As night fell, the German bombing finally came to an end. The bombed area was full of fire and gunpowder smoke. The surviving soldiers emerged from the warm soil and reached out to pull out the soil next to them to rescue their comrades who were still buried in the soil.
While the soldiers were busy rescuing their comrades, a small group of German troops quietly moved up under the cover of gunpowder smoke. They tried to launch a sneak attack while the Soviet troops had not yet woken up from the bombing. Just when they were only twenty meters away from the front line of the 895th Regiment of the 193rd Division, a soldier who stood up from the trench saw the approaching enemy and shouted in panic: "Enemy, the enemy is coming! "After shouting, he quickly pulled the bolt of the gun and fired a shot towards the place where the figure was shaking.
Maybe he was too nervous and he didn't hit the target. Before he could pull the bolt and fire a second shot, the German soldiers at the front fired at him with a submachine gun. The soldier was shot five or six times. First, the rifle in his hand fell to the ground, then he spun around half a circle, and then his body collapsed softly in the trench.
Fortunately, the soldier's timely warning allowed the soldiers in the trench to discover the enemy who had touched them, and gunfire erupted from the position. As soon as the gunfire rang out, the few German soldiers at the front were unable to dodge. They were covered in blood mist by the hot bullets and fell to the ground with a scream. The remaining soldiers quickly lay down on the spot and started shooting at the commanders and soldiers in the trenches.
After the two sides exchanged fire for a while, the Germans suffered much greater casualties than the Soviets because they had fewer people and were in a disadvantageous terrain. Seeing that the German gunfire became sparse, a Soviet lieutenant jumped out of the trench with a rifle with a bayonet. He turned around and shouted loudly to the soldiers in the trench: "Brothers, for the motherland. , come with me for Stalin’s sake!”
Although the enemy on the opposite side was still lying on the ground and shooting continuously, the soldiers in the trench, after hearing the lieutenant's shout, jumped out of the trench with weapons in hand. The fallen comrades on the road slowed down, but rushed in front of the enemy in one breath, pinning them to the ground with the bayonet in their hands.
The entire battle lasted only ten minutes, and all the dozens of enemies who came to attack the 193rd Division's position were wiped out. The division commander, Major General Smehotvorov, used a telescope to see the battle in the regiment command post. He put down his telescope and asked the commander of the 895th Regiment standing next to him: "Comrade Colonel, who is the lieutenant who just led the charge?"
The regiment leader quickly replied: "It's Lieutenant Keith, commander of the fifth company of the second battalion."
"Well done, really well done." Smehotvorov nodded and said with satisfaction: "To defend Stalingrad, we need such a brave commander. By the way, comrade colonel, the second officer of your regiment Didn’t the battalion commander die in the battle? In my opinion, let Lieutenant Kisid serve as the second battalion commander.”
Unexpectedly, after Smehotvorov finished speaking, he received no response: "Huh?! Comrade Colonel, what's going on? Are you dissatisfied with my appointment?"
"No, Comrade Division Commander." The regiment commander replied in a panic: "His military rank is too low, and it may be inappropriate to serve as a battalion commander."
"Comrade Colonel, how long has it been and you are still arguing with me about trivial matters like military rank? Don't you know that what we need most now is a commander who can command the war." Smehotvorov hesitated for a moment. Then he continued: "If you think his military rank is too low, fine, I will promote him to the rank of captain now, so that he can take on the position of battalion commander. There will be no problem, right?"
The regiment leader did not dare to argue with Smehotvorov, so he could only agree quickly: "No problem, comrade division commander."
"Since there is no problem, let's seize the time to repair the fortifications. Maybe the enemy will launch a new attack on us early tomorrow morning." Smehotvorov said, waving to the regiment commander and preparing to leave the regiment command post .
But as soon as he reached the door, the regiment commander stopped him. The latter said hesitantly: "Comrade division commander, the enemy has been bombing our regiment's position for four or five hours. Our casualties are too heavy. I wonder what you can do." Can you give us more troops?"
"Comrade Colonel, whether your regiment's position was bombed by enemy planes or the entire division's defense area was bombed, not only did you suffer heavy losses, but the other two regiments also suffered heavy losses." Smehotvorov said. He spread his hands and said helplessly: "I don't have any reserve team at hand, so there is no way to supplement it for you."
"Comrade division commander," the regiment leader said with a grimace: "Although I haven't had time to count the number of survivors, after the battle just now, we have lost at least fifty or sixty people. If you don't give us more, I'm afraid there won't be enough." force to defend the existing position."
The words of the regiment leader made Smehotvorov feel embarrassed. After thinking for a long time, he said to the regiment leader: "Comrade Colonel, I will dispatch twenty staff officers and logistics personnel to support you later. The remaining soldiers will be You just have to figure it out on your own.”
Although the supplementary troops given by Smehotvorov were a bit too few, they were better than nothing, and the regiment commander did not care anymore. He nodded vigorously and said to Smehotvorov: "Comrade division commander, please send them as soon as possible." Let them come over so that we can have enough manpower to repair the fortifications."
"You, you!" Smehotvorov tapped the regiment leader twice with his hand, smiled bitterly, and left the regiment command post.
Compared with the heavy losses suffered by various parts of the group army, the 41st Guards Division that stood on Mamayev Ridge suffered casualties because the division commander Sokov promptly issued an air raid warning and all commanders and fighters retreated into the tunnels. Almost negligible.
Although he had guessed that the casualties of the troops would not be large, Sokov still felt uneasy. As soon as the bombing by enemy planes ended, he immediately called each regiment to inquire and learned that in addition to the initial dozen soldiers in Beigang who had been killed. The explosion shock wave killed some soldiers in Nangang, but there were no more casualties, and he felt a little relieved.
"Comrade Division Commander, the casualties of the troops standing on Mamayev Heights are very small." Sidorin said to Sokov: "Now only the third battalion in the old city and the 122nd Guards Regiment in the Workers' New Village are left. .”
"Captain Vasily's defense area has not been bombed by enemy planes. They can leave it alone." Sokov told Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, call Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko and ask him where he is. What are the casualties?"
The call was quickly connected, and Sidorin asked directly: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, the division commander asked me to ask you, what are the casualties of your regiment?"
Sokov put his ear close to the microphone and heard Papuchenko reply loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy's bombing caused several sewers to collapse, blocking many soldiers in the pipes inside and unable to get out. We Rescue efforts are being organized."
Sokov quickly took the microphone from Sidorin's hand and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if necessary, reopen those blocked passages so that the trapped soldiers can escape as soon as possible."
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Papuchenko replied: "I immediately ordered people to open those closed passages and rescue the trapped soldiers."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sidorin and Ivanov: "Chief of Staff and Deputy Division Commander, the enemy carried out intensive bombing of the factory area today. I estimate that the defenders holding on in those areas suffered heavy losses. In order to defend In the city, the superiors may transfer our division to reinforce somewhere. Before the order is issued, let's study which troops can be used. "
Just when Sokov and the others were discussing which troops could be transferred to reinforce friendly forces, at the group army headquarters on the Volga River, Chief of Staff Krylov said to Chuikov with a grimace: "Comrade Commander, the German army is carrying out an attack on us." The bombing caused us to lose at least one-third of our existing troops. If we cannot obtain additional troops from the east coast, we can only first mobilize part of Sokov's 41st Guards Division to strengthen important defensive areas. .”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I agree with you." Chuikov said to Krylov with a serious expression: "The 41st Guards Division is a force good at fighting tough battles. No matter where they appear, the situation will change. To stabilize. I saw that after the casualty data of each division comes in, we will discuss where to deploy Sokov's troops."
