Chapter 1465 Ring Trenches

  At this time, the enemy down the hillside, having lost their unified command, had stopped attacking the Soviet positions, and were alternately covering their retreat, trying to safely exit the Soviet ambush circle. After accepting Mikhaiev's order, the commander of the artillery company and the commander of the machine gun company returned to their companies after discussing a few words in private.

  The mortar bombarded the enemy down the hillside, and the enemy immediately dispersed. As soon as the enemy was seen running across the hills and fields, the machine guns fired and drove them back together, leaving it to the artillery to destroy them.

  Just as the reinforcements of the German army were being beaten to the ground by Mikhaiev's subordinates, the German artillery bombarding the high ground suddenly stopped shelling.

  As soon as the shelling stopped, the enemy who was hidden hundreds of meters away from the position launched a counterattack. Crowds of German soldiers walked towards the top of the hill with their waists bowed and big strides. According to their thinking, under such fierce artillery bombardment, the defenders on the position must have suffered heavy losses. And those who were lucky enough not to be killed by the bombing were also dizzy at this moment, and they might not be fully awake when I rushed in front of them.

  But what the Germans didn't expect was that long before their shelling began, the division guard battalion that captured the hilltop position, except for a few soldiers left behind as guards, the rest of them withdrew to a safe area on the reverse slope. Seeing the enemy charging towards the position, the soldiers who stayed in the position as guards immediately blew their whistles to issue an early warning to the troops hiding on the reverse slope.

When the guard battalion commander heard the whistle, he hurriedly shouted to the left and right: "The enemy is attacking, everyone enters the position immediately and prepares to meet the enemy." Following the order, the commanders and fighters rushed out of their hiding places. He stood up and rushed towards the top of the mountain with his weapon in hand.

  The enemy is hundreds of meters away from the position, while the Soviet soldiers are only tens of meters away. After a while, the soldiers entered the position, looking for a suitable place as their shooting position.

  When the German troops approached the position, they were greeted with dense bullets. The German officers and soldiers probably never dreamed that they would be hit by such fierce firepower in a place where they felt that there were not many living people. The enemies sitting in front threw a large area directly, and even the soldiers who followed far behind were hit by stray bullets, and fell to the ground with a scream.

  The German captain who commanded the attack saw his subordinates falling down in a large area, and immediately realized that something was wrong, and quickly ordered the machine gunner to choose a place to set up a shooting position, trying to use firepower to suppress the firepower of the Soviet army. But what he didn't expect was that as soon as the machine gunners who had seized the position fired a few bursts, the mortar shells of the Soviet army roared in and exploded directly in the queue. With the sound of the explosion, the soldiers near the explosion point danced and flew into the air.

   "Not good!" Seeing this, the German captain couldn't help screaming that it wasn't good. Judging from the firepower density on the position, the defenders who stood firm did not look like survivors of the shelling, but a large number of troops. He hurriedly called a messenger and told him, "Hurry up, hurry up and convey my order, stop the attack on the Russians, and withdraw immediately."

  In this situation, he only needs to blow the whistle, and the attacking soldiers will take the initiative to withdraw. But just before the attack began, he thought that there were not many defenders on the ground, and that as long as his troops attacked, they could easily regain the lost position and drive the defenders down the mountain, so he didn't carry a whistle with him.

   Who knows that the artillery bombardment by one's own side did not seem to cause much casualties to the defenders, causing them to lose troops and generals. At this time, there was no whistle, and it was obviously impossible to withdraw the troops suppressed by firepower. The only way for the signal soldiers to venture to the front was to inform their subordinates and let them withdraw from the battle.

  But what the German captain never dreamed of was that the fifth and sixth companies led by the second battalion commander and an artillery platoon were quietly approaching him, preparing to flank the enemy with the defenders on the high ground.

  The second lieutenant who led the charge was a platoon leader. Seeing that the troops in his platoon were almost killed by Soviet artillery and machine gun fire, he had already started to retreat. However, since he did not receive an order to retreat, he could only continue to lie on the ground and wait for the opportunity. At this moment, seeing the captain send a messenger to convey the retreat order, I couldn't help feeling like I had escaped from the sky, and quickly ordered the surviving soldiers to start retreating.

