The Soviet tanks stopped in place and fired. The shell fired by the German anti-tank gun hit a tank again. But to the dismay of the artilleryman, the shell turned into a ricochet again, leaving only the front armor. An inconspicuous dent was made.
The hit Soviet tank slowly turned its turret and fired a shot from the anti-tank gun aimed at the Germans. The roaring shells landed next to the anti-tank gun and exploded. The fire engulfed the artillerymen who were loading the shells. When the smoke cleared, several German artillerymen had fallen in a mess near the explosion point.
Briski, with the commanders and fighters of the fourth battalion, was originally far behind. When he saw the tanks parked in front and fired at the enemy's position, he half-turned around and shouted loudly to his men: "Comrades, our The tanks have suppressed the enemy's firepower, come with me!"
"Hurrah!" Following Briski's shout, all the soldiers shouted loudly, changing from a brisk walk to a trot, and then entered a sprint state!
Brisky rushed to the front of the opposite side. He threw himself behind the No. 101 tank driven by Bely, picked up the microphone and shouted loudly: "Comrade Colonel, we are coming up!"
"Understood!" Bely, who was sitting in the tank, heard Briski's voice and replied equally loudly: "We will continue to move forward. Pay attention to the German anti-tank crews and don't let them get close to our tanks."
"Don't worry, comrade colonel." Brisky assured Bely, "We will never let enemy tanks get close to you."
Bely's tank and the tanks of the other two company commanders were equipped with vehicle-mounted radios. After he ended his call with Briskey, he issued an attack order to the two company commanders: "All hands on deck, move forward, keep moving forward!"
As the order was issued, the tanks driven by the two company commanders took the lead in starting. Although no signal soldier leaned outside the tank to send a signal, the nearby tanks saw the company commander's tank moving and moved forward one after another. The Soviet tanks were moving forward neither too fast nor too slow. If they were too fast, they would be afraid that the infantry would not be able to keep up; if they were too slow, they would be afraid of slowing down the infantry's attack speed.
When the attacking force was only more than 200 meters away from the German trenches, the two remaining MG34 machine guns in the trenches opened fire. Although the bullets jingled on the armor of the T-34 tank and splashed countless sparks, it did not slow down the tank's advance at all.
Since the anti-tank artillery unit had been destroyed by Soviet tank fire, in order to prevent the Soviet tanks from approaching, several German anti-tank soldiers holding explosive bags got out of the trench and crawled forward. , approached the Soviet tank in an attempt to blow up the tank.
The enemy wanted to blow up the tank, but the Soviet soldiers following the tank would naturally not agree. As long as they saw an enemy getting up from the ground, they would shoot with submachine guns and beat the anti-tank fighters into sieves.
Yakov, who was watching the battle in the factory, saw the progress of the troops and couldn't help but curiously asked Sokov: "Misha, as far as I know, the German regiment-level headquarters is usually seven or eight kilometers away from the front. The division headquarters is even thirty kilometers away. But how come the German regiment headquarters is only two or three kilometers away from your defense area?"
Regarding Yakov's question, Sokov smiled faintly and replied: "Yakov, I think there are two possibilities. The first possibility is that the small team I sent behind enemy lines was destroyed with new rockets some time ago. The enemy felt that it was not safe in the rear, so they set up the headquarters so close to the front.
The second possibility is that the enemy's advantage in the factory area is too great and has been suppressing our army, so that we can only carry out forced defense and cannot take any counterattack. Therefore, the German commanders arrogantly believed that there would be no danger no matter where they placed their headquarters. "
"Didn't you say that you had the tanks circle the assembly workshop two days ago, making the enemy mistakenly think that the area you were defending was a tank brigade?" Yakov continued to ask: "Did the enemy find out? Even though you have so many tanks, do you still not pay the necessary attention?"
"That's right, I had a group of tanks circle around the factory several times in the past two days, which really scared the enemy and made them afraid to attack us." Sokov explained with a smile: "But the next day they sent A large number of aircraft came to bomb, thinking that our tank brigade was almost lost in the bombing, so there was no position to move the regiment headquarters."
"Misha, do you think we can capture or kill German regimental officers in today's battle?"
"It's hard to say." Sokov shook his head and said: "German officers are greedy for life and fear of death. Don't look at them setting up their headquarters so close. Once they find that the situation is not good, they will definitely abandon themselves. His subordinates fled."
"Damn coward." When Yakov heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help but cursed in a low voice: "If you are so afraid of death, why bother to set up the headquarters so close to the front line."
"Yakov, the enemy's officers are all greedy for life and afraid of death." Sokov looked into the distance with a contemptuous expression on his face: "Our division-level headquarters is generally only a few hundred meters away from the front line, and The German regiment-level headquarters is at least a few kilometers away. This shows how afraid of death their commanders are. Tell me, can such an army win the final victory when fighting us?"
"This is definitely not possible." After Yakov finished saying this, he turned around and looked left and right. He saw that he and Sokov were the only two people on the track. The guards were all staying in the factory below. Then he asked in a low voice: "Misha, I want to ask you a question, and I hope you can answer me truthfully."
Sokov nodded and said: "Yakov, if you have any questions, just ask them. As long as I know the answer, I will answer you truthfully."
"Do you think," Yakov asked hesitantly, "can our troops hold Stalingrad?"
After he asked this question, he saw the surprised expression on Sokov's face and quickly explained: "The question I asked was just a private question as a friend, and has no other meaning. If you feel it is difficult to answer, You don’t have to answer me.”
"Yakov, I can tell you very seriously." Sokov looked at Yakov and said resolutely: "We will definitely be able to defend Stalingrad. Not only can we defend Stalingrad, but we can also completely eliminate it. Attack all enemies of the city."
