Red Moscow

From the moment when the Grossdeutschland Division attacked the defense area of ​​the 81st Guards Division, Sokov asked the radio operator to send a telegram to Koida every ten minutes, asking where his troops had arrived and urging them to speed up and communicate with Malan as soon as possible. Jin's troops converge.

Sokov's uncharacteristic behavior is entirely because he understands the history of the Grossdeutschland Division and the strength of the opponent. The division is the most elite unit in the German Wehrmacht. It has developed from a small unit at the beginning to a regiment, then to a division, and finally expanded into an army. He has participated in almost all major battles in Western Europe, Southern Europe and the Eastern Front. It won the most prestigious honor in the Wehrmacht, with 84 people receiving the Knight's Cross, and was also hailed by the German High Command as the "Eastern German Fire Brigade".

Not to mention in a one-on-one situation, even if it is two-on-one, or even three-on-one, it is a very difficult task to defeat the Great German Division. Therefore, he must gather as many troops as possible in the shortest possible time to compete with the Great German Division.

Fortunately, the 81st Guards Division successfully repelled the first attack of the Grossdeutschland Division and successfully gained a two-hour respite. Colonel Collim, the head of the 238th regiment who led the troops to the front line, found that there were only more than 300 people left in the 233rd regiment, which was not even enough for a battalion. He couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He called together the company commanders of the two regiments and said to them: "Comrades, although we have successfully repelled the first German attack, the next battle will be more brutal, so we must Adjust your deployment so you can hold out for a longer period of time."

After Colin finished speaking, the acting head of the 233rd Regiment immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, tell us how to adjust the defense?"

"Commanders, Comrades," Colim said to everyone, "After a long period of combat, our troops have been reduced by more than half. Especially the 233rd Regiment, the reduction has reached two-thirds. With this strength, we must It is very difficult to stop the most elite troops of the German Defense Forces.

I estimate that before the next wave of the enemy's attack starts, there will be heavy shelling. If all the troops are placed in the trenches, even with the cover of the artillery holes, there will probably be a lot of casualties. Therefore, I plan to withdraw part of the troops from the trenches and arrange them on the side front of the position. "

Regarding Colim's plan, none of the commanders present raised any objections. After all, in so many years of military career, the first thing they learned was to obey. No matter what orders the superiors give, all they can do is to carry them out unconditionally.

"The first and second battalions of the 233rd Regiment, look for a suitable position on the left front of the position, and deploy new defenses." Colin looked at the acting commander, and said to him: "Comrade Major, this unit is up to you Come to the headquarters. When the enemy attacks our positions, you beat the Germans hard in the flank."

There are two purposes for Colin's arrangement: one is to arrange troops to harass the enemy on the flank, so that the enemy can't fully attack his own position; There are two commanders in a unit, which can easily lead to confusion, so that the commanders and fighters do not know whose command to listen to.

When the acting head heard Colim's assignment, he was still very moved, because the other party had just entered the position, and he had reported to him that the remaining troops in the regiment were mainly distributed in the first and second battalions. The third battalion is all lightly and seriously wounded, and their combat effectiveness is basically negligible.

Before he set off with the troops, he held Colim's hand tightly and said excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, don't worry, as long as one of us is alive, we will never let the enemy attack you with all its strength."

The troops of the 233rd regiment quietly left the position and established a new defensive position one kilometer to the left of the original position. Due to the rush of time and not having much time to dig trenches, the acting commander could only order the commanders and fighters to dig individual bunkers first, and prepare to connect the single bunkers together when there is time.

Before the Grossdeutschland Division launched another attack, it really concentrated its artillery fire and violently bombarded the positions of the 238th Regiment. Because the Germans used heavy artillery, the Soviet commanders and fighters hiding in the anti-gun holes felt like they were bumping in a small boat on the turbulent sea. The strong shock wave shook everyone as if their internal organs were dislocated. There were even a few seriously wounded who were shaken to death in the anti-blasting hole.

After finally waiting for the shelling outside to end, Colim who was dazed by the shock shouted: "Get into the position and prepare to fight!" However, he felt that his voice was inaudible. Temporarily deaf from shelling.

