red moscow

Chapter 2793

Before dawn, the divisional political commissar, who had disappeared from Sokov's sight for a day, reappeared in the headquarters.

Seeing his political commissar coming back, Polosuhin immediately greeted him warmly: "Comrade Political Commissar, you're back!"

"came back!"

"You've been running around the battlefield all day, you must be exhausted." Polosuhin called to the staff officer next to him, "Pour a cup of hot tea for Comrade Political Commissar."

The political commissar took the hot tea handed over by the staff officer, thanked him, took two sips, and then continued: "I have traveled all over the defense zone of the entire division. It would be a lie to say that I am not tired. But when I think of the officers and soldiers who are all enthusiastic about fighting, I feel that no matter how tired I am, it is worth it."

"Comrade Political Commissar," the Chief of Staff came over and asked, "We will soon be fighting the Germans. Do you think we can defeat them?"

"Needless to say," the political commissar said confidently after hearing the chief of staff's question, "Don't forget how we got the honorary title of the Far East Red Flag Division. We fought a bloody battle with the Japanese pirates at Zhanggufeng and achieved good results. Our superiors awarded us the Red Flag Medal to commend us. I think the Germans' combat effectiveness is simply not comparable to that of the Japanese pirates, so it is reasonable for us to win."

Sokov couldn't help but frown when he heard the commissar say that. He had seen those pro-Japanese marketing accounts in his later life. When they were praising the Japanese pirates, they had said that the German army's combat effectiveness was not as good as the Japanese pirates, saying that when a German battalion encountered a Japanese pirate brigade, it would definitely be beaten to a pulp. Marketing accounts are for making money, so they often write nonsense content to deceive traffic, but why did the political commissar in front of him also think that the German army's combat effectiveness was not as good as the Japanese pirates?

With such doubts, Sokov asked: "Comrade Political Commissar, I would like to ask, why do you think the German army's combat effectiveness is not as good as the Japanese pirates?"

"The reason is very simple. During World War I, the German army fought against the Japanese pirates, but they were defeated. After only a few days of fighting, they laid down their arms and surrendered."

Sokov wondered in his heart, during World War I, the German army was on the European battlefield, and the Japanese pirates were on the Asian battlefield, how could a war break out between the two?

Just as I was puzzled, I heard the chief of staff ask: "Comrade Political Commissar, I don't remember the German army and the Japanese pirates fighting each other. Is the history I have seen all false?"

Hearing what the chief of staff said, the political commissar laughed and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, this battle took place in Asia in 1914. After the Japanese invaders launched an attack on the German army, it took only seven days for them to force thousands of German soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender. Think about it, the Japanese invaders who could defeat the Germans were beaten to a pulp by us at Zhanggufeng and Nomonhan. Now that the Germans are fighting us directly, isn't that just courting death?"

"Comrade Political Commissar, I think your statement is incorrect." Hearing this, Sokov realized that the political commissar had a cognitive deviation. He actually compared the German army during World War I with the German army at the gates of the city at this moment. This was completely wrong. With this in mind, he reminded the other party, "Yes, the German army during World War I was indeed defeated by the Japanese pirates in Asia. But now the German army is far superior to the Japanese pirates in terms of both the quality of its troops and its weapons and equipment. Let's put it this way, as long as the German army dispatches the four SS divisions of the Flag Guard Division, the Skull Division, the Imperial Division, and the Viking Division, it will be enough to crush the Japanese pirates' North China Front Army."

The chief of staff widened his eyes in surprise: "No way, Major Sokov, the four SS divisions of the German army want to deal with a front army of hundreds of thousands of people?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to emphasize one point." Sokov saw that the Chief of Staff was full of doubts about his statement, and hurriedly explained to him: "The Japanese front army is different from our front army. It's just that the wartime organization unit is not fixed. Generally, it has several armies under its jurisdiction and directly controls several divisions and brigades. The strength of the troops ranges from more than 25 to or . The total strength of the North China Front Army is about ."

"Tens of thousands of people against 25 people, and they crushed them." The chief of staff was skeptical of Sokov's statement: "I don't think it's credible."

