The troops attacking the position on the top of the mountain were once again repulsed by intensive German firepower. Fortunately, what Sokov was most worried about did not happen. The German troops on the top of the mountain were worried that they would be attacked by Soviet tank fire, so they did not carry out a counterattack, so that
The remaining commanders and fighters safely retreated to their mountainside positions.
"Comrade Commander," seeing his remaining troops retreating into the mountainside position again, Weisbach said to Sokov with a grimace: "Do you want to transfer the troops from Fisky Collective Farm?"
"Comrade Colonel, in order to seize this high ground, I have sent you three thousand men, plus a tank battalion." Sokov said dissatisfiedly after hearing Weisbach's misfortune: "We fought for several hours, and even a small soldier
If we can’t even take down the small hilltop position, do you still have the nerve to ask me to mobilize more troops?”
Seeing Sokov's unwillingness to mobilize new troops, Weisbach felt a little disappointed. He knew very well that with his existing troops and equipment, he simply could not capture the high ground. If he could not capture the high ground, his position as division commander would definitely be lost.
It can't be saved.
When he was feeling depressed, an officer ran over to him and reported: "Comrade division commander, the artillery from Fesky collective farm has arrived."
When he learned that the artillery was coming, Weisbach finally had a smile on his face: "Are they two mortar companies?"
"According to my observation, there should be more than two mortar companies." The officer replied: "I think there are at least seven or eight hundred people."
"What, there are seven or eight hundred people?" Weisbach was startled by the officer's words: "Two mortars shot through the sky and there were more than a hundred people. Where did the seven or eight hundred people come from?"
"It's true, Comrade Division Commander." Seeing that Weisbach didn't believe what he said, the officer said aggrievedly: "If you don't believe it, you can go and see for yourself."
Sokov was also anxious to know how many reinforcements had arrived, so he said to Weisbach: "Come on, Comrade Colonel, let's go see how many reinforcements have arrived."
Soon, the two Sokovs saw the reinforcements that had just arrived. It turned out that Atakuz knew that the attack on the highlands was not going well. In addition to following Weisbach's order, he sent two mortar companies and also sent in two mortar companies.
The most powerful guard battalion was also sent over.
The guard battalion commander stepped in front of the two men, raised his hands and saluted Sokov and Weisbach, and then reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Division Commander, the guard battalion has been ordered to come for reinforcements. Please give instructions."
!”
Sokov did not return the salute, but nodded to the other party and asked: "Comrade Major, how many of you are here in total?"
"The whole battalion has a total of 652 people, plus 118 people from two mortar companies, for a total strength of 770 people."
After hearing this, Sokov turned to Weisbach and said: "Comrade Colonel, your deputy division commander is very generous. He actually sent you so many reinforcements at once." He glanced at the guard battalion lined up in Shunli.
, thinking to himself: The guard battalion is usually the most powerful unit in a division-level unit. Since Atakuz sent them all here, it seems that he sincerely wants to help Weisbach win the high ground.
"Comrade Commander," although Weisbach is the commander of the first division, Sokov is by his side at the moment. What he wants to do, he still has to ask for instructions first: "What do you think of how to arrange this unit?"
Sokov pointed to the high ground in the distance with his hand and said: "If you want to take the position on the top of the mountain, it will definitely not be enough to rely on the troops halfway up the mountain. You place the new troops halfway up the mountain.
Bar."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After Weisbach agreed resoundingly, he ordered the guard battalion commander: "Comrade Major, take your people and the mortar company, rush to the position halfway up the highland, and be ready to attack.
preparation."
The guard battalion commander stood still, looked left and right, and asked Weisbach tentatively: "Comrade division commander, where are the troops of the 73rd Infantry Brigade?"
"What did you ask them to do?" Weisbach asked alertly.
"It's like this," the guard battalion commander saw that Weisbach was suspicious and quickly explained to him: "Before we set off, the infantry brigade commander Major Guchakov asked me to know something about his subordinates."
After figuring out what was going on, Weisbach replied: "Comrade Major, you can't see them here. They have already performed other tasks."
While Weisbach was talking, Captain Mikhailev was marching hard in the forest with two infantry battalions, artillery companies, and machine gun companies, preparing to bypass the high ground and attack from the enemy's back. Since the artillery company carried three soldiers
76mm artillery, and a large number of artillery shells, thus inevitably slowing down the marching speed of the troops.
