Burning Moscow

The troops leaping out of the trenches rushed to the German troops who were fleeing in embarrassment. The artillery shells fired by Morozov’s artillery company continued to explode in the crowd of the enemy’s rout, and the explosive air waves or flying shrapnel cut down the German soldiers from time to time.

I called Pugachev to the front, handed the telescope into his hand, and said excitedly: "Captain Pugachev, come and see, what is a coordinated infantry battle? The battle going on outside is just one Very good textbook."

Although Pugachev was confused at hearing, the strict hierarchical system of the army prevented him from asking casual questions, so he had to honestly raise his binoculars and look outside.

After he watched it for a while, I asked next to him: "Do you see anything famous?"

He put down his binoculars, looked at me blankly, shook his head slowly, and said with some confusion, "I only saw the enemy running away, and our army was chasing."

I was choked by his words. I wanted to raise my hand and slap him in the face. With an expression of hatred for iron and steel, I pointed out and said angrily, "Comrade Captain, did you not pay attention to the artillery company of our division? Is it a hit point?"

He nodded and replied: "I saw it, almost all the artillery shells fell in the middle of the enemy's infantry and exploded. The enemy can be in such a dense formation and the distance is so close. It would be strange if the artillery company can't hit it."

This elm lump, I was so optimistic about him. I didn't expect him to be so inexperienced. After watching for a long time, he didn't see any way out. It was ashamed of my trust in him. But I can’t wonder about this with him. Instead, I explained to him patiently: "Comrade Pugachev, look carefully. The artillery company’s shells fall on the enemy’s piles. This can destroy the resistance that the enemy may organize. So that our army’s offensive will be smoother and the charge faster. In addition, the infantry commanders also performed well. They knew that the artillery was leading their offensive, and they immediately commanded the troops to attack at the artillery point. The enemy was blown up, and the infantry units in the company platoon rushed up and wiped out the remaining German forces."

Hearing what I said, Pugachev, who was observing the battlefield with a binoculars, nodded repeatedly: "Comrade commander. It's really what you said. Our soldiers rushed forward at the impact point, knocking the enemy out of their armor. Able to escape in embarrassment."

Our soldiers chased them for about two kilometers, and then stopped chasing. The dozens of German soldiers who had escaped by luck, if they were amnesty, fled away desperately. After our soldiers stopped pursuing, they began to clean the battlefield, move the captured materials and **** the prisoners back.

Almost all trucks on the battlefield were destroyed by artillery fire, but I found out when the soldiers returned. He actually drove back the armored vehicle that collided with the truck. It seems that this armored car is strong, after such a violent impact. The truck is reimbursed, and it is fine.

When I saw the soldiers returning to the trenches one after another, I finally waited for Gaidar's belated call. I heard him say excitedly: "Report to Comrade Commander, in the previous battle, our regiment destroyed 3 enemy tanks, 5 armored vehicles, and 25 trucks, killed 147 enemies, wounded 213 people, captured 17 people and captured them. An armored car."

After Gaidar finished talking about the results of our army, I asked again: "How about the casualties of our army?"

"Fortunately, only a dozen soldiers were slightly injured, no one sacrificed."

"Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, have you interrogated the prisoners? Which part of them are they?"

"After interrogation, they are the 29th Division of the Motorized Infantry Division of the 4th Army of the Gothic Tanks. It was the first battalion of the division that was defeated by us. The main force of the division is still 15 kilometers away from our army, which is estimated to be about an hour. Will be there."

Hearing this, I quickly told Gaidar: "Comrade Gaidar, although we caught the enemy by surprise, it also aroused their vigilance. Before the next attack, the enemy will definitely use artillery to bombard your regiment’s positions. , You must let the soldiers do a good job of defense and minimize the losses suffered by the enemy’s shelling."

"Please rest assured, my regiment has built a large number of anti-cannon holes in both lines of defense. When the enemy shells, except for a small number of observation posts, the rest of the commanders and fighters can go into the hole to avoid enemy fire."

"Can the blastholes withstand the enemy's heavy artillery bombardment?" Although Gaidar said with full confidence, I was still not at ease in my heart, so I couldn't help asking more.

"No problem. Our anti-cannon holes were dug diagonally downward. The top soil layer is almost two meters away. As long as it is not directly hit by the enemy's heavy artillery, it should be able to hold it."

