Hearing the watchman's shout, Fripp rushed to his side in three steps and two steps, taking the telescope from his hand and looking into the distance. I saw more than a dozen German tanks in an offensive formation, rushing to the outpost of the 326th Regiment with great force, and behind the tanks, rows and rows of German soldiers.

The moment he saw the German attacking line, Fripp made up his mind, and he decided to use the German shells to teach these charging enemies a good lesson before the bombing. Thinking of this, he put down his binoculars, turned around and ordered Kochetov, who was standing not far away: "Comrade second lieutenant, you take half of your men to block the German troops that are driving towards us. And the rest, comrades who helped the artillerymen, threw all the shells into the enemy's offensive ranks. ”

Kochetov, who had always advocated that the small troops should retreat immediately after exploding the artillery, immediately agreed unequivocally when he heard Felip's order, although he drew his pistol, raised it high above his head, and shouted: "The first platoon will stay to assist the artillerymen, and the second and third platoons will follow me." After shouting, he waved his hand forward, and then took the lead and ran out.

After waiting for Kochetov to leave with the blocking troops, Felip walked quickly to the artillery and the soldiers in a platoon, and said loudly: "Comrades, since the enemy has more troops than Second Lieutenant Kochetov, it is very difficult to completely block the enemy, so we must hurry up and shoot all the shells. Now we ordered that the artillery fighters were responsible for adjusting the firing parameters, and the fighters of the platoon helped them carry the shells and pull the gun ropes. Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" A platoon of fighters and the few artillerymen who were there replied loudly.

After listening to everyone's answers, Ferry waved his hand and ordered, "Since the tasks are clear, then let's all take their places." ”

As soon as they heard this, a platoon of fighters immediately dispersed, and one person consciously lined up behind the artillery with a shell. It's a pity that Rokossovsky is not here, and if he sees such a scene, he will definitely smile from ear to ear, which is typical of using German shells to make his fighters practice their hands.

One of the artillerymen turned his head and shouted at Fripp: "Comrade Captain, our shells have long been loaded, just wait for your order, we can open fire!" ”

As soon as the artilleryman reminded him of this, Fripp immediately remembered that each gun was loaded with shells, and it was all ready to be reloaded. He nodded, then raised his right hand high and shouted the command: "All artillerymen, listen to my command: prepare - release!" As the last word was spoken, his hand slammed downward.

More than two dozen loaded shells screeched down on the open space between the German tanks and infantry, blowing up puffs of earth. A German captain who led the charge, scattered by the dirt falling from the sky, shook his head desperately to shake the dirt off his military hat, and cursed: "Damn the Russians, you are still so far away, and you are bombarding us with heavy artillery." ”

"Mr. Captain," said one of the soldiers beside him timidly, "the shell seems to have come from behind us." ”

When the captain heard this, he said with a displeased face: "What the hell, these damn artillerymen, where are they aiming, don't you know that the shells they fired almost hit their own people?"

The effect of the first round of shelling, which Philip saw through his binoculars, also angrily scolded the artillerymen: "Hell, how did you aim, all the shells hit the open field, and not a single German was destroyed." ”

The artillery fighters who heard his scolding immediately blushed, and they did not dare to defend themselves, but bent down and ran to one cannon after another, and according to the parameters provided by the observer, they readjusted the firing angle of the muzzle. After all the guns had been adjusted and reloaded, one of the artillerymen ran up to Friepe, straightened up and reported: "Comrade Captain, you are ready to fire again." ”

Fripp glared at the artillery soldier fiercely, then raised his right hand again and shouted the command in a loud voice: "All artillerymen, listen to my command: prepare - release!" ”

This round of shells landed in the German tank queue and exploded, blowing up two tanks on the spot, and one tank was also overturned by the explosion wave. The infantrymen who were following the tank, frightened by the shelling from behind, stopped and looked behind in bewilderment. But the artillery positions were four or five kilometers away from the offensive ranks, so they could not see anything at all.

The German battalion commander who was in the queue, seeing that the troops had stopped, waved his pistol to drive his men to continue advancing, and at the same time ordered the communications troops around him to contact the division headquarters by radio and ask why the shells of the rear artillery fell on the heads of his own people.

