Seydlitz originally planned to launch an attack on the Red October Tractor Factory at 8 a.m., but there was less than an hour left before the start of the attack, and Dr. Kofis's 295th Infantry Division was still on the march.
After learning the news, Seydlitz was furious and asked angrily to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, can you get in touch with Dr. Kofis now?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, Army Commander." Seeing Seidlitz's anger, the Chief of Staff quickly and cautiously replied, "Although he is on the march, our radio station can call him."
"Ask him immediately where the troops are now?" Seydlitz said angrily: "Order him to enter the attack position at half past seven, otherwise I will send him to a military court."
"Understood!" The chief of staff nodded, quickly walked to the area where the radio station was placed, and told the female operator sitting in front of the radio station: "Call the 295th Division immediately and let their division commander Dr. Kofis speak to me. "
The female operator agreed, then picked up the transmitter and started calling the 295th Infantry Division. After calling for about two or three minutes, she handed a pair of headphones to the chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, the call is connected."
"Dr. Kofis, where is your division now?" The chief of staff spoke to Kofis in a very polite tone: "Because your division cannot arrive at the designated position on time, the Army Commander is very angry about this."
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff," the troops could not arrive at the attack location on time. Kofis was also anxious. When the Army Chief of Staff asked about it, he complained bitterly: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, it's not that I don't want to arrive at the designated location on time. , the troops are really too scattered, it took a lot of time to gather them together..."
The Army Chief of Staff originally wanted to say a few more words, but he didn't know when Seydlitz came to him, snatched the microphone from his hand, and rudely interrupted Kofis's words: "Kofis Dr. Si, if your troops cannot reach the designated attack location within half an hour and delay the mission of seizing the Red October Factory, then you can wait to go to court-martial."
If he had heard Seydlitz say this before, Kofis might have heard it in one ear and out the other, not paying attention at all. But now they dare not take it lightly. Yesterday, the High Command in Berlin issued an order to Paulus to seize Stalingrad in the near future. The news has long spread among the division-level officers of the 6th Army. He is in this trend. Jianlangkou disobeyed military orders, and the consequences were very serious.
It was based on this consideration that Kofis could only bite the bullet and said: "Understood, Your Majesty Commander, my troops will arrive at the designated location within half an hour."
After ending the call, Kofis held the transmitter in a daze, silently thinking about how to get the troops to increase their marching speed and reach the designated location within the specified time. Seeing that Kofis looked worried, the division chief of staff quickly asked with concern: "Doctor, what happened?"
The voice of the division chief of staff woke Kofis out of his reverie. He handed the earphone and microphone in his hand back to the operator, and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, the Army Commander, ordered our division to hurry up within half an hour." Get to the designated location or I risk being court-martialed.”
"It is definitely impossible for the entire division to reach the designated location within half an hour." After the division chief of staff said this, seeing Kofis's face turning livid, he added with a smile: "Dr. , have you forgotten that our vanguard group rides on trucks, armored vehicles and motorcycles, so there should be no problem if they rush to the designated location within half an hour and take over the defense from the 100th Jäger Division of."
"However, I'm afraid it's not enough for the leading group to arrive at the designated location." Kofis said awkwardly: "It will take at least three hours for the entire division to get into the attack position."
Hearing what Kofis said, the division chief of staff smiled: "Doctor, your Excellency the Army Commander just asked us to arrive within half an hour, but he did not say that the entire division must arrive. Therefore, as long as the leading regiment can arrive within the specified time, Within the time, if you go to the designated area and take over the defense from the 100th Chasseur Division, you will be considered as completing the order of the Army Commander."
After being reminded by the chief of staff of the division, Kofis felt that what was going on was indeed going on, and his frown suddenly relaxed. He quickly ordered the chief of staff of the division: "Chief of staff, immediately notify the commander of the leading regiment and ask them to speed up the march. , be sure to arrive at the designated place at the designated time.”
This method of the division chief of staff relieved Kofis. The fully mechanized vanguard regiment, which was only seven or eight kilometers away from the designated location, immediately accelerated its march after receiving Kofis's order. Although the road was full of large and small craters, it still only took them more than twenty minutes to reach the starting point of the attack.
