The battalion commander of the first battalion of the 546th Regiment of the 182nd Division, Captain Zuminte, and the commander of the second company, Captain Zheliya, are both Sokov’s old subordinates. From daybreak, the battalion has been the vanguard of the entire division, and Zheliya’s second
The company is a sharp knife company.
When the Soviet bombers had just finished their indiscriminate bombing of the German positions, Zhelia rushed forward with his second company, looking for traces of the Germans in the smoke that had not yet dissipated.
But the positions here were bombed into a piece of scorched earth, and the fortifications reinforced with logs were also blown to pieces. The commanders and fighters of the second company searched in the ruins for a long time. In addition to the battered German corpses,
Not even a single gasping person was found. Seeing this, Zheliya was so angry that he stamped his feet. All the German troops on the position were wiped out by the air force. How could his sharp knife company make achievements?
At this moment, the sound of shooting from the MG42 machine gun suddenly came from the distance.
Hearing this sound, Zheliya suddenly became excited. He led a few soldiers and ran along the trenches that were riddled with holes and in the direction from which the gunshots came.
Soon, Zhelia saw the civil fire points being fired, which should have survived the bombing just now. Before Zhelia could give the order, a rocket launcher team had already moved along the trench, and they were seven meters away from the fortifications.
Stopping eighty meters away, and after reloading, the rocket launcher stood up suddenly, aimed at the enemy's civil fire points, and pulled the trigger.
After a loud bang, the German civil firepower point was immediately destroyed. Zheliya rushed over with a group of soldiers and found that the machine gun had been blown into scrap metal. There were three bloody corpses lying in the firepower point. They should be machine guns.
Shooter, sub-shooter and ammo hand.
When the soldiers who followed over saw this situation, they couldn't help but shake their heads. One soldier even asked Zhelia anxiously: "Comrade company commander, didn't our superiors tell us that there is a strong bone standing in front of us? Why?
I feel like they are all vulnerable."
The soldier's words caused a burst of laughter around him, and Zheliya stared: "What are you doing here? Be careful that a German artillery shell will fly over and wipe out all of you. Why don't you continue the search quickly?
Is there anyone alive?"
The soldiers of the second company continued to search in the fortifications destroyed by the air force. When friendly forces arrived, they barely found seven or eight German soldiers who had not been killed. The eyes of these soldiers were dull, and they saw the Soviet soldiers rushing towards them.
When he came in front of them, he had no intention of resisting.
As soon as Zheliya arranged for people to send these prisoners away, Zu Mingte came over and asked Zheliya anxiously: "Captain Zheliya, what was the result of your company's battle? How many prisoners were captured?"
"Here, comrade battalion commander." Zheliya pointed at the prisoners who were being escorted away by his subordinates, and said angrily: "Our company only captured seven or eight prisoners, and the rest were bombed by the air force brothers.
He's dead. If we continue fighting like this, there's no chance we'll have any merit."
The 182nd Division's progress was very smooth, but the situation encountered by the 84th Division was much more complicated. They were soon blocked by a large fortress area. There were about fifty or sixty reinforced concrete bunkers in the fortress area.
, it was originally a permanent fortification that the Soviet army prepared to use to resist the German army after the war broke out. However, before it could be used, the German army occupied Kharkov, and these fortifications naturally fell into the hands of the German army.
Now, in order to resist the Soviet attack, the German army deployed heavy troops in the fortress area. As soon as they saw the Soviet troops approaching, they opened fire violently, causing considerable casualties to the advancing Soviet commanders and fighters.
Although the fort area was also bombed by Soviet aircraft, because the walls and roof of the bunker were made of one meter thick reinforced concrete, the bombing did not cause any substantial damage to the fortifications. However, those who tried to pass through the fort area
The commanders and fighters of the 84th Division were blocked by intensive German firepower.
Facing the densely packed bunkers ahead, the commanders and fighters of the 84th Division repeated their old tricks, using rocket launchers to attack the enemy's bunkers, trying to quickly clear the obstacles in the way so as to quickly approach Merefa Fortress. What they did not expect was that the rockets
When the bullet hits the surface of the bunker, although the sound it makes is earth-shattering, it cannot penetrate effectively. When the smoke dissipates, the enemies hiding in the bunker can still shoot wildly through the shooting holes.
