As the jeep drove towards the northern suburbs of the city, Prochenko turned around and looked at the place where he had been not long ago, and found that the fire was swirling over. The entire block was burning, and the flames were carried by the wind. The fire burned the sky red, everything where the fire dragon passed was ignited, houses were burning, street trees were burning...
The streets were crowded with fleeing people, and more and more people were coming from other directions. While the terrified residents were escaping, some people kept falling or tripping, but no one cared about them. Instead, they stepped over or stepped on them, trampling to death one unlucky resident after another. Hearing the noisy crying and screaming in the distance, Prochenko couldn't help but burst into tears.
When Prochenko and some of his soldiers were about to withdraw from the north gate, a hail of bullets suddenly flew towards them, knocking down many of the soldiers at the front. "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" shouted the commanders and fighters who were lucky enough to escape enemy bullets. They hid behind steps or telephone poles and fired back in the direction of the bullets.
"Comrade leader, there are enemies ahead, get out of the car quickly!" As soon as the jeep stopped, Vanya opened the door and pulled Prochenko out of the car. As soon as the two people jumped out of the car, a series of bullets flew over. The driver, who had not had time to get out of the car, was shot to death in his seat.
After the commanders and soldiers exchanged fire with the enemies blocking the road ahead, a large number of fleeing residents began to appear on the street. In order to escape the fate of being burned to death, they hurriedly broke into the area where the fighting was taking place. The residents who rushed to the front soon fell in pieces under the fire of German machine guns. The residents behind did not know what was happening in front, and they kept pushing forward.
The residents in the front fell to the gunfire of the Germans, and the residents in the back stepped on their bodies and continued to rush forward, but were soon knocked down in pieces by the oncoming bullets. In a short time, the streets were lined with corpses of dead residents in various postures.
An officer who was directing the soldiers to fight back saw the residents falling in pieces under the enemy's guns. His eyes suddenly turned red. He took off the helmet on his head, threw it to the ground, and shouted loudly. : "Brothers, we cannot allow the enemy to kill our comrades so unscrupulously. Those who are not afraid of death, come with me!"
The dozen or so soldiers around him responded with a roar, followed their commanders and rushed towards the enemy's firepower point with weapons in hand. Their bravery inspired more soldiers, who also came out of their hiding places and rushed towards the German temporary positions while shooting.
The officer shouted loudly and rushed in front of everyone. Facing the enemy's intensive firepower, he refused to hide. Instead, he kept shooting with an assault rifle while running, trying to suppress the enemy's firepower. Unfortunately, the enemy's position was very concealed, and the bullets he fired did not hit the target at all.
The German commander who was responsible for blocking the attack saw the officer taking the lead and rushed forward, and immediately directed a machine gun to shoot at him. A hail of bullets flew in, and countless blood mist was splashed on the officer's body. After spinning around in place for a few times, he fell softly to the ground. Seven or eight of the soldiers following him fell under the enemy's gunfire. The remaining soldiers could only find hidden positions on the spot and start shooting with the enemy.
The fire and fighting in the city alerted Shechtman outside the city. He quickly ordered the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, get in touch with the 762nd Regiment immediately and ask what happened in the city."
The chief of staff did not wait for Shechtman to finish, and reported to him with a grimace: "Comrade division commander, we lost contact with the city half an hour ago."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Colonel Billing, who came with Shechtman, asked the Chief of Staff nervously, "Have you figured out what happened in the city?"
"Comrade Political Commissar," after hearing Colonel Billing ask himself, the Chief of Staff quickly reported to him: "According to our observation post report, there were more than a dozen fires in the city first, and they were soon burned to ashes. I ordered People contacted the 762nd Regiment to find out what happened, but they were never able to get in touch with them."
"Chief of Staff, immediately send people to the city to conduct reconnaissance and find out what is going on..."
Before the chief of staff could accept the order, the phone on the table rang. When the chief of staff picked up the phone, he realized that it was Major General Fomenko, commander of the 84th Division, who opened the phone. The other party asked straight to the point on the phone: "What exactly happened in the city? Why are there soaring flames and fierce gunfire?"
