red moscow

Chapter 2974

During the attack on the second town, the third and fourth battalions encountered fierce resistance from the German army.

During the period when Sokov ordered his troops to halt the offensive, the German army redeployed a significant number of troops to strengthen the town's defenses and added numerous firing positions, causing considerable casualties to the Soviet commanders and soldiers attacking the town.

The troops finally stormed into the town, but an unexpected incident occurred during their final attack on the church in the center of the town.

The artillery commanders who followed the infantry into the town spotted the firing positions on the church and immediately destroyed them with artillery fire. But as the commanders, suppressed by the fire, got up and continued their charge, the destroyed firing positions reappeared, and a large number of the commanders who had just stood up were immediately mowed down.

When Belkin, who was directing the operation at the front, saw this situation, he was furious. He ordered his men to call over the artillery company commander and berate him. He then ordered the commander: "Company commander, carefully observe the firing points that appear in the church. Eliminate them one by one. Cover the infantry comrades to capture the church as soon as possible."

"Understood, Deputy Brigade Commander." The artillery company commander replied, "We will eliminate all the firing points in the church as soon as possible to pave the way for the infantry's attack."

The plan was that once the artillery opened fire, the German soldiers hiding inside the church would suffer heavy casualties and pose no threat to the attacking troops. However, the reality was quite the opposite. Under the relentless artillery bombardment, the church wall facing the attacking forces was riddled with more than a dozen holes of varying sizes. Anyone would assume that the enemy inside had been wiped out, but whenever the Soviet commanders launched a new attack, countless bullets would burst from these still-smoking holes, creating an impenetrable fire barrier in the path of the advancing soldiers.

Sokov, who was at the brigade command post, was getting anxious when he saw that there was no response from Belkin. He was eager to know the progress of the battle, so he called Belkin's temporary command post directly and asked bluntly, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, how is the situation on your end? Have you taken the town?"

Upon hearing Sokov's question, Belkin remained silent for a moment before replying apologetically, "I'm sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I may have to disappoint you. Although the Third and Fourth Battalions have already entered the town, some unexpected things happened during their attack on the church in the center of the town."

"What accident?" Sokov asked.

Berkin quickly reported the situation in the town to Sokov, and concluded by saying, "The church walls have been riddled with holes by our artillery fire, but the enemy is still resisting and attacking. Our commanders and soldiers are suppressed by their firepower and cannot advance at all."

After listening, Sokov frowned and asked, "From which direction did you attack the town?"

"East." Belkin blurted out the answer, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Is there some particular reason why we should attack from which direction?"

Sokov was well aware of the Soviet army's rigid tactics in combat. Once they chose a particular direction for attack, they would never adjust their tactics, even if they suffered heavy losses. This led to many offensive operations with advantages in manpower and equipment failing due to their monotonous and inflexible tactics and lack of adaptability. The current failure to capture the second town was likely due to Belkin's inflexibility in commanding the operation; when one direction failed, he didn't try a different approach.

He organized his thoughts for a moment, then said to Belkin, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I estimate that the enemy has discovered your initiative is in the east, so they can concentrate their forces on defending the east. If we want to take the church as soon as possible, we need to adjust our tactics?"

"Adjust tactics?" Belkin asked, puzzled. "How do you make adjustments?"

"Don't stop the attack from the east," Sokov said into the microphone. "Also, send more men to launch attacks from the other three directions. You must remember to distribute the artillery batteries to the four attack directions and bombard the church continuously. I believe that under such bombardment, not many of the enemy inside the church will survive."

"Alright, I'll try your method and see if I can take over the church."

After hanging up the phone, Belkin immediately called Vasya and Nazorov over and said to them, "Comrades, the brigade commander just called me and is very dissatisfied with our progress."

Hearing Berkin's words, Nazorov couldn't help but feel a little nervous: "What did the brigade commander say?"

Major Vasya, who was speaking at the same time, asked, "Commander, do you have any ideas on how to take the church ahead as soon as possible?"

Berkin stared at the two men and said, “Comrade Brigade Commander said that if we only choose one direction to attack, then the enemy can concentrate their forces to defend against us. As you have all seen, the streets here are narrow, and our troops cannot spread out at all. When the soldiers charge, they are basically crowded together. A burst of bullets can take down at least five or six soldiers. Therefore, the Brigade Commander ordered us to divide the troops into four parts: one part will stay and continue to attack the church from the east, and the remaining troops will be distributed to the west, south, and north. At the same time, each direction of attack should be equipped with an artillery piece so that we can better destroy the enemy's firing points.”

Vasya wholeheartedly agreed with Belkin's statement, nodding and saying, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, you are right. If we choose to launch an attack from four directions simultaneously, we can force the Germans to divide their forces for defense, so that we can launch a surprise attack on them after figuring out where their weak points are."

Thus, Vasya and Nazorov returned to their respective units, each taking a portion of their forces, and moved to the northwest, south, and north of the town, preparing to coordinate with the attacking forces from the east to capture the church in the center of the town.

The Germans inside the church probably never imagined that the Soviet army, after its initial offensive setback, would suddenly adopt a new tactic, shifting its troops, which had been crowding the eastern streets, to the other three directions of the town. In particular, the attacking forces from all four directions were equipped with a cannon, positioned 500-600 meters away from the church, and used direct fire to relentlessly bombard the church walls.

Faced with Soviet troops charging from all directions, coupled with the eager church, the German commander felt the tide had turned. His forces were already limited; defending only the eastern part of the town wasn't too difficult. But now, with the Soviets attacking from four directions simultaneously, he had to divide his limited troops into four defensive positions—a hopeless situation. Moreover, Soviet artillery was bombarding the church walls; if the bombardment continued, the church would collapse.