Seeing that after walking for almost an hour, he still had not bypassed the high ground occupied by the Germans, Mikhailev couldn't help but feel a little anxious, and repeatedly urged the troops to speed up their march.
Seeing Mikhailev urging the troops to speed up their march, the artillery company commander quickly came over and said to him: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, the 76mm artillery we carry moves very slowly in the woods. If you ask the infantry to speed up their march,
If the speed is too high, our company will inevitably fall behind."
The words of the artillery company commander made Mikheyev think deeply: If you want to launch an attack on the enemy, it is obviously impossible without the cover of artillery. But if you don’t throw away the artillery, the marching speed will be affected, and you may not arrive at the designated location.
Target, the enemy on the top of the mountain will receive reinforcements.
"Comrade deputy brigade commander," the artillery company commander saw that Mikhailev was reluctant to speak, so he repeated what he meant again, and then asked: "Do you have any good way to resolve this contradiction?"
This time Mikhailev made a decision quickly: "Comrade Captain, this matter is easy to handle. Doesn't your company have 12 82mm guns? You can order them to move with the large force, and the other three 76mm guns
Artillery, it won’t be too late to catch up later.”
The artillery company commander thought this was a good way to get the best of both worlds, so he nodded and said: "Understood, Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I will let the platoon carrying the 76mm artillery march slowly behind, and the other two mortar platoons will follow.
The troops were quickly aroused."
After removing the slow-moving artillery from the marching column, the marching speed of the intersecting troops suddenly accelerated a lot. In less than half an hour, they arrived at the flank of the high ground.
Just as Mikhailev and the second battalion commander and others were discussing how to launch an attack, a scout ran over and reported to Mikhailev: "Comrade Captain, there is a German army moving towards here. It will take at least 40 seconds."
In minutes, they can get here."
"Where is the enemy? How many troops are there?"
"On the west side of the highland, it is no more than three kilometers away from here at this time." The scout replied: "There are about one battalion of troops, all of them infantry, without heavy weapons."
"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander," the second battalion commander quickly asked Mikhailov after hearing what the scout said, "What should we do next?"
"According to the original plan," Mikhailov did not immediately answer the second battalion commander, but said to himself: "We will use two companies to block the enemy's reinforcements, and the remaining troops will attack the high ground with all their strength."
"Comrade Deputy Brigadier, should we follow the original plan?"
"The situation has changed, and our plan also needs to be adjusted." Mikhailev said to the second battalion commander: "We all set up an ambush where the German reinforcements passed by, and tried to find ways to severely damage or even destroy this enemy force."
"Comrade Commander, if everyone goes to participate in setting up an ambush, won't it affect the operation of cooperating with friendly forces to seize the high ground?"
"Comrade Second Battalion Commander, I understand your concerns." Mikhailov explained to the Second Battalion Commander: "Hasn't this situation changed? If we divide our troops into two groups, one will attack the high ground, and the other will ambush
The enemy's reinforcements. Once any of the troops are not progressing smoothly, our plan will completely fail. Therefore, we can only concentrate our efforts first and ambush the enemy's reinforcements."
"But if Comrade Commander is blamed, who will bear this responsibility?"
"Comrade Second Battalion Commander, I am the deputy commander of the infantry brigade. If my superiors want to hold me accountable, I will bear all the responsibilities." After saying these words, Mikhailev turned around and asked the scout: "What's nearby?
Is the location suitable for setting up an ambush?”
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander." The scout nodded and said, "There is a hilly area three to four hundred meters away from here with overgrown trees and weeds. Our troops can set up an ambush there."
"Second Battalion Commander," Mikhailev and other scouts pointed out the specific location to him, and then ordered the second battalion commander: "Order the troops to speed up their march, and be sure to set up an ambush position before the German reinforcements arrive."
The second battalion commander agreed, then stood on the roadside and shouted in a low voice: "Pass down, speed up."
The officers and soldiers passing by the second battalion commander heard his shout and passed on his orders one after another: "Pass it down, speed it up! Pass it down, speed it up!"
Five minutes later, the troops reached the high ground on the roadside.
In a usual ambush battle, fortifications must be dug in advance, but today time is tight, and German reinforcements will pass by the road at the foot of the mountain at any time. Therefore, Mikhailev can only order the soldiers to dig individual bunkers to save precious resources.
time.
Fortunately, the commanders and fighters of the infantry brigade are veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles. For them, digging individual bunkers is a very skilled job. The soldiers who moved quickly were able to dig half a man in it in only seven or eight minutes.
