Red Moscow

  Chapter 388 The Brave Guards (Part 2)

  The 101st regiment lost its anti-tank position, and the situation it faced immediately became severe. As long as the machine gun firepower on the position is fired, it will immediately be attacked by German tank fire. As long as it is hit by a shot, the machine gun and the shooter will be blown to the sky. Therefore, after firing a plate of bullets, the machine gunner had to move immediately to find a new place to establish a machine gun position, and it was impossible to form suppressive firepower against the incoming German troops.

  The German army was not only supported by tank fire, they also established mortar positions and machine gun firepower points at 500 meters and 300 meters respectively, and used powerful firepower to suppress the Soviet troops on the positions to cover their own soldiers charging. The Soviet soldiers who were shooting head-on in the trenches were hit by flying shrapnel or machine gun bullets from time to time, and fell into the trenches in various postures.

  In the command post of the regiment a few hundred meters away, the regiment leader saw his subordinates continue to suffer casualties under the fierce firepower of the German army. Because during the early breakout, all heavy weapons including mortars and heavy machine guns in the regiment were discarded, and now only light weapons can be used to deal with enemies armed to the teeth.

The chief of staff of the regiment standing next to the head of the regiment, seeing the critical situation at the front, quickly put forward a suggestion to the head of the regiment: "Comrade head, I suggest that we report our situation to the division immediately, and ask the division to provide us Artillery support." But after he finished speaking, he found that the regiment leader didn't react at all, as if he didn't hear his words at all, and quickly added, "The enemy is only one or two hundred meters away from our position. Once they rush into the trench , then our defense line will collapse.”

   "It's useless." Hearing what the chief of staff said, the regiment commander couldn't help but twitch the muscles on his face violently. Seeing that the situation at the front was so bad, why didn't he think of asking the division for help. However, he knew very well that the divisional artillery regiment also lost all its artillery during the breakout process, and is now assigned to the 102nd regiment as infantry. "Don't you know that the artillery regiment belonging to the division has been changed into infantry and assigned to the 102nd regiment to fight? Now that the division doesn't even have a single artillery, how can it provide us with artillery support?"

However, the head of the regiment also knew in his heart that it was only a matter of time before the front line was broken by the enemy. After saying this, he immediately ordered the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, you immediately take the guard platoon and everyone who can fight to support the front line." , we must hold our ground. Do you understand?"

   "Comrade Commander," the chief of staff of the regiment said with some embarrassment after hearing this order, "If I take the guard platoon away, there will be no one around you. Look..."

   "Go," before the chief of staff of the regiment finished speaking, the head of the regiment said in an unquestionable tone: "If you can't hold the position, what use is the guard platoon staying at the regiment headquarters?"

  Seeing that the regiment leader's attitude was so firm, the chief of staff of the regiment quickly agreed, calling the staff officers and correspondents in the headquarters to leave with him, and went to the front with the guards to reinforce the front.

The situation is not only tight in the 100th and 101st regiments, but the 102nd regiment deployed on the far left, facing the fierce German offensive, can only call the division commander Glazkov for help. Said: "Comrade commander, under the cover of tanks, the enemy's infantry rushed to our regiment's position. One of my battalions has been wiped out. Please send a reserve team to support us as soon as possible, otherwise the position may fall. .”

"Comrade Colonel," Glazkov yelled into the microphone after hearing the cry of the commander of the 102nd regiment: "As long as one of you is alive, you must firmly hold the position. If you lose the position, I will shoot you .”

Having said that, Glazkov is also aware of the seriousness of the problem. The defense zone of the three regiments adopts a linear defense. Due to the lack of troops, there is no defense depth at all. Once a certain place is lost, the entire defense line will collapse. of. Considering this, Glazkov hurriedly called his deputy division commander over and ordered: "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation of the 102nd Regiment is not good now, you should immediately take Major Ibalu's teaching battalion to support."

  As soon as the deputy division commander took people away, the 100th regiment called again for help. The head of the regiment said that his position had been breached. The political commissar and chief of staff of the regiment led the troops in the counterattack, and all died heroically. He asked Glazkov to provide him with the necessary support. Knowing that the position of the 100th Regiment had been breached, Glazkov couldn't help being anxious. He hurriedly called his chief of staff and asked bluntly, "How many troops do we have now?"

