While Major General Batrakov was overwhelmed by the German attack, Warehouse No. 5 was also extremely busy.
But the busy content is different. Zogtanov is nervously organizing the evacuation of the field hospital, although they still have not received the order as before.
Zogtanov tried to report to the headquarters and get an order to retreat. The problem was that the phone line to the headquarters was no longer accessible... The phone line leading to the headquarters was blown up, and the only way to ask for instructions was to send someone to the command.
Report to the Ministry and receive instructions.
The problem is that every time the correspondent comes and goes, the Germans are afraid that they will get in front of him.
"You should consider the lives of the wounded and medical staff, Comrade Zogtanov!" Shulka suggested.
Zogtanov thought for a moment, glanced around at the wounded and medical staff whose eyes were filled with anticipation and panic, gritted his teeth and ordered: "Retreat!"
In an instant, everyone started to move. The lightly wounded were able to walk on their own as much as possible, while the seriously injured were loaded onto stretchers by medical personnel in preparation for evacuation.
Fortunately, the field hospital has been divided into two temporary parking spots before, so the retreat will be much faster at this time, otherwise it would not be possible to get down until there are only a few hours.
"Your choice is correct!" Shulka comforted the somewhat frightened Zogtanov: "If necessary, I can testify for you... I mean, you were forced to do so out of necessity.
We chose to retreat only out of consideration for the lives of the wounded!"
Due to the restrictions of Order No. 7, many retreats without orders will be labeled as "escapes", and field hospitals are no exception, because front-line field hospitals are equally important, as they determine whether the wounded evacuated from the front can receive timely treatment.
question.
Therefore, while this order strengthened the Soviet army's determination to resist, it also caused the troops to lose a certain degree of flexibility.
"Thank you very much, Comrade Shulka!" Zogtanov shook Shulka's hand movedly and said, "At the same time, I apologize for my previous attitude. You saved us..."
"Now is not the time to talk about this, Comrade Zogtanov!" Shulka replied: "You have not evacuated safely yet. It will not be too late for you to thank me when we meet again in the rear!"
Zogtanov nodded, patted Shulka on the shoulder, turned around and went to organize the retreat.
Shulka turned back to the student troops behind him and asked: "Are you all ready?"
"Yes, Comrade Captain!" the students responded loudly.
"Enter the combat position!" Shulka ordered: "Cover the retreat of the wounded!"
"Yes!" the students responded, each holding a gun and dispersed into the building.
This is a five-story reinforced concrete structure building. As mentioned before, it is a granary.
During this period, the Soviet Union's granaries must be the buildings with the highest security level. The reason is that there was a great famine in the Soviet Union and many people starved to death. In this case, granaries that concentrated a large amount of grain for export would become a target of public criticism, so in
When building it, various emergencies must be taken into consideration, and bunkers with several cross-fire points were even built around it.
But of course these bunkers would be of little use at this time, as they would become perfect targets for German aircraft and artillery fire.
Shulka climbed up the passage to the third floor of the building, where the view is wider and it is easier to command the entire building.
Signal soldiers are still busy laying telephone lines.
This is one of the benefits of fighting defensive warfare in a building. Telephone lines can be laid in advance for mutual communication... This is very important for the cooperation between snipers and mortar operators.
I raised my binoculars and looked towards the Chalitsa River. There was a sea of artillery fire and smoke, and I couldn't see anything except the occasional bodies blown up into the air and broken fortifications.
This is a characteristic of the Soviet battlefield in summer: the land is muddy and the air is humid. Once the artillery fire explodes, a large amount of water vapor will evaporate. The water vapor, smoke, dust, etc. will be combined together and stay at low altitude for a long time and then become thicker. Soon a layer of water vapor will form.
Block up the smoke wall and spread it around.
At this time, the banks of the Tsaritsa River were undergoing heavy shelling from the German army. In addition to the "rumbling" sound of the artillery, it was as if a thick fog had suddenly arisen, covering the area tightly.
"They won't last long!" Vasily said from beside him.
Shulka knew what Vasily meant. He was referring to the 4th Infantry Brigade guarding the river bank.
In fact, Shulka thought they should have retreated long ago.
The river bank was attacked from two sides by the enemy and there was no danger to defend it... If the German army had crossed the river, the Tsaritsa River could still be called "dangerous", but at this time the German army was attacking along the river bank, and it still had armored vehicles and light vehicles.
Tanks, this is a nightmare for the 4th Infantry Brigade.
They should evacuate to a nearby building or basement as soon as possible.
But there is no doubt that the reason why they didn't do this was still because they didn't get the order.
However, orders still cannot resist reason and the desire to survive.
A few minutes later, people began to escape from the smoke one after another on their hands and knees, turning around and shooting randomly while escaping.
"Stop them!" Shulka immediately ordered: "Let them station on the second line as a reserve force, and find a way to get supplies!"
"Yes!" the communications soldier responded and passed on the order through the phone.
The reason for letting them serve as a reserve force instead of fighting directly with the cadet force is because Shulka knows that these people are scared out of their wits, at least for now.
Under such circumstances, it is obviously unrealistic to ask them to stay and fight immediately. It is better to let them take a breath and see the situation on the second line.
On the other hand, the cadet troops will definitely need supplies in the future...and Batrakov obviously does not and does not know how to provide supplies for the cadet troops.
Therefore, Shulka could only find a way to retain a group of 10th Division troops on the second line. If they could get supplies, it meant that the cadet troops would have supplies.
The Vavilovitches who perform this task are mortar units stationed on the second line due to their range and ballistic curvature.
As soon as he gave the order, the mortar platoon raised its submachine gun and ordered the deserters who were running through the building to escape to the rear to stop... The mortar operators of the student unit are usually equipped with Bobosha submachine guns, which have a large ammunition capacity and a short range.
Its characteristics are very suitable for artillery close-quarters self-defense.
"Stay here!" Vavilovicz shouted, waving the black muzzle of his gun at the deserters: "You are a brave soldier if you continue to fight, otherwise you know what the consequences will be!"
Of course the deserters knew what the consequences would be.
If you take another step back, you will be a "deserter" and you will be sent to the punishment camp... Although there are still opportunities to enter the punishment camp, such as entering the 8th Infantry Regiment with good performance and being treated as an ordinary soldier, no one likes to take this risk.
So the deserters soon stopped one after another. (To be continued)