At dusk on July 25, 1942, at the front of Position No. 19 on the Don River, soldiers armed with tools and engineer shovels, led by Vanya, buried various tank shells collected on the battlefield in the wreckage of the tanks. nearby.
In the trenches, hundreds of German-made M24 long-handled grenades were distributed to the hands of every soldier. The fragments of these grenades were also tied with strips of cloth or wire. Unequal Mauser bullets.
Also distributed were the collected submachine guns or machine guns and their respective matching ammunition. Further away, the five ZIS-3 anti-tank guns and the only two 120 mm heavy mortars were also ready to fire.
Even the remaining gasoline and leaked lubricating oil that could be found in the tank wreckage were brought back by every means, and combined with various other materials that could be found to make Molotov cocktails.
In the temporary command post, Vanya put down the phone in disappointment, "The rear has sent almost all the reinforcements and supplies to the main battlefield on the easternmost side, and they do not believe that the German army can come from We are launching an attack here."
"Damn bureaucracy"
The Aleutian company commander who just came in cursed with an ugly face, "There hasn't been any news from Kaze. News?"
Vanya shook his head again, "There has been no response since the last time he called for artillery strikes. He is probably..."
"Captain Aleutian !"
A soldier with gauze on his head ran into the command post, shouting, "Aleutian Company Commander, the Germans are starting to attack!"
< p>"Let's go!"Everyone ran out of the command post like a swarm. When they climbed up the ladder to the trench, they immediately saw blue smoke rising from the end of their sight and the roar of the tank engine. It’s getting clearer and clearer!
"Tank No. 4!"
A nearby gunner held up a telescope and said, "There are sandbags piled in front. It is estimated that it will be difficult for our anti-tank guns to penetrate directly!"< /p>
"Put it in a little bit," the Aleutian company commander shouted with his loudspeaker, "82mm mortar! Kill the infantry behind the tank first!"
His words had not yet finished. , but the dozen or so German tanks coming from the opposite side were the first to roar. Suddenly, a series of damages were made to the barbed wire fence in front of the trench.
Before those tanks fired the second round of shells, the 82mm mortars in the trench had each fired a high-explosive shell under the control of the surrounding soldiers.
Amidst the loud rumbling noise, two artillery shells hit the back of the row of tanks in an arc. The dust and smoke evaporated by the explosion were vaguely visible, but Aleutian and others were not happy at all. expression.
Even Wei Ran, who was lying not far away, knew the reason. The German soldiers were too spread out, and the damage caused by the two mortars was far beyond everyone's expectations. Even Even if replaced by the two 120mm heavy mortars, this battleThe fruit will not expand much.
"Bring them closer, bring them closer and then hit them." Captain Aleutian shouted quickly.
Wei Ran clenched the submachine gun in his hand. From time to time, he would turn his head and glance at the soldier not far away who was responsible for using the anti-tank gun. According to the task assigned to him, once the soldier died in battle, he would I need to top it immediately!
While everyone on both sides was waiting anxiously, the tanks bumped up and down over the craters full of rainwater and corpses, reducing the distance between the two to less than 500 meters!
"Beep——!"
As the sharp whistle sounded, the five anti-tank guns immediately began to fight back fiercely against the fire of the opponent's tanks, one by one with 76 mm The armor-piercing shells continued to hit the oncoming tank turret or frontal armor with whistle sounds.
In the violent explosion, several of the tanks were first turned into fireballs, and one of them even exploded directly, lifting the entire turret into the air.
From this moment on, from the water-cooled Maxim to the powerful Deshka, to the captured German MG34 machine gun, the machine gun fire points extending from all over the position sprayed out deadly fire snakes , harvesting the enemy's lives like a series of not very efficient but absolutely deadly scythes.
But from this moment on, the soldiers holding position 19 also began to suffer casualties one after another. Every time the opponent's mortars and tank artillery exploded, the smoke and dust would be accompanied by familiar or familiar sounds from around them. Unfamiliar screams.
As the screams continued, the female soldier Zoya was lying on the slope of the trench, pointing the camera at the soldiers who were fighting back and pressing the shutter again and again, even if there was mud caused by the explosion. After it was smashed down, the first action the young-looking female soldier made was to protect the camera in her arms.
Under the repeated counterattacks of the five anti-tank guns, all the tanks coming from the opposite side were finally pinned in place, but at the same time, the shell craters behind those tanks were also full of German soldiers. At this point, the seizure distance between the two parties was less than 400 meters for the first time.
Under Aleutian's command, the five anti-tank guns were the first to stop firing, and then quickly moved their positions one after another amid the trumpets of the artillery squad.
What made them particularly fortunate was that although the small-caliber mortars from the opposite side hit the trenches again and again, this time from before the exchange of fire until the two sides reached a stalemate, the German artillery was honest Didn't come over to cause trouble.
"It seems that Kaze has really solved their artillery position"
Aleutian's frowning brows finally relaxed somewhat, "Vanya, report to the rear In our situation, let’s try to see if we can send some reinforcements.”
With everyone’s expectations, Vanya left as ordered, but not long after, he brought back bad news with a gloomy face. , "The Germans have launched a general attack on the entire right-wing position of the 64th Group Army. Now we haveIt was impossible to get any more reinforcements. ”
“Save ammo! "Aleutian gritted his teeth and issued a new order.
Soon, there were only cold gunshots ringing out from time to time on Position 19, but the German mortars on the opposite side were fired as if they were free of charge. , every time gunshots are heard here, several artillery shells will be fired in retaliation.
"Captain Aleutian, why do I feel like they are stalling for time? ”
Weiran was the first to see something was wrong. The Germans sent out more than a dozen tanks with great fanfare, but they only sent the soldiers who came with the tanks to a position less than 500 meters away from Position 19. It stopped. This operation looked weird.
Captain Aleutian glanced at Wei Ran in surprise and handed the telescope directly to his hand, "You'll understand after you take a look. . "
Wei Ran took the telescope without knowing why and looked through the gap between the two sandbags. He could vaguely see the German soldiers hiding in the shell craters who seemed to be throwing them out. What are they digging?
“They are digging trenches? "Wei Ran asked without knowing why.
The Aleutian Captain nodded worriedly, "The attack just now was to test our counterattack distance, and then we opened trenches as close as possible, and then continued The battle down here will probably be particularly difficult..."
"Don't we have mortars? "Wei Ran returned the telescope to the other party, "Even if the ammunition of the two largest guns is limited, we still have..."
"Keep talking." Captain Aleutian looked at Wei Ran and said, He urged with interest
Wei Ran thought for a moment, with a look of realization on his face, "I understand! ”