It stands to reason that if a subordinate is contradicted in this way, the superior will definitely get angry. At the least, he will not give the other party a good look, at worst, he may be put in cold storage and no longer give him anything to make contributions to his career.
But Sokov was not such a person. When he heard Guchakov say this, he asked kindly: "Major Guchakov, why do you say that? Tell me your reasons."
As soon as Guchakov said the words, he immediately realized that he had said something wrong. Because the person standing in front of him was neither his subordinate nor the leader of the friendly army, but his immediate superior. Just when he was worried, he heard the question.
He was stunned for a moment at what Kokov said, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, since there is a German material transfer warehouse in Pavlish, they will definitely send heavy troops to guard it. As long as we launch an attack, they will fight to the death.
Resistance, if it is found that it cannot be defended, the enemy will definitely burn down the warehouse without hesitation to prevent the materials inside from falling into the hands of our army."
"Yes, Major Guchakov, you are right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "According to my understanding of the Germans, once they find out that the warehouse may be lost, they will definitely
They will not hesitate to burn down the warehouse and destroy the materials stored there, making our hard work in vain."
Seeing that Sokov understood this, Guchakov realized what solutions the other party might have, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas to successfully seize the warehouse before the Germans are ready to destroy the supplies?"
?"
"Major Guchakov," Seeing that the other party seemed to have guessed his intention, Sokov said with a smile: "As my old subordinate, you should understand that when I command operations, I am not just conducting conventional positional battles and critical battles.
There are also some special tactics. For example, during the battle to defend Stalingrad, we used such tactics many times to deal with enemies who were more powerful than us."
As soon as Sokov mentioned Stalingrad, Guchakov immediately understood what his commander meant by the special tactics. However, out of caution, he still asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, what do you mean?
, let our commanders and fighters all dress up as Germans, sneak into Pavlish, and seize the enemy's material transfer warehouse?"
"Yes, that's what I meant." Seeing that the other party had indeed guessed what he was thinking, Sokov nodded happily and said with a smile: "In order to prevent our landing site from developing to the south, the Germans arranged a
But because these German troops come from different army groups, we have an opportunity. You can mobilize a battalion of troops, all put on German military uniforms, from the south or west of the city.
By sneaking in, you can avoid arousing suspicion among the Germans to the greatest extent."
Guchakov knew that Sokov arranged this way because there were more German troops in the south or west, and the troops in makeup entered Pavlish from there, which would be the least likely to arouse the enemy's suspicion. He quickly replied: "Understood, commander"
Comrade Communist Party member. I will ask the camouflaged troops to go around to the west of the city and enter the city from that direction."
Although Guchakov understood Sokov's intention, Lunev, who was standing next to him, asked Samyko with a blank expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, as far as I know, there are German troops to the west and south.
Why do we need to enter the city from these two directions when there are the most places?"
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Military Commissar." In order not to interfere with Sokov's interview with Guchakov, Samyko deliberately lowered his voice and explained to Lunev: "Although the shortest distance is to Pavlish from the north.
route, but the Germans are very tightly defended in this direction. They will monitor and interrogate every troop entering the city. Even if our troops are wearing German military uniforms, there is inevitably the possibility of being seen through.
The west and south of the city are where heavy German troops are concentrated. The defenders in the city will naturally take it for granted that our troops will never enter the city from these two directions, so their vigilance will be relatively relaxed.
.In this way, the chances of Major Guchakov’s troops successfully sneaking into the city will be greatly improved.”
"So that's it." After figuring out what was going on, Lunev felt much more at ease. He looked at Guchakov who was talking to Sokov, and thought that if the brigade commander could successfully complete the task,
I'm afraid it won't be long before there's an extra star on the epaulettes. Otherwise, it would look very awkward for a major to serve as brigade commander.
Sokov did not hear the chat between Luniev and Samyko. He was telling Guchakov: "Comrade Major, there are too few troops sneaking into the city. It may not be a big problem to seize the enemy's transfer warehouse, but if
It may still be difficult to defend against the crazy counterattack of the German army. You have to think of countermeasures in advance to avoid the worst situation."
