Fortunately, Merkulov, according to Sokov's order, asked the artillery regiment to advance with the infantry.
Seeing that the infantry attacking ahead were suppressed by the enemy's dense firepower, the artillery immediately pushed the artillery forward, and chose the appropriate shooting position, aiming the muzzle at the fire points of the carriages.
Because the troops attacking the station did not prepare artillery fire before the attack, the Germans misjudged that the Soviet army rushing into the station had no heavy firepower, and was powerless in the face of the crossfire point composed of several train compartments. The machine guns in the compartment unscrupulously shot at the hiding position of the soldiers, trying to use dense firepower to eliminate all the attacking commanders and fighters.
The two first artillery guns were set up, aimed at one of the carriages and fired. After two loud bangs, the aimed carriage was hit directly and instantly wrapped in flames and smoke. The soldiers shooting in the carriage were either dead or injured, and the sniper hiding under the carriage was also crushed into meat sauce by the collapsed bottom plate.
The German soldiers in other cars, who didn't know what super weapons the Soviet army used, would actually reimburse a car in an instant. Their shooting had just stopped when they saw the Soviet army, which was originally suppressed by fire, climbing up from the ground and rushing towards them, and then continued to shoot again in a hurry.
The Soviet artillery regiment had five or six artillery pieces set up, aimed at the remaining carriage and fired the cannon. The shells that were out of the carriage flew towards the target like eyes, turning the carriage into balls of fire.
The German shooting completely stopped. The German soldiers, who were lucky enough to have nothing to do, threw away their weapons and fled to the position behind without looking back, hoping that the farther away from here would be better. Seeing that the Germans had fled, the Soviet commanders and soldiers lying on the ground jumped up one after another, and rushed towards the fleeing German soldiers with weapons.
When German commander von derrebel learned that the Soviet army was attacking the station, he was not worried. Based on his understanding of the Soviet army, it would take at least four or five days to conquer a position like the station. Therefore, he rejected the Chief of Staff's proposal and did not ask Paulus for help.
Even when his subordinates used mines and explosives to drive out the Soviet army that had attacked the ticket hall, he proudly said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, have you seen it? The Russians' tactical boards and their soldiers lacked enough training. If they want to seize positions from our division, the chance of success is not high."
When the Chief of Staff heard von der Raibel say this, he kept flattering: "It is still the division commander who has the vision, and he can see that the Russian offense is difficult to work. I want to ask, when the Russian offense is repelled by us later, do we need to organize a counterattack and completely defeat their offensive forces?"
"No need." von der Rebel refused the Chief of Staff's proposal without hesitation: "There are ruins everywhere inside and outside the station, which is not conducive to the development of the troops. If the soldiers maintain a dense formation when counterattack, they are likely to be attacked by mysterious weapons like the Russians."
Although von der Raibel did not explain what the mysterious weapon was, the Chief of Staff knew very well that the new type of rocket of the Soviet army was not only powerful, but also could establish launch positions at any location. If two were fired while their attacking troops were crowded together, the losses caused to the troops would be quite heavy.
I thought that after the Soviet army's attack was repelled, it would take at least a few hours to launch a new attack. Unexpectedly, in less than half an hour, the frontier officers reported that the Soviet army used mysterious weapons to attack the ticket hall, resulting in the mines and explosives buried inside that exploded, and the defenders in the hall were destroyed.
Hearing this bad news, von derrebel was stunned at first, and then ordered the Chief of Staff: "Let the defenders on the platform immediately take positions and block the Russians who came in."
The Chief of Staff thought that the fortifications on the platform were piled with sandbags and it was difficult to stop the Russians' attack. However, since it was the order issued by the division commander, he could only convey it to the frontier troops truthfully and let them firmly defend it.
But less than half an hour after the order was issued, bad news came from outside again, saying that the Russian troops had rushed to the platform and were constantly advancing forward. And two-thirds of the platform had fallen into the hands of the Russians.
