Red Moscow

  Chapter 357 Internal and external attack

The corporal who was sent out to find out the situation came back in a hurry after only a few minutes, and reported incoherently to the battalion commander: "Comrade Major, yes, we have figured it out. They are our own people. They are the 124th infantrymen. The first battalion of the brigade came here to meet us and break through the siege."

   "Great, this is really great." The battalion commander confirmed from the corporal that the other party was supporting him to break out, and couldn't help being overjoyed, and immediately wanted to issue an order to break out.

  Unexpectedly, at this moment, a voice came from the side: "No, we can't break through!"

   "Why?" The battalion commander recognized that the person speaking was his political deputy battalion commander, so he frowned and asked back: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, I want to ask why you can't break through?"

"Comrade battalion commander," the political deputy battalion commander walked in front of the battalion commander, looked at him and asked, "Have you forgotten the order No. 227 issued not long ago? If you evacuate the position without the permission of your superiors, The commander of the unit will be court-martialed."

  The battalion commander was very happy for the arrival of the reinforcements. Hearing what the deputy battalion commander said, it was as if someone had poured a basin of ice water on his head, and his heart suddenly turned cold. He thought to himself: "Now the army has insufficient ammunition and supplies. If they continue to stay in the fortification area, they will not escape the end of being wiped out by the German army. But if they order the troops to retreat, they may be sent to military courts. What should I do now?" How to do it?"

  The first battalion that came to meet them waited outside for a long time, but the troops in the fortification area did not come out for a long time. Just when the company commander leading the team was considering whether to go into the fortification area by himself to find out what was going on inside, he suddenly heard someone behind him shouting his order. He turned his head and saw that it was his battalion commander, Captain Shashka. .

  Lieutenant trotted to the company commander with a pistol in his hand, and asked dissatisfiedly, "I said, Comrade Captain, why haven't the friendly troops in the fortification area broken through yet? What are you dawdling about?"

"Comrade battalion commander," said the company commander who received Sashka's criticism, aggrieved: "When they sent someone to contact me just now, I told them that we were here to help them break through. But I don't know what happened. As soon as the soldiers who came to make contact returned, there was no movement over there."

"Damn it, the Germans may rush over at any time, but they are just dawdling." Shashka became anxious when he heard that, and walked quickly towards the fortified area with a pistol in his hand, saying, "I Go talk to their commander."

  The commanders and fighters in the fortification area stayed in the trenches, looking at the friendly forces close at hand, but because of the order No. 227, they dared not abandon their positions casually and go out to join them. Seeing a figure walking quickly towards the position of the position, a dedicated soldier shouted loudly at the figure: "Who is coming?"

  When Sashka heard someone asking herself, she stopped quickly and responded loudly: "I am Captain Sashka, the battalion commander of the 124th Brigade. I want to see your commander."

   Not long after, Shashka was taken to the battalion command post. Here he met the battalion commander and political deputy battalion commander who commanded the troops in the fortified area. Seeing that the opponent's military rank was higher than his own, he first raised his hand to salute, and then asked bluntly: "Comrade Major, I would like to ask, in order to meet you, my troops managed to break through the German defense line before arriving. Here. Why are you holding back your troops for so long, don't you know that the enemy may counterattack at any time?"

   "Comrade Captain, please don't get angry." The battalion commander glanced at the political deputy battalion commander sitting opposite him, and said helplessly, "I want to retreat too, but we can't retreat until we get orders from our superiors."

   "Can't retreat?!" Sashka was confused by the battalion commander's words, and he asked in confusion: "Comrade major, please explain to me, what is going on?"

"That's right, Comrade Captain." The political deputy battalion commander interjected, "According to the latest Order No. 227, without the permission of the superior, any commander who leads the troops to abandon the position without permission will be sent to Go to a court-martial. If we withdraw from the fortified area without an order from our superiors, a court-martial awaits us."

  After learning the reason why the troops in the fortification area stayed still, Shashka really couldn't laugh or cry. He looked at the political deputy battalion commander and asked: "Comrade first-level instructor, can your radio station get in touch with the superior?"

