Red Moscow

  Chapter 1457 Night Attack

  Sokov frowned slightly: "Commanders, I see the reactions of you guys, it seems that you don't know much about the German Viking division?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Atakuz first replied: "I have only heard of the order of this unit, but I don't know anything about their combat effectiveness and what results they have achieved."

   After Atakuz finished speaking, Sokov looked at the other three commanders and asked, "What about you, do you know this army?"

  The three shook their heads neatly, indicating that they did not understand this German army.

"Since you don't know, let me give you a brief introduction to this army while there is still time: As Europe was occupied by the German army, Himmler quickly established local organizations in these countries, recruiting and instigating local forces. The public participated in the SS, and German youths from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and other countries joined the army as volunteers. In 1940, the Germania Division was formally established, which was the predecessor of the Viking Division. In 1941, the division was renamed The Viking Division. The first commander was Colonel Felix Steiner from the Wehrmacht, and it was this professional soldier who created this young devil army."

"Devil troops?!" It may be that the record of the Banner Guard Division, the Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division is so brilliant that it overwhelms the Viking Division. After hearing what Sukov said, Atakuz couldn't help asking in wonder: "They Is the fighting power really that strong?"

"Comrade Colonel." Lunev interjected, "As far as I know, any troops of our army who are fighting against them will often be frightened when they hear their numbers, and strongly ask their superiors for reinforcements. Although our army's battle report It has been declared three times that the Viking Division will be wiped out, but the Viking Division still exists in the German battle order.”

"Comrade Military Commissar," Weisbach couldn't help interjecting when he heard this, "Could it be rebuilt after being annihilated by our army?" He couldn't help but glance at Sukov, and continued, "You know , The Imperial Division was also wiped out by the troops commanded by the commander, but the Germans rebuilt it in a very short period of time."

"The Viking division has never been wiped out by our army." Sokov, who knew the inside story, explained to everyone: "Although our army successfully damaged them in the battle, they suffered a big loss in the pursuit and were defeated by them." It was defeated."

   Major Bunch's expression became serious when he heard this. After some thought, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the German SS divisions are basically armored divisions. I wonder if this unit is also an armored division?"

"No, Comrade Major." Sokov clearly remembered that the Viking division would not be upgraded to an SS armored division until October, so he shook his head at Major Bunch and said, "They are just an infantry division now, There may be one or two tank battalions, but their strength cannot compete with you at all."

  No one expected that the SS division would suddenly appear to the west of the farm, so the situation became a little complicated. Lunev leaned close to Sokov's ear and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, the enemy has SS divisions, and our army has only one infantry division and one tank brigade here. Can we beat others?"

   Lunev's worries are not unfounded. He clearly remembered that during the Battle of Kursk, a Wehrmacht division of the German army was enough to fight a group army of the Soviet army. The combat power of the SS far exceeds that of the Wehrmacht. Now I want to use an infantry division and a tank brigade to fight the elite hard steel of the German army.

Sokov pondered for a moment, and said to Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry. The enemy has not yet fully reached the designated position. If we launch an attack in advance, we will be able to firmly grasp the initiative on the battlefield." In the hands of our army."

"Comrade Commander," after Sokov finished speaking, Weisbach said again: "According to the original plan, we have to allocate half of our manpower to carry the arms to the arms depot in the south. If the enemy is really as you expected As strong as you said, don’t we go to get the munitions temporarily, but wait until the enemy is eliminated?”

"No, you must go to collect the ammunition according to the opportunity, and use the weapons you brought back to arm all the commanders and fighters as soon as possible." Sukov said with a serious expression: "I think your division's training is insufficient, and the combat effectiveness of the troops is not too strong. .If equipped with excellent equipment, it may improve the combat effectiveness of the troops."

Seeing that Sokov had said so much, Weisbach knew that it would be unrealistic for him to refute, so he could only honestly say: "Understood, Comrade Commander. I will send people to the south according to the original plan. warehouse to move the weapons, ammunition and military supplies we need."

   "Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko!"