I was relieved after hearing this, and after a short pause, I began to comment to him about the battle just now: "I am very satisfied with the performance of your regiment in the previous battle. The first German battalion is almost close to the position, and no trenches have been found. Someone here proves that you have done a good job of concealment. And Captain Morozov’s artillery company has also done a great job. As soon as it took action, it killed all enemy tanks and armored vehicles, and then used artillery to cover our troops. The enemy is hit hard. If you continue to fight like this in the next battle, it will probably not be long before you will be promoted again."

After Gaidar laughed, he started to slap me up again: "The commander is still good, I just followed your orders."

Then Morozov’s call came in. After I praised him, I reminded him: "Comrade Morozov, I think your artillery company should move. Think about it, you just beat the Germans like that. It’s miserable. The first battalion is almost annihilated. The Germans will definitely retaliate. Before they attack our position, they will use fierce artillery fire, and the position of your artillery company will be their first attack. the goal."

Morozov was shocked when he heard me say this. Obviously he hadn't thought that this might happen, so he quickly asked me: "Master, where should we even withdraw to?"

"There is a small river on the left side of the defensive position. You can move your artillery company there." I am afraid that he will delay time because of hesitation. I also emphasized: "Don't hesitate, move immediately. If there is not enough manpower. Let Gaidar send someone to assist you. Also. Set up a few more fake positions on the existing positions and attract the German artillery."

"Understood, Commander, I will immediately transfer the troops." Morozov replied very readily.

The large German troops came faster than I thought. After only forty minutes, the German artillery bombardment of our positions began. First, a shell fell ten meters in front of the trench and exploded, setting off a huge plume of smoke. Then the shells fell like raindrops around the trenches of our army and exploded. The flying gunpowder and dust covered the sky, and the dazzling sunlight dimmed at once, as if the sky was suddenly overcast.

The rumbling noise made the ground under my feet tremble slightly. I can't help but worry about the officers and men in the trenches. Under such intensive artillery bombardment, can they survive without incident?

The German shelling lasted for nearly twenty minutes before it stopped. Before the gunpowder smoke from the position completely dissipated, the German offensive troops appeared in my telescope. With about a regiment’s strength, they are guided by more than 30 tanks. Cheng column rushed towards our army position.

It may be because our army's simple position was hit by the shelling just now. Has been destroyed by their artillery fire. The attacking enemy seemed very arrogant. Several tanks that were far apart from the rear were actually crowded with infantry wearing steel helmets.

When these tanks were less than 50 meters away from the trenches of our army, our soldiers crawled out of the ruins of the bombed fortifications and fired at these enemies with rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns. Under the intensive light firepower of our army, although the infantry on the tank rolled down one after another, the German tank continued to move forward.

When I saw this scene, I couldn't help but feel a little anxious. If the German tanks rushed through the trenches, it would be a fatal blow to the morale of the commanders and fighters. Thinking about it in my heart, I was about to call Morozov and let their artillery batteries fire and knock me out of the tanks that were about to rush to the trenches.

I didn't know that when I was thinking about it, some shells fell around the German tank and exploded. One of them was hit directly. A large group of dark red flames suddenly burst out of the tank's body, and then it began to burn violently. The tank dragged the fire and smoke, then drove a few meters forward, and then stopped moving.

Then there were artillery shells that hit several other tanks one after another. In a short while, all of the tanks that took the lead in the assault were destroyed, and they flared up not far from the trenches of our army.

Several tanks that were far behind stopped, turned their muzzles, and fired at the position of Morozov's artillery company. The German tank shell landed on the artillery position, and it accurately hit an artillery position. When the smoke dissipated, I saw a crater appeared there with broken cannon remains, and the soldiers on the artillery position fell stumblingly. All around.

Seeing that his gun position was destroyed by the German tank guns, Morozov also blushed. He directed the remaining artillery to fire at the tank. After a salvo, the German tank was destroyed.

Seeing that the tanks of his accomplices were destroyed, more German tanks turned their guns and started shooting at the artillery positions of Morozov Company. Morozov was not to be outdone, and commanded the soldiers to fight back bravely. In this way, the Germans destroyed a cannon of our army, and our army destroyed a tank of the German army.

