red moscow

Chapter 2976

“Look, anti-tank mines won’t stop the enemy, so here’s another one.” The sergeant took an anti-tank grenade from a wooden box next to him and handed it to the recruit: “This is an anti-tank grenade. When you see an enemy tank charging towards you, you can throw it to destroy it. However, after throwing the grenade, you must quickly take cover, otherwise you will be killed by the shrapnel from the explosion.”

The recruit took the grenade, examined it carefully, asked the sergeant how to use it, and then put it back in the wooden box.

While the commanders and soldiers responsible for defending the Dubshekovo station were actively preparing for battle, the German army launched an offensive in the Spas-Lyukhovsky area.

A few days ago, Stavsky and Blinov came here to see firsthand how Soviet commanders and soldiers fought against the enemy.

Major Yevremenko, commander of the 289th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment stationed here, received the two men and specially assigned a guard platoon to protect their safety.

But since Stavsky arrived, while fighting raged elsewhere, things remained calm here, much to Stavsky's dismay. Especially today, when a significant portion of the 16th Army launched an attack from the north of Volokolamsk towards the German-occupied city, there was still no sign of battle.

For a moment, Stavsky felt he had come to the wrong place. He had come to interview frontline commanders about their battles with the enemy, but where he stood, there wasn't even a battle in sight. If he had known this would happen, he should have stayed with Sokov's infantry brigade; perhaps he could have obtained more valuable news material.

Seeing that Stavsky's expression was somewhat unusual, Yevremenko asked with concern, "Comrade Stavsky, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell? Should I have the army doctor examine you?"

Stavsky waved his hand at Yevremenko's concern and said weakly, "Comrade Major, you misunderstand. I'm not feeling unwell, but there's been no fighting here, so we can't get the news material we want, which is a bit disappointing."

"I see." After figuring out what was going on, Yevremenko comforted Stavsky, saying, "Comrade Stavsky, you've been here for several days. Although there hasn't been any fighting yet, it doesn't mean there won't be. I suggest you wait two more days; you might be able to get the materials you need."

Blinov, who was standing nearby, worried that Stavsky would be stubborn and insist on leaving, so he quickly advised, "Comrade Stavsky, I think the major is right. We've already been here for so many days, what's a day or two more? If we insist on leaving now, the enemy might arrive right after we leave."

Blinov's persuasion calmed Stavsky down. He thought to himself that the other man had a point. He had already been here for several days, and if he left now, what if he went to a new place where there was no fighting, but there was fighting here? He would definitely regret it to the core.

Thinking this, Stavsky nodded and said to Yevremenko and Blinov, "Alright, then we won't leave for now. But staying here isn't indefinite. At the latest, we'll wait until noon tomorrow. If there's still no fighting here, I'll call General Rokossovsky and ask him to send someone to take us somewhere else."

Seeing that Stavsky was willing to stay, Yevremenko felt much more at ease. To him, this comrade Stavsky from the Moscow newspaper Pravda, who held multiple positions as editor, writer, and journalist, might be able to leave a good impression if he could help promote his anti-tank artillery regiment.

Just after lunch, Yevremenko received a phone call from Colonel Orel, the chief of the armored forces.

Upon recognizing Orel's voice, Yevremenko became very excited, as this meant he had a combat mission to be assigned to him. He hurriedly asked, "Comrade Chief of the Armored Corps, what are your instructions?"

"Major Yevremenko!" Orel said sternly, "According to the scouts' report, the enemy has amassed more than thirty tanks and is preparing to attack your location. You must prepare for battle as soon as possible and absolutely not allow the enemy tanks to pass."

“Comrade Chief of Armored Troops,” Yevremenko quickly replied, “To be honest, there hasn’t been any fighting here for the past few days. The officers and soldiers are getting impatient. Many commanders have come to me, hoping I could speak with you and reassign us to more important areas. I didn’t expect that after several difficult days of waiting, we would finally get a combat mission. Rest assured, we have already made all the necessary preparations for combat and will absolutely not let the enemy pass through our positions.”

After hanging up the phone, Yevremenko immediately summoned his three battalion commanders to the command post and said to them, “Comrades, I just received a call from the chief of armored forces. He said that about thirty German tanks are about to rush into our regiment’s defense zone. I know that you have all been eager to fight these past few days, seeing our friendly forces fighting the enemy while we have no battles here. Therefore, I hope that you will not disappoint me in today’s battle.”

"Don't worry, Comrade Regimental Commander." As soon as Yevremenko finished speaking, a battalion commander said with a smile, "We will definitely teach the Germans a good lesson and make their tanks burn scrap metal in front of our positions."

Yevremenko was very satisfied with the battalion commander's statement. He raised his hands and patted the man on the shoulder, then said to everyone, "Comrades, we need to equip each anti-tank gun with 100 rounds of ammunition so that we can destroy the invading enemy tanks to the greatest extent possible. Everyone, go back to your respective units and prepare for battle."

After the battalion commanders left the meeting, Stavsky, eager to try his luck, approached Yevremenko and tentatively asked, "Comrade Major, can we go to the front lines? We hope to obtain valuable firsthand information so that we can be more objective and accurate when writing our reports."

But Yevremenko refused Stavsky's request: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stavsky, you are an important figure from Moscow, and I am not qualified to let you take such a risk. If you really want to know the situation of the battle, I can arrange for you to go to an observation post with a good view, where you can clearly see the progress of the battle."

An hour later, German tanks came into view of the anti-tank gunners.

Yevremenko, who was standing with Stavsky in the observation post, decisively gave the order to fire when the German tanks were still 800 meters away from the position.

In an instant, more than thirty 76.2 mm anti-tank guns on the position opened fire simultaneously, instantly raising columns of mud that shot into the sky along the path of the German tanks.

