Red Moscow

Shamrih has never had any troops to carry out night raid missions. According to his thinking, as long as the attack can be supported by artillery fire, with the combat effectiveness of the sailors, it is completely possible to break through the enemy's defensive positions. But an order is an order, and since Belkin gave him the order to attack at night, he can only execute it unconditionally.

In order to ensure the success of the night attack, he personally acted with Erlian. He and Captain Agranov, the commander of the second company, stayed in a bomb crater, watching the sailors and soldiers not attacking like before. The enemy walked in the position, but crawled forward in groups of three or four. In order to prevent being discovered by the enemy, their movements were very light, trying not to make any noise. Seeing all this, he couldn't help sighing softly.

After hearing this, Agranov asked curiously: "Comrade battalion commander, why are you sighing?"

"Captain, look at our soldiers." Shamrih pointed at the soldiers who were crawling forward, and said with a bitter face, "I'm afraid this is the first time for such a sneaky way of fighting."

"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander, it is indeed the first time." Agranov said in agreement, and then said in a low voice: "But I have to say that we use this tactic to attack, and the casualties of the troops can be reduced to a minimum." lowest……"

Before Agranov finished speaking, Shamlik suddenly pushed his shoulder and said with some anxiety: "There seems to be something moving ahead."

"Movement?!" Hearing what Shamrich said, Agranov couldn't help being shocked: "Is it our action, has it been discovered by the enemy?"

"No, it's not that we were discovered by the enemy, otherwise they would have shot." Shamrich raised his binoculars and looked forward, but because the light was too dim, he could only see the outlines of ruins one after another. What I can't see clearly. He decisively ordered Agranov: "Captain, immediately order the soldiers to stop advancing, and send two people to reconnaissance first, to find out what is going on with the noise in the enemy's position."

After receiving Shamrikh's order, Agranov climbed out of the crater, first signaled to stop the troops from advancing, and then ordered the two soldiers lying not far away: "You two go to the front to scout and do some research. Know what's going on in the German positions."

Watching the two fighters on the reconnaissance mission disappear into the darkness, Shamrich said to Agranov: "Comrade Captain, let the soldiers prepare for battle. Once we are discovered by the Germans, it is necessary to take a storm." tactics."

After waiting for about five minutes, a soldier sent out for reconnaissance crawled back and reported to Shamrih, "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy is withdrawing from its position and moving to the west."

"What, the enemy is retreating?" Agranov heard the soldier's report, and his first reaction was that the other party had made a mistake, so he quickly asked, "You read it right, right?"

"You can't read it wrong, Comrade Company Commander." The soldier reported excitedly: "The enemy is not only withdrawing from the factory building, but even the enemies staying in the trenches outside the factory building are also withdrawing one after another. What we heard The movement is made by the enemy during the retreat."

"Comrade Battalion Commander, the division commander is really good at predicting things. He said that the enemy is going to retreat, and now he is really starting to retreat." Confirming that the Germans have begun to retreat, Agranov became excited: "Since the enemy has started to flee, Then let's take immediate action and catch the enemy by surprise."

Agranov's proposal moved Shamrikh's heart. He felt that since the enemy had already started to retreat, he could devote all his strength to attack, so he nodded, called a communication soldier, and told him to say: : "Go back immediately and inform the deputy battalion commander that, except for a few people who stay behind, send me the first company and the third company."

The messenger promised, and when he got up and was about to run away, he was stopped by Shamrih again. He felt that since he was going to send all the troops into the attack, it was necessary to establish contact with the rear, so he told the communications soldier: "Also, find a way to connect a telephone line so that we can get in touch with the regiment headquarters in a timely manner."

The second battalion, which was in charge of the attack due west of the factory area, also discovered that the enemy was retreating while approaching the enemy's position. Captain Golia, the second battalion commander who led the attack, immediately reported the situation to the battalion commander Briski through the phone he carried.

After listening to Golia's report, Briski asked agitatedly, "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, are you really sure that the enemy is retreating?"

