The soldiers' spontaneous counterattack still resulted in intensive firepower, causing considerable casualties to the German officers and soldiers walking through the smoke. Many soldiers had to find bomb craters to avoid, and then stuck their heads out to start a fight with the Soviet commanders and soldiers in the distance.
Counter-shooting.
Seeing that the troops in front were intercepted by Soviet fire, the German troops behind immediately set up mortars for bombardment. Fortunately, there was smoke, and although the German mortars fired vigorously, they did not cause much damage to the Soviet troops.
of casualties.
At this time, a machine gun on the Soviet side rang out. The machine gunner was eager to eliminate the threat of German artillery fire, so he fired in the direction of the mortar. But unfortunately, the aimless shooting could not suppress the fire.
The mortar fire only attracted more firepower. A moment later, the machine gun misfired under the intense German firepower.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who lost the cover of machine gun fire couldn't help but fell into chaos. The Germans took the opportunity to concentrate their firepower and shoot at the location where the Soviet troops might be concentrated. The intensive firepower knocked the Soviet commanders and fighters off their feet. In less than a minute, there were
Many people were shot and killed.
Colonel Surodenko in the distance saw his men being suppressed by German firepower. He was so anxious that he pounded the ground with his fists. He wanted to rescue him, but the Germans had the advantage of firepower. At this time, sending troops up would be equivalent to
Let more people die.
"Comrade division commander," the chief of staff came to Surodenko's side and said anxiously: "The troops in front may be annihilated by the Germans at any time. We should do something to rescue them from danger."
"Chief of Staff, tell me, what can we do now?" Surodenko pointed to the distance and said angrily: "You haven't seen how fierce the enemy's firepower is. If we can't suppress them, we will send another
If more troops go up, it's just to let them die."
"But, Comrade Division Commander." Although the division chief of staff understood that what Surodenko said was true, he couldn't help but feel like a knife in his heart when he saw his subordinates suffering casualties under the fire of the German army.
He said unwillingly: "Are we just going to watch them being wiped out by the Germans?"
"What can I do?" Surodenko said helplessly: "The enemy has long-range heavy artillery. As long as our troops are concentrated, they can carry out violent bombardment and cause us huge casualties."
"So what do we do now?"
"Let the soldiers dig fortifications." Surodenko felt that under the current circumstances, he could only abandon the troops in danger ahead and save the remaining troops. As for the blocking order from his superiors, let it go to hell, his own troops
We are about to be defeated by the Germans, and we still have the ability to stop the fleeing enemies. "With fortifications, even if we are bombarded by heavy German artillery again, we can minimize casualties."
"Comrade Division Commander, Comrade Division Commander." At this time, the operator carrying a walkie-talkie trotted up to Surodenko and reported with some excitement: "This is the call from Comrade Commander."
"Comrade Commander, this is Surodenko." Surodenko put on his headphones and said into the microphone: "Currently our division is under fierce attack by the German army, and the situation is very dangerous. I repeat, the situation is very dangerous.
.”
"Colonel Surodenko," Melekhov's voice came from the earphones: "I know the situation of your division is very bad, but don't worry, Comrade Commander has sent the air force to support you. Our troops will be waiting for you later.
When the plane arrives, please remember to do a good job in guiding us on the ground so that the bombs they drop will not hit our own people."
When he learned that the air force was about to arrive for support, Surodenko, who was already on the verge of despair, immediately saw a glimmer of hope. He hurriedly asked: "Comrade Commander, when will our air force arrive? Our current situation is very serious.
Oops, if the air support cannot arrive in time, there is a danger of the entire army being annihilated."
"Colonel Surodenko," Melekhov's voice continued to come from the earphones: "The air force to support you will arrive soon. Please hold on for ten more minutes. Repeat, the air force will arrive soon. Please continue to hold on."
Hold on for ten minutes."
After Surodenko ended the call, the division chief of staff asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, what did the corps commander say?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, good news, good news." Surodenko said to the division chief of staff emotionally: "The army commander told me that the superiors sent the air force to support us, and asked us to provide ground guidance for the air force.
To avoid accidentally blowing up one of your own."
Now it was the division chief of staff's turn to be in a dilemma. Under the current circumstances, how to instruct the air force on ground attack targets?
Seeing that the division chief of staff was still refusing to speak, Surodenko urged him: "Comrade chief of staff, you are speaking. How should we give the air force instructions for attacking targets?"
