Chapter 1440 Fire Coverage (Part 2)

  According to Sokov's thinking, since his troops occupied the bridge on the Ude River without blood or blood, the enemy would have to wait until dawn at least to find out. But the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. Just as the soldiers of the first battalion took the time to rest, a huge convoy appeared in the field of vision of the sentries on duty.

  The sentry did not dare to neglect, and quickly reported the situation to Shamrih.

  Shamrih hurried out of the temporary headquarters, looked into the distance with a telescope, and found that there were countless lights on the road, which seemed to be a large-scale convoy.

  Seeing this situation, the deputy battalion commander, Captain Yakuda, said in surprise: "Damn, where did these enemies come from?"

Shamrich only thought for a moment before he understood the origin of the opponent: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, this should be a German army that was withdrawn from somewhere. I asked why the guards on the bridge did not stop us when they saw us appear. , On the contrary, they used searchlights to illuminate us, feeling that they regarded us as this German army.”

After Shamrich's explanation, Yakuda also realized that the first battalion could easily capture the bridge on the Ude River without firing a shot. It must be the German army guarding the bridge, and regarded itself as the German army in front of it. Troops up. He turned his head and asked Shamrih: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"

   "Call the soldiers up immediately and get them ready for battle." After explaining the mission, Shamrih returned to his temporary command post and reported to the head of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Granin, by phone.

Granin, who was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of the phone, was filled with displeasure, but when he thought that the person who called him was the hero who had just captured the bridge over the Oud River, he could only suppress his anger and ask bluntly. : "Comrade Major, is something wrong?"

   "Comrade Commander," Shamrich reported to Granin: "There is a convoy of German troops approaching the bridge where we are. In five minutes at most, they will reach us."

   "I will immediately send the second battalion and the first part of the third battalion to support you." Knowing that the German convoy was approaching the bridge, Granin did not dare to neglect, and asked nervously, "Can you hold it until the reinforcements arrive?"

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Hearing that Granin distrusted his troops so much, Shamrich felt very awkward. But the battle was imminent, and he still tried his best to control his emotions and suppress the anger in his heart, "As long as there is one soldier in our battalion alive, I don't think the enemy's convoy will be allowed to pass the bridge."

  After putting down the phone, Yakuda ran back and reported to him: "Comrade battalion commander, I have conveyed your order. I believe it will not be long before all commanders and fighters can enter the combat position."

Shamrih nodded, and then said: "Tell the soldiers, the enemy who is rushing towards the bridge has not yet discovered that the bridge has been occupied by our army, so no one is allowed to fire before receiving the order. We have to wait for the enemy When you get close, hit them hard and catch them off guard."

   "Comrade Battalion Commander," Yakuta looked at the approaching German military convoy and said carelessly, "Or, if we shoot them a salvo with rockets, at least a dozen of their trucks can be reimbursed."

   "No, rockets cannot be used." But Shamrih rejected Yakuda's proposal, "The number of rockets we carry is limited, and it is a bit too wasteful to use them against these enemies."

Hearing that Shamrih rejected his suggestion, Yakuda said with regret: "What a good target, just give them a volley, and at least a dozen enemy trucks, as well as those sitting in the car, can be killed. enemy."

"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, why don't I want to use rockets?" Shamrich said with a wry smile, "But no, once we use rockets against this German army, it will not only expose our strength, but also destroy the German army." Precious rockets are exhausted. What weapons shall we use against the Germans if they attack by daylight?"

   Seeing Yakov's disappointed expression, he continued: "Didn't we seize two anti-tank guns, and they are perfect for dealing with German trucks."

  After hearing this, Yakuda couldn't help but smile, and quickly agreed: "Okay, Comrade Battalion Commander, I will immediately set up artillery positions and strive to make the first shot."

A few minutes later, when the German convoy was only 50 to 60 meters away from the bridge, two anti-tank guns deployed on the outskirts opened fire at the same time. The shells accurately hit the slow-moving truck, turning the two trucks in front into two groups. fireball. The soldiers who were on fire jumped out of the carriage, scurrying around like headless flies, and let out horrible screams.

  The German army behind saw that the vehicle in front was shot and caught fire, so they made an emergency stop. Before the officer gave an order, the German soldiers in the car jumped out of the car one after another and chose a suitable location to hide in order to find out what happened.

