Red Moscow

As night fell, the German bombing finally came to an end. The bombed area was full of flames and gunpowder smoke. The surviving soldiers got out of the warm soil and stretched out their hands to pull the soil next to them to rescue their comrades who were still buried in the soil.

While the soldiers were busy rescuing their comrades, a small group of German troops sneaked up under the cover of gunpowder smoke. They tried to launch a sneak attack while the Soviet army was still awake from the bombing. Just when they were only 20 meters away from the front of the 895th Regiment of the 193rd Division, a soldier who stood up from the trench saw the approaching enemy and shouted in panic: "Enemy, the enemy is coming up! After shouting, he quickly pulled the bolt and fired a shot at the place where the figure was shaking.

Maybe he was too nervous, he didn't hit the target. Before he could pull the bolt and fire a second shot, the German soldiers who rushed to the front fired at him with their submachine guns. The soldier was shot five or six times. First, the rifle in his hand fell to the ground, then turned half a circle on the spot, and then collapsed limply in the trench.

Fortunately, the soldier's timely warning allowed the soldiers in the trench to discover the enemy they touched, and there was a burst of gunfire on the ground for a while. As soon as the gunshot rang out, the few German soldiers who rushed to the front were unable to dodge in time. They were hit with blood mist by the scorching bullets, and fell to the ground with a scream. The rest of the soldiers quickly lay down on the spot and fired at the commanders and fighters in the trench.

After the two sides fired at each other for a while, the Germans suffered much more casualties than the Soviets because of the small number of people and the unfavorable position of the terrain. Seeing that the German gunshots became sparse, a Soviet lieutenant jumped out of the trench with a bayonet-mounted rifle in his hand, turned around and shouted loudly to the soldiers in the trench: "Brothers, for the sake of the motherland! , for the sake of Stalin, come with me!"

Although the enemy on the opposite side was still lying on the ground and shooting continuously, the soldiers in the trench jumped out of the trench with weapons after hearing the lieutenant's shout. The comrades who fell on the road slowed down, but rushed to the enemy in one breath, and nailed them to the ground with the bayonet in their hands.

The entire battle lasted only ten minutes, and dozens of enemies who came to attack the 193rd Division's position were all wiped out. The division commander, Major General Smekhotvorov, watched the battle through binoculars in the regiment command post. He put down the binoculars and asked the commander of the 895th regiment standing beside him: "Comrade Colonel, who is the lieutenant who led the charge just now?"

The head of the regiment quickly replied, "It's Lieutenant Kisd, the commander of the fifth company of the second battalion."

"Good job, really good job." Smekhotvorov nodded and said with satisfaction: "To defend Stalingrad, we need such a brave commander. By the way, Comrade Colonel, the second commander of your regiment Didn’t the battalion commander die in the battle? In my opinion, let this Lieutenant Kisd be the second battalion commander.”

Unexpectedly, after Smekhotvorov finished speaking, there was no response: "Huh?! Comrade Colonel, what's going on, are you dissatisfied with my appointment?"

"No, Comrade Commander." The head of the regiment replied in a panic, "His rank is too low. It may be a bit inappropriate to be a battalion commander."

"Comrade Colonel, what time is it? You are still arguing with me about trivial matters like military rank. Don't you know that what we need most now is a commander who can command the battle." Smekhotvorov hesitated for a moment, He went on to say: "If you think his rank is too low, well, I will promote him to the rank of captain now, so there will be no problem with the position of battalion commander, right?"

The head of the regiment did not dare to argue with Smekhotvorov, so he could only quickly agree: "No problem, Comrade Commander."

"Since there is no problem, let's hurry up and repair the fortifications. Maybe tomorrow morning, the enemy will launch a new attack on us." Smekhotvorov said, waved to the regiment commander, and was about to leave the regiment command post .

But as soon as he reached the door, the regiment commander stopped him, and the latter stammered, "Comrade commander, the enemy bombed our regiment's position for four or five hours. Our casualties were too heavy. I don't know if you can Would you like to add some troops to us?"

"Comrade Colonel, whether your regiment's position was bombed by enemy planes or the entire division's defense area was bombed, not only you suffered heavy losses, but the other two regiments also suffered heavy losses." Smekhotvorov said Spreading his hands, he said helplessly, "I don't have any reserve team in my hand, so I can't supplement it for you."

"Comrade commander," the head of the regiment said with a bitter face, "although I haven't had time to count the number of survivors, after the battle just now, we have lost at least fifty or sixty people. If you don't give us more, I'm afraid we don't have enough people." to defend the existing positions."

The words of the head of the regiment made Smekhotvorov feel embarrassed. After thinking for a long time, he said to the head of the regiment: "Comrade Colonel, I will send 20 staff officers and logistics personnel to support you later. It’s up to you to figure it out on your own.”

Although Smekhotvorov's supplementary troops were a bit too small, it was better than nothing, and the head of the regiment didn't care about it. He nodded vigorously and said to Smekhotvorov: "Comrade commander, please send me as soon as possible." Let them come over, so that we can have enough manpower to repair the fortifications."

"You, you!" Smekhotvorov nodded twice to the regimental commander, and left the regiment command post with a wry smile.

Compared with the heavy losses in various parts of the army group, the 41st Guards Division, which stood firm on Mamayev Hill, suffered casualties because the division commander Sokov issued an air raid warning in time, allowing all commanders and fighters to retreat into the tunnel. Almost negligible.

Although he had already guessed that the casualties of the troops were not large, Sokov was still not at ease. As soon as the bombing by the enemy planes was over, he immediately called the regiments to inquire. In addition to the shock wave of the explosion, Nangang was stunned and some soldiers were stunned. There were no more casualties, and he felt a little relieved.

"Comrade Commander, the casualties of the troops standing on Mamayev Hill are very small." Sidolin said to Sokov: "Now there are only the 3rd Battalion in the old city and the 122nd Guards Regiment in the New Workers' Village. .”

"The defense area of ​​Captain Vasily has not been bombed by enemy planes, so they can ignore it." Sokov told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, you call Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko and ask him where he is." How are the casualties?"

The call was quickly connected, and Sidolin asked bluntly: "Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, the division commander asked me to ask you, what is the casualty situation of your regiment?"

Sokov put his ear close to the microphone, and heard Papchenko answer loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy's bombing caused several sewers to collapse, and many soldiers were blocked in the pipes inside and could not get out. We Rescue is being organized."

Sokov quickly took the microphone from Sidolin's hand and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if necessary, reopen the blocked passages so that the trapped soldiers can escape as soon as possible."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Papchenko replied: "I immediately ordered people to open those closed passages and rescue all the trapped soldiers."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sidolin and Ivanov: "Chief of Staff, Deputy Division Commander, the enemy has carried out intensive bombing of the factory area today. I estimate that the defenders in those areas have suffered heavy losses. In order to hold In the city, the higher-ups may transfer our division to reinforce somewhere. Before the order is issued, let’s study which troops can be used.”

Just as Sokov and the others were discussing that they could transfer those troops to reinforce their friendly forces, at the Army Group Headquarters by the Volga River, the Chief of Staff Krylov said to Chuikov with a bitter face: "Comrade Commander, the German army is implementing The bombing caused us to lose at least one-third of our existing troops. If we cannot get troops to replenish from the east bank, we can only transfer Sokov's 41st Guards Division first to strengthen important defensive areas. .”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I agree with you." Chuikov said to Krylov with a serious expression: "The 41st Guards Division is a force that is good at fighting tough battles. It is stable. I see that we will discuss where to deploy Sokov's troops after the casualty data of the divisions comes up."