Red Moscow

  Chapter 544 Tank Battalion, Assault (Part 2)

The Soviet tanks stopped in place and fired. The shell fired by the German anti-tank gun hit a tank again, but to the horror of the artillerymen, the shell turned into a ricochet again, only on the frontal armor, leaving behind An inconspicuous dent was made.

  The hit Soviet tank slowly turned its turret, aimed at the German anti-tank gun and fired a shot. The roaring shells fell next to the anti-tank gun and exploded. The flames engulfed the artillerymen who were loading the shells. When the gunpowder smoke cleared, several German artillerymen had already collapsed near the blasting point.

Briski led the commanders of the Fourth Battalion, who were far behind. Seeing the tank stop in front and firing at the enemy's position, he half-turned and shouted to his subordinates: "Comrades, our army The tank has suppressed the enemy's firepower, come with me!"

   "Ulla!" Following Briski's shout, all the soldiers shouted loudly, some brisk walking turned into a trot, and then entered a sprint state!

  Bliski rushed to the front on the opposite side. He jumped behind the No. 101 tank driven by Bely, picked up the microphone and shouted loudly: "Comrade Colonel, we are coming up!"

   "Understood!" Bely, who was sitting in the tank, heard Briski's voice, and replied loudly: "We will continue to move forward. You pay attention to the German anti-tank fighters. Don't let them approach our tanks."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Briski assured Bely: "We will never let enemy tanks approach you."

  Bely's tank and the tanks of the other two company commanders are equipped with on-board radios. After finishing his conversation with Briski, he issued an offensive order to the two company commanders: "Everyone is there, go forward, keep going!"

   Following the order, the tanks driven by the two company commanders started first. Although no signaler leaned out of the tank to signal, the nearby tanks saw that the company commander's tank was moving, and moved forward one after another. The speed of the Soviet tanks was neither fast nor slow. If they were fast, they were afraid that the infantry would not be able to keep up; if they were slow, they were afraid of slowing down the infantry's attack speed.

  When the attacking force was only two hundred meters away from the German trench, the two remaining MG34 machine guns in the trench opened fire. Although the bullets jingled on the armor of the T-34 tank and splashed countless sparks, it did not slow down the tank's forward speed at all.

Since the anti-tank artillery detachment had been hit by Soviet tank fire, the entire army was wiped out. In order to prevent the approach of the Soviet tanks, several German anti-tank fighters with explosive packs turned over and walked out of the trench, using the method of crawling forward , Approaching the Soviet tanks, trying to blow up the tanks.

  The enemy wanted to blow up the tank, but the Soviet soldiers following the tank would naturally not agree. As long as they saw an enemy getting up from the ground, they would shoot with submachine guns and beat those anti-tank fighters into a sieve.

Yakov, who was watching the battle in the factory building, saw the progress of the troops, and couldn't help asking Sokov curiously: "Misha, as far as I know, the German army's regimental headquarters are usually located seven or eight kilometers away from the front. The division headquarters is even 30 kilometers away. But why is this regiment headquarters of the German army only two or three kilometers away from your defense zone?"

Regarding Yakov's question, Sokov smiled lightly and replied: "Yakov, I think there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that the squad I sent behind the enemy was destroyed by a new type of rocket some time ago. A regiment-level headquarters of the German army was set up. The enemy felt that it was not safe in the rear, so they set up the headquarters so close to the front.

  The second possibility is that the enemy’s advantage in the factory area is too great, and our army has been suppressed and beaten, so that we can only carry out forced defense and cannot take any counterattacks. Therefore, the German commanders arrogantly believed that no matter where they set up their headquarters, there would be no danger. "

"Didn't you say that you sent tanks around the assembly workshop two days ago, making the enemy mistakenly believe that the area you were defending and transferred a tank brigade?" Yakov continued to ask: "Did the enemy discover Even though you have so many tanks, have you still not attracted the necessary attention?"

