red moscow

Chapter 3000

Upon receiving the telegram from Zakharov, the two division commanders in charge of the defense of Green City began to discuss whether they should accept Zakharov's suggestion and lead their troops to withdraw to Klin, or continue to stay in Green City and wait for the right time to move north and join forces with the main force of the 30th Army.

The two men disagreed. Colonel Mironov, commander of the 107th Infantry Division, believed that the main force of the 30th Army had already retreated northward under German attacks and was far from Greentown. Re-establishing contact with them would be extremely difficult. Rather than remaining in Greentown and being surrounded by the Germans, it was better to make plans early and move south as soon as possible to join up with Klin's allies.

The commander of the 58th Tank Division, however, felt that without air support, the armored units would be too conspicuous. Although the two locations were only about 20 kilometers apart, if they were spotted by German reconnaissance planes during the operation, a swarm of bombers could wipe out the entire tank division. By remaining in Green City, the division was fully capable of defending itself even in the event of a German attack.

The two division commanders engaged in a heated debate over whether to stay or leave, and neither could convince the other.

The chief of staff of the tank division reminded his division commander: "Comrade Division Commander, what is the reply from the 16th Army Group? Should we stay in Lücheng or go and join them?"

The tank division commander frowned and said in an unhappy tone, "Comrade Chief of Staff, we've been arguing for so long, haven't you heard me? I still stand by my point of view. Without air cover, if the troops rashly leave Green City, they'll be sitting ducks. They might not even reach Klin before all the tanks are blown to pieces by German bombers."

"Comrade Colonel!" Colonel Mironov retorted as soon as the tank division commander finished speaking, "I think staying in the city is a dead end. The main force has lost contact with us, and we can't be resupplyed from the rear. Once we are surrounded by the Germans, even if they surround us without attacking, we will lose our fighting capacity due to food shortages."

"No, I disagree with your opinion." But the tank division commander stubbornly insisted, "I still stand by my opinion: the troops should stay and defend the city, not leave the city to die."

Seeing that he could not persuade the tank division commander, Colonel Mironov did not intend to do anything more futile. Instead, he looked at the other party and said, "Comrade Colonel, since you insist on keeping your troops in Green City, then I have no choice but to take my troops and leave to join up with our allies in Klin."

"Since you want to leave, I won't stop you," the tank division commander said. "Then I wish you good luck!"

After confirming that the tank division would not leave Green City with him, Colonel Mironov immediately instructed his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, send a telegram to General Zakharov of our allies in the name of the 107th Infantry Division, saying that we will leave Green City in an hour and head to Klin to meet up with them."

The infantry division chief of staff glanced at the tank division commander beside him and asked in a low voice, "Should we inform the other side about the tank division's situation?"

Colonel Mironov thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "In the telegram, also include a brief mention that the tank division will remain in Greentown."

A few minutes later, Zakharov, who was in Klin, received a telegram in the name of the 107th Infantry Division.

After reading the contents, Zakharov frowned. He handed the telegram to Rokossovsky and said, "Comrade Commander, the 107th Infantry Division in Green City is preparing to move towards Klin in an hour. The 58th Tank Division, which was originally stationed in Green City, has no intention of leaving."

"How could this be?" Rokossovsky took the telegram from Zakharov, read it carefully twice, and said in bewilderment, "Doesn't the tank division commander understand that it was only a matter of time before Greentown was surrounded by the German army? Does he think that he can hold the city with just his division?"

“Yes,” Zakharov agreed. “The German army has now amassed six divisions near Klin and Greentown, including three armored divisions. I don’t think a tank division with only two hundred tanks can hold that city.”

After Zakharov finished speaking, seeing that Rokossovsky remained silent, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, should we send another telegram to that division commander, explaining the stakes to him and urging him to lead the tank division to Klin as soon as possible, along with the infantry?"