  The Soviet commander on the ground immediately ordered all light and heavy weapons to fire at the same time. The dense bullets rushed towards the enemy not far away like a storm, and knocked down the German officers and soldiers who had just jumped out of the car and hadn't figured out the situation.

  After a short period of panic, the German army soon had a German officer who organized his subordinates to launch a counterattack, trying to recapture the bridge occupied by the Soviet army. However, their hastily launched attack quickly collapsed under the strong firepower of the Soviet army, and they could only retreat to further areas in despair, using vehicles and roadside ravines to hide.

  Seeing that the Germans were hiding behind the vehicles, guns could hardly pose a threat to them, so the two anti-tank guns that had the first record opened fire again, blasting trucks parked on the road one after another into fireballs.

  As soon as the battle started here, the enemies in the western suburbs of Kharkov were quickly alarmed. From the sound of guns from a distance, they judged that the two armies had started an exchange of fire. Although the military officer has not yet figured out what happened, he still reported it layer by layer according to the regulations.

  General Kenff was awakened from his sleep, and he was originally full of displeasure. Knowing that there was heavy fighting near the bridge over the Oud, he immediately realized that the Soviets might want to seize the bridge. He called his chief of staff and asked: "Chief of staff, which army is holding the bridge over the Oude River?"

  The chief of staff thought for a while and replied, "It's a company of the 320th Infantry Division."

"There is only one company on the bridge, which may not be able to stop the Russian attack." Kenff didn't know that the bridge had fallen, and thought that the Soviet army was attacking the bridge, so he ordered his chief of staff: "Give the commander of the 320th Infantry Division a call." Telephone, ordering him to send troops immediately to reinforce the bridge, feeling that the Russian troops cannot be easily crossed over the Oud."

   "Yes, Your Excellency General." The chief of staff agreed, then turned and walked to the table where the phone was placed, picked up the receiver and pressed it to his ear and said, "Give me the 320th Infantry Division."

  After receiving the call, the commander of the 320th Infantry Division immediately ordered the chief of staff of the division to call the troops defending the bridge, telling them to find a way to defend the bridge. But unfortunately, the phone has never been able to get through.

  The chief of staff of the division put down the phone, shook his head at the commander, and said, "Your Excellency, the bridge guards cannot get through on the phone. I guess something is wrong."

   "What's wrong?" the teacher asked back.

"No matter how fierce the battle is, there will definitely be communication soldiers standing by the phone, and at the same time, they can convey the instructions of their superiors to those commanders who are temporarily unable to answer the phone." The chief of staff explained: "But your phone calls For such a long time, the other party has no one to answer the phone, I think the reason for this situation is..."

   "What is it?"

   "Your Excellency, although I try my best not to admit it, but in the face of the facts, I have to tell you the worst news: the bridge over the Oude River has been lost!"

   "Why did the bridge over the Oud River fall?" The German division commander did not believe the chief of staff's statement at all: "This is impossible. The sound of gunfire outside has not stopped. How could the Russians capture the bridge?"

  The chief of staff didn't know how to respond to the teacher's statement. He could only shrug his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating that he couldn't figure out what happened.

  The German troops who tried to seize the bridge belonged to the 198th Division. They were originally ordered to strengthen the defense of the bridge. He never dreamed that he was about to reach the bridge, but he was attacked by surprise, and the troops suffered heavy casualties. The German battalion commander who led the team immediately sent a telegram to his division commander, reporting to him in detail what happened here.

  After receiving the telegram, the commander of the 198th Infantry Division was taken aback. After a brief discussion with the chief of staff, he felt that it was necessary to report the matter to General Kenff in a timely manner and ask him to make new instructions.

  General Kenf, who was already furious, received a call from the commander of the 198th Division and found out that it was a battalion of the division who encountered the Soviet army by the bridge. He hoped that he could send troops to reinforce it as soon as possible.

   After listening to the report of the commander of the 198th Division, Kenf realized the seriousness of the problem, and asked quickly: "Are you sure that the troops that exchanged fire with your troops by the bridge were Russians and not our own?"

