The German army's first attack was repelled. The commanders realized that their opponents might no longer be the defeated soldiers they had fought yesterday, so they adjusted their tactics in time and concentrated artillery fire on the archives building and peripheral positions.
Seeing that the enemy had indeed started shelling, Belkin was so impressed by Sokov's precautions that he fell to the ground. Although the building was strong and could withstand the bombardment of the German 105mm artillery, for the sake of safety, as soon as the German bombardment began, Belgin issued an order to the commanders and soldiers who stayed in the building through the phone: "Except for each floor Leave two observation posts to monitor the enemy, and the rest will retreat into the basement first, and then come out after the enemy's shelling is over."
Sokov still had some objections to Belkin's order. He frowned slightly and said, "Comrade political commissar, isn't it inappropriate to evacuate everyone to the basement? If the enemy's shelling caused the collapse, Building materials are blocking the basement door, how will we get out then?"
"Misha, I have carefully surveyed the terrain here. There is a passage in the basement leading to the back of the building." Belkin explained to Sokov: "In the enemy's shelling, only the front of the building was damaged. Even if the collapse area is large, it will not block the exit at the back of the building."
Seeing that Belkin had already thought about the troops' retreat, Sokov could not say anything else. He just nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, I will do as you said and withdraw the troops into the basement first. , to reduce unnecessary casualties."
The shelling of the Archives Building lasted for half an hour. As soon as the shelling stopped, before the smoke cleared, the Germans launched another attack. This time they learned a lesson and stopped more than 300 meters away from the forward position, using mortars to fire smoke grenades. In a short time, the Soviet army's outer positions and the open space in front of the positions were shrouded in white smoke.
As soon as Sokov and Belkin arrived at the observation position on the fourth floor, they saw that the outer position was shrouded in white smoke. Belkin, who saw this situation for the first time, seemed a little flustered: "Misha, the enemy released smoke, making it difficult for our soldiers to see the target. How can we shoot!"
"We can't see the enemy clearly, and the enemy can't see us clearly either." Sokov said disapprovingly: "Give Paulkosky an order to use a machine gun to shoot into the smoke. We must not let the enemy get close to us. position."
"But we can't see where the enemy is at all." Regarding Sokov's order, Belkin hesitated for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Isn't it a waste of ammunition to shoot blindly with a machine gun?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, there is nothing we can do about this." Sokov said helplessly: "If we shoot with rifles, our soldiers can't see clearly where the enemy is, and there is little chance of hitting the target; as for submachine guns, they can't see where the enemy is. After a certain shooting range, there is no accurate target to block the open space, which is also a waste of bullets. However, machine guns have the advantages of strong firepower and wide sweep fan. If several machine guns are used to fire at the same time, the dense firepower network formed can block the area. The enemy's path forward."
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Belkin immediately picked up the phone and spoke to Paulkosky, who had just returned to his position: "Comrade Captain, use machine guns to shoot into the smoke, and be sure to prevent the enemy from approaching your position."
Not long after he put down the phone, the familiar sound of MG34 machine gun firing came from the smoke outside. Sokov knew that this was Paulkosky's command to fire the machine gun into the smoke to block fire on Belkin's order. First there was the sound of gunfire, and then there was the explosion of grenades. It must be that the soldiers noticed that enemies were approaching the trenches and used grenades to greet them.
The attacking German officers and soldiers thought that as long as they released smoke, the Soviet troops on the position would not be able to find their targets, and they could quietly approach the position. Unexpectedly, he was shot by a machine gun first, and then he was hit by a lot of grenades. The German commander ordered the machine gunners to establish machine gun positions and suppress the Soviet positions with fire. But he soon discovered that doing so had no effect at all. His own machine gunners could not find the exact location of the opponent's firepower point, and naturally could not suppress it.
Seeing that the attack was ineffective and that continuing to advance would only result in higher costs, the German commander made a timely decision to stop the attack. With the sound of a whistle, the soldiers who were in a mess in the smoke turned around and retreated in the direction they came from, as if they had been given an amnesty.
