- Headquarters of the 16th Army

In the battle of 30 August, most of the German troops who had crossed the Wopi River were annihilated, and the rest fled back to the west bank of the river along the pontoons. Pen & Fun & Ge www.biquge.info participated in the attack on the Lidyukov and Kirillov divisions, and also crossed the Wopi River and rushed into the depth of the German defense, and before dark, the two divisions were wedged into the German line of defense for five to eight kilometers.

But the good times did not last long, and the next morning, the Germans on the west bank of the Wopi River launched a counterattack. By noon, Lidyukov and Kirillov's troops were forced to retreat only two or three kilometers from the river, and relied on their original positions there to carry out a stubborn defense.

Hearing that the front was surprised, Rokossovsky hurriedly took Lobachev with him to the Vopi River. They were in Orlov's command and met with Lidyukov and Kirillov.

Seeing the two of them sitting at the table with Orlov dejectedly sighing, Rokossovsky hurriedly stepped forward and asked with a blushing face: "Two comrades colonels, can any of you explain to me why your troops were defeated by the Germans?" If you don't find a way to change this, it won't be long before your troops are driven into the Woppy River. ”

"Comrade commander," Lidyukov retorted from Rokossovsky's retort, standing up: "Since we were not supported by artillery fire and air force during the offensive, our commanders and fighters were incapable of defending the enemy's fortified positions. Under the cover of tanks, the enemy launched a frantic attack on us, and there was a great posture that he would not give up until we were repulsed.

Our commanders and fighters held out for almost a morning under the onslaught of the enemy. But the enemy at this time sent out aviation and shelled our positions with artillery. Commander, you see, comrade, how rampant the enemy planes are in the sky, and how fiercely their artillery fires, we have to retreat step by step towards the river under such circumstances. ”

After listening to Lidyukov's explanation, Rokossovsky understood that what he said was the truth, and that the retreat of the troops was not that the commanders and fighters were not heroic, but that the enemy had an advantage in technology and equipment, and the two divisions crossing the river did not even have heavy weapons, and it was almost impossible to hold a temporary defensive position in the case of bombardment by German aircraft.

Rokossovsky walked to the observation port, raised his telescope and looked at the west bank of the river, only to see that on the defensive positions of the Soviet army, there were constantly explosions of artillery shells or aerial bombs, and smoke and dust obscured the horizon.

Lobachev walked up to Rokossovsky's side and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, what should we do?" Is it necessary to order the troops to carry out a counterattack, to repel the enemy? ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Lobachev, handed over the telescope in his hand, and said in a helpless tone: "Let's see what the situation is now, and see how much advantage the enemy has now?" ”

Lobachev took the telescope from Rokossovsky's hand, only glanced at the opposite shore a few times, couldn't help but gasp, and muttered: "My God, I didn't expect the enemy's artillery and air force to have such powerful firepower." He put down his binoculars, looked sideways at Rokossovsky, and said, "It seems that it may be difficult for our troops to hold out until dark." ”

"If you can't hold on, you have to persevere." Rokossovsky said resolutely: "Under such circumstances, to let our commanders and fighters abandon their positions and retreat to this side of the river is to send them to their deaths." After saying that, he walked back to Lidyukov and the three of them and ordered, "I order that the 1st Motorized Infantry Division and the 38th Infantry Division, after dark, alternately cover the withdrawal of positions and move to the east bank of the river. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's order, Lobachev couldn't help but stop it and said: "Comrade commander, do you think you need to ask the front command for instructions?" If Comrade Marshal had known that we had ordered our troops to abandon their positions on the west bank of the river without asking for instructions, you would probably have been punished. ”

