Shamrih has never had troops to carry out night raids. According to his idea, as long as the attack can be supported by artillery fire, the combat effectiveness of the sailors can completely break through the enemy's defensive positions. But an order is an order. Since Belkin gave him the order for the night attack, he could only carry it out unconditionally.
In order to ensure the success of the night attack, he personally accompanied the Second Company. He and Captain Aglanov, the commander of the second company, stayed in a bomb crater and watched the sailors not lining up in skirmish formations like they did in previous attacks. Instead of walking towards the enemy's position, they crawled forward in small groups. In order to prevent being discovered by the enemy, they moved very lightly and tried not to make any noise. Seeing all this, he couldn't help but sigh softly.
After hearing this, Aglanov asked curiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, why are you sighing?"
"Captain, look at our soldiers." Shamrih pointed at the crawling commanders and soldiers, and said with a grimace: "I'm afraid this is the first time such a sneaky attack has been carried out."
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander, this is indeed the first time." Agranov said in agreement, and then whispered: "But I have to say that using this tactic to attack, we can reduce the casualties of the troops to lowest……"
Before Agranov finished speaking, Shamrih suddenly pushed his shoulder and said uneasily: "There seems to be some movement ahead."
"Motion?!" Hearing what Shamrih said, Aglanov couldn't help but trembled: "Did our actions be discovered by the enemy?"
"No, it's not that we were discovered by the enemy, otherwise they would have shot." Shamrih raised his telescope and looked forward, but because the light was too dark, he could only see the outlines of ruins one after another. What? Can't see clearly. He decisively ordered Aglanov: "Captain, immediately order the soldiers to stop advancing and send two people to conduct reconnaissance first to find out what the noise in the enemy's position is about."
After receiving Shamrih's order, Aglanov climbed out of the crater, first sent a signal to stop the troops' advance, and then ordered two soldiers lying not far away: "You two go to the front to conduct reconnaissance. It’s clear what happened to the German positions.”
Watching the two soldiers on a reconnaissance mission disappear into the darkness, Shamrich said to Aglanov: "Comrade Captain, let the soldiers prepare for battle. Once we are discovered by the Germans, it will be necessary to launch a strong attack." tactics."
After waiting for about five minutes, a soldier sent out for reconnaissance crawled back and reported to Shamrih: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy is withdrawing from the position and moving to the west."
"What, the enemy is retreating?" When Aglanov heard the soldier's report, his first reaction was that the other party had made a mistake, and he quickly asked: "You read that correctly, right?"
"You can't be mistaken, Comrade Company Commander." The soldier reported excitedly: "The enemy is not only withdrawing from the factory, but even the enemies staying in the trenches outside the factory are also withdrawing one after another. What we heard The noise was caused by the enemy during their retreat."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, the division commander is really good at predicting things. He said that the enemy was going to retreat, and now he has actually begun to retreat." After confirming that the Germans had begun to retreat, Aglanov became excited: "Since the enemy has begun to retreat, Then let’s take action immediately and catch the enemy by surprise.”
Aglanov's proposal made Shamrich's heart beat. He felt that since the enemy had begun to retreat, he could devote all his strength to the attack. He nodded, called a communications soldier, and told him to say : "Go back immediately and notify the deputy battalion commander. Except for a few people who have left their positions, send me the first and third companies."
The signal soldier agreed, and when he stood up and was about to run away, he was stopped by Shamrih again. He felt that since he was going to put all the troops into the attack, he must establish contact with the rear, so he told the communications soldier: "Also, find a way to connect a telephone line so that we can contact the regiment headquarters in time."
The Second Battalion, which was responsible for the attack due west of the factory area, also discovered that the enemy was retreating when approaching the enemy's position. Captain Golia, the commander of the second battalion who led the attack, immediately reported the situation to the battalion commander Briski through the phone he carried.
After listening to Golia's report, Briski asked emotionally: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, are you really sure that the enemy is retreating?"