   "We don't have a radio station." The political deputy battalion commander replied with some embarrassment.

   "What about the wired phone?" Shashka continued to ask, "Can you use the wired phone to communicate with your superiors?"

  The battalion commander quickly replied: "From the moment the battle started, our wired phone lost contact with our superiors."

"Since you are not equipped with a radio station, the wired telephone is also useless." Shashka looked at the two and asked coldly, "Then how do you communicate with your superiors? Your fortification area has been besieged by the enemy. Even if you want to send communication soldiers in to contact you, it is impossible. You don't take advantage of the opportunity in front of you to organize troops to break through in time, but stay here and wait for the impossible retreat order. This is not taking your own and Are the lives of the soldiers a joke?"

  Although the two battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders both felt that what Sashka said was reasonable, the habit of obedience they had developed in the army for many years made them still dare not give the order to retreat.

Seeing the two sitting there without moving, Shashka became anxious, grabbed the battalion commander by the skirt, and shouted at him: "Do you know how many soldiers under my command died to save you. Now they You are still outside blocking the enemies who are trying to rush over, but you are here to stand still, do you want to wait until all my people are dead before you are satisfied?"

Sashka's words shocked the battalion commander. He heard the gunshots and explosions from a distance, and then he suddenly remembered that the friendly troops who came to rescue him were still fighting with the enemies who besieged the fortified area, and However, because he was worried about going to a military court, he did not dare to issue a retreat order and let the soldiers who came to rescue him die.

Thinking of this, the battalion commander gently broke away from Shashka's hand, and said seriously: "Comrade Captain, you are right. I was wrong. I shouldn't stand still. I will give the troops a retreat order now." After finishing speaking , he shouted towards the outside, "Correspondent!"

  Following his shout, a soldier with a gun ran in from outside: "Comrade battalion commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Immediately issue an order to the troops to withdraw from the fortified area through the channel opened by the friendly army." He may be worried that the communicator will not be able to convey his order in time, and he specifically emphasized: "Tell them to be fast, Whether you can jump out of the enemy's encirclement depends on their speed of action."

   "Comrade battalion commander," the deputy battalion commander was a little anxious when he heard that the battalion commander actually gave such an order to the correspondent: "Do you know that by doing this, you are sending yourself to a military court."

   "I know," the battalion commander said with a firm expression, "I can't just let hundreds of soldiers accompany me to die just because I'm worried about going to a court-martial and not giving an order to break out of the siege."

  In this way, due to the insistence of the battalion commander, the troops standing in the fortification area, along with the first battalion that came to meet them, successfully highlighted the encirclement of the German army and withdrew to the location of Sukov's temporary headquarters.

  The battle fought by the other attacking troops was even more intense. What they attacked was an armored regiment of the German army. Unexpectedly, they were discovered by the sentries on duty just as they approached the enemy's camp. Although the soldiers rushing to the front killed the enemy sentries in time, they were still one step too late. The German soldiers on duty in the armored vehicles and tanks immediately fired machine guns after discovering the Soviet commanders outside. The dense bullets knocked down a large area of ​​the soldiers rushing to the front.

   After finally eliminating the enemies hiding in the tanks and armored vehicles, the enemies in the camp were awakened. They quickly seized the favorable terrain and started a dogfight with the rushing Soviet troops.

  Facing an enemy with tanks and armored vehicles, the 124th and 149th Brigades, which lacked anti-tank weapons, fought extremely hard. The sneak attack turned into a strong attack. The two brigade commanders who were supervising the battle at the front could only use crowd tactics and charged the German camp again and again.

  It's a pity that their offensive was crushed in front of the superior firepower of the German army. The five consecutive offensives all ended in failure. Apart from dropping hundreds of wounded and corpses in front of the position, they did not make any progress at all.

  ...

   Sokov, who was staying in the headquarters, was not worried about the troops rushing towards the fortified area. He felt that they were absolutely sure to rescue the trapped friendly troops. On the other side, even though the attack force was as many as seven battalions, it still gave him an ominous premonition.

  Although he heard gunshots and explosions from two directions, because he couldn't establish contact with the two fighting troops, Sokov didn't know what the frontline was like.

