The infantry brigade stubbornly blocked and contained the German 255th Infantry Division south of Yakovlevo. As time passed, the German army, eager to get out of the predicament, launched more and more fierce offensives.
After Sokov learned of this situation, he asked Samyko: "Chief of Staff, how long will it take for the troops that are detouring from both wings to reach the designated position?"
"Comrade Commander, if we calculate the distance from the map, they should have reached the attack position long ago." Samyko said to Sokov: "But because they are marching in forests and swamps, their speed is inevitably slowed down.
It’s so slow, I estimate that I’ll have to wait for an hour at the earliest before I can get to the designated location.”
"We still have to wait another hour?" Sokov was a little anxious: "That way, when they arrive at the designated location, it will be dawn, and then they launch an attack on the enemy, and the effect of a surprise attack will not be achieved."
"Moreover, the enemy's strength far exceeds that of the infantry brigade. If the enemy launches a forceful attack at all costs, I'm worried that Uzakov and the others will not be able to withstand it."
As Sokov's chief of staff, Samyko knew very well that Sokov's worries were completely justified. The strength of the German 255th Infantry Division far exceeded Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov's 46th Infantry Brigade. Even if
When encircled, as long as they launch a strong attack at all costs, it is still possible to break through the infantry brigade's defense line and occupy the town of Yakovlevo in one fell swoop.
If the enemy occupied the town of Yakovlevo and wanted to eat them, it would probably not be an easy task. Naturally, Samyko would not let this happen. After staring at the map for a while, he asked Sol
Kokov suggested: "Comrade Commander, the troops in the north of Yakovlevo town are now too scattered, and it is difficult to mobilize organized troops to reinforce the infantry brigade in a short period of time. Do you think it is possible to combine two marines?
Brigade transferred here?"
"Marine brigade?" If Samyko hadn't said it, Sokov would have almost forgotten these two troops. Although the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps was strong, after such a long battle, their attrition was also very serious, so the attack
When he joined Hoth's Armored Group, he placed them in Kochetovka: "The two Marine Corps brigades now have only half of their strength. It is probably not enough to use them to reinforce the infantry brigades."
"Comrade Commander, most of the rescued commanders and fighters are currently stationed in the Kochetovka area." Samyko reminded Sokov: "We can supplement them nearby."
A word that woke up the dreamer. Samyko's words gave Sokov a wake-up call. Although he originally put the two Marine Corps brigades on the third batch of supply lists, judging from the current situation, these need to be put in as soon as possible.
Two brigades were thrown into battle to hold off the enemy's attack.
"Director of the Signal Corps," Sokov turned to the other side of the room and shouted: "Get me through the phone of Comrade Military Commissar immediately."
After hearing Sokov's instructions, the director of the communications corps did not dare to neglect at all, and answered Lunev's call as quickly as possible: "Comrade Commander, the call has been connected."
Lunev, who woke up from his sleep, had no intention of blaming Sokov. Instead, he asked politely: "Comrade Commander, what happened?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is like this. We are preparing to encircle and annihilate the German 255th Infantry Division, but due to insufficient strength, I plan to use the two Marine Brigades deployed in Kochetovka."
"You plan to use two Marine Corps brigades?" Lunev said with some surprise: "But they suffered very serious attrition in the early battles. With their current strength, they can only play a limited role."
"Aren't the rescued commanders and fighters now stationed near them?" Sokov said on the phone: "Comrade Military Commissar, you should replenish them with troops now so that they can go into battle as soon as possible."
"Replenish troops for them now?" Lunev said in surprise: "Didn't the two Marine Corps brigades serve as the third batch of supplementary targets? What's more, we have not completed the screening of rescued commanders and fighters."
"It's too late, my comrade chief of staff." Sokov said anxiously: "The infantry brigade currently holding the town of Yakovlevo is engaged in a fierce battle with the German 255th Division in the south of the town. Their troops are limited, if not
Reinforce as soon as possible. Once the enemy breaks through their defenses and captures the town, we will be passive in the rest of the battle."
"But the screening work has not been completed yet. If these commanders and fighters are rashly added to the army, if something goes wrong, who will bear the responsibility?"
