Chapter 665: Bitter battle (Part 1)

  Chapter 665 Hard Fight (Part 1)

  As soon as the German bombardment ended, a regiment of the German 24th Armored Division deployed near the Red October Factory launched an attack on the defensive zone of the 39th Guards Division.

  Although the bombardment has ended, the residential area where the Guards Division is stationed is still shrouded in smoke and dust. The sun hangs high in the sky like a maroon bright spot, and it is rare to reveal a ray of light from the smoke.

  During the fierce bombardment, the buildings and fortifications held by the Soviet soldiers were almost destroyed by the German artillery fire. The commanders at all levels crawled out of the ruins, before they even had time to dust off their bodies, they bent down to look for their surviving soldiers in the ruins, and loudly ordered them to prepare for battle.

  Just as the surviving soldiers were struggling to climb out of collapsed buildings or trenches full of floating soil, the enemy had followed the tanks or armored vehicles and rushed into the streets that were originally held by the Soviet army. Due to the piles of bricks and rubble everywhere on the street, the enemy tanks and armored vehicles drove very slowly. Soldiers with guns bent over to follow the vehicles, staring warily at the ruins on both sides of the street.

  Although they are advancing very slowly, the Soviet commanders and fighters cannot stop their advance. After finally setting up a machine gun in the ruins, it was blasted into the sky by German tank fire just after firing halfway through the shuttle. Seeing that the enemy tanks were so difficult, some soldiers took cluster grenades and hid in the ruins, preparing to blow up the tanks with grenades when they passed by. However, the actions of these soldiers were discovered by the soldiers following the vehicle. Before they could throw the cluster grenades, they were knocked down by the enemy's dense bullets...

Seeing that the position he held was losing bit by bit, Guriyev was anxious, and hurriedly called Cuikov, reported the situation here to him, and asked: "Comrade commander, my troops have just finished During the bombardment, the organizational system has been completely lost, and now the commanders and fighters are fighting on their own. If there is no support, I am worried that once the enemy breaks through our defenses in residential areas, they will rush to the factory area."

Chuikov was moved by Guriyev's words. He knew very well that once the German army broke through the residential area of ​​the 39th Guards Division west of the Red October factory, the enemy might drive straight in, pass through the factory area, and come to the Volga. riverside. Thinking of this, he quickly said into the microphone: "General Guriyev, the Volga River is behind us. If you don't want your troops to be driven into the river by the Germans, then do everything possible to hold on. As for reinforcements, I'll figure it out."

  Although Chuikov did not explicitly express that he would send reinforcements to him, Guriyev still saw hope and said hastily: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. As long as I am alive, I will definitely be able to hold my defense zone."

   After Chuikov put down the phone, he turned to Krylov and said, "Chief of Staff, the situation in Guriyev's place is very bad now. Do you think Sokov should bring someone to support him?"

"Comrade Commander!" Krylov showed a dumbfounding expression on his face: "It is estimated that Mamayev Hill is also engaged in fierce fighting at the moment, how can we randomly deploy troops? You know, the Red October factory has fallen, and the enemy is the most Rush to the Volga River and drive us down the river. But if the Mamayev Post is lost, not only our defense line in the city will be divided into two sections, but even the ferry between us and the outside world will be occupied by the enemy. The consequences will be unimaginable.”

"But the situation at Guriyev's place is very bad." Chuikov knew that what Krylov said was true, but the situation of the 39th Guards Division was critical, and he couldn't help it, so he said embarrassingly: "Or, Shall we send out the guards from the headquarters?"

"Comrade Commander, I would like to remind you." Hearing that Chuikov was planning to send out the guard battalion again, Krylov quickly reminded him: "You handed over our original guard battalion to Sokov. The security guards of the headquarters were just transferred from the other side two days ago, if they are sent to the Red October factory, then who will be responsible for the security here?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, if we don't want to save us, once the enemy occupies Guriyev's defense zone, they can drive straight through the Red October factory, break into the Volga River, and drive us all into the river." Chuikov expressed his expression. He said seriously: "The guard battalion is sent out not only to relieve Guriyev, but also to ensure the safety of our headquarters."