The frontal attacking German tanks carefully bypassed the wreckage of trucks destroyed by our army and guided the infantry towards our army's position. The tank soldiers of the three leading tanks seemed to be veterans with superb skills and composure. When they were driving forward, they were firing guns while firing machine guns. They used fierce firepower to suppress our commanders and fighters in the trenches and could not move.

Because the artillery company was restrained by several other German tanks, it was unable to provide artillery support to the comrades who were standing in the trenches, and the infantry in the trenches were crushed to death by enemy fire, so they could only watch a few German tanks pass by. After exiting the trenches, he drove to the second line of defense.

However, the enemy's tank didn't drive far away, and there were soldiers hiding in the traffic trench between the two lines of defense. They stood up abruptly and threw Molotov cocktails at the galloping tank. The Molotov cocktail ruptured on the body of the tank and then began to burn violently. After the tank stopped, I saw the tank soldiers inside fleeing in embarrassment. Our soldiers carried machine guns and submachine guns and fired frantically at them, knocking them all down like a moving target.

I asked Razumeyeva to call Oleg’s phone and calmly ordered him: "Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, it’s time for your Second Regiment and the tank detachment to attack. Remember. The tank rushed from the underground tank Curry. After coming out. Kill the German tanks first. Then turn around and hit the German artillery positions. Also, your second regiment is responsible for blocking the retreat of the German infantry, and none of them can let them run. Do you understand?"

"Understood, comrade commander." From Oleg's voice, I could hear that he was very excited. He spent a few hours underground, and finally waited for the time to strike. So his answer to me was so loud that I had to remove the microphone from my ear. "We will attack immediately and we must completely wipe out this enemy."

The Germans who were attacking our position never dreamed that I was still underground on their side, hiding an ambush. What's more terrible is that this type of unit is still a mechanized unit. More than a dozen tanks broke out of the ground, hurriedly around behind the German tanks, and fired their cannons unhurriedly. Poorly, the remaining twenty German tanks did not even notice the tanks that appeared behind them. As a result, they were all destroyed one by one like our tank soldiers practiced shooting.

German infantrymen who had been disrupted by our tanks. Facing the second regiment, which rushed up like a wolf like a tiger, it was even more chaotic. Responsive. I quickly turned around and could fire a few shots; the slow response, and before he figured out what happened, he was knocked down by our soldiers indiscriminately.

Seeing that the enemy's coordinated attack by the tank was defeated by the second regiment and tank detachment emerging from the side, the commanders of the fourth regiment jumped out of the trench again, shouting and rushing toward the enemy. When the troops attacked, I paid special attention to the number of this unit, and found that it was not at all small. It is estimated that Gaidar used the short gap time after the shelling stopped to move the troops from the second line of defense to the first line of defense.

Although the Germans are brave when attacking, when they find themselves in a desperate situation, they usually don't fight the offensive enemy to death, but take the initiative to lay down their weapons and raise their hands to surrender. In this way, ten minutes after the second regiment and the tank unit attacked, the regiment of the 29th Division of the Demotorized Infantry Division was solved by us.

Soon news came from Perskin that the tank unit broke through the enemy's artillery position, dispersed the enemy's artillery, and seized nearly forty cannons and supporting ammunition.

I asked Pugachev to call Morozov and ask how the artillery company suffered. The report I got saddened me. All ten cannons in a row, seven of them were completely damaged in the confrontation with a German tank just now, two were wounded, and only one remained intact. Three-quarters of the all-company soldiers suffered casualties.

Just as I was heartbroken over the loss of the artillery company, Razumeyeva pulled my sleeve and told me in a low voice that Cuikov wanted to talk to me. I put on the headset and politely said to the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander."

"How is the situation with you?" Cui Kefu asked straightforwardly without being polite with me.

"Comrade Commander, the enemy launched two attacks on our division's defense line." I replied clearly, "The soldiers of our division were brave in battle, and the enemy's offensive was smashed by us."

"Very good," Cui Kefu finished this sentence, and then asked with concern: "Oshanina, are your division's casualties high? Please tell me the truth, can you persist until dark?"

"The artillery company was almost exhausted. The four regiments that held their positions had some casualties in the enemy's shelling. However, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar has not reported me the specific casualties. I estimate that the casualties will be about one battalion. As long as the enemy doesn't dispatch the air force, it will not be a problem to fight as it is now and stick to it until dark."

