However, the officers and soldiers of the Viking Division were the elite of the German army after all. After the initial chaotic period, they still launched a counterattack.
Due to the hasty deployment of the ambush, the Belinsky regiment only laid 30 electrically detonated anti-tank mines and 200 infantry mines. It was impossible to completely annihilate the Viking Division's armored regiment.
The German commander's barrel truck was at the rear of the team. When the Soviet mines detonated, he saw that the situation was not good and immediately ordered the driver to turn around. Seeing the regimental leader's barrel truck turn around, several armored vehicles behind also turned around and fled the death zone.
After escaping seven or eight kilometers, he heard the explosions gradually subsided. The regiment leader ordered the vehicle to stop, and then ordered his adjutant to go to the armored vehicle equipped with communication equipment at the back to contact the ambushed troops and see his commander. How many survived.
The adjutant came over quickly and reported to him: "Mr. Colonel, the commanders of the three battalions are still alive, but the commander of the second battalion was injured in the explosion and cannot continue to command the battle."
The regimental commander thought for a moment, and then ordered the adjutant: "Order the deputy commander of the second battalion to take over the battalion commander's command and continue to advance in the direction of Qijilin. The remaining first and third battalions should launch a counterattack on the hillside and be sure to annihilate us all. Russians nearby.”
Just when the adjutant was about to leave, the regiment leader stopped the adjutant again and said: "Don't forget to send a telegram to the division commander, report to him the ambush we encountered, and ask him to ask the troops behind to speed up their march and come here. Support us."
General Herbert Giller, commander of the Viking Division, quickly received the report from the armored regiment. After he put down the phone, he frowned and asked his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, how far are the 10th Panzergrenadier Regiment and the 5th Armored Light Infantry Battalion from the armored regiment?"
The chief of staff glanced at the map and then replied: "Your Excellency, division commander, the departure time of the follow-up troops is two hours later than the armored regiment. It should be still twenty kilometers away from them at this moment."
"What, there are still twenty kilometers?" Although for the mechanized troops, the distance of twenty kilometers is half an hour's drive, but for Herbert Giller, it is still difficult to accept. After all, in On the battlefield, every minute is precious. It is unknown whether the ambushed troops can sustain for another half hour in the face of the powerful Soviet offensive.
He looked at the map on the wall, then picked up the armored regiment's telegram and read it, and finally made a decisive decision: "Order the 5th Armored Light Infantry Battalion to break away from the existing marching column and speed up. It must be done within a quarter of an hour." Inside, rush to the fighting area."
"Understood, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The Chief of Staff replied respectfully, "I will pass on your order immediately."
As the order was conveyed, the remaining tanks of the Second Battalion of the German Armored Regiment continued to advance in the direction of Chigilin through the thick smoke on the road. The infantrymen of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, under the cover of tank fire, launched a charge towards the defenders on the hillside.
The German soldiers in gray-green military uniforms used all available bunkers, such as ravines, tree trunks and even dead bodies, to keep rolling while running, rolling into the Soviet shooting dead zone, finding a suitable shooting position, and heading towards the hillside. Soviet troops opened fire.
Under the German tank fire and the precise shooting of the infantry, the machine gunners in the trenches died one after another, and the dense machine gun firepower on the position became sparse.
Seeing that the firepower on the hillside position was suppressed, the officer issued a command to the soldiers lying on the ground, asking them to get up from the ground, quickly spread out their formation while running, and speed up towards the hillside position.
"Colonel Belinsky," Gritsenko saw in the distance that the enemy was getting closer and closer to the position on the hillside, but the firepower in the trenches was weakened by the enemy's artillery fire, so he quickly connected to the regiment command post on the phone and asked viciously: "Why haven't your regiment's mortars fired yet? Do you plan to keep the mortar shells to lay eggs?"
Belinsky, who was scolded by Major General Gritsenko, gave the order to fire to the mortar company hidden on the reverse slope. As the order was given, rounds of artillery shells screamed across the sky, hitting the German charging road, knocking figures flying. The shrapnel flying everywhere made a sharp whistle, destroying more people near the explosion point. Soldiers knocked down.
