Major William Weiman, commander of the 294th Engineer Battalion, never dreamed that his troops would step on a landmine during the retreat. In the bright light of the explosion, when he saw his men being blown up into the sky and then falling into fragments, he couldn't help but feel a little thump in his heart, and said to himself: "What the hell, why are there landmines on the way we retreat?"
Major Weiman clearly remembered that in order to prevent accidental damage, all minefields were laid on the side facing the Russian positions, so he did not send special personnel to explore the way during the retreat. Seeing that his troops were trapped in a minefield, he quickly ordered to stop advancing and sent people to the front. He wanted to find out one thing: which idiot ordered the laying of mines on the retreat route.
Unexpectedly, before the dispatched people came back, the scream of artillery shells piercing the air suddenly came from the air. Then countless artillery shells fell on the retreating queue and exploded. Countless soldiers were blown away or blown to pieces in the fire. , the remaining people fell into chaos under the bombardment.
Weimann was sandwiched by his own soldiers and retreated towards the original defense zone, trying to avoid Russian shelling there. As a result, we walked not far forward, but heard shouts muffled by the sound of artillery coming from that direction. It was the Marine Corps battalion led by Captain Shamrich, shouting "full speed forward" while holding weapons towards the German army. The position rushed towards him.
"Lieutenant Bergmann, Lieutenant Bergmann, where are you?" Hearing the shouts from the distance, Weiman didn't understand what they meant, but he knew in his heart that this was an attack by the Russians. . He quickly called out the names of his men loudly, hoping that they would organize their strength to block the Russian attack: "Come to me quickly!"
Amidst the rumbling explosions, his voice could not reach very far at all. Fortunately, the soldiers nearby heard it and quickly shouted after him. A German lieutenant heard the shouting, bent down and ran to Weimann, and asked loudly: "Mr. Major, what are your instructions?"
"The Russians have begun to attack!" Weiman pointed his hand in the direction of the shouts and said in a panic: "Lieutenant Bergman, you immediately lead the second company back to the original position to block the Russian attack. Understood. ?"
"Mr. Major," the German lieutenant known as Bergman replied with a complex expression: "My troops were shelled by the Russians and have already lost their organization. They cannot be gathered for the time being."
"Hell!" Weiman had actually seen his soldiers running around like headless flies. They would run wherever there were more people. Once they were bombarded and dispersed in a hurry, under such circumstances, it was simply impossible to gather the troops. But Weiman knew better that this was a life-and-death moment. If he did not block the Russian attack, his troops would be in danger of being completely destroyed. He grabbed Bergman's lapel and said viciously: "Lieutenant, no matter what method you use, you must stop the Russian attack, otherwise I will shoot you."
Hearing Weiman's threat, Bergman smiled bitterly and said, "Understood, Mr. Major, I will immediately organize manpower to block the Russian attack."
Bergman ran to the side and shouted loudly at the running soldiers, trying to calm them down. However, his voice was covered up by the sound of artillery, and it was of no use at all. After shouting for a while, there were only a dozen soldiers gathered around him, and there were only five or six usable weapons except for one 50mm mortar. rifle.
Seeing that the Soviet army had broken through the position and rushed towards his position, Bergman did not bother to contain the troops, so he directly directed the artillery to set up mortars and bombard the approaching Soviet army.
Although the German army fell into chaos after stepping on landmines and being shelled, the technical and tactical level of the artillerymen was still quite high. Following Bergman's order, the artillery set up the mortars within twenty seconds and began the bombardment.
Artillery shells fell and exploded in the ranks of the Soviet troops. From time to time, commanders and soldiers fell down in the explosion, but the remaining people still rushed forward without hesitation. The mortarman fired two more rounds. Seeing that the Soviet soldiers had rushed to a position more than ten meters away, he knew that it was useless to fire any more. He shouted and fled in all directions.
