Our reinforcements?!
I was surprised to hear what lieutenant miducci said. How could Colonel anchufiev's troops keep up so soon? I turned and looked back curiously, but I saw that the forest behind me was quiet. I couldn't even see a person. Where did the reinforcements come from? At the same time, I thought that even if division commander anchufiev came, it was useless. They didn't have heavy weapons. How could they provide us with firepower cover?
Thinking of this, I turned around, looked at miducci standing in front of me with excited face, and asked sternly, "Comrade lieutenant, where are the reinforcements you mentioned? I didn't see it
"Comrade major, can we help you?" Lieutenant miducci asked back, "they are not behind us. They are behind the enemy." When he said this, there was a sunny smile on his face.
After listening to him, I still don't understand: How did our troops appear behind the German defense line? Was it general Vlasov's hand that he sent other troops around the enemy and then launched a surprise attack?
Although I was still at a loss, I saw shells falling on the enemy's positions one after another, shrapnel whistling around, chopping down the running Germans one by one. From time to time, human limbs, weapon fragments and soil were blown into the air by the explosion.
See a good attack opportunity in front of me, if I don't know how to grasp it, then I can find a piece of cheese to kill. I quickly came to the front of the group, pointed to the front, and said to them in a loud voice: "comrades, as long as we capture the enemy positions in front, we can open a channel for the group army to stand out from the encirclement." At this point, I raised my assault rifle, waved it forward, and roared: "brothers, go ahead, destroy them!"
Wugad in the queue also cooperated with me and called out a series of commands: "listen to my command, all of you in a scattered formation, move forward! Brothers, go ahead With his command, the troops set out to attack and charged with bayonets.
Ugad led them to attack on the right side of the hillside. They kept a relatively neat formation and pushed forward. The Germans, who were lucky not to be killed by the shells, hid in the fortifications and opened fire on the attacking troops. The bullets made one gap after another in the middle of the line, but they could not stop them. Seeing that they were still advancing at a constant speed in the hail of bullets, they crossed the flat ground and began to climb up the slope. The troops led by Captain kozhala also got up from the ground and launched a final attack on the German position in front of them.
The timing of the infantry charge was just right. The Germans were suppressed by the heavy artillery fire of our reinforcements and could not do any serious damage to our troops. As many firepower points were destroyed one by one, the troops led by kozala and ugad quickly rushed up two hillsides.
I wanted to follow, but I was blocked by sergeant grasimenko and the soldiers of the guard class, to protect my safety. Since I can't rush to the front, I can only stand behind the wall of soldiers in the guard class and yell at the front, no matter whether they can hear me or not: "Captain kozhala, Lieutenant ugad, kill all the Germans with bayonets, don't leave any."
The battle on both sides of the hillside is hard to separate. Several tanks are speeding along the track from east to west. The sandbag fortification built by the German in the middle of the railway was already half destroyed by the artillery fire, and the leading tank suddenly hit it, splitting the intact side. Several empty handed German soldiers rushed out of the fortification and ran to our side along the railway track. They were all knocked down by the machine gun on the tank before they ran far away.
As the tank approached, it could be confirmed that it was our own T34 tank. I gently pushed aside the guard and sergeant grasimenko who were blocking me. As I walked forward, I said, "it's our tank, sergeant. Let's go and have a look."
Several tanks drove to the place more than ten meters away from me and stopped in unison. The hatch of one of the tanks was opened and a soldier in a black tank uniform emerged from inside. He looked at us, quickly jumped out of the tank and trotted towards us without hesitation.
Seeing the tank soldiers running closer and closer, my face showed a knowing smile. I put my rifle on my shoulder and met them. The other party came to me to stand at attention and salute. Without waiting for him to speak, I already opened my mouth first: "Hello! Captain vitorganov, we are old acquaintances. We didn't expect to meet here again. " And he held out his hand to him.
The captain took my hand, shook it hard and said, "Comrade major, I didn't expect that you were the leading force commanding the second shock group army to break through the encirclement." At this point, he released my hand, stepped back, stood at attention again, and reported to me in accordance with the regulations: "Comrade major, Captain vitorganov of the 29th tank brigade of the volhoff front army reports to you that we have been ordered to come to rescue the troops of the 2nd shock group army. Now that we have successfully joined forces, we are at your command. "
After hearing what he said, I realized that this sudden tank unit was not sent by Vlasov, but came to us from east to West under the command of general meletskov, commander of the front army. When I understood the whole thing, I stepped forward, grabbed his hand and stammered with excitement: "Comrade captain! Victory... Meeting. Can I understand that we have broken the siege? "
With a smile on his face, Captain vitorganov replied, "my comrade major, since we have joined forces, we have certainly broken through the German encirclement. How can you think so hard! " I let go of his hand, took sergeant grasimenko and another guard standing behind him by the hand, and yelled happily, "sergeant grasimenko, and you, comrade soldier. Did you all hear that? We broke through the encirclement and joined forces with the troops sent by the commander of the front army. "“ Yes, comrade major Sergeant grasimenko and the guards replied cheerfully, their faces full of joy“ Sergeant grasimenko said, "now that we have broken through the siege, we should immediately inform Colonel anchufiev who is still behind us of the news. So I gave the sergeant an order:" take two soldiers to the division headquarters immediately, and tell Colonel anchufiev the news of joining the 29th tank brigade. "“ Yes, comrade major, I promise to finish the task. " The sergeant agreed in a loud voice, then called on the two soldiers to set out. The battle on both sides of the hillside, with the help of the infantry following the tanks, was also over. Captain kozala and lieutenant ugad left their troops on guard on the hillside, and then they both ran over to report the results to me. At that time, I was standing in front of the tank chatting with captain vitorganov. They came to me, stood at attention and saluted. They reported: "report, comrade major, Captain kozala (lieutenant ugad) has reported to you that all the Germans on the hillside have been eliminated. At present, the troops are on guard at the position on the hillside. We are here for your order. "“ Well done, comrades of the two commanders. " I went up and patted them on the shoulder, praised them, and added: "let the troops continue to stay on the hillside as a guard to ensure the smooth passage of the breakout."“ Comrade major, "Lieutenant ugad continued," when we met with the friendly forces on the hillside just now, a young commander heard your name and said on his own initiative that he had fought side by side with you. He wanted to see you. I don't know if he could? "“ Who will be the commander I have fought with? " In nearly a year, I have fought in many places, with thousands of commanders fighting side by side. In a hurry, I can't remember who it is. I bowed my head for a long time. I couldn't get to the point. I looked up at ugad and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, where is the commander of the friendly army?"“ I'm here, comrade major. " With the sound, a young commander came out of the tank and asked with a smile, "I've fought with you before. Do you remember me?"“ Lieutenant akhromeyev, "I didn't expect to meet two acquaintances who had fought near here. I took two quick steps, grabbed his arms, slapped them hard, and said excitedly," it's you. I didn't expect you to bring troops to help us out. " The lieutenant said with a smile: "Comrade major, I came to the rescue of the second shock group army with the training team of the second lieutenant on the order of general meletzkov. I didn't expect to meet you as soon as I broke the German encirclement. "