Burning Moscow

Hearing that the German army was launching an attack on our position, Kirilov became a little restless. He waited for me to put down the phone and quickly stood up and said to me: "Comrade Commander, you stay with the Chief of Staff. I went to the observation post. Go and see..."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Political Commissar." Since this was the first large-scale offensive launched by the German army after we entered the high ground, I couldn't sit still in the command post. Hearing Kirillov's words, I went along. Said: "Command here is handed over to Akhromeyev Chief of Staff, I will go to the observation post with you."

The observation post is located in the trenches on the northwest side of the hillside where the division headquarters is located. Not only can most of the positions be clearly seen from here, but the grasslands to the north of the highland are also unobstructed.

Not long after we entered the observation post, from far and near, there was the roar of the motors of German tanks. We quickly raised the telescope and looked into the distance, and saw that on the grassland in the distance, more than two dozen tanks lined up in a military parade, and they were approaching a group of positions. Behind is a convoy of countless trucks, out of sight, there are always one or two hundred. The carriages of the cars were full of infantry wearing steel helmets. Some trucks were still dragging cannons behind them, and they rushed toward us aggressively.

"Damn it, **** it!" Kirilov said to himself: "It seems that the Germans really wanted to take Mamayev Hill in one fell swoop, and they dispatched a tank battalion, two artillery battalions, and nearly one regiment. Infantry."

I didn't answer Kirilov's words, but moved the telescope to a group of positions set up on the mountainside. I saw three to five groups of commanders in the trenches, bending over and running back and forth. Those trenches and fortifications destroyed by intensive artillery fire are also undergoing rush repairs at this moment. From time to time, you can see the dirt of a shovel being lifted out of the trench.

The enemy is getting closer. When they were about one kilometer away from our position. The rushing tank slowed down and the truck stopped and formed a square formation. The infantry in the truck was jumping out of the carriage and lined up beside the truck, preparing to follow the tank and launch a charge towards our position. .

The cannons that were towed behind the truck were also unloaded by the artillery and lined up on the open ground directly in front of the truck. The muzzle of the black hole was aimed at our army's position.

Although I can be considered battle-tested, my heart beat faster when I saw this scene. Just like before the first shot on the battlefield was fired, even the veterans were not exempt from being in a brief state of tension, not to mention that the enemy had put on such a big battle after the fierce shelling today.

I was worried that Sergeikov, who was at the forefront, would feel nervous in the face of such a scene, so I picked up the only phone in the observation post and called him. When I heard his voice, I had regained my former calm. I asked calmly, "Lieutenant Colonel Sergeikov, are all the troops in combat position?"

"Yes. Comrade commander, the two newly-tuned companies have entered the designated fighting positions." Sergeikov replied dryly, but from his slightly changed voice, I could hear his nervousness.

In order to stabilize his mood as soon as possible, I deliberately changed the subject: "Where is the political commissar of Oberstein?"

"The political commissar took his guard squad to the mountainside position."

Hearing Sergeikov's words, I couldn't help feeling a little anxious, and yelled at him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what did you do? Who allowed you to let the political commissar go to such a dangerous place?"

"Comrade commander," said Sederikov who was criticized by me aggrievedly: "I originally wanted the political commissar to stay in the command post and let me go to the front to command the troops. I didn't expect the political commissar to say that he just came to meet the people below. The commanders and fighters are not familiar yet. If you need to mobilize the troops later, it is more appropriate for me to take the initiative. He also said that he will go to the forward positions to propagate and agitate the soldiers to improve the morale of the troops."

From the words of Sergeikov, I heard Oberstein is a serious and stubborn person at the same time. At this time, it is obviously impossible for someone to pull him off the ground. The only thing I can do is What he did was to ask Sederikov to send someone to protect his safety. Thinking of this, I solemnly instructed Sederikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I order you to immediately send a few elven-point soldiers to the front to protect the safety of the political commissars. Tell them, even if they sacrifice their lives. , But also to ensure the safety of Oberstein’s political commissar. Do you understand?” When I said the last sentence, I emphasized my tone.