However, before the division headquarters could reply, a succession of shells fell again in the ranks of the Germans and exploded. Deadly shrapnel flew everywhere, cutting down the Germans near the blast site piece by piece. The remaining survivors either lay on the spot or threw themselves into the craters that had just formed, dodging the shrapnel that would have taken away their lives.

"Great, that's great." Perip saw in his telescope that the enemy was suffering from the shells, and he couldn't help but shout hello, and at the same time he kept urging the artillerymen: "Speed up the reloading, and try to get all the shells out in the shortest possible time." ”

At the same time that Fripp commanded the artillery to continuously shell the attacking forces of the German army, the second and third platoons led by Kochetov also entered the ambush position. Since there was no favorable terrain such as high ground nearby, there was no time to build fortifications in a short time, so they had to hide in the grass on both sides of the road.

When he saw that the vanguard of the German army had entered his ambush circle, Kochetov shouted: "Fight! Then he pulled the trigger on one of the German soldiers who was walking in front.

The sound of his guns was an order, and the soldiers hidden around him also pulled the trigger at the German soldiers in the middle of the road. After the dense gunfire, dozens of German soldiers who were at the forefront fell on the road either dead or wounded.

But the Germans were not vegetarian either, and after a brief panic, they began to fight back in an orderly manner. In particular, several armored vehicles, which were following behind the German troops, immediately lined up in the middle of the road at maximum speed, and then fired wildly with machine guns into the grass where the Soviet fighters were hidden.

Although people can be hidden in the grass, they can't stop the bullets. In the dense strafing fire of the German troops, many soldiers not far from the enemy were shot and killed on the spot. And the rest of the fighters, unwilling to sit still, stood up with their guns in hand, ready to rush towards the enemy, but as soon as they appeared, they were immediately beaten into a sieve by a dense barrage of bullets.

One of the fighters, who was lying next to Kochetov, shouted at him: "Comrade second lieutenant, the Germans are under too much fire, let's move it." Otherwise, it won't be long before we are all destroyed. ”

"No, you can't withdraw." As he said this, Kochetov looked at the artillery position in the distance, and saw that the German offensive line was being shelled at the fastest speed, and said decisively: "If we withdraw, the captains will be exposed to the Germans, and the enemy will easily destroy them all." ”

Hearing Kochetov say this, the warrior obediently closed his mouth and shot at the enemy with the gun in his hand.

Seeing the soldiers around him being shot and killed one after another, Kochetov couldn't help but become anxious, and he secretly thought to himself: "Comrade Captain, when will your shells be finished?" The enemy's fire is so fierce that we can't stop it! ”

Kochetov's difficulties here were discovered by Felip. He frowned and thought for a while, then called an artilleryman, pointed to the armored vehicles that were frantically slaughtering Soviet fighters in the distance, and asked the other party loudly: "Comrade soldiers, do you have a way to kill those armored vehicles?" ”

The artillery soldier looked in that direction, then shook his head and said: "Comrade Captain, the armored car is too close to our people, and if the artillery bombardment is carried out, although the armored car can be knocked out, it will also injure a lot of its own people by mistake." ”

Hearing what the artillery fighters said, Philip could only sigh helplessly and said: "Alas, since this is the case, then continue to bombard the attacking troops of the German army, strive to run out of shells as soon as possible, and then blow up all the artillery and then carry out the transfer." ”

The artillerymen, with the assistance of a platoon of soldiers, fired more than 200 shells in just 10 minutes, not only killing out seven or eight German tanks, but also inflicting no less than 200 casualties on the German infantry. Hearing Fripp's order, they immediately increased the speed of their shelling so that they could get all the shells out.

