Red Moscow

After more than a dozen mortars were erected, without even a test firing, they fired directly at several German machine gun firepower points in front of the position based on the data reported by the artillery observers.

The shells flew over the trenches, roaring and falling towards the position of the German machine gun positions. In the sound of the explosion, two machine gun positions were directly hit, and the parts of the machine gun and the soldiers' limbs were lifted high into the air by the air waves.

After the two rounds of bombardment, the German machine guns that were still raging suddenly became dumb. The commanders and fighters who were suppressed by machine gun fire and unable to move in the trench straightened up one after another, picked up the weapons in their hands, and fired at the German officers and soldiers who were approaching the position, and threw a few grenades from time to time.

The German officers and soldiers rushing to the front fell down in the dense rain of bullets and gunpowder smoke, and the rest hurriedly searched for favorable terrain, hid and fired at the defenders on the position.

For a while, the battle fell into a stalemate.

Knowing that the German army had launched an attack on Height 239, Sokov asked Smirnov carefully several key questions, and had a detailed understanding of the defense of the two wings of the high ground, so as to avoid the German army's attack on the high ground. The 116th Division, which was sticking to the high ground, made dumplings by the devious tactics of the two wings.

The phone on the desk rang again, and it was Stirlitz, the commander of the 116th Division.

After listening to Sokov, he asked softly: "Comrade Colonel, Height 239 is the key to the German army jumping out of the encirclement. They will definitely attack without interruption. Do you think that with the strength of one division of yours, you can withstand the repeated attacks of the Germans?" Do you know that there are still tens of thousands of enemies in the encirclement, in order to escape the fate of being annihilated by our army, they will definitely attack you at all costs."

"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Stirlitz said confidently: "Although the combat effectiveness of our division may not be as good as that of the Germans, it is now occupying a favorable terrain and condescending to block the attack. At the same time, we can With the artillery support from the Front Army and the Group Army, even if the Germans suffered huge casualties, it would be difficult for the Germans to break through our division's defense zone."

Sokov nodded gratifiedly, and said, "Colonel, it's good that you have such confidence. Now I have four divisions near Height 239. Even if the encircling German army and the German army breaking out of the encirclement move at the same time, we still have a way to crush it." Their attempt to join forces.

Of course, you have to be mentally prepared. After all, you are facing tens of thousands of enemies. Even if your division completes the blocking mission, the casualties may be very heavy. "

Stirlitz said with pride: "As long as we can block the enemy, even if our division is wiped out, it is worth it."

"Continue to fight, Comrade Colonel." Sokov said into the microphone: "After you repel the German attack, hurry up and repair the fortifications. More brutal battles are yet to come."

After waiting for Sokov to end the call, Smirnov said, "Comrade Commander, once the German army finds that they cannot capture Height 239, they may find a way to detour from the two wings of the highland. If we are only facing ordinary German troops, Blocking them shouldn't be too much of a problem, but if it's a Viking division attacking this area, I'm concerned that the defenses are in danger of being breached."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said is very reasonable. Once the Viking Division makes a detour to the two wings of the highland, it will be difficult for our troops to stop them." Sokov agreed with Smirnov's statement: "At that time, we will need to ask General Rotmistrov for help, and ask him to send tank troops to attack from the rear of the Viking Division to relieve the pressure on our defenders."

"The 5th Guards Tank Army is equipped with T-34 tanks. To deal with the Viking Division's Panther Tiger tanks, I'm afraid it will cost a lot."

Facing Smirnov's foresight and hesitation, Sokov said seriously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, in order to defeat the enemy, no matter how high the price is, I think it is completely worth it."

The defenders on the high ground finally repelled the German attack. Seeing the Germans retreating, the commander of the first battalion shouted: "Comrades, go!" shooting.

Seeing the battalion commander take the lead, the commanders and fighters were not to be outdone, and jumped out of the trenches one after another, holding weapons and shouting slogans to charge forward. After rushing for nearly 200 meters, he stopped advancing, quickly collected the weapons and ammunition left by the German army, and returned to his position with the help of his wounded comrades.

As soon as he returned to the position, he received a call from the head of the regiment: "I said a battalion commander, who ordered you to attack?"

