Red Moscow

  Chapter 19 The new company commander

   Without the suppression of the German firepower, the commanders and fighters of the second battalion rushed forward and quickly occupied the barricade in the middle of the street.

  Major Ivan walked into the building next to the barricade, just in time to meet Lin Hua and others who had just come down from upstairs. He hurriedly stepped forward to hold Lin Hua's hand, and said excitedly, "Well done, Misha, well done!" Then he waved to the soldiers standing on the stairs, "Comrades, you are all doing well!" Yes. Without your heroic performance, it would not be an easy task for us to take down this barricade of the German army."

  Lin Hua waited for Ivan to finish his words of encouragement to the soldiers, and immediately asked, "Comrade Battalion Commander, what is our next task?"

  Ivan glanced at the soldiers on the stairs, and asked, "Misha, what were the casualties of your platoon during the battle just now?"

  Lin Hua replied proudly, "Except for a few soldiers who were hit twice by the splashed gravel when the inner wall was blown up for the first time, there were no casualties."

  Hearing Lin Hua's answer, Ivan's eyes widened in surprise: "In the battle just now, didn't you have any casualties?"

   "Yes, Comrade Major." Lin Hua nodded, and said in a firm tone: "Our platoon has no casualties, and we can start a new battle at any time."

   At this moment, two commanders walked in from the outside. Lin Hua recognized one of them as the second company commander who helped him move the grenade, and smiled politely at him. The Second Company Commander had just entered the building, and hadn't adapted to the light in the building yet, and hadn't seen Lin Hua's overtures to him. He asked Ivan bluntly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what shall we do next?"

"What else can I do, my Captain Leskov?" Ivan pointed to Lin Hua next to him, and said, "The comrades in the garrison platoon just now have demonstrated to us how to fight in the streets with practical actions. Your second company From the buildings on the left side of the street, we will use the wall-breaking tactics to approach the German barricade at the end of the street. And you, Captain Bukov, your company will be responsible for advancing from the buildings on the right."

After the two company commanders had left, Ivan smiled and said to Lin Hua: "Misha, the next battle will have to be completed by the other two companies. The task you are queuing up now is to rest well. When you are here, I will send someone to call you."

  Due to the new tactics adopted by the Second Battalion, Gogol Street was soon completely occupied. When Ivan called Shedulin to report the results of the battle, he surprised the other party: "Major, what are you talking about, your battalion has already occupied the entire Gogol Street? How is this possible? You know, an hour ago, You are still complaining to me that you lost a whole company in order to capture the barricades in the middle section. And now you tell me that your troops have captured Gogol Street, what the **** is going on? ?”

   "Comrade Commander," Ivan said triumphantly, "The reason why our battalion was able to capture Gogol Street so quickly is entirely because of Sergeant Sokov's 'break the wall and open the way' tactic."

"Break the wall and open the way?" Hearing this unfamiliar term, Xiedulin asked in a daze: "Comrade Major, what is going on, you have confused me." After Ivan finished introducing him in detail After seeing the situation on the battlefield, Xiedulin couldn't help being a little stunned. I thought to myself that I thought Sokov was bragging when he said he could take down the German positions. I didn't expect him to actually do it.

   "Comrade Commander," Ivan saw that after he had finished speaking, there was no sound from the receiver, thinking that Xie Dulin had put down the phone, he hurriedly asked loudly, "Comrade Commander, are you still there?"

"I'm still here." Ivan's shout woke up Xiedulin from his contemplation, and he said decisively into the microphone: "Comrade Major, didn't your third company commander die in battle? I now officially announce that, Sokov was appointed commander of the third company and promoted to lieutenant."

"Great, Comrade Commander, this is really great." After Ivan saw Lin Hua's ability, he was worried that Xie Dulin would transfer him to another battalion as a company commander. Now he heard Xie Dulin's appointment , was overjoyed immediately: "I will tell him the good news immediately."

"Comrade Major." After announcing his appointment, Shedulin continued to assign tasks to Ivan: "Currently your battalion is the closest unit to the Kryukovo Church. Take it down."

   "Understood, Comrade Leader." Ivan, full of confidence, replied loudly: "Just wait and hear our good news."

  The Kryukovo Church is located 400 meters west of Gogol Street. It is built on a gentle slope. The building of the church is square, and the bell tower at the top is circular. Since this is the commanding height of the whole city, the German army arranged a machine gun firepower point on the bell tower, so that no matter which direction the Soviet army launched an attack from, they could fire condescendingly.

Major Ivan called Lin Hua and the two company commanders in front of him, smiled and said to him: "Misha, congratulations, when I was talking to Comrade Commander, he officially announced your appointment. From now on, you It's the third company commander."

"Comrade Sokov," the first to congratulate him was Captain Leskov, the commander of the second company, "please accept my sincere congratulations on becoming the commander of our battalion." Lin Hua expressed his congratulations.

After announcing his appointment, Ivan said to the other two company commanders: "The order given to us by the regiment is to immediately attack the church and take it down in the shortest possible time. Since the strength of the third company has been exhausted There are not many left, and the combat mission of capturing the church will be completed by your two companies. How are you, do you have confidence?"

  As soon as Ivan's voice fell, the two company commanders replied loudly: "I promise to complete the task."

   Watching the first company and the second company assemble in a safe area, Lin Hua asked Ivan curiously: "Comrade battalion commander, what is the mission of our third company?"

   "Misha, we can't put all our troops into the attack." Ivan explained to Lin Hua: "We must leave the troops to hold on to the occupied area, so as not to have no strength to defend when the attack is frustrated and the Germans launch a counterattack."

   A few minutes later, the assembled Soviet army left Gogol Street and marched towards the church in scattered formation. The German soldiers in the church kept silent until the Soviet soldiers were only 150 meters away from the church. They began to shoot violently, knocking down the soldiers who rushed to the front in pieces, and the remaining soldiers immediately fell down on the spot .

Seeing that the firepower of the German army on the church was not weak, Lin Hua was afraid that the soldiers of the second battalion would suffer, so he quickly said to Ivan: "Comrade major, the German firepower is too strong, and our troops have no firepower to cover them. There will be a huge price to pay.”

  Ivan looked at the German firepower point above the church and knew that if he continued to order the troops to charge without fire cover, the entire army would be in danger of being wiped out. Therefore, he quickly ordered someone to send a signal to the troops in front, asking them to withdraw first and regroup before launching an attack.

  (end of this chapter)