The First Artillery Division now has 96 artillery pieces of various calibers, including 38 artillery pieces above 122 mm.
After Terenga learned that the attacking German troops had entered the fire coverage position, he immediately gave the order to his artillery to fire.
After receiving Terenga's order to fire artillery, each artillery regiment carried out artillery fire towards the enemy's position according to the shooting parameters provided by their respective artillery observers.
Flames and thick smoke generated by the violent explosion rose in front of the Soviet position. German tanks, armored vehicles, and Obi heavy artillery were destroyed one after another; every German soldier was blown to pieces.
When the soldiers who stood firm on the ground saw that the enemy was routed by artillery fire, they did not care about taking cover. They straightened up from the trenches and cheered loudly.
When Holt learned from General Herlein that the attacking troops had been bombarded by the Soviet army, he couldn't help but became angry. He quickly ordered Merinjin: "Chief of Staff, contact the Air Force immediately and ask them to bomb the Russian artillery positions. . Only by destroying the Russian artillery positions can our offensive forces break through the Russian defense lines."
The German bomber formation quickly approached the running position of the 1st Artillery Division, began to lower its altitude, and bombed ground targets on time. However, Terenga had already guessed that after the artillery bombardment started, he might be attacked by enemy aircraft, so he deployed two 37mm anti-aircraft artillery battalions near the artillery position early to serve as air defense cover.
Division Commander Terenga had received instructions from Sokov in advance and knew that in order to maximize the advantages of anti-aircraft artillery fire, concentrated fire must be used. Therefore, he divided the 54 twin 37mm anti-aircraft guns into nine groups. Each group of six anti-aircraft guns was a hexagon. No matter which direction the enemy planes came from, they could be attacked with the same intensive firepower. Interception.
As soon as the enemy plane entered the range, anti-aircraft fire from the ground began.
The German pilots were all experienced veterans and did not take ground anti-aircraft artillery fire seriously. A leading HE-111 bomber took the lead in lowering its altitude and prepared to drop bombs towards the artillery positions on the ground, but was met with concentrated fire from the anti-aircraft guns below.
The dense high-explosive incendiary bombs tore through the armor of the German bomber and beat the pilot to pieces on the spot. The bomber, which had lost its pilot and was damaged again, started to do a high dive with billowing smoke and deflagration. It spun and plunged down. When it landed on the ground, it made an earth-shattering explosion, as well as dazzling flames and billowing waves. There was black smoke, and all five members of the plane survived. They were all burned to charcoal in the fire.
Seeing that an enemy plane was easily shot down, the anti-aircraft gunners on the ground cheered. Then, they locked on a swooping JU87 Stuka and met it with intensive anti-aircraft fire.
The JU87 Stuka was hit, and high-explosive incendiary bombs caused several smoking fire holes to appear on the fuselage. Before the German pilot could pull up the plane, the plane's tail was hit by ground artillery fire again.
The bomber lost half of its tail and was suddenly out of the air, spiraling towards the ground. The pilot couldn't care less about dropping the bomb and tried desperately to control the plane to go straight forward, but the plane fell to the ground and soon turned into a ball of fire, and then turned into a burning torch.
Although ground anti-aircraft fire poses a considerable threat to the enemy's bomber groups, the most disadvantaged in air defense operations are ground air defense units. After shooting down several German bombers one after another, various anti-aircraft firepower points were successively destroyed by aerial bombs dropped by enemy planes.
Fortunately, the artillery unit gained valuable transfer time before all the air-clearing units were lost. Although some artillery pieces were still destroyed by enemy bombings, most of the artillery pieces were preserved.
The Soviet artillery moved its position, and the artillery cover provided to the defenders naturally stopped. The Grossdeutschland Division that carried out the attack successfully rushed to the position of the 188th Division and launched a brutal battle for position with the Soviet army.
In his headquarters, Koida saw his soldiers engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the enemies who rushed into the trenches. He stamped his feet anxiously. He turned and asked the chief of staff beside him: "Chief of Staff, is there any way we can support them?" ?”
"Comrade division commander." The chief of staff replied with a wry smile: "Except for a guard platoon and dozens of communications soldiers and staff officers, we don't have any troops here."
