Red Moscow

Major William Weiman, the commander of the 294th Engineer Battalion, never dreamed that his troops would step on landmines during the retreat. In the flickering light of the explosion, when he saw his subordinates being blown up into the sky and falling into fragments, he couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart, and said to himself, "Damn, why are there landmines on the way we retreat?"

Major Weiman clearly remembered that in order to prevent accidental injury, all minefields were laid on the side facing the Russian positions, so he did not send special personnel to explore the way when retreating. Seeing that his troops had fallen into a minefield at this moment, he quickly ordered to stop advancing and sent someone to rush forward. He wanted to find out one thing, which idiot ordered the planting of landmines on the retreat route.

Unexpectedly, before the dispatched people came back, there was a scream of shells piercing the air, and then countless shells fell on the retreating queue and exploded. Countless soldiers were blown away or shattered in the flames. , the rest were thrown into disarray during the shelling.

Weiman was caught between his soldiers and retreated towards the original defense area, trying to avoid the Russian shelling there. As a result, I walked not far forward, but I heard shouts muffled by gunfire from that direction. It was the Marine Battalion led by Captain Shamrich. rushed to the position.

"Lieutenant Bergmann, Lieutenant Bergmann, where are you?" Hearing the shout from a distance, although Weiman couldn't understand what it meant, he knew very well that it was the Russians who launched an attack . He hastily called out the names of his subordinates loudly, wanting them to organize forces to block the Russian attack: "Come to me quickly!"

Amidst the rumbling explosions, his voice could not be heard very far, but fortunately, the soldiers nearby heard it and quickly followed suit. A German lieutenant heard the shout, bent over and ran to Weiman, and asked loudly, "Mr. Major, what instructions do you have?"

"The Russians are starting to attack!" Weiman pointed his hand in the direction of the shouting, and said in a panic, "Lieutenant Bergmann, you immediately lead the second company back to the original position and block the Russian attack. Understood ?"

"Mr. Major," the German lieutenant known as Bergmann replied with a complicated expression: "My troops have been bombarded by the Russians and have already lost their organizational structure, so they cannot be gathered for the time being."

"Damn it!" Weiman had already seen his soldiers swarming around like headless chickens. Wherever there were many people, they would run there. Once they were bombarded, they dispersed in a rush. Under such circumstances, it is simply impossible to gather troops. But Weiman knew better in his heart that it was a critical moment of life and death. If he did not block the Russian attack, his troops would be in danger of being wiped out. He grabbed Bergmann's skirt and said viciously: "Lieutenant, no matter what method you use, you must block the Russian attack, or I will shoot you."

Hearing Weiman's threat, Bergman smiled wryly, and said, "Understood, Mr. Major, I will organize my troops immediately to block the Russian attack."

Bergman ran aside and shouted at the running soldiers, trying to calm them down. However, his voice was covered by the sound of the artillery, and it was useless at all. He shouted for a while, and there were only a dozen soldiers gathered around him. Except for a 50mm mortar, there were only five or six weapons available. rifle.

Seeing that the Soviet army had broken through the position and rushed towards his position, Bergman didn't care about containing the troops, so he directly directed the artillery to set up mortars and shelled towards the charging Soviet army.

Although the German army fell into chaos after stepping on landmines and being shelled, the technical and tactical level of the artillerymen is still quite high. With Bergman's order, the artillery set up the mortars within twenty seconds and began the shelling.

The shells fell in the ranks of the Soviet army and exploded. From time to time, commanders and fighters fell down amidst the sound of explosions, but the rest of them rushed up without hesitation. The mortarman fired two more shots. Seeing that the Soviet soldiers had rushed to a position more than ten meters away, knowing that it would be useless to fire again, he uttered a cry and fled in all directions.

Lieutenant Bergman, who commanded the artillery to fire, saw the Soviet army in black uniform rushing in front of him in the blink of an eye. The crater played dead to avoid the Soviet commanders rushing up.

Shamrih, who directed the troops to charge, was stopped by his deputy battalion commander. He realized that if his troops continued to charge, they might rush into the area covered by artillery fire, causing unnecessary casualties, so he quickly issued an order to stop the attack. The command. But before the order passed on, the artillery fire that was still roaring just now stopped suddenly.

"What's going on?" Seeing that the artillery fire stopped, Shamrih asked Yakuda in a daze: "Deputy Battalion Commander, why didn't our artillery fire?"

Yakuda didn't know why the artillery stopped shelling. He looked around and said tentatively: "Could it be that the artillery stopped the shelling because they were worried about accidentally injuring us."

"It's not like that," Shamrih looked at the position of the artillery position, pondered for a moment, and then said to Yakuda, "I think the shells should be all gone."

"The shells are all gone?" Yakuda said a little puzzled: "No way, just a few minutes of shelling, and all the shells in the inventory have been shot?"

"It's very possible." Shamrih remembered that he had chatted with the commanders and fighters of the second battalion, and knew that their previous mission was to stay behind the entire defense line and cover the artillery positions. The reason why they were transferred to the front was that the enemy's offensive was too fierce and the troops at the front were tight; the second was that the ammunition reserves were insufficient: "I once heard from the commanders and fighters of the Second Battalion that the artillery regiment did not have many shells left."

Now that the shelling has stopped, it is obviously impossible to imagine rushing like just now, and the tactics must be adjusted in time, so Yakuda asked cautiously: "Comrade battalion commander, what shall we do next?"

"Let the soldiers stop the attack and seize the favorable terrain on the spot." Shamrich ordered decisively: "Be prepared to deal with the German counterattack."

