The fighting was in full swing at the outpost position. Although the 73rd Infantry Brigade on their right was on standby, the brigade commander, Major Guchakov, stood in a position with a wide field of vision, holding a telescope to observe the battle situation here.
After watching for a while, he put down the telescope, turned around and asked Lieutenant Colonel Askel, the chief of staff standing next to him: "Comrade chief of staff, how do you view the ongoing battle on the left wing."
Askel hesitated for a few seconds and said slowly: "Comrade Brigadier, I think if we follow the friendly forces' style of play, let alone a few companies, even if there are one or two brigades, we will fight sooner or later."
Light."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me your reasons."
"The reason is very simple," Askel said with some disdain: "There were originally only simple fortifications on the high ground. When the enemy's shelling started, the defenders did not withdraw to the reverse slope in time to avoid the enemy's shelling, but continued to stay on the slope.
The fortifications were bombed, causing a large number of unnecessary casualties."
After listening to Askel's comments, Guchakov smiled slightly and then asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you are not a member of the 27th Group Army, you don't know anything about anti-slope fortifications. Faced with such fierce German shelling,
, what choice will you make."
Guchakov's question made Askel feel confused. After a long time, he said with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, you are right. If I were not a member of the 27th Group Army, I would not understand at all.
What is a reverse slope fortification? Faced with such a fierce shelling by the Germans, I could only order the soldiers to stay in the fortification to avoid the shelling. As for how many people can survive after the shelling is over, it depends on fate."
"Chief of Staff, I would like to report the situation here to Comrade Commander." Although Guchakov is the brigade commander, his military rank is lower than Askel's, so he maintains enough respect for his Chief of Staff.
: "What do you think?"
"Report, what to report?" Askel asked puzzledly.
"Here!" Guchakov nodded toward the outpost that was under heavy artillery fire, and said, "According to the friendly forces' style of play, I'm afraid the 21st Mechanized Brigade will be completely wiped out before noon."
Askel stared at the position in the distance for a while, then nodded vigorously and replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right, Comrade Commander must be asked to stop this style of fighting that does not cherish the lives of the officers and soldiers."
Seeing that Askel agreed with his suggestion, Guchakov did not dare to neglect, and quickly turned around and returned to his headquarters, preparing to call Sokov immediately. After all, soldiers were making unnecessary sacrifices every minute.
.
After the call was connected, Sokov asked in surprise: "Major Guchakov, didn't I order you to rest? Why, you didn't obey my order?"
"Comrade Commander," Guchakov said sadly: "I also want to obey your order and lie down in the shelter and have a good sleep. But it can't be done. When I saw the position of the left-wing friendly troops,
When the enemy's shelling turned into a sea of flames, my heart ached especially. I felt sad for the soldiers who died in the position."
Sokov misunderstood Guchakov's meaning and said with some displeasure: "Major Guchakov, there are no undead people in a war. Since the battle is taking place in the friendly defense zone, you should not meddle in other people's business and be honest."
Just stay in your headquarters and sleep."
Hearing what Sokov said, Guchakov immediately realized that Sokov had misinterpreted his meaning, and quickly defended: "Comrade Commander, you are wrong. I feel sad, not because I saw someone die, as you said
As you said, there are no immortals in a war. I feel sad because of other things."
Guchakov's statement aroused Sokov's curiosity: "Comrade Major, what is going on?"
Guchakov quickly told Sokov what happened in the outpost position in detail, and finally emphasized: "Comrade Commander, no matter how brave the commanders and soldiers are, they are all flesh and blood after all.
Under the bombardment, there will still be heavy casualties. I request you to contact General Solomatin immediately and ask him to adjust his tactics in time to prevent more soldiers from making unnecessary sacrifices."
Although what Guchakov said was very reasonable, Sokov still said with a straight face: "Comrade Major, I want to remind you that the major general commands the major, not the other way around. I know what I should do.
There is no need for you to give me advice. You should just hold on to your position honestly, and you don’t need to meddle in other matters."
After Sokov put down the phone, Chuvashov immediately came over and asked: "Comrade Commander, what happened?"
