red moscow

Chapter 2717 Ambulance Team
After annihilating a small German advance team, the soldiers who had never been on the battlefield, while gaining limited battlefield experience, could not help but underestimate the enemy. It was like the feeling that everyone felt like a stock god after a stock market boom.

The new soldier who had killed the enemy with his own hands even said confidently while eating: "The Germans' fighting power is only so good. If they don't come later, it's fine. But if they come, I will definitely make sure they never come back."

His blind optimism inevitably affected the other soldiers around him: "Yes, you are right. When we were charging just now, I saw a German soldier was so scared that he fired two shots at me. In the end, he didn't even hurt my hair. I stabbed him to death with my bayonet."

If Sokov were here and heard the conversation between these new soldiers, he would probably be furious. He was worried about how long this patchwork troop could hold out when the Germans launched another attack, while the new soldiers were overwhelmed by their recent victory and felt that fighting was nothing special. Some even thought that this small troop could completely defeat the well-armed German army and have a chance to go down in history.

At this time, Sokov was in the bunker, discussing the upcoming battle with the captain and Andrei: "...The enemy's tactics are nothing more than bombing by planes and artillery, and then the infantry will launch a fierce attack on us under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles. The bunkers we are in now are well fortified, and the enemy will definitely not be able to break through the fortifications without heavy artillery. So when the enemy bombards and shells us, we only need to hide in the bunkers to minimize casualties..."

"Sokov, I never knew you knew so much." After Sokov finished speaking, Andrei said with a smile, "If you tell others that you are a new soldier, I'm afraid no one will believe you. After all, the battlefield common sense you know may not be known even by some veterans who have been in the army for three or four years."

Sokov said with a smile: "One of my neighbors has participated in many battles. I often chat with him, and he told me all this common sense."

The captain was originally confused about Sokov. How could a new soldier who had just joined the army for one day know more than him? After listening to Sokov's explanation, he said with a look of enlightenment: "So that's how it is. I was wondering how you could know so much common sense."

"Captain, I have another concern."

"What are you worried about?"

"Although our fortifications are strong and the enemy's artillery fire may not be able to destroy them, the shock wave generated by the explosion may still kill the people in the bunker." Sokov said, "So I think after discovering the enemy, we should withdraw most of the soldiers to other places as soon as possible, and let them return to the fortifications when the shelling ends and the enemy starts to attack."

After hearing Sokov's suggestion, the captain thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "No, there are no decent fortifications near the bunkers. If the enemy launches intensive artillery bombardment here, the flying shrapnel will be enough to cause us heavy casualties. I can't take such a risk, so when the enemy bombards, everyone is better off hiding in the fortifications."

Sokov wanted to persuade them again, but there was no time. The sound of tank engines roaring came from outside, indicating that the armored forces that had stopped to rest were advancing in this direction, and a war was about to break out.

The captain ran out of the bunker and shouted outside: "Combat alert! Combat alert!! Everyone enter the bunker. No one is allowed to come out of the bunker without my order."

A few minutes later, the first batch of shells landed and exploded around the bunkers. The new recruits who were in the same bunker with Sokov were trembling with fear when they heard the deafening sound of artillery outside and the rising mud and smoke. Fortunately, the captain had issued an order not long ago that no one could leave the bunker at will, otherwise some new recruits would have turned around and fled the position because they could not bear the fear of the bombardment.

I don't know how long the shelling lasted, but it finally stopped.

Sokov lowered his hands from covering his ears, but he still felt as if he had lost his hearing. Alexei was speaking loudly to him, but he could only see his mouth opening and closing, but could not hear what he was saying.

Alexey obviously realized that Sokov couldn't hear him at all, so he patted his shoulder and pointed to the door. Sokov turned his head and saw Andrei, whose face was blackened by smoke, standing at the door and gesturing at him.

Sokov quickly stood up and walked over, leaning close to Andrei's ear and yelling loudly: "Andrei, what's the matter?"

