Chapter 1305 Defense (Part 1)

   Facing a series of orders issued by Sokov, Sameko felt that he was a little confused.

When he waited for Sokov to sit down and drink tea, he tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, I don't understand. Since General Poluboyarov will withdraw from the battle with the 188th Infantry Division, why did you let them complete the assembly?" After that, how about standing by in place?"

  Sokov did not answer Sameko's question, but asked with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there anything wrong?"

"The 81st Guards Division, which is responsible for blocking missions, now has only more than 2,000 people left. Only General Trufanov's more than 40 old-fashioned tanks and the division's artillery regiment can provide them with artillery cover. More than twenty 76.2 mm caliber cannons." Sameko said eloquently: "With this power, I don't think they can stop the full German assault."

   "Didn't I send the 188th Division to rush over for reinforcements?" Sokov said lightly: "And I ordered the division to take over the defense of the 81st Guards Division within an hour."

   Lunev, who has never spoken, couldn't help interjecting when he heard this: "Comrade Commander, if I heard correctly, you are talking about taking over the defense of the 81st Guards Division, not reinforcing them?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, you heard me right. I am going to have the 188th Division replace the 81st Guards Division." Seeing Lunev's puzzled expression, Sokov explained to him, "The Guards The commanders and fighters of the 81st Division have a wealth of combat experience, and they cannot be exhausted in battle. As long as enough combat backbones are retained, after adding new soldiers, they will soon be able to form combat effectiveness."

"So that's how it is." Lunev knew that the formation of the 81st Guards Division was much longer than the 188th Division, and it had more combat backbones. The 188th Division replaced the 81st Guards Division. is very necessary.

  As the 188th Infantry Division and the Guards Tank Corps withdrew from the battle, General Herlein's Grossdeutschland Division finally rushed over to join forces with the 3rd Armored Division. At the same time, he received Huot's order to concentrate his efforts to break through the direction of the Soviet army, rush to Yakovlevo in the shortest possible time, and build a line of defense there to prevent the Soviet attack and cover the retreat of the main armored army. .

  After receiving Huot's order, he left a motorized battalion to accommodate the broken soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division and treat the wounded who had not died. The main force went south along the road, ready to rush to Yakovlevo quickly.

   At the forefront is a Panther tank battalion and two infantry battalions of the armored regiment.

  When the vanguard entered the defense zone of the 81st Guards Division, the 173rd Guards Artillery Regiment deployed behind the entire position opened fire. The shells fired by more than twenty 76.2mm cannons fell on the German tanks and exploded. Most of the shells failed to hit the high-speed tanks, but just blasted up clouds of mud.

  The shells that occasionally hit the target, because it is impossible to penetrate the armor of the German tanks at such a long distance, I can only watch them rush to the infantry's defensive positions.

   The infantry standing on the ground did not have the bazooka prepared by Sokov's troops. They could only rely on old-fashioned anti-tank rifles to shoot at the tanks rushing towards them.

   Anti-tank rifles may still be useful against the German Panzer III and Panzer IV. What they were facing now was a Panther tank with much thicker armor. Even if the bullets fired by the anti-tank rifle hit the tank, they would all become ricochets.

Seeing that the artillery fire and anti-tank rifles at the rear could not pose a threat to the German tanks, the head of the 233rd regiment who commanded the battle at the front could only order the soldiers to risk their lives, climb out of the trenches, and use anti-tank grenades or cluster grenades. , to blow up enemy tanks at close range.

  However, their anti-tank tactics have long been familiar to the tank soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Division. Seeing Soviet soldiers crawling out of the trenches, the Leopard tanks slowed down and were gradually equipped in echelons. The tanks behind fired at the soldiers with their vehicle-mounted machine guns to prevent them from approaching the front tanks.

After paying the lives of nearly forty commanders and fighters, a Panther tank in the front was barely blown up, and the other tank whose track was blown off stopped in place and bombarded the Soviet army with tank guns. position.

Seeing this, the head of the 233rd regiment knew that if he sent people to blow up the tanks, he could only pay a greater sacrifice, so he quickly issued a new order: "Let the enemy's tanks pass through our trenches, and then use anti-tank grenades or Cluster grenades blow them up."

