When the engineer company blew up the bridge over the Aksay River, Andrei and the commanders and fighters of the third battalion heard the huge explosion and the rising black smoke. Seeing that their retreat was blocked by the front section, some people would inevitably become panicked.
They were at a loss, especially those soldiers from the Ninth Company who had been prisoners of war. Some even cried: "The bridge has been blown up. We are doomed. When the Germans come up, we will become prisoners."
The crying soldiers inevitably had a negative impact on other soldiers around them. At this moment, Lieutenant Guchakov, commander of the ninth company, came over, looked at the soldier without any explanation, and even slapped him several times. Waiting for the other party
After calming down, Guchakov said angrily: "Don't say that the Germans haven't come yet. Even if they come, what's so scary? Can't we kill them with the weapons in our hands?"
"But...but...comrade company commander." The soldier who was slapped stammered, "As soon as the two bridges on the river exploded, our retreat was cut off."
"Although the bridge was blown up, we can still move from other places." Guchakov glanced at the soldiers present one by one, and then said: "Everyone pack your things immediately, we are ready to move.
."
In fact, there is nothing to pack. In addition to weapons, the soldiers always carry a backpack, ammunition, food and some personal supplies. They say they want to set off, just put their things on their backs and leave. In less than five minutes,
The two hundred soldiers of the Ninth Company formed a neat square formation, waiting for the battalion commander Captain Andre to give the order to set off.
Not long after, the soldiers of the 7th and 8th companies lined up in four columns and passed the location of the 9th company at a rapid march. When he saw the commander of the 8th company, Second Lieutenant Yegor, passing by him, Guchakov
He also specifically asked: "Second Lieutenant Yegor, have you seen the battalion commander?"
"The battalion commander and the troops directly under him are still behind." After Yegor finished speaking, he waved his hand to Guchakov and said: "Lieutenant Guchakov, let's go first and wait for you in front."
After a while, Guchakov saw Captain Andrei walking towards this direction with a group of people. He quickly went up to meet him and asked respectfully: "Comrade Battalion Commander, can our Ninth Company set off?"
Is it done?"
Andrei walked up to Guchakov, put his hands on his shoulders, held him and walked forward, and at the same time said: "Lieutenant Guchakov, judging from the current situation, where our battalion is located
The location may have been discovered by the Germans. Now I need your company to stay and cover the entire battalion's retreat. How about it, are there any questions?"
Guchakov did not expect that Andre would let his company stay behind. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said: "No problem, I will resolutely obey your order."
"Although your company is responsible for the task of blocking the rear, there may not necessarily be a battle." Andrei said to Guchakov: "Two or three kilometers further downstream, there is a small town, where your company is responsible for blocking.
Let's do the mission. After the main force of the battalion crosses the river, I will send the communications troops to notify you of the retreat."
Guchakov brought his ninth company to the town. Due to the rush of time, he had no time to build fortifications outside the town, so he scattered the soldiers in various rooms, waiting for the Germans to come and beat them.
Caught off guard.
Of course, not all houses had his subordinates in them. Any house where soldiers were hiding would have two bricks or an equal number of stones placed at the door; and in houses without bricks or stones, they would be placed on the door.
There are booby traps. As long as the Germans who rush in rush open the door, they can be blown to pieces.
Time passed minute by minute, but there was no movement from the German army. Guchakov, who was staying in the town cinema, was so anxious that he would call the observation post in the east of the town almost every few minutes and ask: "How is it?"
Is there any movement?"
"No, Comrade Commander." The observation post heard Guchakov's voice and immediately replied: "So far, I have not found any Germans."
Putting down the phone, Guchakov called a soldier and ordered: "Go to the observation post in the west of the city and ask if the battalion commander has sent someone to notify us of our retreat."
Although there were two observation posts in the east and west of the town, since there were only two telephones in the company, when the communication corps was laying the lines, Guchakov did not hesitate to order one of them to be installed in the observation post in the east of the town.
He could keep abreast of the German army's movements at the company headquarters. As for the observation post in the west of the town, it was obviously not as important as in the east of the town. Therefore, when he wanted to inquire about any news, Guchakov always asked the soldiers to go there.
Just like this, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the roar of tank engines came from the east side of the town. This time, before Guchakov could call, the observation post took the initiative to call: "Company Commander
Comrade, we heard the roar of tank engines coming from a distance. Judging from the sound, there are at least five tanks."
