Chapter 114: Perseverance
It is undeniable that the role of the commander is very crucial in a battle, especially when fighting against foreign enemies. It is rare that the commander is still fighting while the soldiers have already surrendered. Most of the time, it is only after the commander has lost hope and issued an order to surrender that the stubbornly resisting soldiers will hand over their weapons and surrender to the enemy.
Moreover, surrender rarely occurs during a battle, because people are only individuals after all, and everyone has a herd mentality. Surrender is a difficult decision for anyone, and everyone hopes that others can take the lead, rather than being the first to show up. Under the control of this mentality, the battle can be carried out to an extremely tragic degree, but there are still people who resist stubbornly.
On the Kosomovo Heights, Yuri built 13 positions in a staggered defense format, which formed three lines of defense to resist the German attack. The reason why Yuri arranged the already scarce troops in this way was to delay the German attack as much as possible and prevent the soldiers under his command from fleeing or surrendering in a panic when their will collapsed.
The first line of defense was lost, but there was still the second and the third line. In short, the German army had no chance of advancing eastwards from the Kosomovo Heights without defeating the entire infantry brigade.
In addition, Yuri also adopted a close defense tactic, which was not to give the soldiers time to rest. Once the German offensive retreated, he organized the soldiers on the defense line to launch sporadic counterattacks against the enemy to fight for the previously lost positions.
Soldiers' combat is inherently cruel. In fact, from the moment the battle begins, soldiers are no longer constrained by so-called discipline and honor, but by the instinct of a beast. To put it bluntly, they are bloodthirsty. Generally speaking, from the time a soldier joins a battle to the end of it, he has to go through a process of mental transformation: from the excitement and anxiety before the battle, to the fear at the beginning of the battle, to the bloodshot eyes and selflessness during the fierce battle, and the sequelae of fear after the battle. This process is what every soldier has to go through.
In war movies, those people who braved the enemy's hail of bullets and suddenly jumped out of the trenches with machine guns and fired wildly were not crazy or stupid, they were just bloodthirsty. At that moment, he no longer had any fear in his mind, and he didn't care about so many things. He just stared at one or several specific targets in his eyes, and was determined to kill the opponent. As for whether he would die after hitting the opponent, it didn't matter anymore.
As a military commissar, Tolonin was undoubtedly qualified, even outstanding, but he was not a commander after all, and he would not understand what kind of command skills Yuri, a commander who had climbed up step by step from the front line, had. He just felt it was magical.
This infantry brigade, composed entirely of criminals, has become an iron army in the past four hours. They have been fighting hand-to-hand with the German army on slopes. Some of them even ignored the hail of bullets and climbed like crazy onto German tanks that lacked infantry cover. Once successful, they would fire into the tanks from the lookouts and opened hatches and throw grenades.
In some positions that were breached by the German army, there were even soldiers pretending to be dead or injured. When the German army passed by, they suddenly got up and attacked them. Some people even hugged the German soldiers and rolled under the tracks of the moving tanks.
However, no matter how bravely the soldiers fought or how effective the commanders' tactical arrangements were, it was impossible to solve the failure caused by the huge disparity in troop strength.
4 hours and 23 minutes, this is probably the limit of the troops' persistence. Now, this infantry brigade, which does not even have a number, has lost 9 of the 13 positions, and the only remaining third line of defense has become shaky. Most importantly, as a commander, Colonel Yuri was injured again during his last inspection of the defense line. A bomb exploded less than 3 meters away from him, and he was blown nearly 5 meters away and fell into a coma on the spot. And his guard, the optimistic-looking Captain Arseni, was also seriously injured.
In the trench, Tolonin leaned against the mound, extinguished the cigarette in his hand, and glanced at the temporary placement of the wounded not far away. The unconscious Yuri was placed there, but at this time he was covered in blood and mud and could no longer be recognized.
A captain who was temporarily promoted was wiping his Garev (a machine gun designed by former Soviet Major General Degtyarev, using Soviet 7.62×39mm short bullets) not far away, preparing for the next battle. Most of the soldiers hiding in the trenches hung their heads and looked listless .
