red moscow

Chapter 2990

As the infantry advanced towards Sunhill in a dispersed formation, the German lieutenant colonel once again raised his Zeiss binoculars. Through the binoculars, Sunhill was eerily quiet; the gray-black rooftops were arranged in a staggered pattern, the church spires were faintly visible in the thin mist, and there were no pedestrians on the streets, not even a wisp of smoke.

"It looks like an empty city." The German lieutenant colonel lowered his binoculars and said to his adjutant beside him with a hint of smugness. He couldn't help but feel smug. Before coming here, his division commander had told him that as long as they captured this city, they could directly threaten the Russian supply lines and cut them off at any time. He really hadn't expected that it would be an empty city, which meant that his troops could easily take it over without firing a shot.

In the distance, three rows of German infantrymen were crossing the open, unobstructed ground in skirmish lines.

The machine gunner in the column carried a heavy MG34 machine gun, his steps slightly unsteady. The assistant gunner beside him vigilantly scanned the city ahead, ready to assist the machine gunner in seizing a suitable firing position and providing necessary fire cover for the rest of the soldiers if anything unusual was detected.

When the German infantry were only 30 meters from their concealed positions, a sudden change occurred. A sharp whistle rang out from the trenches, hidden by camouflage netting. Almost simultaneously, ear-piercing gunfire shattered the morning's tranquility, as countless 7.62mm bullets whistled out of the trenches, kicking up plumes of dust in the dirt.

The first column of the German army was immediately riddled with holes, and the wounded soldiers fell to the ground in disarray, their blood instantly staining the ground beneath them.

"Enemy attack!" The German captain leading the troops knew his unit had been ambushed, so he shouted at the top of his lungs. But his shout was drowned out by the dense gunfire. Except for a few soldiers who were nearby, the rest of the soldiers did not hear their commander's shout at all.

But these German soldiers were all battle-hardened veterans. Even without orders from their superiors, they knew what to do when under enemy fire. They scattered hastily, seeking suitable cover, and once hidden, opened fire.

In the trenches, concealed by camouflage netting, the rattling of rotary machine guns rose and fell, bullets raining down on the German positions, creating a deadly barrage. Combined with the fire from rifles and submachine guns on the front lines, this inflicted considerable casualties on the Germans.

Through his binoculars, the German lieutenant colonel could clearly see the Soviet soldiers hiding in the trenches firing desperately, their guns spitting deadly flames and inflicting casualties on the scouting infantry company. The captain leading the group had vanished; it was unclear whether he had been killed by bullets or had found some hiding place.

"Damn Russians!" the German lieutenant colonel cursed viciously, then ordered his adjutant, "Order the tanks to fire, suppress the Russian firepower, and cover the infantry's retreat!"

As the order was given, the tank's engine roared back to life, its tracks grinding through the black earth still covered in snow, leaving deep ruts.

When the tanks advanced to a position about 400 to 500 meters away from the position, they stopped. The 75mm tank guns roared, and shells flew towards the Soviet trenches, exploding into clouds of dust.

At first, the shells landed quite far from the trenches, causing little damage to the Soviet commanders and soldiers inside. But as time went on, the tank guns became increasingly accurate, directly hitting two Soviet machine gun positions and blowing the machine gunners and their machines to pieces.

The anti-tank guns hidden in the flank forest opened fire. In the first volley, an armor-piercing shell hit the German tank. The high-temperature jet from the explosion penetrated the relatively thin side armor, carrying fragments formed during the impact and penetration, which were ejected at high speed into the tank, killing the tank crew and causing the ammunition to explode.

Half an hour later, the German attack was crushed, and the open ground was littered with corpses and burning tanks. The German infantry company that led the attack suffered heavy losses, with only a dozen or so men managing to retreat to their starting positions in disarray, including a seriously wounded captain.

The German lieutenant colonel stared, his face ashen, at the tank wreckage billowing smoke and flames on the battlefield, his heart filled with rage. He now knew that taking this seemingly peaceful town would not be as easy as he had imagined, and what followed would be a fierce battle.