"Comrade General," the chief of staff reported respectfully: "Since the fire broke out in the city, we have lost contact with the troops staying in the city, so we are temporarily unclear about what happened."
"Could it be that the Germans took advantage of the darkness to counterattack you?" Fomenko also received a telegram from Sokov, which stated that the Germans might take action at night and ordered all troops to be more vigilant. At this moment, seeing that the 254th Division headquarters was unable to contact the troops in the city, he naturally thought of Sokov's telegram.
"Comrade General, we don't know the specific situation yet." The chief of staff didn't understand the situation in the city at all. Naturally, he couldn't reply to Fomenko casually. He could only say vaguely: "We have sent personnel to conduct reconnaissance. We will update you once we find out what happened."
"Okay," seeing that he couldn't get any useful information from the chief of staff, Fomenko didn't press for it, "I'm waiting for your latest news."
After Shechtman waited for the chief of staff to put down the phone, he continued to say to him: "Although we don't know what happened in the city, judging from the fact that we can't contact the 762nd Regiment, they may be surrounded by the German army."
"Comrade Division Commander, judging from the current situation, the 762nd Regiment is definitely in danger." Colonel Billing said: "If we wait for the scouts to figure out the situation before sending people to help them, the 762nd Regiment may have been wiped out long ago. . I suggest that while sending out scouts for reconnaissance, we should withdraw the two regiments outside the city and quickly move north of the city. Once we understand the situation in the city, our troops can immediately enter the city to provide support. The 762nd Regiment in danger."
"Comrade division commander, I think the political commissar is right." After the chief of staff waited for Colonel Billing to finish speaking, he echoed: "This is the safest way."
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Seeing that the political commissar and chief of staff were unanimous again, Shechtman did not insist on his opinion, but said in a good-humored way: "While sending people into the city to conduct reconnaissance, we will also mobilize the troops." Go near the north gate and be ready to reinforce the 762nd Regiment at any time."
Just when Shechtman and others were discussing sending troops to support the 762nd Regiment, regiment commander Prochenko and chief of staff Vanya were standing on the roof of a three-story building, looking around with binoculars.
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After observing the surrounding terrain, Vanya said to Prochenko: "Comrade Commander, I found that the enemy not only set fire in the city center, but also had many fires to the east and west of us. , but because the wind direction is wrong, the fire spreads relatively slowly."
"What the hell, why did the enemy set fire so fast?" Prochenko said angrily: "It's only been half an hour since the fire started. Look how the fire has spread."
"Comrade leader, do you still remember those oil barrels I told you about?" Vanya was afraid that Prochenko would not be able to remember them, so she reminded him specifically: "They are the ones filled with gasoline that are placed in residential buildings. Oil drum.”
"I remember, of course I remember." After Vanya reminded him, Prochenko also understood what was going on: "So, the enemy placed oil barrels everywhere in the building just to support combustion. Effect."
"Yes, that's it." Vanya pointed to the distance and said to Prochenko: "Comrade commander, look, the enemy in the distance is setting fire with flamethrowers, plus there are a lot of things in the house. If the oil drum is placed, the fire can become out of control in a very short time."
Perhaps to confirm that Vanya's analysis was correct, Prochenko saw a fire dragon rising under a building in the distance and rushed directly into an open window. Moments later, an explosion occurred in the room, flames spurted out of the windows, and the building began to burst into flames.
"It turns out that the enemy was using a flamethrower to set the fire. No wonder the fire spread so fast." After Prochenko said this, he asked Vanya: "Chief of Staff, what should we do next?"
"Comrade Commander, the fire is coming towards our position. In another hour at most, our place will turn into a sea of fire." Vanya said solemnly: "Therefore, we must break through the enemy's attack at all costs." Intercept and rush out of the city, otherwise we will either be killed by enemy bullets or burned alive by the fire that is about to spread."
