red moscow

Chapter 3072

The artillery of the 16th Army opened fire, shells whistling through the air as they landed on the German positions along the river. Orange-red flames exploded against the leaden sky, snow was whipped up by the blast waves, and barbed wire in front of the positions twisted and deformed in the artillery fire.

The shelling lasted for forty minutes before abruptly ceasing, after which three red signal flares rose into the sky, signaling an attack.

Captain Yuri, the battalion commander, brandished his pistol and leaped out of the snow pit, ice crystals falling from the brim of his cotton hat. He turned halfway around and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, comrades, for the motherland, follow me! Forward!!" Then he was the first to charge out.

Seeing the battalion commander lead the charge, the soldiers also leaped up from their hiding places, wading through ankle-deep snow, and bravely rushed toward the German positions set up on the riverbank.

The machine guns on the German positions began to roar, bullets whizzing past the soldiers' ears. Every now and then, someone was hit and fell, warm blood instantly staining the snow with dark marks. But the other soldiers continued to shout and charge forward. When they were only fifty or sixty meters from the German positions, the crossfire from seven or eight machine guns formed an impenetrable net, forcing the soldiers to lie down on the spot.

Private Viktor lay prone in a shell crater where the soil was still warm, raised his rifle, aimed at the firing port of the German earthen fortification, and pulled the trigger. Having only picked up a gun a few days ago, his marksmanship was naturally terrible. Apart from the occasional bullet or two that hit the logs used to construct the fortification, the rest of the bullets flew off somewhere else.

Just as he was adjusting his posture, a mortar shell exploded nearby, the snow and frozen ground slamming against his helmet with a dull thud. The squad leader, who happened to be nearby, ran from his hiding place at that moment, preparing to jump into the crater where Victor was hiding, but unfortunately stumbled into the blast radius. Shrapnel tore open his chest, blood soaking his cotton-padded coat. He collapsed in the snow not far from Victor, pointing at the machine gun still firing wildly, and muttered intermittently, "Blow it up...the machine gun..." But before he could finish speaking, he breathed his last.

Captain Yuri, hiding in a shell crater, saw many soldiers leap out of their hiding places only to fall to enemy machine gun fire or be blown up by mortar shells. He was so angry that he gritted his teeth.

He pointed to two soldiers not far away and shouted, "You two, go and blow up the enemy's machine gun emplacements."

The two soldiers agreed and crawled out of the shell crater where they were hiding, slowly approaching the nearest machine gun emplacement. But their movements were quickly spotted by the Germans, and a hail of bullets rained down on them, tearing them to pieces.

At that moment, Sokov and Rokossovsky stood atop the church bell tower, peering through binoculars at the battle unfolding several kilometers away. He didn't recognize Captain Yuri, the battalion commander leading the charge, nor Viktor, the recruit who had been desperately firing at enemy positions but missing his targets. He only saw that all the Soviet commanders' efforts to approach the enemy lines had ended in failure. The snow lay littered with the bodies of the wounded and fallen, but the German positions remained firmly in place by the river, the roar of machine guns never ceasing.

Rokossovsky put down his binoculars, walked to the side, picked up the telephone, and connected to headquarters. He said into the receiver, "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy's firepower is very strong. Our soldiers will not achieve any results by launching an attack without fire support, except to increase casualties. Call General Beloborodov and have his troops withdraw first."

Rokossovsky, having put down the microphone, walked back to Sokov's side, looked at him, and asked, "Misha, if the troops attacking the position right now were not the 9th Guards Division, but your troops, could you successfully capture the enemy's position?"

Upon hearing Rokossovsky's question, Sokov smiled faintly: "Comrade Commander, if the troops attacking the enemy position were my infantry brigade, I think the position would have been captured by now." Rokossovsky nodded slightly after hearing this, and then said encouragingly, "Go on."

"I think you've seen it too. The obstacles blocking the soldiers' advance are nothing more than a few enemy firing positions," Sokov continued. "As you know, my troops rarely conduct any artillery preparation before an attack. They simply push the artillery directly to the vicinity of the starting point of the attack, and once the infantry begins their assault, the artillery follows. Once an exposed firing position is discovered, the artillery is decisively ordered to destroy it directly."

"How about I replace your brigade?" Rokossovsky asked, seeking advice. "What do you think?"

“Comrade Commander, most of my troops are still on their way. Sending just one battalion into battle, while it will certainly capture the German positions on the river, is clearly far from enough to expand our gains.” Sokov, worried that Rokossovsky would be angry, tentatively suggested, “How about we take over the offensive from the 9th Guards Division after our brigade is fully assembled?”

"Forget it!" After listening to Sokov's explanation, Rokossovsky also felt that his idea was a bit hasty. After all, the troops currently deployed at the starting position were not only Beloborodov's 9th Guards Division, but also Chernyshov's 11th Guards Division. Transferring Sokov's infantry brigade there now would clearly show a lack of trust in them, and might even cause misunderstandings between them and Sokov. Thinking of this, he waved his hand at Sokov and said, "It's not too late to assign you combat tasks after your brigade has arrived."

Watching the soldiers, their attack thwarted, retreat back to their starting positions under the guidance of their officers, Rokossovsky continued, "Let's go back to headquarters first."

The two came out of the church and got into the jeep parked by the roadside.

After closing the car door, Sokov said to the driver, "To the army group headquarters."

A few minutes later, the jeep stopped in front of the command post.

Sokov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, got out of the car and went to the back seat to open the door for Rokossovsky.

The two men entered the command post, and Malinin immediately came up to report: "Comrade Commander, I have relayed your order to General Beloborodov, and his troops are withdrawing from the starting point of the attack."

Rokossovsky nodded slightly, walked to the wooden table where the map was laid out, and said, "I saw the whole battle. Their attack failed mainly because of improper tactical execution. Help me contact the headquarters of the 9th Guards Division. I have something to tell Beloborodov."

(End of this chapter)