"That's right, I sent a group of tanks around the factory a few times a few days ago, which really frightened the enemy and prevented them from attacking us." Sokov explained with a smile, "But they sent tanks the next day. A large number of planes came to bomb, thinking that our tank brigade was almost lost in the bombing, so the position of the regiment headquarters was not moved."

   "Misha, do you think we can capture or kill the German regiment-level officers in today's battle?"

"It's hard to say." Sokov shook his head and said, "The German officers are greedy for life and afraid of death. Don't look at them setting up their headquarters in such a close place. Once they find that the situation is not good, they will definitely abandon themselves. His subordinates fled."

   "Damn coward." Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov couldn't help cursing in a low voice: "Since you are so afraid of death, why bother to set up the headquarters so close to the frontier."

"Yakov, the enemy's officers are all greedy for life and afraid of death." Sokov looked into the distance with a contemptuous expression on his face: "Our division headquarters are usually a few hundred meters away from the front, and The regimental headquarters of the German army is at least a few kilometers away. This shows how afraid their commanders are of death. Tell me, can such an army win the final victory in fighting us?"

"It's definitely not possible." After Yakov said this, he turned his head and looked left and right, and saw that there were only himself and Sokov on the driving track, and the guards were all staying in the factory building below. Then he asked in a low voice: "Misha, I ask you a question, I hope you can answer me truthfully."

  Sokov nodded and said, "Yakov, if you have any questions, just ask. As long as I know the answer, I will answer you truthfully."

   "Do you think," Yakov asked with some hesitation: "Can our troops hold Stalingrad?"

After he finished asking this question, seeing Sokov's surprised expression on his face, he quickly explained: "The question I asked was only asked in private as a friend, and there is no other meaning. If you feel uncomfortable answering, You don't have to answer me."

"Yakov, I can tell you very seriously." Sokov looked at Yakov with a firm expression and said: "We will definitely be able to hold Stalingrad. Not only can we hold Stalingrad, but we can also completely eliminate it." Attack all enemies in the city."

Regarding Sokov's statement, Yakov smiled wryly, and said: "Misha, you don't need to comfort me. I have been to the city two or three times, and I know the situation here very well. To put it in a bad way, If the counteroffensive fails in the near future, the city will not be saved at all."

   Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked Yakov in surprise: "Yakov, who told you that there will be a counterattack soon?"

Yakov smiled again and said: "The plan to launch a counter-offensive north of Stalingrad may be known to a limited number of defenders in the city, but it is no secret to me. I even know it better than you." It's too early."

  Seeing that Yakov already knew the counterattack plan two days later, Sokov asked curiously: "Yakov, do you think our counterattack will be successful?"

"It won't succeed." Yakov shook his head and said, "Don't look at the fact that there are three army groups in the north of the city, and there is a front army of Rokossovsky in the northwest, but in order to succeed, I think it is There is nothing possible.” He was afraid that Sokov would refute his point of view, so he specifically explained: “Although two or three brigades or an infantry division will be added to the troops in the city, the troops participating in the counterattack in the city are not only There is no air support, and even artillery support is very limited. Tell me, can you break through the German defense line with such troops and technical equipment?"

Sokov clearly remembered that the Soviet counteroffensive not only ended in failure in September, but even the counteroffensive in early October failed to make any progress. Instead, it consumed precious reserves and made the battle in the factory area even more difficult. difficult. So after hearing Yakov's question, he shook his head and said, "Yakov, there is no condition for a counterattack at all now. Even if we forcefully launch a counterattack, it will be difficult to last, and it will definitely end in failure in the end."

"That's right, Misha, you're right." Yakov handed Sokov a cigarette, and then said, "My thoughts are the same as yours, and such a counterattack is meaningless. Therefore, such a counter-offensive plan will be formulated to save Stalingrad from the danger of falling. But the consequences of their doing so will make the situation in Stalingrad even more unfavorable."

  Sokov knew that as Yakov, he must know a lot of things he didn't know, but he didn't ask any more, but raised his binoculars and looked into the distance to see how the troops were progressing.