Regarding Sokov's statement, Yakov smiled bitterly and said: "Misha, you don't need to comfort me. I have been to the city two or three times and I know the situation here very well. To put it bluntly, If the counterattack fails soon, the city will not be saved at all.”
Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked Yakov in surprise: "Yakov, who told you that there would be a counterattack soon?"
Yakov smiled bitterly again and said: "The plan to implement a counterattack north of Stalingrad may be known to a limited number of defenders in the city, but to me, it is not a secret. I even know it better than you. It’s still early.”
Seeing that Yakov already knew the counterattack plan two days later, Sokov asked curiously: "Yakov, do you think our counterattack can be successful?"
"It won't succeed." Yakov shook his head and said: "Although there are three armies due north of the city, and there is Rokossovsky's front army in the northwest, but if you want to succeed, I think it is There is no possibility." He was deeply afraid that Sokov would refute his point of view, and also explained specifically: "Although two or three brigades or an infantry division will be added to the troops in the city, the troops participating in the counterattack in the city will not only There is no air support, and even artillery support is very limited. Can you tell me, with such troops and technical equipment, can we break through the German defense line?"
Sokov clearly remembered that not only the Soviet counterattack in September ended in failure, but also the counterattack in early October did not make any progress. Instead, it consumed precious reserves and made the battle in the factory area even more difficult. difficult. Therefore, after hearing Yakov's question, he shook his head and said: "Yakov, you don't have the conditions to fight back at all now. Even if you reluctantly launch a counterattack, it will be difficult to last, and it will definitely end in failure."
"Yes, Misha, you are right." Yakov handed a cigarette to Sokov and then said: "I think the same as you, such a counterattack is meaningless. And the superiors Therefore, such a counterattack plan was formulated simply to save Stalingrad from the danger of falling. But the consequences of their doing so would make the situation in Stalingrad even more unfavorable."
Sokov knew that as Yakov, he must know a lot that he didn't know, but he did not ask any more questions. Instead, he raised his telescope and looked into the distance to see how the troops were progressing.
At this moment, the Soviet tanks had rushed into the German minefields. As the tanks' tracks crushed them, mines continued to explode. Fortunately, the Germans laid only infantry mines and no anti-tank mines, so the damage to the tanks was minimal. As the tanks passed through the minefield, Briski and his men stayed at the edge of the minefield, waiting for the tanks to open several passable roads for them in the middle of the minefield.
The tank drove out of the minefield and continued forward, collapsing the barbed wire fence pulled by the Germans. Upon seeing this, Briski issued the order to charge again, leading his men to rush towards the enemy's trench along the road opened by the tank.
There were very few German soldiers left in the trenches. The rest were either killed by artillery shells or were killed by Soviet soldiers' submachine guns when they left the trenches to bomb tanks. Others saw that the situation was not good and had long since fled along the communication trenches.
When Briski and the others rushed to more than 20 meters away from the trench, they all stopped, took out grenades and threw them out. When the smoke from the explosion rose, they continued to rush forward with the tank.
Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked Yakov in surprise: "Yakov, who told you that there would be a counterattack soon?"
Yakov smiled bitterly again and said: "The plan to implement a counterattack north of Stalingrad may be known to a limited number of defenders in the city, but to me, it is not a secret. I even know it better than you. It’s still early.”
Seeing that Yakov already knew the counterattack plan two days later, Sokov asked curiously: "Yakov, do you think our counterattack can be successful?"
"It won't succeed." Yakov shook his head and said: "Although there are three armies due north of the city, and there is Rokossovsky's front army in the northwest, but if you want to succeed, I think it is There is no possibility." He was deeply afraid that Sokov would refute his point of view, and also explained specifically: "Although two or three brigades or an infantry division will be added to the troops in the city, the troops participating in the counterattack in the city will not only There is no air support, and even artillery support is very limited. Can you tell me, with such troops and technical equipment, can we break through the German defense line?"
Sokov clearly remembered that not only the Soviet counterattack in September ended in failure, but also the counterattack in early October did not make any progress, but consumed precious reserves, making the battle in the factory area even more complicated. difficult. Therefore, after hearing Yakov's question, he shook his head and said: "Yakov, you don't have the conditions to fight back at all now. Even if you reluctantly launch a counterattack, it will be difficult to last, and it will definitely end in failure."
"Yes, Misha, you are right." Yakov handed a cigarette to Sokov and then said: "I think the same as you, such a counterattack is meaningless. And the superiors Therefore, such a counterattack plan was formulated simply to save Stalingrad from the danger of falling. But the consequences of their doing so would actually make the situation in Stalingrad even more unfavorable."
Sokov knew that as Yakov, he must know a lot that he did not know, but he did not ask any more questions. Instead, he raised his telescope and looked into the distance to see how the troops were progressing.
At this moment, the Soviet tanks had rushed into the German minefields. As the tanks' tracks crushed them, mines continued to explode. Fortunately, the Germans laid only infantry mines and no anti-tank mines, so the damage to the tanks was minimal. As the tanks passed through the minefield, Briski and his men stayed at the edge of the minefield, waiting for the tanks to open several passable roads for them in the middle of the minefield.
The tank drove out of the minefield and continued forward, collapsing the barbed wire fence pulled by the Germans. Upon seeing this, Briski issued the order to charge again, leading his men to rush towards the enemy's trench along the road opened by the tank.
There were very few German soldiers left in the trenches. The rest were either killed by artillery shells or were killed by Soviet soldiers' submachine guns when they left the trenches to bomb tanks. Others saw that the situation was not good and had long since fled along the communication trenches.
When Briski and the others rushed to more than 20 meters away from the trench, they all stopped, took out grenades and threw them out. When the smoke from the explosion rose, they continued to rush forward with the tank.