"Well, if this is the case, then I will give you the next step. When it gets dark, your division will immediately retreat to a position and move towards Stalingrad. After retreating 30 kilometers, build a new one. The line of defense continues to block the enemy. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." It seems that Cui Kefu wants our division to fight and retreat. While continuously delaying the enemy's offensive troops, he retreats to Stalingrad step by step.

"Then, I wish you good luck!" After Cui Kefu finished speaking, he directly terminated the call.

"Comrade Commander, the phone of Head Sergeikov." As soon as I took off the headset, Pugachev, who was standing next to me, handed the phone to me, and said: "He wants to ask you when Strike out in one group."

I smiled, took the subject, and said loudly, "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Xiejielikov? Is there anything you want to do with me?"

"Comrade Commander," Sergeikov said in a very anxious tone: "I heard a lot of gunfire ahead, but I have not received your order. I thought the telephone line was interrupted by the shells, so I made a call. Making sure."

I knew he wanted to fight, but deliberately pretended to be confused and said: "You know that the phone line is open now, so I'll hang up."

Xiejielikov became anxious at once, and hurriedly shouted: "Comrade Commander, please wait a moment, I have something to say."

"If you have anything, let's talk." I said calmly.

"When will our regiment go up?" He said with a bit of a twist: "I heard the artillery fire in front is so fierce, the casualties of the fourth regiment must be small, you should transfer our regiment to support them early."

"Captain Sejerikov," I deliberately called his position and said: "When will you be on the regiment, I have overall arrangements, and you don't need to remind me. In addition, I will tell you one thing, although the enemy's The offensive was fierce, but the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment were brave. They repelled both of the enemy’s offensives. At the moment, the results are being counted."

"But, comrade commander,..." I unceremoniously interrupted what Sergeikov wanted to say. I said coldly: "Comrade Sejjerikov, the mission of your regiment is to stand by at the station. Before getting my order, you can stay there honestly. Okay, I will join other troops. To make contact, I just hang up." After finishing speaking, I just hung up before he could speak.

Then I dialed Gaidar's phone and asked bluntly: "Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, how is your regiment's success this time? Also, are the casualties of the troops serious?"

Gaidar quickly replied: "Report to the commander, before the enemy shelling, I only had one company in the first line of defense, and the rest of the troops were withdrawn to the second line of defense, so after the enemy’s violent shelling, our regiment Probably one company was injured or killed. Then I found that when the enemy began to attack, I ordered those troops that had retreated to the second line of defense to return to the first line of defense to block the enemy's attack. When the second regiment and tank detachment launched an offensive from behind the enemy Because of the small casualties, my troops also launched a counterattack in time."

"Very well, Lieutenant Colonel Gydar, you did a great job." After I praised him, I ordered: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just received the order from General Cui Kefu. He ordered our division to head north after dark. Retreat 30 kilometers in the direction of Stalingrad, build new fortifications there, continue to resist the enemy’s offensive, and slow the enemy’s advancing speed to Stalingrad. The task of blocking the German troops frontally, I also want to continue to let your regiment complete it. , Are you confident?"

"No problem, comrade commander." Gaidar said confidently: "From the current situation, the casualties of our regiment are not large, and it will not affect tomorrow's battle at all~www.wuxiaspot.com~ You can rest assured. Give this task to our regiment."

Although he was so confident in what he said, I was still a bit unreliable and proactively proposed: "Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, the third regiment is not far from you, should you let the third regiment take over for your defense when it comes, let your regiment withdraw to the back first? Take a break."

My words made Gaidar anxious, he said loudly: "Comrade commander, you look down on our regiment. I tell you, as long as there is one soldier in the fourth regiment who has not sacrificed, he will never take the initiative to withdraw from the position."

Hearing his resolute attitude, I had no choice but to say: "Well, since you are so confident, let your team carry out the task of holding your ground during the day."

As soon as he put down the phone, the artillery company commander Morozov appeared in my observation post. When he saw me, his eyes blushed and he almost cried. He choked and said, "Comrade commander, do you see if the artillery battalion Call it out, I want to fight face-to-face with the Germans to avenge my sacrificed brothers."

"No," I immediately denied his proposal with an indisputable tone. "It's not yet time for them to appear. As for the revenge for your artillery company soldiers, you can rest assured that after dark, I will let You do what you want." (To be continued.)