Red Moscow

  Chapter 89 The Germans have attacked

   Less than half an hour after the troops escorting the wounded left, a German army appeared on the south side of the highland. There was about a company of them, and they were accompanied by five trucks towing artillery.

  Sokov stood in the observation post on the top of the hill, watching the artillery pulled by the car, which had been turned around by the German artillery and pointed the muzzle at the high ground where he was. Realizing that a fierce battle was coming, he put down the binoculars, and said to Savyev who was standing aside: "Comrade Lieutenant, the Germans will soon open artillery to the highlands. In addition to leaving a few observation posts to monitor the enemy, The rest of the fighters took cover."

   Fortunately, when this position was seized, the original telephone lines of the German army were not damaged too much. After repairs by the soldiers of the communication squad, Savyev was able to communicate with each platoon without leaving home. Savyev picked up the phone and said into the microphone: "The battalion commander ordered: Except for the observation posts left to monitor the enemy, the rest of the soldiers should hide to avoid the enemy's shelling."

  After putting down the phone, Savyev looked up at the log roof above his head, and asked with some concern: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we'll just stay in the observation post. There won't be any danger, right?"

"No, Comrade Lieutenant." Regarding Savyev's worries, Sokov said disapprovingly: "The roof of the observation post has been reinforced, and the German shells can't do anything to us." The reason why he was so confident was that It was because a layer of water had been poured on the snow on the roof, and it was frozen hard at this moment. He did not believe that the German artillery shells could blast such a thick layer of ice.

Although Sokov spoke so confidently, Savyev still said worriedly: "Comrade battalion commander, according to my observation, the German army uses 150mm howitzers. The ice on the roof of the observation post can withstand the impact of the German heavy artillery." bombardment?"

   Just when Sokov wanted to comfort Savyev a few more words, he suddenly heard a scream in the air. A thought just popped into his mind: "The Germans are firing!" There was a loud noise a few tens of meters ahead, and a huge fire ball rose there, emitting a dazzling light. Lookout rushed in, making him take two steps back involuntarily.

"Comrade battalion commander, this is the enemy's test firing, and they will start shelling soon." Although the bombing point was tens of meters away, Savyev still felt the ground under his feet tremble a few times. Then persuade Sokov: "I think the observation post can't withstand the shelling of the Germans. Let's go to the bomb defense hole."

"Wait a little longer, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov calmed down and said with luck: "The German artillery shells hit our unreinforced areas. I think the shells will not be able to penetrate the places that have been watered. .”

   But what happened next was to slap Sokov in the face. The German artillery shells fell on the high ground one after another, blowing up the earthworks protected by the ice layer, and the mud with snow powder in it flowed straight into the sky like a fountain. With every explosion, Sokov's heart contracted once, and his body trembled involuntarily.

  Seeing the impact of the shells and getting closer and closer to the observation post, Savyev became a little anxious. He grabbed Sokov's arm and pulled him hard towards the outside of the observation post. The scene in front of him made Sokov understand in his heart that pouring water on the snow to strengthen the fortification was simply a joke. In ancient times, water was poured on the city wall so that the enemy's artillery could not bomb the city wall, but can the shells made of big iron **** be compared with the 150mm howitzer shells? Therefore, when he found that Savyev was pulling himself outside, he did not resist, but obediently followed the other party out of the observation post, and entered the artillery hole not far away along the traffic trench.

  The German shelling lasted only half an hour before it stopped. Hearing that there was no movement outside, Savyev got out of the artillery hole, stood in the traffic trench and looked down the mountain. He saw half of the German infantry approaching the high ground cautiously with guns in hand. He hastily retreated into the anti-gun hole and shouted at Sokov who was sitting inside: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy has begun to attack!"

   "Immediately ordered the soldiers to enter the trenches." There was not much room for artillery holes. After standing up, Sokov could only half-bend and said to Savyev: "Be sure to beat the enemy down."

   After a while, whistles sounded one after another throughout the position, which was a signal to inform the soldiers who were hiding in the artillery hole or the concealed department that they should enter the position.

   Sokov and Savyev followed the traffic trench, preparing to return to the observation post. When he got closer, he found that the observation post had been half collapsed by artillery fire, and a crooked log was burning. Seeing this situation, Sokov couldn't help but gasped, thinking to himself, if Savyev hadn't forcibly pulled him away, he would have died by now. He turned his head and looked at Savyev who was standing aside, bit his lip, and said softly: "Comrade Lieutenant, thank you, you just saved my life."

"Look at what you said, Comrade Battalion Commander." Unexpectedly, Savyev said with a smile: "Saving your life is not the same as saving my own life. If the two of us don't leave the observation post, we probably will have a long time ago." He was killed by German shells." He looked around, and then said, "Comrade Battalion Commander, the observation post is no longer available, let's move to another place."

   The two climbed into a huge crater and used it as a new observation post to observe the situation on the battlefield. The terrain on the southern **** is steeper than the terrain where the Soviet army attacked, but the distance is nearly half. After the German infantry reached the foot of the mountain, they continued to walk quickly while shooting towards the top of the mountain.

When the German army entered the range of 100 meters, the machine guns on the position started to shoot first, and the dense gunfire sounded like popping beans, which immediately caught the German army who was struggling to climb up by surprise, and the soldiers who rushed to the front fell down one after another. In the snow. An officer who was walking in the front was hit by more than a dozen bullets, turned around twice, and fell face up in the snow. Although the soldiers in front were knocked down, the soldiers behind did not stop. They continued to climb while shooting upwards.

  Seeing that the Germans were still rushing forward, the gunfire on the position became more intensive. Not only the machine guns were firing, submachine guns, rifles, and even a few pistols also joined in the shooting, and the German soldiers who rushed up fell to the snow one after another.

  Faced with such a powerful firepower on the battlefield, the attacking German army could not support it anymore. They retreated scrambling, fled back to the original starting point of the attack, and joined the infantry and artillery remaining there.

  (end of this chapter)