How deep the bunker was, and then helped the comrades next to him dig it together.
However, the speed of the German reinforcements obviously exceeded everyone's imagination. Before everyone could dig out individual bunkers, the German troops appeared in sight. In order to prevent the enemy from noticing that there was an ambush, Mikhailev could only order
The soldiers stopped their soil work and hid on the spot in individual bunkers dug by themselves.
The German commander who was marching on the road never expected that a large Soviet army would be ambushed on the high ground by the roadside. According to his idea, the Soviet army's tactics were rigid and they only knew how to concentrate their forces to attack one location.
No matter what kind of ambush you will send out troops, your march along the way will be very safe.
Especially when he saw that the high ground to be reinforced was not far away, the German commander relaxed his vigilance. He led his troops to march on the road without even sending out their top soldiers.
After the enemy completely entered the ambush circle, Mikhailev decisively gave the order to open fire.
As the order was issued, more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns from the machine gun company opened fire simultaneously on a wide front that was 800 meters long.
The rain of bullets sloping down from the hillside instantly knocked down the unprepared German officers and soldiers in pieces. The bullets fired one after another from the machine guns plowed from the front of the German column to the rear of the column, plowing out alleys of flesh and blood.
Under the rain of bullets, the living officers and soldiers were knocked down one after another, and even the bodies of the dead soldiers were bounced by the dense bullets.
But the officers and soldiers of the Viking Division did have two brushes. After a brief period of confusion, the German officers and soldiers who were ambushed used the tactical action of a cat to duck down in the dense rain of bullets to quickly find a safe place to hide themselves in order to avoid
That fatal bullet, and then fired back at the Soviet ambush position from his hiding place.
Seeing that there were almost no running enemies at the foot of the mountain, Mikhailev knew that the real fierce battle was about to begin, so he shouted to the artillery company commander: "Comrade Captain, immediately use mortars to bombard the enemies hiding on the roadside or in the ravines."
Enemies, blast them out of their hiding places."
The artillery company commander loudly agreed, and then ordered his men to shell the place where the German troops were hiding. As rows of artillery shells fell, many enemies hiding in ravines or on the roadside were forced to escape from their hiding places and start again.
Back in the middle of the road, it became a target for machine gunners.
When the German commander saw the Soviet army bombarding his men with mortars, he knew that if he continued, he would be dead. So he stood up, brandished his pistol, and drove the soldiers out of their hiding places to risk the Soviet army.
With a hail of bullets and bullets, they charged towards the hillside.
Mikhailev saw from the telescope that the attacking German soldiers used all the bunkers they could use, such as ravines, tree trunks, and even dead bodies, and kept rolling while running, skillfully rolling into the blind spot of the Soviet army's shooting.
They adopted the tactic of alternating cover and gradually approached the Soviet position.
As the enemy got closer and closer to the position, their shooting became more and more accurate. The machine gunners who were shooting at the enemy fell to the muzzles of the German snipers. Due to the sacrifice of a large number of machine gunners, the originally dense machine guns
The firepower became sparse. Seeing that the firepower on the hillside was suppressed, the German soldiers hiding in the safe area got up according to the officer's command, quickly formed a formation while running, and climbed up the hillside as quickly as possible.
go.
Seeing that the enemy would soon be within bombing distance, Mikhailev became a little anxious. He shouted to the artillery company commander: "Comrade Captain, hurry up and bombard the charging enemies, and be sure to drive them off the hillside."
.”
A minute or two later, the shrieking shells streaked across the sky, hitting the German officers and soldiers on the way to charge, flying away figures one after another. The shrapnel flying everywhere made a sharp whistle, tearing up more blood rain in the sky, reaping the harvest.
The lives of German officers and soldiers one after another.
Many snipers hiding on the hillside were killed by Soviet artillery shells, and the rest had to move their positions immediately. Without the threat of German snipers, the machine gun firepower on the Soviet positions became intensive again, effectively
Contained the German offensive.
The German commander hid behind a tree trunk, tremblingly watching the intensive firepower on the hillside and his men being knocked down one by one. He wanted to retreat, but he was worried that the Soviet army would take the opportunity to catch up;
If you continue fighting like this, your troops will not be able to escape the fate of being completely wiped out.
In desperation, he could only wave his pistol at the officers and soldiers around him and shouted sternly: "Hold it, hold it all to me, no one is allowed to take a step back, and the Russians must not be allowed to rush over."