Before dawn on the second day, on the artillery positions in the rear, the Soviet artillery was preparing for the battle.

"Push this cart away, there can't be anything else in the way."

A Soviet artillery officer is directing the soldiers to busily prepare for the battle. This time their artillery task was very important, in addition to launching an artillery strike on the positions, it was necessary to suppress the Romanian artillery. However, despite such a heavy task, the artillery brigade still has enough confidence. And their confidence comes from the hundreds of medium and large-caliber guns of more than 100 mm in the artillery brigade.

As the only artillery brigade of the Kiev Military District and even the Soviet Union, its role was mainly created to target Romania, which was the most threatening to it. The Separate Artillery Brigade is equipped with a large number of 107/122/152 guns, of which the 1910 122mm howitzer is its most relied on equipment. Its total weight of 1,330 kg was quite suitable for Soviet roads, and it was also quite powerful, and as the main artillery of Tsarist Russia in World War I, its range of 7,700 meters was also up to standard.

So when it was dawn, the artillery of dozens of positions of the artillery brigade rang out in unison, giving the defending Romanian army a big surprise.

The heavy shelling of three medium and large guns plunged the Hurmek Mountains into a sea of fire, and many of the fortifications on the positions were destroyed in them.

As the commander of the position, Mizik did not have time to tidy up his clothes, and immediately rushed to his post to check the damage caused by the shelling.

"I didn't expect that the shelling of the Soviet army would be so fierce. Moreover, the level of its shelling was also quite high, and many ground fortifications were devastated. ”

In Mizik's eyes, many positions were shrouded in shelling, and from time to time various weapon parts were thrown into the air. He even saw a 75 mountain gun being hit directly by the artillery, and it immediately turned into a state of disintegration. The deformed barrel flew into the air and smashed into the soldier who he couldn't dodge, and the poor soldier saw God immediately.

When Mizik saw the tragic image of the position, he immediately vented his dissatisfaction. "What about our artillery? How not to fight back? ”

As if waiting for his urging, the sound of the artillery of the counterattack rumbled after rushing up the hill, and the artillery of both sides exchanged fire across the Hermek Mountain.

Although the Soviets had the advantage of caliber, Romania was not bad, they occupied the advantage of the high ground, and the artillery observation posts set up on the hills continuously sent the observation information to the artillery positions, which also allowed the Romanian artillery to beat the drums of the Soviets with accurate shelling.

In particular, the new 105 howitzer (which can almost be called a cannon), although it is expensive to build (60% more expensive than the old one). However, it performed exceptionally well in this artillery battle, and with its ultra-long range and fierce firepower, it exerted its artillery suppression ability to the extreme.

And the Soviet artillery, which was fighting happily with the Romanian artillery, naturally lowered the intensity of the artillery bombardment of the position by a notch.

Although the artillery of the Romanian 24th Division (both called the 24th Division) was able to withstand the offensive of Soviet artillery, help still appeared.

Support from the heavy artillery regiment soon joined the chorus, and the deterrent effect of these 150 heavy guns far exceeded that of the 24th Division itself. Although only one battalion (12 guns) was supported by heavy artillery, it still gave Romanian artillery an advantage. Many Soviet artillery had to face a cycle of discovery, shelling, and shifting positions, which exacerbated the disadvantage of Soviet artillery.

And the commander of the Soviet army, Major General Solnov, who saw that the artillery could not open the situation, had to let the soldiers attack in advance at this time.

So under his orders, wave after wave of Soviet soldiers launched an attack on the position.

"Light machine gun suppressive fire. These Soviets are going to play with their lives. ”

An officer on the position looked at the densely charged Soviet soldiers, and did not care to wait for the enemy to enter the best firing range, and immediately ordered the machine gun to suppress the opponent's offensive. As for why the more suppressive heavy machine guns were not fired, just look at the heavy machine guns scattered around the side, and the shooters who fell next to the heavy machine guns.

In fact, he was not the only one who gave such an order, and almost the entire line of defense basically did so. So when the Soviet soldiers were still some distance away, the Romanian positions were full of firepower, and everyone knew that this was the real thing.

Of course, if it had been yesterday, Romania would have been very satisfied. Because this exposed all the firepower points of the position, but today is a general attack, and there is no turning back from the bow, so he can only increase the investment in troops.

The fierce attack made the positional ammunition consume very quickly, especially the machine gun ammunition was consumed the fastest, and the finger pulled the trigger and did not let go, and in a few seconds, dozens of bullets were consumed. So when the battle is at its most intense, a spectacle can be seen, that is, behind each machine gun position, there are many people squatting to press the magazine, which is the result of the machine gun firing too fast. There are even examples of cooling water being run out and having to pee to cool down.

Although the soldiers in the position resisted very stubbornly, the Soviets pressed almost the entire division this time, and one regiment was defeated and the other was on top, giving the Romanian soldiers no chance to rest at all. So after two hours of lifeless attack, the Soviet soldiers finally attacked the position.

From a one-point breakthrough to a multi-faceted breakthrough, Mizik's carefully designed front-line positions were thus taken away by the Soviet offensive without counting casualties.

And Andreev, who was in charge of directing the Soviet offensive, looked at the Romanian troops who had retreated to the second-line positions, and without waiting for the soldiers to rest, he immediately ordered. "Go on the offensive, we will take Mount Hermek in one fell swoop."

So the Soviet troops, who did not give themselves a rest, did not give the defeated Romanian troops a chance, and continued to launch an offensive on the second-line positions.

As the commander of the position, Mizik immediately sent reinforcements to the second-line positions after seeing the situation of the Soviet army. Battles between the two sides around the second-line positions broke out immediately.

And Mizik, after sending reinforcements, did not hesitate, immediately picked up the phone, he now wants reinforcements.

"Division commander, now the Soviet offensive is too fierce, we need reinforcements."

The voice of the division commander, Major General Salda, was heard from the microphone. "Now you hold on first, my side is attacked by two divisions of the enemy, and now I can't come to your aid. Can anyone tell me why the enemy appeared where reinforcements came from. ”

It is clear that the last sentence of Major General Salda is angry with others.

And Mizik didn't care about the anger of the division commander at the others, so he could only plead. "Division commander, if you don't send reinforcements, our position is very likely to be lost, the Soviet troops in this offensive position are fighting for their lives, we have caused more than 30% of their casualties, but these people still do not take a step back, division commander, you will send me some reinforcements, at least let the soldiers see hope, you know the consequences of not seeing hope on the battlefield."

The microphone was silent for a long time before he said. "I can only send you a company of troops, and if you want reinforcements, then I'm the only one."

"Thank you, Commander."

Now it would be good for Mizik to reinforce a company.

After putting down the phone, he ordered. "Gather all the non-combatants at the moment, give them weapons, and let them hold on to the third line. Then let all the lightly wounded go to the third-line position as long as they can hold their guns. ”

Deputy Head Dalton said with some hesitation. "Isn't that too much?"

"If the second-line position is lost, you and I need to go to the position."

Mizik, who was checking with a gun, replied without raising his head.

Now Mizik is also ready to play with his life, don't think that the Soviet army will dare.