Chapter 1020

  Two days later, the German army appeared again in the defense area of ​​the 1st Battalion of the 122nd Regiment. This time, the enemy was no longer a dozen scouts on motorcycles, but a large group of infantry covered by tanks and armored vehicles.

Seeing that the enemy was gathering in the distance, Captain Vasili quickly picked up the phone and reported to the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko: "Comrade commander, a large number of German tanks and infantry appeared in front of our battalion. Gathering, seems ready to attack us."

   "I see." Papchenko replied briefly after hearing this: "Keep an eye on the enemy, and if they have any new movements, they will report to the regiment headquarters in time."

After finishing the call with Captain Vasily, Papchenko connected to the division headquarters and reported to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, I just received a report from a battalion commander. The massing of German tanks and infantry appears to be ready to attack."

  Sokov heard that the information came from the First Battalion, so he naturally believed in the authenticity of the information. After Papchenko finished speaking, he immediately said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let the soldiers enter the position and prepare for battle. I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle soon."

   "Comrade commander, our regiment lacks enough anti-tank weapons, can you give us some support?"

  Before he learned of the appearance of the German army, Sokov had been anxious, but now his mood became calm. After listening to Papchenko's request, he said lightly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you forgotten the rocket launcher equipped in your regiment? It is the strongest individual anti-tank weapon in this era, although there are not many , but it is not a big problem to kill twenty or thirty German tanks."

   "What about the artillery and tanks?" Papchenko felt that there were no artillery and tanks behind him, so he lacked confidence: "When will they provide us with artillery support?"

"Don't worry, we will provide you with artillery support when the time is right." Sukov felt that Papchenko had become a little panicked because of the sudden appearance of the German army, so he comforted him and said: "The first battalion, the second battalion The hundred new-style rockets equipped are as powerful as an artillery regiment, and these rockets are enough to send thousands of German soldiers to meet their God."

Before hanging up the phone, Sokov told him again: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are the leader of a regiment, and you still have more than 4,000 commanders and fighters under you. Don't affect the morale and morale of the army because of your panic. .If the situation is dangerous, just call and I will help you."

"Comrade Commander," Anisimov on the side heard Sukov's words and asked puzzledly: "I don't understand, we can provide artillery support for the 122nd Guards Regiment, why did you refuse? ?”

"Comrade Commissar, I don't agree with the premature use of artillery fire. There are two reasons." Seeing that Anisimov was puzzled, Sokov explained to him: "One is that in our forward troops, there are a large number of The new rockets and bazookas are the sharp weapons of the enemy's infantry and tanks; second, the number of tanks and artillery we have is limited, if we use tanks and self-propelled artillery in the first battle, it will expose our strength."

"Comrade commander, I would like to ask, will the enemy be distracted by our false positions?" Sidolin asked cautiously: "If we can't distract the enemy's attention, won't all our hard work be in vain?" ?”

"Even if the false position doesn't work this time, it doesn't mean it won't work in the future." Sokov explained to Sidolin: "Perhaps the next time the Germans attack, they will concentrate artillery fire or bomb our position with planes. These false positions that were set up not long ago will come in handy."

  The battle at the forefront will soon begin.

  The German army didn't know how many troops the Soviet army had deployed in the direction of Lugansk, so before the attack, there was no shelling, and the infantry rushed towards the position of the first battalion under the cover of tanks.

  Lieutenant Vasili stood in his command post, holding up his binoculars and looking at the approaching German tanks. He couldn't help beating his heart. He didn't know whether the minefield in front of the position could slow down the advancing speed of the German tanks. He put down the binoculars, picked up the phone, connected to the command post of the second company, and asked Guchakov who answered the phone with some confidence: "Comrade captain, how many anti-tank mines have you planted in front of your position?"

   "There are twenty." Guchakov reported to Vasily while observing the approaching German tanks: "From the driving route of the enemy tanks, at least five tanks will run over anti-tank mines."

   Before he finished speaking, there was a dull explosion sound in the distance, and a German tank was moving, which was blocked by the rising snow powder and mud. When the snow powder and mud fell, Guchakov clearly saw thick smoke billowing from the bottom of the tank, and he hurriedly reported to Vasily: "Comrade Battalion Commander, a tank has hit a mine. Didn't look at it." Some people escaped inside, and it seems that the German tank soldiers have all been reimbursed."

   "I saw it, Comrade Captain." Seeing that the landmines laid by the Second Company easily killed a German tank, Vasily felt relieved. He thought to himself: German tanks are nothing to be afraid of, we not only have anti-tank mines, but also new-style rocket launchers. As long as the German tanks are killed, their infantry is nothing to worry about. The dozens of new rockets equipped in their battalion are enough to blow up these German infantry to pieces.

Less than a minute after the first tank was blown up by a mine, another tank ran over a mine. This time it caused the ammunition in the vehicle to explode, and the turret that was blown up fell into the snow not far away. , hit an anti-tank mine impartially, causing another explosion, and was thrown into the air again.

   Two tanks were blown up, and the remaining German tanks stopped in place. They shot aimlessly at the position of the second company, patiently waiting for the engineers behind to clear them.

After Guchakov discovered the intention of the German army, he quickly called a signal soldier and told him: "You go and inform the sniper team on the position. If you find the German engineers appearing, kill them all immediately. You must not let them go." They clear mines."

   After a loud yes, the communications soldier turned around and ran out of the command post.

"Comrade Battalion Commander," Guchakov said into the microphone: "The enemy tanks were frightened by our mines. They dare not move on. They are probably waiting for the engineers behind to clear the mines. I have already issued an order to the snipers. I have given an order to kill the enemy engineers as soon as they see them, and absolutely not let them clear the mines!"

"Captain Guchakov, your decision is correct." After listening to Guchakov's report, Vasily said with relief: "As long as their engineers are destroyed, the enemy's tanks will not dare to advance. Without tanks The leading German infantry simply couldn't break through our lines of defense."

   "That's right, that's right." Seeing the enemy's tanks stagnant, Guchakov also said with a relaxed expression: "From the current situation, we only need to use a few snipers to prevent the enemy from moving forward."

  (end of this chapter)