"Understand, I will send someone to the battlefield to protect the safety of the political commissar."

"The enemy's infantry is easy to fight." Thinking of the black infantry, I am not worried at all. They are a group of lambs to be slaughtered under the firepower of our light and heavy machine guns. What gives me a headache is the twenty that opened the way in front of me. Tanks. So I asked anxiously, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your regiment lacks anti-tank weapons. What are you going to do with the German tanks that open the way for the infantry?"

"Please rest assured, the division commander," Sergeikov said to me confidently: "Our regiment is at the foot of the high ground. There is also a platoon of anti-tank infantry deployed. The German tanks will be handed over to them."

Listening to Sergeikov's words, I suddenly remembered that there was indeed a platoon of troops under the high ground, which was specifically used to fight German tanks. They survived the artillery attack just now. It was almost impossible. It is a miracle.

When I put down the microphone, Kirilov, who was watching the enemy, put down the binoculars and smiled friendly at me. I understand that the reason he smiled at me is because my attitude towards political workers has gradually changed from being repulsive and indifferent to friendly and enthusiastic.

I also smiled politely at Kirilov, then walked to the observation port and raised the telescope to look out on the battlefield. At this time, the German infantry had assembled, and they were lining up in a skirmish formation, following the tank, slowly pushing toward our position. The noise from the motor of the tank that opened in front rang like an earthquake, and the ground under my feet was shaking slightly.

When the German tanks approached our foothills, two of the anti-tank fighters hiding in the individual bunker crawled out of the bunker. Climb over to the tank quickly with hands and feet. The soldier who climbed the fastest on the left. When there were still ten meters away from an oncoming tank. Leaning out half of his body, resting his left elbow on the ground, and lifting his right hand from the waist with a violent wave forward, an anti-tank grenade flew towards the tank.

Almost at the same time when the soldier lay his body on the ground again, the front baffle of the tank made a fire, and then the entire tank body was enveloped in dense smoke. The hit tank drove a few steps forward by virtue of its inertia, and then stopped moving.

The luck of the soldier on the right was obviously not as friendly as he was, the grenade he threw. The turret wiping the tank flew over and exploded in the open space behind. The air wave lifted the smashed clods high into the air, and the goddess scattered flowers like flowers. When the soldier didn't hit the target, he might be a little anxious. He didn't care about hiding, but he stood up straight, preparing to throw the remaining grenade again. But before he raised his hand, he was hit by bullets from the machine gun on the turret of the tank or from the infantry who charged behind. The upper body leaned back abruptly, and his body stiffened for a few seconds. Then fell softly. And he didn't hit the tank and ran over him unscrupulously.

The soldier on the left saw his comrades cruelly under the tracks of the tank. He might be dazzled by the anger. He stood up from the ground regardless of recklessness, and rushed towards the tank holding the grenade. Within a few steps, he was hit by dense bullets from the German army. His body twitched violently and weakened weakly, and the grenade in his hand also fell aside.

Seeing the sacrifice of these two anti-tank fighters, I did not speak, but sighed softly. Then I looked at the binoculars at the individual bunkers where the anti-tank fighters were hidden, anxiously looking forward to their attack again.

At this moment, Kirilov who was next to me suddenly patted me on the shoulder and exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade commander, hurry up and look into the ravine. It is our artillery. If they go out, don’t use German tanks. Want to rush to our front."

Hearing Kirillov's cry, I looked curiously at the location of the ravine with the telescope to see what could make Kirillov, who had always been calm, so excited. From this look, my mood suddenly became a lot easier.

It turned out that the commanders of the anti-tank company hidden in the ravine were pushing their artillery hard to retreat to the hillside. To the left of the group of positions, there was a slightly gentle hillside, and it seemed that they wanted to establish an anti-tank artillery position there. I silently counted the artillery. There were only 12. It seemed that Morozov had sent an anti-tank artillery company to support Sederikov’s troops. I just didn’t know that this artillery was the second company of Lieutenant Kasselin. Or buy the third company of Lieutenant Rekhov.