Fortunately, a similar situation has been considered for a long time. Most commanders carry whistles on their bodies. Colin quickly pulled out the whistle hanging around his neck, and blew it vigorously, telling the commanders and fighters in the trench with the sound of the whistle. , should enter their combat positions, prepare for combat, and be ready to meet the German attack at any time.

The commanders who heard Colim's whistle also blew their own whistles, reminding the soldiers who were still in the anti-gun holes that they should come out and prepare for battle.

Collim came to the observation post whose roof had been blown down, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. Through the billowing gunpowder smoke, he saw German tanks lined up in a battle formation, rushing towards his position. Behind the tanks were densely packed infantry like ants.

Seeing this scene, Colim put down the binoculars in his hand and walked to the telephone beside him. He picked up the phone and reported to Marankin: "Comrade Commander, the enemy has dispatched a large number of tanks and infantry. It seems that they want to break through us. regiment's position."

"How about it, can you hold it?" Marankin asked.

"We can hold it, Comrade Commander." After Colim said this, he made a request to Marankin: "But when the enemy approaches our position, the artillery must bombard the infantry behind the tank. As long as the artillery fire If I can separate the enemy tanks from the infantry, I can send people to destroy the enemy tanks."

"Colonel Collim, you are very thoughtful." Marankin said on the phone: "Don't rush to attack the tanks, let them approach your positions, and then use anti-tank rifles and anti-tank grenades to destroy them."

Ten minutes later, the German tanks and infantry were less than 300 meters away from the position of the 238th regiment. At this time, the artillery regiment deployed in the rear opened fire. The roaring shells fell on the infantry line behind the tank and exploded, blowing up one German infantry after another.

"It's great, our artillery is really great." Seeing the German infantry's continuous casualties under the bombardment of the artillery fire, Colim couldn't help but smile, and he said repeatedly: "Fight at this speed, and wait for the German infantry to fight." There will not be many of them left when they approach our positions."

After being happy for a while, Colim couldn't help but ask his chief of staff: "Why haven't the tanks deployed behind the positions fired?"

"Comrade Colonel," the chief of staff quickly replied, "The tanks deployed behind the positions are basically old-fashioned T-70 tanks. The artillery they have can't penetrate the armor of the German army at such a long distance. If If you shoot rashly, you will definitely expose your position."

"If the German tanks never approach our positions, does that mean that General Trufanov's tank units will not fire?"

"It is quite possible, Comrade Colonel," replied the Chief of Staff.

"That's really a pity." Colim said helplessly: "I thought that when the enemy approached our position, they could provide us with fire support."

"Before our regiment came up, I once watched the battles of the 233rd regiment." The chief of staff said to Colin: "During the entire battle, only a few tanks used tank guns or machine guns to bombard or bombard the enemy. Strafing, most of the tanks were silent."

"Those silent tanks have been destroyed by the enemy's shelling?"

"Not at all, Comrade Colonel." The chief of staff shook his head and said to Colim: "When I came up with the troops, I passed by those tanks and found that many tanks that had not fired were still intact. This shows that , They either lack ammunition, or the German tanks that cover the infantry charge can't do anything.

I was afraid that when I opened fire, I would not be able to penetrate the armor of the German tanks, but instead expose my target. At that time, as long as the German tanks fired, they were in danger of being destroyed. "

Hearing what the chief of staff said, Colim could only shake his head and said with a wry smile: "The tank unit is under the command of General Trufanov. They are only assisting us in defense. We have no right to decide when to fire."

The two were talking, and the tanks separated from the infantry stopped more than a hundred meters away from the trenches and fired at the Soviet positions. One of the shells landed near the observation post and exploded, throwing up dirt that covered Colim and the Chief of Staff.

The chief of staff was worried about Colim's safety, so he quickly reminded him: "Comrade commander, this place is too dangerous, let's move to another place."

"No need," Colin waved his hand and said, "I think it's pretty good here, with a wide view and a clear view of the entire battlefield. In other places, you may not be able to find such a good observation position, which is not conducive to my command. force."

Seeing that Colim didn't want to change the location of the observation post, the chief of staff couldn't say anything more, so he could only ask politely: "Do I need to call the acting head of the 233rd Regiment and order them to shoot from the enemy's side? "

"No need." Colim once again denied the chief of staff's proposal: "The enemy's infantry has fallen into chaos under the fire of our army. There is no need for the comrades of the 233rd Regiment to expose their targets prematurely."