In the observation post atop the church bell tower, Sokov gripped his binoculars tightly, watching the fleeing German soldiers surge toward the armored formations at the edge of the forest like a flock of frightened sheep, a cold smile curving his lips.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" the sergeant standing beside him said excitedly, "I really didn't expect that we could repel the enemy's attack so easily. Judging from their performance, there's no way they could have taken the city from us."

Sokov wholeheartedly agreed with the sergeant's statement.

The German forces were limited in strength, and apart from tanks and armored vehicles, they had no artillery and no air support. To take Sun Mountain from their own hands was simply an impossible task.

He raised his binoculars again and looked at the German troops at the edge of the forest, trying to spot the German commander. He imagined the man's expression must be quite interesting.

But before he could find the German commander, his smile froze on his face. He quickly put down his binoculars and slapped his forehead in frustration.

His actions puzzled the sergeant beside him. They had clearly won a battle, yet the brigade commander was reacting as if they had suffered a defeat. He looked at Sokov cautiously and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what's wrong?"

"I made a silly mistake," Sokov said to the sergeant with a wry smile. "Now I have to figure out how to fix it."

After saying that, he turned and went to the table where the telephone was, picked up the receiver, and said to Karsokov, who was on the other end of the line, "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately signal the rocket artillery battalion to fire a salvo at the German armored column's assembly area!"

Upon hearing Sokov's order, Karsokov was somewhat surprised, not understanding why the other party would suddenly issue such an order. However, out of respect for Sokov, he did not object, but readily replied, "I will immediately order the rocket artillery battalion to launch a salvo at the enemy's assembly area."

After putting down the microphone, Sokov said to the sergeant who had come closer, "Sergeant, I just made a basic mistake. When the German armored column stopped at the edge of the forest, I should have ordered the rocket artillery battalion to fire a salvo at them, and at the same time, the artillery battalion should have opened fire as well. Perhaps in just a few minutes, we could have inflicted heavy losses on that enemy force. Although we can still use rocket artillery to fire a salvo at the enemy, the damage inflicted on them will be greatly reduced."

In a concealed position in the northwest of the city, the rocket artillery battalion, having received orders, immediately prepared for battle, with 24 BM-13 rocket launchers simultaneously raising their launchers.

As the artillery commander waved his signal flag, a piercing hum of electricity tore through the air, and the launchers spat out countless orange-red tongues of fire. Hundreds of rockets, trailing white contrails, streaked across the sky, forming a dense web of fire that descended upon the German positions like the Grim Reaper's scythe. A German lieutenant colonel roared into the radio, reporting the defenses of Sun Mountain to his superiors and requesting artillery and air support. Just then, he sensed something was amiss and quickly looked in the direction from which the sound was coming.

In the instant he looked up, he saw a sight he would never forget—countless points of light fell like a meteor shower, accompanied by a mournful whistling sound that grew louder as it approached.

"Artillery fire! Artillery fire! Take cover!" Upon seeing this, he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was swallowed up by the deafening explosions.

The first wave of rockets exploded amidst the tank formation, sending orange fireballs soaring into the air, hurling fragments of armor plating and human remains into the air. Armored vehicles and trucks were overturned and torn apart like toys, and even the tanks were not spared, engulfed in flames and thick smoke. The shockwave from the chain reaction explosions of ammunition trucks directly hit reduced everything within a twenty-meter radius to charred black.

Sokov calmly observed the effects of the shelling from the clock tower; the German positions were completely shrouded in smoke and dust.

He put down his binoculars and went back to the telephone. Karsokov, who answered the call, said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, the soldiers of the rocket artillery battalion did a good job and inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. Let them fire another salvo! I want the Germans to remember Sun Mountain City. It is not only a Russian city, but also their grave."

As the second volley of rockets hurtled in, the surviving German soldiers were trying to drag the wounded away when the explosions once again plunged them into a death spiral. As the smoke gradually cleared, only burning wreckage and scattered equipment remained at the edge of the forest; the once formidable armored column had been reduced to ashes in the inferno.

