The engineer company's search along the river lasted all night, but until daybreak, no trace of Sokarov's whereabouts was found. Considering that if the soldiers stayed by the river after dawn, they would become targets of German shooting, Sokov could only make a painful decision and ordered the engineer company to terminate the search work.
Sokov had just returned to the headquarters and was reporting to Chuikov on the search for Sokarov when suddenly there was a rumble of explosions in the distance. Chuikov walked to the window of the mill and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw plumes of black smoke rising in the direction of the river, and enemy planes could be seen circling in the sky.
Seeing this situation, Chuikov frowned and said: "The Germans are bombing the positions by the river. It seems that they are preparing for a large-scale attack."
"Comrade Commander," as soon as Chuikov finished speaking, Adjutant Klimov continued: "We have successfully blown up the pontoon bridge on the river. The Germans cannot cross the Aksay River."
"Klimov, you think of the problem too simply." Regarding Klimov's naive idea, Chuikov immediately poured cold water on him: "You think that a mere Aksay River can stop the problem?" The advancing pace of the German armored divisions? Regardless of the fact that we successfully blew up a pontoon bridge last night, I can guarantee you that today they will be able to re-erect at least two, three or even more pontoon bridges on the Aksay River."
"Comrade Commander, if the enemy's tanks cross the river, our infantry will not be able to stop them." Knowing that the Germans might build more pontoon bridges on the Aksay River, Klimov couldn't help but panic: "Then what should we do?"
Chuikov knew very well that he did not have decent artillery or any tank troops. It was simply a fantasy to block the German armored divisions. Therefore, after hearing this question from Klimov, he was silent for a moment and said: "We can only rely on the existing fortifications to consume the effective strength of the German army and avoid allowing more enemies to rush towards Stalingrad."
When Sokov, who was standing nearby, heard what he said, he thought to himself: Fortunately, I was smart and asked Andre to get the six cannons to Mamayev Hill early, otherwise he would have waited until the German armored division passed by. River, these artillery pieces were either destroyed or captured by the Germans. Rather than taking advantage of the Germans, it is better to keep yourself and be put to great use in the future.
Perhaps in order to prevent the same mistakes from happening again, the Germans, who had already made sufficient preparations, once the bombing was over, continued to bombard the Soviet positions on the north bank with artillery fire to cover their engineers in setting up a pontoon bridge on the Aksay River.
The German army suffered heavy losses in the defense area of Lyudnikov Division yesterday, so today they chose the defense area of the 157th Division as the crossing point. Kuropatenko, who was standing in the observation post, let the earth above his head that was shaken by the explosion of the artillery bomb fall on his military cap and shoulders. He just stood there motionless and looked towards the other side of the river with his telescope. .
The Germans on the other side gathered about twenty tanks and hundreds of soldiers. They also established more than a dozen machine gun positions on the shore and set up a row of mortars. Once the Soviets' firepower returned, they would carry out targeted attacks. Clear stance.
Standing next to the colonel was his chief of staff. Seeing this, he said with a worried look: "Comrade division commander, if the German pontoon bridge is completed, their tanks will rush to the north bank. With what we have now The troops and equipment cannot stop them at all.”
"If you can't stop it, you have to stop it." When Kuropatenko heard these words from his chief of staff, he did not put down the telescope, but said angrily: "Tell the commanders and soldiers to hold the position resolutely, rather than let the bones be exposed. In the wilderness, you will never take a step back. If you are not afraid of sacrifice or bloodshed, you must fight to the last person and to the last bullet. When the soldiers are fired, the officers fill in; when the officers are fired, I personally hold the cluster grenade. , to blow up German tanks.”
The division chief of staff originally wanted to complain a few words, but seeing that the division commanders were determined to die, he did not continue. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "Understood, comrade division commander, we will fight to the last man."
Perhaps because they were worried that there were a large number of Soviet anti-tank fighters hidden on the north bank, after the Germans erected the two pontoon bridges, the first thing that rushed over from the bridge was not tanks, but groups of infantry. Seeing that the German offensive had begun, Kuropatenko quickly grabbed the phone on the table, called the command headquarters deployed at the forefront, and ordered the commander of the unit: "Comrade Commander, if you see the troops coming up, Germans?"
The leader of the frontier regiment quickly replied: "I saw it, comrade division commander."
Kuropatenko looked through the telescope at the German infantry crossing the bridge, and shouted loudly: "Your regiment will charge me immediately! We must eliminate the enemies on the pontoon bridge, and they must not be allowed to board the north bank."
As Kuropatenko's order was issued, countless soldiers jumped out of the trenches that had been riddled with holes, shouting and rushing toward the German troops passing through the pontoon bridge. Seeing the Soviet army's sudden counterattack, mortars deployed on the other side of the river took the lead in firing.
The shells fell and exploded in the charging ranks. From time to time, Soviet soldiers were overturned by the air waves of the explosion, or were cut down by flying shrapnel. Although people were dying every minute, the surviving soldiers bravely passed through the shelling area and approached the pontoon bridge amid the rapid whistle of the officers.
In order to prevent the Soviet troops from approaching the pontoon bridge, the German machine gun firepower deployed on the shore opened fire. In the dense rain of bullets, a cloud of blood erupted from the slightly crowded impact formation. The soldiers who were shot were shaking as if they were electrocuted under the rain of bullets, and then the bodies were like broken bags being thrown out, and were hit by the huge impact of the bullets. Top over. Although their comrades continued to fall around them, the surviving soldiers still howled and rushed forward, with corpses covering the path of their attack. The soldiers who rushed onto the pontoon fired all the bullets in their guns in one breath, then held up their shining bayonets, stared with bloodshot eyes, howled and started fierce hand-to-hand combat with the Germans.
Chuikov and Sokov stood on the hillside outside the headquarters, watching the tragic battle through binoculars. Seeing the soldiers rushing onto the pontoon without fear of death and engaging in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, I couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Our soldiers performed so bravely. As long as they are here, the Germans will definitely break through our defense lines." Pay a heavy price.”
When Sokov saw this scene, he was cursing in his heart: "This idiot Kuropatenko can obviously rely on the existing fortifications to consume the effective strength of the German army. Who knew that he had water in his head and actually ordered the troops to carry out a counterattack? , as a result, a large number of soldiers died on the charge, a tragic and worthless death."
Chuikov soon realized the problem that Sokov had in mind. He found that due to the effective area of the pontoon bridge, only a portion of the warriors remained in contact with the enemy and a melee was taking place. Those enemies who were temporarily out of contact, crowded on the pontoon, were the best targets for German machine guns. Almost as soon as the gunshots were fired, soldiers kept plopping into the water. Seeing this, he quickly said to Klimov who was squatting in the crater aside: "Klimov, call General Dmitriev immediately and order him to bombard the enemies on the pontoon with artillery fire to cover us. The troops retreat."
