Chapter 1533 The moment of life and death

If it was just a light weapons exchange, Vatutin's guards could hold on, and their well-trained combat qualities were fully demonstrated in the close-range battle.

Before the group of bandits on the opposite side who tried to rush up to cut leeks could really get close, they would be attacked fiercely by a combination of semi-automatic rifles and submachine guns in the interval of 300 to 200 meters.

The battlefield was fair to both sides of the war. Vatutin lacked a cover that could be used for concealed transfer, and the same was true for the Ukrainian bandits on the opposite side.

There was no place to hide from bullets on the unobstructed charge road. As long as you entered the last interval of 200 to 300 meters, you would be in the death zone. If you want to fight this kind of battle without the cover of armored soldiers, you must be prepared to pay extremely heavy casualties, provided that there are no other weapons that can change the situation.

But, this is exactly where the problem lies.

The Ukrainian bandits on the opposite side have mortars in their hands. Although the caliber is not large and does not exceed 100 mm, a cannon is a cannon, and its advantage over light weapons such as firearms is overwhelming.

As soon as the bandit leader Anton gave the order, the mortar position started to rumble.

Due to Anton's order not to blow up the car, the bandit army's mortars sounded rumbling, but the actual killing effect was not very good.

Many shells flew directly over the roof of the car with a standard parabolic trajectory and fell outside the killing distance. The flying dust and deafening roar swept over the ears. Although Vatutin was not injured, his ears were hurt by the shock and he felt that he was almost unable to hear anything. Seeing this, the adjutant who was fighting with a gun hurriedly lowered his head and asked.

"Comrade Commander, the enemy's firepower is too strong! This is at least a platoon of mortars firing. We lack shelter and have no countermeasures. If it doesn't work, we'll just cover you and withdraw first!"

Letting the commander be exposed to the enemy's artillery fire is a terrible thing that is enough to scare people to death just by hearing it. But it is actually happening in front of him and will continue, which makes the young adjutant feel unprecedented anxiety, like an ant on a hot pot.

Vatutin, with tinnitus buzzing in his ears, didn't hear it clearly, just heard the general meaning, and basically understood the adjutant's intention to retreat, but the response he gave afterwards was still firm and unhesitating.

"Keep defending, Malashenko's men will be here soon! Tell the comrades that persistence is victory! Show a tenacious fighting spirit and fight back the enemy's charge!"

""

The young adjutant felt speechless at this moment. Vatutin's stubborn temper, which could not be pulled back by ten cows once he made a decision, remained the same even at this moment.

As long as he was determined, others generally did not want to change it.

Just like when Vatutin decided to come to the front line for inspection in person some time ago, Zhukov personally advised him to let the chief of staff take over and he himself stayed in the headquarters to command. Vatutin was so stubborn that he could not even listen to Zhukov's advice. He insisted on coming to the front line to see the situation and get the most accurate first-hand information.

And he only brought a guard platoon to inspect the front line. You have to know that this is a large-scale battle at the front level that has not yet been completely ended. It is estimated that there is only one front commander who dares to run around to the front line with only a guard platoon.

The adjutant, knowing that it was useless to say more, did not continue to persuade them. He just replaced the new drum of the PPSh submachine gun in his hand and continued to fight behind the car. The enemy's new wave of infantry charge has begun under the pressure of mortars, and the number of people is far greater than the previous two waves of charge that have been repelled!

Perhaps realizing that too cautious shelling is equivalent to wasting ammunition, the bandit mortars, which have not hit the bull's eye after firing for a long time, began to become more and more bold.

The shrinking shelling envelope is getting closer and closer to the core position of the convoy where Vatutin and his party are located. The range of the mortar is like an iron ring squeezed by external force, which is constantly shrinking and getting closer and closer.

Finally, a mortar shell fell straight from the sky and hit the side of the second car behind the lead car, only less than five meters away.

After a loud bang, even the GAZ jeep used as a shelter was shaken and the tires left the ground, like a baby rocking car. The soldiers of the guard platoon who hid behind the car body and kept leaning out to shoot were even more tragic.

The high-speed shell fragments swept over the three closest soldiers like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves. One of them was hit by the fragments through the helmet and his head was blown on the spot. The other two were covered with fragments all over their bodies and swept like sieves. They immediately fell on their backs and looked dead.

Only one soldier was lucky enough to be hit by shrapnel in his calf, but he was bleeding profusely. After being knocked to the ground for a short time, this soldier who didn't even have time to bandage his wound came to his senses in a few seconds and climbed up again. Without saying a word, he picked up the SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle at his feet and continued to fire and fight.

Vatutin, who witnessed this scene, looked solemn. He leaned against the car cover behind him, changed the bullets in his pistol, and spoke to the adjutant beside him.

"Tell the comrades to shoot the enemy closer and reduce the number of times you lean out from behind the car. Try to avoid casualties, we don't have many people left!"

"Got it!"

After fierce fighting until now, Vatutin's guard platoon has suffered heavy losses and there are not many troops left.

The three squads that were originally fully equipped were beaten to pieces by the bandits' gunfire and suffered heavy casualties. Taking advantage of the gap between changing bullets, Vatutin glanced around and made a rough estimate of the current situation. He could still handle it. The guns, the soldiers who persisted in fighting, and the few command officers who accompanied him were also counted as combat power, and there were less than twenty people left in total.

But the unidentified beasts on the opposite side are still increasing their offensive power and investing more troops. There are at least 200 people in the current wave of charges.

The suppressive firepower of machine guns and mortars was fired without regard to ammunition consumption. Many soldiers were suppressed and unable to raise their heads, or were hit by fragments of projectiles flying in all directions as soon as their heads appeared, or bullets fired from unknown sources. Put him to the ground.

Based on the current posture, Vatutin estimated that if Malashenko hadn't arrived yet, his dozen or twenty men might really be wiped out here.

Thinking of this, Vatutin, who didn't want to put pressure on Malashenko, but had no other choice at the moment, could only pick up the radio transmitter again and press the button.