Lieutenant Bergman, who was directing the artillery fire, saw the Soviet troops in black uniforms rushing in front of him in the blink of an eye. Knowing that whether he rushed forward or retreated, he would not escape death, so he threw himself into a nearby He pretended to be dead in the crater to avoid the rushing Soviet commanders and fighters.
Shamrih, who was commanding the troops to charge, was stopped by his deputy battalion commander. He realized that if his troops continued to charge, they might rush into the area covered by artillery fire and cause unnecessary casualties, so he quickly issued the order to stop the attack. The command. But before the order could be passed on, the artillery fire that had been roaring just now suddenly stopped.
"What's going on?" Seeing that the artillery fire stopped, Shamrih asked Yakuda in confusion: "Deputy battalion commander, why didn't our artillery fire?"
Yakuda didn't know why the artillery stopped shelling. He looked around and said tentatively: "Could it be that the artillery was worried about accidentally hurting us, so they stopped shelling."
"It doesn't look like it," Shamrih looked at the location of the artillery position, thought for a moment, and then said to Yakuda: "I think the artillery shells should have been fired."
"All the artillery shells have been fired?" Yakuda said with some confusion: "No way, just a few minutes of shelling, and all the artillery shells in stock have been fired?"
"It's very possible." Shamrih recalled that he had chatted with the commanders and fighters of the second battalion and knew that their previous task was to stay behind the entire defense line and cover the artillery positions. The reason why they were transferred to the front was that, first, the enemy's offensive was too fierce and the troops at the front were tight; second, there were not enough artillery shell reserves: "I once heard the commander of the second battalion mention that there were not many artillery shells left in the artillery regiment."
Now that the shelling has stopped, it is obviously not possible to continue to attack as fiercely as before. We must adjust our tactics in time, so Yakuda asked cautiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do next?"
"Let the soldiers stop attacking and seize favorable terrain on the spot." Shamrih ordered decisively: "Be prepared to deal with the German counterattack."
Shortly after the counterattack at the barricade factory began, the commanders and fighters of the 122nd Regiment who were stationed in the Workers' New Village discovered the situation. They promptly reported the situation to Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko. Papuchenko found a commanding height, raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the barricade factory for a long time, and then ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, call the division headquarters and report to them that the troops at the barricade factory have been deployed. to launch a counterattack against the German army. Ask the division commander if we should also attack to support them?"
After receiving a call from the chief of staff of the 122nd Regiment, Sidorin reported to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, according to the report of the 122nd Regiment, the defenders in the barricade factory are launching a counterattack against the enemy."
"What, the counterattack has started?" Sokov said with some surprise after hearing Sidorin's report: "Why didn't Commander Belkin report to me?"
"Maybe they have not made much progress, so Commander Belkin has not reported to you for the time being." After Sidorin finished his guess, he asked Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, Papuchenko The lieutenant colonel asked if his regiment also needed to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"
"It's nonsense. His troops are doing nothing." Sokov pointed at Sidorin with his hand and said in a stern tone: "Order them to continue to stay on the position, and they are not allowed to attack without my order. "
After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up another phone and ordered the communications soldier to connect to the regiment headquarters of the downsized regiment. After hearing Belkin's voice, Sokov asked straight to the point: "My Comrade Political Commissar, why didn't your regiment report to the division headquarters in time about its counterattack against the German army?"
"Misha." Belkin replied on the phone: "Our counterattack has just begun and we haven't made any decent progress yet, so I made my own decision and didn't report to you. I hope you won't be angry."
Sokov was eager to understand the situation in the barricade factory and could not blame Belkin, so he asked: "How is the counterattack of Lyudnikov's division? Is it going well?"
"Misha," after hearing Sokov's question, Belkin hesitated and decided to tell the truth: "They did not launch a counterattack against the German army."
"What, they didn't launch a counterattack against the German army?" Sokov glanced at Golikov sitting aside and asked, "Why?"