"Move up the guard platoon." Seeing the critical situation ahead, Koida gritted his teeth and decisively issued a difficult order: "We must block the enemy, and we must not let them pass through our division's defense line."
"Comrade Division Commander," the Chief of Staff became anxious when he learned that Koida planned to put all his remaining troops into the battle: "We only have this few people left. If we kill them all, our division will become an empty designation. "
How could Koida not know what the chief of staff said. However, in the face of such a fierce attack by the German army, the few troops he had were not enough to put a gap in the enemy's teeth. What he was thinking about at the moment was not how to hold the position and crush the enemy's attack, but how to delay the loss of the position.
Therefore, he knew that throwing the guard platoon into the battlefield would be useless, but he still gritted his teeth and issued the order: "Chief of Staff, obey the order and immediately order the guard platoon to enter the battle. Be sure to block the enemy's attack."
The battle for the position was extremely cruel. The Soviet commanders and fighters had just repelled the enemy who rushed in front of them, but they were knocked down by a vehicle-mounted machine gun on a tank parked nearby. After these commanders and fighters fell, a gap appeared in the defense line again. German soldiers took the opportunity to rush over and occupy this section of the trench.
But how could the Soviet commanders and fighters allow the enemy to easily occupy their position? Seeing that this section was lost, commanders and fighters who were stationed in other sections immediately rushed over to counterattack the enemies occupying this section.
It took Koida's guard platoon less than five minutes to arrive at the most intense fighting area. However, their arrival only barely prevented the situation on the defense line from deteriorating rapidly. It seemed impossible to completely repel the enemy's attack.
Seeing this situation, Koida turned to the Chief of Staff and said: "Chief of Staff, immediately ask for help from the 81st Guards Division and ask them to provide us with support, otherwise the first line position may be lost."
Koida discovered that the first line of defense was in danger, and Major General Malankin, who was staying on the second line of defense, also discovered this problem. He called his chief of staff and asked: "Chief of staff, it seems that the 188th Division in front can't hold it anymore. How many troops can we deploy to support them?"
"Comrade General," the chief of staff said to Malanjin after hearing this: "If I were you, I would not easily send troops to support the 188th Division."
"Aren't you going to support the 188th Division?" Hearing what the Chief of Staff said, Malanjin couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Chief of Staff, are we just going to die without saving him?"
"Comrade General, look at the enemy who is attacking the first line of defense. They are covered by tanks and armored vehicles, and there are at least two battalions of troops. Even if we rush over to reinforce, I'm afraid it won't be of much use." Chief of Staff In order to make Malanjin understand that he was not cowardly, he took the initiative to explain to him: "Once our reinforcements were lost on the first line of defense, and we were unable to repel the enemy's attack. When the enemy launched an attack on us, What kind of force should we use to stop them?"
Malanjin, who originally wanted to reinforce, suddenly became hesitant when he heard what the chief of staff said: If you don't send troops to reinforce, you will be ignoring death; if you send troops to rescue, maybe the enemy's attack will not be repulsed, but you will be defeated. What little strength he had was lost. When the enemy launches an attack on the second line of defense, you will have no power to stop their attack.
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth and asked the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, what do you think we should do? If we just watch the 188th Division being wiped out by the enemy, and the enemy has occupied the first line of defense, we will definitely They will take advantage of the situation and attack us, but with our strength, we won’t be able to hold on for long.”
"I think we should call General Sokov," the chief of staff suggested to Malankin: "With such a weak force to resist such a large German assault force without sending troops to support, I don't think it is like Sokov." General Husband's style. Maybe he has other arrangements, you can ask him on the phone."
Although there is no direct telephone line connection to Sokov's headquarters, direct communication can be made through the walkie-talkie. Malankin followed the advice of the chief of staff and contacted Sokov.
When he heard Sokov's voice coming from the earphones, Malankin quickly said into the transmitter: "General Sokov, the enemy is now trying his best to launch powerful fortifications towards the position defended by the 188th Division. Seeing that they can no longer resist, please give us your instructions on what we should do!"
Unexpectedly, Sokov's answer surprised Malanjin: "General Malankin, the task of your division is to hold on to the second line of defense. No matter how critical the situation on the first line of defense is, you don't go to rescue, you just need to defend it." Your position will do.”
