Chapter 746: Nosedive

  Chapter 746 Takes a sudden turn

  According to Chuikov's idea, the enemy's ammunition depots are destroyed, and the enemy attacking the Barricade Factory and Dzerzhinsky Factory will stop for at least three to five days. Unexpectedly, after only one day, the situation suddenly took a turn for the worse.

   Less than an hour after the battle started, the 351st Regiment of the 308th Division, which stood firm at the silicate factory, was surrounded by German troops turning around from the left and right wings. Although the commanders and fighters performed bravely and tenaciously in the battle, they repelled the enemy's attack many times and eliminated a lot of enemies and technical equipment. But the fighting continued until noon, and except for the 30 fighters in the gully north of the factory, all the other commanders and fighters died heroically.

  Regiment political commissar Frolov was seriously injured. In order not to let himself be captured by the enemy, he tried his best to ignite the grenade tied to his body, and died together with the five German soldiers who rushed up.

The 42nd Infantry Brigade and the 6th Guards Tank Brigade in the north of the silicate factory had to abandon their original defensive positions in the face of the powerful offensive of the German 389th Division and retreated to Zhytomir Street near the 97.7 Heights .

   After receiving these battle reports, Cuikov felt that it was necessary to readjust the defense line, otherwise it would be difficult to block the enemy's fortifications. He grabbed the phone in front of him and ordered the communications soldiers to connect to the headquarters of the 308th Division, preparing to issue orders directly to Gurdiyev.

After the call was connected, he ignored the pleasantries, but directly issued an order: "Colonel Gurdiyev, this is Chuikov. I now order you: immediately lead the surviving troops and withdraw to the new defense zone in the south. This zone extends southward from Sculpture Street, via Petrozavodsk Street to Buguruslan Street, where you set up positions to cover the western side of the Barricade Factory."

   "Comrade Commander," Gurdiyev said hesitantly, "shall we just abandon the silicate plant?"

"Comrade Colonel," Chuikov said with a stern face, "now I don't have any extra reserves in my hands. In order to block the enemy's attack, I can only temporarily shrink the defense line. Don't worry, I won't let you fight alone. There will be someone to support you soon."

   Ending the call with Gurdiyev, Chuikov connected to Guriyev's headquarters again: "I am Chuikov, Comrade General, and now I have an important task for you to complete."

   When Guriyev's 39th Guards Division withdrew from the Red October Factory, there were less than 3,000 people left in the division. After this period of fighting, more than one-third of the staff was reduced. But when he received Chuikov's call, Guriyev did not complain, and asked, "Comrade Commander, what is the mission?"

"The silicate factory has been occupied by the enemy. I ordered Colonel Gurdiyev to transfer the remaining troops to the south." Chuikov said to Guriyev: "The task of your division is to take over the defense of the 308th Division. Positions north of the Archives building and east of the stadium. Difficulty?"

"There is no difficulty." Although the organizational system of the 39th Guards Division has been disabled, Guriyev still did not cry out. Instead, he expressed his position to Chuikov with confidence: "Comrade Commander, as long as there is one member of our Guards Division, As long as the fighters are alive, we will never let the enemy occupy the ground."

   "Good job, General Guriyev." Seeing that Guriyev was so confident, Chuikov also felt relieved: "I am waiting for your good news."

Krylov, who had just finished the phone call, saw that Chuikov had also put down the phone, so he came over and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the enemy is gathering troops at the silicate factory and preparing to launch a new attack. Look, do you want to launch a new attack?" Call Sokov's 41st Guards Division to help?"

   While Chuikov was hesitating, a staff officer walked over quickly and handed Krylov a recently received telegram. After reading the contents of the telegram, Krylov couldn't help being taken aback. He hurriedly said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the Intelligence Department of the Front Army has forwarded a recently intercepted German telegram, which said that after two o'clock in the afternoon, the German army will dispatch No less than 800 aircraft saturate the Barricade and Dzerzhinsky factory areas."

Chuikov was still hesitating at first, but after hearing what Krylov said, he quickly snatched the telegram and checked it carefully, and found that the enemy did indeed dispatch a large number of bombers to bomb the two factories, so he changed his mind. Said to Krylov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, calling Sokov's troops for reinforcements at this moment is tantamount to sending them to death. Not only can they not be transferred to these two factories now, but at the same time, we must find a way to deal with them in the shortest possible time. The garrison and workers in the factory were evacuated, and it was imperative that casualties from the bombing be kept to a minimum."

   "However, once we evacuate the defenders in the factory, what if the enemy takes the opportunity to launch a new attack?" Krylov reminded Chuikov: "If there are too few defenders in the factory, I worry that they will not be able to stop the enemy at all."

   "Then tell me, what should we do?"

"There are many bunkers and basements in the factory. Even if we are bombed by enemy planes, our soldiers and workers can find hiding places." Krylov thought of the engineering troops who were building a pontoon bridge on the Volga River, and tentatively Ask Chuikov: "Enemy planes are about to carry out intensive bombing of the factory area. Should we temporarily stop our bridge-building operation on the Volga River to avoid unnecessary casualties?"

"Call Colonel Tupichev immediately and ask them to suspend the construction of the pontoon bridge." Chuikov agreed with Krylov's proposal, and specifically emphasized: "In addition, contact the front army headquarters again and let the engineers on the east bank Also stop working, lest our underwater pontoon bridge be discovered by enemy planes."

  The silicate factory fell under the onslaught of the German army. The enemy gathered forces here to continue rushing to the Volga River, and the Soviet army was also adjusting its defense in time, trying to block the advance of the German army. However, in the defensive zone of the 41st Guards Division, the fighting was not intense. The Romanian army still stayed far away from the Workers' New Village, shelling and firing randomly. Immediately stop shooting, turn around and run towards your position. When they saw that there was no movement here, they turned around again and kept shooting and shelling.

Papchenko lost his temper because of the enemy's behavior. He called Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, the enemy is constantly wasting ammunition in front of us. Do you think I will organize troops to attack and teach them a lesson? A meal?"

"No, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you don't have to do anything, just stay in the ruins and the sewers." Sokov said to Papchenko: "Anyway, these enemies have been frightened by you, and they are just showing off to Germany every day." From the perspective of people, they dare not attack you at all.”

Perhaps because he was worried about Papchenko's emotions, Sokov finally emphasized: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you should stay in the new worker's village and rest well. When it is time to attack, I will give you orders... "

Before Sokov could finish speaking, another phone on the table rang. Sidolin picked up the receiver and listened for a while, then a shocked expression appeared on his face. He said to Sokov in a panic: " Comrade Commander, the observation post on the top of the mountain reported that a large number of enemy planes were spotted in the sky, flying towards the Volga River."

  (end of this chapter)