Chapter 1219 Pontoon Bridge

  The counter-offensive on the bridge over the Pushol River began soon.

  The right bank of the bridge is a tank battalion and an infantry regiment; the left bank of the bridge is the second battalion of the mechanized brigade. Both sides attacked the enemy occupying the bridge at the same time.

According to General Poluboyarov's idea, the Germans had a dozen tanks and more than a hundred infantry, and dispatched a tank battalion, an infantry regiment with an infantry battalion, and had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers and equipment. Even if it was stepped on, all these Germans were trampled to death.

Unexpectedly, among the German tanks, there are several Leopard tanks. This is a tank specially developed by the Germans for the T-34 of the Soviet Army. This tank uses a new 55° inclined armor and a long-barreled 75mm main gun. , was one of the most successful medium tanks of World War II.

  These tanks are all hidden in the newly dug holes beside the bridge, only the turret and barrel are exposed. As long as the Soviet tanks were found to have entered a distance of 500 meters, they fired decisively. In less than a quarter of an hour, seven Soviet T-34 tanks were destroyed by German Panther tanks.

  After learning the news, General Poluboyarov stomped his feet angrily. He asked his subordinates: "Then how many German tanks did you destroy?"

   "It's a pity, Comrade Commander." The tank battalion commander said guiltily: "The enemy's tanks are hiding in the pits. Our tanks have been destroyed before they find out where they are."

"Chief of staff." General Poluboyarov called the chief of staff over after answering the call from the commander of the tank battalion, and ordered: "Concentrate the artillery fire immediately, bombard the position by the bridge, and cover the attack of our tanks and infantry." .”

"Comrade Commander, I think it is necessary to remind you of something." The chief of staff said cautiously: "If the artillery fire is too dense, the bridge may be blown up. Once the bridge is blown up, even if we eliminate the enemy, we will not be able to pass through." Bridge."

   "Then let the artillery be careful." General Poluboyarov said rather helplessly: "Don't blow up the bridge."

  The attack on the right bank was not going well, and the left bank was not much better. Due to the cover of the tanks, the counterattack troops could not get close to the bridge at all, and suffered heavy casualties under the German tank fire and machine gun fire. Seeing that the situation was not good, the commander of the second battalion quickly ordered the troops to temporarily stop the attack.

General Poluboyarov promised Sokov that the troops would recover the bridge before noon. As a result, the fighting continued until two o'clock in the afternoon, and the bridge was still in the hands of the Germans. There are corpses that died in various positions, among which the corpses of Soviet troops are the main ones.

  The German army standing on the bridge was attacked, and the German army on the periphery would not sit idly by. They launched attacks again and again towards the positions of the mechanized brigade. Although the mechanized brigade was not good at attacking the bridge, it performed well in defense. They stubbornly repelled three German attacks and wiped out more than a dozen German tanks by using mines and rocket launchers.

  The Soviet army could not eat the besieged bridge defenders; and the German army trying to reinforce the bridge defenders was unable to break through the Soviet defense. For a while, the battle near the Pushol River Bridge fell into a stalemate.

Sokov waited until noon, but still did not receive news of the recovery of the bridge, so he drove to General Poluboyarov's headquarters and asked angrily, "Comrade General, what is going on? Tell me, It is said that the bridge can be regained before noon, but it is already two o'clock in the afternoon, why is the battle still going on?"

  As soon as Sokov finished speaking, General Poluboyarov said with a smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, the enemy is fighting tenaciously. We have tried our best, but we have not been able to break through the enemy's defense."

"Take me to the frontier." Sukov saw that General Poluboyarov was helpless now. Although he was angry, he also understood that if he couldn't think of a good way, no matter how angry he was, the other party still couldn't take it. Get off the bridge, so prepare to go to the front to see the actual situation, and then consider what tactics to use instead.

  When Sokov and General Poluboyarov came to the forward command post, it happened that a new round of Soviet offensive started again. Seeing that the attacking tanks were constantly being destroyed by German tanks in the distance, and the attacking infantry fell to the enemy's guns one after another, Sokov's heart was bleeding.

  He moved the telescope to the distance, and found that on the other side of the bridge, there was also a counterattack. The enemy's defense over there seems to be less tenacious than this side, but they still cannot break through the enemy's defense. Sokov put down the binoculars in his hand, turned his head and asked General Poluboyarov standing aside: "Comrade General, what happened to the attack on the left bank? I saw that the enemy's resistance was not strong, but why couldn't they break through?" What about the enemy's defense?"

"No way, the troops on the left bank don't have tanks." General Poluboyarov said with a wry smile: "They can't suppress the enemy in terms of firepower. Those anti-tank teams equipped with rocket launchers can't get close to the effective range to destroy the enemy. tank."

   "Since the troops on the left bank don't have tanks, why don't they think there is a way to send them some tanks?"

"Comrade Commander, if I could have sent the tanks there, I would have sent them a long time ago." General Poluboyarov said helplessly, "Now the enemy is firmly in control of the bridge. They can push all the way to the other side. Then there will be no need to send them tanks to support them."

"Although this bridge is occupied by the enemy, you can still use other methods to send the tanks to the other side?" Sukov said here, turning to the chief of staff: "The engineer battalion that came with you, Has the pontoon been erected?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, the pontoon bridge has been erected." The army chief of staff nodded vigorously and replied, "It's just two or three kilometers downstream, where tanks, armored vehicles and trucks can pass..."

"It seems that you understand the situation quite well." After complimenting the other party, Sokov suddenly turned his face hard and said unceremoniously: "Since the pontoon bridge has been erected, why don't you send tanks to cross the river from there? As long as the attacking force on the left bank also has tanks, it will be much easier to recover the bridge than it is now."

When General Poluboyarov heard this, he slapped himself heavily on the forehead with his palm, and then said angrily: "Confused, I am so confused. The pontoon bridge downstream has already been built, why don't I Send tanks across the river? As long as the troops on the left bank have tanks, it will be much easier for them to occupy the bridge than it is now."

Speaking of this, General Poluboyarov ordered his chief of staff: "Immediately order the 17th Guards Tank Brigade to send a battalion of tanks down the river and cross the river on the pontoon bridge built by the engineers to assist the troops on the left bank. , launch a new attack on the bridge."

  (end of this chapter)