Chapter 1619 The German counterattack

Early the next morning, after Colonel Rusuf assembled the commanders and fighters of the 254th regiment, when he was about to retreat, the chief of staff of the regiment reminded him: "Comrade regiment commander, although we have already divided the two towns of Ratswe and Jingji, The defense was handed over to the 15th Guards Division, but when we leave, should we say goodbye to the division commander?"

Roussov thought that although he was ordered to evacuate this area, it seemed inappropriate not to say hello to Vasilenko, commander of the 15th Guards Division, so he nodded and said to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff , you retreat slowly with your troops, I will say goodbye to General Vasilienko, and then go after you.”

  Vasilenko, who was busy in the command post, saw Rusuf walking in from the outside, and immediately greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Colonel Rusov, why are you free to come to my command post?"

  Russov raised his hand to salute Vasilienko, and replied respectfully: "Comrade General, our regiment is about to withdraw from the town of Ratesve. I have come here to say goodbye to you."

Vasilienko stepped forward and took Rusuf's hand, and said gratefully: "Colonel Rusuf, although I have already expressed my thanks to you yesterday, I still want to thank you again at this moment. It is because of your subordinates Your **** sacrifice enabled us to cross the Dnieper River smoothly, and on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the division, I would like to extend my highest respect to you."

   "You are very polite, Comrade General." Rusuf said flattered, "We are just performing our duties, nothing special."

   After the two said a few polite words, Rusuf bid farewell to Vasilienko again, and Vasilienko politely sent the other party to the door of the headquarters. He held Rusuf's hand again, and said with a smile, "Colonel Rusuf, let's bid farewell, and hope to have the opportunity to fight side by side again soon."

   "Yes, Comrade General." Rusuf said with a smile, "I believe this day will come soon."

  As soon as Rusuf finished speaking, there was suddenly the sound of rumbling cannons from a distance. Hearing this voice, he couldn't help but his expression changed drastically, and he said to Vasilienko: "Comrade General, the sound of the cannon came from the direction of Jingji Town. Could it be that there was a battle in that direction?"

  The two turned their heads and looked north at the same time. Jingji Town was in that direction, and they saw billowing black smoke rising from the distance. Seeing this situation, Vasilienko's heart sank suddenly, and he thought, did the enemy launch an attack on Jingji Town?

   Just as he was about to return to the command post and ask his chief of staff for information, he saw a familiar staff officer rushing out of the building. After seeing Vasilenko, the staff officer did not even have time to salute, so he reported to Vasilenko in a panic: "Comrade commander, something urgent happened. The chief of staff please go back quickly."

"I see, I'll go back right away." After confirming that there was a bad situation, Vasilienko dismissed the staff, turned around and apologized to Rusuf and said, "Colonel Rusuf, I wanted to send you out of town personally, but But something unexpected happened, and I can no longer send you off. Good luck!"

Rusuf left the command post and rode out of the town. The more he thought about the problem, the more wrong he was. He quickly called an officer and told him, "Comrade Lieutenant, you should inform the chief of staff and order the troops to temporarily stop retreating and take cover on the spot, waiting My next order."

  Besides, after Vasilenko returned to the headquarters, he saw his chief of staff from a distance, and couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade chief of staff, what happened?"

"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff immediately reported to Vasilienko: "I received a call from the commander of the 44th Guards Regiment stationed in Jingji Town. carry out the attack."

Hearing this news, Vasilienko said carelessly: "We have established landing sites in Ratesve and Jingji, which seriously threatens the safety of Cherkasy. The Germans may try their best to eliminate them. This kind of threat." He turned around and told the communications company commander, "Help me get through to the headquarters immediately, and I want to report what happened here to the comrade commander."

   When the communications company commander started making calls, Vasilienko asked the chief of staff again: "Has the enemy assembled a large number of troops near the town, ready to use it for an attack after the shelling ends?"

  But regarding Vasilienko's question, the chief of staff shook his head and said, "Sorry, Comrade Commander, this is not mentioned in the information provided by the 44th Regiment."

   "Damn." Vasilienko said a little angrily after hearing this: "I don't even know the enemy's situation, so how do they plan to fight the next battle?"