Seidlitz learned that the 295th Infantry Division was in position, and ordered the army's artillery to fire at the Red October Factory. In order to prevent the 39th Guards Division from noticing its true attack direction, most of the artillery shells landed in the direction of the dormitory area and the main entrance of the factory. Although there were not many shells that landed on the northern wall of the factory, they were all 155-caliber howitzer shells. .
When the German shelling began, Sokov did not listen to Cousteau's persuasion and go to the basement to avoid the shelling. Instead, he stood on the track of the factory building, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. Although the position he chose did not have as wide a view as the rooftop, it was blocked by the wall. As long as the wall was not blown down by artillery fire, the shrapnel would not hurt him at all.
Sokov saw with his own eyes a shell whizzing down in front of a sandbag bunker beside the wall. Following a loud noise, the bunker was shrouded in black smoke. When the smoke dissipated, there was no trace of the sandbag bunker, and the few soldiers hiding behind also lost their trace.
"Damn it," Brisky, who was standing next to Sokov, couldn't help shouting in surprise when he saw this scene: "The Germans actually used a 155mm howitzer. These simple fortifications of the annihilation battalion simply cannot withstand such a situation. of cannonballs.”
Sokov agreed very much with Briski's statement. He knew very well that the killing radius of the 155mm howitzer was fifteen meters. Within this range, even if no shrapnel hit, he would be killed by the shock wave. Although the number of artillery used by the German army was limited, it was more than enough for a simple defense such as an annihilation battalion.
"They should be allowed to withdraw, otherwise everyone will be blown up in the fortifications before the enemy attacks." After Sokov said this, he turned his head and looked down, hoping to see Cousteau. But after looking at the crowd for a long time, there was no sign of Cousteau. He could only shout at the top of his lungs: "Hey, comrades, have any of you seen Cousteau?"
Because the gunfire outside was so loud, the workers below couldn't hear what they were shouting. Fortunately, when Briski came up, he was accompanied by a signal soldier. He quickly ordered the signal soldier to wave a small flag to signal the soldiers below. After the soldiers below saw the flag, they immediately went to the basement and called Cousteau out.
Cousteau followed the driving stairs, climbed up the track, came to Sokov's side, and asked angrily, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have anything to do with me?"
Sokov pointed to the annihilation battalion position that was being shelled by German artillery in the distance, and said to Cousteau: "Comrade workshop director, the enemy is bombarding the annihilation battalion position with heavy artillery. They have no solid defenses, so just stay there. If you die in vain, call the battalion commander immediately and ask them to evacuate to the workshop immediately."
Sokov thought that when he said this, Cousteau would rush to call the commander of the annihilation battalion and ask them to retreat to the assembly workshop along the traffic trench. Unexpectedly, after finishing speaking, Cousteau stood motionless. Seeing this, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade workshop director, what are you still doing here? Why don't you make a phone call?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you don't know something." Cousteau said awkwardly: "The annihilation battalion is not under our jurisdiction. Even if I call the annihilation battalion commander Borschak, he may not listen to me."
Hearing what Cousteau said, Sokov couldn't help but get furious. He pointed at the area shrouded in gunpowder smoke in the distance with his finger and said sternly: "Comrade workshop director, are you prepared to watch your comrades, all of whom are killed by the enemy?" Did he die in the gunfire in vain?"
"Well, I can only try." Cousteau turned around and walked towards the driving stairs, muttering quietly: "As for whether Bolshak listens to me, I don't know. "
Cousteau returned to the basement, thought for a long time, and decided to make the call to Bolshak. After the call was connected, he did not ask who answered the phone, but shouted loudly: "Hey, I am Cousteau, the workshop director. You should evacuate to the workshop immediately, otherwise the German artillery shells will kill you all." Destroyed."