"Grand Commander," after hearing the war reports from the front, the Chief of Staff of the Division was completely crazy. He quickly asked von der Raibel: "I think we should ask the commander for help and ask him to send reinforcements to reinforce us."
"Don't worry, don't worry." Even though the Soviet offensive troops were approaching their command step by step, von derrebel still said calmly: "Don't forget that we use carriages to form fortifications in the middle of the station. The machine guns in the carriage can form cross-fire points and block the Russians' way forward. Those snipers hidden under the carriage can easily kill the Russian commander who leads the charge, and let the Russian army fall into chaos after losing unified command."
A few months ago, von derrebel used this tactic to defeat the Soviet troops that counterattacked him many times. He thought he could still use the same trick to consume the Soviet army's vitality with firepower points. But he never dreamed that this offensive unit was indirectly commanded by Sokov, and the bayonet tactics on cannons were specifically used to deal with such strong firepower points. Those cars parked on the rails and filled with sandbags at the door were just a bunch of targets that could not move in front of the Soviet artillery. After several rounds of shooting, they turned them into burning wreckage.
When he learned that the Soviet army had broken through the defense line of the car and was rushing towards the location of his command, von der Lebel was stunned. He quickly shouted to the Chief of Staff: "Send a report to the Commander immediately, request reinforcements, request reinforcements."
"It's too late, your lord." The chief of staff said with a sad face: "The Russians are only three hundred meters away from our command. When reinforcements arrive, we may all be captured. The only way at present is to break through immediately and maybe we can escape."
"Break through, yes, break through immediately." von derrebel ordered in panic: "Chief of Staff, you and I each lead some members of the division headquarters to break through in the direction of the department store."
Since it is a breakthrough, you must not be as calm as you want to divert. Once the breakout order was reached, the German command immediately fell into chaos. Von derrebel said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, you will lead a company of the guard battalion first and break through the southwest direction. I will take people and catch up."
The chief of staff agreed and led a guard company to break through the southwest. Although there were Soviet attacks along the way, facing one or two hundred German soldiers equipped with submachine guns and desperately, the small teams along the way were either eliminated by them or disbanded.
The army ran for more than half an hour and finally left the station and came to a ruin. As soon as the Chief of Staff counted the number of people, he found that there were only more than forty people left by his side, and the rest were either beaten to death or dispersed. He shouted loudly at the soldiers: "Who did you see the division commander? Who did you see the division commander?"
As he shouted for the second time, a German sergeant with an arm wound came over and said, "Chief of Staff, I just looked back and saw that the division commander seemed to have broken through to the west with the members of the guard battalion and the division headquarters."
"What, the division commander broke through to the west?" The chief of staff of the division heard the sergeant say this, and went over and grabbed his clothes and asked, "Are you all saying true?"
"Of course it's true, Your Excellency Chief of Staff." The sergeant replied with a bitter face: "I think the commander wanted me to attract the attention of the Russians, and then he led the members of the guard battalion and division headquarters to break out smoothly from other directions."
The Chief of Staff thought about this statement by the Sgt. After a brief thought, he felt that it was very reasonable. Von Derebel asked himself to act separately from him. It seemed that this was the first time. It seemed that the other party really wanted to use himself as bait to attract the attention of the Russians so that he could break through smoothly.
"His Chief of Staff," one of the soldiers around him asked the Chief of Staff: "What should we do next?"
"What else can I do? Of course I will continue to break through." The Chief of Staff replied gritting his teeth: "As long as we have one person, we must try our best to escape to the department store and report the situation here to the commander."
Under the strict order of the Chief of Staff of the Division, these surviving German officers and soldiers re-checked their weapons, wrapped the wounds on their bodies, and fled to the southwest like a stray dog.
But I still encountered any Soviet troops along the way, so that they could continue to escape at the fastest speed. I don’t know how long I ran, but there was a sudden sound of shooting coming from the front. When I heard the gunshots, everyone immediately lay down on the spot, looking for a suitable hiding place, and preparing to shoot and fight back.