   "There is also a guard battalion." After the chief of staff blurted out, he quickly added: "However, in the breakout battle, the battalion suffered heavy casualties, and now there are only more than a hundred people left."

"Chief of staff, you immediately take the rest of the guard battalion to the defense zone of the 100th Regiment and assist them in their defense." Glazkov was afraid that the chief of staff would not understand the importance of the line of defense, so he specifically reminded him: "Behind our defense zone, there are no friendly troops. Once the enemy breaks through our defense zone, they can directly rush into the factory area."

After the teaching battalion and the guard battalion were sent out, Glazkov saw that there were only a hundred staff officers, communications, and logistics personnel left in the division headquarters. He was worried that if there was any danger in a certain area, he would have no soldiers to send, so he hurriedly shook his head. I made a phone call to the Army Group Headquarters and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the Germans launched a fierce attack on the defensive zone of our division. The situation of the three regiments is very bad now, and the defense line is in danger of being breached by the enemy at any time. I beg you, immediately send troops for reinforcements."

   Regarding Glazkov’s request for help, Chuikov was silent for a while. He knew that after a long period of fighting, the 35th Guards Division’s troops had been severely reduced. Therefore, after a fierce struggle in his heart, he said into the microphone: "General Glazkov, I will send you reinforcements. I will immediately contact the city defense committee and ask them to send militia troops from the factory area to support you. ..."

"What, the militia?" Glazkov was secretly delighted when he learned that Chuikov would provide him with reinforcements, but when he heard that the support was actually from the militia, his heart turned cold, and he said in surprise: "Comrade Commander , don’t you know that the militia units in the factory area are all newly formed? They have no combat experience, neither have they been shot by German machine guns, nor have they seen German tanks rushing in front of them. If they deploy On the defensive line, before the German tanks rushed over, they would turn around and run away..."

"General Glazkov," when he heard Glazkov comment on the militia troops he was going to send to support the front, Chuikov sternly said, "Who gave you the right to insult the working class? You don't know that if we want to stop the enemy rushing towards Stalingrad, our army alone is not enough. We must also unite with the masses of workers and city residents. Only with their support and help can we hold this A city named after the supreme commander..."

Chuikov's words made Glazkov speechless for a while, and after a long time, he said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, anyway, in the face of such an intense battle, the militia troops with little combat effectiveness are thrown into I do not think it proper to fight. Therefore, I beg you, send me a regular army, if only a battalion."

"General Glazkov, I don't have a single battalion in my hand at the moment." Regarding Glazkov's request, although he knew that the other party could not see him, Chuikov still shook his head resolutely: "So I have an organized battalion in my hand." There is only one division of yours, and the rest of the troops are still gathering strength, and it will take at least two to three days before they can go into battle. Therefore, under the current circumstances, you can only rely on the armed forces of the working class to crush the Germans' opposition. An attack on the factory district."

As soon as Chuikov put down the phone, Krylov hurriedly said: "Comrade Commander, have you forgotten that there is still an infantry brigade on Mamayev Post, and they can definitely be sent to support the 35th Guards Division." Glancing down at the map on the table, he added, "The distance is less than five kilometers, even if we march on foot, it will only take two hours at most."

   Krylov's proposal made Chuikov's heart skip a beat. He knew the combat effectiveness of the 73rd Infantry Brigade very well. If this force could be sent to reinforce the 35th Guards Division, then there should be no problem in holding the position. But just as he picked up the phone, he suddenly changed his mind: "No, Comrade Chief of Staff, I cannot give such an order to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. The task of their brigade is to stick to the Mamayev Post. If we move our troops to other places and the Mamayev Post is empty, the defenders of Stalingrad will be divided into two separate parts. No, we must not take this risk .”

When Krylov made this suggestion, he also had a fluke in his mind. He believed that the German army's offensive focus was on the factory area, and there was no time to take care of Mamayev Post for the time being. Even if Sokov's troops were transferred away, Ma Ma The defense of Yevgang will have no effect either. Hearing what Chuikov said, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and quickly admitted his mistake to Chuikov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I didn't think carefully. It seems that we can only ask the city defense committee for help. They sent the factory militia to support the 35th Guards Division."

"Call Sharayev," Chuikov said to Krylov, "ask him to send militiamen to support the comrades of the 35th Guards Division, and then send the 30th Independent Armored Train Battalion to provide artillery support for our troops. "

  (end of this chapter)