"I will bear this responsibility." Sokov said carelessly: "Tell those commanders and soldiers that now there is an opportunity to revenge and wash away the shame. It is right in front of them. If they don't want to be unable to hold their heads up in front of others for the rest of their lives, just
Take up arms and fight the Germans face to face."
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Lunev understood Sokov's meaning and quickly replied: "I will start working on this matter immediately and must complete all supply tasks before noon today."
"What, we have to wait until noon?" Sokov became anxious when he heard Lunev's reply: "No, it's too late. By then, the battle will probably be over. I'll give you a deadline, in the morning
How about eight o'clock?"
"Eight o'clock in the morning?" Lunev looked at his watch and said with a grimace: "Comrade Commander, that means there are less than three hours left. Can we make it in time?"
"Whether you can make it in time is your responsibility." Whether the two Marine Corps brigades can enter the battle in time is related to the outcome of the battle, so Sokov said rudely: "At eight o'clock, I want to
Got word that two Marine brigades have moved out."
Seeing that Sokov had given himself a deadline, Lunev realized that nothing he said was of any use, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will do what you wish.
"
Samyko waited for Sokov to finish the call and immediately said to him: "Comrade Commander, if the Marine Brigade completes its replenishment at eight o'clock, by the time they arrive at the town of Yakovlevo, I'm worried that the town will have been occupied.
The enemy has taken over."
"It seems that our plan needs to be adjusted appropriately." Sokov said to Samyko: "The enemy's offensive is very fierce. Even if the infantry brigade resists desperately, without a numerical advantage and without solid defenses,
It is very difficult to hold the position. I originally planned to use the artillery unit in the final attack on the enemy after the encirclement is completed, but now it seems that we must provide artillery cover for the infantry brigade."
"Should both artillery divisions carry out the bombardment at the same time, or only one of them?"
"Even using only one artillery division is a bit wasteful." Sokov replied: "I think it is completely sufficient to use one artillery regiment and use heavy artillery to intercept the enemy's attacking positions."
"Okay," Samek nodded and said, "I immediately contacted Colonel Terenga, the commander of the 1st Artillery Division, and asked him to use a heavy artillery regiment to intercept and fire at the enemy's attacking troops."
"Also," Sokov ordered Samyko before he left: "Also, you must contact a group of transport vehicles as soon as possible, and after the Marine Corps completes the supply, immediately pull them to Yako
The town of Vlevo. After all, Kochetovka is more than ten kilometers away from the town. If we simply march on foot, our commanders and soldiers will have to walk for at least two hours."
Samyko called the artillery division, and Sokov received a call from Zhukov: "Misha, how is the situation there?"
"The two infantry divisions are detouring towards the left and right wings of the German army. They will complete the encirclement of the enemy in about an hour." Sokov did not dare to neglect, and quickly replied with a solemn expression: "In addition, I have ordered emergency supplies to be
The two marine brigades in Kochetovka are preparing to transfer them all to the town of Yakovlevo after completing the supplies to defeat the enemy's attempt to seize the town."
"Misha, your deployment is very comprehensive." After Zhukov praised Sokov, he continued: "Now Vatutin has ordered three artillery divisions to take turns bombarding the enemy's positions north of Belgorod.
This has two purposes: first, it will give the enemy the illusion that we are preparing to launch an attack on Belgorod at this moment, so that they will not dare to easily mobilize troops to reinforce the 255th Division;
Second, when the enemy mistakenly believes that Belgorod will be attacked by our army, he will definitely order the 255th Infantry Division to speed up the attack to seize the town of Yakovlevo as a wedge into our defense line.
.”
After listening to Zhukov's words, Sokov felt more at ease. You must know that if you want to annihilate the German infantry division, it is far from enough to rely on your own troops. The 255th Infantry Division is attacking the town of Yakovlevo.
, once they realize that they are in danger of being encircled, they may turn around and flee, rushing back to Belgorod before the encirclement is formed.
In another situation, even if the encirclement of the 255th Infantry Division is successfully completed, if the German troops in Belgorod send out reinforcements, the 84th and 254th Infantry Divisions that have detoured to the enemy's flank and rear will be in danger of being attacked from both sides.
