Burning Moscow

Beckman, who has always kept his distance from me neither lukewarm nor cold, unexpectedly nodded after hearing what I said. Perhaps because he was afraid that his former comrades would die worthless, he took Lieutenant Braun and a dozen soldiers from the depths of the factory area. Among those soldiers were his own men and soldiers from the guard company. . The former is to persuade those German soldiers who are still stubbornly resisting, and the latter is to protect their safety.

Seeing Beckman’s back, Yushchenko next to him mumbled dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Commander, are we too kind to these Germans? Not only did they treat their wounded, but also sent them to persuade those who are soon. The German officers and soldiers who will be wiped out by us, I think it is simply unnecessary."

"When are you still thinking about this?" I gave Yushchenko a gloomy look at his complaint, and then said to him in a teaching tone: "Comrade Captain, I ask you to figure it out. One point, although Captain Beckman and the others were German soldiers, they have joined us at the moment and become our comrades. If Captain Beckman can tell those German soldiers who are still fighting against them, they have come to rescue them. Marshal Manstein has been repulsed by our army and completely broke the illusion in the enemy's heart. He obediently put down his weapons and surrendered to us. In this way, how many casualties we will reduce, have you considered?"

Yushchenko, who was reprimanded by me, did not make any excuses. Instead, he scattered the soldiers of the guard company who followed us and let them form a loose circle around me to protect me from walking towards the depths of the factory area.

The area of ​​the "Red October" factory was bigger than I thought, and it took nearly half an hour to walk. Actually, he hasn't gotten close to any workshop where the enemy and us are fighting fire.

"Comrade Commander, you can't go forward anymore." Yushchenko, who was walking by his side, suddenly said to me loudly: "We are very close to the firefighting area. If we go further, it will be dangerous. It's not about being bombed. To die is to be killed by a stray bullet..."

Perhaps it was to increase the persuasiveness of his persuasion. As soon as his voice fell, a shell that flew out from the depths of the factory fell 30 meters to our right and exploded. This close bang overwhelmed all other sounds. The mud splashed at the explosion point, and shrapnel flew around with howling sounds. The two soldiers walking on my right suddenly screamed in pain, and then fell to the ground at the same time.

"What's wrong. What happened?" Seeing the soldier next to me fell down, I couldn't help but panic, and asked repeatedly: "Did I get shot by the German cold shot?"

Yushchenko rushed to the side of the two soldiers, squatted down and asked in a deep voice, "What happened?"

"I was hit by shrapnel!" one of the soldiers replied painfully.

"Does it matter?" Yushchenko asked again.

The soldier shook his head and replied, "The shrapnel was blocked by the body armor. The injury is not serious."

Hearing the soldier said that his injuries were not serious, Yushchenko quickly stood up and returned to me, speaking as quickly as possible: "Comrade Commander, we can't go forward. The bullet-proof vests on our bodies may be able to stop flying from a distance. Stray bullets, but they can’t stop the shells at all. If the impact of the shells just now were a little closer to us, I believe that many of us here have really fallen.”

After he finished speaking, I found that although the soldiers around did not speak, they all looked at me. Waiting silently for me to make the final decision.

The scene just now made me understand in my heart that now is not the time to be a hero, if I was really killed by a cannonball. Quite wrong. However, since I have entered the factory area, it is not appropriate to go back. It is better to find a hidden spot nearby and observe the progress of the battle in the factory area.

Thinking of this, I tried my best to keep myself calm and said to Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, now that we have entered the factory area. It is impossible to exit again. At this time, retreat is to escape. I cannot be an escape general. So no matter what, we must stay here." After showing his determination. I asked him again: "Comrade Captain, you go find and see if there is a suitable place nearby so that we can hide temporarily. After dawn, we will move on."

Yushchenko looked around, then pointed to my left side, and said bluntly: "Comrade Commander, there seems to be a trench dug by a truck for repairs. Let's go there and avoid it. As long as we don't get caught by the Germans. The shell hits directly, I believe there is no danger."

"Well, let's get there first." When Yushchenko said that there is a place to hide, I waved my hand and said loudly, "Comrade Captain, you lead the way."

The ditch dedicated to car repairs was more than ten meters long and more than one meter deep. After we walked over, we found that the ditch was full of German corpses. When I was hesitating whether to change places, Yushchenko had begun to command the soldiers to lift the corpses out of the trench.

After the corpses were carried aside, I jumped into the ditch without hesitation, found a place with a wide view, raised the telescope, and looked in the direction of the workshop where the fire was being fought in the distance.

The workshop building in the telescope is burning at the moment, but I don't know if the burning is caused by artillery fire or a grenade explosion. The German troops at many windows of the factory were constantly shooting. Some of our soldiers hid in the crater in front of the factory and fired at the Germans. The other part, relying on the cover of the terrain, quickly approached the factory. When not far from the factory, he raised his hand and threw a grenade over. When the fire and smoke of the grenade exploded, they rushed forward decisively, jumped into the factory building from the nobody's window, and engaged in a new battle with the Germans inside.

While I was looking at it, there was a sound of shouting from behind, and it seemed that a group of people were dragging something heavy to move forward. I quickly put down my binoculars and looked back. A large group of soldiers were dragging several large-caliber artillery towards us.

When I saw such a large group of people, I knew that it was the artillery company of the 178th Artillery Regiment. In addition to the artillery, there was also the infantry sent by Sederikov to help them tow the artillery. So I told Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, go and call the company commander of the artillery company."

Yushchenko agreed. After taking the order, he turned and ran away quickly.

It didn't take long for Yushchenko to answer my front with the artillery captain. Because I had forgotten the name of this company commander, I could only ask vaguely: "Comrade Captain, where do you plan to place your artillery company?"