   "Comrade Commander," the chief of staff waited for Vasilienko to attack, and said cautiously: "I will immediately contact the 44th Division and let them find out whether there are German troops gathering outside the town."

   Before Vasilienko could speak, the communication company commander had already said to him: "Comrade Commander, the phone of the headquarters has been connected."

As soon as Vasilienko put the microphone to his ear, he heard Shumilov's voice from inside: "Vasilenko, I heard the sound of artillery from the right bank, and I also saw the smoke rising ,So what happened?"

"Comrade Commander, I'm about to report to you." Vasilenko said into the microphone: "The 44th Regiment stationed in Jingji Town is currently being heavily shelled by the German army. According to my judgment, after the shelling ended After that, the enemy will definitely attack the town in order to retake it from our army."

"Since the enemy is shelling the town, it is inevitable for them to attack the town." Shumilov asked impatiently, "I want to know what kind of force the Germans plan to use to attack our town." Launch an attack at the landing site?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know for the time being." Hearing Shumilov's question, Vasilienko replied with some shame: "The 44th Regiment, apart from reporting to me that they were bombarded by the enemy, did not There is no more information." Worried about being blamed by Shumilov, he paused and continued, "I have ordered the chief of staff to get in touch with the head of the regiment so that they can find out the enemy's situation as soon as possible. .”

   "If you have any latest information, remember to report to me in time."

  The German bombardment of Jingji Town lasted for half an hour before coming to an abrupt end. Before the smoke cleared, the infantry in armored vehicles and trucks charged towards the town under the cover of tanks.

   Discovering that the enemy's attack has begun, the commanders and fighters who avoided the shelling came out of their hiding places one after another and entered the pitted positions, preparing to block the enemy's advance.

  The battle started soon. Although the Soviet commanders and fighters showed great bravery, they couldn't stop the German tanks because they didn't have solid fortifications and enough anti-tank firepower. They could only watch helplessly as the German tanks, over the trenches where they could barely hide, rumbled towards the town.

  The soldiers used intensive firepower to block the advance of the German infantry, so that the German tanks entering the town lost the cover of the infantry. But all this, the German tank soldiers sitting in the tank did not know. They were still advancing along the road in the town, preparing to rush directly to the church in the center of the town and destroy the Soviet regiment command post there.

The commanders and fighters deployed in the buildings on both sides of the street will let the German tanks swagger to destroy the regiment command post. They throw anti-tank grenades or cluster grenades from the window from time to time to blow up the German tanks driving on the road. . Some tanks were destroyed, but the remaining tanks continued to advance towards the position of the regimental command post.

Seeing that the enemy tanks were getting closer and closer to the regiment command post, the guard company commander picked up the phone while organizing the firing on the tanks, connected to the command post, and reported to the chief of staff of the regiment: "Comrade chief of staff, the enemy tanks are far away from you." The command post of the regiment is getting closer, you should move quickly. If you don’t leave, it will be too late.”

  The chief of staff of the regiment hurriedly said to the head of the regiment: "Comrade commander, the guard company commander said that the enemy's tanks are getting closer and closer to the command post. I suggest you transfer immediately!"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell me where we can move to?" The regiment command post is located in the church in the center of the town. Due to the solid building, it was not damaged much during the shelling that ended not long ago. The head of the regiment felt that even if the German tanks rushed over, his own people could rely on the strong church to resist. So after hearing the chief of staff's proposal, he said displeasedly: "Tell me, where else in the town can the buildings be stronger than here?"

   From the tone of the commander's speech, the chief of staff could hear that the other party had no intention of retreating at all. After secretly sighing in his heart, he said to the guard company commander on the other line of the microphone: "Comrade captain, the regiment commander said that we are not going anywhere, and we are here to command the troops to fight. I order you now, you must stop the Germans at all costs." Human tanks, keep them away from the regimental command post, understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." After listening to the words of the chief of staff, the company commander of the guard reluctantly conveyed the order of his superiors to his subordinates: "Comrades, the chief of staff of the regiment ordered us to stick to this place at all costs. Let the German tanks approach the regimental command post. How about it, do you have confidence?"

   Then there were only a few sparse voices that responded to him. The soldiers who were a little far away, because their ears had been hit by the German artillery bombardment, were deaf from the shock, and they couldn't hear what their company commander was saying.

