Shulka commanded the troops to board the amphibious landing ship.
Each amphibious landing ship can carry a dozen people, which is almost a squad, so a company only needs a dozen landing ships.
In fact, this is redundant. If it were to be forced, the number of people it could carry could at least be doubled.
The reason why it is not carried so much is that on the one hand, it is necessary to carry ammunition while carrying people. On the other hand, it is for combat needs... If it is packed with too many people, it will not only be very dangerous, but also once it is attacked by the enemy.
If the artillery shell hits or the machine gun locks on, a large area will be knocked down. More importantly, it will be unable to activate and fight.
"Comrade Captain!" When Shulka was about to board the amphibious landing ship, Captain Kharichev's amphibious landing ship stopped next to him. He jumped off the ship and pulled Shulka aside, whispering: "You don't need to do it yourself.
Leave it to me to lead the team across the river!"
Shulka smiled and replied: "Thank you for your kindness, Comrade Captain! But... the matter is so important that we dare not be careless in the slightest!"
Shulka declined politely. If the words are clear, it is that the two companies Shulka led were a sniper company and a mortar company respectively. Captain Kharichev actually did not know how to command, and at the same time, he could not command the navy.
Command the student troops while seizing the beach and landing at the same time.
If it were really given to Captain Kharichev to command, Shulka believed that he might even use the sniper company as an ordinary infantry unit, and the mortar company as an artillery cover unit.
This is a waste of natural resources.
Captain Kharichev obviously did not understand what Shulka meant, but he saw in Shulka's eyes that the matter was not discussed, so he nodded and said nothing more.
Shulka jumped on the amphibious landing craft... At first Shulka was not used to it, because he was a little at a loss when riding in a car with the same feeling of riding on a boat.
However, this discomfort was quickly replaced by the tension of the battlefield.
The surrounding area was still filled with gunshots and explosions, and occasionally there were a few artillery shells fired from the direction of the Germans.
This was not because the Germans discovered something, but because the Soviet infantry continued to attack the Germans on both wings in order to cover or cover up the sound of the amphibious landing ship's engine.
Under such circumstances, even if the Germans spotted a few amphibious landing craft under the light of flares, they would think that they were transporting reinforcements or supplies for the Soviet infantry.
A few minutes later, the amphibious landing ships parked side by side on the banks of the Tsaritsa River.
The engineering troops opened up a forward position not far from the river bank... The so-called forward positions are not all trenches, outposts and the like. For example, this time it was a cross-river operation, and the engineers opened up a horizontal road along the direction and trend of the river bank.
In this way, the amphibious landing ships can line up on the riverside one after another and launch an attack on the opposite bank at the same time, instead of just like a long snake, several ships are refueling and dying.
The time jumped to one-fifty little by little.
Suddenly, several red signal bombs rose into the air, and the first batch of hundreds of amphibious landing ships left the forward position with a "boom" and headed towards the Tsaritsa River at high speed.
Shulka is in the second batch, and the student troops he leads are all in the second batch.
This is what Captain Kharichev meant.
"Because the second batch is the safest!" Captain Kharichev said: "I think that is the position you should stay in the most!"
Shulka understood what Captain Kharichev meant.
The second batch is indeed the safest. The first batch needs to face the firepower of the German defenders on the south bank. The third batch may be bombarded by enemy artillery fire. The second batch is under cover in the middle.
Regarding this point, Shulka did not delay, because the student unit was not originally used to charge into battle.
Just as he was talking, the first batch of amphibious landing ships drove into the river one after another... The amphibious landing ships were not like modern amphibious armored vehicles that could quickly enter the river. They needed to slow down before entering the water to prevent too much river water from entering the hull.
Otherwise, the amphibious landing craft may not be able to float once it hits the water.
After successfully launching into the water, the landing ship immediately turned the engine to the propeller propulsion mode, and at the same time, shells roared towards the south bank in the darkness.
It was only then that the German soldiers on the other side realized something was wrong, because there were faint sounds of motors and water pumping amidst the sound of gunfire. At the same time, the shells were obviously running towards the shore instead of the wings, which obviously did not hit the wrong location.
Lieutenant Mario, who was sleeping in the bomb shelter, was awakened by the bombardment of artillery shells. He turned over and jumped off the bed set up by the shell boxes. He grabbed his armed belt and tied it around his waist skillfully while getting out of the bomb shelter.
He loudly asked his subordinates who were on guard at the door: "What's going on?"
"I don't know, Lieutenant!" the guard replied, "Maybe the enemy is attacking us!"
"Attack?" Lieutenant Mario asked back: "You mean they plan to cross the river? No, this is impossible!"
But before he finished speaking, a flare rose into the air, and the snow-white light illuminated the lower part in a radius of one mile.
Lieutenant Mario stared dumbfounded at the originally calm river surface, which was already full of enemy landing ships.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Lieutenant Mario seemed to wake up from a dream. He immediately shouted to the surroundings: "The enemy is attacking, organize fire to stop them!"
When the fierce sound of gunfire rang out, Lieutenant Mario walked back to the headquarters, shook the phone as hard as he could, then grabbed the microphone and reported: "Colonel, we are attacked by the enemy, requesting reinforcements!"
"It's absolutely true, they are right in front of us!"
"Yes, they are crossing the river!"
…
The information was quickly passed level by level to Major General Jonas's headquarters.
Major General Jonas was stunned when he took the telegram.
"Crossing the river?" Major General Jonas still couldn't believe it.
"Yes, General!" the adjutant replied: "In the direction of the granary, they immediately crossed the river to fight after taking control of the granary. They were obviously well prepared!"
"How many are there?" Major General Jonas asked.
"Preliminary estimate is that there is one regiment!" the adjutant replied: "Our people recognized that they used an amphibious landing ship, which is the kind of transport ship that can travel in rivers and on land!"
Major General Jonas realized the seriousness of the problem.
On the one hand, it was because the enemy actually had a regiment... At this time, the total strength of the German army stationed on the south bank was only one regiment. This regiment was still scattered along the long river bank, and there was even only one reinforced company in the area where the enemy attacked.
On the other hand, the enemy used amphibious landing ships.
Major General Jonas had never thought that it could be used on the battlefield, or on the battlefield across the river.
Before that, the Russians used it to transport supplies.
But...why can't they be used on the battlefield?! (To be continued)