  After issuing the combat order, the regiment leader connected to the division headquarters and asked Marankin for help: "Comrade commander, the enemy tanks are approaching our position. I ask for reinforcements, I ask for reinforcements!"

"Comrade Colonel," Marankin has also seen what happened in the 233rd Regiment's position, but the battle has just started, and he must not easily put the second-line troops into battle. At that time, what kind of troops should I use to stop them? Therefore, he could only harden his heart and say: "It's not yet time to use the reserve team. You must find a way to firmly hold the position. Do you understand?"

   "Comrade Commander," the regiment leader looked at the positions that were getting closer and closer, and couldn't help but feel confused: "If reinforcements are not provided as soon as possible, the Germans may break through our regiment's positions soon."

"Comrade Colonel, have you forgotten what you said to me?" Seeing that the regiment leader is still entangled with himself, Marankin couldn't help being a little angry: "You said that as long as there is one soldier alive, you will never let the Has the enemy breached your lines? How long has it been before you lose confidence."

  Marankin's words were like a slap in the face, calming down the panicked leader. He rubbed his face with his hands, took another deep breath, and then said in a firm tone: "Comrade commander, don't worry, we will tenaciously hold our ground."

  The head of the regiment put down the phone and when he returned to the position, a battalion commander with a bandage on his head came over and asked him: "Comrade head, when will the division commander send us reinforcements?"

  The head of the regiment didn't want to affect the morale of the troops because of the lack of reinforcements for the time being, so he said vaguely: "Reinforcements will come soon, how is the current situation?"

The commander of the first battalion thought that the reinforcements sent by the division headquarters would arrive soon, and his face became relaxed. He pointed to the tanks in the distance and reported to the regimental commander: "Comrade commander, the enemy tanks bully us. With long-range anti-tank weapons, they parked 200 meters away and bombarded and strafed our positions with tank guns and machine guns."

  As soon as he finished speaking, a shell landed nearby and exploded, and the mud kicked up scattered on him and the head of the regiment. The first battalion commander spat out the dirt in his mouth and said cursingly: "Damn German tanks, when you cross our trenches later, I must personally send you to see God."

"First Battalion Commander," the regimental commander said to the first battalion commander when he saw that the German infantry was still far behind. Since we don't have effective anti-tank weapons, let's ignore them. Let everyone take cover and wait for enemy infantry to approach before firing."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander. I will pass on your order immediately." After a loud reply, the first battalion commander turned around and bent over and ran towards the position of his troops.

Looking at the commander of the first battalion in the distance, the commander's heart was bleeding. The battle had just begun for less than ten minutes, and his subordinates were under the enemy's artillery fire and machine guns, causing nearly a hundred casualties, of which forty were He sent out to blow up tanks and sacrificed himself. If you don't control the casualties in time, when the German infantry rushes up, you will become a bare commander.

  Ten minutes later, the enemy's infantry was only 150 meters away from the position, and whistles sounded one after another on the position, which meant that the soldiers were calling the soldiers to enter their respective combat positions.

  On the battlefield, due to the loud sound of guns and guns, people's hearing is impaired, and sometimes they can't hear other people's voices at all. Only through sharp whistles can soldiers hear instructions clearly.

  The commanders and fighters who entered the combat position began to shoot at the rushing German infantry with the weapons in their hands. The German soldiers who were charging did not expect that the Soviet army would suddenly open fire at this moment. Caught off guard, the soldiers who rushed to the front fell down. The rest quickly hid on the spot and fired back at the Soviet army. The machine gunners quickly seized the favorable terrain, set up their machine guns, and fired at the Soviet troops on the ground.

  For a while, gunshots and explosions rang out.

  The German tankers saw that the infantry was suppressed by the Soviet firepower. Except for some of the tanks left to continue bombarding and strafing the Soviet positions, some tanks restarted and drove forward against the Soviet bullets.

The commanders and fighters on the ground knew that the weapons in their hands did not pose any threat to the German tanks, so no one shot at the advancing tanks, but continued to target those who were hiding in the craters or following the tanks. On the infantry who moved slowly behind.

