Red Moscow

Since the occupation of the Kurdish area, the commanders and fighters of the Mikhaiev Battalion have undergone a major change of clothes. Almost half of them have changed into submachine guns. Although this thing consumes a lot of ammunition, there are several ammunition depots behind them. , there is nothing to worry about, it can be done on the battlefield.

Regardless of the fact that there were only more than a hundred soldiers charging, roughly the same number as the number of German troops retreating outside the gate, but the firepower superiority formed by the firing of more than fifty submachine guns beat the Germans to the ground. In less than five minutes, the commanders and fighters recaptured the gate of the reservoir area. Except for a dozen or so German soldiers who escaped quickly, the rest were either killed or captured.

After reoccupying the gates of the Kurdish area, Yegor immediately organized commanders and fighters to rush to repair the fortifications, preparing to fight against a possible second attack by the German army. At this moment, Narva arrived with the commanders of the other two platoons. Seeing that the battle was over, he asked Yegor in wonder, "Yegor, did the battle end so soon?"

"The armored vehicles relied on by the enemy were destroyed by us. Their firepower was not comparable to that of our army, and they did not have strong fortifications. It is reasonable for them to be quickly defeated by us." Yegor took a look after saying this. The commanders and fighters behind Narva felt that there should be no problem with so many people guarding the gate of the warehouse area, so they said to him: "Narva, the gate is originally your company's defense zone, I think it's better to leave it to you to defend." .”

"No problem." Narva nodded and said, "Although the German army broke through our defense line, it was because they caught us off guard. After learning this lesson, I will definitely increase my vigilance and strengthen my defense. to keep the gate safe."

After returning his troops to the original defense zone, Yegor came to Mikhaiev's office alone. Here, he met Victor, the warehouse supervisor, who was crying to Mikhaiev at the moment: "Comrade commander, you exchanged fire with the Germans, they must know that the entire warehouse area has fallen into your hands. I'm worried that they will retaliate against our family members, you must think of a good way to save them all from danger."

"Comrade Victor, don't worry." Seeing Victor's frowning expression, Mikhaiev quickly comforted him and said, "I have already reported the information here to my superiors, and now I am waiting for their reply. Don't worry, even if the superior doesn't send reinforcements, I will send someone to protect your family members."

Although Mikhaiev had already talked about this, Victor was still uneasy in his heart, and he was still chattering: "Comrade commander, can you send someone there now? I'm worried that it will be late. People will arrest them all."

Yegor, who was standing at the door, couldn't help frowning when he heard this, thinking that if the German army attacked aggressively, it might be difficult to hold the reservoir area with only the current strength. If the troops are further divided to protect the families of the workers, then the defense force will become even weaker, and there will be a danger of being defeated by the Germans one by one.

But before Yegor could express his opinion, the telegraph operator who rushed over squeezed into the room from his side, and at the same time reported emotionally: "Comrade Battalion Commander, a telegram, a telegram from the brigade headquarters. "

Hearing that it was a telegram from the brigade headquarters, Mikhaiev stood up abruptly from his seat, snatched the telegram from the operator's hand, held it in front of his eyes, and began to browse nervously.

But after watching for a while, his frown was relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face. Seeing this, Yegor knew that there must be some good news in the telegram, so he stepped into the office and asked Mikhaiev curiously: "Comrade battalion commander, is there any good news?"

"Captain Yegor, it's very kind of you to come." Mikhaiev shook the telegram in his hand and said emotionally: "The brigade headquarters just sent a telegram, saying that the troops' offensive preparations have not been completed, and we will not be here for the time being." An attack will be launched, and we need to persist in the reservoir area for a while..."

Yegor raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and thought to himself: What kind of good news is this? To defend such a large reservoir area, our troops are already insufficient. If we allocate some more to protect the workers' families, we may not be able to last long. Thinking of this, he couldn't help expressing his opinion: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what good news is this? You know, our troops are limited, and we don't have enough troops to defend the warehouse area. We will allocate some troops to protect our families... "

"Captain Yegor, please be patient, I haven't finished my sentence yet." Mikhaiev interrupted Yegor, and continued: "Although this telegram was sent by the brigade headquarters, in my opinion From the understanding of the brigade commander and the chief of staff, they must have consulted the group army headquarters. In other words, this telegram was instructed by the comrade commander..."

