Chapter 548 Reinforcements

  After seeing the troops and militiamen entering the defensive position one after another, Yakov persuaded Sokov: "Misha, this place is too dangerous. I think we should go back to the basement, where we can also command the battle."

"No, staying in the basement is safer than here, but you can't grasp the situation on the battlefield in time. I think it's more appropriate to stay here." Considering Yakov's special status, if the opponent has any problems, he I'm afraid I can't explain it to the above. So he said tactfully: "Yakov, it's fine if I'm here, you'd better go back to the basement first."

  Yakov knew that he could not do much to help if he stayed here. After telling Sokov to pay attention to safety, he hurried to the basement.

   After Yakov left, Sokov and the radio operator left the driving track and found a suitable location in the ruins as an observation location. The reason why he didn't continue to stay on the driving track was because the position there was too high. Although he could stand high and see far, if the German army had snipers, standing there by himself would be an excellent target.

When the German tanks attacked the factory a few days ago, they suffered from anti-aircraft guns and were destroyed a lot. Therefore, the tanks participating in the battle today, after entering the gap in the wall, only moved forward for less than 200 meters. Stop in place and bombard the Soviet positions with high-explosive shells to cover the infantry charge.

  Sokov calculated the distance, and the German tanks were seven or eight hundred meters away from Ulanova's antiaircraft artillery position. At such a long distance, the three 37mm guns couldn't penetrate the frontal armor of the German tank at all. He sighed, called Ulanova, and told her to say: "Comrade Lieutenant, German tank The tanks are too far away from you, even if you shoot, you can't penetrate their armor. Don't fire casually, so as not to waste ammunition, understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Ulanova replied briefly.

  The German infantry rushed forward quickly, taking advantage of the opportunity when the commanders and fighters on the position were suppressed by tank fire. When they were still a hundred meters away from the position, in order to prevent accidental injury, the tanks behind stopped shelling. When Briski saw that the tank had stopped firing, he blew his whistle.

  The soldiers and militiamen who had just poked their heads out of the trenches knew that it was an order to fire when they heard one long and two short whistles, and shot at the rushing enemies one after another. As soon as they saw the fire on the position, the German soldiers jumped into the crater to avoid the bullets. Only a few slow-moving soldiers were hit by the bullets and fell into the crater.

  The German machine gunners quickly set up their machine guns on the edge of the crater, and suppressed the firepower of the Soviet troops on the ground to cover their companions' charge. Some soldiers who were shooting were hit by bullets and fell back into the trench, and the firepower on the position immediately became sparse.

  The German soldiers hiding in the crater saw that their machine guns suppressed the firepower of the Soviet army, so they used short leaps, jumped from one crater to another, and quickly approached the Soviet position.

Seeing that the Germans were getting closer and closer to their position, and the soldiers were unable to fight back effectively due to the suppression of the German machine gun fire, Briski was very anxious. He knew very well that as long as the Germans charged 40 meters When the distance is reached, bombs will be dropped on the position. His subordinates are better, and those newly recruited militiamen may turn around and run away in fright.

Thinking of this, Briski couldn't stay in the command post any longer. He rushed into the trench from the command post, and while running forward with his back bent, he shouted loudly: "Comrades, greet the enemy with grenades, absolutely They cannot be allowed near our positions."

  The soldiers who were a little flustered, when they heard Briski's shout, immediately realized that if the Germans were allowed to charge forward again, the enemy's grenades would be thrown into the trenches, and the position would be untenable. They picked up the grenades one after another, pulled the strings, and threw them forward. Those militiamen who participated in the battle for the first time saw the soldiers throwing grenades, and followed suit. They threw out the grenades placed beside them in a hurry. Because of nervousness, some even forgot to pull the strings.

   "Boom boom boom..." The sound of the explosion in front of the position became one, and the rising smoke blocked the sight of the German machine gunners, slowing down their firing speed. The Soviet army on the ground took the opportunity to shoot out with submachine guns, knocking down the Germans who had just rushed out of the gunpowder smoke in pieces.

  Seeing that the enemy's machine guns were too much of a threat to the defenders, Sokov hurriedly called Ulanova again: "Comrade Lieutenant, have you seen those machine guns?"

   "See!"

   "Knock them out for me."

"clear!"

   Following Sokov's order, the three anti-aircraft guns that had been silent for a long time started firing again. The high-explosive armor-piercing shells hit the soil around the crater where the machine gunner was hiding, boiling it like a pot. A machine gunner wanted to move his position, but as soon as he leaned forward, he was smashed into pieces by shells, splashing everywhere in the crater.

