Red Moscow

In fact, Yershakov did not need to report the battle situation. Sokov had already learned about the battle situation of the 125th Guards Regiment through the observation post set up on the Beigang Water Tower. Knowing that they not only repelled the enemy's attack, but even recovered part of the lost positions, Sokov couldn't help nodding with satisfaction, and said to Ivanov with a smile: "Comrade deputy division commander, I really didn't expect that, Yershako Lieutenant Colonel Fu is quite good at commanding and fighting."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ivanov showed an embarrassing expression on his face: "Comrade commander, to tell you the truth, our division and the 39th Guards Division of General Guriyev, in the battle to defend the Don River, Ye The Rshakov regiment was the first to be defeated by the enemy, which resulted in a huge gap in our defense line, we did not have enough strength to block the gap opened by the enemy, and had to be forced to move to Stalingrad."

Stopping the enemy in the Don River valley, keeping them from approaching Stalingrad, is a thing of the past for Sokov. What he was very curious about was, since Yershakov's regiment had been defeated, why didn't he, the regiment leader, have anything to do? He looked around and saw that Sidolin was assigning tasks to Second Lieutenant Maxim, so he asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy division commander, why didn't the superiors punish Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov after he lost the battle?"

Ivanov replied with a wry smile: "As soon as the battle started, Yershakov was wounded and sent to the field hospital in the rear. The troops were commanded by the deputy commander. Shakov was punished together. Fortunately, the political commissar and I interceded for him, saying that he withdrew from the battle due to injuries not long after the battle started, and what happened next had nothing to do with him, which prevented him from going to the military. The fate of the court, but the rank was reduced from colonel to lieutenant colonel."

Knowing that Ershakov was demoted because of joint responsibility, Sokov was more concerned about the fate of the deputy commander, and then asked: "How did the superior deal with the deputy commander?"

"How else can we deal with it?!" Anisimov, the political commissar of the division, said with a sneer: "The deputy commander was not good at commanding the battle, which caused our army's defense line to collapse. He was executed after being court-martialed."

Knowing that the deputy regimental commander was executed by a military court because of poor command, Sokov couldn't help but shudder. He thought that what he was defending was Mamayev Hill. If one day the position was lost due to insufficient troops or other reasons, would the same fate await him?

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin came over with a telegram, saw Sokov sitting at the table in a daze, and called him while passing the telegram in his hand: "Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov sent A telegram came in to say that the regiment had successfully repelled an enemy attack and recovered some of its lost positions."

Sidolin's voice woke Sokov up from his contemplation. He took the telegram and glanced at it, handed it to Ivanov, looked up at Sidolin and asked, "Ask Papchenko?" Colonel, when will his troops withdraw to Mamayev Kurgan?"

Although Papchenko assured Sokov that they would fight to the last man. However, as soon as Sokov learned that the friendly forces on the right wing had begun to retreat, he decisively ordered Papchenko to withdraw from the position and move to Mamayev Post. lots.

When Sidolin heard Sokov's question about the situation of the 122nd Regiment, he quickly replied: "The Papchenko Regiment has successfully entered the defense zone of the Starcha Regiment. After a short rest, they will continue to move towards Mama. Yevgang retreats."

"Chief of staff, immediately inform Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko that when they evacuate the position of the Starcha regiment, remember to take the wounded of the regiment with them." Sokov said to Sidolin: "Starcha The regiment will soon be withdrawing from its position, and if there are too many wounded, it will slow down their retreat."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin finally asked Sokov after leaving, "When can the Nastarcha Regiment withdraw to Mamayev Post?"

"Let's wait until after dark." Sokov sighed and said, "I don't know what kind of tasks the army headquarters will assign us. It will be much more convenient to move with an army outside."

Sidolin nodded after listening to Sokov, turned around and went to make a phone call. And Ivanov asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what tasks do you think the Army Command will assign us?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head, but seeing the usual look on Ivanov's face, he added: "Comrade deputy division commander, didn't you realize that the superior regards our division as a battlefield fire brigade Do you use it? Where the situation is critical, let our troops rush there to provide support."