"They felt that it was impossible for the German troops to withdraw during the night after a fierce offensive during the day, so they planned to wait until the day to see the situation." Perhaps because they were worried that Sokov would snitch on Chuikov, Belkin also I specifically added: "However, when our regiment counterattacked, the division's artillery regiment also provided us with necessary artillery support."
While Sokov was on the phone, Golikov sat next to him and remained silent. After Sokov put down the phone, he asked: "Colonel Sokov, I want to ask you why you don't let the 122nd Regiment launch a counterattack against the enemy."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov had long expected that Golikov would ask this question, so he answered confidently: "The situation in Workers' New Village and Barricade Factory is different. There is an open space between us and the enemy. , without the cover of artillery fire and tanks, it is very difficult to pass through that open area. Moreover, once the fighting broke out at the barricade factory, the enemies opposite Mamayev Hill and Workers' New Village must have been alerted. At this time, we To launch a counterattack, we can only use a force attack. You also know that artillery cannot accurately hit enemies in the distance at night. Without artillery cover, our attack will be easily defeated by the enemy."
Regarding Sokov's explanation, Golikov thought about the opportunity and finally nodded in approval. But he continued to ask: "Then tell me, why is Lyudnikov's division unwilling to join your troops in launching a counterattack against the enemy? As far as I know, he should have received the counterattack order from Chuikov .”
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I would like to ask a question," Sokov saw Golikov slightly nodding and expressed his agreement to ask the question, then continued: "Suppose your defensive zone is attacked by the enemy during the day. , but someone tells you that the enemy will retreat at night and asks you to counterattack them. What will you do?"
After Golikov finished speaking, he did not answer immediately. Instead, he frowned and tapped his fingers lightly on the table, seeming to be thinking about the question raised by Sokov. After a long time, his brows widened, he looked at Sokov and said with a wry smile: "Colonel Sokov, I may adopt a cautious attitude like Colonel Lyudnikov and not send out troops to counterattack for the time being. But let’s observe the situation before talking.”
Sidorin was worried that Sokov's words would anger Golikov, and he couldn't help but feel his heart in his throat. But now that Golikov agreed with Sokov's statement, his anxious heart returned to his stomach. After heaving a sigh, he said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, if the division commander is right, I guess there is no counterattack against the enemy in the Dzerzhinsky Factory at this moment."
"It is entirely possible." Golikov expressed support for Sidorin's statement: "The enemy's crazy attack during the day made our commanders cautious. Even if they knew that the enemy might retreat, They don't dare to take risks easily. On the contrary, it is a young commander like Sokov who has a burst of momentum that can launch the necessary counterattack against the enemy in time and according to the intentions of his superiors, and contain them in the city."
After a moment of pause, Golikov asked Sokov again: "Colonel Sokov, I would like to ask, can your troops launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemies in front of Mamaev Hill and Workers' New Village during the day?" "
"It's hard to say, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied cautiously: "If there is support from artillery and tank troops, I will definitely be able to carry out a counterattack during the day. But now that Colonel Bely has not arrived yet, our daytime Whether the attack can be supported by tank troops is still unknown."
"It is entirely possible." Golikov expressed support for Sidorin's statement: "The enemy's crazy attack during the day made our commanders cautious. Even if they knew that the enemy might retreat, They don't dare to take risks easily. On the contrary, it is a young commander like Sokov who has a burst of momentum that can launch the necessary counterattack against the enemy in time and according to the intentions of his superiors, and contain them in the city."
After a moment of pause, Golikov asked Sokov again: "Colonel Sokov, I would like to ask, can your troops launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemies in front of Mamaev Hill and Workers' New Village during the day?" "
"It's hard to say, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied cautiously: "If there is support from artillery and tank troops, I will definitely be able to carry out a counterattack during the day. But now that Colonel Bely has not arrived yet, our daytime Whether the attack can be supported by tank troops is still unknown."