"Comrade Commander, this is what I think about." Guchakov pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "I plan to deploy the other two battalions, the artillery company and the machine gun company to the north of the city, just waiting for the people who sneak into the city.
After the troops seized the material transfer warehouse, they immediately launched an attack and rushed to join them."
"Major Guchakov," Samyko couldn't help but interjected after hearing this: "Have you ever thought about whether you can defeat the enemy with just two battalions, plus an artillery company and a machine gun company in your hands?"
Break through the German defense lines in a short time and rush to the city to join the troops seizing the transfer warehouse?"
After Guchakov was silent for a few seconds, he slowly shook his head and replied bitterly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although I don't know the status of the German army's defense north of Pavlish, given the strength of my troops,
, it is very difficult to break through their defenses in a short period of time."
"Then what do you think we should do?" Samek asked: "Are you just going to watch the troops who sneaked into the city be annihilated by the enemy? In that case, what's the point of pretending to sneak into the city?"
Samyko's words made Guchakov fall into deep thought. He knew that the other party's words were not alarmist. If the German defense line could not be broken through quickly, the troops that sneaked into the city and occupied the transfer warehouse might be annihilated by the German army.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," when Samyko was in a dilemma, he heard Sokov's voice ringing in his ears: "Since the strength of the infantry brigade is not enough to break through the enemy's defense in a short period of time, we can definitely
Help them. Colonel Koida's 188th Division is not nearby, so they can send out a regiment to support them."
Hearing what Sokov said, Samyko originally wanted to remind him that the unit closest to the attack area of Guchakov's brigade should be Colonel Weisbach's 300th Division. But then he thought about it.
During the battle, the defended area was broken through by the Germans many times, and even required the support of Guchakov's infantry brigade to barely maintain the defense line from collapse. Even if such troops were put into battle, they would probably not be of much help. Compared to
Next, Koida's 188th Division should be the most suitable.
After thinking about this clearly, Sameko nodded and replied: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I will call Colonel Koida later and ask him to be prepared to assist the infantry brigade."
After sending Guchakov away, Samyko tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Guchakov can successfully seize the transfer warehouse?"
"It's not a big problem to seize the transfer warehouse." Sokov said thoughtfully: "I'm worried that once the troops entering the city are discovered by the enemy, they will be attacked from all directions. Although we have ordered Koida to attack at the critical moment,
At this moment, troops are dispatched to assist the infantry brigade to break through the German defense line, but who knows what accident will happen. If the time to break through the German defense line is delayed, the troops in the city will become a lone army, and the fate waiting for them is to be annihilated by the enemy.
.”
An air raid siren came from outside the church, and then a staff officer hurried in from outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, enemy planes have appeared over the city. Please go to the air raid shelter and take cover."
Sokov did not rush to the air raid shelter, but asked: "How many enemy planes are there?"
"It's two two-plane formations."
Knowing that there were only four enemy planes attacking, Sokov immediately gave up the idea of going to the air raid shelter. He waved his hand and said to the staff: "Since there are only four enemy planes, there is nothing to worry about. Our air defense firepower is sufficient."
Clean them up."
Sokov turned to Lunev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, are you interested in going to the bell tower with me and taking a look?"
"Let's go, Comrade Commander." Lunev said with a smile after hearing this: "In the past, when enemy planes bombed the city, for the sake of safety, we all hid in air-raid shelters. Today, since the number of enemy planes is small, I would like to
Look how our anti-aircraft firepower drove them away."
The two of them walked up the stairs to the bell tower and heard the intensive firing of anti-aircraft guns from outside. They saw more than ten or twenty black smoke puffs appearing in the sky. It should be that the anti-aircraft artillery troops in the city had discovered the enemy planes.
Finally, without having time to ask for instructions from his superiors, he just opened fire.
Soon, a bomber that was lowering its altitude and preparing to drop bombs was hit by anti-aircraft fire. It dragged a long black smoke over the city, landed directly in the open space outside the city and exploded. After the plane was hit, it
Cove kept observing the plane with binoculars and did not find that the pilot had parachuted. He should have been scrapped along with the plane.
Another bomber that had just dropped its bombs was also accurately hit by anti-aircraft fire while it was ascending. The aircraft disintegrated in the air, making a huge explosion, and a red fireball and thick black smoke burst out.