The person who answered the phone was the signal soldier of the annihilation battalion. He heard what Cousteau said clearly and did not dare to make the decision without authorization. He rushed out of the command post under artillery fire, found Bolshak in the trench, and shouted loudly into his ear. The ground roared: "Comrade Battalion Commander, Cousteau, the director of the assembly workshop, has called you and asked you to withdraw your troops to the assembly workshop immediately."
"What, what did you say?" The successive loud explosions made Bolschak's ears somewhat deafened. Even if the communications soldier came close to his ears and shouted, he still felt like there was a ball of cotton stuffed in his ears. He couldn't hear clearly, so he yelled at the communication soldier: "Say it again."
The communications soldier quickly repeated what he had just said into Bolshak's ear. After hearing clearly that Cousteau asked him to lead his troops to withdraw to the assembly workshop, Bolshak couldn't help but feel a little surprised: When did Cousteau become so considerate of others? Although he didn't understand the reason why the other party did this, he knew very well that if the troops were allowed to stay in such a crude fortification and endure the German shelling, all the people on the position might die before the enemy's shelling stopped.
Thinking of this, Bolshak felt that he should follow Cousteau's suggestion and withdraw his troops to the assembly workshop. When the enemy attacked, it would not be too late to launch a counterattack from the factory. After making up his mind, he decisively issued the order to retreat.
When the third company commander heard that he was about to retreat, he was afraid that he had heard wrongly, so he went to Balshak to verify: "Comrade Battalion Commander, is it you who gave the retreat order?"
"Yes, it's my order." Bolshak shouted at the third company commander: "If we continue to stay here, all our people will die soon. Hurry up and order your people to retreat. "
"Comrade Battalion Commander," after confirming the order, the third company commander did not lead the people to retreat, but reminded Bolshak: "Have you forgotten Order No. 227? No one is allowed to take a step back without the permission of the superiors. , otherwise he will be shot as a deserter."
How could Bolshak not know the consequences of Order No. 227 and unauthorized retreat before getting permission from his superiors? But if he continued to stay in this crude position, everyone, including himself, would be killed by artillery shells before the Germans attacked. Therefore, he waited for the third company commander to finish speaking, and then said in a tone that left no doubt: "Third company commander, it was me who gave the retreat order. If the superiors investigate in the future, I will take responsibility. Now, take your people with you immediately. Evacuate to the assembly workshop building."
Seeing that Bolshak's attitude was so resolute, the third company commander could not say anything more. He could only agree, and then ran to greet the soldiers in the company to prepare for retreat. Looking at the back of the third company commander disappearing at the other end of the trench, Bolschak thought to himself: I wonder how my superiors will punish me when they learn that I ordered the troops to retreat without authorization? But even if you want to shoot me, that will happen later. If we don’t withdraw, we will all die now.
When the third company commander heard that he was about to retreat, he was afraid that he had heard wrongly, so he went to Balshak to verify: "Comrade Battalion Commander, is it you who gave the retreat order?"
"Yes, it's my order." Bolshak shouted at the third company commander: "If we continue to stay here, all our people will die soon. Hurry up and order your people to retreat. "
"Comrade Battalion Commander," after confirming the order, the third company commander did not lead people to retreat, but reminded Bolshak: "Have you forgotten Order No. 227? No one is allowed to take a step back without permission from the superiors. , otherwise he will be shot as a deserter."
How could Bolshak not know the consequences of Order No. 227 and unauthorized retreat before getting permission from his superiors? But if he continued to stay in this crude position, everyone, including himself, would be killed by artillery shells before the Germans attacked. Therefore, he waited for the third company commander to finish speaking, and then said in a tone that left no doubt: "Third company commander, it was me who gave the retreat order. If the superiors investigate in the future, I will take responsibility. Now, take your people with you immediately. Evacuate to the assembly workshop building."
Seeing that Bolshak's attitude was so resolute, the third company commander could not say anything more. He could only agree, and then ran to greet the soldiers in the company to prepare for retreat. Looking at the back of the third company commander disappearing at the other end of the trench, Bolschak thought to himself: I wonder how my superiors will punish me when they learn that I ordered the troops to retreat without authorization? But even if you want to shoot me, that will happen later. If we don’t withdraw, we will all die now.
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