Although many soldiers fell under the guns and artillery fire of Soviet commanders and fighters, the remaining soldiers still charged forward. Trying to take advantage of the weakening firepower of the Soviet position to quickly occupy the position and annihilate the defenders inside.
But when they approached the mountainside position, the tanks at the foot of the mountain stopped shelling for fear of accidentally injuring their own people. Shortly after the German tank guns stopped firing, the firepower in the trenches began to intensify again. The flames spewed by machine guns, assault rifles and submachine guns were as tight as heavy rain. The bloody smell on the battlefield was already so thick that it was about to drip out, mixed and diffused. The smoke formed a nauseating mist, irritating the eyes and throat.
The ground under the feet of the German officers and soldiers has been soaked with blood and turned into sticky mud. The feet on it are as soft as stepping on a thick carpet. The fragmented corpses that have just been exploded by landmines are scattered and piled up everywhere, layer upon layer, broken. Guns and human entrails were floating on top, making it a scene like hell on earth.
The German officers and soldiers charged in this hell, lying down and shooting among the dead from time to time. The area twenty or thirty meters in front of the position became a no-man's land, and few people could cross it. The soldiers were pinned to the ground by the rain of bullets. As soon as they raised their heads and prepared to fight back, the oncoming bullets hit them in front of them, and the splashed sand collapsed on them. Their faces were raw and sore, and their helmets were banged so hard that they had to lie down again.
…………
Just as the commanders and fighters of the 384th Division were engaged in a fierce battle with the reinforcing German troops, good news came to the troops attacking Ratsewe and Jinji Town. After reading the telegram sent by Colonel Rusov, the regiment leader, Fomenko suddenly smiled. He quickly came to Sokov and handed over the telegram he had just received: "Comrade Commander, good news, Colonel Rusov's The 254th Regiment has successfully captured the town of Ratsewe, and the battle in Kinki Town is coming to an end."
Sokov took the telegram and quickly browsed its content. In addition to what Fomenko said, there was even more exciting news. There was actually a wood processing factory in the town of Ratseve, which stocked a large amount of round wood. Wood. Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but feel excited. With these logs, it meant that the troops of the 7th Guards Army had the materials to build a pontoon bridge. As long as the pontoon bridge was built, their troops would have a continuous supply of energy. Cross the river from the left bank.
Sokov handed the telegram back to Fomenko and only said to him: "Call back to Colonel Rusov and order them to effectively protect the wood processing plant and not let any problems occur with that batch of logs."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov being so cautious, Fomenko said to himself that even if the Germans set fire, they wouldn't be able to burn the logs for a while, so he said carelessly: "We There will definitely be no problems with this batch of logs.”
Sokov felt that such important good news needed to be shared with Shumilov as soon as possible. After the operator finished sending the telegram, he immediately ordered him: "Comrade operator, immediately help me get through to the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army. I want to speak to General Shumilov."
After hearing Sokov's instructions, the operator did not dare to neglect, and quickly started calling the headquarters of the 7th Guards Army as quickly as possible, so as not to delay Sokov's business.
After being connected to Shumilov's command post, before Sokov could speak, the other party had already said: "General Sokov, I congratulate you. Congratulations to your troops for successfully liberating the long-term liberation of the Germans." Ratsewe Town for Two Years.”
"General Shumilov," hearing Shumilov say this, Sokov realized that the battle in the town of Ratseve might have been seen by the opponent's observation post, otherwise he would not have been able to do it before he had After notifying him, he knew about this. He laughed twice, and then said: "You are right. My troops did liberate Ratsewe Town. Although the fighting in Jingji Town is now It’s not over yet, but the balance of victory has tipped to our side. I am contacting you because I have another good thing to tell you.”
"Other good things?" Shumilov was stunned. Apart from the victory in liberating the towns of Ratseve and Jinki, what other good news was related to him? "General Sokov, I wonder what you mean by the good things?"