"Great, this is simply great." Seeing the anti-aircraft firepower on the ground shooting down two enemy planes in such a short period of time, Lunev couldn't help but applaud. After a while, he tentatively said
Ask Sokov: "Comrade Commander, if I remember correctly, is the anti-aircraft artillery battalion commander of the 98th Guards Division Captain Lida?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, it's her." If Runev hadn't mentioned Lida today, Sokov would have almost forgotten this female anti-aircraft artillery battalion commander who has repeatedly made military exploits. He was thinking in his mind,
After the enemy planes are eliminated, would you like to go to the women's anti-aircraft artillery camp and say hello to Lida?
But before Sokov could express his thoughts, Lunev had already said: "They shot down two German bombers in such a short period of time. I think they can be awarded medals."
"Just being awarded the honor is not enough," Sokov said, shaking his head: "I think every commander and fighter in the anti-aircraft artillery battalion should be promoted to the first rank."
Lunev did not object to Sokov's proposal. On the contrary, he was happy to see it come to fruition. He said to Sokov: "I will call Colonel Chuvasov later and ask him to apply for the award as soon as possible."
The report is coming. At that time, I will go to the anti-aircraft artillery camp in person to award medals to every commander and soldier who has made meritorious service."
In other units, awarding medals to the commanders and fighters below is usually a matter for the chief military officer. But Sokov found it too troublesome, and had to say a bunch of clichés to the officers and soldiers who had made meritorious deeds every time they were awarded, once or twice.
That's okay, he had to repeat the same words dozens of times every time he was awarded a medal, which made him very annoyed. Therefore, now he has left the matter of awarding medals to Runev. And Runev just likes to do this.
After receiving Sokov's authorization, I was so happy that I couldn't even open my mouth from ear to ear.
After the anti-aircraft artillery battalion shot down two enemy planes in succession, it had no further achievements. The pilots of the remaining two enemy planes had obviously better flying skills than their two unlucky companions. They flew the planes through the fields exploded by the artillery shells.
In the black smoke, you can watch the time and dive to drop bombs or use your airborne machine gun to shoot targets on the ground.
"Damn it, these two enemy planes are so rampant." Sokov gritted his teeth and said, "They should be shot down as soon as possible."
"Comrade Commander, anti-aircraft artillery shoots down enemy planes by chance." Lunev said from the side: "It is already very remarkable that the anti-aircraft artillery battalion can shoot down two enemy planes in one go."
"I know, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov looked at the sky and said: "The probability of the anti-aircraft artillery unit shooting down enemy planes is already low. Besides, they have already shot down two. I'm afraid it will not be easy to achieve results again. I said back then
It's not them, but the fighter squadron at the airport in the north of the city. Why haven't they launched an attack yet?"
"Yes, enemy planes have been appearing in the sky over the city for a long time. Why haven't we seen our fighter planes attack yet?" Lunev also wondered: "Didn't they notice the appearance of the enemy planes?"
Sokov sighed and said: "The enemy plane entered the city from the southwest, and our airport is located in the north of the city, and there is no radar. They really cannot detect the appearance of the enemy plane at the first time."
As he spoke, Sokov began to wonder whether he should promote the air defense system of later generations in his own troops and replace the role of radar with observation posts and warning shots.
"Plane, our plane." Lunev suddenly shouted in surprise: "Comrade Commander, look quickly, it's an Air Force fighter formation."
Sokov looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, four Soviet fighter planes appeared in the distance. After they discovered the German bombers in the air dodging ground artillery fire, they immediately adopted a two-plane formation and pounced directly on the enemy.
When the anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground saw the appearance of our own fighter planes, they quickly stopped the bombardment to avoid accidentally damaging their own aircraft.
The two German bombers were disturbed by ground anti-aircraft fire and had no time to drop their bombs. At this moment, seeing the Soviet fighter planes appearing in the sky, they knew that if they continued to fight, they might not get good results, so they turned around and fled back. However,
The German pilots forgot that the plane they were flying was still fully loaded, which seriously affected the aircraft's maneuverability. In less than three minutes, the two bombers were shot down by Soviet fighters one after another, and they crashed outside the city, dragging black smoke.