  The Soviet commanders and fighters who stood firm in the position stopped shooting after the enemy withdrew from a distance of 300 meters. At such a long distance, it is very difficult to hit the enemy. It is better to save a little ammunition and teach them a lesson when the enemy attacks.

  The German captain hid behind a rock and saw his subordinates retreating. He immediately grabbed the second lieutenant who led the charge and asked, "Second lieutenant, how are your casualties?"

The second lieutenant smiled brightly, and replied bitterly: "Mr. Captain, the Russians' firepower is too fierce. There are less than ten soldiers left in my platoon of more than sixty soldiers." After a moment's pause, he tentatively asked , "What do we do next?"

"It seems that our artillery did not cause much casualties to the Russians." The German captain said thoughtfully: "If we continue to attack, I am afraid that the whole army will be in danger of being wiped out. In my opinion, we should retreat. When the main force arrives after dawn, it will not be too late to attack."

Regarding the captain's decision, the second lieutenant, who had just narrowly escaped death, naturally would not object, he nodded quickly and said, "You are right, Mr. Captain, according to the distribution of firepower on the Russian positions, they have at least one battalion We have little chance of winning, so we might as well retreat first."

  A lieutenant interrupted and said: "Mr. Captain, there are dense gunfire coming from the west. According to my analysis, it should be the reinforcements and the Russians who exchanged fire."

  In fact, as early as when this German army was lurking, they heard the sound of guns from the west, and the captain even sent someone to conduct reconnaissance. Unfortunately, the soldiers in charge of reconnaissance were unfortunately killed by stray bullets when they approached the battlefield. No matter what he saw, a dead man couldn't send a message back.

  The German captain thought for a while, and then said confidently: "Even if there is an exchange of fire between our army and the Russians, with their combat effectiveness, they are definitely not our opponents. Don't worry, we will be able to safely withdraw from the battlefield."

   However, things backfired. They had just walked less than 200 meters when suddenly there were intensive gunshots ahead. The dozen or so soldiers walking in the front fell to the ground in pieces without even humming.

   "Damn it, why are there Russians here?" Seeing the soldiers walking in the front collapsed one after another, the captain broke into a cold sweat from fright. Fortunately, he was also an officer with rich command experience, so he quickly ordered his subordinates to evacuate and find a suitable position to shoot back.

It was the troops led by the commander of the Second Battalion who encountered the German army. He learned that the enemy was retreating, so he quickly ordered the troops to disperse on the spot, each looking for a suitable position, and establishing a blocking position. The enemy must not be allowed to withdraw safely go down.

   As soon as the gunshot rang out, the two sides immediately started shooting at each other, and the fight was really lively.

Compared with the fifth company and the sixth company, the German army was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers. The company originally had more than 180 people. After being hit head-on by the second battalion, there are only sixty or seventy people left, and they don't have any heavy weapons.

  The second battalion that blocked them not only had two complete companies, but also a platoon equipped with a 76mm caliber cannon. The three cannons lined up hundreds of meters away, and as soon as they found where the enemy's firepower was stronger, they would immediately bombard them several times, blowing up the enemy there to **** flesh.

The soldiers of the guard battalion staying in the mountain position were planning to use this precious time to rush to repair the fortifications when they saw the enemy retreating. Suddenly they heard the fierce fighting below, and they couldn't help looking down, trying to figure out what happened. .

  In order to keep it secret, Sokov sent troops back to the rear of the highland. Except for Weisbach and a few staff officers, the rest of the people didn't know about it at all. Seeing the fierce battle below at this moment, he naturally became suspicious.

Fortunately, after the guard battalion occupied the high ground, the communications soldiers in the division immediately connected a telephone line from the mountainside and connected it to the position. In this way, the guard battalion commander can directly talk to the division commander Weisbach: " Comrade Commander, we repelled a German attack not long ago."

   "Good job, Comrade Major." Weissbach smiled and praised the other party: "You are doing well!"

   "But now there is a very strange thing."

   "What strange thing?"

   "The enemy who was just repulsed by us seems to have been intercepted during the retreat." The guard battalion commander asked Weissbach tentatively: "Comrade commander, do we have any troops that have detoured to the enemy's rear?"

   Weisbach did not immediately answer the question of the guard battalion commander, but cast a questioning look at Sokov. Sokov heard the conversation between him and the battalion commander, and nodded slightly, indicating that the other party should answer the battalion commander's question truthfully, so as to avoid misunderstanding with the friendly army later.

