The German company commander who was holding on to the station saw the large number of guerrillas preparing to attack the station. In addition to leaving more than 30 people to guard the station, he took the remaining more than 100 soldiers and entered the defense fortifications outside the station. .
The armored vehicle Guchakov and Vovka were riding in was parked more than 800 meters away from the station. Not only does it have a wide view, but the machine guns and mortars of the station defenders are also out of reach, making it an ideal command position.
There were nearly a thousand guerrillas following them. According to Guchakov's prior instructions, after the soldiers of the small team destroyed the defenses outside the station with rockets, the guerrillas launched an attack on the station again.
But what he didn't expect was that just as guerrillas from different regions were gathering, a greedy guerrilla captain took his own team members and launched an attack on the station first. When a group of guerrillas, led by their captain, shouted and charged towards the station, the mood of the other guerrillas who were lining up was somewhat affected. They all turned their attention to their captain to see if they needed to follow this brave guerrilla. Charge together.
"What the hell, what's going on?" Guchakov, who was standing on the armored vehicle and observing the terrain, saw that a guerrilla group suddenly launched an attack first. His face suddenly turned livid, and he asked Vovka next to him. Said: "Comrade Vovka, who is the commander of this guerrilla group that acted without authorization? Who gave him the power to act without authorization?"
"They are Liuzikov's guerrillas." Vovka replied with a blushing face: "They are not large in size, only more than a hundred people. There are sixty-nine people participating in this operation." After a pause, he added In one sentence, "He has always had conflicts with us and has almost no contact with us. If the guerrilla headquarters had not given them an order, they might not have participated in this operation."
"Comrade Vovka, send someone to call them back." After Guchakov learned that Vovka had a conflict with the other party, he couldn't help but sighed secretly, but for the safety of this guerrilla, he still acted decisively Di said to Vovka: "We are not ready to attack yet. To attack rashly at this moment is to risk death."
"I'm afraid that Lyuzikov won't listen to me..." Vovka just said something, but when he saw Guchakov's cannibalistic look, he quickly changed his words and said, "I'll send someone to call them right away." Come back." After saying that, he turned around and got out of the armored vehicle, called a team member and asked him to call Liuzhikov back.
Although Vovka's movements were considered deft, after receiving Guchakov's order, he immediately got out of the car and asked someone to notify Lyuzikov to return. But it was still a step too late. In just one or two minutes, Liuzikov's guerrillas had already rushed to a place more than 200 meters away from the outer positions of the station.
The German company commander hiding in the earthen bunker saw the guerrillas on the opposite side launching a charge. He did not immediately give the order to fire, but patiently observed the strength and equipment of the offensive. When he saw clearly that the guerrillas who were charging over had all kinds of weapons in their hands, and some even held grenades or shovels in their hands, he felt much more at ease. He stood up straight and said to the officers and soldiers on the left and right: "Don't worry, everyone, these are guerrillas with little combat effectiveness. Wait until they enter a range of 100 meters, and then fire at the same time."
Not long after, the guerrillas led by Liuzikov were less than a hundred meters away from the German fortifications. The German company commander calmly gave the firing order: "Fire!"
Field fortifications were built outside the station, with several criss-crossing trenches and three civil firepower points. If the attacking party prepares artillery fire in advance, a single blast of artillery shells can level such fortifications. But for guerrillas without artillery fire or even machine gun cover, such simple fortifications can become an insurmountable chasm.
As the order to fire was issued, intensive gunshots rang out from the field fortifications, and three machine guns also roared. The charging team members were shaken and fell to the ground as if they were struck by lightning amidst the gunfire. If the regular army attacks, after being intercepted by enemy fire, they will usually lie down on the spot and fight back. Unfortunately, the guerrillas participating in the battle now are guerrillas who have no experience in attacking fortresses. The team members in front fell, and the team behind them stepped over the bodies of their comrades. They continued to rush forward, but without exception they fell into a fire net composed of German firepower.
Less than two minutes later, the gunfire on the German positions fell silent, and no one could be seen standing in front of their fortifications. The guerrillas who charged towards the station all fell to the guns of the Germans. Not all team members died, there were some wounded lying in the pile of corpses, screaming loudly.