Rokossovsky did not doubt Lobachev's statement at all, but as a soldier from later generations, he could not watch thousands of commanders and fighters lose all their artillery fire, so he felt the need to take the risk and take advantage of the fact that after dark, enemy planes could not be dispatched and artillery could not bombard accurate targets, and withdraw his troops to the east bank to reserve more seeds for the 16th Army. So he said without hesitation: "There is no point in letting the troops hold on to the west bank of the river any longer, I will take responsibility, and as soon as it gets dark, let the troops abandon their positions and retreat." Two division commanders, do you understand? ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky took the responsibility for the retreat on his own shoulders, Lidyukov and Kirillov, who were standing in front of him, couldn't help but have mixed feelings, and when they heard his question, the two division commanders immediately replied in unison: "Understood." ”

- Guderian's headquarters

Guderian's Panzer Division, which broke through to the Desna River, fought fiercely with the 40th Army, which was holding on.

After several hours of fierce fighting, the scheming Guderian discovered the junction of the Bryansk Front and the 40th Army, with a gap five kilometers wide. After learning of this news, he also specifically checked with his chief of staff: "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, are you sure that there are no Russians in this five-kilometer area?" ”

"I'm absolutely sure, Your Excellency, Commander." The chief of staff said respectfully: "It may be because the Russians are not strong enough, or they are hastily deployed, so there is such a big shortcoming in the middle of the two armies." You don't have to doubt this, because it was repeatedly verified by our scouts and reconnaissance aircraft. ”

"Good!" Guderian nodded with satisfaction, and then instructed the chief of staff: "Send an armored division to rush in through this gap, and then detour back to the back of the Russian army on the opposite side." What is the number of this Russian army? ”

"According to the reports of the scouts, we can confirm that in front of our troops is the 293rd Infantry Division of the Russians." The chief of staff said proudly: "This division was formed by the supplementary troops who had just arrived at the front line, and it had no combat effectiveness. I believe that as soon as they find our troops behind them, these recruits, who have little combat experience, will obediently lay down their arms and surrender to us. ”

"In that case, Your Excellency Chief of Staff." Guderian waved his hand at his chief of staff and ordered: "Send troops to enter through the gap in the joint as soon as possible, detour back to the rear of the division, and strike at their rear from the east, and be sure to completely annihilate this Russian division in the shortest possible time." ”

-- The defense area of the 293rd Division

The 293rd Infantry Division, deployed at Shostka, had just entered the position, and before it had time to lay out the minefield and pull up the barbed wire fence in front of the position, the German vanguard arrived.

The division commander, Colonel Ragutin, was in his headquarters when he received a call from the commander of the vanguard regiment who was holding the front line, and the other party reported to him: "Comrade division commander, the enemy's tanks and infantry have appeared in our field of vision, they are massing, and it seems that they are about to attack. ”

After listening to the regiment commander's phone call, Ragutin thought that the soldiers under his command were basically recruits who had just picked up arms and had not been around for a long time, so he specifically told the regiment commander: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the task of your regiment is specific and simple, that is, to do everything possible to absolutely prevent the enemy from passing. Do you understand? ”

Understood, Comrade Division Commander. The regimental commander immediately addressed him: "We promise not to let the enemy pass through our positions." ”

After listening to the regiment commander's statement, Ragutin was still a little uneasy, so he taught the regiment commander the experience of defense like an experienced teacher: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, tell the soldiers not to be afraid, after letting go of the enemy's tanks, they will specialize in hitting the infantry following behind. As for the tanks that lost the cover of the infantry, they were cleaned up with flasks and anti-tank grenades. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of explosions rang out from the earpiece. Hearing this voice, his heart couldn't help but chuckle, and he hurriedly asked loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what's going on with you?" ”

"Enemy shells fell near my command post and exploded." Amid a deafening roar, the lieutenant colonel replied loudly: "I suppose they will soon attack." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, tell your fighters to pay attention to concealment and not run around." Ragutin pretended to be calm and said, "When the enemy begins to attack, you will teach them a hard lesson." ”

"Comrade Division Commander." As soon as Ragutin put down the phone, his chief of staff said worriedly: "Our division does not even have a single gun, and if we want to destroy the German tank, we must put it close and send someone to blow it up." ”