Hearing what Sokov said, Anisimov couldn't help laughing: "Comrade commander, the superiors use our troops as battlefield firefighting teams, indicating that in their minds, our combat effectiveness is the strongest. Other troops , may want to get the approval of the superior, but I am afraid that I will not have this opportunity."

"Comrade Commissar," Sokov didn't think it was a good thing for his superiors to be optimistic about him. He said to Anisimov with a bitter face: "Our task is to hold on to the Mamayev Post so that the enemy cannot separate our north and south lines of defense; It is impossible to seize the central ferry and cut off our connection with the outside world. If we spend too much of our troops in other areas, what kind of strength will we use to defend here in the future?"

"Comrade commander, according to your statement." Anisimov said thoughtfully after hearing this: "It is absolutely necessary for us to find a way to preserve our strength."

"That's right, it's quite necessary." Sokov said with a serious expression in order to unify everyone's thinking: "As long as the enemy cannot capture Mamayev Post, our connection with the outside world will not be interrupted. In this way , we will have the opportunity to slowly accumulate strength, and when the time is right, we will deal a thunderous blow to the enemy and completely smash their siege of Stalingrad."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Ivanov and Anisimov fell silent. Seeing this, Sokov asked a little puzzled: "Why, did I say something wrong?"

"Comrade Commander, I want to hear your truth." Anisimov looked around and saw that the other people in the room were some distance away from them, so they should not be able to hear what they were saying, so he asked cautiously : "Can we really hold Stalingrad?"

Regarding Anisimov's question, Sokov smiled lightly, and then said: "Comrade Commissar, I think we will be able to hold Stalingrad, don't you have confidence?"

"How could it be!" Anisimov didn't expect Sokov to ask such a question, and replied in a panic, "I have always had the confidence to defend this city..."

Although Anisimov kept explaining, Sokov knew very well in his heart that his hopes for the Soviet army's ability to hold the city were getting smaller and smaller. Sokov coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said to Anisimov: "Comrade Commissar, although we may pay a high price to defend this city, I always firmly believe that we will never Let the enemy occupy the city named after the Supreme Commander himself."

"Haven't you ever worried..." Anisimov deliberately lowered his voice when he said this: "The troops who stick to Stalingrad will end up with the tragic fate of those who stick to Kiev?"

"Comrade Commissar," seeing that Anisimov lacked confidence in holding on to the city, while Ivanov sat silently by the side, he obviously agreed with Anisimov. In order to dispel the concerns of the two, Sokov said kindly: "In the Battle of Kiev, our army lost hundreds of thousands of troops, but that happened under certain historical conditions. At that time, most of our commanders and fighters had no combat experience. In the face of an enemy with rich experience in warfare, defeat is inevitable. Now that the war has been going on for more than a year, our commanders and fighters have grown up in the war. They have not only learned how to fight the enemy who is armed to the teeth, Also learned how to beat them.

Don't look at our current situation as if it is not good, but the enemy is equally difficult. The counterattacks we have carried out time after time have not achieved the desired results, but they have also successfully disrupted the enemy's offensive steps and prevented them from taking the city for a long time. As long as it is delayed for a while, the enemy's combat effectiveness will gradually weaken, and it will be time for us to launch a major counterattack. "

Sokov's words gave Ivanov and Anisimov enough confidence. They lowered their heads and raised their heads again, and the brows that were originally locked were relaxed. Ivanov even looked at Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, if you want to send someone to support the Yershakov regiment on the right, please let me lead the team to perform this task."

Sokov almost blurted out his objection, but considering that Ivanov had just rebuilt his confidence, if he poured cold water on him, his enthusiasm would disappear again, so he nodded and said, "Okay, deputy Comrade Commander, if I want to send someone to support the Yershakov Regiment, I will definitely entrust you with this important task."

