In order to ensure that the infantry behind them could keep up, the German amphibious tanks could only maintain a speed of four to five kilometers per hour. Seeing the German tanks moving at a turtle speed in the water, Zhelia couldn't help but become a little impatient. He thought to himself: "These tanks that can swim seem to be light tanks. What if there were a few captured 37mm tanks?" Anti-tank guns can wipe them all out.”
But Zelia's worries soon disappeared. The second platoon leader led two soldiers into the observation post from the outside and reported to him: "Comrade company commander, these two are artillery observers. They are preparing to conduct observations here to provide firing parameters for the artillery company in the rear. .”
"Great, this is really great." Zhelia knew that although the number of artillery guns in the artillery company was small, they were all 152mm heavy howitzers. It was easy to clean up the German tanks marching in the pool of water. He hurriedly and The two artillery observers shook hands and called them to the lookout for observation.
An observer raised his telescope and calmly looked at the German tanks heading towards the position. He reported a series of shooting parameters to his comrades holding the phone behind him: "...scale 80, distance 2800 meters. One shot, let go!”
The whistling sound of artillery shells soon came from the air. One artillery shell landed more than 20 meters in front of the German tank and exploded, setting off a cloud of turbid water that reached the sky and rained down on the amphibious tank body. When the explosion sounded, the German infantrymen following the tank were so frightened that they crouched down. The water that had reached their knees suddenly flooded their mouths and noses, causing many German soldiers to stand up again in a hurry.
Seeing that the first shell did not cause any casualties to the enemy, the observer did not panic, but continued: "Correct the scale and move forward twenty meters. One shot, let go!"
The second shell fired by the artillery company roared towards the enemy again. However, as the German tank moved forward for a certain distance, the falling shell still did not cause any damage to it, but it fell in the middle of the infantry queue behind. After a loud "bang", the German soldiers near the explosion point started to rush. His flesh and blood were blown away, and he fell headlong into the water and could not get up again.
"That's great! It's a great hit! Our comrades are so great." Seeing the artillery shell hit the target, the observer shouted excitedly: "It just hit the infantry behind the German tank! Artillery company, fire coverage, fire!"
Porochenko, who was directing the artillery fire in the city, heard the observer say that the second shell fired happened to hit the German infantry. He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly raised the red signal flag in his hand high and shouted loudly at the same time. Shout: "Artillery battery, listen to my command: fire!" After shouting, he waved the flag down suddenly.
Several heavy howitzers from the artillery company fired at the same time, covering the area where the German troops were located with artillery fire. Since the German infantry was located in an open area with no obstructions, and the water on the ground was knee deep, they were unable to lie down and hide. As a result, they suffered heavy casualties under the Soviet artillery fire.
Thanks to the guidance of artillery observers, the cannons deployed in the city seemed to have eyes, accurately hitting the middle of the enemy's queue. The German infantry near the explosion point were either blown to pieces or knocked down by shrapnel flying in all directions, and fell into the water with a thud. In just a few minutes, the water was stained red with blood from the corpses of German soldiers.
After the enemy's infantry was almost wiped out, the artillery company aimed at the amphibious tanks again. A shell hit them. None of the four amphibious tanks escaped. They were all blown to pieces. The wreckage was left burning in the pool of water. , and none of the tank soldiers inside escaped.
When the German commander saw that his attacking troops had been shelled by the Soviet army, he became angry and immediately ordered long-range artillery fire to cover the Soviet artillery positions. Fortunately, Porochenko had long known that he had a small number of artillery, and he would suffer a big loss if he launched an artillery bombardment with the enemy. Therefore, he arranged the artillery positions in a particularly scattered manner. Even if he was counterattacked by the enemy's artillery fire, he would not Cause too many casualties.
Batteries of artillery shells flew in from outside the city, landed on the streets and exploded. Although they only destroyed one Soviet artillery piece, in just a few minutes, the originally spacious and neat streets were filled with craters, masonry rubble, and ruined walls.
