Kol Pacch threw the microphone in his hand onto the table, lunged to the window, raised the binoculars and looked out.

I also went to the window and looked into the distance, and saw that the first line of defense of our army was under heavy German shelling. Looking at the position filled with gunpowder, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, the hour hand was already pointing to five o'clock, and I said in my heart that the commander of the German army was really lacking in morality, and he would not attack early or late, but chose to attack during the time when the commanders and fighters were eating.

I just thought to myself, and the most active staff officer had already said out loud what was on his mind: "Comrade commander, this German has gone too far to choose our commanders and fighters to attack while they are having dinner. With such an artillery bombardment, the casualties of the commanders and fighters on the position who gathered together for dinner must not be small. ”

Kolpacchi held the telescope in both hands, looked at the flaming front in the distance, and said with a solemn expression: "This German commander is not simple! After his failed tentative attack in the morning, he remained unmoved, no matter how fierce the rest of the fight was, making us mistakenly think that this was not their main attack. In the evening, the commanders and fighters of our army, who had been nervous for a day, thought that the enemy would not attack again, so they inevitably relaxed their vigilance, and the other side seized the opportunity of our army's lax defense and launched a surprise attack in an attempt to capture our army's position in one fell swoop. ”

After speaking, Korpakich walked to the table and spoke to the commander of the 192nd Division, Tarantsev, by phone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the Germans are shelling your positions, and the next thing may be to cover the infantry charge with tanks. I ask you, can your troops hold their positions? ”

Tarantsev replied loudly: "Please rest assured, comrade commander, that I am deployed in the first and second lines of defense. All are sailors and fighters with strong combat effectiveness. They will definitely be able to hold off the German attack. ”

"Commander. Come and see, the ground forces of the German army appeared! While Kol Pakchi was on the phone, the combat staff officer suddenly shouted in a fuss, "There are tanks, and there are infantry." ”

I raised my binoculars and looked at the dusty position in the distance, and the German tanks were no longer a few dozen or so, as they had been in the morning, but at least a hundred, divided into five columns. is rushing towards the positions of our troops with great momentum. A little farther away, a dense line of infantry, pushing behind the tank units towards us.

Korpakchi did not pay attention to the fuss of the combat staff officer, but continued to tell Tarantsev on the phone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, tell the sailors and fighters that they must be calm, and when the enemy approaches, do not rush to the tanks first, let them drive into the minefield, and let the anti-tank mines pick them up." Suppose a tank that has slipped through the net rushes over. The anti-tank guns of the second line of defense were ordered to open fire, aiming and firing directly. And against the enemy's infantry. You're welcome, let the light and heavy machine guns strafe together, beat them hard, and let them taste our strength. Do you understand? ”

I couldn't help but feel funny when I heard Korpakchi teach Tarantsev like a teacher teaching elementary school students, since someone else can become a lieutenant colonel, he must have a wealth of combat experience, how to fight naturally knows in his heart, do you need to teach so carefully?

When the German tank units approached the first line of defense of our troops, the shelling stopped. Since the troops had received an order from Tarantsev not to fire and let the anti-tank mines and anti-tank guns of the second line of defense to clean up the German tank units, the positions shrouded in gunsmoke appeared quiet.

The German tanks entered the minefield one after another, and then at the front of our army, suddenly columns of smoke rose into the sky in different attitudes, which was the smoke raised by the German tanks after the explosion of the anti-tank mines. The artillery of the anti-tank artillery regiment of the second line of defense also opened fire, and the shells fell in the tank platoon and exploded, not only to set one or several tanks on fire.

Despite minefields and anti-tank artillery regiments, quite a few tanks leaped over the trenches of the first line of defense and quickly rushed towards the second line of defense.

