When Fomenko called the headquarters, the person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Samyko.
"What?" Samyko said in surprise after listening to Fomenko's report: "General Fomenko, are you saying that your sneak attack on Highland 103.9 has been noticed by the Germans?"
"It's very possible, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fomenko was still unable to confirm whether any enemies on the occupied highlands had escaped and reported back, but he still had an attitude of preferring to believe it or not. He replied with a firm tone: "If the Germans discover that the high ground has been lost, they will definitely send troops to counterattack. Now we only have 30 troops on the high ground. I am afraid it will be difficult to withstand the German army's crazy counterattack."
"You can send people for reinforcements." Sameko said, "This will also enhance the defense power of the highlands."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff. If I could send people there for reinforcements, I would have sent people there long ago." Fomenko explained to Samyko: "There are minefields and barbed wire barriers between our defense area and the high ground. If it is not cleared, our commanders and fighters will not be able to pass."
"After the battle begins, will you be able to pass through these areas smoothly?"
"That's right." Fomenko said in a positive tone: "According to the original plan, after the artillery preparations begin, some artillery will bombard this area to clear the minefields and obstacles that block our attack. If Our commanders and fighters will not be able to pass through here before the bombardment begins."
"Wait a minute, General Fomenko." Samyko heard that the Germans might have noticed that the 84th Division had occupied the high ground, and that the troops on the high ground had become alone. Should he support them and launch artillery bombardments on the enemy's positions in advance? It’s not something I can decide on. “I’ll ask Comrade Commander for instructions and hear his opinion.”
Samyko did not hang up the phone, but reported to Sokov who was sitting next to him looking at the map: "Comrade Commander, General Fomenko called and said that the reconnaissance team that captured the high ground might have been captured by the Germans. Aware. In order to ensure the victory of the offensive battle, he requested the artillery to start artillery preparations in advance."
Knowing that the action to seize the high ground might have been noticed by the Germans, Sokov felt that the time of the attack should be appropriately adjusted, otherwise it would be difficult to achieve the unexpected surprise of the attack. He thought for a while, raised his head and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, agree to Fomenko's request to carry out artillery bombardment of the enemy's defense area in advance."
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. There were still 38 minutes until the bombardment started, and he continued: "The bombardment is half an hour ahead of schedule."
"Yes." After Samyko agreed resoundingly, he said into the microphone: "General Fomenko, Comrade Commander has an order to prepare for artillery fire on the enemy's defense area half an hour in advance. In other words, eight minutes later , the artillery of the First Artillery Division and the Second Artillery Division will shell the enemy’s defensive positions at the same time.”
"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fomenko was overjoyed to hear that Sokov agreed to advance the artillery bombardment. In this way, even if the Germans knew that the high ground had been occupied by their own troops, they would only have less than eight minutes to respond. , unable to retake the high ground, and had no time to adjust troop deployment: "I will get in touch with the artillery comrades immediately."
Not only Sokov and Fomenko felt that another seven or eight minutes of bombardment would not have much impact on the entire battle situation, but they never dreamed that the German commander immediately sent out a company after learning about the loss of the high ground. The officers and soldiers launched a counterattack on the high ground, trying to eliminate the Soviet commanders and fighters who captured the high ground.
Second Lieutenant Iva, who was standing on the high ground, had just told all the soldiers that the bombardment might be carried out in advance, so that everyone should be prepared to avoid the bombardment. As soon as he handed over the mission, the veteran shouted to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, the Germans are coming up."
Upon hearing the shouting, Lieutenant Ivar quickly ran along the trench and asked loudly: "Where is the enemy?"
"At the foot of the mountain."
Looking in the direction of the veteran's finger, Second Lieutenant Ivar saw groups of German soldiers in scattered formations, bending over and climbing up the hillside. Although the German soldiers were still three to four hundred meters away, he still issued the order loudly: "Everyone is here, listen to my command and prepare to fight!"
After seeing the soldiers entering their respective shooting positions and pointing their guns at the enemies down the hillside, Ivar shouted again: "No one is allowed to shoot without my order."
According to Ivar's plan, after the German soldiers entered a range of 150 meters, he ordered the veterans to fire with machine guns. Seeing that the enemy was suppressed on the hillside, they were unable to rush to the high ground in a short time.
