Dmitriev is nominally the artillery commander of the Southern Group, but he only has two battalions of artillery under his command, and the total number of artillery pieces of various calibers is only thirty, most of which are 82 mm caliber mortar.
After hearing the artillery attack order issued by Chuikov, he immediately ordered the Guards mortar battalion that had withdrawn from the front line with him to open fire, bombarding the German machine gun or mortar positions on the south bank of the Aksay River with all its strength, and covering the German troops on the pontoon bridge. Troops engaged in fierce fighting can smoothly retreat to their positions.
Although the Soviet army did not have many mortars, they had already locked the target of the artillery attack. However, they had not received the order from their superiors, so they had not fired yet. At this moment, Dmitriev's order to fire was received, and the gunner who was already ready to fire fired at the fastest speed.
Shells roared towards the German machine guns and mortars. In a series of explosions, the German machine gun fire points were blown into the sky, causing huge damage to the Soviet army. The mortars were also blown into pieces. Smoke-stained parts were scattered on the river bank. The German troops who were trying to rush across the pontoon bridge saw the Soviet army firing artillery. They hurriedly stopped the melee with the Soviet army and retreated hastily off the pontoon bridge. The Soviet army, unable to pursue due to heavy casualties, took the opportunity to retreat.
The leader of the forward regiment and other troops retreated to their positions. When they counted the number of people, they almost cried. At the time of the attack, there were more than 800 people in the regiment. Only about 70 soldiers, including the wounded, could return to their positions.
Seeing the sparse commanders and fighters returning to their positions, Sokov let out a breath, and then suggested to Chuikov: "Comrade General, the battle cannot be fought like this, otherwise all the commanders and fighters of the 157th Division will be killed before nightfall. It’s all gone.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I know you are very good at fighting." Chuikov looked at Sokov and asked, "Then tell me, how should we fight?"
"At present, our troops are limited and we lack anti-tank weapons." Regarding Chuikov's question, Sokov said cautiously: "We can consider letting German tanks pass through our defense line, and then concentrate our efforts to destroy the German troops following behind. Infantry. Tanks without infantry cover are nothing to fear and our warriors can easily eliminate them."
"No, we can't take risks." Unexpectedly, after Chuikov listened to Sokov's suggestion, he shook his head and said: "You have to know that the 157th Division and the 138th Division were both units defeated by the German army. Full of fear. Even though they performed well just now, once the enemy tanks break through their defense line, they will become panicked. There may be a large number of soldiers who will abandon their positions and run away because of fear. The situation is difficult to control."
Hearing what Chuikov said, Sokov understood that his tactics must not be adopted by him. He could only sigh softly and asked: "Comrade General, can we get tanks from somewhere? Maybe ours When soldiers see our tanks, they will have the courage to fight."
Sokov's words reminded Chuikov. He frowned and thought for a while and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you reminded me. Last night, our superiors sent us a tank company with four T-34 tanks. Maybe we can let them To support the 157th Division."
Seeing that the Soviet troops retreated to their defensive positions, the German tank troops were dispatched. Eight No. 4 tanks were filled with black smoke when starting up, and their tracks were rattling at high speed, and they drove onto the pontoon bridge one after another. The commanders and fighters hiding in the trenches looked at the huge steel body heading towards them and the ferocious gun barrels on the body. Many of them were frightened. The machine gunners hurriedly raised their machine guns and aimed at the approaching tanks and fired wildly. Machine gun bullets hit the tank body like hail, but they could not slow down its movement at all.
Seeing the soldiers in the trenches becoming panicked, a second lieutenant stood up bravely. While tying bundles of grenades to his body, he said to the soldiers around him: "Comrades, there is nothing to be afraid of." Yes, just a few grenades will make the enemy tanks crawl. If you are not afraid of death, come with me."
However, after he finished speaking, he did not receive any response. The second lieutenant sighed softly, rearranged the grenades strapped to his body, climbed out of the trench on his hands and knees, and crawled towards the approaching tank. But when a tank approached, he pulled the string suddenly, rolled on the spot, lay on his back, and let the tank drive over him.
The soldiers in the trench watched helplessly as the second lieutenant, lying on his back, got into the bottom of the tank. Then there was an earth-shattering explosion, and the tank was enveloped in raging fire. Not long after, two German tank crews, covered in fire, crawled out of the tank turret, lay down for a while, got up again, and stumbled towards the back. The soldiers who came back to their senses took up their weapons and shot at the German tank crews who were trying to escape, killing them next to the tank.
With the second lieutenant as an example, many soldiers in the trenches, including some of the wounded, tied grenades to themselves and scrambled out of the trenches toward the approaching tanks. Although the German tank crews saw many Soviet troops crawling out of their positions, they also fired with machine guns, but unfortunately they hit very limited targets. Seeing these soldiers dying together with their tanks, the tank crews became a little panicked. Some increased the accelerator and tried to rush over quickly; while others started to reverse, trying to get rid of these anti-tank fighters. For a moment, the scene seemed extremely chaotic.
The infantrymen who were following far behind saw that their tanks were threatened by Soviet anti-tank fighters, and hurriedly adopted a short leap forward and rushed here quickly. Trying to eliminate the anti-tank fighters who left the trenches, and cover their own tanks to successfully break through the Soviet positions.
The soldiers who climbed out of the position had no other weapons except grenades strapped to their bodies. Facing the rushing German infantry, they became lambs to be slaughtered. Several soldiers, after being shot several times, used their last bit of strength to suddenly pull off the grenades on their bodies, trying to kill the tanks passing by them.
But their blasting effect was obviously not comparable to the second lieutenant's blasting effect under the vehicle. Except for one tank whose tracks were blown off, the rest of the German tanks were still intact. However, the surviving soldiers braved the enemy's bullets and bravely crawled towards the German tanks, hoping to kill these nasty tanks with grenades strapped to their bodies.