  Chukliko didn't expect Sokov to call his name suddenly. After a moment of stupefaction, he stood up from his seat and quietly waited for Sokov to assign him a task.

   "Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, if the infantry attack is not going well, how long can your tanks be put into battle?"

   "Comrade Commander, if the infantry's attack fails, my tanks can reach the battlefield in five to ten minutes."

   "Can you get to the battlefield so soon?" Lunev asked with some surprise.

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissioner." Chukliko replied truthfully: "We dare not take any action now, because we are worried that the night will be too quiet. I am afraid that as soon as the tanks here start up, the roar of the engine will startle the people on the high ground." The enemy. But if the battle starts, we can prepare for the battle in a big way, and only wait for the order to attack, and we can rush to the battle site as quickly as possible."

"Very good!" Sokov was very satisfied with Chukliko's answer, but he still reminded the other party: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have also driven a tank, and I know that the vision in the car is very narrow, especially now it is night. When you accompany the infantry to attack, don't crush your own people."

   "Comrade commander, you can rest assured about this." Chukliko assured Sokov, "I will tell the tank soldiers to pay attention, and they will definitely not crush their own people during the attack."

  After all the things that should be explained were explained, Sokov waved his hand to let the four return to their respective troops and make necessary battle preparations.

  As soon as the four of them left, the operator handed over a telegram to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, this is an urgent telegram from the Chief of Staff."

   Sokov took the telegram and carefully read the contents above: the content of the telegram has been deciphered, and the enemy is asking the troops in the rear to speed up their march, and they must all arrive at the designated location before noon tomorrow. At the end of the telegram is the most crucial sentence: It has been found out that the German army on the high ground west of the Fesky collective farm is the elite SS division—the Viking division.

After reading the phone call, Sokov put the telegram in front of Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, take a look. The enemy on the high ground to the west is indeed the Viking Division, and the commander of the garrison on the high ground is giving him The superior sent a report requesting that the rest of the troops arrive at the designated point by noon tomorrow."

"Comrade Commander, I'm still not at ease." When Lunev confirmed that the German army in the western highlands was the elite Viking division, he couldn't help but secretly worried. He kindly reminded Sokov: "If the German army takes the initiative to attack us Attack, do you think we can stop them?"

   "I can't stop it!" Sokov replied very simply: "The Fesky collective farm doesn't even have decent fortifications. Facing the swarming German troops, how could they block it?"

"Comrade Commander, I think you should draw troops from Dergach." Seeing that there was no outsider in the headquarters, Mikhaiev stepped forward and said to Sokov, "Although the 300th Division has There are more than 8,000 people, but their combat effectiveness is not to be admired. If the high ground cannot be taken before dawn, then the retreating German 3rd Armored Division will pounce on us again, and the Viking Division will attack us back and forth. I think we are now With some troops and no decent fortifications, it is simply impossible to block the German army's two-sided attack."

"Comrade Commander, I think what Lieutenant Mikhaiev said makes sense." Seeing that Mikhaiev spoke his mind, Lunev quickly echoed: "We should immediately draw troops from Dergach to come Strengthen the defenses of this area."

"What's the matter with you? Haven't fought the enemy yet, do you think we must not be the enemy's opponent?" Sokov said with a straight face: "Besides, the main force of our army is now confronting the German army by the Oude River. If at this moment Drawing forces from the front would make our offensive weak."

Sokov turned to Lunev and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry. The attack we launched in the early hours of the morning was a sneak attack, not a forced attack. The enemy must never have dreamed that we would suddenly launch an attack on them. At that time, they will definitely be caught off guard."

Sokov asked Mikhaiev to call the sergeant who escorted the prisoners back, and told the other party: "Comrade sergeant, you go back to the company immediately, tell Captain Narva, and immediately send someone to work with the scouts in the battalion. Continue to conduct reconnaissance westward, and we must find out whether there is a large enemy force coming towards us."

   It was time to attack, but the commanders and fighters of the 300th Division hidden in the forest did not launch an attack immediately, but continued to stay in the woods, looking nervously at the direction of the high ground, waiting for the signal to attack.

