The 101st Regiment, which lost its anti-tank position, faced a situation that immediately became severe. The machine gun fire point on the position will immediately attract German tank artillery attacks as soon as it is fired. As long as one shot is taken, the machine gun and shooter will be bombed into the sky. Therefore, after a plate of bullets is fired, the machine gunners must immediately transfer and find a new place to establish machine gun positions. They cannot hedge against the coming German troops to form suppressive fire.
Not only did the German army provide support from tank fire, they also established mortar positions and machine gun fire points at 500 meters and 300 meters respectively, and used powerful firepower to suppress the Soviet army on the positions to cover the charge of their soldiers. Soviet soldiers who were shooting in the trenches were occasionally hit by flying shrapnel or machine gun bullets, and fell into the trenches in various postures.
In the regiment command post hundreds of meters away, the regiment commander saw his subordinates constantly suffering casualties under the fierce firepower of the German army, and he couldn't help but feel like he was hurt, but he was powerless. Because when the early breakout, all the heavy weapons in the regiment, including mortars and heavy machine guns, were discarded, and now he can only use light weapons to deal with enemies armed to the teeth.
The Chief of Staff, who was standing next to the regiment commander, saw the critical situation at the forefront, quickly made a suggestion to the regiment commander: "Comrade Commander, I suggest that we report our situation to the division headquarters immediately and request that the division provide us with artillery support." Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, he found that the regiment commander had no reaction at all, as if he had not heard his words at all. He quickly added, "The enemy is only one or two hundred meters away from our position. Once they rush into the trenches, our defense line will collapse."
"It's useless." The regiment commander heard the chief of staff say this, and the muscles on his face twitched violently. Seeing that the situation at the forefront was so bad, he had never thought of asking for help from the division headquarters. However, he knew very well that the division's artillery regiment also lost all artillery during the breakout, and was now assigned to the 102nd Regiment as infantry. "Don't you know that the division's artillery regiment has been changed to infantry and assigned to the 102nd Regiment to fight? Now there is not even a cannon in the division, how can we provide artillery support?"
However, the regiment commander also knew in his heart that it was only a matter of time before the frontier positions were broken through by the enemy. After saying this, he immediately ordered the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, immediately bring the guard platoon and all those who can fight to support the frontier. You must defend the position. Do you understand?"
"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff of the regiment said in embarrassment after hearing this order: "If I take the guard away, there will be no one around you, look..."
"Go," before the chief of staff of the regiment said, the regiment commander said in an unquestionable tone: "If you can't defend the position, what's the use of the guards standing in the regiment headquarters?"
Seeing that the regiment commander's attitude was so firm, the regiment chief of staff quickly agreed and called the staff in the command center. The correspondent left with him and went to reinforce the front line with the guard platoon.
The situation was tight not only in the 100th and 101th Regiments, which were deployed on the far left wing. Facing the fierce offensive of the German army, he could only call for help to the division commander Grazkov. The regiment commander said in a crying voice: "Comrade Commander, the enemy infantry, under the cover of tanks, rushed towards our regiment's position. One of my battalions has been exhausted. Please send a reserve team to support us as soon as possible, otherwise the position may be lost."
"Comrade Colonel," Grazkov heard the cry of the leader of the 102nd Regiment and shouted at the microphone: "As long as you have one more person alive, you must firmly defend your position. If you lose your position, I will shoot you."
Even though he said that, Grazkov also realized the seriousness of the problem. The defense areas of the three regiments used linear defense. Due to insufficient troops, there was no defense depth at all. Once a certain place was lost, the entire defense line would collapse. Considering this, Grazkov quickly called his deputy division commander over and ordered: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, the situation in the 102nd Regiment is not good now. You should immediately take Major Ibaru's teaching battalion to support."
After the deputy division commander left, the 100th Regiment called another call for help. The regiment commander said that his position had been broken through. The regiment political commissar and chief of staff led all the troops to sacrifice heroically during the counterattack, and asked Grazkov to provide him with necessary support. When he learned that the position in the 100th Regiment had been broken through, Grazkov couldn't help but be anxious. He quickly called his chief of staff and asked directly: "How many troops do we have in our hands now?"