Shortly after the counter-offensive at the barricade factory started, the commanders and fighters of the 122nd Regiment, who were standing firm in the workers' new village, discovered it, and they reported the situation to Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko in time. Papchenko found a commanding height, raised his binoculars and looked in the direction of the barricade factory for a long time, and then ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, call the division headquarters and report to them that the troops of the barricade factory have deployed The counterattack against the German army. Ask the division commander, should we also attack and respond?"

After receiving a call from the Chief of Staff of the 122nd Regiment, Sidolin reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to the report of the 122nd Regiment, the defenders in the barricade factory are launching a counterattack against the enemy."

"What, the counterattack has started?" Sokov heard Sidolin's report, and said with some surprise: "Why didn't Commander Belkin report to me?"

"It may be that they haven't made much progress, so Commander Belkin hasn't reported to you for the time being." After Sidolin finished his guess, he asked Sokov again: "Comrade commander, Papchenko The lieutenant colonel asked if his regiment also needed to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"

"Nonsense, black lights and blind lights, what are his troops doing?" Sokov pointed at Sidolin with his hand, and said in a stern tone: "Order them to stay on the ground, and they are not allowed to attack without my order. "

After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up another phone and ordered the messenger to connect to the regiment headquarters of the downsized regiment. After hearing Belkin's voice, Sokov asked straight to the point: "Comrade my political commissar, why didn't you report to the division headquarters in time about your regiment's counterattack against the German army?"

"Misha." Belkin replied on the phone: "Our counterattack has just begun, and we haven't made any decent progress yet, so I made my own decisions and didn't report to you. I hope you won't be angry."

Sokov was eager to understand the situation in the barricade factory, and he couldn't blame Belkin, so he asked: "How is the counterattack of Lyudnikov's division? Is it going well?"

"Misha." Hearing Sokov's question, Belkin hesitated, and decided to tell the truth: "They did not launch a counterattack against the Germans."

"What, they didn't launch a counterattack against the Germans?" Sokov glanced at Golikov, who was sitting beside him, and asked, "Why?"

"They feel that it is impossible for the German army to withdraw from the position at night after a fierce German offensive during the day, so they plan to wait until the daytime to see the situation." Perhaps because Sokov would report to Chuikov, Belgin also A special sentence was added: "However, when our regiment counterattacked, the artillery regiment of the division also provided us with the necessary artillery support."

While Sokov was on the phone, Golikov sat next to him and remained silent. After Sokov put down the microphone, he asked, "Colonel Sokov, I want to ask you why you didn't let the 122nd Regiment launch a counterattack against the enemy."

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov had expected that Golikov would ask this question, and he replied confidently: "The situation in the new workers' village and the barricade factory are different. There is an open space between us and the enemy. , without the cover of artillery fire and tanks, it is very difficult to pass through the open land. Moreover, once the fighting broke out at the barricade factory, the enemies on the opposite side of Mamayev Gang and the Workers' New Village must have been alarmed. To launch a counterattack, we can only use a strong attack. You also know that artillery cannot accurately strike distant enemies at night, and without artillery cover, our offensive will be easily defeated by the enemy."

For Sokov's explanation, Golikov thought about the opportunity, and finally nodded his head to express his approval. But he continued to ask: "Then tell me, why is Lyudnikov's division unwilling to join your troops in launching a counterattack against the enemy? As far as I know, he should have received an order from Chuikov to counterattack." .”

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I would like to ask a question," Sokov saw that Golikov nodded slightly, expressing his agreement to ask the question, and continued: "If your defensive zone is attacked by the enemy during the day , but you are told that the enemy will retreat at night and that you counterattack them. What will you do?"

After Golikov finished speaking, he did not answer immediately, but frowned and tapped his fingers on the table lightly, as if he was thinking about the question Sokov asked. After a long time, his brows widened, he looked at Sokov with a wry smile and said, "Colonel Sokov, I may also take the same cautious attitude as Colonel Lyudnikov and not send troops to counterattack for the time being. Let’s just observe the situation.”

Sidolin was worried that Sokov's words would anger Golikov, so he couldn't help raising his heart to his throat. But at this moment, seeing that Golikov agreed with Sokov's statement, the hanging heart also returned to his stomach. After he took a long breath, he said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, if what the division commander said is correct, I guess the Dzerzhinsky factory at this moment has not launched a counterattack against the enemy."

"It's entirely possible." Golikov expressed support for Sidolin's statement: "The enemy's crazy attack during the day made our commanders cautious. Even if they knew that the enemy might retreat, They didn't dare to take risks easily. On the contrary, it is a young commander like Sokov who has the drive to launch the necessary counterattack against the enemy in time according to the intention of his superiors and keep them in the city."

After a short pause, Golikov asked Sokov again: "Colonel Sokov, I would like to ask, can your troops launch a full-scale counterattack against the enemies in front of the Mamayev Hill and the New Workers' Village during the daytime? "

"It's hard to say, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied cautiously: "With the support of artillery and tank units, I can definitely launch a counterattack during the day. But Colonel Bely has not arrived yet, and our daytime Whether the attack will be supported by tank units is still an open question."

After Sokov's reminder, everyone suddenly heard that Colonel Bely hadn't shown up until now. I don't know if it was because Cuikov refused to let him go, or if something happened to him on the road. Sidolin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think you should send a small force to meet Colonel Bely and the others?"

"Yes." Sokov knew very well that in the next battle, the tank unit commanded by Bely would play an important role. He could not allow any accidents, so he said to Sidolin: "Let Samoilov The lieutenant takes a platoon and goes out to meet them, and make sure that Colonel Bely reaches Mamayev Post safely."

"Misha, you don't need to trouble your people to run." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a loud voice came from the door: "I have arrived here safely."

Sokov turned his head and looked towards the door. He saw Colonel Bely standing at the door, wearing a military overcoat, a steel helmet, and carrying a submachine gun. Here you come! On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 41st Guards Division, I welcome you!"