   "I don't think it is necessary to send a guard battalion." From the shelling that ended not long ago, Krylov knew that the German army had used a strong force this time, trying to break through the Soviet defense line in one fell swoop, and rushed to the Volga River. Even if Guriyev blocked the Germans, they may rush to the river from other directions. If there is no guard force in the headquarters, they are in danger of being caught by the Germans at any time. It was precisely because of this consideration that he insisted: "I think troops can be drawn from other places to strengthen General Guriyev's defense zone."

   "But didn't you just say that Sokov may also be attacked by the enemy, and you can't mobilize troops?"

"Yes, that's what I said." Krylov said to Chuikov: "But now in the Red October factory, in addition to the mixed regiment composed of the remnants of the 184th Infantry Division, there is also Colonel Gurdiev. The 308th Infantry Division, no matter which unit they have, can rush over to support Guriyev."

Hearing what Krylov said, Chuikov raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead forcefully, saying repeatedly: "Confused, I am so confused! How could I forget that there are other troops in the Red October factory. Staff officer Commander, immediately call Colonel Gurdiyev and order him to immediately dispatch the 347th Regiment to support Guriyev."

   Before Krylov picked up the microphone, shouts came one after another from outside: "Air raid, air raid siren, hide, everyone, hide!"

"Air attack?!" Although the German planes often appeared over the Volga River, bombarding ferries and boats on the river indiscriminately, but it seems that they have never bombed other targets on the banks of the Volga River, so Cuikov heard this. The shouting sound felt particularly strange. He walked to the door and asked a soldier who was looking out into the sky, "What's going on, why is it so noisy outside?"

"Comrade Commander." Seeing that the commander was asking himself, the soldier quickly stood up straight and replied respectfully: "There are about twenty enemy planes coming towards us. We bombed."

   "Damn, why are you so sure that the enemy plane is here to bomb us?" Chuikov said with some displeasure: "Maybe the enemy is preparing to bomb the troops standing in the factory area."

"Comrade Commander, the sky over the factory area is full of gunpowder smoke, and the enemy planes can't see the target at all." Seeing that Cuikov didn't believe his words, the soldier quickly explained: "But we are near the river, and the wind blowing from the river has blown the gunpowder smoke away." If we are scattered, the enemy will easily find us..."

   Before the soldiers finished speaking, the enemy plane had already flown over the headquarters and began to dive and drop bombs. The bomb landed on the shore and exploded, and water jets mixed with mud and sand shot up into the sky. All kinds of simple fortifications were like paper toys, torn to pieces by the power of the explosion, and then thrown high into the air.

  A bomb exploded not far away, and Chuikov felt someone push him hard from the side, causing him to fall to the ground unprepared. He thought it was someone who pushed himself from the side to save himself, fell to the ground and looked around, except for the soldier who was talking to him, lying on the ground with his head in his arms, he couldn't see anyone else at all, presumably he was Overturned by the blast blast.

   Chuikov crawled off the ground, quickly turned around and ran into the headquarters, and shouted at Krylov: "Chief of Staff, notify the units directly under the headquarters to pay attention to air defense!"

  Krylov dropped the microphone in his hand and said loudly to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the telephone line has been blown up, and our communication with the outside world has been cut off."

"Colonel Yulin," Krylov said to Chuikov, then turned around and called the director of the communications corps, and told him, "Send someone to contact the units directly under the headquarters immediately and ask them to prepare for air defense. Hurry up." Go, don't dawdle!"

  After Yulin dispatched the communication soldiers, Chuikov asked Krylov again: "Except for the Red October factory, what is the situation in the rest of the area?"

"Fierce fighting also took place at the silicate factory and the barricade factory." Krylov replied: "But what is strange is that although the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory was also heavily bombarded by the Germans, the bombardment After the end, there was no trace of the enemy in that direction."

