War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 34 Dangerous New Trenches
In the middle of the night on the 25th, the No. 19 position also began to become extremely noisy. The mortar shells that came every now and then not only woke up the recruits and veterans in the bunker again and again, but also destroyed the nerves of the German trenches opposite. The reinforcements in that trench were repeatedly interrupted.

On the other hand, after this night of irregular shelling, the recruits who manipulated the mortars also quickly mastered the necessary battlefield skills under the precepts and deeds of the veterans.

In the early morning of the 26th, continuous rain covered the No. 19 position by the Don River again. Even with the help of binoculars, the German trenches 400 meters away became extremely blurred in the rain.

During the night, the launch tubes of the two 82mm mortars remained hot.On the side of position 19, a trench leading directly to the opposite German position was also rapidly advanced under the excavation of many soldiers.

Thanks to the rain-soaked soil and the densely distributed shell craters, the depth of this trench is less than one meter, and the width is barely enough for two people to stand face to face. The excavation speed is frightening. As Vanya puffed up his cheeks and blew his whistle, the Soviet soldiers who were lying on the muddy battlefield wielding engineering shovels immediately turned over and jumped into the trenches, bent over and ran back to position 19.

Trembling, he threw the engineer shovel in his hand to the open space in the trench. Wei Ran, whose raincoat was covered with yellow mud, wiped off the accumulated water on his face, and then sat down exhaustedly on the wooden box at his feet.During this night, they have already ventured to push the trench forward by a full length of [-] meters.

But what is the use of this trench, neither Captain Aleutian nor Vanya has explained half of the letter in detail at all.

"Fifth group! Deepen and widen the trenches!"

Vanya shouted loudly with a tin horn, and then a group of soldiers in rotation picked up engineering shovels and took over the work that Wei Ran and others had just done without hesitation.

"Let's eat something!"

Zoya took out two steaming boiled potatoes from the basket on her shoulders and stuffed them for Wei Ran. Behind her, a soldier with sideburns who was over half a century old was distributing a large amount of adulterated potatoes to everyone. Bread With Sawdust.

"Thank you"

When Wei Ran took the boiled potatoes, he waved his hand and rejected the two pieces of black bread, which were not as big as a palm. He tried to eat this thing two days ago, and it was not good enough to choke his throat. The large chunks of sawdust nearly knocked out his back molars.

After eating a potato in two or three bites, Wei Ran stood up tremblingly and walked towards the bunker not far away, randomly found two wooden boxes containing shells, and even took off his raincoat lazily, he lay down on it and closed his eyes. However, within 2 minutes, there was a loud Hulu in the damp and dark bunker.

Like other soldiers who were busy trying to catch up on sleep, as long as Vanya stopped blowing his whistle, even the occasional sound of mortar firing and explosions outside would not wake him up.

When Wei Ran woke up again, he felt that he had only slept for less than 5 minutes, but the sky outside the bunker exit was completely dark, and even the movement of shells hitting position 19 and exploding was more intensive than yesterday Quite a few, but in the bunker, besides myself, there were only a few soldiers who were injured by the mortar shell last night, silently pressing bullets into the drum or magazine under the oil lamp.

Rubbing his face vigorously to fully wake himself up, Wei Ran took out the flashlight from his arms and looked at the ground. Fortunately, the accumulated rain this time was not too much, and even the lying down empty wine bottle still had a little bit of dew on it. on the water.

Climbing out of the bunker by stepping on the stagnant water under his feet, Wei Ran tightened his grip on the German helmet he picked up in the morning, and ran quickly to the trench that hadn't been dug in the morning.

In just half a day, the 19-meter-long trench had been widened to a full two meters, and even the depth exceeded one meter.But this is far from over. At this time, almost all the soldiers in Position [-] were mobilized here to reinforce the floor and walls on both sides of the trench with logs and wooden boards that were dismantled.

He took out the potatoes that he deliberately left before going to bed and ate them in two or three bites. Wei Ran bent over and picked up a bundle of wooden boards, and ran into the trench with the flow of people.

Taking advantage of the time to help carry it, Wei Ranye learned from several familiar soldiers that these planks and logs were dismantled from the No. 18 position next door, and the trench had been dug to about 150 meters by now. about meters away.

And along the way, Wei Ran also noticed that at almost every 30 meters, under the logs and boards used as the floor, a German tank shell with an explosive package and detonating wire was buried!

Putting down the wooden board on his shoulders, Wei Ran stumbled to the end stepping on the sticky mud.Perhaps intentionally, the trench ended up next to two rear-end Panzer 4 tanks.

One of the two tanks had its turret blown off due to ammunition explosion. Although the other turret was still there, the hole made by the child's fist on the front armor was particularly conspicuous.

But just under the belly of the wreckage of the two tanks, a hidden observation window connected to the trench was opened in the opposite direction facing the German position.

At this moment, Company Commander Aleutian was sitting on the wooden box behind the observation window. While feeding black bread into his mouth, he held up his binoculars and let his eyes pass through the gap under the tank chassis, secretly peeping at the German trenches on the opposite side. .And on another wooden box next to him, there was an old-fashioned hand-cranked telephone.

Less than five meters behind him, the trench that was dug to the end was expanding little by little, and at the same time, the moist soil packed in sacks was also neatly stacked on the two 4-wheelers as the soldiers handed them over. Around the chassis of the No. [-] tank, a little bit of elevation thickened the crucial bunker.

"Is this digging for an anti-tank emplacement?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

Hearing this, the Aleutian company commander looked back at Wei Ran, then turned his attention back to the opposite trench, and replied absent-mindedly, "Yes, before tonight, an anti-tank gun and two anti-tank guns will be deployed here." Machine gun position."

"It's too dangerous."

Wei Ran swallowed the second half of the sentence, dangerous?Where is the entire No. 19 position not dangerous?Besides, how could Captain Aleutian not be able to see the danger that he could see?

"Although the frontal armor of the German tanks can't stop our anti-tank guns, it is far less easy to penetrate than the side. This arrangement is indeed dangerous, but it allows us to destroy more tanks and kill more Germans. "

Wei Ran opened his mouth to say something, but the phone next to Aleutian rang. The latter stretched out a hand to grab the phone, and then heard Vanya's gloomy and loud voice, "Aleutian, just received The rear ordered that all soldiers stick to position 19 and not take a step back."

Wei Ran was stunned when he heard the words. According to historical records, didn't the 64th Army retreat to the other side of the Don River on the 29th, that is, three days later?how
Compared to Wei Ran with a sluggish face, Aleushin responded nonchalantly, "Understood, tell the mortar squad to counterattack immediately, and the reinforcements from the opposite side have arrived again."

Hung up the phone happily, the Aleutian company commander picked up the iron horn at his feet and threw it to Wei Ran, "Inform everyone that the laying work will be completed within an hour, and then the anti-tank gun will be pushed over!"

　Thank you for not wanting to be named and rewarding 1000 points

　　Thanks to the flying dancer and montary for rewarding 100 points respectively

　　
　
(End of this chapter)