red moscow

Chapter 3045

The deputy brigade commander was in charge of the operation at the 28th Brigade headquarters. When he received the call from Valev, he assumed the caller wanted to inquire about the progress of the troops, so he preemptively reported: "Comrade Brigade Commander, our troops are approaching the settlement. The enemy in the settlement is still silent and has not fired at our soldiers. It seems that our artillery preparation has caused heavy casualties to the enemy, to the point that they are unable to stop our advance."

"Damn it, you're so close to the settlement, don't you even check what's going on inside?" Valev said, somewhat exasperated. "Although our artillery has bombarded the settlement, it's clear that a large number of enemies have survived. They're ready for battle and are just waiting for our soldiers to get close before opening fire without hesitation."

Upon hearing Valev's words, the deputy brigade commander hesitated and said, "Comrade brigade commander, who told you that there are a large number of enemies in the settlement?"

“It wasn’t someone who told me; I saw it with my own eyes,” Valev continued. “From my observation post, I could clearly see the situation in the settlement through my binoculars. Behind the ruins left after the artillery fire, there were a lot of helmets swaying, which meant there were quite a few enemies inside.”

Upon hearing this, the deputy brigade commander felt a pang of anxiety and immediately asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what should we do?"

"Try to slow down the attacking force and wait for the heavy machine gun teams that have fallen behind to catch up before continuing the charge toward the settlement," Valev said. "Even if the enemy hides behind the ruins and fires at our soldiers, the heavy machine gun teams can suppress the enemy's fire."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, it's clearly impossible to slow down the troops' advance," the deputy brigade commander said with difficulty. "If we forcibly send people to stop the troops, it will probably cause unnecessary chaos. The only way is to have the heavy machine gun team speed up and catch up. This way, when our troops are intercepted by enemy fire, they can seize a suitable firing position as soon as possible and suppress the enemy's firepower."

"Alright then, send someone to urge the heavy machine gun team to catch up quickly." Valev had no other choice at this point and could only say helplessly, "You continue to command for now, I will return to the brigade headquarters immediately."

After Valev put down the microphone, he turned to Zhuravlev and said, "Old buddy, I have to go back to the brigade headquarters, so I can't stay with you any longer."

Zhuravlev nodded and shook hands with him. "Good luck!"

After Valev left, Zhuravlev walked to the lookout post, raised his binoculars and looked towards the settlement, his face full of worry.

Sokov remained silent, simply standing beside him and raising his binoculars to observe the situation in the distance.

The enemy in the settlement remained remarkably calm. Only when the Soviet troops were about 100 meters away did the dozen or so MG34 general-purpose machine guns mounted behind the ruins open fire in unison. The dense hail of bullets immediately felled a large number of the leading soldiers. Those who escaped being hit quickly dropped to the ground and returned fire at the enemy's strongpoints.

The belated heavy machine gun teams, disregarding the bullets whizzing overhead, selected suitable firing positions, set up their machine guns, and began firing, suppressing enemy fire and covering their comrades' advance. The soldiers, initially pinned to the ground by enemy fire, saw that the enemy machine guns were being suppressed by their own heavy machine guns and scrambled to their feet, crouching low as they continued their charge towards the settlement. Upon approaching the settlement, they immediately threw smoking grenades into the enemy's area, then collapsed to the ground, waiting for the explosions to subside before rising again and charging forward.

Some unlucky soldiers were hit by bullets fired from the rubble before they could even throw their grenades, which were still smoking. When the grenades exploded, they not only took their lives but also endangered some comrades who were passing by.

Seeing many soldiers rushing into the settlement, Zhuravlev became excited and couldn't help but shout, "Fantastic! Our soldiers are fantastic! They've broken in! They've broken into the settlement!"

Sokov thought to himself that storming into the settlement was only the first step. The next step was to see if they could clear out the enemy from the settlement. Otherwise, the final outcome would either be a protracted war or being driven out of the settlement by the enemy. However, seeing Zhuravlev's excitement, he still chimed in, "Yes, our soldiers are great. They've already stormed into the settlement."

As the soldiers charged into the settlement, the heavy machine gun squads covering their attack either extended their fire or dragged their heavy machine guns, running into the settlement to find suitable positions to rebuild their machine gun emplacements.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov!" Zhuravlev put down his binoculars and turned to Sokov, asking, "The officers and soldiers of the 28th Brigade have already stormed into the settlement. How long do you think it will take them to take it?"

Sokov honestly didn't know how to answer Zhuravlev's question. If his own infantry brigade were leading the attack, employing a steady and methodical approach, they could probably capture the settlement completely within an hour. As for friendly forces, he really had no idea.

Catching a glimpse of Zhuravlev's expectant gaze, Sokov coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said, "Comrade Colonel! The settlement isn't very large. Now that the officers and soldiers of the 28th Brigade have already stormed in, the enemy probably won't hold out for long. I think we can take the entire settlement in two hours at most."

To everyone's surprise, Zhuravlev laughed and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you're being too conservative. How many enemy troops could there be in such a small settlement? You know, the 28th Brigade has more than 3,500 men. Even if they just trampled them, they could crush them all."

Sokov stroked his chin without speaking, thinking about the last time Chu Yunfei said something similar. The moment he finished speaking, one of his battalion commanders leading the charge was killed by a sniper from Yamamoto's special forces, and an entire battalion was routed by the special forces' grenade launchers. Now Zhuravlev had said something similar. Would the 28th Brigade suffer the same fate?
He cautiously reminded the other party, "Colonel, even if the officers and soldiers of the 28th Brigade rush into the residential area, we cannot let our guard down. After all, the enemy is very cunning, and if we are not careful, we will be ambushed by them."

But Zhuravlev waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you're overthinking it. In my estimation, Colonel Valev's troops will have complete control of this settlement in half an hour at most."

(End of this chapter)