploded, causing the soil to spread.
Corinth and the Chief of Staff.
The chief of staff was worried about Colin's safety and quickly reminded him: "Comrade leader, it's too dangerous here. Let's move to another place."
"No, no, no," Colin waved his hand and said, "I think it's very good here. It has a wide field of vision and can see the entire battlefield clearly. In other places, I might not be able to find such a good observation position, which is not conducive to my command.
force."
Seeing that Colin didn't want to change the location of the observation post, the chief of staff couldn't say anything else and could only ask tactfully: "Do you need me to call the acting commander of the 233rd Regiment and order them to shoot from the side of the enemy?
"
"No need." Colin once again rejected the chief of staff's proposal: "The enemy's infantry has been thrown into chaos under our artillery fire. There is no need for the comrades of the 233rd Regiment to expose their targets prematurely."
