The sound of gunfire like bursting beans caught the Soviet commanders and fighters who were marching in the muddy water by surprise, and the soldiers at the front fell into the muddy water one after another, splashing the water high. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The fighters who were suddenly hit suddenly fell into confusion, some immediately turned around and ran back, and some stood in place in a daze.

Only a few men raised their weapons and fired back at the enemy's position. However, due to nervousness, unfamiliarity with firearms, and poor vision in the night, although all the bullets in the gun were fired, only God knows where the bullets were hit and whether they hit the target.

The battle of the first battalion lasted only a few minutes, and the fighters fled on the ground and hid under a ridge more than half a man high to avoid German fire.

After a brief period of panic, the battalion commander finally came to his senses, and he glanced at the wounded who were lying not far away, wailing. Hurriedly provided a voice and shouted left and right: "The company commanders come to me to assemble!" … Company commanders come to us! …”

It took a dozen shouts in a row before three officers bent down and ran in front of him. After the battalion commander saw the three officers squatting in front of him in the faint light, he couldn't help frowning and asked, "Where is the first company commander?" ”

The deputy company commander who answered him was: "I was killed." ”

Hearing that one of his officers had been killed, the battalion commander couldn't help but sigh softly and instructed the deputy company commander: "You immediately organize a company of fighters to launch an attack on the enemy's position." ”

"Comrade battalion commander," said the deputy company commander in embarrassment, "our troops have just been disrupted, and it may be difficult to gather them together if it is dark today." ”

"If there are difficulties, you will find a way to overcome them yourself." The battalion commander said in a stern tone: "I just don't say where the members of the unit come from, and everyone knows it in their hearts. This is the first battle after the formation of our battalion, and if it is fought well, it will be a great joy for all; If it is not done well, it is estimated that it will not be as simple as abolishing the establishment. ”

When the deputy company commander heard the battalion commander say this, he could only reply with a wry smile: "Comrade battalion commander, I understand, I will organize the fighters and reorganize a charge." ”

As soon as the 1st battalion exchanged fire with the Germans, Yershov, who was in the brigade headquarters, received a report from the observation post. However, since there was no contact signal with the 1st battalion, it was impossible to know the situation of the fighting on the other side. However, fortunately, according to the pre-war deployment, as soon as the first echelon exchanged fire with the Germans on the opposite bank, the second echelon was immediately sent to cross the river.

After waiting for Yershov to give the order to cross the river, Malinin raised his head and said lightly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you hand over the work here to the chief of staff, and then the two of us go to the observation post by the river." ”

"To the observation post by the river?" Yershov said with some surprise: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff of the Front, it is too dangerous there, and there is a danger of being shelled by the Germans at any time. ”

"Only at the observation post by the river can we keep abreast of the progress of the war on the front line." Malinin stood up as he spoke, put his big-brimmed hat on his head, and urged Yershov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, hurry up and hand over the work to the Chief of Staff, and we will set off." ”

As soon as he walked a few steps, he suddenly remembered something more important, and hurriedly stopped and said to the communications company commander on the side: "Immediately set up a telephone line that can talk to the headquarters of the front army and the group army, and go to the observation post by the river." ”

By the time Malinin and Yershov arrived at the riverside observation post, the troops of the second echelon had already begun to cross the river, and since the attention of the Germans was attracted to the first echelon, the second echelon was not immediately spotted.

It was not until the boats of the second echelon reached the center of the river that the Germans discovered that another Soviet unit was crossing the river, so they desperately fired flares into the air and shelled the troops who were crossing the river.

The cannonball landed in the middle of the boats crossing the river and exploded, setting off black columns of water that soared into the sky. Malinin, who was standing at the observation post, saw that due to the low visibility after dark, the German shells did not hit well, and although the successive explosions boiled the river, not a single boat was damaged.

