Knowing that the defense area in the east of the city had fallen into the hands of the Russians, Lieutenant Colonel Federman, commander of the city defense, was shocked into a cold sweat. He quickly called the commander of the armored battalion: "Major, the Russians have occupied us.
There are many positions in the east of the city. I order you to immediately dispatch tanks to counterattack the Russians and be sure to drive them out of the city."
Regardless of the fact that there is an armored battalion in the city's garrison, there are actually only five tanks of various types. The armored battalion commander felt that the east might be attacked by the Soviet army, so he sent the only one
Fire-breathing tanks were also assigned to the defense area in the east of the city. But they were unlucky. Not long after the battle started, they were all killed by the Soviet army.
The tank battalion commander said to Federman in embarrassment: "Your Excellency, city defense commander, we originally only had five tanks. Among them, I deployed two tanks, including the fire-breathing tank, in the east direction of the city. Who knows if the battle will start?
It didn't take long for the Russians to kill all our tanks. Even if they moved the tanks from the other three directions, it would not help. I think we should give up on Donetsk?"
"Nonsense." When Federman heard the tank battalion commander say this, he suddenly became angry: "If Donetsk is abandoned without resistance, then you and I will wait to go to a military court. You immediately take all the tanks,
They are all mobilized to the city center. Even if the counterattack cannot be prevented, I will rebuild the defense in the city."
The 124th Regiment, which captured the east part of the city, followed the opened gap in the defense line and entered the city continuously.
Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the enemy's defense line had been breached. He first ordered the telegraph operator to report the good news to the cluster headquarters in Lugansk. Then he asked Samoilov to take the guard platoon and tell him
Go to the city and watch the grand spectacle of capturing the entire city.
Knowing Sokov's character, Samoylov would naturally not stop him. Because he understood that even if he persuaded him, it would not have any effect. As an officer responsible for protecting his safety, all he could do was to strengthen Sokov
Guard the areas he visits to prevent him from being attacked by enemies.
According to Starcha's idea, after the first battalion, which is responsible for the main attack, seizes the defense line in the east of the city, the troops will definitely suffer heavy casualties. At this time, he can send the second or third battalion to replace them. Who knows?
This battalion only suffered more than 200 casualties during the entire battle, and most of the casualties occurred when attacking the German army.
The commanders and fighters of the first battalion quickly advanced along the street. In less than an hour, they could vaguely see the church where the German headquarters was located. However, the troops encountered stubborn resistance from the enemy here. The Romanian army used the barricades on the street to
The fortifications were carried out and a tenacious blockade was carried out. The German troops who came for reinforcements cunningly occupied the buildings on both sides of the street and fired condescendingly at the Soviet soldiers on the street, posing great danger to the commanders and fighters of the first battalion.
Seeing that his men suffered heavy casualties, Briski was extremely anxious. He quickly ordered the troops to temporarily stop the attack and find a suitable place to hide. At the same time, he called the regiment commander Starcha and informed him of the encounter in his camp.
The situation was reported in detail.
After listening to this, Starca immediately said to Brischi: "Comrade Major, your battalion is very tired after several hours of fighting. It would be a disservice to you if we continue to assign you offensive duties at this time."
Irresponsible. Let’s do this, your battalion will stay put for the time being, and I will immediately send the second battalion to take over your attack.”
Hearing Starcha's order, Major Briski originally wanted to bite the bullet and say that he could continue to fight, but then he thought about it. One-third of his troops had been killed or injured. If he continued to fight,
They might be maimed. So they changed their minds and decided to follow Starcha's order and let the troops stand still for the time being and stick to the occupied area.
When Sokov came to the regiment command post, he happened to see Starcha explaining the mission to the commander of the second battalion, Major Golya. After listening for a while, he found that Starcha did not have any detailed combat plan. He was just telling Starcha
Riya: Don’t be afraid of sacrifice and bravely launch a fierce attack on the enemy’s position.
Sokov did not agree with this kind of dismissal of troops to die. He quickly coughed heavily to attract everyone's attention. Hearing the cough, Starcha realized that Sokov had arrived.
His own command post quickly stood up and saluted him.
"Colonel Starcha," Sokov said to him after raising his hand in return: "Judging from the current situation, we have no big problem in capturing the city. What we need to pay attention to now is how to reduce the force of the troops during the attack.
Casualties."
"Comrade division commander," Starcha, as Sokov's old subordinate, spoke much more casually: "Tell me, what should we do to minimize the casualties of the troops?"
"Let the first battalion conduct a feint attack on the enemy's defense line at its current position to attract the enemy's attention." Sokov said confidently: "The other two and three battalions passed through the small alleys on both sides of the main road and directly
Pounce on the German headquarters. As long as you can take away the enemy's headquarters, the enemy's resistance will soon collapse."
"Comrade Division Commander, some Germans are very stubborn. I'm worried that even if the German command headquarters is captured, those enemies will continue to resist." Starca asked in embarrassment: "What should we do then?"
"If the enemy does not surrender, then we will resolutely destroy them." Sokov said with a straight face: "Our division is equipped with a large number of new rockets and rocket launchers. These weapons can be of great use in street fighting.
For example, if you see a large number of enemies resisting in barricades, as long as a rocket flies over, they will be wiped out together with those fortifications in an instant. As for the enemy fire points hiding in the buildings, use a rocket launcher to blast them.
If you can't get rid of it with one shot, just use two. Do you understand, Major Golia?" His last words were addressed to the commander of the second battalion, Golia, who was about to command the troops to attack.
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Golya has been following Sokov for a long time and is familiar with many of his tactics. He quickly replied: "Our troops will make full use of these rocket launchers, not only for destroying
It is a solid firepower point for the enemy and can also be used to deal with German tanks."
"By the way, German tanks." Sokov remembered that in the reconnaissance report, it was mentioned that there was a German tank battalion in Donetsk. But so far, except for the two destroyed tanks in the east of the city, there are no more tanks.
No other tanks were seen: "Didn't you say there was a tank battalion? Why haven't I seen a few tanks yet?"
"Comrade Division Commander, I don't know much about this either." Starcia shook his head and said, "Our commanders and soldiers observed carefully during the attack, but no one found any trace of the Germans."
As fresh troops entered the battle, the situation on the battlefield developed in a direction favorable to the Guards Division. Major Golia's Second Battalion lived up to expectations and took the lead in attacking the church where the German headquarters was located, capturing the city defense commander Federman alive, and
A red flag was planted on the top of the church.
Looking at the red flag fluttering in the wind in the distance, Sokov smiled and said to Starcha: "Comrade Colonel, use your regiment's radio to send a report to the cluster headquarters saying that we have successfully occupied Donetsk.