It was with this in mind that the German commander, after careful consideration, realized that continuing to fight offered no chance of victory, and thus considered surrendering. When he mustered the courage to tell his men of his intention to surrender, the German soldiers in the church breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, the gunfire in the church ceased. A white flag tied to a gun barrel emerged from a hole in the still-smoking wall, accompanied by a hoarse voice speaking haltingly in broken Russian: "Attention Russians! Attention Russians! My commander wants to speak with your superiors."

After hearing the soldiers recount what had happened, Belkin understood that the Germans knew they had no chance of winning if they continued fighting, and the wisest choice was to lay down their arms and surrender to the Soviet army.

Belkin called over a guard and instructed him, "Go to the vicinity of the church and ask the enemy inside what they want to talk to me about. If they want to surrender, have them withdraw from the occupied area with a white flag. If they don't want to surrender, this negotiation is meaningless; we will continue the attack until we wipe them all out." The guard accepted Belkin's order and quickly went outside the church, shouting inside, "Listen up, Germans inside! If you want to surrender, throw down your weapons first, then come out with your hands raised..."

Upon hearing the guard's words, the German commander inside quickly responded in Russian: "Yes, we are prepared to surrender to your army and hope to receive your promise to ensure the safety of all of us!"

After hearing the German soldiers' call, the guards responded, "As long as you lay down your weapons and come out of the church with your hands up, we can guarantee your personal safety."

Not long after, the German soldiers slowly walked out of the church.

Leading the procession was an officer, his hands raised above his head, one of them holding a white flag. Behind him followed forty or fifty soldiers, who, after exiting the church, orderly placed their weapons beside the church entrance.

Standing in the makeshift command post, Belkin saw the Germans surrender and a smug smile spread across his face. He put down his binoculars, turned to the guards standing behind him, and said, "Let's go, brothers, let's go say hello to these German prisoners."

Belkin, accompanied by several guards, approached the German officer who was holding a white flag. After looking him up and down, he pulled down the officer's raised hands and said politely, "Captain, you made a wise choice and saved dozens of lives. From now on, the war is over for you. You will enjoy the treatment you deserve in our prisoner-of-war camp and wait for the day the war ends."

The German captain glanced at Belkin's collar insignia and asked tentatively, "Lieutenant Colonel, do we really have a chance to return to Germany in the future?"

“Of course there is a chance,” Belkin said with certainty. “Although I don’t know what kind of treatment you will receive after entering the prisoner-of-war camp, at least in my troops you will not be mistreated and your personal safety will be guaranteed.”

Upon hearing Belkin's words, the German captain showed a grateful expression: "Lieutenant Colonel, thank you! I hope we will have the opportunity to meet again when the war ends."

Belkin knew the other man was just being polite; he probably wouldn't see these prisoners of war again after they were sent to the rear. So he didn't respond. Instead, he called over an officer and instructed him, "Take a platoon of soldiers and escort these prisoners to the brigade headquarters to be dealt with by the brigade commander."

Sokov's infantry brigade captured two small towns outside the city, while the cavalry corps controlled the northern outskirts of Volokolamsk, cutting off the German forces inside the city from their rear in the area. Upon learning this news, Rokossovsky immediately ordered General Panfilov's 316th Infantry Division to advance and return to its original defensive positions as quickly as possible.

It was under these circumstances that Klochkov led 28 soldiers to the Duboshkovo Station.

The passing station has very basic facilities. Apart from a few brick-and-mortar offices, several railway tracks pass through the station, making it a relatively important transportation hub.

After the troops moved into the meeting point, Klochkov told everyone to make use of the shell craters outside the meeting point and quickly build trenches to prepare to repel any possible enemy attack.

A young soldier dug a hole in the ground with his sapper, muttering to himself, "Our allies are attacking the enemy. We might have to advance too. Even if we dig more trenches outside the outpost, it won't be of any use."

Klochkov, who happened to be passing by, heard the young soldier's words and immediately stopped, turning around to say, "Comrade soldier, you must understand, although our allies are launching an attack on the enemy, their strength is too weak. They were already exhausted after participating in the attack on the Skirmanovo region just two days ago. Capturing even a part of the city is already a great achievement; we can't expect them to capture the entire city. Once their attack falters and they escape here, they'll find there are no fortifications. How will they withstand the Germans' frenzied offensive?"

After hearing Klochkov's words, the young soldier blushed. He said to Klochkov, "Comrade First-Class Instructor, I had a lot of complaints in my heart just now, but after hearing what you said, I feel that building fortifications here is still very meaningful."

Klochkov nodded slightly to the young soldier and continued walking quickly along the trench.

At that moment, a sergeant ran over quickly and reported to Klochkov, "Comrade First-Class Instructor, we found something good in the office at the rendezvous point."

Upon hearing the sergeant's words, Klochkov immediately became interested and asked the sergeant, "Comrade Sergeant, what good stuff is it?"

The sergeant grinned, but didn't immediately give the answer: "Comrade First-Class Instructor, you'll know what it is once you get there."

Led by the sergeant, Klochkov arrived at an abandoned office.

As soon as he entered the room, Klochkov noticed one side of the wall piled high with wooden crates. He couldn't help but ask the sergeant, "Sergeant, what's in all these crates?"

The sergeant stepped forward, lifted the lid of one of the wooden crates, and excitedly reported to Klochkov, "Look, these crates are full of anti-tank mines, they're fantastic! After the trenches are dug, I plan to lay a batch of anti-tank mines in front of the position to deal with the German armored forces."

"Besides anti-tank mines, what else is there?"

"Yes!" The sergeant nodded vigorously and said with certainty, "In addition to anti-tank mines, there are also anti-tank grenades and special bullets for anti-tank rifles, etc."

(End of this chapter)