Unexpectedly, while Ivar and others were waiting for the Germans to enter the optimal firing range of 150 meters, the Germans had already set up several mortars under the hillside to bombard the high ground. The shells roared down on the high ground, and pillars of mud rose into the sky. An unlucky soldier happened to be hit by a shell, and his flesh and blood flew everywhere.
"Sharpshooter!" Seeing the fierce enemy artillery fire, Ivar had to order the soldiers to hide and avoid the artillery fire. At the same time, he shouted loudly: "Come to me."
Following Ivar's shout, the sharpshooter in the team came to Ivar: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, what are your instructions?"
“Did you see the German mortars down the hill?”
"Yes, I saw it."
"Kill the German gunners!" Since falling shells continued to explode nearby, Ivar had to get close to the sharpshooter and said loudly: "He is too much of a threat to us."
The sharpshooter agreed, then found an ideal shot and aimed at the mortar operator three hundred meters away. After a simple aim, he pulled the trigger. Although he was a sharpshooter in the team, his marksmanship was not as good as that of a professional sniper. He fired three shots in a row, but only one shot hit the target.
A German artilleryman who was holding a cannonball and about to load it suddenly froze, and then fell straight to the ground. An ammunition hand nearby saw his companion being shot and fell to the ground. He quickly ran over and bent down to pick up the shell. Just as he was about to load it, another bullet flew in and hit the front of his helmet, leaving a line of blood behind. Foam flew out of the back of his head.
Seeing that two of their companions had been shot and fell, the remaining artillerymen instinctively believed that there were Soviet snipers nearby. They dared to continue the artillery fire, so they found concealed positions to hide in order to avoid being targeted by snipers.
Without the suppression of German artillery fire, the soldiers hiding in the trenches re-entered the fighting position, pointing their guns at the approaching German troops, waiting for Ivar's firing order.
And Iva was busy counting the number of people at the moment. In the short one or two minutes of German shelling, there were actually two casualties and three wounded. Seeing such heavy casualties, Iva was really heartbroken. The scouts he brought out were all elites in the army, but they fell under the enemy's fire without even firing a shot.
After the attacking infantry entered a range of 150 meters, Ivar ordered the veteran's machine gun to fire first. The sound of gunfire was an order, and immediately afterwards, there was a sound of gunfire on the position, including the sound of rifle shooting and the sound of submachine gun fire. Many of the charging German soldiers fell down, and the remaining soldiers quickly lay down on the spot and fired back at the top of the mountain.
Some soldiers with rich combat experience, after hiding in a safe position to shoot, would often take advantage of the gaps in the Soviet shooting on the high ground to quickly approach the positions on the hillside by leaping or rolling. Because they were too close to the position, the soldiers in the trenches had to lean out and shoot if they wanted to hit them. As a result, they were quickly shot to pieces by the enemy.
"Grenade!" Seeing that the situation was not good, Ivar quickly shouted: "Use a grenade to blow up the enemy."
But his voice was covered by the sound of gunfire and explosions, and the people around him couldn't hear what he was shouting at all. Seeing that others couldn't hear what he was shouting, Iva quickly grabbed a grenade, pulled the string and threw it directly at the enemies who were hiding in the blind spot. After a loud bang, a German soldier who was hiding well was pulled up from the ground by the air wave of the explosion. After staggering forward for two steps, he lay directly on the ground motionless.
After seeing Ivar's actions, the surrounding soldiers followed suit and threw grenades at the enemies hiding in the blind corners. After a series of explosions, many enemies were killed and injured, and the remaining people rolled and crawled away.
Even though the German attack was ineffective, the German captain who was commanding at the foot of the hillside figured out based on the firepower on the hillside that there were not many people in Iva's squad. After his men retreated, he picked up a loudspeaker and shouted loudly: "Russian soldiers, you have no way out. Hurry up and put down your weapons and surrender. I will give you the treatment you deserve as a prisoner."
Although the German captain's Russian pronunciation was not very ready, the commanders and soldiers on the hillside could understand what he meant. Not to mention the imminent attack of the main force, even if the lone army fell into a tight siege by the Germans, it was impossible for the commanders and soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Germans.