The enemy did not release any more smoke. After a few minutes, the smoke that filled the battlefield gradually dissipated by the river wind. Sokov vaguely saw a lot more German corpses in front of the outer position. After seeing the battlefield clearly, Belkin said excitedly: "Misha, your method worked really well. The enemy's attack was repelled by us again."
Before Sokov could speak, a soldier's shout suddenly rang out in the building: "Air raid, air raid siren!"
Sokov quickly looked up into the air and saw two enemy planes flying towards the location of the building. Before he could react, Samoilov had already been sent up behind him. He and several guards held Sokov and Belkin up and pulled them downstairs.
As soon as Sokov argued, Samoylov said urgently: "Comrade division commander, it's too dangerous here. You and the political commissar should go back to the basement."
"Don't pull, don't pull!" When Sokov saw two enemy planes flying in, he naturally wouldn't stay in the building to act like a hero, but he didn't want to be dragged away by Samoilov and the others, so he struggled. Said: "Let's go by ourselves."
After Sokov and the others hid in the basement, two enemy planes flew over the archives building, lowered their altitude, and bombarded and strafed the building unscrupulously, causing considerable casualties to the commanders and fighters in the building.
Seeing his comrades falling down continuously, Grisa became a little anxious. He stood up from his hiding place and shouted to the soldiers beside him: "Put the machine gun to the window, and we must find a way to shoot down these two enemy planes." Come down." Then he pointed at the machine gunners and said, "You guys follow me and put the machine guns on the roof."
The soldiers who had long been holding back their anger suddenly agreed. Except for the few machine gunners who followed Grisa to the roof, the remaining machine gunners put their machine guns on the windows again, preparing to use intensive firepower to kill the damned soldiers. The enemy plane was shot down. The rising black smoke obscured the sight of the German pilots, preventing them from noticing that someone was setting up a machine gun on the roof of the building.
After setting up the machine gun, Grisa did not immediately order to fire. Instead, he decisively gave the order to fire while the enemy plane was diving. As soon as the gunshots on the roof rang out, the machine gunners on the fifth floor also fired at the enemy planes swooping down.
The first enemy plane that was diving never imagined that there would be countless tongues of flames coming out of the smoke-filled building. As soon as he discovered the anti-aircraft firepower in the building, he felt the fuselage jolt violently, and there was a strange noise from the fuselage and wings. He pulled the control stick hard, and the plane pushed the black smoke over the roof of the building and flew towards the Volga River.
The wingman pilot's reaction was much slower. The plane he piloted ran directly into the fire net and was accurately hit by several machine guns. With a loud bang, the plane disintegrated in the air, and burning pieces of the plane rained down on the roof of the building and the surrounding open space.
"Awesome, brothers, you are so awesome!" Seeing the two enemy planes that bombed the building, one was damaged and the other was destroyed, Grisa shouted happily: "It's so easy. Killed the enemy aircraft."
After Grisa finished shouting, he picked up the phone placed at the foot of the wall and excitedly reported the good news to Belkin who was staying in the basement: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. We have shot down the enemy plane."
"What, the enemy plane was shot down?" Belkin was surprised when he heard the news, and quickly asked: "Did friendly anti-aircraft fire shoot down the enemy plane?" According to his idea, his troops were all It is simply impossible to bring down an enemy aircraft with small weapons. The only explanation is that there is friendly anti-aircraft firepower nearby.
"No, Comrade Commander." Grisa quickly explained to him: "There was no friendly anti-aircraft fire near us. We shot it down with machine guns." Then he briefed Belkin about the battle situation just now. introduced once again.
"Lieutenant Grisa, you are really amazing." Belkin learned that it was Grisa who led the men who shot down the enemy plane with machine guns, and there was an expression of surprise on his face: "I congratulate you!"