Seeing that the ship in front was about to approach the opposite shore, suddenly a small boat was blown to pieces in the telescope lens, and more than a dozen soldiers on board were also blown to pieces. But all this did not frighten the soldiers, and as soon as the ship came to shore, they immediately jumped off the boat and bent down and rushed to the shore.

Seeing that the Soviets were beginning to land, the Germans immediately increased the speed of their shelling, and more and more shells exploded on the shore and in the water, lifting the blown up planks into the sky and sweeping down the landing fighters in pieces......

On the other side of the German position, the battalion commander saw the blazing fire and the rumbling of artillery in front of the German defensive position, and guessed that the second echelon must have launched a charge towards the front of the German army.

In the first two attacks, due to the unfamiliarity with the terrain and the inexperience of the soldiers, the attacks launched by the Germans were easily repulsed by the Germans, and the chief and deputy commanders of the first company were killed in the battle, and only more than 40 of the company's more than 200 people remained. In this attack, the battalion commander was ruthless, and he said to the company and platoon commander who was squatting in front of him: "Comrades, today's battle is the first battle of our battalion, and it may also be the last, so we must take down the German positions no matter what." When charging later, the squad leader is in front of the soldiers, the platoon commander is in front of the squad leader, the company commander is in front of the platoon commander, and I, as your battalion commander, I will rush to the front of the whole battalion. ”

With the commanders taking the lead, the fighters behind suddenly doubled in courage, and they braved the enemy's dense fire to launch a charge. Although there were constantly comrades who fell into the muddy water due to bullets in the process of charging, the remaining soldiers still bravely rushed forward.

In order to resist the attack from the front, the Germans transferred a lot of troops from this direction, so the defenses on the position became weak. The Soviet soldiers soon rushed into the trench and engaged the German officers and soldiers inside in a hand-to-hand battle. After the battalion commander ran out of bullets from his pistol, he bent down and picked up a rifle with a bayonet on it, and met the charging German soldiers. After forcefully dissecting the opponent's rifle, he stabbed the bayonet into the opponent's chest, kicked the enemy hanging on the bayonet with his foot, and then went to find a new target.

The soldiers of the first battalion were all prison criminals, many of whom had experience in street fighting, although their shooting skills were not comparable to those of the Germans; But when it comes to melee combat, the Germans are really no match for them, and in just five minutes, more than thirty Germans fell under their bayonets, and their casualties did not exceed ten.

And the second echelon, attacking from the front, was covered by mortars and heavy machine guns, and the Germans, who were in the trenches, were so suppressed by fire that they could not raise their heads, and rushed forward with shouts. Jump into the trenches and use bayonets and grenades to face each other.

Malinin and Yershov stood in the observation post and clearly saw through the binoculars the battle being fought by the second echelon. Although in the course of the attack, considerable sacrifices were made, but the enemy was managed to drive the enemy out of the first line of trenches.

Yershov shook his head lightly and said to Malinin: "Our troops are too poorly equipped, and if we can have more machine guns or mortars to suppress the enemy's fire, our casualties will be much smaller." ”

Seeing the casualties of the troops with his own eyes, Ma Linin's heart was quite uncomfortable, although the sneak attack troops contained a lot of enemies, but the second echelon of the frontal attack still paid a lot of price under the condition of strengthening the fire cover. Although these warriors were despised prisoners, his heart was still bleeding as he watched them fall one after another in the muzzles or artillery fire of the enemy.

He put down his binoculars, turned to Yershov and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, immediately get in touch with the commanders of the second echelon and ask them to seize the time to strengthen their positions and prevent a possible counterattack by the enemy. ”

While Yershov was communicating with the other side by telephone, Malinin received a call from the command of the Front and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, our troops have crossed the Zusha River and successfully captured the first trench of the German army, and the battle is still going on. ”

"Our fighters fought well." Hearing that the Special Brigade had occupied an area on the other side, Rokossovsky was also quite happy, and it seemed that these prisoners, who had never undergone military training, performed well on the battlefield. He smiled and said to Malinin: "I will call General Korzun and ask him to send reinforcements to strengthen the newly occupied areas on the left bank." By the way, you should seize the favorable opportunity that the Germans have not yet recovered and continue to expand the landing grounds. ”