"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander." Golia replied in accordance with the regulations: "I sent two batches of scouts to carry out reconnaissance, and both got the same results."

"Very good, that's really great." Knowing that the enemy has begun to retreat, Briski is also excited: "You still follow the original plan and approach the enemy's position quietly. I will report the situation here to the regiment leader and wait for him further order."

Briski immediately got in touch with Belgin after finishing his conversation with Goria, and reported excitedly, "Comrade Commander, I have good news for you. The enemy has begun to retreat."

"The enemy has begun to retreat?" Belkin was taken aback when he heard the news, and then asked, "Is it retreating across the board, or is it the direction where your second battalion is?"

Belkin's question stopped Briski. After a long time, he murmured: "Comrade commander, I haven't contacted the troops on the left and right flanks yet. I don't know whether the enemy is retreating across the board or only in the area under our battalion's responsibility."

"Okay, let your soldiers get ready for battle." After Belkin finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Briski to speak again, and then ordered the chief of staff, Captain Vanya: "Comrade chief of staff , Immediately get in touch with the 1st Battalion and the Marine Battalion, and ask them how the enemy situation is there?"

"Yes! I'll get in touch with the commanders of the other two battalions immediately." Vanya agreed loudly, picked up the phone on the table, and started contacting the first battalion and the marine battalion.

"Comrade commander, is the enemy really starting to retreat?" Political commissar Dmitry asked with a little shortness of breath, "So, we are going to win the victory in defending the city?"

"Comrade Commissar, it's still too early to say victory." Belgin looked at Dmitry and said, "Our immediate task is to take advantage of the opportunity of the enemy's retreat to hit them hard and get out of their hands." Take back those lost positions. At the same time, keep them firmly in the factory area so that they cannot deploy troops to reinforce the areas attacked by our army..."

Before Belgin finished speaking, a series of explosions came from outside. Through the hole in the wall, Belkin looked at the fire in the distance, and asked wonderingly: "What's going on outside? Why are there only explosions and no gunshots?"

Vanya put down the phone, went to the cave and looked through the binoculars for a while, then turned around and said to Belkin in surprise: "Comrade commander, I understand, the explosion is the enemy's stepping on a landmine." Erkin asked, and he took the initiative to say, "You should remember that before the division commander left our place, he asked the engineering comrades to find a way to move the mines planted by the enemy. It should be that the enemy stepped on the landmines planted by our engineers during their retreat. mine."

"This is really wonderful." Hearing this, Dmitry said with a smile: "Using the German mines to blow up the enemy, the division commander's move is really wonderful."

Belkin didn't speak after hearing this, but just nodded, then got up and walked to the cave, took the telescope in Vanya's hand, and looked forward. With the help of the light from the fire in the distance, he saw figures running around. He couldn't help but turned the binoculars to the defense area of ​​the 138th Division, wanting to see what happened to them.

It's a pity that after watching for a while, I didn't see any movement on the defensive position. Just when Belkin sighed, disappointed in Lyudnikov's division, and felt that they had missed such a good opportunity for nothing, he suddenly saw a series of large and small flashes of light on the eastern position.

After the flash, there was the roar of artillery. Vanya, who was standing aside, understood what was going on in an instant. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, it is the artillery, the artillery of the 138th Division is firing." In fact, even if Vanya didn't say anything, Bier Jin quickly figured out who was firing the artillery. After all, in the entire barricade factory, only the 138th Division had an incomplete artillery regiment.

Shells rained down on the retreating German troops, exploding in the chaotic and crowded queues that had stepped on landmines. Due to the dense formation of the German army, every shell that fell could cause huge casualties to them. Amidst bursts of screams, the already chaotic troops became even more chaotic, and the surviving German soldiers began to flee in all directions to avoid the Soviet artillery bombardment.

The sound of the artillery made the entire factory area red, and Lyudnikov, who was staying in the headquarters, was alarmed. He got up and found a position that was convenient for observation. : "Chief of Staff, call the artillery regiment and ask them why they fired?"