Seeing Mikhaiev being so verbose, Yegor couldn't help but want to interrupt him, but after thinking about it, the other party was his superior anyway, and it would be a shame to interrupt him rashly when his superior was speaking. Very rude thing to do. Based on this consideration, Yegor could only bite the bullet and listen no matter how impatient he was.

But at this moment, Mikhaiev did not continue to talk about the content of the telegram, but looked at Victor and asked, "Comrade Victor, how many members of your family are there?"

Victor didn't expect Mikhaiev to ask himself suddenly. He was taken aback for a moment, and then he stammered and replied, "There are about 400 people in the family, mostly women and children."

"Comrade Victor, I think you are very aware of the situation in the reservoir area. To defend such a large reservoir area, our troops are far from enough, so we cannot send troops to the family area to protect them." Mi When Hayev said this, seeing Victor's face changed drastically, he quickly continued: "But don't worry, the telegram said, immediately transfer all family members to the warehouse area, and arm the workers to cooperate with us. troops to defend the reservoir area.”

When Yegor heard this, his face immediately became happy. That's right, arming all 129 workers in the warehouse area and assigning them to each company can strengthen the defense force in the warehouse area.

"Comrade Victor," Mikhaiev knew very well in his heart that if he wants his family members to enter the warehouse area as soon as possible, Victor must come forward, so he said to him: "I will give you a platoon, and you will take They rushed to the family area as soon as possible, and must transfer all the family members in the shortest possible time, absolutely not allowing the Germans to use your family members to threaten the defenders in the Kurdish area."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Victor's wife and children were still in the family area. As soon as the gunshots rang out, he began to worry. Now that he heard that all his family members were going to be transferred to the warehouse area, he felt at ease. a lot. As the supervisor of the warehouse, he knew very well that there were a lot of materials needed by the Germans in the warehouse, so even if the Germans launched an attack, they would not bombard the warehouse area. It was undoubtedly the safest place for family members to stay here. So he readily agreed to Mikhaiev's proposal: "I'll take someone to transfer all the family members here."

After Victor left the office, Mikhaiev called Yegor to sit down, and said to him: "Captain Yegor, I haven't finished reading the contents of the telegram, do you want to continue listening?"

Yegor was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, wondering what else was in the telegram and whether it would be helpful for the next battle.

"The telegram said that it is not enough to arm the workers in the reservoir area alone." Mikhaiev said with a serious expression: "If necessary, the women and children of the right age in the family can also be armed."

"What, arm women and children?" Yegor, who had just sat down, jumped up from his seat when he heard this: "Is this appropriate?"

"It's appropriate, there's nothing inappropriate, Comrade Captain." Mikhaiev said with a straight face: "You know, there are not only female soldiers in our army, but also children in their teens. Although they can't fight on the front line, they It is still possible to do some security work. Even if some scattered German troops crossed our line of defense and sneaked into the depths of the reservoir area, with these armed women and children serving as guards, they can be found in time, and in the shortest possible time. kill or capture them within time."

Yegor wanted to object at first, but suddenly it occurred to Mikhaiev that the telegram might have been ordered by Sokov, and he swallowed the words again. As Sukov's old subordinate, he felt that he had no right to question the commander's decision, so he nodded and said slowly: "You are right, Comrade Battalion Commander, just relying on armed workers is not enough. , women and children of the right age should be armed, so that we can deploy more troops to the front to fight the attacking Germans."

"In addition to strengthening the defense of the two gates, point defenses can be used for defense in other directions. This will allow us to deploy more troops in important directions."

"Point defense?!" Hearing this new term, Yegor asked in confusion: "Comrade battalion commander, what does this mean? I don't quite understand it?"