"I got it." Guchakov put down the phone and immediately called several soldiers and told them: "Go out immediately and sound the alarm so that the soldiers are ready for battle."
"Understood." Several soldiers agreed and trotted out of the cinema. Soon the sound of whistles came one after another on the streets. According to the prior agreement, if the soldiers heard one long and two short whistles, it would indicate that the German army was about to start.
If there is an attack, everyone must be ready to fight.
Seven or eight minutes later, the observation post called Guchakov again: "Comrade company commander, the enemy's tanks have appeared in our field of vision. There are six tanks in total, followed by two hundred soldiers."
According to Guchakov's idea, the streets in the town are narrow. After the German tanks enter the town, they will find a way to use cluster grenades to blow up the two tanks that are opening the way and the ones behind them, and the remaining tanks will be blocked.
On the street, let your troops be wiped out. As for the infantry, once they lose the cover of the tanks and have no terrain advantage, they will be faced with fire attacks from the buildings on both sides, if not completely annihilated, at least they will be destroyed.
to severe damage.
Unexpectedly, the German tanks stopped four or five hundred meters away from the town and fired at the buildings in the town. After the two rounds of shelling, several buildings on the edge of the town collapsed. Except for a few soldiers, they responded quickly and promptly
Those who escaped were buried in the rubble.
The reason why the German tank crew opened fire was because they saw that the town was too quiet, so they fired a few shots casually and asked for directions. Unexpectedly, they blasted out the Soviet soldiers hiding in the building. The German commander saw
The Soviet troops were hiding in the town, but they had no firepower to counterattack. They thought the town was just a group of stragglers, so they gave the troops an order to attack.
The tanks opened the way in front, and the infantry followed and rushed toward the town. When they were still more than a hundred meters away from the town, the survivors hiding in the ruins shot at them. The bullets fired by the soldiers hit the tanks.
The armor plate clanked, but it did not slow down the tank's movement at all.
For those Soviet soldiers hiding in the ruins, the German tank crews fired at them with machine guns. The infantrymen following the tanks also leaned out half of their bodies from time to time and pulled the triggers towards the Soviet soldiers' hiding positions to kill the emerging Soviet soldiers.
The German soldiers were defeated... In this way, the German army successfully rushed to the edge of the town with almost negligible casualties.
Seeing that the Soviet resistance had ceased, the German commander strengthened his judgment and concluded that this was just a group of stragglers. He ordered the tanks to stop outside the town, while the infantry dispersed into the town to search. The German soldiers divided into several groups and carefully
We entered the town and walked along the street.
A German soldier walked to a building and saw that the door was closed. Eager to know if there was an enemy inside, he grabbed the handle and twisted it, then pushed it in. Hearing a loud "bang",
This soldier and several nearby soldiers were suddenly shrouded in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, they saw that the reckless soldier had been blown to pieces, while several other soldiers fell to the ground and howled.
"Be careful, there are booby traps in the building." A German corporal not far away said loudly: "Don't open the door casually."
But in order to clear the town of Soviet troops, these buildings must be entered even if they knew there was danger. The German sergeant came up with a good idea. He walked to the side of a building and first smashed the window glass with the butt of his gun.
, after throwing the stringed grenade in, he squatted on the ground with his hands on his ears.
Soon, there were two consecutive explosions in the house, and even the closed door was blown down. This was a booby trap hidden behind the door, which was detonated by a grenade. Seeing that this method worked, the German corporal couldn't help but
Overjoyed, he quickly urged everyone around him: "Have you all seen it? The Russians buried booby traps behind the door. Just throw the grenade in and detonate the mines inside."
When the soldiers around him heard what the corporal said, they also followed suit. After smashing the window glass, they threw smoking grenades in. Some grenades were thrown in and detonated booby traps laid by the Soviet army.
The closed door was blown open. But what was unexpected was that two grenades that were thrown into the room were actually thrown out from the inside. They landed in the middle of the German army and exploded, killing and injuring several people on the spot.
personal.
Before the Germans could recover, the previously silent street seemed to come to life. Countless gun muzzles protruded from the windows on both sides of the street, shooting at the German soldiers standing on the street, killing them in batches.
Knock down.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!" Seeing the soldiers being suddenly attacked in the town, the German commander immediately understood that his men had been ambushed and quickly ordered them to withdraw from the town.