The 252nd Regiment, which was the first to attack, was blocked by this fortification. The battle lasted for more than two hours. Not only did the regiment fail to advance further, but it paid the price of more than half of its casualties.
After the division commander Fomenko learned that the attack had failed, he was about to send the 254th Regiment to take over the 252nd Regiment, but was stopped by Belkin, the deputy division commander and head of the 258th Regiment: "Comrade Division Commander, I think you can still break through this fortress area.
Leave the task to our group to complete."
"Leave it to you?" Fomenko looked at Belgin and couldn't help but frowned: "Can you do it?"
Seeing Fomenko's delay in expressing his position, the political commissar Colonel Manokhin next to him quickly intervened and said: "Comrade division commander, since the deputy division commander is so confident, we might as well let them implement it. Maybe we can really break through the enemy's defense."
Now that the political commissar has expressed his position, it seems a bit unreasonable for Fomenko to disagree. After thinking for a while, he finally nodded and agreed to Belkin's request: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Division Commander, since you are so confident,
Then I will leave it to your regiment to complete the task of breaking through the enemy's fortified area."
After Belkin left, Fomenko asked Manokin with some surprise: "Comrade political commissar, why do you support Colonel Belkin? You know, after he came to us, he basically stayed at the division headquarters and did not personally
He has commanded battles on the battlefield. The German fortress area is a tough nut to crack, and I’m worried that not only will he not be able to chew through this tough nut, but his teeth will also be chipped.”
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Manoxin smiled and said to Fomenko: "Comrade division commander, you are underestimating Colonel Belkin. Don't look at it. After he came to our division, he basically stayed at the division headquarters and did not go to the division headquarters."
What battles did he participate in? But don’t forget, he not only came from the 21st Army with the commander, but he also used to be the commander’s partner.”
After Manokhin's reminder, Fomenko immediately remembered Belgin's origins. The other party had indeed served as Sokov's political commissar, and the relationship between the two was not bad. Otherwise, when Sokov left the 21st Army, he would have
He would not be brought with him to the 27th Army. It is said that the dozens of people who came at that time were all people Sokov trusted.
Although he knew about the relationship between Belkin and Sokov, Fomenko had never seen the other party commanding a battle, so he still felt uneasy. Manokhin saw his worries and comforted him and said: "Don't worry, comrade division commander."
.If the 258th Regiment really fails to attack smoothly, it will not be too late for the 254th Regiment to take over their operations."
When Belkin led the 258th Regiment toward the fortress area, he was thinking to himself: The 252nd Regiment reported that the enemy's fortifications were strong, and there was only a small crater when the rocket hit it, and it was impossible to penetrate the wall. It seemed that he had to change
Only by adopting a different approach can you avoid making the same mistakes again.
After Belkin's troops arrived near the fortress area and met the commander of the 252nd Regiment, Belkin shook hands with him and asked with concern: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, did your regiment suffer heavy casualties?"
The regiment leader sighed and said helplessly: "The enemy's firepower was too fierce. Several attacks we launched in succession were repelled by the enemy, and more than half of the troops were killed or injured."
After hearing this, Belkin nodded slightly, and then asked: "Did you use rocket launchers to attack the enemy's bunkers?" Although he had already learned about the regiment's fighting situation in the battle report, at this moment he still hoped to have a good relationship with the regiment leader.
Communication and understanding more details will also be beneficial to your next battle.
The regiment leader thought for a while, then frowned and said: "The enemy's bunker is too thick. We use rocket launchers to attack and it is impossible to penetrate the wall of the bunker..."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Belkin heard this and interrupted the regimental commander: "I would like to ask, have your rockets penetrated through the firing holes of the enemy's bunker?"
"Punch in through the shooting hole of the enemy's bunker?!" Hearing what Belkin said, the regiment leader couldn't help being stunned, but he quickly thought of the crux of the problem and was so angry that he slapped his thigh hard.
He said angrily: "Oh, why did I forget this? Since rockets cannot penetrate the walls of the bunker, we can shoot the rockets through the shooting holes, so that we can still eliminate the enemies in the bunker."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Belkin said with a smile when he saw that the regiment commander realized the shortcomings in commanding the operation: "The failure of this attack is certainly a defeat for you. But this defeat is
It’s worth it, at least you won’t make similar mistakes again in future battles.”