Andrei followed suit and leaned close to his ear and shouted loudly: "Sokov, the captain is calling you."

Sokov followed Andrei to the bunker where the captain was. After entering, he was stunned by the scene in front of him. Several soldiers were lying on the ground, and the captain was sitting against the wall with blood flowing from the corners of his mouth and nose.

Seeing this, Sokov immediately realized that what he was most worried about had happened. Although the bombardment just now did not destroy the fortifications of the bunker group, the door of the bunker where the captain was located was blown away, and the soldiers inside were killed or injured by the shock, and even the captain was seriously injured.

"Sokov, you're here!" Seeing Sokov appear, the captain smiled: "Come to me!"

After a few minutes of recovery, Sokov's hearing was restored, but when he heard the captain speak, he still felt like there was cotton in his ears. The voice seemed to come from far away and was not very real. He quickly squatted in front of the captain and asked loudly: "Captain, what instructions do you have?"

"Comrade Sokov," the captain said with a wry smile, "it seems you are right. Hiding in the bunker, the enemy's shells can't hit us. But the shock wave generated by the explosion can kill people. If Andrei hadn't been in another bunker just now, he would probably have lost his life in vain like the soldiers here."

Sokov realized that the captain had called him over to give him instructions, so he quickly asked, "Comrade Captain, if you have any instructions, please give me the order."

"I want to hand this unit over to you for command," the captain said weakly, "I believe that under your leadership, they will be able to achieve more victories."

Based on his own experience, Sokov knew that the captain's internal organs were injured in the bombardment, and he would not be able to hold on for long. In order to prevent him from leaving with regrets, Sokov quickly held his hand and said to him with a firm expression: "Captain, don't worry, I will never let you down."

After handing the captain over to the medical staff, Sokov called Andrei out of the bunker and asked directly: "Andrei, tell me truthfully, is the anti-tank gun still there?"

"Of course." Andre nodded vigorously and said, "Before the enemy's shelling began, I had the anti-tank gun dragged into the bunker. As soon as I saw the enemy attacking, I immediately pushed the gun out of the bunker."

"Then hurry up and push it out." Sokov urged: "If nothing unexpected happens, the enemy's armored forces will soon launch an attack."

"Where should we place the artillery?" Sokov pointed to a shell crater between two pillboxes and said, "Put the anti-tank gun in that shell crater."

"What? Put the anti-tank gun in the shell hole." Andrei asked in confusion about Sokov's order: "Why?"

"The reason is very simple." Sokov explained briefly: "Put the anti-tank gun in the crater, and you can see the German tanks, while the German tank crew can only see the gun barrel at best. Even if they fire at this position, the chance of hitting the target is not high, thus reducing the risk of you being destroyed. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Andre agreed and called a few soldiers to help him push the anti-tank gun out of the bunker and then install it in the crater between the bunkers.

After the German shelling ended, two tanks immediately drove onto the road near the bunker group, with the black muzzles of their guns pointing at the bunkers, and the following infantry launched an attack.

Seeing this, Sokov ordered someone to inform Andrei to destroy the enemy tanks first and then shoot at the German infantry in scattered formations. As long as the infantry was destroyed, the role of the tanks without infantry cover would be greatly weakened.

Under the fire of the Maxim heavy machine gun, the German infantrymen who were crouching and rushing up the hillside fell one after another. The tanks responsible for covering found that the bunker where Sokov was located was the biggest threat, and quickly turned their guns to bombard it.

The shells hit the thick concrete wall. Although they could not penetrate the target effectively, the shock wave of the explosion still had an impact on the soldiers in the bunker. A soldier who was shooting outside with a rifle suddenly screamed, threw away the rifle in his hand, covered his face and screamed, his face was covered with blood from the concrete fragments shattered by the explosion.

