Seeing that the fleeing stormtroopers and the pursuing Soviet troops had entered a distance of two hundred meters, Felix, the leader of the second-class commando group, turned his head and ordered the signal soldiers: "Open fire on the street!" ”

The corporal of the communications corporal did not carry out his order, but said with some hesitation: "Mr. Captain, firing now will injure our own people by mistake. ”

"It's all a bunch of cowards who lost their positions to the Russians in just a few minutes. Even if the Russians don't destroy them, I'm going to hang them all. Enraged, Felix looked at the group of stormtroopers on the street who were only concerned about fleeing, gritted his teeth and ordered the corporal in an unquestionable tone: "Order everyone to fire on the street immediately!" ”

Hearing Felix give this order again, the muscles in the corporal's face twitched a few times, and then he said into the microphone: "Second Commando Group Leader order, immediately fire on the street!" Someone seemed to have questioned the order, and he repeated it in an accentuated tone, "...... Yes, shoot at all the moving targets on the streets. ”

As the order was given, the German soldiers hiding behind the windows opened fire, and the dense bullets knocked down the crowd on the street in pieces. The commanders and fighters, who were suppressed by German fire, lay down on the spot or looked for a place to hide, and then fired back. The stormtroopers never dreamed that they would be attacked by their own people, and those who did not cover the area of the fire network rushed into the nearby alleys with all their might; Those in the net were either shot indiscriminately or lay on the ground trembling until one or more bullets killed them.

Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, who was personally in command at the front, saw that his troops were suppressed by German fire, and hurriedly issued an order: "Immediately transfer the heavy machine guns to suppress the enemy's fire, and cover our fighters to continue to charge forward." ”

Soon two heavy machine-gun squads rushed over, and at a distance of more than a dozen meters from Ajik's command post, machine-gun positions were set up and fired at buildings in the distance. Don't look at the buildings occupied by the Germans are four or five hundred meters away, but the well-trained and experienced machine gunners hit accurately and fiercely, and soon hit many enemies behind the windows and retreated, not daring to continue shooting.

The commanders and fighters, who were so suppressed by the firepower that they could not move, saw that the enemy's fire had weakened, so they got up from the ground one after another, and continued to rush forward along the street with their weapons in hand. But they had not gone far before they were intercepted by fire from other positions, and some of the soldiers died on the spot and fell to the ground; Others were suppressed by enemy fire and fell back to the ground.

Seeing that the soldiers had just rushed forward, Ajik was suppressed by the enemy's dense firepower, and hurriedly ordered the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately bring another heavy machine gun, and you must suppress the enemy's firepower." In addition, the second battalion was also transferred, and they were ready to be thrown into battle at any time. ”

"Comrade Regiment Commander," the chief of staff said with some hesitation when he saw the street in front of him where fierce fighting was taking place, "the enemy's firepower is so fierce, even if we put the second battalion into battle, it will be difficult to make any progress." ”

Ajik glared at his chief of staff and said, "Chief of Staff, have you forgotten the order given to us by the division commander to break through the enemy's defenses as soon as possible and reach the municipal building in the center of the city first?" What is the situation ahead, I am not blind, I have seen it all. The first battalion is currently suffering heavy casualties, and if no one reinforces them, they will soon be crushed by the Germans, and our fighters will die in vain. ”

Seeing that Ajik was so stubborn, the chief of staff could only reluctantly agree: "Yes, I will immediately order the second battalion to enter the battle." ”

Another heavy machine gun firing position was soon set up, and the machine gunners opened fire on the building that was entrenched by the Germans a few hundred meters away.

Seeing that his own firepower was gradually weakening after being suppressed by the Soviet army, Felix couldn't help frowning, and he turned his head again and ordered the signal soldier: "Tell the mortars to go up to the roof and kill the heavy machine guns of the Russians for me." ”

Two German mortar groups, which had long been on standby, immediately climbed onto the roof after receiving the order, locked onto the heavy machine-gun positions of the Soviet troops, and decisively opened fire. The whistling shells, after making two arcs in the air, landed near the heavy machine gun and exploded, and the flying debris smashed into the steel helmet of one of the machine gunners, clanging. Unfazed, the Heavy continued to shoot at buildings in the distance.

Seeing that the first round of shelling did not hit the target, the German gunners quickly adjusted the angle of the mortar and re-fired at the Soviet machine-gun positions. The second round of shelling, as a result of which one machine gunner was killed, and after the health officer carried the body away, the secondary shooter took the shooter's place and continued to fire at the enemy.

But the Germans will not give up until they destroy the heavy machine-gun positions of the Soviet troops. But after a series of shells fell near the machine guns and exploded, the three heavy machine guns, which posed the greatest threat to the Germans, were completely dumb. Seeing that the Soviet machine guns stopped shooting, the German soldiers, who were originally hiding behind the windows, leaned out again and condescendingly shot at the Soviet troops on the street.

When Ajik saw that the machine-gun positions of the group had been destroyed by German artillery fire, and that the 2nd Battalion, which had just entered the battlefield, had also suffered heavy casualties under the intensive German fire, he couldn't help but think bitterly: "If we can get artillery support, maybe we will be able to pass through this section smoothly." ”

Outside the city, Bandeleyev, after seeing his 751st regiment rushing into the city, did not report the results to himself. At first, he thought that the troops were advancing smoothly, and that the communications troops had not had time to lay telephone lines, so that Ajik could not report the results of the battle to him. Who knew that the group was like a mud cow entering the sea without any movement, so he took the initiative to call Ajik.

As soon as the phone was called, Bandeleyev angrily asked: "Hey, I said Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the progress of your regiment?" Why haven't I received any reports so far? ”

Hearing that it was the division commander Xingshi who asked for the guilt, Ajik said with some humility: "Comrade division commander, the attacking troops of our regiment have been stubbornly blocked by the German army and cannot continue to advance. ”

"Are all the troops in battle?" Bandeleyev asked briefly.

"No," Ajik hurriedly replied, "At present, only the 1st and 2nd Battalions are engaged in fierce battles with the enemy, and the 3rd Battalion, as the reserve of the whole regiment, has not yet been put into battle for the time being. ”

Knowing that the 751st Division was not going well, Bandeleyev suddenly became angry: "Since there is still a battalion, why go into battle. I now order you to immediately throw the three battalions into battle as well. In half an hour, I will hear that the street has been occupied, otherwise you will lose your epaulettes of lieutenant colonel. After speaking, without waiting for Ajik to distinguish, he hung up the phone directly.

For the strict orders of the division commander, Ajik did not dare to disobey. Therefore, as soon as he put down the phone, he weakly ordered the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, call the commander of the third battalion, tomorrow he will immediately put his troops into battle, and we will take this street from the Germans in the shortest possible time." ”

"Comrade Regiment Commander," the chief of staff reminded kindly, pointing to the building in the distance, "look at how fierce the enemy's fire is, if we are thrown into battle by three battalions at such a time. The entire force is crammed into this street, which is bound to cause heavy casualties. ”

However, after he finished speaking, Agik's face had no expression at all. The chief of staff could only smile wryly, walked to the telephone next to him, called the commander of the third battalion, and ordered the other side to immediately plunge the troops into an attack that had no chance of winning.