Before Sokov could speak again, Polosukhin spoke up, "I think what Major Sokov said is right. The German army today is completely different from the one during World War I. At least the Germans 20 or 30 years ago could not conquer most of Europe. Therefore, when we engage in battle with them, we must never underestimate the enemy, otherwise we will suffer a great loss."

"Comrade, didn't we fight the Germans some time ago?" The chief of staff reminded Polosukhin, "I think it was quite easy at that time."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, as a commander, it is a taboo to blindly underestimate the enemy." Polosukhin organized the words in his mind and continued, "If the Germans are really as vulnerable as we imagined, why did they transfer us from the Far East? The main reason is that the main force originally deployed in Europe was consumed too much in the war, and the remaining troops were not enough to resist the German attack, so the superiors transferred us from afar.

As for the last battle you mentioned, the ones we fought were just a small German force, without the support of the air force or armored forces, and they were all lightly armed, so we easily defeated them. This doesn't mean anything at all."

Mrs. Soko's words were of little importance, and the chief of staff would not take them seriously. But when Polosuhin said them, the situation was very different. The chief of staff's expression became serious. He looked at Polosuhin with a serious expression and said, "So, in the next battle, we will face a tough battle."

Polosukhin nodded and continued, "More than a hundred years ago, our ancestors fought a battle here with the French army commanded by Napoleon. Although they won, they also paid a heavy price. I have a feeling that our battle to defend Borodino will be extremely fierce, so all commanders and fighters must be mentally prepared."

Sokov had been thinking about a question: Colonel Polosukhin was an excellent commander, and the 32nd Division had also achieved great results in the battle to defend Borodino, but why didn't it receive the honorary title of Guards Division in the end? You know, the 316th Infantry Division and the 18th Militia Division, which were assigned to Rokossovsky's command at the time, later received the honorary titles of the 8th and 1st Guards Divisions, respectively. What was going on?

At daybreak, German bombers launched a bombing raid on Borodino, and smoke and flames enveloped the highlands. After the bombers completed their bombing raid, enemy artillery fire began to bombard the highlands.

Sokov, who was standing at the observation post next to the division headquarters, could see without a telescope that in the flames of the explosion, weapon parts and human limbs were occasionally blown into the air by the air waves. This shows how heavy the casualties were in the enemy's bombing and shelling because the officers and soldiers had no strong fortifications.

Polosukhin was standing next to Sokov, looking into the distance through a telescope. Seeing that his troops had suffered heavy casualties, his face turned pale.

"Comrade commander," the political commissar came in from outside and said to Polosukhin, "the Germans first bombed and then bombarded. I think our troops will definitely suffer heavy casualties. In this case, when the enemy launches a ground attack, I don't know if we will have the strength to stop them."

Polosuhin put down the binoculars in his hand, turned to the political commissar and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, our officers and soldiers do not have strong fortifications. Facing the enemy's bombing and shelling, casualties will be considerable. But don't worry, they all understand what their duties are. As long as there is one person alive, they will never let the Germans pass through our positions."

Sokov didn't want to hear such empty rhetoric, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, the enemy's bombing and shelling have caused us a lot of casualties. When the enemy infantry, under the cover of tanks, launch an attack on the high ground, are you sure you can stop them?" The question raised by Sokov surprised Polosukhin. He pointed outside and said to Sokov: "Comrade Major, we don't know how the enemy will attack for the time being. But don't worry, as long as the enemy's ground attack begins, I will come up with a corresponding way to deal with them."

Although Polosukhin did not say how to deal with the situation specifically, Sokov did not ask any further questions. After all, his current identity was just a liaison officer, responsible for the liaison between the headquarters and Polosukhin's division. He could not interfere with the decisions made by Polosukhin.

After an hour of shelling, it finally stopped.

Seeing countless small black dots appearing in the distance, Sokov knew that the German ground offensive had begun.

Not long after, the small black dots became clearer and clearer, and it could be seen that they were German tanks, and behind the tanks were the infantry following the attack.

After observing the situation, Polosuhin picked up the phone next to him and told the chief of staff in the headquarters: "Chief of Staff, call the artillery regiment and ask them to concentrate their firepower on the infantry following the tanks."

"What about the enemy tanks?" asked the chief of staff.