Seeing the fire in the distance burning down the street bit by bit, Prochenko naturally would not sit still and wait for death. He made a decisive decision and said to Vanya: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we can't sit here and wait to be destroyed." Burned to death, the only thing we can do is to attack the enemy, break through their defenses, and cover the remaining residents to evacuate the city smoothly."
Fortunately, after experiencing the heavy casualties not long ago, the residents finally understood that although the fire behind them was terrible, it would take a certain amount of time to spread. If you rush forward without waiting for your troops to clear out the Germans on the road ahead, you will die in vain. The corpses piling up in the streets are a lesson to you.
However, several subsequent attacks launched by the Soviet army were repelled by the intensive firepower of the German army, leaving only more than a hundred corpses and dozens of wounded on the streets. Since the health workers were missing, no one was there to rescue the wounded who fell on the ground. Some soldiers wanted to drag their injured comrades to a safe place, but they fell to the gunfire of a German sniper as soon as they showed their heads. Seeing this, the remaining soldiers did not dare to take risks anymore. They could only hide in a safe place and shout to their comrades, hoping that they could continue to persevere.
Humans are not machines. No matter how much adrenal glands secrete them, they cannot be eaten as food. After several failed attacks, the courage originally inspired by his comrades had been exhausted. Although the soldiers are still launching attacks, everyone can see that the intensity of the attacks is more than one level lower than the original. However, the German army relied on its geographical advantage and firepower advantage to continuously consume the Soviet army's effective strength.
Seeing this situation, Vanya couldn't help but feel anxious. He knew very well in his heart that no matter how brave and capable his commanders and soldiers were, under the current circumstances, their morale would become lower and lower. If you break through the German interception, everyone will be burned alive here.
Prochenko, who was furious, snatched an assault rifle from the soldier's hand and said loudly to Vanya: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you will be responsible for this. I will personally lead the soldiers to charge." . I don’t believe that we can’t open a bloody path and lead everyone out of the city.”
"No, Comrade Commander, you can't do this." Although the commander takes the lead and can boost the morale and morale of the troops, if Prochenko personally leads the charge, if there are any shortcomings, then he will be compressed in this area. The morale of the troops in a small area will drop to the lowest point, and everyone will have no choice but to wait to die here. "You are the leader of a regiment, you cannot charge like a soldier."
However, several subsequent attacks launched by the Soviet army were repelled by the intensive firepower of the German army, leaving only more than a hundred corpses and dozens of wounded on the streets. Since the health workers were missing, no one was there to rescue the wounded who fell on the ground. Some soldiers wanted to drag their injured comrades to a safe place, but they fell to the gunfire of a German sniper as soon as they showed their heads. Seeing this, the remaining soldiers did not dare to take risks anymore. They could only hide in a safe place and shout to their comrades, hoping that they could continue to persevere.
Humans are not machines. No matter how much adrenal glands secrete them, they cannot be eaten as food. After several failed attacks, the courage originally inspired by his comrades had been exhausted. Although the soldiers are still launching attacks, everyone can see that the intensity of the attacks is more than one level lower than the original. However, the German army relied on its geographical advantage and firepower advantage to continuously consume the Soviet army's effective strength.
Seeing this situation, Vanya couldn't help but feel anxious. He knew very well in his heart that no matter how brave and capable his commanders and soldiers were, under the current circumstances, their morale would become lower and lower. If you break through the German interception, everyone will be burned alive here.
Prochenko, who was furious, snatched an assault rifle from the soldier's hand and said loudly to Vanya: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you will be responsible for this. I will personally lead the soldiers to charge." . I don’t believe that we can’t open a bloody path and lead everyone out of the city.”
"No, Comrade Commander, you can't do this." Although the commander takes the lead and can boost the morale and morale of the troops, if Prochenko personally leads the charge, if there are any shortcomings, then he will be compressed in this area. The morale of the troops in a small area will drop to the lowest point, and everyone will have no choice but to wait here to die. "You are the leader of a regiment, you cannot charge like a soldier."