"Comrade Commander," the commander of the first battalion who had just won the battle and was captured explained somewhat proudly, "I saw that the Germans were repulsed, so I led the troops to attack."

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he was scolded by the regiment leader: "Have you ever thought that if you are bombarded by German artillery when you are attacking, you will definitely suffer a lot?" casualties. If the loss of troops is too large, will your battalion still be able to hold its ground in the next battle?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." Hearing what the regimental commander said, the first battalion commander immediately realized that what he had done just now was inappropriate, and quickly admitted his mistake to the regimental commander: "I was wrong. In the next battle, I will always wait In the trenches, troops are no longer casually led out.”

Regarding the answer of the first battalion commander, the regimental commander nodded with satisfaction, and reminded the other party: "The division commander told me just now that our division may have to face tens of thousands of German troops in turn, so we must know how to preserve our strength and avoid those unnecessary sacrifices." .Understand?"

"clear."

"Just understand." The head of the regiment said reasonablely: "If you have any difficulties, just call me. If you feel that you can't hold it, I can send the second battalion to reinforce you."

The first battalion commander was naturally unwilling to let other commanders take the credit for him, so he quickly said: "No need, comrade commander, I think with the strength of our battalion, we can completely hold the position."

As soon as the call was over, the third company commander ran in to report: "Comrade battalion commander, the Germans are coming up again."

The first battalion commander rushed out of the command post, looked down, and sure enough, he saw the German army that had retreated not long ago rushing up again, and he shouted loudly: "Brothers, get ready to fight. As soon as the Germans come within range, shoot and never let them come near our positions."

The reason why the Germans attacked Heights 239 again in such a short period of time was because the Viking Division itself had a strong combat effectiveness, and the second was that William Stemmelmann felt that he could not give the Soviets a chance to breathe. Taking turns to attack, the Soviet army had no time to reinforce the fortifications, so that they had a chance to break through the high ground.

Although the tanks and assault guns parked in the distance kept bombarding the position on the top of the hill, it was difficult for the shells to hit the fortification directly because of the angle. On the contrary, the machine gun position established by the German army a few hundred meters away from the position was more threatening to the Soviet army on the high ground.

Still the same as the first attack, the Germans established several machine gun positions two to three hundred meters away from the Soviet positions, and fired wildly at the positions, causing dust to fly in front of the soldiers.

However, this attack was quickly repulsed by the Soviet army.

During the two rounds of attacks, the 9th Panzergrenadier Regiment suffered more than 700 casualties, of which nearly 500 were killed. The first battalion standing on the high ground also paid a high price, sacrificing more than 200 people and wounding more than 180 people. More than half of the battalion suffered casualties.

Although the commander of the first battalion did not report his own situation to the head of the regiment, the commander still learned about the general casualties of the first battalion based on observation, so he said to the commander of the first battalion: "First battalion commander, your battalion has suffered more than half of the casualties. , The combat effectiveness of the troops will definitely be greatly reduced. I will order the second battalion to take over your defense now, and you should make preparations in advance."

When he learned that the head of the regiment planned to replace him with the second battalion, the head of the first battalion was a little anxious: "Comrade commander, our battalion still has nearly 300 people who can fight. We can definitely continue to fight the Germans."

"Major, I am giving you an order, not asking for your opinion." The head of the regiment said in an unquestionable tone: "Obey the order, and I will order the second battalion to take over the defense of your battalion. Be honest with me." Really bring the troops down, but don't do anything foolish, otherwise I will never spare you."

Seeing that the head of the regiment gave him an ultimatum, the commander of the first battalion was also dumb and couldn't tell what he was suffering from, so he could only bite the bullet and agree: "Understood, comrade commander."

But before putting down the phone, a new idea popped up in the head of the first battalion commander, and he shouted again: "Comrade commander, don't hang up the phone yet."

The head of the regiment asked coldly: "What's the matter? I warn you, since my order has been issued, it will never be changed."

"Don't worry, comrade leader, I'm not asking you to change the order, but I have other things to ask you."

"What's the matter, tell me."

"It's like this. The second battalion is the first time to come to the main position of 239 Heights, and I don't know the situation on the ground." The first battalion commander said with a hippie smile: "So I plan to stay a few people and introduce the situation to the second battalion commander. Condition."