"Sharpshooter!" Ivar didn't want to hear what the other party was shouting, so he quickly ordered the sharpshooter, "Kill the German radio."
The sharpshooter agreed, raised his gun and fired in the distance. Although he is the sharpshooter of the team, his marksmanship cannot be compared with that of a sniper, not to mention that the target is still more than 300 meters away. It is very difficult to hit the target directly. Not long ago, he used enough It took five bullets to kill the two German gunners.
The German captain who was shouting was hiding behind a big rock with a loudspeaker. The sharpshooter aimed at his position and pulled the trigger continuously, but the bullets failed to hit the target. They all hit the stone, splashing countless stone chips and hitting the German captain's face. He quickly shrank behind the stone in pain. .
Seeing that he failed to hit the target, Ivar was so angry that he punched the mound in front of him and then ordered the sharpshooter: "Keep shooting and be sure to knock out the German commander."
The German captain who was almost hit by a bullet learned the lesson. He hid behind a rock and continued to shout to the hillside with a loudspeaker: "Russians, listen, your retreat has been cut off by our minefields and barbed wire fences, and the frontal attacking troops are smaller than You are several times more numerous. I advise you to immediately lay down your arms and surrender, otherwise you will be responsible for all the consequences."
When Fomenko called the headquarters, the person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Samyko.
"What?" Samyko said in surprise after listening to Fomenko's report: "General Fomenko, are you saying that your sneak attack on Highland 103.9 has been noticed by the Germans?"
"It's very possible, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fomenko was still unable to confirm whether any enemies on the occupied highlands had escaped and reported back, but he still had an attitude of preferring to believe it or not. He replied with a firm tone: "If the Germans discover that the high ground has been lost, they will definitely send troops to counterattack. Now we only have 30 troops on the high ground. I am afraid it will be difficult to withstand the German army's crazy counterattack."
"You can send people for reinforcements." Sameko said, "This will also enhance the defense power of the highlands."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff. If I could send people there for reinforcements, I would have sent people there long ago." Fomenko explained to Samyko: "There are minefields and barbed wire barriers between our defense area and the high ground. If it is not cleared, our commanders and fighters will not be able to pass."
"After the battle begins, will you be able to pass through these areas smoothly?"
"That's right." Fomenko said in a positive tone: "According to the original plan, after the artillery preparations begin, some artillery will bombard this area to clear the minefields and obstacles that block our attack. If Our commanders and fighters will not be able to pass through here before the bombardment begins."
"Wait a minute, General Fomenko." Samyko heard that the Germans might have noticed that the 84th Division had occupied the high ground, and that the troops on the high ground had become alone. Should he support them and launch artillery bombardments on the enemy's positions in advance? It’s not something I can decide on. “I’ll ask Comrade Commander for instructions and hear his opinion.”
Samyko did not hang up the phone, but reported to Sokov who was sitting next to him looking at the map: "Comrade Commander, General Fomenko called and said that the reconnaissance team that captured the high ground might have been captured by the Germans. Aware. In order to ensure the victory of the offensive battle, he requested the artillery to start artillery preparations in advance."
Knowing that the action to seize the high ground might have been noticed by the Germans, Sokov felt that the time of the attack should be appropriately adjusted, otherwise it would be difficult to achieve the expected surprise of the attack. He thought for a while, raised his head and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, agree to Fomenko's request to carry out artillery bombardment of the enemy's defense area in advance."
"Yes." After Samyko agreed resoundingly, he said into the microphone: "General Fomenko, Comrade Commander has an order to prepare for artillery fire on the enemy's defense area half an hour in advance. In other words, eight minutes later , the artillery of the First Artillery Division and the Second Artillery Division will shell the enemy’s defensive positions at the same time.”
"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fomenko was overjoyed when he heard that Sokov agreed to advance the artillery bombardment. In this way, even if the Germans knew that the high ground had been occupied by their own troops, they would only have less than eight minutes to respond. , unable to retake the high ground, and had no time to adjust troop deployment: "I will get in touch with the artillery comrades immediately."
Not only Sokov but also Fomenko felt that another seven or eight minutes of bombardment would not have much impact on the entire battle situation, but they never dreamed that the German commander immediately sent out a company after learning about the loss of the high ground. officers and soldiers launched a counterattack on the highlands