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Thinking that the chief of staff wanted to discuss with him the tactics of dealing with the tank now, Ragutin said loudly: "When it gets closer, our fighters will quietly lean over and kill it with just a flask or an anti-tank grenade." ”

"No, no, Comrade Division, you misunderstood what I meant." Seeing that Ragutin had misunderstood what he meant, the chief of staff of the division waved his hand again and again and said: "What I want to say is that our soldiers are recruits who have little combat experience, and when they see the galloping tanks, will they run away in panic?" ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, it will definitely not." Without waiting for Ragutin to finish speaking, the political commissar sitting next to him said solemnly: "I trust our soldiers, although they have no combat experience, but in the face of the murderous enemy, they will definitely fulfill their obligations and fight the enemy tenaciously." ”

The German troops attacking the position of the vanguard regiment, seeing that there was no barbed wire in front of the Soviet position and no minefield, thought that the Soviet army was not ready for defense, and the German commander only sent a motorized company, under the cover of six tanks, swaggering towards the Soviet position.

When the commander of the vanguard regiment saw that the enemy was only fifty or sixty meters away from his position, he decisively shouted: "Open fire, brothers!" Hit, give me a good hit! ”

As the order was issued, the light and heavy machine guns on the position took the lead in firing, and those soldiers who were running behind the tank immediately fell in pieces in the dense rain of bullets, and the rest hurriedly lay down and raised their weapons to return fire.

Although the enemy's infantry lay down, their tanks were close at hand, and the regiment commander hurriedly shouted into the microphone again: "The enemy's tanks are coming, kill them with burning flasks." ”

The order given by Ragutin to the vanguard regiment soon reached the battalion, and from the battalion to the company. After a short effort, Ragutin saw several fighters roll out of the trenches and crawl towards the enemy tanks.

Seeing that the fighters were ready to blow up the tank, he raised his binoculars and trembled slightly from nervousness. He focused his attention on one of the warriors on the far right, who was clearly a veteran who crawled forward a few steps before rolling on his side and then continuing forward. The German tank crews apparently spotted him, and the on-board machine guns rattled incessantly, but he dodged them and did not hit the target with a single shot.

Soon, the veteran was only a dozen meters away from the tank. He stopped, leaned halfway up, and threw a grenade out with a flick of his hand. Unfortunately, he threw it wide, and the grenade landed on the left side of the tank and exploded, and the air wave lifted the dirt high and sprinkled it on the tank body.

Seeing that the first grenade was missed, the veteran was not discouraged, and he quickly leaned up again and threw the second grenade out. This time it was lucky, it smashed directly on the frontal armor and exploded, and the tank body was soon shrouded in flames and smoke.

The veteran took out a tank, but the rest of the fighters were not as lucky as him. Several fighters had just leaned out, and before they could throw their grenades, they were hit by machine-gun bullets from the tank, and their bodies twitched violently like an electric shock, and then they fell to the ground and stopped moving.

The regiment commander could not help but feel distressed when he saw the soldiers who had blown up the tanks one after another falling under the enemy's guns, and he thought bitterly: "If only we had anti-tank guns, even if there were only a few anti-tank rifles, so that our soldiers would not have to brave the rain of bullets and climb next to the tank to throw grenades." ”

The veteran, who had blown up a tank, watched the tank rumble towards his position, quickly rolled on the spot, came to a fallen comrade, grabbed a grenade from his hand, and threw it at a tank that had just passed by him.

After a loud bang, the tank, covered in fire, stubbornly drove forward for another seven or eight meters, and finally stopped. As soon as the roof of the turret was opened, two tank crews covered in fire climbed out one after another. As soon as the two jumped to the ground, they quickly fell to the ground and rolled on the spot, trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies. Before the fire on their bodies could be extinguished, the fighters on the position opened fire on the two men. With a few gunshots, they lay still, letting the flames continue to burn. (To be continued.) )