According to Sokov's idea, since his troops occupied the bridge over the Oud River without any bloodshed, they would have to wait at least until dawn before being discovered by the enemy. But the plan could not keep up with the change. Just as the soldiers of the first battalion were taking time to rest, a huge motorcade appeared in the sight of the sentry on duty.
The sentry did not dare to neglect and quickly reported the situation to Shamrih.
Shamrih hurriedly walked out of the temporary headquarters, and actually looked into the distance with his binoculars. Sure enough, he found countless car lights on the road, which looked like a large convoy.
Seeing this situation, the deputy battalion commander, Captain Yakuda, said with surprise: "What the hell, where did these enemies come from?"
Shamrih only thought for a moment before he understood the origin of the other party: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, these should be German troops withdrawn from somewhere. I asked why the defenders on the bridge not only did not stop us when they saw us appearing, , On the contrary, they used searchlights to illuminate us, feeling that they regarded us as this German army."
After Shamrih's explanation, Yakuda also realized that the first battalion could easily capture the bridge on the Oud River without firing a shot. It must be the German army guarding the bridge. He regarded himself as the German army in front of him. Troops. He turned and asked Shamrih: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"
"Wake up the soldiers immediately and get them ready for battle." After handing over the task, Shamrih returned to his temporary command post and reported to the regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Granin, by phone.
Granin was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of the phone. Although he was unhappy, when he thought that the person who called him was the man who had just captured the bridge over the Oud River, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and ask directly. : "Comrade Major, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander," Shamrich reported to Granin: "There is a German convoy heading towards the bridge where we are. In five minutes at most, they will reach us."
"I will immediately send the second battalion and the first part of the third battalion to support you." Knowing that the German convoy was approaching the bridge, Granin did not dare to neglect, and asked nervously: "Can you hold it before reinforcements arrive?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Shamrih felt uncomfortable hearing that Granin had such distrust of his troops. However, as the war was approaching, he still tried hard to control his emotions and suppress the anger in his heart. "As long as there is one soldier alive in our battalion, I feel that the enemy's convoy will not be allowed to pass the bridge."
After putting down the phone, Yakuda ran back and reported to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I have passed on your order. I believe it will not be long before all commanders and fighters can enter combat positions."
Shamrih nodded, and then said: "Tell the soldiers that the enemies who are rushing towards the bridge have not discovered that the bridge has been occupied by our troops, so no one is allowed to fire before getting the order. We have to wait for the enemy Once you get close, hit them by surprise."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Yakuda looked at the approaching German convoy and said carelessly, "otherwise, if we use a salvo of rockets at them, we will be able to wipe out at least a dozen of their trucks."
"No, rockets cannot be used." But Shamrih rejected Yakuda's proposal, "The number of rockets we carry is limited, and it would be a bit wasteful to use them to deal with these enemies."
Hearing that Shamrih rejected his suggestion, Yakuda said with regret: "What a good target. As long as you give them a volley, you can kill at least a dozen enemy trucks, as well as the people sitting on the truck." enemy."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, why don't I want to use rockets?" Shamrih said with a wry smile: "But no, once we use rockets against this German army, not only will our strength be exposed, but also our strength will be exposed. The precious rockets are used up. If the Germans launch a heavy attack in daylight, what kind of weapons will we use against them?"
Seeing Yakov's disappointed expression, he continued: "Didn't we capture two anti-tank guns? They are perfect for use against German trucks."
After hearing this, Yakuda couldn't help but smile, and quickly agreed: "Okay, comrade battalion commander, I will immediately arrange the artillery position and strive for the first artillery success."
A few minutes later, when the German convoy was only fifty or sixty meters away from the bridge, two anti-tank guns deployed on the outer positions opened fire at the same time. The shells accurately hit the slow-moving truck, turning the two trucks in front into two groups. Fireball. The soldiers who were on fire jumped out of the carriage, scurrying around like headless flies, and let out horrifying screams.