The artillery captain looked around for a while, and replied: "Report to Comrade General. It is one to three kilometers away from the workshops where the fighting is going on, so I plan to deploy the artillery positions here to provide necessary supplies for the attacking friendly forces. Artillery support."

"No, Comrade Captain." As soon as Captain Artillery finished speaking, I shook my head like a rattle. "It's too far. At such a distance, you can't suppress the enemy's firepower at all with the few guns you only have."

"Comrade General, what should I do?" Captain Artillery listened to me. Suddenly became a little flustered, and after a short silence, he asked me for instructions: "Then where should my artillery company be placed?"

I waved my hand forward and said without a word: "Comrade Captain, let your artillery continue to push the cannon forward. Push it to a place only two or three hundred meters away from the enemy’s fortifications, and then establish an artillery position for us. The offensive troops provide the necessary artillery support."

"What, push the artillery to a place only two or three hundred meters away from the enemy's position. Get close and shoot." Since the opponent is a unit to cooperate with our division, I have not hesitated to pass on the tactics I have mastered to him. "With the caliber of your artillery, no matter how strong the enemy's fortifications are, it can't stop the bombardment of artillery."

"But, Comrade General." Although he heard the novel style of play I said, the artillery captain said hesitantly: "It's too close, the shell will hit his own."

"Comrade Captain, you may not know." Regarding the artillery captain's concern, I said disapprovingly: "A few days ago. The 64th Army provided artillery support to the infantry when it captured the streets of the Voroshilov district. . I have never stopped shooting, suppressing the enemy’s ability to fight back. Our troops can successfully break through the enemy’s defenses. Although there may be accidental injuries, in order to win the final victory, no matter how big the price is, it is worth it."

Hearing what I said, Captain Artillery reluctantly agreed. Then he turned and ran back to the crowd dragging the cannons. From a distance, I heard him shouting loudly: "Go ahead!"

When the artillery passed through the trench and gradually moved away, Yushchenko whispered in my ear: "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for the artillery to set up the position so close to the enemy's fortifications? You know, even if the enemy doesn't have it. Artillery, but their machine guns can also directly threaten our artillery positions."

"Captain Yushchenko," I said impatiently to Yushchenko who had been whispering in my ears: "There are still many of our troops in front of the fortifications. They saw the enemy's machine gun fire threatening the rear. For the artillery position, they will find a way to solve these problems." After that, I told him: "Captain, in order to keep abreast of the progress of the battle, you send a few people to inform the commander in charge of the battle. They send all the battle reports to me."

After I was informed by Yushchenko, the battle reports of the First Regiment and the 45th Division continued to be sent to me. From the battle report, I learned that although our army occupied most of the workshops in several workshops, the German officers and soldiers who had suffered a lot from us in street battles learned to use the strongest buildings and basements as support points for their stubborn resistance. Our troops paid a considerable price for capturing these support points of the German firepower, but progress was slow.

The battle lasted until dawn. After more than ten hours of fighting, our army successively eliminated all the enemies in the model workshop, classification workshop and mechanic workshop, realized the meeting with the 39th Guards Division, and completed the battle against the German officers and soldiers in the factory. The encirclement. The remaining officers and soldiers of the enemy fought and retreated, all fled into the office building that they had converted into a powerful defensive hub.

After I heard that the several attacks organized by Sokolov and Sederikov were beaten back by the Germans in the building, I ignored Yushchenko’s opposition and insisted on coming to the headquarters of the 45th Division. Mechanics workshop. Here, in addition to Sokolov, I also saw General Guriyev, the commander of the 39th Guards Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, a regiment commander.

Seeing my arrival, General Guriyev greeted me with a smile, and at the same time offered to extend his hand and greeted me enthusiastically: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander, I am glad to see you here!"

When I shook hands with Guriyev, I said with concern: "Comrade General, this place is too dangerous. You should take your troops to the back and rest, and we will take care of the rest."

The smiling Guriyev heard me say this, quickly let go of my hand, and at the same time scowled, and said solemnly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, how can you say that? You can be the most dangerous. Where the place is, why can't I stay here?" When he said that, I suddenly felt hot on my cheeks. He might see my embarrassed expression, and quickly slowed down his tone and said: "The soldiers of our Guards Division have fought here for two months. They are very familiar with the environment of the factory, so I think we should delegate the task of the active building to our division. To be done."

"Comrade Colonel, General Guriyev said that they are familiar with the factory and want to take over the task of seizing the office building." I did not immediately answer Guriyev's words, but turned to Sokolov and asked, "You agree with him. ?"

"No, resolutely not." Sokolov heard what I said, and was anxious, and hurriedly said to Guriyev: "Comrade General~www.wuxiaspot.com~ My division has gone through a night of battle, although the commanders and fighters Very tired, but there is no problem in taking this office building occupied by the Germans.” Having said that, he turned to me and asked for instructions: “Comrade Deputy Commander, I beg you to give us the task of seizing the building. The division will complete it. On behalf of the 45th Infantry Division, I would like to express to you that we are confident that we will complete all the combat tasks that you have entrusted to us."

I waved to Sederikov, who was standing behind a few people, called him in front of me, and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard that you have organized several offensives and have been kept in the building. The enemy repelled, is it true?"

Sergeikov nodded vigorously and replied affirmatively: "Yes, comrade commander. Because the enemy's fortifications were strong and the firepower was fierce, the three charges we organized before and after were all repelled by the enemy."

"What about the artillery, where did the artillery go?" When I heard that the opponent's fortifications were strong, I looked around for the captain from the 178th Artillery Regiment, and asked strangely: "Isn't there a howitzer company to cooperate with you? Why? Don't use howitzers to bombard the German fortifications?" (to be continued)

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