In just a few minutes when I watched the anti-tank artillery company move to the front, the battle at the foot of the mountain made new progress. Two more tanks were destroyed by our soldiers, but there were more than 20 dead bodies lying around the burning tank wreckage. I don't know whether it was our sacrificed soldiers or the German tank soldiers who escaped from the tank.

After the German army lost four more tanks, the remaining twenty or so tanks lined up under the high ground, raised the muzzle of the black hole, and shelled our position on the mountainside. The German soldiers who ran fast, holding various weapons, rushed out of the gap between the tanks and rushed to the hillside.

Seeing this scene, the artillery commander was anxious. Before pushing all the cannons to the gentle slope, he ordered the cannons in place to directly target the German offensive queue and fire.

The shells roared and landed in the formation of the German army. Suddenly, a few clouds of thick black smoke rose up in the middle of the tank, and a dozen unlucky infantry were cut to the ground by the flying shrapnel. At the same time, the light and heavy machine guns on the mountainside position also fired. I don't know who is in command, but our army's firepower is focused on shooting infantrymen who are bending towards the hillside. In the intensive firepower of our army, patches of German soldiers fell on the hillside.

Seeing our fierce firepower, the German army did not continue to rush forward. The infantry descended from the hillside, passed the gap between the tanks, and ran straight to the spot where the truck was parked. And those tanks were also spraying black smoke, slowly retreating as they fired cannons.

"Awesome, awesome!" Kirilov beside me exclaimed excitedly. He patted me on the shoulder forgottenly, and said loudly, "Comrade Oshanina, look at you, German Our offense was repelled by us."

Although the first German attack was repelled by us, I was not happy at all. The Germans' combat effectiveness is not so bad, otherwise they would not be in a short period of two days. Defeat and encircle the three armies commanded by Zhukov. They are on the offensive. It was just a little bit frustrated. Just retreat in a panic, there must be some conspiracy.

Seeing Kirilov's overwhelming joy, I coldly reminded him: "Comrade Political Commissar, the Germans have retreated so easily, I think there must be something to hide."

Unexpectedly, he said disapprovingly: "Comrade Oshanina, you are worried. The Germans were first destroyed by our anti-tank fighters to destroy seven tanks, and then they were killed by our anti-tank battery and light and heavy machine gun fire on the position. They are not fools either. They will not bite the bullet and rush forward regardless of casualties. They must go back and adjust the formation temporarily and attack later..."

Before he could finish his words, there was the sound of a cannonball breaking through the air, making my hair stand upright. Although I didn't pick up the binoculars, I guessed that it must be the two German artillery battalions shelling our position.

"Boom boom boom boom!" There was no interval between the explosions, and the shells fell on the high ground one by one and exploded continuously, raising all the objects that could be lifted high into the air. The high ground that had just fallen silent was overturned by German artillery fire again, and large and small clods fell from the sky like a torrential rain. Smashed heavily on the ground.

The cannonballs smashed down like raindrops, and the raging flames burst into the sky. The earth under my feet. It was shaking violently as if it had suffered an eighth magnitude earthquake. Large groups of pungent and choking gunpowder were blown along the hillside by the river breeze and poured into the observation post where we were, choking Kirilov and I to cough violently. I covered my ears with my hands, and opened my mouth wide to resist the impact of sound waves on the eardrum, so as not to be shocked again.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Not only the high ground was bombarded by German artillery, but even the left-wing anti-tank artillery company position was also bombarded by German tank artillery. The entire artillery position blazed into the sky, and the explosion sounded into the sky.

The shelling ended ten minutes later, and before the smoke that enveloped the high ground dissipated, the Germans in the distance launched a new round of offensive under the cover of tanks.