Zakharov's proposal greatly appealed to Rokossovsky, who was currently facing a shortage of troops. Adding a tank division with over two hundred tanks would significantly improve the overall combat effectiveness of his forces. However, upon further reflection, Rokossovsky realized that Zakharov had been in contact with him for several days, yet Zakharov remained stationed in Lücheng, indicating that he had no intention of having his troops join the 16th Army. Even if Rokossovsky sent several more telegrams, the chances of persuading him were slim.

After understanding this, Rokossovsky said to Zakharov, "Comrade Deputy Commander, since the tank division commander is unwilling to come to Klin, I think we don't need to force him. Although the tank division is not coming, the infantry division in the city will arrive soon. You'd better arrange a unit to prepare to receive them."

“I think the 126th Infantry Division should be in charge of the support mission, and the 25th Tank Brigade should send a few tanks to assist them,” Zakharov said confidently. “With the addition of this infantry division, I can hold out in Klin for at least a few more days.”

“The longer we hold out in Klin, the better it will be for the upcoming battle,” Rokossovsky said. “To achieve this, in addition to your existing troops, I will try my best to send you new troops.”

Upon hearing Rokossovsky's words, Zakharov couldn't help but sigh, "The city of Sunhill was practically a ghost town a while ago. Apart from a few dozen policemen and two hundred militiamen with little combat experience, there were no other troops. I was worried that if the Germans chose to attack at this time, the city's fall would be inevitable. Who knew that more than a week had passed and Sunhill was still in our hands."

"Yes, the Germans probably never dreamed that their elaborate surprise attack on Sunhill would end in failure," Rokossovsky continued. "As long as Sunhill remains in our hands, the German army will need to prevent our attacks on their flanks while attacking Klin. Therefore, the six divisions they are currently massing near Klin will certainly not all be committed to the battle; they will leave some troops to monitor the direction of Sunhill and prevent the defenders there from attacking their flanks."

An hour and a half later, the 107th Infantry Division, which was leaving Taiyangshan City, encountered fierce resistance from the German army on the way.

The division's officers and soldiers, who were on the march, immediately launched an attack on the German positions.

Unfortunately, their first attack ended in failure due to inadequate preparation.

Just as the troops were regrouping and preparing to launch another attack, the commander of the rear guard regiment sent a messenger, Colonel Milonov, to report: "Comrade Division Commander, we have spotted German armored units in our rear, and they are about to launch an attack on us."

Colonel Mironov was alarmed upon hearing this. German troops were blocking their path ahead, and German armored units were appearing behind them. He knew perfectly well that his troops had virtually no anti-tank weapons and would not be able to hold out for long if attacked by German armored forces. The only way to avoid annihilation was to quickly break through the German positions ahead and escape. Therefore, he decisively issued orders: the rearguard regiment would be responsible for blocking the German armored units that were flanking from the rear, while the rest of the troops would launch an attack on the German positions in front.

With the order given, the infantry division's officers and soldiers launched attack after attack on the German positions on the hillside with their own flesh and blood.

Under the barrage of German machine guns and submachine guns, charging soldiers fell one after another. But no one felt sorrow for the fallen, and no one even noticed who was lying at their feet. On this battlefield of blood and fire, death became so commonplace that even the most sentimental person would become numb.

Led by their company and platoon leaders, Soviet soldiers swarmed forward, stepping over the corpses of their comrades as they charged toward the enemy's position, attempting to tear a gap in the German lines before the armored units could reach them, thus seeking a glimmer of hope for survival.

Meanwhile, the German troops, hiding in makeshift fortifications, used their concentrated firepower to continuously inflict casualties on the attacking Soviet commanders and soldiers.

Colonel Mironov, watching from the rear, felt a pang of sorrow as he saw his men fall like stalks of wheat under the intense German fire. He knew all too well that if they couldn't quickly break through the German lines, their entire army would be wiped out once the armored units surged forward.

Although the commanders and soldiers displayed exceptional bravery and tenacity during the attack, breaking through the enemy's position with their bare hands without fire support was extremely difficult. So far, no one had been able to advance to within fifty meters of the enemy's position under the barrage of German fire.