"There is another guard battalion." After blurting out, the chief of staff quickly added: "However, in the breakout battle, the battalion suffered heavy casualties, and now there are only more than one hundred people left."
"Chief of Staff, immediately take the remaining people in the guard battalion to the defense zone of the 100th Regiment and assist them in defense." Glazkov was very afraid that the Chief of Staff would not understand the importance of the defense line, so he specifically reminded him: "There are no friendly troops behind our defense zone. Once the enemy breaks through our defense zone, they can rush directly into the factory area."
After the teaching battalion and the guard battalion were sent out, Glazkov saw that there were only more than 100 staff members, communications and logistics personnel left in the division headquarters. He was worried that if there was any danger in a certain area, he would have no troops to send. He quickly called the group army headquarters and reported to Cui Kov: "Comrade Commander, the Germans launched a fierce attack in the defense zone of our division. The situation of the three regiments is not good now, and the defense line is at risk of being broken by the enemy at any time. I ask you to send troops to reinforce immediately."
Cuikov was silent for a long time about Grazkov's request for help. He knew that after a long battle, the 35th Guards Division had severely reduced its troops. If they did not replenish them in time, they would not be able to defend their positions. Therefore, after a fierce struggle in his heart, he said to the microphone: "General Grazkov, I will send reinforcements to you. I will contact the City Defense Committee immediately and ask them to send militia troops from the factory to support you..."
"What, militia?" Grazkov was secretly happy when he learned that Cuikov would provide reinforcements to him, but when he heard that he was actually a militia, he felt a little disappointed. He said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, don't you know that the militia troops in the factory have just been formed? They have no combat experience, have neither been fired by German machine guns, nor have they seen German tanks rushing in front of him. If they were deployed on the defense line and before the German tanks rushed over, they would turn around and escape..."
"General Grazkov," when he heard Grazkov comment on his preparations to send a militia to support the frontier, Cuikov said in a stern tone: "Who gave you the right to insult the working class? Don't you know that it is far from enough to block the enemy rushing to Stalingrad, and to unite the vast number of workers and city residents. Only with their support and help can we defend this city named after the Supreme Commander..."
Cuikov's words made Grazkov speechless for a moment. After a long time, he said embarrassedly: "Comrade Commander, no matter what, in the face of such a strong battle, it is inappropriate to put militia troops without combat power into battle. Therefore, I would like to plead for you to send me a regular army, even if there is only one battalion."
"General Grazkov, I don't have a battalion in my hands at this moment." Although I knew that the other party could not see it, Cuikov still shook his head firmly: "In this way, the troops in my hands are only one division, and the rest of the troops are still gathering their troops. It will take at least two to three days before they can be put into battle. Therefore, under the current circumstances, you can only rely on the armed forces of the working class to crush the German attack on the factory area."
As soon as Cuikov put down the phone, Krelov said hurriedly: "Comrade Commander, have you forgotten that there is an infantry brigade in Mamayev Hill, which can be completely allowed to support the 35th Guard Division." He looked down at the map on the table and added, "It is only five kilometers apart, and even a hiking marching can only take two hours at most."
Krelov's proposal made Cuikov's heart beat. He knew very well about the combat effectiveness of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. If this force could be sent to reinforce the 35th Guard Division, then there should be no problem with defending the position. But just as his hand picked up the phone, he suddenly changed his mind: "No, Comrade Chief of Staff, I cannot give Lieutenant Colonel Sokov such an order. The task of their brigade is to stick to the Mamayev gate. If we transfer the troops to other places, the Mamayev gate will be lost due to the empty force. At that time, the defenders in Stalingrad City will be divided into two parts that are not connected. No, we must not take this risk."
When Krelov made this suggestion, he was also lucky. He believed that the focus of the German offensive was on the factory area and had no time to take care of Mamayev's gang. Even if Sokov's troops were transferred, it would not have any impact on the defense of Mamayev's gang. However, when Cui Kov said this, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly admitted his mistake to Cui Kov: "I'm sorry, comrade Commander, I was not considerate. It seems that we can only ask the City Defense Committee for help and ask them to send the factory militia to support the 35th Guard Division."
Chapter completed!