Malankin thought that Sokov did not understand the situation on the battlefield, and deliberately reminded him: "General Sokov, the enemy has rushed into the first line of defense of our army and is engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the commanders and fighters of the 188th Division. From then on. Judging from the current situation, our army is in a very unfavorable situation. If we do not provide reinforcements to them, the position may be lost at any time."
"Comrade Commander," But Sokov said sternly: "I emphasize once again that you only need to guard the second line of defense and don't meddle in other people's business. Do you understand?"
With a wry smile, Malanjin handed the earphones and microphone to the communications soldier, and said to the chief of staff: "Major General Sokov's order is very clear, that is, let us stick to our position and ignore the first line of defense."
After saying this, Malanjin walked out of his headquarters, found an unattended position in the trench, raised his binoculars and looked at the first line of defense where the battle was fierce, and muttered: "Don't let me interfere." No matter what, are you planning to let me watch the friendly forces lose their positions?"
However, after watching for a long time, the worry on his face disappeared, and there was even a hint of smile. He saw through the telescope that a team of hundreds of people came out from the flank of the German army. They used a weapon carried on their shoulders that looked a bit like a chimney to deal with the German tanks.
I saw objects with white eyes flying out of the chimney and directly hitting the body of the German tank, causing a series of explosions. The German infantry who lost the cover of tank fire were also driven out of the trenches by friendly commanders and fighters.
Seeing this scene, Malanjin laughed twice and said: "No wonder Sokov didn't panic at all when he learned that the first line of defense was tight. It turned out that he had already arranged reinforcements nearby, waiting for both sides to fight. When you are almost exhausted, attack unexpectedly and the enemy will not be able to hold on."
The same scene was also seen by Koida.
When he saw a force rushing out from the flank, he first thought that Malankin had sent troops from the 81st Guards Division to reinforce him, but then he thought, no, Malankin's troops were behind him, and this reinforcements But it came from the enemy's flank. It should be other infantry divisions rushing over for reinforcements.
"Chief of Staff, which army is coming?" Koida turned to ask his Chief of Staff.
The chief of staff raised his telescope and carefully observed the commanders in the charge team, trying to find one or two familiar faces. But after observing for a while, he put down the telescope in disappointment, shook his head and said to Koida: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I don't know any of the commanders in the team, and I don't know which army they are from. "
The German army was almost on the verge of occupying the first line of defense. Unexpectedly, a new force emerged from the oblique thrust. Seeing that the tanks and armored vehicles covering their attack were being destroyed one after another by the opponent, they had no intention of fighting anymore and withdrew from the Soviet army one after another. position and retreated in panic towards the rear. However, after watching for a long time, the worry on his face disappeared, and there was even a hint of smile. He saw through the telescope that a team of hundreds of people came out from the flank of the German army. They used a weapon carried on their shoulders that looked a bit like a chimney to deal with the German tanks.
I saw objects with white eyes flying out of the chimney and directly hitting the body of the German tank, causing a series of explosions. The German infantry who lost the cover of tank fire were also driven out of the trenches by friendly commanders and fighters.
Seeing this scene, Malanjin laughed twice and said: "No wonder Sokov didn't panic at all when he learned that the first line of defense was tight. It turned out that he had already arranged reinforcements nearby, waiting for both sides to fight. When you are almost exhausted, attack unexpectedly and the enemy will not be able to hold on."
The same scene was also seen by Koida.
When he saw a force rushing out from the flank, he first thought that Malankin had sent troops from the 81st Guards Division to reinforce him, but then he thought, no, Malankin's troops were behind him, and this reinforcements But it came from the enemy's flank. It should be other infantry divisions rushing over for reinforcements.
"Chief of Staff, which army is coming?" Koida turned to ask his Chief of Staff.
The chief of staff raised his telescope and carefully observed the commanders in the charge team, trying to find one or two familiar faces. But after observing for a while, he put down the telescope in disappointment, shook his head and said to Koida: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I don't know any of the commanders in the team, and I don't know which army they are from. "
The German army was almost on the verge of occupying the first line of defense. Unexpectedly, a new force emerged from the oblique thrust. Seeing that the tanks and armored vehicles covering their attack were being destroyed one after another by the opponent, they had no intention of fighting anymore and withdrew from the Soviet army one after another. position and retreated in panic towards the rear.