"We have laid a minefield in front of our position, which contains a large number of anti-tank mines." Polosukhin said, "I just observed carefully that the number of mines detonated by the shells in the recent bombardment was not large, and the remaining mines are enough to destroy some tanks. After the remaining tanks pass through the minefield, we will use the anti-tank guns hidden in the trenches to destroy them one by one."

After hearing Polosukhin's arrangement, Sokov didn't say anything. He felt that even if he took command, he would probably give the same order as Polosukhin.

As the order was given, the artillery regiment hidden on the other side of the hill opened fire.

The shells whizzed across the high ground and smashed into the German officers and soldiers who were charging. As the officers and soldiers near the explosion point continued to fall, the originally neat skirmish line immediately became chaotic. They were busy dodging the Soviet artillery fire and had no time to follow the tanks in front.

The German tanks driving in the front had no idea that the infantry following behind had been thrown into chaos due to the Soviet artillery fire, and had no time to provide them with cover. They continued to drive towards the Soviet positions at the original speed.

Unknowingly, the tanks entered a minefield laid by the Soviet army.

Due to the limited number of anti-tank mines provided by Potapov, although the anti-tank mines in the minefield were scattered, they did not play a good blocking role. Except for two unlucky tanks that unfortunately ran over mines and had their tracks blown off, the rest of the tanks continued to advance.

Seeing this, Polosukhin hurriedly called the chief of staff again and said, "Chief of Staff, the enemy tanks have passed through the minefield laid by our army with very few casualties. Immediately order the anti-tank guns on the position to open fire and destroy as many enemy tanks as possible."

"Comrade division commander," the chief of staff asked Polosukhin, "Didn't you say that tanks are the best anti-tank weapons? How about we send the 20th Tank Brigade to attack?"

"Don't be anxious, my comrade chief of staff." Polosukhin rejected the chief of staff's proposal: "The battle has just started, and it is not yet time for our tanks to attack. Let them stay where they are and wait for orders. When they are needed to attack, we will give them orders."

Sokov agreed with Polosukhin's arrangement. How could he expose all his cards right after the battle started? If the enemy knew his strength in the first attack, how could he fight the next battle?

The German infantry was suppressed by artillery fire and could not advance. Only the tank troops were left advancing alone, giving the Soviet anti-tank troops an opportunity to take advantage.

They first bombarded German tanks with anti-tank guns, destroying some of them on the way. When faced with some tanks that were advancing faster, they sent soldiers carrying anti-tank grenades to approach and throw them to destroy them.

In the past, German tanks were always followed by infantry, and Soviet soldiers would have to pay a heavy price to get close to the tanks. But today, the infantry has been disconnected from the tanks. When the tankers saw Soviet soldiers rushing over with anti-tank mines, they immediately shot desperately. Although they managed to knock down a few, more soldiers hid in the tankers' blind spots, and then calmly threw the anti-tank mines in their hands at the tanks not far away.

After a fierce battle, there were more than a dozen destroyed tanks in front of the Soviet position, and few of the tank crew members who escaped from the tanks escaped alive. Most of them were shot dead one by one by the Soviet soldiers on the position like turkeys as soon as they got out of the tanks.

Seeing that the attack was ineffective, the German commander knew that continuing to fight would only result in additional casualties, so he decisively issued an order to retreat.

Seeing the attacking enemy retreating like a tide, Polosuhin could not help but be overjoyed and quickly contacted the chief of staff again: "Chief of Staff, the Germans have retreated. You should immediately give orders to the commanders at the front line and let them take the opportunity to launch a counterattack and find ways to eliminate more enemies."

"I understand, Comrade Division Commander." The Chief of Staff was naturally overjoyed to learn that the German army had begun to retreat. He asked cautiously, "We would like to ask, is there any distance limit for this counterattack?"

Polosukhin heard the hidden meaning in the chief of staff's words and quickly added: "Tell each commander to rush forward one or two kilometers at most and then withdraw immediately. Otherwise, when the German armored forces arrive, our officers and soldiers will become lambs to be slaughtered. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The chief of staff replied loudly: "I will give orders to the frontline troops right away."

(End of this chapter)