Before Borshak could make a call, the German shelling began. Although it was deep underground, the three of them could still feel the ground shaking slightly in the room. Sokov had long been accustomed to the German shelling, so he did not notice it at all.
I didn't feel nervous. On the contrary, I looked up at the roof, thinking to myself that no dust would fall down, right?
Borschak, on the other hand, was once bitten by a snake and had been afraid of well ropes for ten years. He had just withdrawn from a position that had been bombarded by the Germans a few hours ago, so when he heard the German artillery shells exploding above his head, he couldn't help but panic.
He asked Cousteau: "Comrade Cousteau, is it safe here?"
"Don't worry, Major Bolschack." Cousteau said disapprovingly: "The top of our heads is two meters thick reinforced concrete. As long as the Germans don't use condensate-breaking bombs, there is no danger for us to stay here."
This was the first time Sokov heard the word "condensate bomb". He was stunned at first, but soon understood the meaning of the word literally. Regarding Bolshak's unfounded worries, he smiled and comforted him and said:
"Don't worry, Major Bolshak. The Germans would never have dreamed that we would be hiding in the basement, so they won't use any condensate bombs at all. You can stay here with peace of mind."
The words of Sokov and Cousteau did not bring much sense of security to Bolshak. He was still looking at the roof uneasily, fearing that some artillery shells would penetrate the roof and fall in, so that he gave Peter the factory
I forgot about the long phone calls.
…………
As early as when the German army shelled the north of the factory for the first time, Guriyev, who was staying in his headquarters, knew it. If he wanted to send troops to reinforce, the fighting here was also in full swing. He could only place his hope in Bolshak's
Annihilation battalions can sustain for a longer period of time when faced with an attack after artillery bombardment.
However, less than an hour after the German shelling on the north side of the factory stopped, the second round of shelling began, which confused Guriyev. He stood in front of the window of the headquarters and looked at the billowing black sky rising in the direction of the assembly workshop.
Yan Yan asked his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Zaldyuk, with some confusion: "Comrade chief of staff, tell me, why did the Germans launch a second artillery bombardment on the north side of the factory in such a short period of time? What on earth is this?
what happened?"
Zaldyuk looked at the area being shelled, frowned and said: "Comrade division commander, it stands to reason that there is only one explanation for the German army shelling the same area twice in such a short period of time."
"What's the explanation?" Zaldyuk's words aroused Guryev's curiosity: "Hurry up and tell me."
"That is, the attack launched by the Germans was met with stubborn resistance by the defenders. After paying a huge price, they had to return to the starting point of the attack." As soon as Zaldyuk analyzed the reason, he immediately shook his head and denied this.
Said: "If our Guards Division were to defend in that direction and repel the German attack, there would be no problem. But the problem is that those holding on to that area are nothing more than the annihilation battalion of the Red October Factory and several hundred soldiers.
They are just armed workers. To say that with their strength they were able to repel the German attack in such a short period of time, I think it is simply impossible."
"Division Commander, Chief of Staff, you are all wrong." Chernyshev, the division political commissar sitting next to him, suddenly said: "I think maybe the German attack in the north of the factory was really repulsed. They became angry in anger.
I can only use secondary bombardment to vent my dissatisfaction."
Guryev's face showed an expression of disbelief: "What, Comrade Political Commissar, do you think that the enemy who attacked the north of the factory was repelled by the few remaining annihilation battalions and hundreds of armed workers? You must be wrong.
How is this possible? You know, our division is a veteran of the Airborne Corps. Even we can't do this, so how did they do it?"
"Comrade Commander, have you forgotten?" Seeing that Guryev did not believe that the German attack in the north of the factory area had been repelled, Chernyshev reminded him: "Yesterday when you came back from the frontline inspection, I told you,
It is said that a unit of the 73rd Infantry Brigade that is holding the Mamayev Heights has arrived at the factory. If I guessed correctly, Director Peter must have deployed them in the assembly workshop to the north of the factory."
