Red Moscow

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Sameko assured himself, Sokov was still uneasy. After all, there are many uncertain factors in the battle, which will affect the final result. In order to make his subordinates pay attention to this matter, he also specially emphasized to Sameko: "Although our army has a lot of troops, so far, no division or brigade has the name of the city in front of the designation. I hope that after this battle is won, at least one unit will be able to receive such an honor."

Sokov's words confused Sameko, and he asked in puzzlement, "Comrade Commander, what does it mean to put the name of the city in front of the army number?"

Hearing what Sameko said, Sokov raised his hand and slapped himself heavily on the forehead. He thought angrily: I only remember that the numbers of all the guards were preceded by the name they liberated. The city, and the title of the medal, but forgot to add the name of the city to the unit number. It was not officially implemented until August 43, after the Steppe Front Army liberated Belgorod and Kharkov.

Seeing Sokov hitting his forehead with his palm inexplicably, Sameko asked in surprise, "Comrade Commander, what's wrong with you?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I forgot to tell you." In order to hide his gaffe, Sokov could only put on a mysterious expression and said, "I got a gossip, as long as Belgorod and Kazakhstan can be liberated Erkov, the Supreme Command will award honors to units that have made meritorious service in the battle to liberate cities. That is to say, before the designation of this unit, add the city they liberated.”

"Comrade Commander, are you telling the truth?" Sameko's eyes lit up when he heard Sokov say this: "I think that if the commanders at the grassroots level know the news, they will definitely be able to perform well on the battlefield." more heroic."

"I hope so." Sokov knew that after the attack on the city began, he, the commander of the group army, could only grasp one general direction, and the specific progress would depend entirely on how the commanders at all levels below commanded. "I very much hope that every troop participating in the war can get the honor of putting the name of the city in front of the serial number."

The attack launched by Sokov's troops from the west of the city went well, but the situation of the 241st Infantry Division, which successfully crossed the river under the cover of the 384th Infantry Division, was not good.

After the whole division crossed the river, the 771st Regiment, which was originally the leading regiment, was left by the division commander to hold on to the captured German positions due to too many casualties. The task of attacking the city was handed over to the 772nd and 775th Regiments who later crossed the river.

The commanders and fighters of the 772nd Regiment rushed to the forefront, and they rushed towards the city along Highway 14. Since most of the troops were newly recruited half a month ago and lacked enough combat experience, they still maintained a dense formation when charging on the street.

The intersection was a barricade built by the Germans with sandbags and wood. Seeing the flood of Soviet troops, they immediately started shooting with machine guns. The Soviet commanders who rushed to the front were quickly knocked down by machine guns, and the soldiers who followed were unable to dodge in time, and the corpses under their feet tripped, making the pile of people and corpses on the ground higher and higher.

The soldiers who were not tripped were shot head-on by machine guns and fell to the ground one after another. Due to the overcrowding of the streets, some soldiers who were shot could not even fall to the ground, but directly leaned on their comrades behind. The deadly bullets fired by the German machine guns penetrated the bodies of the dead soldiers and shot the soldiers behind them, piercing the hearts of both the dead and the living soldiers.

Although the casualties of the Soviet army were extremely heavy, the soldiers bravely rushed up when they saw their commander rushing to the front of the team despite the enemy's bullets.

After a fierce battle, the Soviet commanders and fighters who suffered heavy casualties finally succeeded in capturing the enemy's barricade fortifications. After a short break, they continued their assault along the street.

After Huot learned that the Soviet army had rushed into the city, after discussing with his chief of staff, General Mei Linjin, he decided to adopt a defensive posture in the west and tried every means to slow down the advancing speed of Sokov's troops. In the northwest and north directions, a combination of defense and counterattack tactics was adopted in an attempt to drive the Soviet troops who rushed into the city out of the city.

He ordered the 3rd Armored Division of the 48th Panzer Corps to counterattack the Soviets in the northwest. After receiving the order, the commander of the 3rd Armored Division immediately dispatched more than a dozen armored vehicles and an infantry battalion to counterattack the 772nd Regiment of the Soviet Army.

The German armored vehicles formed a row of three and formed an offensive formation on the street. After the German officers and soldiers who were fighting and retreating ran past the vehicles, they immediately opened fire on the rushing Soviet troops. The armored soldiers moved slowly along the street while firing machine guns. Facing such intensive firepower from the German army, the crowded Soviet commanders and fighters were unable to fight back effectively. After the machine guns on the armored vehicles were swept by, no one could stand anymore. In the blockbuster, the vast majority of commanders and fighters were shot and fell to the ground before firing a single shot.

As the German armored vehicles approached step by step, the surviving Soviet commanders and fighters in the front row took the initiative to retreat in the face of such heavy casualties. As they retreated step by step, the comrades behind were also pushed back. It didn't take long for the disorderly retreat to become a hasty escape.

Seeing the Soviet commanders and fighters retreating along the street, the infantry following the armored vehicles took the opportunity to swarm up and recapture the barricades that had been occupied by the Soviets not long ago.

Although the attacking Soviet army was repelled, it does not mean that they will give up the attack. Seeing that the 772nd Regiment's attack was not going well, the commander of the 241st Division quickly ordered the 775th Regiment to take over their attack and must take down the streets occupied by the enemy.

When the commanders and fighters of the 775th regiment stepped over the corpses of their comrades everywhere and attacked the barricades at the intersection, they were not only hit by machine gun fire from the front; at the same time, the enemies who entered the buildings on both sides of the street also never Leaning out the window, he condescendingly fired at the Soviet commanders and fighters on the street with machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles.