Stavsky, his binoculars fixed on the advancing German tanks, noticed that despite the heavy Soviet artillery fire, not a single shell had hit its target. He hurriedly lowered his binoculars and asked Yevremenko, "Major, what's going on? Our artillery has fired so many shells, but not a single German tank has been hit. At this rate, the enemy tanks will be upon us soon!" Seeing Stavsky's anxiety, Yevremenko calmly replied, "Comrade Stavsky, don't worry. Hitting a fast-moving target at a normal distance is never easy."

"Then why didn't you bring the enemy tanks closer before you attacked?" asked the photographer, Blinov, who was standing nearby.

Yevremenko turned to Blinov and said, “Comrade photojournalist, the enemy tanks are moving very fast. If we wait until they are four or five hundred meters away from our position before firing, just like we do with the enemy infantry, we might not be able to fire many shots before the enemy tanks rush into our position and crush all our anti-tank guns with their tracks.”

"Oh, I see."

Although the first round of firing failed to hit any German tanks, the soldiers of the anti-tank gun regiment were not discouraged and continued firing.

When the German tanks were 600 meters from their positions, the Soviets had already completed five rounds of firing. Two German tanks were destroyed on the spot and came to a blazing fire in the open; another tank, still engulfed in flames after being hit, continued to travel another 20 or 30 meters before finally coming to a complete stop.

Upon seeing the German tanks destroyed, Stavsky became excited. He turned to Bulinov and shouted, "Bulinov, did you see that? The German tanks have been destroyed by our artillery! Quickly take some pictures of those destroyed tanks; they might be useful in tomorrow's news report."

Upon hearing Stavsky's words, Blinov replied with a wry smile, "Comrade Stavsky, I also wanted to take pictures of those destroyed tanks, but they are too far away, and the pictures taken here wouldn't be clear."

“Comrade Stavsky,” Yevremenko added before Blinov could finish speaking, “Don’t worry, we will destroy more German tanks in the future. Then the photojournalists can choose a few destroyed tanks to take pictures.”

“Alright then.” Stavsky, after listening to the two men, also felt that his suggestion was a bit excessive. The destroyed tank was only a few hundred meters away. Sending Blinov to take pictures would be sending him to his death. It would be better to wait until the battle was over and then let him choose a suitable target to take some photos for the news report: “Then let’s wait until the battle is over to take the photos.”

The German tank units continued their advance. Seven or eight fast tanks had reached within 500 meters of the position. These tanks slowed down, using the obstacles in the open ground as cover, and opened fire on the Soviet anti-tank artillery positions, attempting to destroy those anti-tank guns that threatened them.

The shells fired by the German tank guns landed and exploded on the Soviet anti-tank artillery positions. Most of the shells missed their mark, but one anti-tank gun was hit directly. The gun was overturned on the spot, and the artilleryman next to the gun was blown to pieces.

The nearby artillerymen were completely unaffected and continued to load shells and fire at the enemy tanks in an orderly manner.

The battle lasted forty minutes and ended with the retreat of the German tank units.

In this battle, the anti-tank artillery regiment lost six anti-tank guns and suffered more than sixty casualties, including more than twenty killed in action. Eleven German tanks were destroyed, and the bodies of more than thirty German tank crew members lay dead around the tanks, which was considered a decent result.

When Yevremenko reported the results of the anti-tank artillery regiment to Colonel Orel, the chief of the armored forces, Rokossovsky happened to be nearby. He remembered that Stavsky, who had come from Moscow, was currently in the anti-tank artillery regiment, and quickly said to Orel, "Colonel Orel, ask them where Comrade Stavsky is now?"

"Major Yevremenko, the Commander asked me to ask you," Orel said into the microphone. "Where is Comrade Stavsky of Pravda? Is his personal safety guaranteed?"

"Comrade Chief of the Armored Corps, please tell the Commander that Comrade Stavsky is right beside us." Yevremenko reported to Orel: "We are in an observation post with a wide field of vision. The location I chose is very concealed and not easy for the enemy to find. Comrade Stavsky's safety is completely guaranteed."

Orel quickly had Rokossovsky repeat what Yevremenko had said, and finally asked, "Comrade Commander, what should we do next? Should we send Comrade Stavsky back with us?"

Rokossovsky did not immediately express his opinion, but instead said to Orel, "Colonel, ask Comrade Stavsky whether he wants to stay in the anti-tank artillery regiment or return to the army group headquarters?"

"Major Yevremenko, the commander asked me to ask Comrade Stavsky whether he intends to stay with you or return to headquarters?"

Despite Yevremenko's repeated assurances of protecting Stavsky's safety, he knew full well that in this battlefield, there was no truly safe place. A shell could easily fly in and hit the observation post, jeopardizing their lives. Therefore, upon hearing Orel's question, he left the choice to Stavsky: "Comrade Stavsky, the commander asked me to tell you, do you intend to stay here or return to the army group headquarters?"

“Of course, we’ll stay here,” Stavsky said without hesitation. “I’ve been here for several days, and I’ve finally waited for the battle to begin. This is a great opportunity for me to understand the real battlefield. How can I leave so easily?”

After understanding Stavsky's thoughts, Yevremenko quickly spoke into the microphone: "Comrade Chief of the Armored Corps, I have already asked Comrade Stavsky, and he is willing to stay. He said this is the best opportunity for him to understand the real battlefield and he does not want to leave easily."

After learning of Stavsky's decision from Orel, Rokossovsky nodded slightly and instructed, "Since Stavsky is willing to stay in the anti-tank artillery regiment, we will not force him. But you must tell Major Yevremenko to make sure Comrade Stavsky's personal safety is guaranteed."

(End of this chapter)