  Seeing that the machine gunner was beaten to pieces, the deputy shooter and the ammunition man dared to lean forward and continue shooting. They could only lie at the bottom of the crater, trembling as they listened to the shells flying over their heads.

   After the firepower of the machine guns was cleared by the anti-aircraft guns, the German offensive ended without a problem. Watching the enemy receding like a tide, Sokov called Ulanova again and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, how much ammunition do you have?"

   "There is still half a base." Ulanova asked back: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any instructions?"

   "When the enemy attacks again, you will withdraw all the ammunition immediately." Sokov asked into the microphone: "Do you understand?"

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Ulanova asked puzzled by Sokov's order, "Are you going to let us leave the anti-aircraft guns to the enemy?"

"Lieutenant Ulanova," Sukov knew very well in his heart. If he didn't explain clearly to Ulanova, the opponent might not withdraw after firing all the shells, and he had to live and die with the anti-aircraft guns. "You If the shells are all gone, the Germans will be of no use even if they take our anti-aircraft guns. As long as we countercharge, we can take these anti-aircraft guns back from the enemy's hands. Understand?"

After Sokov's explanation, Ulanova understood the other party's intentions, and quickly replied: "I understand, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will immediately take the soldiers to withdraw as soon as the shells run out. .”

   Sokov looked up to the sky and found that the air battle was still going on. Don't see that the number of German planes is larger, but because there are many bombers among them, so far, the Soviet Air Force has the upper hand.

   Just as Sokov was about to ask Raisa about the situation through the radio, the phone at his feet suddenly rang. He quickly knelt down on one knee, picked up the microphone and put it close to his ear, saying, "I'm Sokov!"

   As soon as he finished speaking, Chuikov's roar came from the receiver: "Sokov, you idiot, idiot, do you know what you are doing?"

  Sokov didn't understand why Chuikov was so angry, and replied in a daze: "Comrade commander, I am directing the troops to fight the German army."

"Don't you know that we are going to launch a counterattack against the enemy the day after tomorrow? What's the matter if you take the initiative to attack the enemy at this time?" Cuikov said angrily: "You plan to startle the enemy and expose our combat intention For the Germans?"

After figuring out the reason for Chuikov's anger, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander, I saw that the regiment headquarters of the 102nd Infantry Regiment of the German Army was loose in defense, so I sent the Tank Battalion and the Fourth Battalion to take it out. I didn’t want to expose our army’s strategic intentions. Who knew, but it was a hornet’s nest, and the enemy launched an attack on us from several directions.”

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Chuikov was still angry: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you know about your reckless behavior today? If our counterattack fails because of the Germans' detection, you will be arrested." Send it to a court-martial."

  Sokov knew very well that during the Great Patriotic War, going to a military court was synonymous with the death penalty. He thought to himself, even if he did not take the initiative to attack the enemy, this counterattack against the German army would not achieve any results. So he retorted: "Comrade Commander, although today's attack was a bit reckless, the Germans must have thought it was just an ordinary counterattack. After all, we often compete with the enemy for those lost positions. Besides, in today's battle, we can still fight back." Consume part of the German army's vital strength and reduce the pressure for our army's next counterattack..."

   As soon as Sokov said this, he suddenly heard a scream, and then there was an explosion nearby, and the broken stones that were thrown up fell on Sokov's head and body like raindrops. Although wearing a helmet, Sokov still felt dizzy and nauseous.

"Hey, what's the matter with you, why don't you talk?" Chuikov's dissatisfied voice came from the receiver: "You think you are commanding a division or an army group, and you are consuming the enemy's vitality. How many enemies do you think you can destroy?"

"Comrade Commander," Sokov resisted the pain all over his body, and replied, "Even if we can only eliminate one hundred or two hundred enemies, our army will face less resistance when launching a counterattack... "

   Chuikov noticed that something was wrong with Sokov's voice, so he asked with concern: "What's wrong with you, are you feeling well?"

   "A bomb exploded not far away, probably dropped by an enemy plane." Sokov weakly explained: "I was hit by a flying masonry, and my head was a little dizzy..."

"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you don't need to say any more." Chuikov said on the phone: "I know, even if you have a tank battalion, you may not have enough strength to stop the enemy's crazy attack. How about that? , I still have a mixed group here, there are about 400 people, I will send it to you immediately."

Knowing that Chuikov was going to send him a support force, Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed, and even forgot the pain all over his body. He said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, with this army, I think I can definitely eliminate more troops." Lots of enemies."

  (end of this chapter)