Before the division chief of staff could speak, the radio operator handed the earphone and microphone to Surodenko: "Comrade division commander, it's an Air Force pilot who wants to talk to you."
Surodenko put on the headphones again. There was first a burst of electricity, and then a hoarse voice came: "I am the captain of the special flying group of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps. We will arrive at the battlefield in two minutes. Please
Indicate the target for us to attack. Repeat, we will arrive on the battlefield in two minutes, please indicate the target for us to attack."
"What should we do, Comrade Chief of Staff?" Surodenko said anxiously: "The air force has two minutes to arrive at the battlefield. How should we indicate the direction of attack for them?"
Fortunately, the division chief of staff suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good idea: "Comrade division commander, I have an idea."
"Say it quickly!"
"We collected the red flags and placed an arrow on the ground. The direction pointed by the arrow is the location of the German army." The division chief of staff said proudly: "In this way, our pilots can clearly see our enemy in the air.
Instructed."
Hearing this idea from the Chief of Staff, Surodenko couldn't help but his eyes lit up and he said repeatedly: "Good idea, Comrade Chief of Staff, this is indeed a good idea."
After that, he said loudly into the microphone: "Comrade pilot, we will lay an arrow with a red flag on the ground. The direction pointed by the arrow is the distance of the German army. You only need to attack in that direction."
." After repeating the content of the shouting twice, he remembered that the battlefield was filled with smoke at the moment and was worried about affecting the pilot's field of vision. He quickly added, "Now that the battlefield is filled with smoke, your field of vision may be blocked, affecting your view of the aircraft.
Ground attack."
If it were other fighters, faced with the billowing smoke, they might not be able to detect targets on the ground. But this time General Ryazanov sent out aerial fortresses that specialize in ground attacks. They are usually 100 meters high.
If you are circling everywhere, you will definitely be able to see it more clearly than an attacking aircraft flying at an altitude of several hundred meters.
"Don't worry, comrade commander." The pilot said on the communication channel: "As long as we have your guidance, we can find the target of attack."
As soon as the division chief of staff ordered the soldiers to lay the indicator arrows with red flags on the ground, there was a low roar in the air, and then four transport planes appeared on the horizon. Compared with fighter jets and fighter jets, their flying speed was as slow as if they were flying in the sky.
As if crawling. The officers and soldiers of the Soviet and German sides who were fighting on the ground were not sure whose plane it was, so they stopped shooting and looked up into the sky.
Suddenly, the plane door opened, revealing two black muzzles, and then they started shooting wildly. The two long muzzle flashes swung back and forth, and intensive firepower poured on the ground. Wherever it went, the German troops were beaten to the point of being turned upside down.
. Several armored vehicles that had just arrived unfortunately became victims. Their thin top armor was easily torn apart by 14.5 mm armor-piercing bullets, and the soldiers hidden in the vehicles were beaten to pieces.
After receiving Sokov's call, Ryazanov felt that the later-modified transport aircraft, since it was equipped with a 12.7 mm machine gun and only had one on one side, would be greatly reduced in power if it hovered in the air and attacked the ground, so he acted decisively.
The ground chose the air fortress that was rebuilt in the early stage. These transport aircraft were equipped with twin 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns. The attack on the infantry on the ground could be described as a one-sided massacre.
Precisely because they used an early-modified transport aircraft, eight 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns fired at the ground at the same time. The place they passed was a scorched earth, and even tree trunks as thick as a bowl could be broken, not to mention the German officers and soldiers who were only flesh and blood.
In less than five minutes, where the German troops had gathered, no one was still standing. Even if some people had not yet died, their injuries were too serious and they were exhausted. They were just lying on the ground waiting for death to come.
After destroying the German infantry, the four flying fortresses flew towards the German artillery positions.
The German lieutenant colonel watched helplessly as the infantry he sent were wiped out by four strange transport planes. Now seeing the planes flying towards his position, he immediately realized that something was wrong and hurriedly shouted to his adjutant: "Hurry up!
Get me the artillery and have them move immediately."
Although the German lieutenant colonel responded quickly, it was still a step late. After all, for the aircraft, the two-kilometer journey was basically covered in an instant. When they arrived at the aerial fortress above the German artillery position, they quickly launched an attack on the ground.