"Outpost No. 1 is very dangerous now." Sokov pointed to the location of Outpost No. 1 on the map and introduced to Chuvashov: "The enemy is attacking Outpost No. 1, but the commander holding the position is still holding a hug.
He used the old defensive tactics from the past. When faced with the enemy's fierce bombardment, he still left his troops in the trenches to avoid the bombardment, resulting in heavy casualties among the commanders and soldiers."
"Didn't he withdraw his troops to the anti-slope position after the German artillery bombardment started?" As soon as Chuvashov said this, he immediately realized that he had made a mistake. The so-called theory of anti-slope positions was Sokov's.
It was only after he became the commander of the 27th Group Army that he promoted it in the army. It must be that other troops have no idea what a reverse bevel is. "Do the mechanized comrades not understand what a reverse bevel is at all?"
"I think so too."
After taking a sip of the tea in front of him, Sokov looked at Chuvashov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, can you talk to the military headquarters of the mechanized army here?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Chuvashov explained to Sokov: "There are already relatively complete telephone lines in the city, and our communications troops have established communication with the mechanized army command in a very short period of time.
Telephone contact between departments.”
"Then pick me up the mechanized army headquarters immediately." Sokov felt that he needed to reach a consensus with Solomatin regarding the defense of outpost No. 1, so as not to act independently during the war and be defeated by the German army in the end.
Solomatin was very surprised when he received a call from Sokov: "Comrade Commander, are you calling me for something?"
"Yes, Comrade General, I do have something to ask you." Sokov asked bluntly: "There is a fierce battle going on at Outpost No. 1. Do you know about this?"
"Of course," Solomatin said casually: "I have given an order to the commander of the 21st Mechanized Brigade to hold the No. 1 outpost position at all costs."
"Comrade General, I'm making this call to you about this No. 1 outpost position." Sokov said straight to the point without too many pleasantries: "According to the current style of play, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait until noon.
The 21st Mechanized Brigade only has an empty number left."
"Comrade Commander, your statement is too alarmist, isn't it?" Sokov's statement made Solomatin feel very uncomfortable: "According to various signs, the enemy has always wanted to retake the landing site and seize us.
The troops rushed into the Dnieper River, but no matter how heavy our casualties were, we would not let them get what they wanted."
"Comrade General, please listen to me." Sokov was afraid that Solomatin and himself would argue on the phone, so he interrupted him first: "I called you to tell you that if you still
If the existing tactics are not changed, the commanders and fighters of the 21st Mechanized Brigade will continue to fill the meat grinder of the outpost position. I am afraid that before noon, this brigade will only have an empty number."
"Comrade Commander," Solomatin felt a little anxious when he learned that his unit would be assigned an empty designation. He asked in a panic: "Is everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true." Sokov knew very well that if he wanted Solomatin to change the tactics that had formed a fixed pattern, he must first convince him: "Comrade General, think about it, now at the No. 1 outpost position
, only simple defenses cannot withstand the enemy's shelling. But what about your commanders? When the enemy starts shelling, they will only let the soldiers stay in the trenches to take the shells. After the shelling is over, the soldiers in the position will
The soldiers have already suffered heavy casualties."
Solomatin recalled that his troops had often encountered similar situations in previous battles, and he said puzzledly: "Comrade Commander, is there anything wrong with this? You know, in our past battles, no matter how the fortifications were,
It was simple and simple. When being shelled by the Germans, the commanders and soldiers stayed in their own positions. The purpose of this was to get into combat positions as quickly as possible after the shelling was over."
"Yes, you have been using this tactic all the time." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking and immediately said rudely: "But have you ever considered that this tactic will increase unnecessary casualties to the troops?
"
Solomatin was silent for a while, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas to reduce the casualties of the troops?"
"Of course there is a way." Seeing that Solomatin finally got to the point, Sokov said to him: "Since there are no solid fortifications on the outpost position, when the enemy's shelling starts, our commanders and soldiers can hide in the fortifications.
, you will still suffer heavy casualties. The way to solve the casualties is to move the main force to the reverse slope of the position during the artillery bombardment, leaving only a few soldiers to serve as observation posts to monitor the enemy's movements."