Tolonin knew that after the commander Yuri was injured and fell unconscious, the morale of the soldiers had plummeted. In addition, there were only 237 surviving soldiers, including the wounded, on the only line of defense. Fundamentally speaking, this infantry brigade, which had not even a number determined, could be demobilized.
After the previous defeat, the German army is readjusting its offensive plan. Perhaps next time they will be able to break through this position and wipe out the remaining troops who are holding their positions.
But even so, Tolonin still felt very proud, because it was this unit that, with the strength of a brigade, blocked a German armored division for more than four hours on this battlefield. During these four hours, the German army only advanced less than 800 meters.
Yes, the infantry brigade was almost wiped out, but the German army also paid a heavy price. Look at this hilly area, the bodies lying on the hillsides and high ground are not all Soviet soldiers. As for the destroyed tanks, most of them are German ones.
Based on these achievements, Tolonin believed that even if he commanded the troops to retreat now, the Supreme Command would award him a medal. However, he also knew that he could not retreat at this time. Given the current situation of the troops, the German army could wipe out all the remaining soldiers with just one pursuit.
“Buzz…”
The unique roar of fighter planes sounded in the sky again, but Tolonin was too lazy to look up, because since the battle started until now, the German dive bombers had come countless times, and the casualties they brought to the infantry brigade were even more than those of the tanks.
In the trenches, many Soviet soldiers had the same reaction as Tolonin. They simply shrank toward the side of the trench and did nothing else.
"It's our plane!"
Suddenly, a voice was heard in the trench. A soldier, whose face was covered with dust and whose features could no longer be seen, pointed to the sky and shouted loudly.
This sound brought back the souls of many people, and then the trench fell into a brief silence, and then the sound of "Ura" rang out one after another.
"It's really our plane!" Tolonin stood up and looked at the three fighter formations flying from the east . He was stunned. The surprise of escaping from a desperate situation made his eyes hot.
"Comrades, we have stopped the fascist offensive," Tolonin said loudly after calming down a moment later. "Now, our planes have come to reinforce us. I believe our tanks, our artillery, and our soldiers will arrive soon. Before that, we must hold our positions. We have reason to believe that victory will definitely belong to us!"
"Hula! Hula!"
The dejection of a moment ago was swept away with the arrival of the fighter plane. Everyone who held their position saw hope, and hope can often give people incredible power.
…
Moscow, Kremlin, Stalin's office.
The grandfather clock placed in the corner of the office ticked away, as if showing the passage of time.
Vasilevsky stood at the door of the office, his eyes fixed on Comrade Stalin who was standing with his back to him.
For ten minutes, Comrade Stalin remained standing in this position, his eyes fixed on the wall.
It was a wall partitioned by oak boards, on which hung portraits of two people. These two people were Suvorov and Kutuzov, the two Russian commanders most admired by Comrade Stalin. Recently, he even ordered the design of two medals named after these two people.
Since the outbreak of the war, especially after the Battle of Kiev, Comrade Zhukov, who was deeply trusted by Comrade Stalin, was standing in front of the desk covered with a green tablecloth, patiently looking at the map. He wanted to judge the situation of the Bryansk Front based on the various intelligence currently on the southern front of Moscow.
Since receiving Comrade Rokossovsky's request for withdrawal more than four hours ago, Comrade Stalin urgently summoned members of the General Staff. He needed to know what impact the Bryansk Front's withdrawal would have on the entire war situation outside Moscow. At the same time, he also wanted to know what impact the Bryansk Front would have on the war situation outside Moscow if it did not withdraw and was eventually surrounded and annihilated by the German army.
In fact, everyone knew what Stalin really wanted to ask. All the questions ultimately came down to one thing: whether the Bryansk Front should retreat, or to put it more bluntly, whether they could not retreat.
To retreat or not to retreat, this is a difficult choice. It is also difficult for Zhukov to make a decision, so he looked at the map for more than ten minutes and has not said a word until now.
Zhukov's difficult choice would of course also be placed on Rokossovsky's desk. In fact, he suffered even greater torment because he was the commander of the Bryansk Front after all.
For Zhukov, he only had to answer Stalin's question, but for Rokossovsky, this decision was directly related to his future destiny.
