In fact, Vasily's occupation of that building was a complete accident.
After breaking through the sailors' defense line, the German army, under the cover of tanks, rushed directly to Soviet Street and approached the headquarters of the 92nd Infantry Brigade. The guard platoon commanded by Klimov was dispersed in the melee. Vasily led a squad of soldiers to fight and retreat to the other side of the street.
Vasily often performed sniper missions in the city and was very familiar with the terrain in this area. In order to prevent being besieged by the superior German forces, he led his men to hide in a half-collapsed bookstore in the middle of the street.
Listening to the gunfire and explosions outside, some soldiers couldn't hold their breath and asked Vasily in a panic: "Comrade Sergeant, if we stay here, we won't be surrounded by the enemy, right?"
Vasily knew that the German army was fighting with the sailors outside and would not search his place for the time being, so he comforted the soldiers and said: "The bookstore has been destroyed in half by the bombing. We are hiding here. As long as we don't shoot randomly, we will be safe." The Germans will never be able to detect us."
"Then how long are we going to stay here?" the soldier continued to ask.
"We'll wait here until dark." Vasily looked outside and said, "We will then find a way to return to Mamayev Heights."
Knowing that they would have the opportunity to return to Mamayev Heights after dark, the soldiers felt much more at ease. They knew very well that as long as they could return to Mamayev Heights smoothly, they would be safe.
After dark, the sound of gunfire on the streets had not completely stopped. Vasily went outside to observe the environment and couldn't help but secretly complained that the road leading to Mamayev Hill had been blocked by enemy tanks and various barricades. Cut off, if you want to go back, the only way besides breaking through is to take a detour.
Vasily knew very well that if he wanted to forcefully break through the German defenses with the twenty or so soldiers he led, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg, so he finally chose a detour. According to his plan, after coming out of the hiding place, he walked in the opposite direction to Mamaev Kurgan, leaving Soviet Street from January 9th Square and entering Red Petersburg Street...
But when the team reached the end of the street, Vasily's attention was caught by a building. This building has a broad view to the south, west, and north, making it an excellent artillery observation position. To the east of the building is the Volga River. As long as a general-purpose machine gun is set up in the window, the ferry in the distance can be blocked with firepower.
After seeing the building, Vasily changed his mind and decided to occupy the building and hold it firmly. He quickly ordered the troops to stop advancing and take cover on the spot.
The soldiers didn't know what happened, and they all looked at Vasily in surprise. He called the deputy squad leader aside, pointed to the building dozens of meters away, and said to him: "Comrade Corporal, have you seen that building?"
"Yes, I saw it, Comrade Sergeant." After the deputy squad leader answered Vasily's question, he asked curiously: "Why do you think of asking this? Are you planning to lead us to occupy this building?"
"Yes, Comrade Corporal, you are right, I just want to occupy that place." Vasily nodded and replied: "Didn't you realize that this building has a particularly wide view? If we stick to it, we can definitely Use firepower to blockade the small square in front..."
"Oh my God!" When the deputy squad leader heard what Vasily said, he was suddenly frightened into a cold sweat. He carefully reminded the other party: "Comrade Sergeant, have you ever considered that we only have less than twenty people left?" , do we have the strength to seize such a building? Even if we can capture the building, how long can we hold on without ammunition and supplies? "
"According to my observation, the enemy's defense in the building should not be strong." As a sniper, Vasily's observation ability is stronger than that of ordinary people. He immediately discovered that the German defense in the building was lax, so he decisively attacked Said: "If we take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and launch an attack by surprise, we will definitely be able to capture this building."
Seeing that Vasily had made up his mind, the deputy squad leader could no longer object. He could only bite the bullet and said: "Okay, Comrade Sergeant, I will follow your command."
The next battle went very smoothly. There were only seven or eight German soldiers in the building. Except for two sentries standing by the window chatting, the rest were sleeping on the beds of the houses that had not been destroyed by the bombing. The sentry thought that he was surrounded by his own people, so he was very vigilant. As a result, he was killed by Vasily and another soldier without even issuing a warning sound.
After killing the enemy sentries, the soldiers from the guard squad quietly entered the building and eliminated the Germans inside one by one. Since the soldiers organized into the guard company by Seryosha were all veterans with rich combat experience, they eliminated the enemies in the building without any casualties.
After eliminating the enemy, the deputy squad leader asked Vasily for instructions: "Comrade Sergeant, what should we do next?"