"My subordinates reported to me," Sokov said into the microphone: "When they liberated the town of Ratsewe, they discovered a large wood processing factory with a large number of logs stored in it..."
"What, what did you say?" Shumilov interrupted Sokov before he could finish his words. "Your subordinates discovered a wood processing factory that stores a large amount of logs?"
"Yes, General Shumilov, that's the case." Sokov nodded and continued: "I think we need to tell you the good news as soon as possible. After all, if your troops want to build a pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River, It takes a lot of wood.”
"Yes, yes, General Sokov, it is indeed the case." Shumilov learned that there was a large amount of wood in the town of Ratseve controlled by Sokov, and became excited: "If there is a sufficient amount of With logs, my engineering troops can build a pontoon bridge across both sides of the Dnieper River in the shortest time, so that the main force of our army can cross the river in the shortest time."
"General Shumilov, since the town of Ratseve is under our control, you can safely and boldly order the troops to cross the river to receive these logs so that a bridge can be built across the Dnieper River as soon as possible."
After Shumilov put down the phone, he immediately called a staff officer and ordered: "Comrade staff officer, Director Pulyaskin is called here immediately and tells him that I have something important to tell him."
Pulyaskin happened to be busy not far away. When his staff heard that Shumilov was looking for him, he hurriedly put down his work and rushed to the headquarters.
As soon as Shumilov saw Pulyaskin, he asked bluntly: "Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, how are you preparing the materials for erecting the pontoon bridge?"
"It's very possible, Comrade Commander." Pulyaskin said with a grimace: "We are too far away from the forest. The engineers have to go dozens of kilometers away to cut down suitable wood to make rafts. Or bridging materials.”
"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, I called you here because I have some good news to tell you." Shumilov waited for Pulyaskin to finish speaking, and then said with a proud face: "The circle of materials for making rafts and bridges." The wood is all ready-made.”
Hearing what Shumilov said, Pulyaskin couldn't help but be stunned. He wondered when the army would have materials that could make rafts and build bridges. Why didn't he, the director of the engineering corps, know about it?
With this question in mind, he asked Shumilov: "Comrade Commander, are you mistaken? Where do we have logs to make rafts and build bridges?"
"It's true that we don't have it here, but our friendly forces do." Shumilov raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the right bank: "The friendly forces that just captured the town of Ratseve discovered a wood processing factory in the town, which contained a large number of Unprocessed logs can be used to make rafts or as bridge building materials."
"Is this true, Comrade Commander?"
Seeing Shumilov nodding in affirmation, Pulyaskin said excitedly: "If we really have these logs, then all the problems we face will be solved."
"Comrade Director of the Engineering Corps, since you also know the importance of this matter, don't wait any longer and prepare to cross the river immediately." Shumilov said to Pulyaskin: "The 15th Guards Division has already done it. To prepare for crossing the river, you will cross the river with them to the other side and receive this batch of logs stored in the wood processing factory."
Pulyaskin agreed, turned around and walked towards the door. But when he reached the door, he stopped and turned to ask Shumilov: "Comrade Commander, who should I find to receive this batch of logs after I reach the other side?" His worries are justified. Although he carries the rank of major general, he is not the direct superior of the friendly forces in the town. Whether the other party will buy into his account is still unknown. If he cannot accept the logs, isn't it going to delay the business?
"I once heard General Sokov say that the commander on the other side of the river who commanded the capture of the towns of Ratsewe and Kinki was Colonel Rusov, commander of the 254th Regiment of the 84th Division. When you get to the other side, you can contact him directly." Shu Out of caution, Milov added: "I will say hello to General Sokov first and ask him to notify Colonel Rusov in advance so that the logs in the wood processing plant can be handed over to you in a timely manner."
"Okay." After hearing Shumilov's assurance, Pulyaskin showed a smile on his face: "Then I will immediately gather the manpower and prepare to follow the commanders and fighters of the 15th Guards Division to cross the river. Just wait until the round is received. After that, we will start building the bridge from the other side and try to complete the erection of the pontoon bridge on the Dnieper River before dark."