"Anti-slope?" Solomatin heard this unfamiliar term and asked curiously: "What does it mean?"
Seeing that Solomatin did not understand what the reverse slope meant, Sokov quickly explained to him: "For example, the No. 1 outpost position that is being attacked by the Germans has its southern slope as the forward slope and the northern slope as the reverse slope.
Incline. The enemy artillery is deployed on the south slope side. If they counterattack the position, they can only hit the south slope or the top of the mountain. However, there are very few areas on the north slope that are hit by artillery shells. If the commander of the outpost position,
When the enemy's bombardment begins, except for a few observation posts, the rest will be withdrawn to the north slope position. When the enemy's bombardment ends and the ground attack begins, they will return to their combat positions, which can effectively reduce the number of casualties of the troops.
.”
"Comrade Commander," Solomatin asked tentatively after pondering Sokov's words: "You mean that as long as the commanders and soldiers are withdrawn to the anti-slope position where the enemy's artillery fire cannot reach them when the enemy is shelling
, can effectively reduce the casualties of the troops?"
"That's right, Comrade General, in the absence of solid fortifications, when faced with powerful German artillery fire, I used this tactic to deal with the enemy." In order to enhance his persuasion, he also specifically mentioned Stalingrad: "
You should know that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the commanders who entered the city had only 72 hours to survive, while the soldiers had 24 hours. The division I commanded was able to survive close to 100 meters even under such difficult conditions.
Half of the commanders and fighters survived by flexibly using various tactics during the battle to effectively reduce the casualties of the troops."
If Sokov said something else, Solomatin might still be suspicious, but since the other party specifically mentioned the Battle of Stalingrad, so many commanders and fighters of the entire division could survive, and the use of proof and tactics is still
Very relevant.
Thinking of this, he quickly expressed his position to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I immediately called the commander of the 21st Brigade and asked him to adjust tactics to reduce unnecessary casualties to the troops."
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov felt somewhat at ease. As long as the mechanized army had enough strength to hold on to the existing defense zone, then his troops could take the initiative to attack the German army while defending. He finally said
One sentence: "Comrade General, I wish you good luck!" After saying that, he put down the phone directly.
When Solomatin heard that there was a blind tone coming from the receiver, he put down the microphone in his hand. He said to the Chief of Staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call the commander of the 21st Mechanized Brigade and order him to adjust tactics in a timely manner.
, when the enemy bombards the high ground with intensive artillery fire, first withdraw the troops to the reverse slope to hide. After the enemy's artillery fire is over, return to their respective combat positions."
The Army Chief of Staff, like Solomatin, had never heard of the term anti-bevel before. Now that Solomatin was talking about it, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "I wonder what anti-bevel means?"
Solomatin quickly made a popular science report to the Army Chief of Staff and emphasized: "Tell the brigade commander that the troops must be moved to a safe counter-slope during the enemy's shelling to avoid unnecessary casualties, otherwise they will not be able to wait until noon.
, his unit will only have an empty number left."
After the commander of the 21st Mechanized Brigade received a call from the Army Chief of Staff, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He quickly expressed his stance: "I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will adjust my tactics immediately."
After putting down the phone, the brigade commander called the second battalion commander and said to him: "Second battalion commander, your battalion is currently defending the No. 1 outpost position, but judging from the battle situation, your battalion is almost exhausted."
"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." The second battalion commander heard the brigade commander talk about this and quickly explained: "The enemy's artillery fire was so fierce that our reinforcements went up and were all wiped out in less than an hour. We
The Second Battalion had just completed its replenishment before setting off, with a total strength of more than 700 people, but now there are no more than 200 people left, including about 120 combat soldiers."
"Second Battalion Commander, this battle cannot continue like this." After listening to the Second Battalion Commander's report, the muscles on the brigade commander's face twitched a few times. He felt that what Solomatin said was very reasonable. If the battle continues like this,
, before noon, he became a bachelor commander. He would never allow such a thing to happen: "You must adjust your tactics in time. When the enemy bombards your position, don't stupidly let the soldiers stay in the trenches."
If they are hit by artillery shells, they must be moved to the anti-slope position in time."