The German troops behind saw the vehicle in front being shot and on fire, and they quickly stopped the vehicle. Without waiting for the officer to give the order, the German soldiers in the car jumped out of the car one after another and chose a suitable position to hide in order to find out what happened.
Upon seeing this, the Soviet commander on the position immediately ordered all light and heavy weapons to fire at the same time. The dense bullets rushed towards the enemies not far away like a storm, knocking down to the ground the German officers and soldiers who had just jumped out of the car and had not yet understood the situation.
After the brief panic of the German army, German officers soon organized their men to launch a counterattack in an attempt to recapture the bridge occupied by the Soviet army. However, their hasty attack quickly collapsed under the strong firepower of the Soviet army, and they could only retreat to farther areas in despair, using vehicles and gullies along the road to hide.
Seeing that the German troops were hiding behind the vehicles, it was difficult for guns to pose a threat to them, so the two anti-tank guns that had opened fire again opened fire, blowing up the trucks parked on the road one after another into balls of fire.
As soon as the fighting started here, the enemies in the western suburbs of Kharkov were quickly alerted. From the sound of gunfire in the distance, they judged that the two armies were fighting. Although the officer had not yet figured out what happened, he still reported it at various levels in accordance with regulations.
General Kenfu was woken up from his sleep, and he was originally very unhappy. Knowing that a fierce battle was taking place near the bridge on the Oude River, he immediately realized that the Soviet army might want to seize the bridge. He called his chief of staff and asked: "Chief of Staff, which army is holding the bridge on the Oude River?"
The chief of staff thought for a moment and replied: "It's a company of the 320th Infantry Division."
"There is only one company on the bridge and it may not be able to stop the Russian attack." Kenf did not know that the bridge had been lost. He thought the Soviet army was attacking the bridge, so he ordered his chief of staff: "Calling the commander of the 320th Infantry Division." Telephone, ordering him to immediately send troops to reinforce the bridge, feeling that the Russian troops could not be allowed to cross the Oud easily.”
"Yes, Your Excellency, General." The chief of staff agreed, turned around and walked to the table where the phone was placed, picked up the phone and put it to his ear and said, "Get me the 320th Infantry Division."
After receiving the call, the commander of the 320th Infantry Division immediately ordered the division chief of staff to call the bridge guarding troops and warned them to find a way to hold the bridge. Unfortunately, the call never got through.
The division chief of staff put down the phone, shook his head at the division commander, and said, "Your Excellency, division commander, the phone number of the bridge guarding unit cannot be reached. I guess something is wrong with the situation."
"What's wrong?" the teacher asked.
"No matter how fierce the battle is, there will definitely be communication soldiers standing by the phone, and they can convey the instructions from their superiors to those commanders who are temporarily unable to answer the phone as soon as possible." The division chief of staff explained: "But you have called For such a long time, no one answered the phone. I think the reason for this situation is..."
"What is it?"
"Your Majesty, Master, although I try my best not to admit it, in the face of the facts, I have to tell you the worst news: the bridge on the Oude River has been lost!"
"Why did the bridge on the Oude River fall?" Regarding the Chief of Staff's statement, the German division commander simply did not believe it: "This is impossible. The gunfire outside has not stopped. How could the Russians seize the bridge?"
The chief of staff didn't know how to reply to the division commander's statement. He could only shrug his shoulders and spread his hands, indicating that he couldn't figure out what happened.
The German troops trying to capture the bridge were part of the 198th Division. They were originally ordered to strengthen the defense of the bridge. Unexpectedly, they were approaching the bridge, but they were unexpectedly attacked and the troops suffered heavy casualties. The German battalion commander who led the team immediately sent a telegram to his division commander and reported to him in detail what happened here.
The commander of the 198th Infantry Division was immediately startled after receiving the telegram. After a brief discussion with the chief of staff, he felt it was necessary to report the matter to General Kenf in a timely manner and ask him to make new instructions.
