Chapter 466 Assault Gun

   "Comrade Sergeant," a high-pitched voice came from the hole in the floor. "German tanks are coming up!"

Vasily rushed to a gap that was blasted by the shell, looked out sideways for a while, and then returned to report to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, the enemy infantry is under the cover of tanks, from the side of the square, It's coming from the side. It's too dangerous here, you should find a safe place to avoid it."

   "No, I'll stay here." Sokov said just now that he wanted to stay here to watch the battle. How could he hide in a safe place before the enemy came up? This will make yourself ashamed in front of your subordinates. He said resolutely: "Sergeant Vasily, just pretend that I am not here, and command the battle as usual."

While Sokov and Vasily were talking, Yakov also ran to the gap to look at it for a while, and said to Sokov when he came back: "Misha, the situation is not very good. The Germans dispatched assault guns. There are a total of three vehicles, which may be specially used to deal with this building."

  After listening to Yakov's words, Sokov asked with a blank face: "Aren't assault guns used to hit tanks?"

"Yes, assault guns are indeed used to hit tanks. As far as I know, a week ago, a No. 3 assault gun commanded by the German Sergeant Major Kutp Friedner destroyed our tanks in 20 minutes. Moreover, the main purpose of German assault guns is to destroy solid fortifications such as bunkers, and to cooperate with infantry to attack fortifications."

Hearing Yakov's explanation, Sokov vaguely remembered that in a document he read in later generations, he once mentioned that a German tanker named Wittmann destroyed the Soviet army in Rostov by bicycle. Six tanks, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. There is also the 2nd Assault Gun Battalion of the Imperial Panzer Division led by Walser Knab, the captain of the SS 2nd Assault Brigade, which was destroyed between July 5, 1943 and January 17, 1944. 129 Soviet tanks, while only losing two assault guns.

  When Sokov thought of the achievements of the German assault guns, he couldn't help frowning. He was worried that if the enemy really used the assault guns to attack the building, the building would probably be turned into ruins. Moreover, Vasily and the others only have a few anti-tank rifles now, and they cannot penetrate the armor of the assault gun at all.

Yakov also thought of Sokov's worries. He looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, what should we do? You know, your soldiers are equipped with anti-tank rifles, even if they are tens of meters away Even at a distance of 100, it cannot penetrate the armor of an assault gun."

"Comrade Brigadier, don't worry." Seeing Sokov's worried look, Vasily said hastily: "We still have some anti-tank mines, I can send someone to deploy them on the streets immediately, as long as the Germans As soon as a tank runs over it, it will be blown up immediately."

   "Okay, Sergeant Vasily." For Vasily's proposal, Sokov felt that it was undoubtedly the most appropriate, and quickly ordered him: "You send someone to mine mines."

   After receiving Vasily's order, the two soldiers immediately rushed out of the building, each carrying an anti-tank mine. With the cover of the building, they quickly rushed to the intersection, preparing to place the mine there.

  Sokov stood at the gap, looking at the square in the distance, and saw the German infantry under the cover of three assault guns, carefully crossing the square full of bomb craters and rubble, approaching the building where he was. Sokov took the opportunity to observe the surrounding environment, and found that the location of this building is really good. In front of the building is a two-story triangular building, which divides the road leading to the square from the building into two. Enemies coming over, no matter which way they come from, must pass through this building. And the most important point, due to the occlusion of the building in front, the enemy's artillery fire could not destroy the building even if they aimed directly at it.

After seeing the terrain clearly, Sokov nodded secretly, thinking to himself: In real history, the reason why Pavlov led his people to stay here for nearly two months may be because the building in front helped them Most of the artillery fire was blocked, so that the building could stand firm even when it was riddled with holes. Thinking of this, Sokov asked Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, do you know what that building in front of you used to be?"

Vasily turned his head and glanced at Sokov, and replied: "Comrade Brigadier, it is a bookstore, and it is also the largest bookstore in Stalingrad. Unfortunately, after being bombed and shelled by the German army, most of the books inside have been destroyed. burned."

   "Bookstore?" Sokov carefully inspected the half-collapsed building, but found that there was no sign at all, indicating that it was once a bookstore: "Sergeant Vasily, how do you know that it was a bookstore?"

"It was the residents in the building who told me." Vasily grinned and said, "You know, it's boring to stay here even when we're not fighting. We always have to find something to do. So, the people in the building The residents took us to the opposite building to find books, and then moved back to read."

   "What books do you have?" Sokov asked with great interest, "Can you tell me?"

Vasily shrugged his shoulders and said: "Many, such as Tolstoy's "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", Ostrovsky's "How the Steel Was Tempered", Lermontov's collection of poems..."

   Before Vasily finished speaking, there was a sudden violent explosion outside the building, which was also mixed with the sound of machine guns and submachine guns firing. Sokov quickly looked out from the gap, only to find that the two soldiers who were preparing to lay mines at the entrance of the street were spotted by the enemy. The assault guns were firing at them, and the submachine gunners were also hiding behind the assault guns, firing gun.

  Two fighters were beaten by a single measure. Although they escaped the shrapnel flying across the shell, they failed to escape the machine gun and submachine gun fire, and fell one after another in the rubble on the side of the road.

"Damn it!" Seeing the two mine-laying soldiers being knocked down by the enemy's bullets, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help twitching a few times. The building's exposed firing points fired. After Vasily saw this situation, he couldn't help screaming, and then arranged for two soldiers to go out and continue to lay mines: "You two put the mines on the street, and prevent the enemy's assault guns from approaching..."

"Wait a minute, Sergeant Vasily, don't let them go out yet." Sokov stopped Vasily at this moment and said to him: "There are two roads from the square, we don't know the enemy's assault Which way the guns will go, or wait until it gets close, and blow them up with anti-tank grenades. Now, you order the soldiers to fire first, and destroy the infantry hiding behind the assault guns."