In this way, the German lieutenant colonel watched four Soviet transport planes hovering over the artillery position. Bullets fired from eight 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine guns poured towards the position like mercury, detonating the weapons stacked on the position.
The shells exploded the cannon into parts, and the artillerymen were blown to pieces.
Everything that happened on the German position was clearly seen by Surodenko through a telescope. He came out of his hiding place, stood on a mound, and shouted to the commanders and soldiers hiding around: "Comrades, the enemy
The artillery positions have been destroyed by our air force. Everyone rush to me to avenge our sacrificed comrades!"
Seeing the division commander leading the charge, the soldiers hidden around jumped up from the trenches one after another, shouted "Ula", followed Surodenko, and rushed toward the German positions in the distance.
When the pilot captain saw the troops on the ground launching a charge, a smile appeared on his face. He quickly contacted other pilots through the airborne radio: "Brothers, the ground troops have launched a charge, and we must do our best to support them.
Once you find where the enemy is resisting tenaciously, use intensive firepower to destroy them. Do you understand?"
The other three pilots heard the group captain's order and responded loudly: "Understood, comrade group captain, we will do our best to support our army brothers."
The flying fortress specifically circled the German positions. When they saw where the firepower was intensive, they would use anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot at them to destroy the German firepower points, so that the ground offensive forces would encounter less resistance and attack faster.
Surodenko soon saw the clue and knew that the air force was guiding and covering his attack, so he directed his troops to attack the area where the flying fortress was attacking. Often the German firepower point had just been destroyed by the flying fortress, and hundreds of Soviet
The military commanders and soldiers rushed forward, drowning the remaining German officers and soldiers in a hail of bullets.
The German lieutenant colonel originally wanted to organize resistance, but they had no air superiority and could only be beaten passively. With great difficulty, they organized two air-to-air shootings in an attempt to bring down the slow-flying transport aircraft, but with their little firepower, how could they do it?
Compared with the powerful firepower on the transport plane, it was beaten to the ground in an instant and not even the scum could be found.
Seeing that the Soviet transport planes in the sky could not be eliminated, and the Soviet troops were rushing towards their positions like a tide, the German lieutenant colonel knew that if he continued to hold on, the entire army would definitely be annihilated, so he quickly gave the troops the order to retreat.
Order.
When the Flying Fortress saw the German troops abandoning their positions and fleeing to the west, they chased them for a while. Before they could expand their victory, the battalion commander received a call from Surodenko: "Comrade battalion commander, comrade battalion commander, I am the 3rd
Colonel Surodenko, commander of the 130th Division, there are now thousands of German soldiers pouring towards our position from the east. I repeat, thousands of German soldiers are pouring from the east towards the position we just occupied."
When he learned that thousands of German troops had appeared in the east, the captain of the flight group couldn't help but be overjoyed and said quickly: "I understand, comrade colonel, we will rush over immediately to eliminate them."
In this way, the four air fortresses stopped chasing the fleeing enemies and turned around to intercept the German officers and soldiers who were fleeing westward. Soon, they discovered that the open ground below was filled with running people all over the mountains and plains. The captain knew that these should be
The defeated German army quickly ordered all the air fortresses to descend to the high ground and use anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot at the fleeing enemies.
For the Soviet pilots, these German officers and soldiers who had lost their organizational structure and were just trying to escape were the best targets. After they descended from altitude, they once again used anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot at the ground. After a series of bullets, there were more than a dozen people.
The German officers and soldiers were beaten to pieces, and even those who were lucky enough not to be killed were still missing arms and legs, lying on the ground crying helplessly.
A few German officers and soldiers with faster legs and feet are now only two or three hundred meters away from the trenches. Looking at the trenches that appear in their field of vision, they seem to have grasped a life-saving straw, thinking that as long as they enter the trenches, they can escape from the planes in the sky.
Strafing. Then everyone exerted their maximum potential and rushed towards the trench at a sprint speed of 100 meters.
But what they never expected was that when they were less than a hundred meters away from the trench, intensive gunshots suddenly rang out from the trench. The soldiers at the front seemed to have hit a transparent wall and twitched all over.
He fell to the ground. The soldiers behind him quickly fell down, thinking that there was a misunderstanding between the friendly forces on the position, and they were still shouting desperately, trying to get the other side to stop shooting.