General Kenf, who was already furious, received a call from the commander of the 198th Division. He found out that it was a battalion of the division that encountered Soviet troops near the bridge. He hoped that he could send troops for reinforcements as soon as possible. According to Sokov's idea, since his troops occupied the bridge over the Oud River without any bloodshed, they would have to wait at least until dawn before being discovered by the enemy. But the plan could not keep up with the change. Just as the soldiers of the first battalion were taking time to rest, a huge motorcade appeared in the sight of the sentry on duty.
The sentry did not dare to neglect and quickly reported the situation to Shamrih.
Shamrih hurriedly walked out of the temporary headquarters, and actually looked into the distance with his binoculars. Sure enough, he found countless car lights on the road, which looked like a large convoy.
Seeing this situation, the deputy battalion commander, Captain Yakuda, said with surprise: "What the hell, where did these enemies come from?"
Shamrih only thought for a moment before he understood the origin of the other party: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, these should be German troops withdrawn from somewhere. I asked why the defenders on the bridge not only did not stop us when they saw us appearing, , On the contrary, they used searchlights to illuminate us, feeling that they regarded us as this German army."
After Shamrih's explanation, Yakuda also realized that the first battalion could easily capture the bridge on the Oud River without firing a shot. It must be the German army guarding the bridge. He regarded himself as the German army in front of him. Troops. He turned and asked Shamrih: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"
"Wake up the soldiers immediately and get them ready for battle." After handing over the task, Shamrih returned to his temporary command post and reported to the regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Granin, by phone.
Granin was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of the phone. Although he was unhappy, when he thought that the person who called him was the man who had just captured the bridge over the Oud River, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and ask directly. : "Comrade Major, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander," Shamrich reported to Granin: "There is a German convoy heading towards the bridge where we are. In five minutes at most, they will reach us."
"I will immediately send the second battalion and the first part of the third battalion to support you." Knowing that the German convoy was approaching the bridge, Granin did not dare to neglect, and asked nervously: "Can you hold it before reinforcements arrive?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Shamrih felt uncomfortable hearing that Granin had such distrust of his troops. However, as the war was approaching, he still tried hard to control his emotions and suppress the anger in his heart. "As long as there is one soldier alive in our battalion, I feel that the enemy's convoy will not be allowed to pass the bridge."
After putting down the phone, Yakuda ran back and reported to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I have passed on your order. I believe it will not be long before all commanders and fighters can enter combat positions."
Shamrih nodded, and then said: "Tell the soldiers that the enemies who are rushing towards the bridge have not discovered that the bridge has been occupied by our troops, so no one is allowed to fire before getting the order. We have to wait for the enemy Once you get close, hit them by surprise."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Yakuda looked at the approaching German convoy and said carelessly, "otherwise, if we use a salvo of rockets at them, we will be able to wipe out at least a dozen of their trucks."
"No, rockets cannot be used." But Shamrih rejected Yakuda's proposal, "The number of rockets we carry is limited, and it would be a bit wasteful to use them to deal with these enemies."
Hearing that Shamrih rejected his suggestion, Yakuda said with regret: "What a good target. As long as you give them a volley, you can kill at least a dozen enemy trucks, as well as the people sitting on the truck." enemy."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, why don't I want to use rockets?" Shamrih said with a wry smile: "But no, once we use rockets against this German army, not only will our strength be exposed, but also our strength will be exposed. The precious rockets are used up. If the Germans launch a heavy attack in daylight, what kind of weapons will we use against them?"
Seeing Yakov's disappointed expression, he continued: "Didn't we capture two anti-tank guns? They are perfect for use against German trucks."
After hearing this, Yakuda couldn't help but smile, and quickly agreed: "Okay, comrade battalion commander, I will immediately arrange the artillery position and strive for the first artillery success."
A few minutes later, when the German convoy was only fifty or sixty meters away from the bridge, two anti-tank guns deployed on the outer positions opened fire at the same time. The shells accurately hit the slow-moving truck, turning the two trucks in front into two groups. Fireball. The soldiers who were on fire jumped out of the carriage, scurrying around like headless flies, and let out horrifying screams.