Guryev immediately remembered that Chernyshev had mentioned this matter to him, but he did not take it to heart at all. When he heard Chernyshev mention this matter, he asked curiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you know the command?"
Who is the commander of this unit?" Before Chernyshev could answer, he said to himself, "The German army usually uses tanks to accompany infantry attacks. In such a short period of time,
To repel the enemy's attack, the person commanding the troops must be an excellent commander."
"Comrade division commander, you may not have thought that the commander of the team is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the infantry brigade." When Chernyshev said this, he suddenly thought of Sokov's steps staggering slightly when he walked, and he frowned.
He frowned and said, "But from the look of him, he seems to be injured."
"Comrade, comrade political commissar." Zalyzyuk took advantage of the gap between the two of them to interject: "Instead of guessing here, we should call Director Peter to find out what happened to the north of the factory area."
"Yes, yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. We should call Director Peter immediately to find out from him what happened in the north of the factory." After Guryev finished speaking, he reached for the telephone on the table.
He caught it in front of himself, shook the handle a few times, picked up the microphone and put it to his ear, saying: "Get me to the factory building and find Director Peter."
The call was quickly connected, and when Peter's voice came from the receiver, Guryev couldn't wait to say: "Hello, comrade director, I am Guryev."
"Hello, Comrade General." Hearing that it was Guryev calling him, Peter was a little flattered, and quickly asked respectfully: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"That's it, Comrade Factory Director." Guryev briefly explained the situation to Peter, and finally asked: "Since I can't get in touch with the assembly workshop in the north of the factory, I can only contact you to find out what's going on there.
What happened. I hope you can help me..."
Before Guryev finished speaking, another phone on Peter's desk rang. Peter could only say apologetically to Guryev: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, please wait a moment, I will answer a call."
." After obtaining the other party's consent, he moved the microphone to his left hand, grabbed the microphone with his right hand, put it to his ear and said: "I am Peter, where are you?"
"Hello, comrade director!" As soon as Peter finished speaking, the voice he wanted to hear most came from the receiver: "I am the commander of the annihilation battalion, Bolshak."
"It's you, Bolshak, I was just about to call you." Hearing the call from Bolshak, Peter quickly asked: "Before you called, I was talking to the Guards Division
The division commander, General Guryev, called me. He told me that less than an hour after the enemy's shelling in your direction ended, he launched a second round of shelling. Let me ask you, what happened? The enemy actually did this in this way.
Launch a second artillery attack on you in a short period of time?"
"For what else, Comrade Factory Director?" Bolshak originally planned to report to Peter about the reorganization of the annihilation battalion and then mention to him about the repulse of the German attack. Since Peter had already asked, he
Decided to answer this question first: "After the German army stormed the factory, their attack on the assembly workshop was completely crushed by us. During the battle, we defeated five tanks and killed hundreds of German soldiers."
"That's great, Major Bolshak, that's great." Peter couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that the enemy attacking the north of the factory was really repelled. "The comrades of the annihilation battalion are all good, please
On my behalf, I would like to express my gratitude to them for their contribution to protecting the factory."
"Comrade Factory Director, you misunderstood." Borshak heard Peter's praise for him and replied with some embarrassment: "It was not my annihilation battalion that defeated the enemy, but Lieutenant Ulanova's female high school student.
Artillery battalion. My annihilation battalion was almost completely destroyed before the German attack began."
Even if a shell fell and exploded next to Peter at this moment, it would definitely not be as shocking as the information Bolshak told him. He murmured into the microphone: "Bolshak, what did you say? The one who repels the enemy is
Women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, how did they do this? Also, you said that the annihilation battalion has been completely wiped out, what's the matter?"
Borschak's annihilation battalion suffered heavy casualties under enemy fire and had to withdraw from its position and retreated to the assembly workshop. The women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion was deployed on the roof of the factory. How to use anti-aircraft guns to destroy German tanks and repel them.