After Belkin put down the phone, he said happily to Sokov: "Misha, did you hear the call from Grisa? They used machine guns against enemy aircraft, shooting down one and damaging another... …”
"Don't be excited, Comrade Comrade Political Commissar." Seeing that Berkin was a little carried away with his joy, Sokov quickly reminded him, "This is not the first time we have shot down an enemy plane with a machine gun. We used to do it at Mamayev Heights. Have you forgotten that you have shot down enemy planes many times?"
After Sokov's reminder, Berkin immediately remembered that this was really the case. When Sokov was the brigade commander and he was his brigade political commissar, the troops stationed at Mamayev Hill had used it several times. The MG34 machine gun knocked down the enemy's aircraft.
Sokov rubbed his temples and said with a headache: "Comrade Political Commissar, although we shot down the enemy's plane with machine guns today, the enemy will learn a lesson the next time they bomb again and will not let us shoot them down again." Opportunity. Therefore, what you have to face next is not only the enemy's ground attack, but also the issue of air defense. With so many commanders and fighters crowded in this building, if the enemy's heavy bombing causes the building to collapse, you will suffer disastrous consequences. casualties."
"Then what should we do?"
"I think we can still consider using the sewers and transform them into air-raid shelters." Sokov replied: "When enemy planes appear, let the soldiers stay inside to avoid air attacks."
After Belkin heard what Sokov said, he punched his palm with his fist and said excitedly: "That's right, that's right. How could I forget the policy of using sewers for defense? I will send someone to survey the building right away. In the sewers below, try to get the soldiers inside as soon as possible to avoid air strikes and shelling."
After Grisa finished shouting, he picked up the phone placed at the foot of the wall and excitedly reported the good news to Belkin who was staying in the basement: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. We have shot down the enemy plane."
"What, the enemy plane was shot down?" Belkin was surprised when he heard the news, and quickly asked: "Did friendly anti-aircraft fire shoot down the enemy plane?" According to his idea, his troops were all It is simply impossible to bring down an enemy aircraft with small weapons. The only explanation is that there is friendly anti-aircraft firepower nearby.
"No, Comrade Commander." Grisa quickly explained to him: "There was no friendly anti-aircraft fire near us. We shot it down with machine guns." Then he briefed Belkin about the battle situation just now. introduced once again.
"Lieutenant Grisa, you are really amazing." Belkin learned that it was Grisa who led the men who shot down the enemy plane with machine guns, and his face showed an expression of surprise: "I congratulate you!"
After Belkin put down the phone, he said happily to Sokov: "Misha, did you hear the call from Grisa? They used machine guns to deal with enemy aircraft, shooting down one and damaging another... …”
"Don't be excited, Comrade Political Commissar." Seeing that Berkin was a little carried away with his joy, Sokov quickly reminded him, "This is not the first time we have shot down an enemy plane with a machine gun. We used to do it at Mamayev Heights. Have you forgotten that you have shot down enemy planes many times?"
After Sokov's reminder, Berkin immediately remembered that this was really the case. When Sokov was the brigade commander and he was his brigade political commissar, the troops stationed at Mamayev Hill had used it several times. The MG34 machine gun knocked down the enemy's aircraft.
Sokov rubbed his temples and said with a headache: "Comrade Political Commissar, although we shot down the enemy's plane with machine guns today, the enemy will learn a lesson the next time they bomb again and will not let us shoot them down again." Opportunity. Therefore, what you have to face next is not only the enemy's ground attack, but also the issue of air defense. With so many commanders and fighters crowded in this building, if the enemy's heavy bombing causes the building to collapse, you will suffer heavy losses. casualties."
"Then what should we do?"
"I think we can still consider using the sewers and transform them into air-raid shelters." Sokov replied: "When enemy planes appear, let the soldiers stay inside to avoid air attacks."
After Belkin heard what Sokov said, he punched his palm with his fist and said excitedly: "That's right, that's right. How could I forget the policy of using sewers for defense? I will send someone to survey the building right now. In the sewers below, try to get the soldiers inside as soon as possible to avoid air strikes and shelling."