At this moment, a shout suddenly came from the opposite side: "Hey, which part of you are from?"
Hearing clearly that the other party was using standard German, the Chief of Staff quickly showed his head from his hiding place and shouted to the opposite side: "I am the Chief of Staff of the 297th Infantry Division, which part of you are?"
"We are from the 100th Hunter Division."
"It's the 100th Hunter Division." When the officers and soldiers heard the other party's reply, they immediately cheered: "We broke through successfully and successfully escaped from the Russians' encirclement."
Although the opponent said that he was from the 100th Hunter Division, the chief of staff of the division continued to squat in his hiding place. He was very afraid that the other party was disguised by the Soviet army and wanted to see it before talking about it.
At this time, three people walked out of the opposite position. An officer wearing a big brimmed hat was slowly walking towards his position. The Chief of Staff of the Division called the sergeant and told him: "Sergeant, go over and see if those people are really the 100th Hunter Division. If so, send me a signal."
After receiving the order, the sergeant immediately trotted over and confirmed that the person who came to pick him up was indeed from the 100th Hunter Division, so he waved his arms to the Chief of Staff at the Division. The Chief of Staff determined that this was the position of the 100th Hunter Division, so he came out of his hiding place and walked over with the remaining soldiers.
Soon, the Chief of Staff of the Division was sent to Paulus. Paulus looked at his subordinate and asked at him: "Tell me, what happened to the Central Railway Station?"
"Report to the Commander," the Chief of Staff replied in a panic: "The Russians launched an attack on the Central Railway Station. In just over an hour, they occupied most of the station..."
After hearing this, Paulus asked furiously: "Since the Russians are attacking the station, as the chief of staff of the division, you are not commanding the battle in the station, so why do you come to me to do?"
"Mr. Commander, I was ordered to break through." The Chief of Staff defended himself: "The Chief of Staff ordered me to lead a guard company to open the way, and he followed him with the guard battalion and command members."
"Since it's a scattered breakthrough," Paulus asked coldly: "Then why don't you wait for General von derrebel to leave the train station together?"
"After I led my troops to break through the Russians, I found that the division commander did not follow. I originally planned to go back and look for it, but a soldier told me that the division commander was not breaking through the same direction as us. He ordered me to break through the southwest, but he led his people to the west."
"What? General von derrebel asked you to break through the southwest, but he went west?" Paulus felt a little ridiculous at first, but then he thought that doing so was just in line with the fear of death of these generals. In order to escape successfully, they would let their subordinates be used as bait to attract the attention of the Russians. He hesitated for a moment and asked awkwardly: "Have he broken through?"
"I don't know, Commander." Chief of Staff replied: "At that time, there were less than forty people left by my side, and I could not return to fight the Russians, so I brought them to report to you."
"I know." Paulus nodded and waved at the other party: "Thank you for your hard work, go down and rest first."
After the Chief of Staff left, Schmidt walked to Paulus and reminded him: "Commander, since the Russians attacked the station, will their next target be the department store where we are?"
"There is such a possibility." Paulus nodded and asked back, "Where can we draw troops from to strengthen the defense here?"
"Now all our troops are entangled by the Russian army. If we are transferred casually, I'm afraid..."
Although Schmidt did not finish his words, Paulus also understood what the other party was worried about and could only smile bitterly: "Since that's the case, we can only strengthen the fortifications of the 100th Hunter Division, hoping to block the Russians' attack."
…………
Besides, when General von derrebel broke through with his guard battalion and division members, he was discovered by artillery deployed on the platform. The artillery immediately turned the gun mouth and aimed at the fleeing Germans for bombardment, blowing them up to pieces.
General von derrebel was stunned by the shells and fell directly into a crater. The soldiers accompanying him saw him falling into a crater after the shelling. He thought he had been killed, so he didn't bother to check it out, so he ran away with his head in his arms.
After the shelling stopped, the Soviet infantry surrounded the remaining German officers and soldiers. Seeing that they had no way to retreat, they raised their hands to surrender.
Chapter completed!