The chief of staff quickly got the answer from Major Savage, the commander of the artillery regiment, and hurriedly reported to Lyudnikov: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, Major Savage reported that they heard explosions outside and they After carefully observing the direction of the movement, he found that the enemy was retreating. Because of time constraints, he had no time to ask for instructions, so he ordered all the artillery to fire."

"This guy dares to make his own decisions." Lyudnikov gritted his molars after listening to the chief of staff's report, and said, "He ordered the artillery to fire without even saying hello to me. I will never spare him. .”

"Comrade Commander," Titov heard Lyudnikov say this, worried that he would punish Savage, so he came out to smooth things over: "Major Savage is good at seizing the opportunity and destroying the enemy's vital forces, which we should praise. .However, their shells are limited, and I'm afraid the bombardment won't last long. What should we do next, please make an early decision."

Lyudnikov originally planned to wait until dawn before deciding whether to follow the orders of his superiors to launch a counterattack against the enemy, but Major Savage fired without authorization, which disrupted his plan and put him in a dilemma. Hearing the political commissar Titov telling him to make up his mind quickly, he gritted his teeth after thinking for a moment, and shouted at the chief of staff, "Chief of staff, record my order!"

After the chief of staff promised, he came to Lyudnikov and waited for him to give an order. Seeing that the chief of staff was in place, Lyudnikov began to dictate orders: "The 544th Regiment sticks to its current position, and the 650th and 768th Regiments attack across the board to attack the Germans."

Due to the shelter and distance of the buildings, the artillery fire of the artillery regiment can only bombard the enemy in the west and northwest. But for the Soviet commanders and fighters who are about to launch a counterattack, it is more than enough.

Soon after the shelling began, the 1st and 3rd companies of the Marine Battalion left the defensive position one after another and came to join Shamrih. Seeing that the main force of the whole battalion had arrived, Shamrih jumped out of the crater, and with his right hand holding the pistol, he pointed to the place where flames and explosions were heard from time to time, and shouted loudly: "Brothers sailors, The day has finally come for us to fight back. Come with me and destroy every enemy in sight, full speed ahead!"

Seeing the battalion commander taking the lead in the charge, the sailors and soldiers all had high morale. They imitated the battalion commander with their guns in hand, shouting: "Full speed ahead!"

The few remaining German soldiers on the distant position were already frightened and panicked when they saw the retreating troops being bombarded. At this moment, they were even more frightened when they heard the shouts from the front of the position. Shoot aimlessly in the direction of the sound. They didn't even think about whether they could focus on the target when they shot like this. They just wanted to embolden themselves through the intensive gunfire.

The uniforms of the sailors are different from those of the army. Their black uniforms can provide better concealment when attacking at night. There were not many German soldiers left in the front position, and they were frightened away. They fought indiscriminately, and did not cause much casualties to the attacking sailors.

The sailors and soldiers with high morale quickly approached the enemy's position. After throwing a row of grenades into the trench, except for a few sailors who entered the trench to wipe out the remnants of the enemy, the rest of the soldiers jumped over the trench one after another and fired at the enemy in the distance. The enemies in chaos rush forward.

Some German soldiers who escaped from the artillery fire encountered the sailors rushing up, some turned around in fright and fled towards the area under shelling, while others bit the bullet and rushed up with their guns in hand. Trying to fight to the death.

Speaking of bayonet fighting, the level of the Soviet army is better than that of the German army. In addition, they are elite sailors who rushed up, and their level of bayonet fighting is even higher. The level of stabbing was high, and they had an advantage in numbers. After just one or two minutes, those German soldiers who were bayoneting were stabbed by the bayonets of the sailors into broken sacks that were bleeding everywhere, and fell on the ground without exception. into a pool of blood.

When Shamrih led the soldiers to continue to rush forward, the deputy battalion commander who was catching up behind him also saw and stopped him: "Comrade battalion commander, order the soldiers to stop advancing, and they can no longer rush forward."

"Why?" Shamrih asked.

"Further ahead is the shelling area of ​​our army." Yakuda said a little out of breath: "It's not worth being killed by our own shells."