After seeing troops and militiamen entering defensive positions one after another, Yakov persuaded Sokov: "Misha, it's too dangerous here. I think we should go back to the basement, where we can also direct the battle."
"No, although staying in the basement is safer than here, it cannot grasp the battlefield situation in time. I think it is more appropriate to stay here." Considering Yakov's special status, if the other party has any shortcomings, I will I'm afraid I can't explain it to the superiors. So he said tactfully: "Yakov, I'm fine here. You'd better go back to the basement first."
Yakov knew that he could not help much if he stayed here. After telling Sokov to pay attention to safety, he hurried to the basement.
After Yakov left, Sokov and the radio operator left the driving track and found a suitable location in the ruins as an observation location. The reason why he didn't stay on the track was because it was too high. Although he could stand high and see far, if the Germans had snipers, standing there would be an excellent target.
When the German tanks attacked the factory a few days ago, they suffered losses from anti-aircraft guns and were destroyed a lot. Therefore, after the tanks participating in the battle today drove in through the gap in the wall, they only traveled less than two hundred meters forward. Stop in place and bombard the Soviet positions with high-explosive shells to cover the infantry charge.
Sokov calculated the distance and found that the German tanks were seven or eight hundred meters away from Ulanova's anti-aircraft gun position. At such a long distance, the three 37mm-caliber artillery could not penetrate the frontal armor of the German tanks. He sighed, called Ulanova and told her: "Comrade Lieutenant, the German tanks The tanks are too far away from you, and even if you fire, you can't penetrate their armor. Don't fire casually to avoid wasting ammunition, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Ulanova replied briefly.
The German infantry took advantage of the opportunity when the commanders and fighters on the position were suppressed by tank fire and rushed forward quickly. When they were still about a hundred meters away from the position, in order to prevent accidental damage, the tanks behind them stopped shelling. When Briskey saw the tank stop shelling, he quickly blew his whistle.
The soldiers and militiamen who had just poked their heads out of the trenches heard one long and two short whistles, and knew it was an order to fire, and they shot at the charging enemies. As soon as they saw the firing on the position, the German soldiers jumped into the crater to avoid the bullets. Only a few slow-moving soldiers were hit by the bullets and fell into the crater.
The German machine gunners quickly set up their machine guns on the edge of the crater and suppressed fire on the Soviet troops on the ground to cover the charge of their companions. Some soldiers who were shooting were hit by bullets and fell in the trench with their heads raised. The firepower on the position immediately became sparse.
The German soldiers hiding in the bomb craters saw that their own machine guns suppressed the Soviet firepower, so they used short leaps to jump from one bomb crater to another and quickly approached the Soviet position.
Seeing that the Germans were getting closer and closer to his position, and the soldiers were suppressed by the German machine gun fire and could not effectively fight back, Briski felt particularly anxious. He knew very well that as long as the Germans rushed into the forty meters, distance, bombs will be dropped on the position. His own subordinates were better off, but the newly recruited militiamen might be so frightened that they turned around and ran away.
Thinking of this, Briski could no longer stay in the command post. He rushed into the trench from the command post, bent over and ran forward, shouting loudly: "Comrades, use grenades to greet the enemy, absolutely." We cannot let them get close to our positions."
The initially panicked soldiers heard Briski's shout and immediately realized that if the Germans were allowed to rush forward, the enemy's grenades would be thrown into the trenches, and the position would no longer be able to be defended. They all picked up the grenades, pulled the strings, and threw them forward. Those militiamen who participated in the battle for the first time saw the soldiers throwing grenades and imitated them. They threw the grenades beside them in a hurry. Some even forgot to pull the string because of their nervousness.
"Boom, boom, boom..." There was a loud explosion in front of the position, and the rising smoke obscured the sight of the German machine gunners, slowing down their shooting speed. The Soviet troops on the position took the opportunity to shoot outside with submachine guns, knocking down the Germans who had just rushed out of the smoke in pieces.
Seeing that the enemy's machine guns posed too great a threat to the defenders, Sokov quickly called Ulanova: "Comrade Lieutenant, have you seen those machine guns?"
"Saw it!"
"Knock them off for me."
"clear!"
As Sokov's order was issued, the three anti-aircraft guns, which had been silent for a long time, started firing again. The high-explosive armor-piercing projectiles caused the soil around the crater where the machine gunner was hiding to boil like a pot. A machine gunner wanted to move his position, but as soon as he leaned forward, he was smashed into pieces by the shells, which splashed everywhere in the crater.