It turned out that Weisbach led the team to the woods. After meeting Narva, who was on a security mission here, the two quickly reached an agreement. Send signal.

   In this way, Narva personally led two platoons of soldiers, crawled forward, and climbed to the bottom of the high ground with hands and feet. After arriving at the location, Narva called two soldiers and said to them: "Go up and kill the enemy's sentry post, and then send an attack signal to the troops in the woods."

   "Understood, Comrade Captain." The two soldiers agreed in a low voice, and like two lizards, they crawled towards the German position halfway up the mountain.

  In the trench halfway up the mountain, except for one German sentry, the rest of the officers and soldiers were sleeping soundly in the bunker. The reason why they only sent one sentry was because they knew that the Soviet troops stationed in the Fesky collective farm drank too much Volga and were lying on the ground of the farm in disorder. If it weren't for their limited strength, they would have taken the initiative to attack the Soviet army.

The German commander didn't think that a group of drunks would take the initiative to attack him, so after the fortifications were built, only one sentry was left on duty in the two fortifications on the mountainside and the top of the mountain, and the rest of the officers and soldiers stayed in the warm shelter. sleep.

  Although it is still August, the night temperature in Russia is very low. The German sentinel in single clothes was too cold to bear, so he found a sheltered place to sit down, lit a cigarette, hoping to drive away the cold by smoking.

  Two soldiers who came to touch the sentry came to the edge of the trench, quietly observed the movement inside, and found that there was no one, so they couldn't help but hesitated. Fortunately, a soldier's eyes were sharp. He saw sparks flickering around a corner of the trench, so he patted his comrade's shoulder lightly and pointed to the place where the sparks jumped.

  The two did not enter the trench, but ran ahead along the edge of the trench. After a while, the two arrived at the place where the sentinel was smoking.

   Just as he was about to do something, the smoking sentry seemed to hear something, stood up with a cigarette **** in his mouth, and looked out of the trench. But he looked at it for a while, but saw nothing. He thought that the movement he just heard was his own illusion, so he took the cigarette **** out of his mouth and threw it on the ground.

   After the sentry crushed the cigarette butts with his toes, he walked forward along the trench with his gun in his hand. After he was going to walk back and forth again, he sent back to the shelter to call someone to change the guard. Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps, he suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him. Before he could turn around, he heard the dull sound of a heavy object falling to the ground. Then his mouth was covered, and before he could yell out, I felt a sharp pain in my chest and abdomen.

   After the soldier who attacked the sentry completed the assassination in one go, he immediately pulled out his dagger, let go of the sentry, and took two steps back. The sentinel turned his head to see the Soviet soldier standing in front of him clearly, and opened his mouth to shout, but found that he couldn't shout at all. He pointed at the other party, stumbled forward a few steps, and then fell limply in the trench.

   After seeing the sentry fall, the two soldiers looked at each other and smiled, and then one soldier took out a flashlight covered in red cloth, pressed it on and turned a few times in the direction of the woods. This was the pre-arranged attack signal.

Weissbach in the woods, seeing the signal from the mountainside, hurriedly issued an order in a low voice to a regiment commander beside him: "Comrade commander, the commanders and fighters of the company have already occupied the position halfway up the mountain, you immediately lead the troops to replace them."

Just when the commanders and fighters of the 300th Division left the woods and moved towards the high ground quietly, Narva, who was hiding under the high ground, saw that his subordinates had cleared the German sentries, so he led the troops to touch the mountainside Fortifications, one by one to eliminate those enemies who are still sleeping.

  The soldiers sneaked into the shelter where the enemy slept, first covered their mouths with their hands, and then stabbed them to death one by one with daggers and bayonets. At the beginning, things went smoothly, and one enemy after another was sent to God by the soldiers painlessly in their sleep.

But there was a new soldier who did this kind of thing for the first time. He covered an enemy's mouth and stabbed the opponent's chest with the bayonet in his hand. He didn't check whether the opponent was dead before going to deal with the next one. enemy. Unexpectedly, the enemy was fine, and he took out a pistol from under the pillow and fired at the new soldier.

  (end of this chapter)