Chapter 1114: Bloody Battle for Michael

As the German infantry pushed forward frantically, the German armored forces were certainly not idle, watching the show. As the two King Tiger tanks, one after the other, smashed into the crossroads, the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun following behind them also rumbled past the dangerous intersection, heading towards the cathedral it was about to attack.

There are many bloody scenes in this world, and among them, one is definitely the sight of an anti-aircraft gun strafing an infantry position. The dense volley from the large-caliber rapid-fire cannon annihilated targets like a heavy machine gun. The high muzzle velocity provided high penetration, allowing these 20mm caliber shells to easily tear through walls and inflict tragic casualties on the people inside.

Thus, when the German quad-barreled self-propelled anti-aircraft gun drove up to a spot directly opposite the cathedral, the German troops seemed to have victory in their grasp. Following a fiercely shouted command, the German self-propelled AA gun unleashed a terrifying attack. White-gray smoke immediately began to rise from the cathedral’s outer wall. Fragments of the shattering wall flew everywhere, some even splashing onto the steel helmets of German soldiers who had already drawn close.

“Heil Führer! Attack!” A German soldier, carrying a rifle and a grenade with the pin already pulled, charged into the cathedral’s courtyard. He was followed by one German soldier after another. These dust-covered elite troops ran hunched over, dashing towards the cathedral, which was already emitting smoke.

As he passed a window with shattered glass, the German soldier leading the charge threw the grenade in his hand into the dark room. Only a second later, a huge explosion erupted from within, leaving the ears of the surrounding German soldiers with only a dull ringing. However, the German soldiers, accustomed to this sound, did not stop. To minimize their exposure time, they closed the distance to the cathedral’s main entrance in the shortest possible time.

The main door had been riddled like a sieve by the 20mm anti-aircraft cannons. The wood had splintered apart from the powerful penetration, its original grain shattered by the immense force, revealing the raw color beneath. The Soviet defenders inside were in total chaos. No one was concerned with whether the main entrance had fallen.

So when the German infantry used their rifle butts and boots to open the cathedral’s main entrance, the scene that greeted them was one of swirling dust and destroyed wooden interiors everywhere. The pews and various decorations that had originally been in the cathedral had, after the 20mm anti-aircraft “baptism,” mostly been reduced to destroyed junk.

Amidst this junk, the bodies of many Soviet Red Army soldiers were scattered. These poor souls had been hit by the shells or shrapnel that had just penetrated the walls, becoming corpses in the room. The Germans showed no courtesy. They threw several more grenades inside and waited patiently outside for the chaos to erupt within the cathedral.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” A series of grenade explosions once again kicked up dust that obscured all vision in the room. Under the cover of this smoke, seven or eight German soldiers swiftly rushed into the building and seized more advantageous firing positions.

Perhaps hearing the noise in the room, or perhaps the Soviets sensed their doom was upon them, a gunshot suddenly rang out from within the dust. It was followed by intense, close-quarters shooting from both sides. All kinds of weapons fired indiscriminately. Tracer rounds zipped back and forth through the dust. Agonized screams were heard from time to time, though it seemed most were from the Soviets.

Not everyone had the privilege of moving their command post away from the front lines, at least not on the Soviet side. The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael had originally been General Vatutin’s command post. After he moved out, such a good location was naturally occupied by other, lower-level command structures.

When the German troops occupied Marino, this place was still the headquarters of a Soviet corps. When Vatutin left, the mission he gave this corps commander was “to die rather than retreat a single step.” Therefore, up until a minute ago, the command post of the Soviet infantry corps stationed here had not moved its position.

Because it was a functional node, a large number of Soviet soldiers were stationed here. Furthermore, a room behind the cathedral served as a small field hospital, and there was an ammunition depot nearby. Of course, the Soviets had also deployed many soldiers to strengthen the defenses of such an important place. Although these fortifications and troops had caused trouble for the Germans, it now seemed they had failed to stop the German attack.

The Soviet corps commander had originally been on the second floor of the cathedral. But at this moment, he, his chief of staff, his guards, and other soldiers were dodging and weaving, trying to escape the German strafing fire that was passing through the walls. He didn’t have Vatutin’s ability to find a high-sounding excuse to withdraw his command post; he could only use his own flesh and blood to try and block the flood of the German offensive.