The battalion commander who stayed at the forefront was afraid that the soldiers would shoot at the tanks in vain, and still shouted hoarsely: "Don't worry about the enemy's tanks, only attack the infantry behind. As long as the tanks and infantry are separated, the enemy's tanks will There is no threat."

   A Panther tank crosses the trench and advances into the depths of the defense.

  Seeing the enemy tanks crossing the trench, a soldier bravely stood up and threw out the anti-tank grenade in his hand. The grenade fell on the body of the tank, and there was a "boom", and then the tank was enveloped in flames and thick smoke. The tank drove another 20 to 30 meters ahead, and then stopped and burned in the open space.

  The top cover of the turret was pushed away from the inside, and then a tank covered in fire leaned out from the inside. Unexpectedly, before he climbed out, his body hung limply on the opening, burning with the tank.

  Two tank soldiers in black jumpsuits crawled out from under the tank. They instinctively ran away in the direction they came from, but after running not far, they found that what was waiting for them was the angry guns of the Soviet army, and quickly turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Then it was too late, a machine gunner with a rotary machine gun pulled the trigger at them, and after a series of shots, the two German tank soldiers fell in a pool of blood.

   Killed a German tank, which immediately boosted the morale of the commanders and fighters on the ground. Taking advantage of the victory, they pursued and killed two aggressive tanks in a row, deterring the remaining German tanks, and continued to stay at the enemy one or two hundred meters away from the trenches, using tank guns and machine gun fire to suppress the Soviet commanders hiding in the trenches .

   "Good job!" Malankin, who was in the headquarters of the rear division, saw the battle taking place in the 233rd regiment's position through a telescope, and couldn't help applauding. He turned his head and said to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, the brothers of the 233rd regiment are all good, they actually killed three German Panther tanks in one go."

   "It should be four, Comrade Division Commander." The chief of staff reminded Marankin: "Before the commander of the 233rd regiment called you for help, they blew up and injured one of the enemy's tanks."

   "Yes, yes, yes, I forgot to include that tank." Marankin nodded vigorously and said, "Chief of Staff, do you think we can send the 238th Regiment to reinforce them?"

"Wait a little longer, Comrade Division Commander." The chief of staff glanced at the area where the fierce battle was taking place, and reminded Marankin: "There is no communication trench between the second-line position and the 233rd regiment's position. If we send reinforcements at this time, the troops are passing through two When the open area between the lines of defense is opened, it will be bombarded and machine-gunned by the enemy, and I am afraid that when the troops reach the front, there will not be many people left."

"Chief of staff, what you said is very reasonable." Marankin recognized the statement of the chief of staff and adjusted his plan in time: "After the 233rd regiment repelled the German attack, we will send the 238th regiment up to Not too late."

  The battle in the defense zone of the 233rd Regiment lasted for an hour and finally ended with the retreat of the German army.

Seeing the enemy's tanks and infantry retreating with a whimper, Marankin breathed a sigh of relief. He ordered the communications soldier to help him connect to the command post of the 233rd Regiment, and said straight to the point: "I am Marankin, division commander. Your commander speaks."

  Unexpectedly, there was silence in the receiver. Just when Marankin thought that there was a problem with the telephone line, a heavy voice came from inside: "Comrade commander, the head of the regiment has unfortunately died a heroic sacrifice in the battle just now."

  Knowing that the head of the 233rd regiment was killed, Marankin couldn't help taking a breath. After a brief silence, he tentatively asked, "Who are you?"

   "I am the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 233rd Regiment..."

Ma Lanjin didn't care about listening to the other party's self-report, so he interrupted the other party's next words, and said to himself: "Comrade battalion commander, I order you to temporarily act as the commander of the 233rd regiment. While the enemy is being repelled, you We must hurry up to repair the fortifications and prepare for a new round of attacks by the enemy."

   "Yes!" The acting head replied loudly, "I will immediately arrange manpower to repair the fortifications."

   "Also, I will send the 238th Regiment to reinforce immediately." Marankin hesitated for a moment, then said decisively: "After the 238th Regiment enters the position, the troops of the two regiments will be unified under the command of the 238th Regiment commander."

  (end of this chapter)