The German army launched the attack at two o'clock in the morning the next day.
Prior to this, the German army had been implementing fatigue tactics.
The so-called "fatigue tactics" are to prevent the opponent from getting a rest... This cannot be achieved by simply bombing with artillery fire, especially when the Soviet army is still hiding in the basement. When they are tired to a certain level, even if there is continuous artillery fire outside, they can still snore inside.
thunder.
The German army's tired tactics were feint attacks.
From the moment it got dark, they launched feint attacks on the hospital again and again.
Shulka did not dare to relax about such a feint attack, even though he knew the true intention of the German army.
The reason is that this feint attack can turn into a real attack at any time due to the state and negative reaction of the Soviet army.
The German army could not afford such a battle because the Soviet army had less than a thousand soldiers in hospitals and schools, while the German 29th Motorized Infantry Division had more than 10,000 soldiers.
The huge strength advantage allowed the German army to divide its troops into several groups and then attack hospitals and schools in turn.
No one could sleep, including Shulka who was in the headquarters, because he had to direct the battle with Mikhailovich...Andrianka was transferred to the school to direct the battle in the school.
Even if a group is a small group, many problems will arise when the battle begins.
For example, which direction has a gap, which location has lost contact because the phone line was blown up, which location needs reinforcements, etc. All need to be under unified command, otherwise problems will occur accidentally and the enemy will take advantage of the situation.
Everyone knows what it means if the enemy rushes into the defense line at night. By then, the Soviet army will be in internal chaos regardless of the enemy and ourselves, and of course it will be unable to resist the enemy's attack.
"Should we implement the plan now?" Akimovich, who assisted the command, asked: "I'm worried that they can no longer hold on, especially the attack from the west. The enemy's artillery fire was very fierce, and they broke through several times.
Our defense!"
"No, Major!" Shulka replied: "It's not the time yet!"
"Yes!" Major Mikhailovich put down the phone and continued Shulka's words, saying: "The enemy has not launched a general attack yet, which means that the enemies in Mamayev Heights are not ready yet, and they may not even be ready.
Rush to the hospital... Implementing the cemetery plan at this time cannot achieve the purpose of separating its main force from Mamayev Hill!"
Akimovich reluctantly nodded in agreement.
In fact, it's not that Akimovich didn't know this, but that this battle was a kind of torture for people. The continuous battle without sleep for two days and three nights put the person's body into a state of extreme exhaustion.
No matter what you do in this state, no matter what is waiting for you in the future, people will have a mentality of eagerly hoping that it will come and end as soon as possible.
The same was true for Shulka. Sometimes he was so upset that he just lay down and slept on the spot without thinking about anything, or he simply rushed out to fight the Germans to the death.
But reason is reminding me again and again and even forcing myself: You can't do this!
Therefore, on the battlefield, you sometimes have to respect your own instincts, and sometimes you have to defy your own instincts... because the body will constantly send out obviously wrong signals when it is extremely exhausted.
It wasn't until two o'clock in the morning when Valery's report came over the phone: "A large number of enemies were found in the east, including dozens of tanks..."
Before the report was finished, the sound was interrupted by the sound of artillery, and then the sound became intermittent and incomprehensible.
"They are coming up!" said Mikhailovich.
Several people in the headquarters breathed a sigh of relief, because this meant they could implement the next plan.
The German army carried out ten minutes of artillery preparations... This was more just to build momentum. The Germans also knew that most of the enemies were hiding in the basement and the artillery preparations were of no use. They just wanted to use these shells to embolden the German soldiers and let them know the enemy's intentions.
The position has been bombed into a pile of ruins with no one around.
Then, the German army launched a full-scale attack.
Dozens of tanks, or rather assault guns, attacked from the east under the cover of soldiers, and there were also a dozen tanks advancing with a large number of infantry from the west.
Tanks are essential to the German offensive.
This is not only because the German army is accustomed to attacking under the cover of tanks... This is the cause of the "Blitzkrieg". The German army, whether armored, infantry or motorized infantry divisions, has undergone infantry and tank training. Without tanks, they are almost
I don't know how to fight anymore.
On the other hand, the German army lacked direct-fire artillery.
As mentioned before, the German Panzerfaust is not yet equipped at this time, so to deal with enemy snipers hidden in buildings, bombing with tank guns is the best option.
Therefore, although tanks were difficult to maneuver in the ruins, the Germans took them with them.
This is exactly what Shulka hopes, because it means that the main force of the German troops in the Mamayev Hills will be transferred to the hospital and put into battle.
After waiting for a few more minutes, after the German army had engaged the Soviet army, Shurka nodded towards Mikhailovich.
Mikhailovich immediately picked up the phone and ordered: "Everyone is here, evacuate to the sewers! Repeat, evacuate to the sewers!"
At the same time, more than a dozen correspondents who had been prepared long ago also set off from the headquarters and ran in all directions under Akimovich's order.
The lack of communication equipment is a disadvantage. Since telephone lines are easily broken, it is difficult to convey orders in a timely, comprehensive and accurate manner, especially at night... You can also use signal flags during the day, but at night you can only rely on correspondents.
.
There is also a problem of communication delay.
For example, the troops with intact telephone lines received the order first and immediately entered into the retreat process, while the troops with the broken telephone line did not receive the order until the correspondents arrived, but by then it may have been too late and they were surrounded by the enemy.
Of course, the Soviet army has a way to deal with this situation, which is to delay the entire retreat for ten minutes and enter the retreat process at the same time.
The plan went smoothly, and soldiers of the 82nd Infantry Regiment evacuated to the sewers through three entrances from all directions.
Then, Mikhailovich asked the army headquarters for artillery cover.
"Coordinate the hospital and school!" Mikhailovich said on the phone: "Request ten minutes of artillery cover!"
"Hospitals and schools?" Golikov was a little confused: "That's your place!"
"Yes, general!" Mikhailovich replied: "The enemy is attacking very fiercely. We have already hid in the basement and asked for artillery cover!"
Upon hearing this, Golikov couldn't help but suddenly realized, and immediately ordered the artillery to cover the hospital and school with artillery fire.
But of course, the truth is not what Mikhailovich said... This artillery cover was in the hope that the German army would later discover the truth that hospitals and schools were empty.