  At this moment, the Soviet tanks had rushed into the German minefields. As the tanks were crushed by their tracks, landmines continued to explode. Fortunately, all the mines laid by the German army were infantry mines, and there were no anti-tank mines, which caused little damage to tanks. While the tank was passing through the minefield, Briski and his men stayed on the edge of the minefield, waiting for the tank to open a few passable paths for them in the middle of the minefield.

  The tank drove out of the minefield and continued to drive forward, collapsing the barbed wire fence pulled by the German army. When Briski saw this, he gave the order to charge again, and led his men along the road opened by the tank, and rushed towards the enemy's trench.

   There were not many German soldiers left in the trenches. The rest were either killed by artillery shells, or were killed by submachine guns of Soviet soldiers when they left the trenches to blow up tanks.

  Bliski and the others stopped when they were more than 20 meters away from the trench, took out a grenade and threw it out. When the smoke of the explosion rose, they continued to rush forward with the tank.

   When the tracks of the tank crossed the trench, some fast-running infantry also rushed to the trench. They first fired at the trench with their submachine guns, then jumped into the trench and rushed to the left and right to clear the remaining German officers and soldiers in the trench.

  Bliski followed Colonel Bely's tank and rushed towards an isolated house more than two hundred meters behind the trench. According to the information obtained in advance, there is the regiment headquarters of the German army.

   There is a sandbag fortification piled outside the building, and the MG34 machine guns in the fortification are firing wildly non-stop. Some soldiers rushed too fast and broke away from the cover of the tank body. Unfortunately, they were hit by dense bullets. They seemed to hit a transparent wall, and their bodies stopped. They either fell on their backs with their chests covered, or turned around in place After a circle, he fell softly to the ground.

As soon as Briski poked his head out to take a look, he felt his steel helmet being hit by something, and then there was a jingling sound, which made him quickly retract his head, grabbed the phone and called Bely loudly: "Comrade Colonel, Comrade Colonel, do you see that machine gun outside the building? Quickly kill it, quickly kill it!"

   "Don't yell, I have eyes." Bely's impatient voice came from the receiver: "I will order the gunner to kill it immediately."

   Tank No. 101 stopped, aiming its muzzle at the German firepower point not far away. With a loud "boom", the German firepower point was hit by the tank gun. The sandbag was blown to pieces, and the two German machine gunners behind the sandbag were blown up by the explosion, and then thrown aside.

  A tank rushed up quickly, and in the process of advancing, it turned the turret and turned the barrel to the rear. Just after completing this action, the tank body collided with the building. Ordinary brick-and-concrete buildings, which could not withstand the impact of the tank body, immediately collapsed, and the tank continued to rush forward with its huge inertia.

  Bliski saw that the building had collapsed, and knew that even if there were people inside, they would probably be crushed into meat paste, so he rushed up with two soldiers. He came to the pile of rubble and looked down carefully to see if there were any survivors, but after looking for a long time, he didn't see a living person except for a few deformed German corpses.

  Bely’s tank came to a stop outside the building. He lifted the hatch cover to reveal half of his body, lowered his head and asked Briski, who was looking for something: “Comrade Captain, what are you looking for?”

   "I'll see if there is a German commander among the dead." Briski simply replied.

   "Comrade Captain, you are wasting your time." Bely reminded Briski: "You should hurry up and find the maps and documents of the German army. Those things are the most useful to us."

Bely's words reminded Briski, and he quickly ordered the soldiers near the ruins: "Don't be idle, all of you, come and look for it, see if you can find the map or documents of the German army." , the soldiers standing around rushed over, and began to search for useful documents and maps in the ruins.

  Yakov in the distance saw this scene, and asked Sokov puzzled: "Misha, what are your subordinates looking for in the ruins?"

Seeing a group of people busy in the ruins, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, then guessed what they were looking for, and said to Yakov: "I guess Briski and the others are looking for maps or documents of the German army. Things, these things are very helpful for us to defend the city."

  (end of this chapter)