The German attack was reported to Peter in detail. Finally, he emphasized that these were all results achieved under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov.
Peter never dreamed that the battle that ended not long ago would be so magical. Sokov would actually think of using the anti-aircraft guns deployed on the roof to deal with the German tanks. And after causing such heavy losses to the enemy, his own side actually
There were no casualties at all.
Peter was in a daze for a while, and accidentally discovered that the microphone he was holding in his left hand was not far from his face. Guryev on the other end of the microphone should have heard the conversation just now. He put the microphone in his left hand closer to his ear again,
Said: "Comrade General, did you hear our conversation?"
"Yes, Comrade Peter, I heard it all." Guryev said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov could actually think of using anti-aircraft guns to hit German tanks. Why didn't I think of this? Factory
Comrade Chang, I understand everything that needs to be understood, so I won’t interrupt your call with your subordinates. Goodbye."
After Guryev hung up the phone, he said to Chernyshev and Zaldyuk standing aside: "Political Commissar, Chief of Staff, everything is clear. The reason why the German army launched a second artillery bombardment on the north side of the factory is because
The attack they launched was crushed by the anti-aircraft gun battalion standing on the roof of the assembly workshop."
"Use anti-aircraft guns to fight tanks?" Zaldyuk said in an unbelievable tone: "Why have I never thought that anti-aircraft guns can be used instead of anti-tank guns?"
"Chief of Staff," Guryev asked without missing a moment: "How many anti-aircraft guns are there in the division?"
"There is an 85mm anti-aircraft gun battery with three anti-aircraft guns." Zaldyuk asked rhetorically: "Comrade division commander, are you going to use them all as anti-tank guns?"
"That's right," Guryev nodded and said, "Since friendly forces can use anti-aircraft guns to destroy German tanks, we can also use the same method to deal with German tanks."
"Comrade division commander," Chernyshev asked worriedly: "This is the only air defense force our division has. If the anti-aircraft guns are used as anti-tank guns, what should we do with the air defense?"
"My comrade political commissar, if German tanks rush in front of us, what's the point of air defense?" Guryev said here, waved his hand to Zaridyuk and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't wait any longer.
, hurry up and arrange it. You must know that our soldiers face a lot of German tanks. If we can have a few more anti-tank guns, it can also reduce the pressure they bear."
While Zaldyuk went to make a call, Guryev sat at the table, took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and held it in his mouth, thinking silently: "I thought that if the German army attacked the north of the factory, we would be attacked from both sides.
situation, but with Lieutenant Colonel Sokov sitting in the assembly workshop, I believe we don’t have to worry about our rear being attacked by the enemy.”
"Comrade Commander," Chernyshev saw that Guryev had a cigarette in his mouth and had not lit it for a long time. He seemed to be thinking about something. He felt that he needed to understand the situation, so he asked cautiously: "You
What are you thinking about? I see you have been in this position for a long time."
Guryev took out a match, lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said to Chernyshev: "Comrade Political Commissar, I have some impression of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. When we came to Stalingrad, I
I once heard Commander Chuikov mention this man, saying that his troops held on to the Mamayev Heights for two months, and the German army paid thousands of dollars and still could not occupy it. This shows that he is a very special person.
A commander who is good at defensive warfare, with him sitting in the assembly workshop, we will have nothing to worry about."
"Comrade Division Commander, you are too optimistic." Chernyshev heard what Guryev said and felt it was necessary to give him a warning: "Even if Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is good at defense, he has limited troops.
More than 300 soldiers, plus hundreds of militiamen with weak combat effectiveness, may not have any problem in blocking one or two enemy attacks. Once the enemy attacks more times, I worry that they will eventually face the total annihilation of the army.
Danger."
When Guryev heard this, he threw the half-smoked cigarette on the ground, crushed it with his toes, looked up at Chernyshev and said: "Comrade political commissar, after dark, you will accompany me to the assembly workshop.
, I want to talk to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov in person to find out how long they are confident they can hold out there."