"It's absolutely certain, Your Excellency General." Seeing that Kenfu didn't trust himself, the German commander said cautiously: "My troops were originally ordered to take over the defense of the bridge, but as soon as the convoy approached the bridge, they encountered intensive firepower from the Russians. The interception caused great casualties to our army."

   "I see." Kenfu said coldly: "There must not be many Russians occupying the bridge. You must intensify your offensive. You must take back the bridge before dawn and eliminate the **** Russians."

   "Don't worry, Your Excellency General." The German army commander swore: "Even if we step on it with our feet, we will crush all these **** Russians to death before dawn."

   Regarding the rhetoric of the German division commander, Kenf went in his left ear and out of his right ear, and didn't take it to heart at all. After putting down the microphone, he said to the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, I think it is very difficult for the 198th Division to take down the bridge."

   "The troops guarding the bridge belong to the 320th Infantry Division." Knowing that the battle was unfavorable, Kenfu couldn't help becoming a little annoyed: "What did they do? Why didn't they report to me in time for such a big thing as the loss of the bridge?"

   "Your Excellency, General," the chief of staff said cautiously after he finished speaking, "I think the Russian attack may have come too suddenly. The soldiers guarding the bridge were killed by the Russians before they could recover their senses."

   "Is there a full company on the bridge, about 200 people, and they were killed by the Russians in such a silent way?"

"This is normal, Your Excellency General." The chief of staff explained to the furious Kenf: "The enemy we are facing is the 27th Army under the command of Sokov. His best tactic is to let his subordinates wear I Army uniforms, infiltrating the depths of our defense lines to sabotage or gather intelligence."

   Hearing what the chief of staff said, Kenf seemed to realize something: "Chief of staff, if according to your statement, the Russians pretended to be our army and deceived the defenders on the bridge, so they captured the bridge by surprise."

   "I think it's very likely."

"Damn Sokov, this time I will give him an order he will never forget." Kenfu raised his voice and said, "Let the 106th and 320th divisions attack from the east of the bridge immediately, and I must take the bridge back to me." .”

   "Need artillery support for them?"

"No need for the time being." Kenfu shook his head and said, "If it's not yet light today, if we bombard the bridge, it may not only cause accidental damage to our attacking troops, but also destroy the bridge. We also have to smash the Russian attack." strength, retaining the bridges on the river will be beneficial to the mobilization of our troops."

   "Your Excellency, General," the chief of staff reminded Kenfu: "Sokov's troops are very good at fighting defensive warfare. If our offensive troops do not have the support of artillery fire, if we want to seize the bridge, we will inevitably pay a heavy price."

"Okay then, Chief of Staff." Kenfe felt that the chief of staff said a lot of truth, so he nodded and said, "If our army has not recovered the bridge after dawn, then order the artillery to bombard the Russians' positions and use them to attack the Russians." The intensive artillery fire blasted them all to pieces."

  The German attack from the east of the bridge had just begun, and the German troops blocked on the west of the bridge were quickly wiped out as the Soviet reinforcements arrived. In this way, Shamrich can transfer all his troops to the east of the bridge to resist the German attack.

   After Granin arrived with the main force of the regiment, he immediately ordered people to establish a rocket launch position on the west bank of the Oude River, preparing to use it to deal with the German artillery positions.

  After dawn, the German artillery bombarded the Soviet army's position east of the bridge, and soon the entire position was shrouded in flames and gunpowder smoke. Seeing the enemy's artillery start to move, Granin understood that the firing positions on the east bank were firing.

  As the order was issued, the new rockets on the east bank positions shot out wildly. They dragged long lines of smoke into the sky and flew towards the German artillery positions.

   Ten seconds later, these rockets all hit the German artillery positions. The entire position was covered by rockets, and for a while, the ground shook and the flames shot up into the sky. The German artillery was shrouded in clouds of thick smoke, just like paper toys, and turned into piles of scrap iron in an instant.

The German artillery ran around in panic, but they were in the area where the rocket bombs exploded, and a large number of shells were killed. Where could they escape? up the sky.

  Granin stood in his regiment command post, and through the binoculars he could clearly see clusters of flames, which suddenly exploded in the German artillery positions like fireworks. Although it was far away, the loud sound accompanied by the vibration of the ground still made him feel palpitations.

  (end of this chapter)