The 775th, which was hit by crossfire from the front and side, was repulsed by the enemy in less than five minutes. Instead of making progress, they left a thicker and thicker pile of corpses in the streets.

Knowing that his troops' offensive was frustrated, Managarov quickly sent another infantry division to reinforce him, trying to use his superiority in strength to tear a gap in the German defense.

After the battle of the 241st Division, Sokov quickly learned about it through special channels. After seeing the notification, he slapped the table hard and said angrily: "Nonsense, this is nonsense. Using a dense formation to charge on the street, isn't this sending the commanders and fighters to their deaths?" ?”

He raised his head, looked at Sameko who was standing aside, and asked in a stern tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our troops will not adopt this kind of offensive method to advance towards the city center, will they?"

"No, no." Sameko shook his head quickly and said, "Comrade Commander, you once taught the division commanders how to fight in the streets. I believe they will not make such low-level mistakes."

After a short pause, Sameko asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, the 53rd Army's attack is now frustrated, do you think we will send troops to help them?"

"No, absolutely not." As soon as Sameko finished speaking, Sokov shook his head and said firmly: "The superiors have divided the combat areas for each unit before the war. Without authorization from the superiors, We can't just fight across regions."

Sokov is not a rigid person, he knows that at this time, he should provide some help to his friendly forces. The reason why Sameko's reinforcement plan was disagreed was because the area where the 241st Division was frustrated belonged to the combat area of ​​the 53rd Army. I am not familiar with Managarov, if I rashly send someone to support him without getting an order from my superior, I am afraid that I will complain.

"Then what should we do?" Seeing that Sokov rejected his proposal, Sameko couldn't help but said anxiously: "Are we just to watch the friendly army's attack fail like this?"

Sokov lowered his eyes, stared at the map in front of him and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really want to help the friendly army. But you should know that the Front Army Command divided the combat areas before the war. If we don't get If you send troops to fight across regions without permission, you may be reprimanded by your superiors."

Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko couldn't say anything more, because what Sokov said was the truth. In order to prevent the siege of the city from being unclear due to the unclear attack area, the superiors would not be able to compete for credit. Appeared, and deliberately divided the combat area. If you rashly send troops to reinforce them, you may end up not only not getting any benefits, but also leaving a lot of complaints.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov didn't want to waste time on such insignificant matters, so he changed the subject in time: "How is our troops doing?"

Sameko hurriedly reported: "Now Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin's 62nd Marine Brigade has seized the fruit cannery and is advancing towards the bus station in Belgorod. Colonel Chuvashov's Marine Brigade The 84th Brigade was on their right flank..."

While listening to Sameko's report, Sokov checked the location of the troops on the map. After reading it, he threw the red and blue pencils in his hand on the table and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the two Marine brigades should not be dispersed like this. Their strength is not large, let alone Let’s talk about the reserve team, once the enemy’s defense force is too strong, they will not be able to move forward at all.”

"Comrade commander, you can rest assured about this." Sameko said with a smile: "General Poluboyarov sent a tank battalion to each marine brigade. Fortifications can also be destroyed with tank guns to clear the way for our attacking forces."

Sokov was very satisfied with Sameko's answer. He nodded and continued: "During the attack, the troops must pay attention to the coordination of infantry and tanks. Tanks can certainly destroy the enemy's firepower points along the way for infantry, but for the enemy's reaction Tankers, they seem powerless, at this time, it is necessary for the infantry following the tanks to destroy the enemy's anti-tank players in time to ensure the safety of the tanks."

"Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin reported to me not long ago that the street near the bus station is very wide. Several tanks were attacked by anti-tank guns from the buildings on both sides of the street while they were marching. Destroyed. Fortunately, our tank crews were lucky, and half of them managed to escape from the burning tanks."

"If the street is wide, then in the process of advancing, two tanks can run side by side." Sokov picked up a red and blue pencil, drew a sketch on a piece of white paper, and said to Sameko while drawing: "Two tanks There are two parallel tanks, the muzzle of the left tank is aimed at the right side of the street, and the muzzle of the right tank is aimed at the left side of the street, advancing forward in an alternate covering manner. The infantry marches in the middle of the two tanks , ready to attack the German anti-tank fighters rushing out of the buildings on both sides at any time."

Sameko looked at Sokov's sketch with his head tilted, nodded repeatedly and said, "Comrade Commander, your method is good. When two parallel tanks are moving, no matter they can cover each other, they can also reduce Casualties of officers and men marching between the two tanks."

"Also," Sukov knew that his troops did not have much experience in siege, even though he had taught those division commanders and brigade commanders the experience of street fighting, but for them at that time, if they did a good job in their own defense, they could It is the most important thing, and few people will really learn how to fight in the street. Therefore, he felt that it was necessary to emphasize again: "If you want to destroy the frontal firepower point, the tank must fire from 150 meters away, so as not to give the enemy's anti-tank fighters a chance."

"The two brigades are fighting together and need a unified command." Sameko asked Sokov for instructions: "Should Colonel Chuvashov be in charge of commanding the two brigades?"

"I think it can." Sokov drew a circle on the map with a red and blue pencil, and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is a church here. After the two marine brigades take it, you can Let the two brigade commanders use the church as their headquarters to direct operations here."

"Okay, I will immediately convey your intentions to the two brigade commanders." Seeing that Sokov agreed to his plan, Sameko breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "When they establish a headquarters here in the church, You can contact them by phone, so that you can keep abreast of the frontier battle situation in the shortest possible time."

The fighting continued until noon, when Colonel Chuvashov's troops took the church and established a new headquarters inside. The troops of Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin also achieved results. They successfully occupied the bus station and seized more than fifty complete buses and trams.