Late at night on the 25th, Position 19 also began to become extremely noisy. Mortar shells coming every now and then not only woke up the recruits and veterans in the bunker again and again, but also destroyed the nerves of the German trenches opposite, and even Even the opponent's reinforcements towards that trench were repeatedly interrupted.
On the other hand, after this night of irregular shelling, the recruits who controlled the mortars quickly mastered the necessary battlefield skills under the words and deeds of the veterans.
In the early morning of the 26th, continuous rain once again enveloped Position 19 by the Don River. Even with the help of telescopes, the German trenches about 400 meters away became extremely blurry in the rain.
During this night, the launch tubes of the two 82mm mortars remained hot to the touch. On the side of Position 19, a trench leading straight to the German position on the opposite side was also rapidly advancing under the digging of many soldiers.
Thanks to the rain-soaked soil and the densely distributed shell craters, the depth of this trench was less than one meter and the width was barely enough for two people to stand face to face. The digging speed was frightening. At 5:30 in the morning, as Vanya puffed up his cheeks and blew his whistle, the Soviet soldiers who were lying on the muddy battlefield wielding engineer shovels immediately turned over and jumped into the trench, bent over and ran back to Position 19.
Shivering, he threw the engineer shovel in his hand into the open space in the trench. Wei Ran, whose raincoat was stained with yellow mud, wiped the water on his face with all his strength, and then sat down at his feet exhausted. wooden box. During this night, they had ventured to advance the trench a full hundred meters in length.
But what is the purpose of this trench? Neither the Aleut Captain nor Vanya explained half a letter in detail.
"Group 5! Deepen and widen the trenches!"
Wanya shouted loudly while holding a tin trumpet, and then a rotating group of soldiers picked up the engineer shovel and took over without hesitation. After what Wei Ran and others had just done.
"Eat something!"
Zoya took out two steaming boiled potatoes from the basket she was carrying and stuffed them into Wei Ran. Behind her, there were A soldier with sideburns and over fifty years old was distributing black bread mixed with a lot of sawdust to everyone.
"Thank you"
While Wei Ran took over the boiled potatoes, he waved his hand to reject the two pieces of black bread that were no bigger than a palm. This was what he tried two days ago. After eating it once, it just didn't taste good and made him choke. Even the large pieces of sawdust occasionally mixed in almost chipped his back molars.
After eating a potato in two or three bites, Wei Ran stood up tremblingly and walked to the bunker not far away. He randomly found two wooden boxes containing artillery shells and lay down on them without even bothering to take off his raincoat. The person above closed his eyes, and within two minutes, there was a loud noise in the damp and dark bunker.
Like other soldiers who are busy catching up on sleep, as long as Vanya doesn't blow the whistle now, even if the mortars sound from time to time outside,Don't even think about the sound of launches and explosions waking him up again.
When Wei Ran woke up again, he felt that he had only slept for less than five minutes, but the sky outside the bunker exit had already turned completely dark, and even artillery shells hit position 19 and exploded. The movement in the bunker was much denser than yesterday. On the contrary, in the bunker, apart from myself, there were only a few soldiers injured by mortars last night, silently loading bullets into drums or magazines under the oil lamp. .
Rubbing his face vigorously to wake himself up completely, Wei Ran took out the flashlight from his arms and looked at the ground. Fortunately, there was not much rainwater accumulated this time. The wine bottles were still slightly above the water.
Climbing out of the bunker through the water that covered his feet, the guard tightened the German steel helmet he picked up in the morning and ran quickly towards the trench that had not been dug that morning.
In just half a day, the hundred-meter-long trench had been widened to about two meters, and even the depth exceeded one meter. But it was far from over. At this time, almost all the soldiers in Position 19 were mobilized here to reinforce the floor and walls of the trench with logs and wooden boards removed from unknown locations.
Taking out the potatoes that he had left behind before going to bed, he ate them in two or three bites. Wei Ran bent down and picked up a bundle of wooden planks, and ran into the trench with the flow of people.
While helping with the transportation, Wei Ranye learned from several familiar soldiers that these planks and logs were removed from Position 18 next door, and this trench At this time, the excavation has reached a distance of about 150 meters.
Moreover, along the way, Wei Ran also noticed that almost every twenty or thirty meters, under the logs and planks that served as the floor, there were also buried explosives and explosives. German tank shells at the detonating line!
Putting down the wooden board on his shoulders, Wei Ran stumbled to the end on the sticky mud. Perhaps intentionally, the trench ended up next to two rear-ending Panzer IV tanks.
One of the two tanks had its turret blown away due to the explosion of ammunition. Although the other turret was still there, the hole punched by the child's fist in the front armor was particularly conspicuous.
But just under the bellies of the wreckage of these two tanks, a hidden observation window connected to the trench was opened in the opposite direction facing the German position.
At this time, the Aleutian company commander was sitting on the wooden box behind the observation window, putting black bread in his mouth while holding up the telescope, letting his sight pass through the gap under the tank chassis. Quietly peeking at the German trenches on the opposite side. On another wooden box next to him, there was also a teacher's hand-cranked telephone.
Less than five meters behind him, the trench dug to the end was expanding little by little. At the same time, the wet soil packed in sacks was being neatly passed around by the soldiers hand by hand. The piles were placed around the chassis of the two No. 4 tanks, and the vital bunkers were gradually raised and thickened.
“This is digging for anti-tank guns.Bit? Wei Ran asked in surprise.
After hearing this, Captain Aleutian looked back at Wei Ran, then turned his attention to the trench on the opposite side again, and replied absently, "Yes, today Before night, an anti-tank gun and two machine gun positions will be deployed here. "
"This is too dangerous..."
Wei Ran swallowed the second half of the sentence halfway through, dangerous? Where is the entire No. 19 position not dangerous? Besides, How could the Aleutian company commander not see the danger even though he himself could see it?
“Although the frontal armor of the German tanks cannot block our anti-tank guns, it is far less vulnerable than the sides. Yes, this arrangement is indeed dangerous, but it will allow us to destroy more tanks and kill more Germans. "
Wei Ran opened his mouth and was about to say something, but the phone next to Aleutian rang. The latter stretched out a hand to grab the phone, and then heard Vanya's loud and dark voice. , "Aleutian, we have just received an order from the rear. All soldiers must hold position 19 and are not allowed to take a step back. "
Wei Ran was stunned when he heard this. According to historical records, didn't the 64th Group Army withdraw to the other side of the Don River on the 29th, that is, three days later? How...
Compared to Wei Ran, who looked dull, Aleutian responded nonchalantly, "I know, notify the mortar squad to counterattack immediately. Reinforcements from the opposite side have arrived again. "
Hang up the phone happily, Captain Aleutian picked up the iron speaker at his feet and threw it to Wei Ran, "Inform everyone that the laying work will be completed within an hour, and then the anti-tank gun will be pushed over. ! ”