Chapter 631 Dead End
Several German soldiers noticed the tank on the railway bridge, and they all ran in the direction of the tank...
This is human nature. Surrounded by the Soviet army and defeated, they have only one way to survive, and that is to run behind the tank.
The Soviets did not open fire and did not stop them.
These Soviet troops were from the Naval Infantry Battalion, they had a higher degree of education and combat experience, so they knew what to do at this time...follow the German soldiers and approach the tank.
After waiting for a while, Captain Walter noticed something was wrong, and called Hann through the walkie-talkie: "What's going on! Why didn't you shoot?"
"But, Captain!" Hann replied: "They are our own people!"
"I told you, Hann!" Walter firmly ordered: "No matter who it is, fire!"
Captain Walter seemed to have thought about this situation before.
But this is not surprising at all. When the enemy and the enemy enter hand-to-hand combat, of course they will chase each other and run to the tank. Any experienced commander will first think of this problem.
Seeing that Hann still didn't do anything, Walter shouted in a more emphatic tone: "Fire, this is an order! This is an order!"
Hann knew that Walter was right, so the machine gun rang out, and the black shadows fell down row by row. Among them, the tank gun fired a grenade with a "boom", knocking down the dense crowd on the railway bridge. The crowd exploded...
So they finally blocked the crowd's impact, and then there were a few scattered machine gun shots, which were killing the injured target who fell to the ground.
Walter breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered: "Save ammunition, try to use shells instead of machine guns!"
"Yes, Captain!" Hann replied.
At this time, machine guns are more useful than tank guns, because machine guns can shoot quickly and accurately, while tank guns react slowly.
So, at this time, machine gun bullets are more expensive than artillery shells.
In fact, the reinforcements of the German army had arrived at this time, or the vanguard was a guard company sent by Major General Jonas. They were all equipped with tricycles, cars and armored vehicles, and rushed to the bridgehead as soon as they received the order. And because the traffic on the south bank of the Tsaritsa River has not been extensively damaged... In fact, this is because there are few buildings on the south bank of the Tsaritsa River, and it is relatively easy to repair a bomb crater on the road. You only need to fill the crater.
The real trouble is that there are tall buildings beside the road, and then the buildings are blown down, and the fallen bricks, tiles, concrete, etc. block the road.
It would be fine if there are two buildings in one building, but if it is in one building, the road will be completely blocked and unusable.
Because there are no large buildings on the south bank like the Stalingrad city, the damage to traffic is also very limited.
It took the guard company only ten minutes to reach the railway bridge.
But the Soviet army had already been prepared. The sniper company had been deployed along the terrain on both sides of the road, and a mortar platoon was added.
As a result, the German guard company suffered heavy casualties before it could deploy.
"Comrade Shulka!" When Shulka commanded the troops to stop the German army, Captain Kharichev ran up and lay down beside him, and said, "How is the situation here?"
"You've seen it!" Shulka replied, "They didn't make it, but we're going to speed it up!"
Of course, we must speed up, because as time goes by, there will definitely be more and more German reinforcements, and so will the artillery fire.
The worst of them should be the artillery fire. If the German artillery recovers and redeploys, there will be a large number of shells pouring back and forth to turn the bridgehead position several times... The German army already knew that the bridgehead position was lost. It is also difficult to hit the railway bridge, even if it hits, it is difficult to blow up the railway bridge, so they will fight without any scruples.
"We are blocked!" Captain Harichev replied with a look of embarrassment: "I came to tell you this, we may need more time!"
"We don't have any more time, Comrade Kharichev!" Shulka turned around and asked, "What's blocking you? Isn't the enemy tank already on the bridge?"
"It's a tank, Comrade Shulka!" Lieutenant Harichev was a little embarrassed about his troops' inability to fight: "Two of them returned, and they stayed on the railway bridge. We rushed several times but failed!"
"On the railway bridge? You mean those tanks are on the railway bridge?"
"Yes!"
"Then why don't you blow them up?"
"We can't get close!" Captain Harichev said: "They blocked the bridge deck with firepower!"
Shulka rolled his eyes and asked: "That's a railway bridge, Comrade Kharichev, and there are many steel girders on it!"
"I know this!"
"So why don't you climb along the steel beam?"
"Climb over?" Captain Harichev looked at Shulka suspiciously: "How can you climb over from above?"
It’s no wonder that Captain Harichev was puzzled. Climbing over from above was not only slow, but also the target was obvious. It was the enemy’s target.
"Why not?" Shulka replied: "That's an enemy tank!"
Lieutenant Harichev suddenly understood... The tank uses a coaxial machine gun, which has an elevation angle problem. In addition, the turret cannot rotate because of the barrel and the steel beams on both sides. Therefore, the shooting surface is very narrow, especially the upper left of the barrel. There is an obvious shooting dead zone.
(Note: Tiger parallel machine gun is on the right side of the barrel)
"Yes, Comrade Shulka!" Then Captain Harichev laughed: "Why not? I'm going right now, it's time to send these guys to hell!"
"Wait!" Shulka stopped Captain Harichev who was about to leave: "I think you should bring some snipers, they will help!"
Saying that, Shulka raised his head towards Vasily.
Of course the snipers were helpful. When they came to the bridge, they immediately found a relatively high position, mounted their rifles and aimed their guns at the hatch of the tank.
Then several naval soldiers climbed onto the steel beams under the cover of darkness and advanced along the jagged steel beams.
Due to the cover of steel beams, this in itself is difficult to be discovered by the Germans in the tank.
But in the end the German army still found the problem: No. 7 car fired a flare, and then Hann reported to Walter in panic: "They are approaching us from above, and they are crawling along the steel beam!"
"Kill them!" Walter ordered.
"I can't do it!" Hann replied: "They're in the blind spot..."
"Pick up your submachine gun!" Walter ordered: "Move fast!"
This may be a way to fight outside the cabin.
But they don't know...the snipers are waiting for them outside.
(end of this chapter)