Sokov received a call from Porochenko and learned that enemy artillery was bombarding the south of the city. He just said lightly: "I understand, I will find a way to suppress the German artillery fire."
After ending the call with Porochenko, he ordered the communications soldier: "Get me the command post of the tank army and ask for General Rotmistrov. I have important things to report to him."
As soon as the phone call came through, Rotmistrov said hurriedly on the receiver: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what happened? Why is the artillery fire from the south of the city so dense?"
"That's it, Comrade General." Sokov waited for Rotmistrov to finish and immediately reported to him: "After the German troops attacking the south of the city were intercepted by our artillery fire, the enemy used long-range artillery fire to target them. The artillery position in the south of the city implemented suppression."
After Rotmistrov figured out what was going on, he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you need our support?"
Sokov thought that the mechanized brigade under the Tank Corps had a large number of artillery. If it bombarded the German artillery positions, it might be able to suppress the enemy's firepower, so he quickly said: "Comrade General, please order the artillery immediately. , bombarded the German artillery positions to reduce the pressure on the defenders south of the city."
Sokov thought that as soon as he finished speaking, Rotmistrov would readily agree. Unexpectedly, after the other party was silent for a long time, he said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I can order the artillery to fire, but have you considered the consequences?"
"Consequences, what consequences?" Some monks in Sokov asked confusedly: "Comrade General, will your artillery fire at the enemy's artillery positions cause any bad consequences?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Rotmistrov replied with a serious expression: "Once we fire and expose the location of the artillery position, we will definitely be retaliated by German artillery fire. At that time, the city will Buildings would collapse under the bombardment, and large numbers of innocent citizens would fall under German gunfire."
Rotmistrov's words reminded Sokov that there were still more than ten or two hundred thousand residents in the city. Since their superiors ordered to hold on to Kursk at all costs, they were not evacuated. If the German army was allowed to bombard the city, it would inevitably cause heavy casualties to the residents.
Sokov felt that he was faced with a difficult choice. If he did not fire, his artillery battery would be wiped out by German artillery fire; but if he fired, the enemy would shell the artillery positions of the tank army, which would inevitably spread to the enemy. Innocent citizens. Thinking of this, Sokov became a little hesitant.
Seeing that there was no sound in the receiver, Rotmistrov guessed that Sokov was having a fierce ideological struggle, so he added: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are the commander of the infantry brigade. Do you need to provide you with some information?" Artillery support, you just have to say the word.”
But before Sokov could make a decision, the German shelling came to an abrupt end. When Rotmistrov heard that the artillery fire had stopped, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy's shelling has stopped. It seems that you don't have to be in a dilemma anymore."
As soon as the German artillery bombardment of the city stopped, the officers and soldiers gathered on the river embankment launched another charge towards the Second Company's position. Since the amphibious tanks they relied on had been destroyed by Soviet heavy artillery, they could only use machine guns and mortars to suppress the firepower on the Soviet position and cover their companions' charge forward.
The second platoon leader sat cross-legged in the trench, with an empty submachine gun thrown beside him. He touched the blood on his forehead with lingering fear, recalling the shocking scene just now: He just wanted to see where the German troops had rushed to, but as soon as he leaned out of the trench, a flying machine gun bullet blew off his helmet. , and a piece of skin was scratched on his forehead. If I hadn't reacted quickly and squatted down in time, I might have died long ago.
He turned his head and glanced at the two corpses of soldiers beside him. They were all as curious as he was. They stuck their heads out to see where the enemy had reached, but were shot in the head by machine gun bullets. He never dreamed that a few hundred meters away, the German machine guns were still firing so accurately and could actually kill a soldier who just raised his head. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help but start beating in his heart. If the German army rushed over, would the soldiers be able to hold their position?
A soldier bent down and ran to him, and said in a low voice: "Platoon commander, the enemy is less than a hundred meters away from us. Do you want to fire?"