  The infantry hid behind the assault guns to prevent being killed by light fire from the front, but if the defenders were shooting from a high position, there was very little room for them to hide. Following Vasily's order, the machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles arranged on the third and fourth floors fired together, knocking down the infantry hiding behind the assault guns. Seeing the German soldiers in a bad situation, they quickly lay down on the spot. They were lying on the ground. It was indeed a bit difficult for the bullets to hit them again, but there were two mortars on the fourth floor. Under the command of the soldiers, the shells landed accurately on the place where the German army was concentrated, and the air waves of the explosion lifted soldiers lying on the ground one after another from the ground, threw them high into the air, and fell down heavily.

Seeing this situation, Yakov said loudly to Sokov: "Misha, if we can let the rocket battalion fire a volley here at this time, the Germans on the square should be wiped out." gone."

Sokov estimated the distance, then looked at the troops dispatched by the German army, shook his head and said: "No, the enemy only dispatched three assault guns and a company of infantry, and it is a bit too wasteful to use a rocket battalion for this force." .And they are only about 300 meters away from us. The accuracy of rockets has always been low and the error is too large. It would be bad if they hit our own people."

   Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov couldn't say anything more. He could only sigh and said regretfully: "In this case, we can only rely on the troops in the building to destroy these enemies."

  The firepower composed of machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and mortars upstairs can only stop the German infantry from advancing, but it does not pose any threat to the assault guns. Three assault guns lined up and continued towards the location of the building. One of the fastest assault guns, which soon entered the street on the left, had to slow down because the road was full of bricks and rubble, or the wreckage of destroyed tanks, armored vehicles, and cars speed.

When the assault gun entered the street and drove forward for fifty or sixty meters, a bloodied soldier suddenly stood up from the rubble beside the street. Turning around in a circle, he threw the round anti-tank mine in his hand like throwing a discus. The discus that flew out, no, it was an anti-tank mine that hit the body of the assault gun heavily. With a loud bang, the assault gun was enveloped in flames and thick smoke.

Seeing that an anti-tank landmine was reimbursed for an assault gun, Sokov couldn't help shouting: "Good job!" But when he saw the soldier who saw the landmine again, the smile on his face disappeared instantly, and he saw The soldier lay motionless on his back. Seeing this situation, Sokov immediately remembered the scene when he took several soldiers in an armored vehicle to blow up German tanks some time ago. Didn't those sacrificed soldiers maintain this posture when they fell down?

  Sokov turned his head and glanced at Vasily who was shooting out with a submachine gun, and shouted at him loudly: "Sergeant Vasily!"

  Vassily, who was shooting, didn't hear Sokov's shout immediately. He didn't know that Sokov was calling himself until Yakov who was standing beside him pushed him. Just at this moment, the bullets in his drum had been emptied, so he quickly squatted down, and while changing the clips, he asked Sukov loudly, "Comrade Brigadier, what's the matter?"

"Did you see the soldier who died?" Sukov pointed to the soldier who died after blowing up the assault gun, and said loudly: "When the enemy is repelled, we must take the body of that soldier Take it back. Do you understand?"

Vasili had been in the city for a long time, and he knew very well that if the corpses were not cleaned up and left on the street, they would be smashed to pieces by shells and bombs in a short time; , It may also be crushed into meat paste by German tanks, so every time the battle is over, he will send people to pack up the remains of his comrades and put them in a hidden location. Hearing Sokov's order at this moment, he immediately replied loudly: "Comrade Brigadier, don't worry, after the enemy's attack is repelled, I will bring his body back in person." After finishing speaking, Standing up suddenly, holding the submachine gun, he continued to shoot at the distant enemy.

  Due to the vision of the other two assault guns, they only saw that the front assault gun exploded inexplicably, but did not see how it was blown up. However, relying on their thick armor, they rushed forward without hesitation. After a short time, they drove into the street on the left one after another.

"Sergeant Vasily," although Sokov didn't want to interfere with Vasily's command, but after seeing two assault guns breaking into the street, he still couldn't help shouting at him: "Hurry up and send someone to Blow them up."

   "Hanter, Hunter!" After firing a few more shots, Vasily retracted his body and shouted loudly, "Come to me immediately!"

  Following Vasily's shout, a thin soldier bent over and ran over, squatted in front of Vasily, and asked, "Comrade Sergeant, what's the matter?"

"Did you see the two tanks outside?" Vasily may not have remembered the word "assault gun" for a while, and when he spoke to Hunter, he still used the name "tank": "Go and take them out immediately." All blow up."

Hunter quickly leaned over and took a look at the street below, and immediately replied loudly: "Yes, I'm going to blow them all up." After speaking, he swiftly threw himself on the wall and picked up the corpse on the ground. An anti-tank mine was about to rush out, but was stopped by Vasily: "Wait, don't use anti-tank mines, you can blow them all up with grenades."

  Hanter agreed, put down the mine in his hand, picked up two grenades again, and rushed out of the room. Not long after, Sokov saw Hunt rush out of the building with two grenades in his hand, and charge down the street towards the two assault guns.

  The tank soldiers of the assault guns found Hunter who was rushing over, and immediately fired with machine guns, but Hunter easily dodged them all. Hiding behind a pile of rubble, Hunter let go of the assault gun in front, and when the rear assault gun came, he threw an anti-tank grenade and blew up the assault gun accurately. As soon as the assault gun was destroyed, Hunter turned his head and chased after the assault gun heading towards the building. When he was seven or eight meters away, he decisively threw the remaining grenade.

  (end of this chapter)