But now, as Vatutin ordered the artillery troops to bombard the defensive positions on the north line of the city, the enemy misjudged it. They would think that the Soviet army was about to launch an attack to the north of the city. Even if they saw the 255th Infantry Division being surrounded, they would not dare to casually
Send troops to reinforce. At the same time, as Zhukov analyzed, Manstein will even order the 255th Infantry Division to continue assaulting the town of Yakovlevo in order to obtain a salient to contain the Soviet troops to the west of the city.
After Zhukov finished speaking, he waited for a while and did not hear Sokov finish speaking. He asked strangely: "Misha, did you hear what I said clearly?"
"Listen clearly!"
"Since you heard me clearly, why don't you speak?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov smiled and said jokingly: "I am thinking about what request I should make to you?"
"Request?" Zhukov heard Sokov say this and asked with some confusion: "What is your request?"
"Comrade Marshal, in this battle, we only have two infantry divisions, one infantry brigade and two marine brigades." Sokov complained on the phone: "We lack a sufficient number of tanks and artillery. Therefore, we lack a sufficient number of tanks and artillery.
I hope our superiors can provide us with some help."
"What you are talking about, I cannot meet your conditions in a short period of time." After hearing Sokov's request, Zhukov said with some embarrassment: "You can only find ways to overcome it yourself."
Zhukov's reply was already expected by Sokov. After he waited for the other party to finish speaking, he said with a playful smile: "Comrade Marshal, since you can't provide us with tanks and artillery support, what about air cover? As far as I know,
As we know, the air superiority over the Kursk area is firmly in the hands of our army. If my troops can get cover from the air when attacking, the next battle will become much smoother.
"
Zhukov did not realize that he had fallen into the "trap" set by Sokov. It was a bit unreasonable to think that he could not provide tanks and artillery to Sokov, and now he could not even provide basic air cover, so Zhukov did not hesitate.
Said: "Don't worry, Misha, you will get the air cover you want."
With Zhukov's promise, Sokov became more confident in annihilating the German 255th Infantry Division.
After ending the call with Zhukov, he found a way to get through to Uzakov's command post.
Hearing the gunshots and explosions coming from the receiver, Sokov couldn't help but frown slightly, and then asked loudly: "Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, how are you doing, can you block the enemy's attack?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Uzakov replied in a firm tone: "As long as we have one soldier alive, we will never let the enemy pass our position."
Sokov was not at all interested in such a general and meaningless answer. He asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Uzhakov, tell me about your plan. How do you plan to hold your position?"
"Reporting to Comrade Commander," Uzakov reported on the phone: "After the main force of the brigade arrived at the outpost, they not only strengthened the original positions, but also took the time to dig a lot of trenches and communication trenches in the village, and laid out
Some firepower points. Even if the Germans break through the positions outside the village, we can still use the fortifications in the village to continue to deal with them."
"What about the town?" Sokov is now worried that once the enemy breaks through the outpost to the south of the town and takes over the town of Yakovlevo in one go, the subsequent situation will be very unfavorable to him: "You stay here again
Which troops will be dispatched to hold on?"
"Four battalions." Uzakov replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander, I left the four battalions to hold the position. Although their strength is a little small, with only more than 200 people, they must hold for two or three hours.
, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.”
After listening to Uzakov's words, Sokov made some calculations in his mind and felt that the infantry brigade should be able to sustain it until noon today. The two marine brigades could successfully carry out the mission before the worst situation occurs.
Arrive at the town of Yakovlevo.
"Lieutenant Colonel Uzhakov, don't worry, you are not fighting alone." In order to appease Uzhakov, Sokov said to him: "In order to allow you to better defend your position, I will arrange artillery for you.
You provide artillery cover. When destiny comes, the air force will provide you with air cover."
Sokov's words made Uzakov secretly happy. He was originally worried that Sokov would ignore them and let them fend for themselves. But now when he heard it, he realized that Sokov seemed to be playing a big game.
In the chess game, his troops are holding on here. Maybe it is a bait placed by Sokov for the enemy to attract the enemy here firmly.