The commander of the first battalion felt that this statement made sense. When a troop arrives in a strange place, it must be familiar with the surrounding terrain, so that it can know what it is when fighting, so he told the other party: "First battalion commander, remember to keep a few more people who are familiar with the terrain. Come to assist the Second Battalion in the battle."

The second battalion stationed in the cave of the soldiers on the reverse slope immediately burst into cheers after receiving the order from the head of the regiment. Everyone knew in their hearts that if they wanted to make contributions, it was the best opportunity to stick to the 239 highland, so when they heard that their troops were going to the highland, they immediately felt rejoiced.

Shortly after the second battalion took over the defense of the first battalion on the high ground, the Germans launched a third offensive. But for the Second Battalion, which was already on the ground, these Germans were just here to give away their heads.

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when the sixth German attack was repulsed by the 2nd Battalion, they did not launch a new attack immediately. At this time, the artillery mobilized by William Stemmelman from the rear had already arrived at the designated position, and he seized the time to build an artillery position.

As soon as the artillery position was built, more than forty artillery pieces of different calibers smashed dense shells at the 239 highland at the same time. For a while, gunpowder smoke billowed on the position, dazzling fireballs flashed everywhere, and violent explosions were heard endlessly. When the commanders and fighters of the second battalion first bomb fell on the position and exploded, the commander of the second battalion realized that something was wrong, so he left a few people to see the movement of the Germans, while he took many soldiers and wounded to hide. Into the already dug anti-blasting hole.

As soon as the half-hour high-density bombardment ended, the German army, which had failed six consecutive attacks, swooped towards the 239 Heights again. The defenders on the ground took up their weapons and started shooting at the swarming enemies. For a while, there was loud gunfire and explosions.

Sokov, who was staying at the headquarters, read the latest battle report and called Stirlitz himself: "Comrade Colonel, the enemy is launching a fierce attack on Height 239. Do you need artillery support?"

The 12 Bofors field guns deployed on the high ground were basically lost, and now only mortars can be used on the high ground. But even so, after listening to Sokov, Stirlitz rejected his proposal: "Thank you, Comrade Commander, I think my troops can continue without artillery support. If there is I'll call you when needed."

Since the other party did not need artillery support, Sokov did not hesitate, and said into the microphone: "Well, Comrade Colonel, if you think your troops can't hold on, remember to call me, and I will order the artillery to give you the necessary support. artillery support."

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Smirnov asked inexplicably: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand. The situation on Height 239 is clearly critical, but Colonel Stirlitz has been reluctant to ask for our artillery support for so long. ?”

Sokov thought for a while, and then replied: "I think Colonel Stirlitz may be right. If we bombarded prematurely, we would expose the strength of our army, and the Germans would choose to turn around from both wings in advance. However, the defenders on the high ground are deliberately showing weakness to the enemy, making the enemy think that the defenders on the position do not have any heavy weapons. Once the Germans have this idea, it is very likely that they will be firm in their determination to seize the 239 highland Confidence, then we will be able to rely on the terrain and inflict heavy damage on the Germans."

"That being said, in order to open the escape channel, the Germans will act even crazier in the following battles. By that time, the casualties of our army may increase exponentially."

After listening to Smirnov's words, Sokov nodded and said affirmatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. The enemy will definitely have some unrealistic illusions when they see that the firepower on the high ground is not strong. Take the 239 Heights at all costs and open up the escape route."

"For the sake of safety, I think the artillery should be prepared." Smirnov continued according to his own thinking: "Once the situation on the 239 Heights deteriorates, artillery fire will be needed to suppress the German attack."

Sokov nodded again, then picked up the microphone, asked the communications soldier to connect him to Tsarev's phone call, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade artillery commander, the enemy's artillery shelled Height 239 not long ago, Can you pinpoint the location of the German artillery positions?"

"OK."

Hearing that it was possible, Sokov told him: "Quickly find out the position of the German artillery positions, and before they fire next time, use intensive artillery fire to destroy him. Do you understand?"

"I fully understand, Comrade Commander." Tsarev said in a positive tone: "I will find out where the German artillery positions are as soon as possible."