The sergeant standing next to Sokov was stunned by the power of the rocket launcher: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is this rocket launcher really that powerful? You know, to destroy a German armored column of this size, it would take at least three or four artillery regiments. And now, a mere rocket launcher battalion has completely wiped them out. It's simply unbelievable."

Sokov knew very well that very few commanders and soldiers had actually seen this heavy-duty, renowned Katyusha rocket launcher at this time. For example, most of the commanders and soldiers of the Leningrad Front only witnessed the power of the Katyusha rocket launcher for the first time in early 43 during the battles that broke the German siege of the city. Therefore, it was not surprising that soldiers of a sergeant's rank had never seen such a powerful weapon.

"Yes, Sergeant, this rocket launcher is indeed very powerful." Sokov nodded and said, "It can maximize its power, especially when used to deal with enemy technical equipment and infantry exposed on open ground."

"If we could have more rocket artillery battalions, future battles would be much easier."

"Maybe." Although the rocket artillery battalion was now under his command, Sokov had no idea whether it would be transferred in the future. He could only vaguely say, "We'll get more rocket artillery from the higher-ups before then."

Upon witnessing the annihilation of the enemy's armored column, Sokov descended the clock tower and returned to his command post, instructing Karsokov to summon the battalion commanders to a meeting at their respective command posts.

The first to arrive was Deputy Brigade Commander Belkin. As soon as he saw Sokov, he excitedly said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, today's battle was truly fantastic. We suffered no more than fifty casualties, yet we annihilated an enemy force several times our size."

Sokov didn't respond to his question, but instead glanced behind him and tentatively asked, "What, didn't Major Vasya come with you?"

Berkin shook his head and explained to Sokov, "Major Vasya saw that the enemy had been wiped out by our artillery fire, so he personally led a team to clean up the battlefield. He said he wanted to see if he could collect as many usable weapons as possible."

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander," Chief of Staff Karsokov said before Belkin could finish speaking, "I don't think it's very meaningful to collect German weapons from the battlefield. Our soldiers will have to worry about ammunition replenishment and gun maintenance after using them for a while."

“Comrade Chief of Staff,” Sokov interjected, “since Major Vasya wants to collect enemy weapons, let him do so. After obtaining German weapons, we don’t necessarily need to equip our troops with them. Instead, we can give them to small units disguised as Germans to infiltrate behind enemy lines. At least when they encounter real Germans on the road, their true identities won’t be exposed because of the weapons they are carrying.”

"Comrade Brigade Commander, today's battle was truly fantastic." Belkin brought up the topic again: "I really didn't expect that the two salvos from the rocket artillery battalion would inflict such a devastating blow on the German armored column."

“That’s right, the rocket artillery battalion is indeed powerful, but to maximize its effectiveness, it needs to be used properly.” At this point, Sokov sighed softly and continued, “I made a basic mistake today.”

Upon hearing Sokov's words, Belkin and Karsokov exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Belkin asked cautiously, "I think today's battle was fought quite well, and I really can't think of any mistake we made?"

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I should have ordered the rocket artillery battalion to fire two salvos before the German troops deployed at the edge of the forest in preparation for an attack on our army.” Sokov said regretfully, “Unfortunately, I didn’t think of that for a moment, otherwise our army would not have suffered any casualties in today’s battle.”

After figuring out what Sokov meant by "basic mistake," Belkin said with a smile, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you don't need to blame yourself. After all, none of us had ever commanded a rocket artillery battalion before today's battle, so we still have many shortcomings in how to use rocket artillery."

“Yes, yes,” Karsokov echoed. “After today’s battle, we have gained some experience on how to properly use rocket artillery battalions, so we can avoid making similar mistakes in the future.”

"Comrade Brigade Commander, is there something important you need to discuss when you call this meeting?" Belkin asked.

"In today's battle, I found that our fortifications were too rudimentary, unable to withstand even the firepower of the German 75mm tank guns," Sokov said solemnly. "If the Germans were to use artillery of calibers larger than 100mm, our commanders and soldiers in the trenches would suffer heavy casualties. Therefore, we must strengthen our fortifications and prepare for a tough and major battle before the enemy reappears."

(End of this chapter)