"Get ready to fight!" Although the German troops were knee-deep in water and were moving very slowly, if he didn't stop them now, they would be able to rush into the trenches very quickly, so he decisively issued the order: "Everyone get into combat positions. , ready to fire at any time!" He picked up his helmet from the ground with a hole drilled by the bullet, buckled it on his head, and replaced the submachine gun with a new drum, then stood up carefully and looked out. go. I saw seventy or eighty German soldiers bending over, holding guns, and cautiously coming towards their position.
Seeing that the enemy was only eighty meters away from the position, he decisively shouted: "Fire!" After shouting, he took the lead and pulled the trigger. Even though the Popov submachine gun has an ammunition capacity of 71 rounds, it is difficult to accurately hit a target more than 80 meters away. Although the gunfire on the position was loud, very few enemies were knocked down by bullets, and most of them continued to advance.
Seeing that the enemy was about to rush to the front of the position, the roar of machine guns suddenly came from several reinforced concrete fortifications that had remained silent. The veterans using the G34 general machine gun calmly fired at the dense formation of the German troops, hitting them in the water in pieces.
The German officers and soldiers who originally had the confidence to rush into the Soviet position were intercepted by intensive machine gun fire. Knowing that continuing to charge would lead to death, they decisively gave up the attack, turned around and ran back.
When Zhelia saw that the German attack was repelled, not only was he not surprised, but he was secretly thinking: "We have repelled two German attacks in a row. Next, they may shell our position again." , hoping to destroy our position and eliminate the defenders on the position through fierce artillery fire."
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the German troops were still regrouping on the river embankment, Zhelia quickly called the battalion commander Vasily and asked him for instructions: "Comrade battalion commander, the enemy's attack has been repelled by us. What should we do next?" What should I do, follow him and pursue him?”
"No, no need to pursue." Vasily still had a certain understanding of the situation on the battlefield. When he heard that Zheliya was planning to lead his troops to attack, he immediately stopped him: "Don't forget the water area in front of the position. Since the enemy paid a great price under the tenacious defense of our army when he passed there. If you pursue them, the slow-moving soldiers will be slow in their movements when passing through the water area and will be regarded by the enemy as Target shooting.”
After understanding the situation at the front, Captain Vasily called Sokov and reported to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the commanders and fighters of the second company have successfully repelled the German attack. What should we do next?" Do?"
"Immediately organize soldiers to reinforce the fortifications and rescue the wounded." Sokov was afraid that Vasily would take it lightly, so he reminded him specifically: "The Second Battalion and the Second Company have repelled the enemy's attacks twice in a row. I think the enemy will never Be willing to fail. Next, they will definitely carry out crazy revenge. You need to be prepared in advance. As long as there are strong fortifications, it will not be that easy for the enemy to break through our positions."
Sokov was thinking about the artillery company that had been shelled by the Germans. As soon as the call with Vasily ended, he immediately called Porochenko and asked with concern: "Comrade Porochenko, what are the losses of your company?"
"Reporting to Comrade Brigade Commander," Porochenko said in a serious tone: "During the enemy's artillery fire, two of our artillery were blown up. Seven artillery soldiers were killed and more than twenty were injured."
"Move the artillery positions immediately." Sokov was worried that enemy shelling and bombing might follow, so he ordered Porochenko: "After sending the wounded to the military hospital, move all the artillery to new positions. .”
In response to Sokov's instructions, Porochenko smiled bitterly, and then said: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will move the remaining artillery and infantry to new places as soon as possible to avoid being exposed to the enemy's long-range artillery fire again." Strike.”
From the tone of Porochenko's words, Sokov heard that the other party was in many difficulties, so he arranged for him to say: "Don't worry, Comrade Porochenko, although you have suffered certain losses in today's battle. . But the brigade headquarters will not sit idly by and we will replenish you with new soldiers and technical equipment as soon as possible."