"You are right, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." The regiment leader said with emotion: "If you had come here an hour earlier to give us guidance, our casualties during the attack would have been much smaller."
"It's not too late." Belkin said with a smile: "We just have to learn war in war, so that our command ability can be improved." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,
You have been fighting for several hours, and the commanders and soldiers must be exhausted. Please withdraw and rest first, and leave this kind of thing to us."
After sending away the regiment command organ of the 252nd Regiment, Belkin summoned several battalion commanders in the regiment to the command post and assigned them combat tasks: "The whole regiment is divided into three echelons, with the battalion as the organization, and they launch attacks on the enemy respectively.
attack……"
Before Belkin finished speaking, the second battalion commander rushed to say: "Comrade deputy division commander, I think this is inappropriate?"
"What's wrong?"
The second battalion commander pointed to the map and said to Belkin: "You see, the fortress area occupied by the enemy is too vast. If the battalion is used as a unit and goes into battle in batches, I am afraid it will weaken the troops' ability to attack fortresses."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Belkin looked at the second battalion commander who questioned him and said seriously: "If we want to break through this fortress area, we must eliminate the enemies hidden in it. If we invest too much at once,
Not only is it easy to cause unnecessary casualties due to insufficient military strength, but also what should we do if we encounter an enemy counterattack without a reserve force?"
After hearing what Belkin said, the second battalion commander immediately shut his mouth obediently and continued to listen to Belkin's combat missions.
"...According to my understanding, these bunkers are made of reinforced concrete, and the walls are more than one meter thick. The rockets we use to deal with German tanks and fortifications cannot penetrate the walls of the bunkers at all." Belkin told himself.
His subordinates said: "Therefore, I ask you to get as close as possible to the enemy's bunker and fire rockets into the bunker's firing holes."
Many problems seem unsolvable, but they can be solved by changing the way of thinking. Several battalion commanders were considering using rockets to penetrate reinforced concrete up to one meter thick. When they heard Belkin say that the rockets should be fired through the shooting holes
When I entered, my eyes suddenly brightened. This method is really wonderful. No matter how thick the walls of the enemy's bunker are, if the enemy wants to shoot outside, there must be shooting holes, and rockets must be fired into the shooting holes.
That's simply too easy.
After finding a way to deal with the German bunkers, the battalion commanders became more relaxed. A few of them even had a dispute over who should be the first echelon. But after a few arguments, Belkin stopped him: "Okay,
Stop arguing. Didn't I just say that echelons are allocated based on battalion numbers. The first battalion is the first echelon, the second battalion is the second echelon, and so on."
The first battalion to launch the attack, with each rocket launcher team as a unit, began to attack the enemy's bunker. The rocket launcher shooters hid in the blind spot of the bunker. After the ammunition hand had finished loading, they knocked on their helmets with their hands and then suddenly fired
Stand up straight, aim at the shooting hole of the enemy bunker and pull the trigger.
Not to mention, the method Belkin came up with was very effective. In less than ten minutes, five or six bunkers were destroyed by rocket launchers. Belkin, who was staying in the command post, watched the enemy's bunkers one after another.
He was quite happy to be destroyed. But he soon frowned. At this speed, it would take at least five or six hours to completely clear out the German bunkers in the fortress area.
"Reporting to Comrade Deputy Division Commander," a voice came from behind him: "The commander of the tank brigade is here!"
Belkin turned around and saw a tank soldier major standing behind him. When the other party saw him turning around, he quickly put his hand on his forehead and reported to him: "Comrade Colonel, I am Major Bunch, commander of the 37th Tank Brigade, and I have been ordered to assist.
You break through the German fortress area."
"Welcome, Comrade Major." Belkin couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the tank troops were here to support him. He held the opponent's hand and said excitedly: "With your help, I think we can break through the fortress area.
The speed can be greatly accelerated.”
"Comrade Colonel, is the attack going well?"
"It went well, but because there are too many enemy bunkers, our advance is a bit slow. According to the current style of play, it will take at least five or six hours to clear the enemy in the fortress area."
"Comrade Colonel, please rest assured that now that we are here, the enemy's bunkers are no longer a concern." Major Bunch said confidently: "We will definitely destroy all the German bunkers in the shortest possible time and clear the way for the infantry.