When I raised the telescope again and looked at our artillery position, I almost cried. The original twelve cannons lined up in a row, but now only the poor three remain intact. The remaining cannons were blown into broken bronze and iron, and most of the gunners of these cannons lay imperfectly. Beside the large and small craters.

Seeing that our artillery company was beaten so badly, when the Germans attacked again in the future, they could not provide artillery cover for a regiment of defenders. Unexpectedly, as soon as the German tanks approached the high ground, the artillery company, which suffered heavy losses, fired decisively. Two of the German tanks that were caught off guard were hit directly, causing the explosion of tank shells in the car, blowing up some German soldiers around them.

After the German tanks stopped at the foot of the hill again, part of them fired at the position on the mountainside to cover the infantry charge. The others turned their guns and fired at the position of the artillery company, hoping to destroy these cannons that were a serious threat to them.

At this time, apart from two guns on our artillery position, we were still firing continuously, while the other gun was diverted into the ravine under the guidance of several soldiers.

Seeing this scene, Kirilov shouted in amazement: "What are these gunners doing? The Germans are clearly in front. Why are they running back? Do they want to be shameful deserters?" After shouting these words, he directed at There was a shout from the door, and a guard standing outside was called in and told him loudly: "Comrade soldier, go to the artillery camp and find Captain Morozov immediately, and let him stop this shameful escaping from the battlefield without authorization. The act of deserting."

The soldier agreed. Just about to leave, I stopped him. I told him lightly: "Comrade soldier, there is nothing to do with you here. You should go back outside." The soldier was stopped by me and Kirilov. The two different orders were confused, and stood still in a daze.

Seeing him not moving, I told him again: "Didn't you hear my order? There is nothing to do with you here. Let's go outside on duty." The soldier who received my affirmative command saluted us. , Turned around and walked out.

As soon as the soldiers left, I said to the emotional Kirilov: "Comrade political comrades, please don't be excited. The gunners of that cannon are not going to be deserters, but are ready to move to a new gun position to continue fighting the enemy."

"Is it true, Comrade Oshanina?" Kirilov looked at the German infantry who was climbing up the hill, then looked at the cannon that was moving into the ravine, and asked with some uncertainty. .

"Comrade Political Commissar, I assure you that you will be able to see this cannon in the new position, firing revenge shells at the German tanks and infantry in ten minutes at most."

Due to the fierce German artillery fire, most of the positions on the mountainside were destroyed. Our commanders, who had almost lost all their heavy weapons, had to withdraw from the east and west wings of the high ground along the trenches in the face of the surging German infantry. position.

"Comrade Oshanina, we should immediately organize a counterattack to drive the Germans out of our position. We should organize a counterattack immediately, and we should not allow the Germans to occupy our position." Kirilov became more excited at this time and charged. I yelled incoherently.

And I know the beauty of the fortifications built by the Sergeikov regiment, so I didn’t feel the slightest tension when seeing the German army taking our mountainside positions. I said to Kirilov casually, "Comrade Political Commissar, please don’t worry , We must trust our commanders, they will soon be able to take back their positions from the Germans."

Kirilov looked at me suspiciously ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and said dissatisfied: "Comrade Oshanina, you have issued a military order to Commander Cuikov. If the high ground is lost, you are He will be sent to a military court for trial."

I didn't argue with him, just said indifferently: "Kirilov political commissar, don't worry, you will soon see how our commanders eliminated these Germans."

As the German infantry occupied the position on the mountainside, the tanks that provided artillery cover at the foot of the mountain also stopped firing on the high ground, but instead turned the muzzle to continue bombarding our artillery positions. Under the fierce bombardment of more than a dozen tank guns, two cannons on the hillside destroyed three tanks, and they were smashed by guns.

But their sacrifice was not worthless. The cannon that had just withdrawn from the position had already entered a recessed ground at this time, and a new gun position had been established there. Looking at the only remaining cannon, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and said silently in my heart: Next, it is the turn of these survivors to teach these pesky German tanks severely. (To be continued...)

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