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander." Golia replied in accordance with the regulations: "I sent two groups of scouts to conduct reconnaissance, and both got the same results."
"Very good, this is great." When he learned that the enemy had begun to retreat, Briski became excited: "You should follow the original plan and quietly approach the enemy's position. I will report the situation here to the regiment commander and wait for him. further orders."
After Briski ended his call with Goliya, he immediately contacted Belkin and reported excitedly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. The enemy has begun to retreat."
"The enemy has begun to retreat?" Belkin was stunned for a moment when he heard the news, and then asked: "Is it a full retreat, or is it the direction of your second battalion?"
Belkin's question stopped Briski. After a long time, he murmured: "Comrade Commander, I haven't contacted the troops on the left and right wings yet. I don't know whether the enemy will retreat across the entire line or only in the area our battalion is responsible for."
"Okay, let your soldiers prepare for battle." After Belkin finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Briski to speak again, and then ordered the chief of staff, Captain Vanya: "Comrade Chief of Staff , immediately contact the First Battalion and the Marine Battalion and ask them what the enemy situation is there."
"Yes! I immediately contacted the commanders of the other two battalions." Vanya agreed loudly, then picked up the phone on the table and started to contact the first battalion and the Marine Battalion.
"Comrade Commander, have the enemies really begun to retreat?" Dmitri, the political commissar of the regiment, asked with a somewhat rapid breathing: "So, we are going to win the victory in defending the city?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, it's still too early to say victory." Belkin looked at Dmitri and said: "Our current task is to take advantage of the enemy's retreat to strike them hard and remove them from their hands. Retake those lost positions. At the same time, keep them firmly in the factory area so that they cannot mobilize troops to reinforce the areas attacked by our army..."
Before Belkin finished speaking, a series of explosions came from outside. Through the hole in the wall, Belkin looked at the fire in the distance and asked in confusion: "What's going on outside? Why are there only explosions but no gunshots?"
Vanya put down the phone, walked to the cave, raised a telescope and looked at it for a while, then turned around and said to Belkin in surprise: "Comrade leader, I understand, this explosion is the enemy stepping on a mine." Without waiting for goodbye, Erjin asked, and he took the initiative to say, "You should remember that before the division commander left us, he asked the engineer comrades to find a way to relocate the mines laid by the enemy. It should be that the enemy stepped on the mines laid by our engineers during the retreat. Mines.”
"This is really wonderful." When Dmitri heard this, he said with a smile: "Using German mines to blow up the enemy, this trick of the division commander is really wonderful."
Belkin did not speak after hearing this, but just nodded, then stood up and walked to the hole, took the telescope from Vanya's hand, and looked forward. With the help of the distant firelight, he saw figures running around. He couldn't help but turn his telescope to the 138th Division's defense area, wanting to see what movement they had.
Unfortunately, after watching for a while, I didn't see any movement on the defensive position. Just when Belkin sighed and felt disappointed with Division Lyudnikov, feeling that they had missed such a good opportunity in vain, he suddenly saw a series of large and small flashes of light emerging from the position to the east.
After the flash, there was the roar of artillery. Standing aside, Vanya immediately understood what was going on. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, it's the artillery. It's the artillery of the 138th Division that is firing." In fact, even if Vanya hadn't said anything, Bel Jin could quickly figure out who was firing the artillery. After all, in the entire barricade factory, only the 138th Division had an incomplete artillery regiment.
Shells rained down on the retreating German troops, exploding in the chaotic and crowded formations that had stepped on mines. Because the German army's formation was too dense, every falling shell could cause them huge casualties. Amidst the bursts of screams, the already chaotic troops became even more chaotic. The surviving German soldiers began to flee in all directions to avoid the Soviet artillery fire.
The sound of artillery made the entire factory area red, and Lyudnikov, who was staying in the headquarters, was alarmed. He stood up and found a position that was conducive to observation. He raised his telescope to look at the location where the shells fell, and ordered his chief of staff to : "Chief of Staff, call the artillery regiment and ask them why they fired the artillery?"