“Upstairs! There are Soviets upstairs!” “Get ready to cover!” “That room! That room over there!” “Grenade! Bastard!” At the cathedral entrance, the shouts of the German soldiers blended together. Some German soldiers were trying hard to find cover, while others were braver, charging directly into the small rooms on either side with weapons in hand.

Gunfire erupted from these small rooms. Clearly, the people inside were not so friendly to the arrival of the German infantry. After the gunfire stopped, the dull thud of bodies falling to the floor could be heard. The German soldiers who had seized the advantageous terrain on both sides continued to advance, clearing the Soviet defenders from one room after another.

Outside the Michael Cathedral, German soldiers had already occupied several nearby buildings. Many of them set up new fire points at suitable angles to suppress the two machine gun nests on the cathedral roof and the Soviet infantry who were sticking their heads out of windows. The two sides frequently exchanged fire at close range. Bullets flew back and forth between the buildings, and below these bullets, German soldiers occasionally dashed across the wide street.

Several Soviet soldiers, chased by German troops, ran frantically, then desperately jumped into a huge crater and fired back at the Germans. Unfortunately for them, their bullets struck the hull of an advancing assault gun. Other than creating sparks, they had no effect whatsoever.

And behind this modified Panther-chassis assault gun, German infantry were easily conquering territory, looking as if they were about to surround the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. Before the terrified eyes of these routing Soviet defenders, some German soldiers began to climb the outer wall of the cathedral from the side, flanking the Soviet defenders’ rear path of retreat.

“The Corps Commander has already withdrawn, right?” a Soviet battalion commander asked the subordinate next to him in the crater, adjusting the steel helmet on his head. Just now, his position had been effortlessly breached by German tanks. He had been so focused on running back that he had even lost his battalion’s radio.

The Soviet soldier next to him was replacing the drum magazine on his PPSh submachine gun. While pulling the bolt, he shouted back at his battalion commander, “I don’t know! Comrade Battalion Commander! I didn’t see anyone come out of the cathedral! The German firepower is too intense! If you’re not planning to go back and check, I think we’d better retreat!”

After hearing this, the battalion commander immediately shook his head. Of course he didn’t want to go back into the cathedral to die. Just seconds ago, he had seen at least 10 German infantrymen climbing over the cathedral’s courtyard wall. To go back at this time was simply suicidal! Since he could abandon his radio to retreat, he could naturally abandon his corps commander to retreat. It was just a matter of abandoning something, not a big deal.

So he tapped the helmet of the soldier who was still firing, signaling him to follow. He then climbed out of the crater from the other side and, braving the hail of bullets flying from behind, continued to run in a sorry state toward his own lines. Behind them, in the crater, two other soldiers, in their panic, had not seen their officer leave. They fired until their bullets were gone, and only when they reloaded did they discover they had been “abandoned.”

They, too, tried to climb out of the crater, but were shot in the back by German bullets. Fleeing, at times, is a choice that relies on luck. After all, in a hail of bullets, unless you have Neo’s skills from The Matrix, who can guarantee they won’t be hit by a stray bullet?

Inside a room in the cathedral, on a staircase piled high with the bodies of Soviet soldiers, several Soviet soldiers were still holding their weapons and firing frantically. They were veterans from the Soviet Navy, assigned to the infantry to serve as a backbone. Now they were demonstrating their formidable side. At least the Soviet commanders upstairs didn’t have to worry about these soldiers abandoning them to surrender or flee.

A Soviet soldier ducked back behind the makeshift cover of corpses, removed the empty drum from his submachine gun, and casually felt his pockets. He froze for an instant, then gave a bitter smile. He only had one last drum. But clearly, the number of Germans rushing up the stairs was far greater than the number of bullets he had left.

Nevertheless, he skillfully slammed the drum into his PPSh subFmachine gun, let out a resolute shout, and leaned back out, his head exposed. He aimed at the German infantry swarming restlessly at the bottom of the stairs and pulled the trigger. “Rat-tat-tat! Rat-tat-tat!” The dense gunfire echoed once more, set against the backdrop of a “Suffering Jesus” in the main hall, its form riddled with bullet holes.

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