red moscow

Chapter 3071

Because the Soviet army had maintained the initiative on the battlefield since the start of the counter-offensive, it was inevitable that some commanders and soldiers would become complacent. For example, the 9th Guards Division, the unit closest to the enemy's defenses, was quite carefree when moving into their starting positions, making no attempt to conceal their movements. As a result, before the army group's artillery could even fire, enemy shells rained down upon them.

Upon learning that the 9th Guards Division's starting positions had been subjected to heavy artillery fire from the Germans, Rokossovsky became anxious and immediately ordered Kazakov: "Kazakov, immediately order the artillery to open fire and suppress the enemy's artillery."

"Yes, Commander, I will contact the howitzer regiment immediately and have them counterattack the German artillery positions." After saying this, Kazakov picked up the phone on the table and called his artillery command, issuing an emergency order to open fire.

Rokossovsky then turned to Beloborodov and instructed him: "Comrade General, you return to the division headquarters immediately and take control of the overall situation. Remember, the original attack plan remains unchanged. Once our artillery preparations are complete and you see three red signal flares rising in the sky, launch the assault immediately. Understood?"

“I remember, Comrade Commander,” Belobolodov replied loudly. “We will teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget.”

Shortly after returning to his division headquarters, Beloborodov immediately summoned his chief of staff and asked bluntly, "Comrade Chief of Staff, which regiment's position is the enemy shelling?"

"Reporting to the division commander!" the chief of staff hurriedly replied, "It was the 18th Guards Regiment's position that was shelled, while the positions of the 22nd and 31st Regiments are unharmed."

"What about the 28th Artillery Regiment? What are they doing?" Beloborodov asked, somewhat annoyed. "Why didn't they retaliate when they saw the infantry positions being shelled by the enemy?"

"We can't launch a counterattack, Comrade Division Commander." The Chief of Staff replied somewhat awkwardly, "Our division's artillery regiment is equipped with 76.2mm cannons, while the enemy is using at least 100mm or larger howitzers. Even if we retaliate, it will be difficult to suppress the enemy. We might expose our position and attract heavy fire from the German artillery, leading to the annihilation of the entire army."

Beloborodov fell silent. His divisional artillery regiment, if directly engaged in combat with the German artillery, indeed had little chance of victory. It seemed that only by waiting for the army group's artillery to fire could they suppress the enemy's fire.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, before I returned, the Commander ordered General Kazakov to have his artillery counter the enemy's artillery. I believe that it won't be long before the enemy's artillery fire is suppressed."

Upon receiving the order to fire, the army group's artillery quickly located the German artillery positions, and then three Guards rocket artillery battalions unleashed a salvo in that direction. The previously rampaging German artillery fire fell silent after being struck.

Seeing that the enemy's artillery fire had stopped, Beloborodov immediately went to the position of the 18th Guards Regiment to check the casualties.

Led by Colonel Sergei, commander of the 18th Regiment, he arrived at the area most heavily bombarded. The scene before him deeply shocked Beloborodov: a tragic landscape soaked in blood, craters littering the scorched earth, and the forests in front of and behind the positions still ablaze. The bodies of soldiers and officers lay scattered in destroyed trenches or beside collapsed sandbag bunkers. An indescribable grief welled up within him. What he saw was not merely cold, hard numbers of casualties, but countless young men, driven by a belief in defending their homeland, who had sacrificed their young lives on this land to defeat the invaders. Beloborodov removed his military cap and bowed his head in silent tribute to the fallen soldiers. The officers and soldiers beside him followed suit, removing their caps and bowing their heads in silent tribute to their comrades.

After a while, Beloborodov put on his military cap, turned to Sergei beside him, and asked, "Colonel, can your regiment still lead the main attack? If not, I'll replace you with another regiment?"

Faced with Beloborodov's doubts, Sergei stood firm: "Comrade Division Commander, even if only one person is left in our regiment, we can still take on the main attack mission."

After hearing Sergei's reply, Beloborodov nodded in satisfaction and then said, "Alright, Colonel Sergei, since you are so determined, then the main attack will be carried out by your regiment."

"Excellent, this is excellent!" Sergei asked Beloborodov, "When can we launch an attack on the enemy?" As he spoke, his eyes looked toward the location of the German positions, and he added, "The enemy's shelling has caused such heavy losses to our regiment; we must avenge them."

"It is only right to avenge the enemy's blood debt. After all, when we set out from the Far East, our total strength exceeded 15,000 men, but now our strength has been reduced to just over 6,000." Beloborodov said through gritted teeth, "Therefore, in the battles to come, we must teach the Germans a lesson they won't forget, so that they will tremble at the mere mention of our name in the future."

Sergei first arranged for people to clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded, and move the bodies of the fallen soldiers. Then he asked Beloborodov, "Comrade Commander, when should we launch our attack?"

"Don't rush, Colonel Sergei," Belobolodov waved his hand and said, "Our artillery preparation hasn't even started yet. When the artillery preparation is over and three red signal flares appear in the sky, that's when you'll launch your attack."

Belobolodov returned to the division headquarters and gave the chief of staff a detailed account of the casualties suffered by the 18th Guards Regiment under enemy artillery fire.

After listening to Beloborodov's account, the chief of staff became somewhat anxious: "Comrade Division Commander, I think your decision is inappropriate. You must know that the 18th Guards Regiment suffered considerable losses in the earlier battles. Now, it has been subjected to enemy artillery fire, further weakening the unit's strength. It is clearly unsuitable to have this regiment take on the main attack mission. I think it would be better to assign another regiment to the main attack mission."

“I don’t think it’s necessary, my Chief of Staff,” Beloborodov explained to his chief of staff with a wry smile. “Colonel Sergei told me with great conviction that even if he were the only one left, he would continue to carry out the main attack mission. Seeing his resolute attitude, I did not object and agreed to his request.”

(End of this chapter)