Sokov, who was shooting, had no time to pay attention to what was happening behind him. He was concentrating on shooting at the approaching German soldiers, trying to kill more enemies. The tank that fired at the bunker was destroyed by Andrei's anti-tank gun after just one shot. The tank first emitted billowing smoke, and then began to burn. The tank soldiers in the tank, from the bottom of the tank or the top cover of the turret, ran to the back with flames all over their bodies. But they didn't get far before they were knocked to the ground by bullets fired from other bunkers.

Another tank that was about to fire at Sokov's bunker saw the other tank being destroyed and immediately targeted the anti-tank gun. However, since the anti-tank gun was placed in a crater, with only the barrel and part of the shield exposed on the ground, the tank fired two shots in a row, and the shells flew over the anti-tank gun and exploded in the grass behind it, causing no harm to Andrei and his men.

The battle lasted for more than ten minutes before it ended. The two tanks parked on the road were completely destroyed, and the two infantry platoons participating in the attack also suffered heavy casualties. There were no less than fifty German bodies lying on the hillside.

"Sokov, Sokov." As soon as the battle was over, Andrei ran over to find Sokov: "We've run out of shells."

"What? The shells are all used up?" Sokov asked in surprise. "Wasn't this gun equipped with 50 shells? How come it ran out so quickly?"

"Sokov, you don't know this." Andrei explained, "During the German bombardment, some shells exploded, and we only have 12 shells to use."

"Since there are no more shells, quickly send someone to the underground arsenal to move them." Sokov urged, "Remember to bring the captain's flashlight."

"Okay. I'll be right there."

When Andrei was about to leave, Sokov called him again: "By the way, how is the captain now?"

"It's still the same." Andre sighed and said, "The mouth and nose are still bleeding. The medical staff has given him medicine. The situation is very dangerous. I don't know how long he can hold on."

"Yes, I understand." Sokov knew very well that if a wounded soldier like the captain who was injured by artillery fire was sent to a military hospital for emergency treatment, he might still have a chance of survival. But now there was no village in front of him and no shop behind him. Even if he wanted to send him to the hospital, he didn't know where to send him. Whether he could survive depended on his personal fate.

When Andrei led people to the underground arsenal to move the shells, the roar of tank engines was heard in the distance.

Sokov, whose hearing had almost fully recovered, was shocked when he heard the sound coming from the west and broke out in a cold sweat. He wondered if the Germans had circled around to his rear from somewhere else. In that case, he would be attacked from both sides and would be annihilated.

He hurried out of the bunker and looked towards the west.

Soon, he saw two tanks appear in his field of vision, one was the T-34 he was most familiar with, and the second was the outdated T-26 light tank. Perhaps because they were worried about misunderstandings with their own people, the first tank had a red flag on its body. Behind the two tanks, there were two armored vehicles, and behind the tanks and armored vehicles, there was a long ambulance team, each with a red cross logo.

Seeing that the convoy was from the Soviet army, Sokov was overjoyed. With tanks, they could at least compete with the German armored forces. But soon, his expression dimmed. This was obviously a convoy transporting the wounded. Apart from the tanks and armored vehicles leading the way, the rest of the vehicles had no combat power at all.

"Comrade Sokov," Alexei also came out of the bunker. After seeing the convoy appearing in the west, he carefully reminded Sokov: "It seems to be our own convoy. Should we send someone to contact them?"

After hearing what Alexei said, Sokov finally understood what he should do next. He nodded and said to Alexei, "I will go to meet the convoy. You guys continue to stay alert, so as not to be caught off guard by the Germans."

After giving his instructions, Sokov jumped out of the communication trench and ran in the direction of the convoy.

In order to avoid misunderstanding, when he was more than 50 meters away from the tank leading the way, he stopped, stood on the side of the road and waved desperately, trying to attract the other party's attention.

Sokov, who was standing on the roadside, was soon spotted by the tank driver. When the driver turned his machine gun and was about to shoot, the tank commander stopped him: "Don't shoot, it seems like we are one of them."

(End of this chapter)