"I think this should also be proposed by Comrade Commander." Mikhaiev pointed to the map of the warehouse area and said to Yegor: "The superior means that in non-important areas, at the door of each warehouse , all placed in one squad. Regardless of the strength of the troops, the warehouses are relatively far apart, but machine guns can be used to form crossfire to block the way forward for the German army, preventing them from breaking through our defense line in a short time. "

Yegor stared at the map, thinking about the pros and cons of this tactic. After watching it for a while, he admired Sokov so much in his heart. If a circle of trenches is dug around each warehouse, at least two or three companies must be deployed to form a circular defense line. But now only a few squads of troops are deployed in a few warehouses near the outer circle, but they can block the way forward of the German army through the formed crossfire.

He nodded, then looked at Mikhaiev and said, "Comrade Battalion Commander, with point defense, not only can crossfire be formed between warehouses to block the enemy's advance path, but even the machine gun firepower deployed on the water tower will It would also assist the defense, allowing for a more terrifying crossfire. I don't think the Germans would be able to break through our defenses unless they brought out tanks."

"Hurry up and set it up." Mikhaiev waved Yegor and told him, "By the way, arm even the workers in the defense zone."

Yegor thought that there were more than 60 workers in his defense zone. If they were all armed, they would be a force that should not be underestimated. The workers are armed."

If the main force of the German army hadn't withdrawn from Pavlish, the Mikhaiev Battalion staying in the Kurdish area would face endless German attacks. But at the moment, there are only two battalions of defenders in the city, and the troops that can be used for attacking are very limited, especially the first group of attacking troops, which were almost wiped out by the Soviet army.

Seeing the failure of the attack, the German garrison commander immediately reported the situation in the city to his superiors, hoping that the other side could send troops back to help them eliminate the Soviet troops who had mixed into the reservoir area.

But the main force of the German army has been transferred away at this moment. The troops closer to Pavlish are now confronting the Soviet army. Once they are mobilized, they are afraid that the Soviet army will take the opportunity to attack and tear their defense line. Therefore, the German commander’s reply to the garrison commander was to immediately launch an attack on the reservoir area. Even if the reservoir area cannot be captured, it must be firmly surrounded. The Soviet army inside must not be allowed to escape. clean them up.

When the commander of the garrison received the reply from his superiors, he really smiled wryly. Now he only has two battalions in his hands. Even if they all go into battle, they may not be able to break through the Soviet defense. The only way is to deploy a company of troops at the front and back doors to guard against the movements of the defenders in the reservoir area.

If he knew that it was precisely because of his order that Victor and the others were able to successfully bring more than 400 family members, not a small one, into the warehouse area and armed them, thereby strengthening the defense of the defenders Strength, he will definitely regret even his intestines.

When Victor led a platoon of soldiers to escort more than 400 family members into the warehouse area, the more than 100 workers who stayed here were all armed and assigned to three companies. Next, learn how to use various firearms for practice in the next battle.

When Victor came to see Mikhaiev in the office, he said with a smile: "Comrade commander, I finally lived up to my mission and brought all the family members into the warehouse area."

"Good job, Comrade Victor." Mikhaiev praised the other party, and then went straight to the point: "There is one more thing I want to discuss with you."

"What's the matter?" Victor said carelessly, "Just ask."

"It's like this. Because of our limited strength, it is very difficult to defend the entire reservoir area." Mikhaiev did not go around in circles, but said straight to the point: "So we have to arm all the workers in the reservoir area. , also intends to arm some women and children of appropriate age and let them take up some security duties. I don’t know what your intention is?”

Originally, Mikhaiev was worried that Victor would object, but as soon as he finished speaking, Victor said excitedly: "Comrade commander, are you telling the truth? Are you going to take our Are all armed?"

"I mean age-appropriate women and children, not everyone."

"Comrade Commander, we have been bullied by the Germans for the past two years." Victor explained to him: "Whether it is a child of seven or eight years old, or an old man in his seventies or eighties, everyone's heart is full of hatred. The hatred of the Germans, now finally has a chance to avenge their hatred, I think everyone wants to pay back the blood debt from the Germans with their own hands."