  Although some soldiers did not hear what the company commander was saying, it did not affect their performance on the battlefield in the slightest. Seeing that the enemy tanks were getting closer and closer to their positions, several soldiers immediately pulled out sandbags, held anti-tank grenades, and approached the German tanks by crawling forward.

  Although the German tanks do not have the cover of infantry, it does not mean that these tanks have no protection. The tanks in the back row take advantage of their position and use their vehicle-mounted machine guns to provide fire cover for the tanks in front. Several soldiers approached the tank in front, and just leaned over to drop bombs, they were hit by machine gun bullets from the tank behind and died.

   There are also lucky fighters who happen to hide in the blind spot of enemy tank machine guns. When they see that the enemy's machine guns cannot hit them, they lean up one after another and quickly throw out the anti-tank grenades in their hands.

  Because the soldiers were lying on the ground, it was difficult to grasp the strength when throwing the grenade. Some threw it lightly and fell in front of the tank; some threw it heavily and flew directly above the tank. Finally, one or two grenades hit the German tank, and there was a loud noise immediately, and then the whole tank was engulfed in flames.

Vasilienko in the town of Latseve learned that Jingji Town was in a tight situation, so he quickly sent the 47th Guards Infantry Regiment and the 43rd Guards Artillery Regiment to Jingji Town for reinforcements, trying to repel the enemies who attacked the town and consolidate the defense there.

  The commanders and fighters of the 254th Regiment who stayed outside the town of Ratswe all saw billowing black smoke rising from the direction of Jingji Town and heard the rumbling sound of artillery from that direction. Seeing this situation, the chief of staff of the regiment asked Ru Sufu for instructions: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?"

   "Standby." Rusuf, who was looking to the north, said without turning his head when he heard the chief of staff's question: "We just need to follow the orders after the orders from our superiors are issued."

  Hearing what Rusuf said, the chief of staff of the regiment showed a shocked expression on his face: "But, comrade commander, we didn't report the situation here to our superiors at all."

   "Ah, we haven't reported the situation here to our superiors?" Russell asked in surprise, "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you kidding me?"

Hearing what Rusuf said, the chief of staff stomped his feet anxiously: "Comrade commander, how can I joke with you about such an important matter? You know, we were busy marching just now, the radio was turned off, and it took so long In fact, you didn't give an order to contact your superiors."

  After figuring out what was going on, Rusuf raised his hand and slapped himself heavily on the forehead, and said angrily, "Damn it, I thought I had already reported the situation here to the division headquarters."

   "No, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff replied resolutely: "I can tell you with certainty that the battle that took place here has indeed not been reported to the superior."

   "Then why are you still in a daze." Ru Sufu waited for the chief of staff to finish speaking, and then urged: "Why don't you hurry up and notify the radio operator and report the situation here to your superiors?"

After Fomenko received the telegram from Rusuf, he immediately reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, something has happened. The enemy has launched an attack on the town of Jingji. It seems that the Germans are planning to attack from the 15th Guards. Take back the towns of Ratsve and Kinki from the division, and destroy the landing sites established by the 7th Guards Army."

After receiving the telegram and reading it for a while, Sokov found that the content on it was unclear, so he couldn't help but frowned, "General Fomenko, in the information sent by Colonel Rusuf, there are some places that are vague and not clear. We cannot make an accurate judgment based on this incomplete information about the scale of the enemy attacking Jingji Town."

   "Comrade Commander," Fomenko said with a wry smile, "I estimate that the information Colonel Rusov can obtain is limited, so there is not much to report to us."

   "So what do we do next?"

   "Colonel Rusuf's 254th Regiment, where is it now?"

"It's just south of the town of Ratesve," Fomenko explained. "I guess something unexpected happened when Colonel Rusov led the troops to transfer, which made him temporarily change his mind. If you agree, you will take someone to stay here without authorization."

"I think the situation should be what you said." Sokov felt that since the 15th Guards Division was stationed in the two towns of Ratswe and Jingji, there was no need for Rusuf's troops to meddle in their own business and stay where they were. Just watch the excitement: "You immediately send a telegram to Colonel Rusuf, and let them continue to hide and wait for orders at the same place, and do not act rashly until they get orders from their superiors."

  (end of this chapter)