"Comrade Major, you are right. We did send a unit to detour to the enemy's rear." Weissbach said to the guard battalion commander: "They are from the 73rd Infantry Brigade. You must send someone to get them back as soon as possible." Get in touch to avoid any unpleasant misunderstandings later."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." The guard and battalion commander confirmed that there was indeed a friendly army in front of his position, and quickly assured Weissbach: "I will send someone to get in touch with them immediately, and there will be absolutely no misunderstanding and conflict."

After Weissbach put down the phone, he looked at the hilltop position already occupied by the guard battalion in the distance, and thoughtfully said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think the enemy will definitely attack the hilltop position violently after dawn." shelling, should the troops inside be withdrawn to the reverse **** by then?"

"Comrade Colonel, that's for sure." Sokov said: "If the terrain to the west of the highland is flat and easy to attack and difficult to defend, then it is entirely reasonable to move our troops to a safe area before the enemy's shelling begins. necessary."

   "What if our troops were attacked by the enemy's air while withdrawing from the position?"

   Weisbach's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. Don't see that the distance the troops retreat each time is not far, only one or two hundred meters. But when the soldiers retreat, they will be congested on this short road. In order to buy time, many commanders and fighters will climb out of the trenches. If the Germans launch an air strike at this time, it may indeed cause heavy casualties to the commanders and fighters exposed on the open ground.

Sokov thought for a while, and finally thought of a good way, and said to Weissbach: "Comrade Colonel, I thought of a good way, even if the troops are attacked by the enemy during the transfer process, the casualties can still be reduced." drop to lowest."

   "Comrade Commander, what good solution do you have, please tell me quickly."

Sokov bent down and pointed to a small mound on the ground, and explained to Weisbach: "Comrade Colonel, for example, this is the high ground in front of us. This is the hilltop position. We can dig on the north and south sides of the position. An extended traffic trench, rounding out to the east of the plateau..."

   Weisbach squatted in front of the mound, listening carefully to Sokov's explanation. As soon as the other party finished speaking, he slammed his fist on the mud and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, the traffic trench you designed is really wonderful. From the north and south sides of the hilltop position, dig a traffic trench extending to The east side of the highland allows the soldiers to retreat along the traffic trench to a safe reverse **** before the enemy’s shelling begins. Even if they encounter enemy bombing during the retreat, they can rely on the traffic trench for air defense.”

"Now that you have understood my intention, then quickly send someone to notify the battalion commander on the high ground, and let him dig the traffic trench as soon as I imagined." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch: "Now stay There is not much time for them, and once it is dawn, the enemy will definitely launch a heavy shelling attack on their positions, and it will be too late to dig traffic trenches by then."

Weisbach knew this kind of thing through the phone, and he was a little confused. He hurriedly called a staff officer, using the mound on the ground as an example, and explained Sokov's idea of ​​setting up a circular position to the staff officer in detail, and finally asked Said: "Do you understand everything?"

   "Understood, Comrade Master."

   "Now that you understand everything, then immediately rush to the hilltop position, explain to him the idea of ​​building a circular position in detail, and order him to complete the soil work of the communication trench as quickly as possible."

   "Yes, I'll go right away." After finishing speaking, the staff officer raised his hand to salute Weisbach, turned around and ran away.

Looking at the back of the staff officer going away, Weisbach said with emotion: "I hope the commander of the guard battalion can complete the construction of the two traffic trenches before dawn, otherwise they will suffer huge losses when they encounter enemy shelling or bombing. "

  Sokov nodded slightly, and then asked Weisbach: "Comrade Colonel, since you are now the commander of the 300th Division, I would like to ask you, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of this division?"

"Comrade Commander, in all fairness, the combat effectiveness of the 300th Division is indeed inferior to any division of the 27th Army." Weissbach said seriously, "But we should also see that there are reasons for this gap. For example, there are many new fighters in the 300th Division. Due to the lack of weapons, they are not familiar enough with the performance of firearms and cannot use them proficiently in battle, which affects their combat effectiveness.

  However, judging from their heroic performance in battle today, I am still very satisfied. As long as they are equipped with excellent weapons and go through a few battles, the combat effectiveness of this division can be greatly improved. "

  (end of this chapter)