Seeing that the machine gunner had been beaten to pieces, the deputy gunner and the ammunition hand dared to lean forward and continue shooting. They could only lie at the bottom of the crater and tremble as they listened to the shells flying over their heads.
After the machine gun fire points were cleared by anti-aircraft guns, the German attack came to an end. Looking at the enemy retreating like a tide, Sokov called Ulanova again and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, how much ammunition do you have left?"
"There is still half a base." Ulanova asked back: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what other instructions do you have?"
"When the enemy attacks again, you will withdraw as soon as all the ammunition is used up." Sokov asked into the microphone: "Do you understand?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Ulanova asked in confusion about Sokov's order, "Are you going to let us leave our anti-aircraft guns to the enemy?"
"Lieutenant Ulanova," Sokov knew very well in his heart that if he didn't explain it clearly to Ulanova, the other party might not withdraw even after they used up all the artillery shells, and would have to live or die with the anti-aircraft guns, "You After all the shells are fired, even if the Germans capture our anti-aircraft guns, it will be of no use. As long as we counterattack, we can recapture these anti-aircraft guns from the enemy's hands. Do you understand?"
After Sokov's explanation, Ulanova understood the other party's intention and quickly replied: "I understand, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will immediately withdraw with the soldiers as soon as the shells are all gone." .”
Sokov looked up at the sky and found that the air battle was still continuing. Although there were more German aircraft, there were many bombers among them. So far, the Soviet air force had the upper hand.
Just when Sokov was about to ask Raisa about the situation through the radio, the phone at his feet suddenly rang. He quickly knelt down on one knee, picked up the phone and put it to his ear and said, "I'm Sokov!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chuikov's roar came from the receiver: "Sokov, you idiot, idiot, do you know what you are doing?"
Sokov didn't understand why Chuikov was so angry, and replied confusedly: "Comrade Commander, I am commanding the troops to fight the German army."
"Don't you know that we will launch a counterattack against the enemy the day after tomorrow? What's the matter with you taking the initiative to attack the enemy at this time?" Chuikov said angrily: "You plan to alert the enemy and expose our combat intentions. To the Germans?”
After figuring out the reason for Chuikov's anger, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander, I saw that the defense of the regiment headquarters of the German 102nd Infantry Regiment was lax, so I sent the tank battalion and the fourth battalion to take it down. We didn't want to expose our army's strategic intentions. Who knew we would stoke a hornet's nest, and the enemy would attack us from several directions."
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Chuikov was still angry: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you know your reckless behavior today? If our counterattack fails because of the Germans' detection, you will be arrested." Sent to court martial."
Sokov knew very well that during the Great Patriotic War, speaking of going to a military court was synonymous with a death sentence. He secretly thought that even if he did not take the initiative to attack the enemy, this counterattack against the German army would not achieve any results. Therefore, he retorted: "Comrade Commander, although today's attack is a bit reckless, the Germans must think it is just an ordinary counterattack. After all, we often compete with the enemy repeatedly for those lost positions. Moreover, in today's battle, we can still Consume part of the German army's effective strength and reduce the pressure on our army's subsequent counterattack..."
As soon as Sokov said this, he suddenly heard a scream, and then there was an explosion nearby, and the rubble lifted up hit Sokov's head and body like raindrops. Even though he was wearing a helmet, Sokov still felt dizzy and nauseous.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Why don't you speak?" Chuikov's dissatisfied voice came from the receiver: "You think you are commanding a division or a group army, and you are consuming the enemy's effective strength. Just with so many people, you How many enemies do you think you can kill?"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov endured the pain all over his body and replied: "Even if we can only eliminate a hundred or two hundred enemies, our army will face less resistance when it launches a counterattack... …”
Chuikov noticed something was wrong with Sokov's voice, so he asked with concern: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"A bomb exploded not far away. It may have been a bomb dropped by an enemy plane." Sokov explained weakly: "I was hit by flying bricks and my head was a little dizzy..."
"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you don't have to say any more." Chuikov said on the phone: "I know that even if you have a tank battalion, you may not have enough strength to stop the enemy's crazy attack. Let's do this. , I also have a mixed group here, there are about four hundred people, I will send it to you immediately."
When he learned that Chuikov was going to send a support force to him, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. He even forgot about the pain all over his body. He said repeatedly: "Comrade Commander, with this army, I think I will be able to eliminate more troops." Many enemies.”