…………

The units of Gurdiyev's and Gorishny's divisions were bombed by enemy planes during their retreat. In order to withdraw the troops back to the Red October factory as soon as possible, both of them issued the same order at the same time, so that the troops could withdraw to the starting position as quickly as possible regardless of casualties.

The enemy to the north, seeing that their bombers were bombarding the retreating Soviet troops indiscriminately, also launched a new offensive. This time, for the sake of safety, the German army dispatched three Tiger tanks and five No. 3 tanks, trying to break through the Yershakov regiment's position in one fell swoop and cut off the retreating Soviet army.

Ershakov saw the enemy deploying tanks again, so he quickly called the commander of the first battalion and asked loudly: "Comrade battalion commander, I saw the enemy deploying tanks again. It seems that there is a new type of tank among them. How is it?" , can you stop them?"

"Don't worry, comrade commander." The first battalion commander said confidently: "Since we were able to destroy the enemy's tanks just now, we can also destroy these tanks."

The first battalion commander put down the phone and left the command post. He bent down and walked along the trench to the forefront, and found the commander of the anti-tank company. He rushed to the other side and asked: "Comrade company commander, are you confident in destroying the enemy's tanks?"

"No problem." It may be that the process of destroying the six enemy tanks just now was so easy that the commander of the anti-tank company underestimated the enemy, thinking that the enemy's tanks are nothing more than that. As long as there are anti-tank guns on the battlefield, how many enemy tanks will come? Just destroy it as much as possible: "We will definitely destroy the enemy's tanks in front of our positions."

Seeing that the anti-tank company commander is so confident, the first battalion commander is also relieved. Before returning to his command post, he specifically told the other party: "Comrade company commander, remember, after repelling the enemy's attack this time, you can't lead the troops to attack casually, otherwise you will disrupt the defense deployment of your superiors. Do you understand?" ?”

Take the lead in the charge by yourself, not only do not praise, but also criticize. The commander of the anti-tank company felt dissatisfied when he heard the first battalion commander speak to him in such a tone. But on the surface, he still pretended to be very cooperative and said: "Don't worry, after I beat the enemy back this time, I will stay on the ground honestly and will never attack without authorization."

The enemy tank quickly rushed to a distance of 300 meters from the position. The commander of the anti-tank company saw that the enemy tank had entered the range and immediately gave an order to fire. Following his order, the 18 surviving anti-tank guns on the position opened fire at the same time, destroying two of the No. 3 tanks serving as cover in an instant. However, the armor-piercing projectiles that hit the Tiger tank's armor turned into ricochets, and did not penetrate the target at all.

Seeing this, an anti-tank fighter quickly turned his head and shouted at the company commander: "Comrade company commander, the enemy's heavy tank armor is too thick, and my anti-tank gun can't penetrate its armor. What should I do?"

"Keep shooting!" Seeing that the Tiger tank was still approaching aggressively, the company commander yelled at the anti-tank fighter: "Don't panic, the closer it is to us, the greater the chance of penetrating its frontal armor! "

Not only the anti-tank man next to the company commander found that the Tiger tank could not penetrate, but the other anti-tank men who shot at the Tiger tank also discovered the same problem. They wanted to ask the company commander how to deal with this kind of tank, but when they heard the company commander ordered them to keep shooting at the tank, they quickly reloaded and continued to shoot at the approaching Tiger tank with anti-tank guns.

A Tiger tank rushing to the front became the key target of the anti-tank fighters. In the short 100-meter journey, it was hit by at least fifty armor-piercing incendiary bombs from anti-tank guns, but none of them penetrated its frontal armor.

Seeing that the armor-piercing projectile hit the armor plate of the enemy tank, but could not penetrate the armor effectively, the anti-tank fighters seemed a little flustered, and they all shouted at the company commander: "Comrade company commander, the enemy tank cannot penetrate, what should we do?" manage?"