At this time, dozens of sailors jumped out of the first line of defense, holding Molotov cocktails in their hands, and chased after the butt of the tank, and after running for a while, they threw Molotov cocktails in their hands one after another. Due to the high speed of the tank, only a small number of these Molotov cocktails hit the tank, and most of them fell into the clearing. As soon as they threw the Molotov cocktails in their hands, the sailors turned around and ran into the trenches.

Although the German tanks were not covered by infantry, their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. I saw people blowing up tanks with Molotov cocktails, these tanks that had not yet broken through the first line of defense, and firing wildly at these sailors who had left the trenches with tank guns and machine guns. As soon as many sailors turned around, they were hit by machine-gun bullets or knocked down by exploding shrapnel and fell on the hot soil of the motherland. At the rear, less than one squad of fighters of the platoon of the sortie returned safely to the trenches.

As the German infantry approached the front, the silent firing points on the position, at this moment, opened heavy fire. The dense bullets instantly knocked the crowd of German soldiers to the ground.

If we just continue to fight like this, our army will not have any problem holding the first line of defense at all. But at this time, German planes arrived. The German tanks, perhaps to prevent accidental bombing, retreated to the back of the first line of defense, only shelling our positions with artillery fire.

As soon as those planes hovering in the sky find that their infantry is suppressed by our machine-gun fire or artillery, they will dive down from a high altitude and bombard the firing points and artillery positions of our positions in turn.

After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Germans captured the first line of defense of our army at the cost of 20 tanks and more than 400 soldiers killed.

Seeing this scene, Kolpakchi was so angry that he slammed his fist on the windowsill and cursed loudly to the new commander of the 192nd Division: "Hell, this damn Tarantsev, he has repeatedly assured me that the most elite and combat-ready sailors are deployed in the front, and there is no problem in holding the position." But now? It took just over an hour for the Germans to conquer our fortified positions. ”

At this moment, the staff officer shouted again: "Comrade commander, you see, in the right front, our commanders and fighters have withdrawn from their positions. ”

I raised my binoculars and looked in the direction of the staff officer's finger, and in the northwest corner of the first line of defense, a group of soldiers ran out of the trenches in a chaotic manner towards the second line of defense.

No sooner had they run fifty or sixty meters than the machine guns of the German infantrymen occupying the position opened fire frantically, and mortar shells whizzed down on their ranks. The dense bullets and sideways shrednel caused many of the retreating sailors to fall. The rest of the men also stopped, and under the command of one of the commanders, quickly lay down on the spot, or hide behind the destroyed tanks, and began to organize resistance.

More than two dozen German soldiers ran out of the trenches and, under the cover of machine guns and mortars, rushed towards the sailors. The combat effectiveness of these sailors did not look weak, and their marksmanship was good, and after a burst of crackling shots, all the soldiers who left the trenches fell under their guns.

At this time, a German tank drove up to the edge of the trench and fired a shot at the position where the fire was most intense. I could clearly see that several of the fighters were lifted high into the air by the blast and then fell down heavily.

The commander, seeing the strength of the enemy's tanks, did not dare to fight, and beckoned his soldiers to continue to retreat to the second line of defense. But more and more tanks were firing at them, and one tank shell after another exploded in their midst, shrapnel slicing them mercilessly like a flying scythe of death.

Seeing that it was impossible to safely retreat to the second line of defense, the commander ordered the fighters to lie on the ground and shoot tenaciously at the enemy in the trenches. However, because of the disparity in firepower between the enemy and us, the sailors continued to die, and only the commander was left behind. He collected grenades from several sacrificed fighters, tied them together with bandages, then jerked himself up, held bundles of grenades, and rushed towards the enemy's positions.

Unfortunately, before he could take a few steps, he was hit by the enemy's dense bullets, and he was rushing forward, and he shook a few times, and then fell to the ground.

Seeing the loss of the first line of defense and the heroic sacrifice of the sailors, Kolpakchi was furious, and after answering Tarantsev's phone, he ordered in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I order you to immediately organize a counterattack of the troops and take the first line of defense back for me, take it back!" (To be continued......)