"We only have twenty people, and this building has three unit doors. If we divide the troops to guard them, the troops will become weak." Vasily, who checked the terrain, said to the deputy squad leader: "I plan to gather everyone near the square. The third unit, while the first and second units only need to send one soldier each to serve as a guard."
"Comrade Sergeant, Comrade Sergeant." While the two were talking, a soldier suddenly ran over in a hurry and reported to Vasily: "There is movement in the basement of this unit, it may be the enemy."
Hearing that there were still enemies in the building, Vasily's expression changed, and then he told the deputy squad leader: "You lead five soldiers to guard here to prevent the Germans from entering the building again. The rest of the comrades follow me."
Vasily led people to follow the soldiers to the basement door and saw a closed iron door here. He stepped forward and pulled the handle, but the iron door didn't move at all. A soldier came over and said to him: "Comrade Sergeant, let's blow the door open with grenades?"
"Wait a minute, don't act rashly yet." Vasily saw the soldier taking out a grenade and was about to stuff it on the door handle. He quickly stopped him: "I think there may not be Germans in the basement."
"Not a German?!" When the soldier heard what Vasily said, a surprised expression appeared on his face: "Is it a small unit of our army that was broken up?"
"The Germans are not fools. They will not deploy their troops in the basement. Once the door is blocked, they will have no choice but to wait for death inside." Vasily analyzed to everyone: "Not only are they not Germans inside, but they are also not Germans. The small and scattered troops of our army will never hide in the building and do nothing while the enemy occupies the building."
"Then who are they?" asked the soldier.
"Needless to say, comrade soldier." Vasily said with a wry smile: "Nine times out of ten, the people hiding in the basement are the residents of this building."
The soldier heard that the people in the basement might be residents of the building, so he put away the grenades. Knocked the door heavily with his fist and shouted inside: "Hey, people inside, listen, we are the Soviet Red Army. You have been surrounded by us. Hurry up, put down your weapons and come out to surrender."
After the soldiers' shouts stopped, there was no movement inside. The soldier cast a questioning look at Vasily, as if asking himself what to do next. Vasily ordered: "Comrade soldier, keep knocking on the door and be sure to let everyone inside come out."
The soldier nodded after hearing this, banged the door hard again, and raised his voice and shouted: "Open the door, open the door quickly. If you don't open the door again, we will blow the door open."
This time there was finally movement in the door: "Don't blow up, don't blow up, we are all our own!"
"Open the door!" The soldier heard clearly that the person inside was speaking Russian, and turned to Vasily and whispered, "Comrade Sergeant, it seems that he is really one of our own." Then he shouted at the inside again: "Quickly. Open the door."
The closed door was opened, and an old lady wearing a headscarf poked her head out. Because it was pitch dark outside, she could not see clearly the people standing outside. She asked tremblingly: "You are the Soviets." Or German?”
"Nonsense, of course we are Soviets." The soldier shouted at her: "How many people are there, let them all come out."
Vasily was worried about frightening the old lady, so he quickly stopped the soldier, then walked over, shined the captured flashlight on himself, and said to the old lady: "Old man, don't be afraid, we are all our own people."
Because the light of Vasily's flashlight was fleeting, the old lady did not see Vasily clearly at all, but she used her own way to distinguish whether the person standing in front of her was a Korean or a German. She reached out and touched the helmet that Vasily was wearing, and then touched Vasily's collar badge, with an expression of surprise on her face. She turned and shouted into the dark basement: "Come out, they are our comrades."
Following the old lady's shout, more than ten or twenty people came out of the basement one after another. Except for three middle-aged men inside, the rest were women and children. Vasily asked the three men: "Which unit do you belong to?"
The three men in question pointed to the north at the same time and replied: "We are all workers in a nearby flour mill, and our families live in this building."
After Vasily stepped forward to shake hands with the three of them, he said politely: "I am Sergeant Vasily of the Red Army. I regret to tell you that we are surrounded by Germans, so we must find a way to hold on here. I hope to get your support." Help, are you willing to fight side by side with us?”
"Comrade Red Army sergeant," a burly middle-aged man replied: "My name is Shulka. I am a militia member of the flour mill. I have received military training. I am willing to help you guard this building."
Seeing that his companion Shulka expressed his willingness to help the Red Army hold on to the building, the other two men were not to be outdone and expressed their intention to fight side by side with Vasily and the others to jointly defend their homeland.