The German soldiers on the position turned to look at the company commander aside and asked him for instructions. Should they go out and capture a few prisoners? The German company commander saw the intention of his men, shook his head and said: "We do not have enough troops and do not have the ability to take prisoners. I think the Russians on the opposite side will not send anyone to rescue them for the time being when they see the miserable condition of their companions. Them. Give these wounded a good life and don’t let them suffer anymore.”
After hearing the company commander's order, several soldiers with good marksmanship quickly pointed their guns at the wounded who were still squirming in the pile of corpses, and pulled the trigger from time to time to relieve the other party's pain.
Everything the German soldiers did to Lyuzikov's guerrillas was seen by the guerrillas who were preparing to attack in the distance. They were shocked when they saw their comrades fall under the gunfire of the enemy; they were angry when they saw the enemy shooting at the wounded.
Several guerrillas rushed to the armored vehicle and shouted to Guchakov who was standing on the vehicle: "Comrade commander, the Germans are massacring our comrades. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and give the order to attack?"
It took less than five minutes from the time Guchakov discovered that Lyuzikov was acting without permission to the time the guerrillas were annihilated by the enemy. It is obviously impossible to complete the assembly of troops in such a short period of time. Seeing his comrades fall under the enemy's gun, but unable to do anything, Guchakov felt very sad. However, he also understood that if he did not make preparations and launched an attack rashly, the fate of Liuzhikov's guerrillas would serve as a lesson for his own large force.
Thinking of this, he said to the captains under the car with a straight face: "Don't worry, wait until we destroy the enemy's field fortifications before launching an attack on the station." After that, he stopped paying attention to these people, and He ordered the accompanying gunners, "What are you still dawdling about? Immediately set up the launch tube and fire rockets at the enemy's position."
The gunner raised his head and asked Guchakov: "Comrade Captain, how many rounds were fired today?"
Guchakov replied without thinking: "Use a three-barrel launch method, each barrel fires three rockets! We must destroy the German fortifications outside the station."
"Understood!" the gunner agreed, calling his companions to set up the launch tube and start aiming at the target.
Vovka, who returned to the armored vehicle, saw the gunner setting up the launch tube, and curiously asked Guchakov: "Comrade commander, can you use this to destroy the German fortifications?"
Before Guchakov could answer, the gunner had already faced the armored vehicle, straightened his body and reported to Guchakov: "Comrade Captain, the launch tube has been set up and the target has been locked. Please give instructions!"
After listening to the gunner's report, Guchakov raised his hand above his head, swung it down suddenly, and ordered loudly: "Fire!"
Not to mention ordinary guerrillas, even Vovka had never seen the power of new rockets. When he saw three rockets with long flame tails heading towards the field fortifications outside the station, he thought they were at best That's the power of mortars.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the rocket landed, it covered the entire German position. One of the firepower points was directly destroyed. In the rising fire and smoke, the body of the machine gunner was flying in the air, and the broken limbs and machine gun parts were scattered on the ground. Then the surviving German soldiers in the fortifications crawled out of the smoke-filled trenches and fled toward the station in a panic. But before they could run far, a second wave of rockets followed, covering them directly in the flames and smoke of the explosion.
Seeing that the German fortifications were as fragile as paper toys under the impact of rockets, Vovka was so surprised that his eyes almost fell out, and he kept muttering: "Oh my God, I really didn't expect that." This thing is so powerful that it destroyed the German position in one go."
"Stop shooting!" Guchakov saw that two rounds of rocket attacks had completely destroyed the simple German field fortifications. He felt that there was no need to waste precious new rockets, so he promptly ordered the gunner to stop loading. Then he said to Vovka: "Comrade Vovka, what are you doing here? The enemy's fortifications have been destroyed by me, and the next task of capturing the station must be completed by the guerrilla comrades. "
Guchakov's words made Vovka wake up from his shock. He nodded, got out of the armored vehicle again, rushed to the front of the team, and shouted loudly to the team members: "Comrades, the enemy's fortifications at the station have been destroyed. Comrades in the regular army were destroyed. Come on, brothers, avenge the comrades who just sacrificed their lives!"