  After listening to Krylov's introduction, Chuikov had a general understanding of the enemy's intentions. He walked to the table, raised his hand to brush the dust from the roof, pointed to the map and said: "According to the analysis of the enemy's troops in the battle, the enemy tried to rush to the Volga River from the direction of the Red October Factory and the Barricade Factory. .Then turn back to the rear of Mamayev Hill, occupy the ferry, and cut off our connection with the opposite bank."

"Once our connection with the other side is cut off." Krylov has long been aware of this problem, and now that Chuikov has also discovered it, he said with a sad face: "Not to mention that the soldiers needed by the army cannot be replenished, and even the ammunition is very short." It will be exhausted soon. Once our ammunition runs out, we can only bayonet the enemy like Sokov and the others."

"So we must defend the Red October factory and the barricade factory with all our strength." Krylov also clicked twice on the map with his hand, and said: "If necessary, we can send Gurdiyev's division and Gori The Schneider Division has been redeployed back to the Red October Factory to strengthen the defenses there."

   "It's not necessary." Chuikov shook his head and said, "Let them stay between the Red October Factory and the Barricade Factory, and if they see danger in any direction, they will immediately rush to that direction for support."

   "Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff." The two were talking when an officer suddenly ran in from outside and shouted loudly: "A bunker in the logistics department was destroyed by an enemy bomb."

  The officer Krylov recognized at a glance was Major Zinoviev from the supply station of the Logistics Department. He quickly asked, "Are there any casualties?"

Major Zinoviev raised his sleeve and wiped his face, nodded and replied: "Three people were killed on the spot and five were injured. One of the officers was crushed by a fallen log. Organize human rescue."

  Although the enemy plane was still bombing outside, Chuikov waved his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "Major Zinoviev, take me to see it immediately."

   Zinoviev didn't dare to make a decision, so he turned his eyes to Krylov for help, to see how he would react. Krylov knew that once Chuikov had decided on something, no one could persuade him to change his mind, so he nodded to Zinoviev, signaling him to obey the order and take Chuikov to see the bombed-out shelter.

   Zinoviev led Chuikov through a traffic trench several hundred meters away, and came to a collapsed shelter, and said, "Comrade Commander, it's right here."

  Chuikov saw more than a dozen soldiers, risking enemy bombing, trying to move the burning log away from the collapsed position. Guessing that the officer Zinoviev mentioned must still be inside, he leaned over.

   Seeing this, he was startled immediately. He saw a lieutenant officer being pressed against his waist by five or six logs in a row. Although some soldiers tried to remove those logs, they failed. The military doctor standing not far away saw Chuikov coming in person, so he walked over quickly, leaned close to Chuikov's ear, and whispered: "Comrade Commander, the collapsed log hit his waist. Come out, I'm afraid he is also a useless person."

  Cui Kefu heard what the military doctor meant, saying that the officer's waist was broken by a log, and that even if he was rescued, he would have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Although he agreed with the military doctor's opinion very much in his heart, there was no need for the soldiers to take risks to rescue a disabled person who was about to be paralyzed. But as the officer's superior, he couldn't leave him dead, so he turned to the military doctor and said, "Comrade military doctor, as long as he is still alive, we will do everything possible to get him out of it."

Seeing that the military doctor seemed to want to say something, he quickly raised his hand to interrupt him: "Comrade military doctor, I've made up my mind, so you don't need to say any more. After the soldiers rescue him later, you have to carry out medical treatment for him immediately." Treatment, as for whether he can survive, it depends on his luck."

The enemy plane circling in the sky found that there were quite a few people around the bombed-out bunker that was still emitting green smoke. He immediately realized that what was destroyed might be some important command post. Maybe there are so many people around here? Thinking of this, he immediately pushed the joystick and dived towards the ground.

"Hidden, hide quickly." Hearing the scream of a dive bomber in the sky, Chuikov was startled into a cold sweat. After shouting at the top of his voice for a while, he jumped into a nearby crater to avoid the air attack of the enemy plane. .

  (end of this chapter)