The chief of staff quickly got the answer from the artillery regiment commander, Major Savage, and quickly reported to Lyudnikov: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, Major Savage reported that they heard an explosion from outside, and they Carefully observing the direction from which the movement came, he found that the enemy was retreating. Because time was tight, he had no time to ask for instructions, so he ordered all the artillery to fire."
"This guy actually dares to make the decision without permission." After listening to the chief of staff's report, Lyudnikov gritted his teeth and said, "He didn't even say hello to me, and ordered the artillery to fire without permission. I will never forgive him." .”
"Comrade Commander," Titov heard what Lyudnikov said and was worried that he would punish Savich, so he came out to smooth things over: "Major Savage is good at seizing opportunities and destroying the enemy's effective forces. We should commend him for this. . However, their artillery shells are limited, so I’m afraid the bombardment won’t last long. Please make an idea as soon as possible about what we should do next.”
Lyudnikov originally planned to wait until dawn before deciding whether to launch a counterattack against the enemy in accordance with the orders of his superiors. However, Major Savage's unauthorized firing of artillery disrupted his plan and left him in a dilemma. At this moment, he heard political commissar Titov telling him to make a decision quickly. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and shouted to the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, record my order!"
After the chief of staff agreed, he came to Lyudnikov and waited for him to give the order. Seeing the chief of staff in place, Lyudnikov began to dictate the order: "The 544th Regiment will hold its current position, and the 650th and 768th Regiments will attack across the board to attack the German army."
Due to the obstruction and distance of the buildings, the artillery regiment's artillery fire could only bombard enemies in the west and northwest directions. However, it was more than enough for the Soviet commanders and fighters who were about to launch a counterattack.
Shortly after the bombardment began, the 1st and 3rd companies of the Marine Battalion left their defensive positions one after another and rushed to join Shamrih. Seeing that the main force of the whole battalion had arrived, Shamrih jumped out of the crater, pointed with his right hand holding the pistol towards the location where fires and explosions were coming from time to time, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, sailors, The day has finally come for us to fight back. Follow me, destroy every enemy you see, and move forward at full speed!"
Seeing the battalion commander leading the charge, the sailors were all in high morale. They held their guns and imitated the battalion commander's appearance, shouting: "Full speed ahead!"
The few remaining German soldiers on the distant position were already frightened and panicked when they saw the retreating troops being shelled. Now they were even more frightened when they heard the shouts from the front of the position. Shooting aimlessly in the direction of the sound. They never thought about whether they could focus on the target by firing randomly like this. They just wanted to embolden themselves through the intensive gunfire.
After the chief of staff agreed, he came to Lyudnikov and waited for him to give the order. Seeing the chief of staff in place, Lyudnikov began to dictate the order: "The 544th Regiment will hold its current position, and the 650th and 768th Regiments will attack across the board to attack the German army."
Due to the obstruction and distance of the buildings, the artillery regiment's artillery fire could only bombard enemies in the west and northwest directions. However, it was more than enough for the Soviet commanders and fighters who were about to launch a counterattack.
Shortly after the bombardment began, the 1st and 3rd companies of the Marine Battalion left their defensive positions one after another and rushed to join Shamrih. Seeing that the main force of the whole battalion had arrived, Shamrih jumped out of the crater, pointed with his right hand holding the pistol towards the location where fires and explosions were coming from time to time, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, sailors, The day has finally come for us to fight back. Follow me, destroy every enemy you see, and move forward at full speed!"
Seeing the battalion commander leading the charge, the sailors were all in high morale. They held their guns and imitated the battalion commander's appearance, shouting: "Full speed ahead!"
The few remaining German soldiers on the distant position were already frightened and panicked when they saw the retreating troops being shelled. Now they were even more frightened when they heard the shouts from the front of the position. Shooting aimlessly in the direction of the sound. They never thought about whether they could focus on the target by firing randomly like this. They just wanted to embolden themselves through the dense gunfire.
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Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