"Comrade Division Commander!" the division chief of staff said to Colonel Mironov from the side, "We can't continue fighting like this. Our casualties are too high. If we continue the attack, we'll probably all be wiped out before the enemy's armored forces arrive."

Just then, several mud pillars shot into the sky from the German position, seemingly from artillery shells that had landed and exploded.

Upon seeing this, Colonel Mironov asked the chief of staff with some surprise, "Chief of Staff, is it our artillery firing?"

"Comrade Division Commander," the Chief of Staff responded loudly, "Our division's artillery regiment was completely wiped out in the breakout operation two days ago. Not to mention large-caliber artillery, not even a single mortar is left. Otherwise, how could the troops not provide them with artillery support during the attack?"

As they were talking, another shell landed and exploded on the German position. This time, one shell hit a machine gun position directly, blowing the machine gunner and the machine gun to smithereens.

The chief of staff stared into the distance for a while, then a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face: "Comrade Division Commander, do you think it might be Klin's garrison coming to our rescue?"

"Klin's garrison is coming to our rescue?" Colonel Mironov quickly raised his binoculars and looked towards the German positions. Sure enough, he saw several tanks appearing behind the enemy lines. He immediately recognized the two tanks in front as T-34 tanks that had recently been commissioned into the troops, and the four tanks following behind were older T-26 light tanks.

"That's right, that's right, it really is our reinforcements." Colonel Mironov was very excited to see that it was indeed friendly forces coming to reinforce them: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell the commanders at the front to increase the intensity of the attack and rush up to join the friendly forces coming towards us."

Thus, with the cooperation of friendly forces, the officers and soldiers of the 107th Infantry Division successfully broke through the German positions.

The team that came to reinforce was a regimental commander from the 126th Infantry Division. Upon seeing Milonov, he immediately raised his hand to salute him and said politely, "Hello, Colonel, we are from the 126th Infantry Division. I am Lieutenant Colonel Abzov, the regimental commander. I have come to meet you on the orders of General Zakharov, the deputy commander of the 16th Army."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel." Mironov grasped Abzov's hand and said emotionally, "If you hadn't arrived in time, we would have suffered heavy casualties if we wanted to break through the German positions."

"Colonel, you take your troops and head to Klin first. We'll stay here to cover you."

Mironov watched his men quickly pass through the breached German positions, glanced in the direction of the fierce fighting in the distance, and said to Abzov, "My rearguard regiment is entangled with the German armored forces. I wonder if you can go and provide them with support?"

Before Abzov came to carry out the rendezvous mission, Zakharov personally instructed him to bring back as many officers and soldiers as possible. It was because of Zakharov's instructions that, upon learning that there were still troops tied up by the Germans, he quickly said, "Don't worry, Comrade Colonel, I will find a way to rescue your rearguard regiment."

When Mironov led his remaining troops to Klin, Abzov left a portion of his forces to hold the German positions they had just captured, while the rest followed behind the tanks to support the rearguard regiment that was engaged in fierce fighting with the Germans.

The German armored forces attacking the rearguard regiment actually consisted of only two Panzer III tanks and a dozen or so armored vehicles. If the 58th Tank Division had been there, these German armored forces would have been utterly vulnerable. Unfortunately, the tank division was still stationed in Green City, and the rearguard regiment fighting the Germans lacked anti-tank weapons. Therefore, they were struggling against the charging German armored forces and were on the verge of being routed.

Fortunately, at that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Abzov arrived with two or three hundred infantrymen and six tanks to provide assistance.

The German Panzer III tanks were only somewhat effective against infantry lacking anti-tank weapons, but when faced with the overwhelming force of the T-34 tanks, they became lambs to the slaughter. In less than ten minutes, the German tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed by the Soviet tanks, turning into piles of burning torches.

But when Abzov found the soldiers of the rearguard regiment and asked them where the regimental commander was, the soldier lowered his head and replied with a heavy heart, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel, our regimental commander was killed in battle."

(End of this chapter)