  Andrei, who was staying at the headquarters, saw Sokov's upset look, and offered to propose: "Comrade Brigadier, do you think it is necessary to put our battalion into battle immediately?"

"No, it's not time for you to play yet." Sokov, who was pacing back and forth, stopped immediately when he heard what Andre said, and said to him: "The preparation time for this counterattack is too short. And without the support of artillery fire and air force, it is very difficult to defeat the German army. The main purpose of bringing your battalion with me is to block the charging enemy at the most critical time."

  If other battalion commanders heard what Sokov said, they would definitely panic. After all, how can an enemy army that cannot be stopped by two brigades rely on only one of their own battalions? But Andrei nodded after hearing this, and patted his chest to assure Sokov: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier Commander, since the Germans really rushed over, as long as our battalion is here, they don't want to hurt you." Half a hair of yours."

   "Comrade Commander," a second lieutenant officer rushed in from outside at this time. After raising his hand to salute Sokov, he reported: "I am sent by Colonel Bolvinov, the commander of the 149th brigade."

  Sokov looked at the second lieutenant and asked, "What did the colonel ask you to report to me?"

   "The colonel said that the enemy's firepower was too strong, and all the attacks we organized were repelled by the Germans." The second lieutenant looked at Sokov and asked, "The colonel asked me to ask you for instructions. What should I do next?"

   After the second lieutenant finished speaking, Sokov realized that he was sent by Bolvinov to ask for instructions. Sokov thought for a while, and replied, "The order is very simple, attack, continue to attack, we must go to the camps of the German army and rush to join the main force of the besieged army."

  As soon as the second lieutenant left, Andrei immediately said to Sokov: "Comrade brigade commander, what should we do if the attacks launched by the two infantry brigades fail?"

"Is there any other way." Hearing Andre's question, Sokov said with a wry smile: "I can only choose to let the troops retreat. As for the attack, let it go to hell, let the infantry attack the German armored forces, Doesn't this make them seek death?"

   Regardless of the attack of the two infantry brigades, not much progress has been made. But inside the encirclement, someone has been listening to the gunshots and explosions coming from here. Major Ibaru, the commander of the teaching battalion of the 35th Guards Division, immediately picked up the phone on the table after hearing the gunshots, and called the division commander, Major General Glazkov: "Comrade commander, on the other side of the encirclement, pass There is a clear sound of gunfire and explosions, and I think friendly forces must be coming to meet us. I request an immediate attack!"

  Major General Glazkov agreed with Ibaru's statement. But before he figured out the situation, he felt that there was no need to act rashly. At least he had to figure out the size of the troops on the other side of the encirclement to support him. If the number of people is too small, it doesn't make much sense. Maybe the opponent has been wiped out by the besieged enemies before he has taken any action.

  Ibaru was a little impatient. Although Major General Glazkov ordered him to stay put for the time being, he didn't have that much time. When the scouts he sent figured out what was going on, he decided to take a risk. Thinking of this, he stood up from the trench and shouted to the soldiers beside him: "Comrades, come with me and destroy the Japanese invaders!"

  When the commanders and fighters of the teaching battalion heard the gunshots and explosions coming from the opposite side of the encirclement, they couldn't hold back for a long time. However, their superiors did not issue an attack order, so they could only stay in the trench and stare blankly.

   Originally thought that this attack would pay a huge price. But when they started to attack, they realized that the enemy's attention was drawn to the other side of the encirclement. The one in front of them was just a security platoon of the German army. Facing the soldiers rushing up like tigers, the German army fired a burst of guns indiscriminately, then abandoned their position and fled in all directions.

  The German officers and soldiers of the armored regiment repelled several attacks by the two infantry brigades, but their ammunition was also consumed hugely. Seeing that the ammunition was about to run out, unexpectedly, an army rushed out from behind, and the German army suddenly became confused. In order to prevent being surrounded by the Soviet army, the head of the German army decisively issued an order to retreat. Finally, the tanks that were out of fuel and ammunition could only reluctantly be thrown to the Soviet army.

  (end of this chapter)