Nearly a thousand guerrillas saw with their own eyes that the enemy's fortifications were instantly wiped out by the new weapons of the regular army. Their morale was immediately boosted, and they followed Vovka and rushed towards the station. Although they had maintained a dense formation this time, they no longer had to worry about encountering any danger. The German soldiers in the field fortifications were almost completely destroyed by two rounds of rocket attacks.
The highly motivated guerrillas had less than three minutes to rush to the trench where smoke was still billowing. When they see Germans lying on the ground, whether they are dead or alive, they will stab them with bayonets in order to vent their anger for their fallen comrades.
More than thirty German soldiers in the station, faced with the incoming guerrillas, desperately pulled the triggers in an attempt to prevent them from rushing into the station. Their stubborn resistance caused some of the team members at the front to roll to the ground, but then more team members rushed up and killed them all with bayonets or rifle butts.
The battle to capture the station lasted only fifteen minutes and ended with the victory of the guerrillas. When Vovka reported to Guchakov who came by car, he said with emotion: "Comrade commander, if Lyuzikov and others had not acted without authorization and affected the morale of the troops, our casualties would have been much smaller."
After hearing what Vovka said, Guchakov did not follow his words, but asked directly: "Did you send someone to check the warehouse?"
"After we occupied the station, we found two railway employees. They actively cooperated with our comrades to check the German warehouses in the station." Vovka reported to Guchakov with some pride: "We are on the platform. On the truck, a large amount of military supplies were also found, which must have been just unloaded by the Germans."
Guchakov first ordered the telegraph operator to send a report to Mixiga to learn about the offensive situation on their side. Then he asked Vovka: "Comrade Vovka, if you were the commander, what would you do with this batch of supplies?"
Hearing Guchakov's question to himself, Vovka was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "It's needless to say, it must be burned all in one fire, and it must not be left to the Germans."
"If it's just a fire to burn it down, then we can use rockets to attack the station." Guchakov obviously disagreed with Vovka's statement. He shook his head and said: "Why bother to mobilize troops and use so many weapons?" How many troops are there to carry out such a large-scale offensive behind enemy lines?"
Vufka was a little confused. He asked in confusion: "Comrade commander, can you tell us how we should deal with the mountains of supplies at the station?"
"I think there must be trucks at the station, and you can organize manpower to move useful things away." Guchakov replied confidently: "It is not too late to burn the things that cannot be moved before we evacuate. "
…………
Before being killed by guerrillas, the German radio operator at the station sent the news of the fall of Cote Luban station in the form of a telegram. After the commander of the 113th Infantry Division saw the telegram, he thought it was incredible. A small guerrilla group was actually capable of capturing the station?
In order to find out what was going on, he asked the regiment commander to call the commander of the garrison at Cote Luban Station and ask what the situation was like at the station. When he learned that the station's telephone lines had been completely disconnected, he confirmed the fact that the station had been lost. When such a big thing happened, he did not dare to hide it and quickly reported it to the group army headquarters.
Paulus was discussing with several army commanders in the headquarters how to crush the Soviet offensive. A communications staff officer came over and handed a telegram to Schmid with a serious expression. After Paulus saw it, he immediately stopped talking, looked at Schmid and asked: "Chief of Staff, what happened?"
"Your Excellency, Commander!" Schmid walked towards Paulus with the telegram and said, "The Cote-Luban station has been lost."
As soon as Schmid finished speaking, the entire room fell into an awkward and suffocating silence. Although it only lasted for ten seconds, everyone was shocked: What, Cote Luban Station was lost? Who did it? Did the Russians fall from the sky?
Paulus did not accept the telegram in Schmid's hand, but asked with a straight face: "Chief of Staff, what is going on? The Russians came out of nowhere and actually seized the Kotlo shuttle where we had a large amount of supplies." stand?"
"It's the guerrillas, Your Excellency Commander!" Schmid quickly replied: "According to the report of the commander of the 113th Infantry Division, a large number of guerrillas attacked and captured the station."