Malinin put down the phone and said to Yershov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, General Korzun may soon send troops to reinforce the opposite bank, so after you have consolidated your positions, you should expand the landing ground as much as possible so that we can deploy more troops on the left bank of the Zusha River." ”

After hearing this, Yershov pondered for a moment, and then asked Malinin for instructions: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, there are too many troops on the left bank, but there is a lack of unified command, and I ask you to allow me to go to the other side of the river to command the troops. ”

Malinin took the other party's hand, shook it lightly twice, and admonished: "Comrade Yershov, I will leave the matter of building a landing field on the left bank to you with full responsibility. As long as we can gain a foothold on the left bank and drive the enemy away from the Zusha River, you and your commanders and fighters have done a great job. Do you understand? ”

"Understood," Yershov said with a busy nod, "please rest assured that as long as there is one man left in our special brigade, we will resolutely hold the landing ground on the left bank." ”

At dawn, the Zusha River became lively, and groups of soldiers lined up in three or four columns, slowly marching along the muddy path to the river. In the middle of the road, there were wagons carrying supplies and weapons and ammunition, and because the roads were so bad, the wagons would get stuck in the mud from time to time, and the soldiers who were marching next to them would go up to help push the carts, not caring that they would become mud monkeys after pushing them.

The commander of the 3rd Army, General Korzun, was staying in the observation post with Malinin at the moment, looking through binoculars at the positions occupied by the Soviets on the opposite bank. Seeing that many of the areas had been turned into scorched earth, and the remains of the soldiers who had not yet had time to be taken away, he couldn't help but say in surprise: "It seems that last night's battle was quite fierce. ”

"That's right," Malinen, who had witnessed the whole battle, nodded, "and judging by their performance on the battlefield, I can't believe that they are recruits who are participating in the battle for the first time." In the face of the dense fire of the German army, none of our commanders and fighters panicked, they all bravely rushed forward with weapons. The first battalion to cross the river, originally had more than 600 people, but now there are less than 200 people left, and more than two-thirds of the casualties are left, including two company commanders, and the battalion commander was also wounded in the battle. ”

"It's amazing, they're amazing." "And I have always been prejudiced against them, and I feel that it is a mistake to let these prisoners join our army, and they will not only bring our military discipline to ruin, but also disappoint them on the battlefield. But I did not expect, really did not expect, that these fighters, who had never undergone military training, would actually succeed in breaking through the German defenses and also established a huge landing ground on the left bank, laying a good foundation for our army to gain a firm foothold on the opposite bank. ”

Ma Linin looked at Korzun and said teasingly: "When the commander wanted to assign this special brigade to you, you didn't want it, and now you think it's worth it, right?" ”

"That's right," said Korzun, who blushed and said a little embarrassedly, "Comrade Commander still has vision, if he hadn't assigned such a good force to us, it is estimated that we would have to wait a long time to seize the position on the left bank." ”

"Now that you have approved of this team," Malinin felt that he should do some good for the Special Brigade, so he tentatively said to Korzun, "so can you do what time you can for them?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Korzun immediately asked, hearing Malinin say this, "what needs to be done for them, you can ask, as long as it is within my ability, I will not give up my opinion." ”

Ma Linin said: "At present, the equipment of the special brigade is too poor, for example, the number of submachine guns and machine guns is too small, you see if you can add some more to them." After seeing that Korzun nodded in agreement, he added, "There are quite a few commanders and fighters who have made meritorious contributions in this battle, and you should report their list as soon as possible and give them the rewards they deserve, so as to achieve the effect of boosting morale." ”

After saying what he had to say, Malinin stretched out his hand to Korzun and said politely: "General Korzun, my mission here has been completed, and I want to return to the front headquarters immediately, and we will meet another day." Good luck! ”