After the explosions one after another, those soldiers with grenades strapped to their bodies all died heroically. Although their sacrifices only resulted in the destruction of two tanks, the German tank crews were frightened by the fearless spirit of the soldiers. The tanks did not dare to move forward, but just stayed in place, bombarding the tanks not far away with artillery fire. Soviet position.
It was not until the German soldiers arrived that the tanks restarted, and with the cooperation of the infantry, they continued to rush towards the Soviet position. Because the 157th Division did not lay a minefield in front of the position when building fortifications, the Germans quickly rushed to a distance of more than 50 meters from the trench.
Seeing the German tanks and infantry approaching the 157th Division's position step by step, and the weak firepower from the trenches could not stop the German army's advance at all, Chuikov, standing on the high ground, couldn't help but feel anxious. At this moment, Klimov suddenly shouted in surprise: "Comrade Commander, look quickly, the tank, our tank."
Sokov looked in the direction Klimov pointed, and sure enough he saw four tanks rushing towards the forward position of the 157th Division. "Where?" Chuikov also put down the telescope and asked.
"There!" before Klimov could speak, Sokov rushed to say: "It's four T-34s. The Germans' Panzer IV tanks are no match for them..."
Before Sokov finished speaking, a German tank approaching the forward position suddenly emitted a black smoke with flames from the body. Soon the fire spread to the entire body, wrapping the entire tank in flames. .
Seeing the burning tank, Sokov thought to himself: What is going on? How could the German tank suddenly catch fire? Is it another brave soldier who died with the enemy tank holding a cluster grenade? Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly saw two plumes of soil rising into the sky next to another German tank. He suddenly realized that it was the cannon fired by the Soviet tank that had just arrived.
I don’t know which army these four tanks came from. They did not line up in formation like other tanks and charged forward at full speed. Instead, a two-vehicle tactic was used, alternately covering and rushing forward. When the front tank rushes forward, the tank behind it stops and fires; the tank that has finished firing continues to rush forward, while the tank in front stops and fires at the target it finds.
Although the German tanks parked in front of the Soviet position fired back, their shells were unable to penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 at a distance of more than 500 meters. On the contrary, the Soviet tanks can overturn their turrets as soon as they fire. In a short time, those German tanks that once had the upper hand became burning torches on the battlefield.
Seeing that all their own tanks were destroyed, the German soldiers who followed the tank attack turned around and ran back, crossing the pontoon bridge and escaping back to the south bank.
"It's great, our tank crews are so great." Seeing the German troops escaping back to the south bank, Klimov said excitedly: "They destroyed the enemy's tanks, crushed the enemy's attack, and successfully defended their position. .”
"Comrade General, something is wrong." Seeing the German infantry escaping from the pontoon in a hurry, Sokov felt an ominous premonition in his heart. He quickly said to Chuikov: "Even if the German tanks are destroyed by our If the army is destroyed, their infantry can retreat to the river and hold on. Why retreat to the other side of the river?"
"Chief of Staff, what do you mean?" Chuikov looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you think the German retreat is a conspiracy?"
"It's very possible." Sokov nodded and said affirmatively: "I think the German infantry have retreated to the other side, probably preparing to shell our positions."
Chuikov did not refute Sokov's statement. He just looked at the four tanks parked behind the trench, sighed softly, and said: "God bless, I hope these tanks will be hit by the shelling that will come later." , can survive. With these tanks as fixed forts, our army’s defense strength can be strengthened.”
As soon as Chuikov finished speaking, the German shelling began. In a matter of moments, the forward position of the 157th Division was blown into a sea of flames. For a while, shrapnel was flying and soil was flying. The civil engineering works on the position were like paper toys, torn to pieces by the power of the explosion and then raised high into the air.
Looking at the dense shells exploding on the position, Sokov's heart tightened. He didn't know how many of the commanders and fighters staying in these simple fortifications would survive after this round of shelling. Perhaps there are some companies or battalion-level combat units whose designations can be canceled due to exhaustion of casualties the moment the artillery fire ends.
Before the bombardment ended, another group of German tanks began to pass through the pontoon bridge and headed towards the north bank. On the south bank, hundreds of German soldiers could clearly be seen gathering, and it seemed that they were preparing to launch a new attack.
After the German tanks passed the pontoon bridge, they quickly launched an offensive formation. However, they did not attack immediately, but stayed where they were, waiting for the end of the bombardment and the infantry who were crossing the bridge.
The German army was very good at summing up the lessons of failure. As soon as the shelling stopped, they immediately launched an attack before the smoke from the Soviet position cleared. Hundreds of German soldiers, following a dozen tanks, flooded into the Soviet defensive positions like a rising tide.
They were getting closer and closer to the position, one hundred meters, ninety meters, eighty meters... However, the Soviet position was still quiet, without any movement at all. This scene stimulated Chuikov. He only felt darkness in front of his eyes and his heart was piercing. He swayed twice and then fell backward. Fortunately, Sokov and Klimov had quick eyesight and quick hands, and supported him in time, preventing him from falling to the ground.
"Comrade Commander, what's wrong with you?" Klimov asked with concern.
Chuikov opened his eyes, shook his head, and said: "It seems that the position of the 157th Division cannot be defended. The enemy not only has an advantage in strength, but they also have much more technical equipment than us. If we continue to fight, it will be too late." There is no need. It will only let the soldiers die in vain. Call Colonel Kuropatenko immediately and ask him to withdraw the surviving troops to the second line and use a step-by-step approach to delay the German advance towards Stalingrad. speed."
After Chuikov struggled to stand upright, he said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, from now on, I am removing you from your position as chief of staff of the Southern Cluster."
Sokov did not expect that Chuikov would suddenly dismiss him without warning, and he couldn't help asking in surprise: "Comrade General, why is this?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, don't forget that your real position is the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade." Chuikov raised his hand and patted Sokov on the shoulder and said: "The Germans are rushing towards Stalingrad. , is an unchangeable fact. Since we can no longer defend this place, we can only continue to fight with them in the city. We will never hand over the city to the Germans easily. Go ahead, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, Lead your troops at Mamayev Kurgan and teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget."
In this way, while the German 14th Armored Division successfully broke through the defense line of the Soviet 157th Division, Sokov was relieved of his post as chief of staff by Chuikov and returned to Mamayev Ridge to continue commanding his troops.