At this moment, suddenly a soldier called out to Felip: "Comrade Captain, I hear the second lieutenant calling to us." ”

Perip walked briskly to the side of the warrior, crouched down, and asked nervously, "Where did you hear the second lieutenant calling us?" ”

The soldier sitting on the ground pointed to a walkie-talkie in front of him and said: "Comrade Captain, these are the two walkie-talkies that we have captured after seizing the enemy's artillery position. One was here, and the other was taken away by Ensign Kochetov them. ”

Without waiting for him to finish, Ferip snatched the headset and put it on his head, and shouted loudly into the microphone: "Hey, Comrade Ensign?" I'm Philip, what's going on with you? ”

"Comrade Captain, the situation is terrible." Kochetov replied with a sad face: "Since we did not have time to build fortifications, we are now suppressed by the enemy's dense fire and cannot raise our heads. Now the enemy's infantry, under the cover of the fire of armored vehicles, is rushing towards us, and it seems that we are almost overwhelmed. ”

"Hold on, Comrade Second Lieutenant, I order you to stand up." Philip turned his head to look at the cannonballs piled up on the ground, estimated in his heart, and then continued: "You hold on for the last ten minutes, and in just ten minutes, we will be able to use all the shells and complete the task of exploding." ”

"Comrade Captain," said Kochetov, with a wry smile after listening to Fripp's words, "judging by the current situation, we will certainly not be able to withstand ten minutes." Hurry up and let the soldiers in the platoon blow up the cannons, and move as quickly as possible before the enemy rushes past us. ”

"Comrade Captain, what should we do?" The soldier sitting next to him asked, "Was it an immediate bombardment?" ”

Kochetov was wearing a headset and holding a microphone, quietly waiting for Felip's reply, at this moment, he saw several German soldiers running towards him with their waists and submachine guns, and hurriedly threw the microphone in their hands, picked up the submachine gun next to him, and shot at the enemy.

The German soldiers, who were caught off guard, were knocked down on the spot, and the rest immediately lay on the ground, looking around vigilantly. Kochetov smiled bitterly, picked up the microphone again, and said to Felip: "Comrade Captain, we are almost overwhelmed, you better hurry up and make up your mind." ”

Perip thought for a moment, and then replied resolutely: "In this case, Comrade Ensign, I will immediately send a platoon of soldiers to support you, and I must hold the Germans back." ”

"It's useless, Comrade Captain." Kochetov said with some despair: "The enemy has several armored vehicles, and if they are not dealt with, no matter how many people come, they will only be sent to death." You'd better hurry up and blow up the guns and get out of the way. ”

"Second Lieutenant, I'll immediately send a platoon of soldiers over to support you." Ferlip said stubbornly.

"Captain, you don't need to send a platoon to support us, there is a way to block the enemy." Kochetov said a little breathlessly: "You can order the artillery to fire at us, as long as the enemy's armored vehicles are destroyed, the remaining enemy will not be worried." ”

"However, if you fire at the enemy's armored vehicles, you will be injured by mistake." Philip said with some hesitation.

"Comrade Captain, it's time to take care of so much."

"No, resolutely not." Felip immediately rejected Kochetov's proposal, "I must not allow a shell to accidentally injure my own people." ”

"Comrade Captain, it's too late, let the artillerymen fire at us." Seeing the German soldiers who got up from the ground and rushed in his direction, Kochetov said with some anxiety.

Perip thought for a moment, and then replied resolutely: "In this case, Comrade Ensign, I will immediately send a platoon of soldiers to support you, and I must hold the Germans back." ”

"It's useless, Comrade Captain." Kochetov said with some despair: "The enemy has several armored vehicles, and if they are not dealt with, no matter how many people come, they will only be sent to death." You'd better hurry up and blow up the guns and get out of the way. ”

"Second Lieutenant, I'll immediately send a platoon of soldiers over to support you." Ferlip said stubbornly.

"Captain, you don't need to send a platoon to support us, there is a way to block the enemy." Kochetov said a little breathlessly: "You can order the artillery to fire at us, as long as the enemy's armored vehicles are destroyed, the remaining enemy will not be worried." ”

"However, if you fire at the enemy's armored vehicles, you will be injured by mistake." Philip said with some hesitation.

"Comrade Captain, it's time to take care of so much."

"No, resolutely not." Felip immediately rejected Kochetov's proposal, "I must not allow a shell to accidentally injure my own people." ”

"Comrade Captain, it's too late, let the artillerymen fire at us." Seeing the German soldiers who got up from the ground and rushed in his direction, Kochetov said with some anxiety. (To be continued.) )