"Okay, Yakov." Seeing Yakov's resolute attitude, Sokov knew in his heart that if he was not allowed to follow him, it would definitely not work. The only way was to find a way to ensure his safety.
So he said: "But you need to follow me all the time, can you do it?"
"No problem." Seeing that Sokov agreed to his request to participate in the war, Yakov readily agreed: "Misha, I will always fight side by side with you."
Since Bely's tank driver had sobered up and Sokov was no longer needed as a driver, Sokov took advantage of the fact that the 117th Guards Regiment had not returned yet, and obtained it from Vitkov of Mamayev Ridge.
Contacted him and ordered him to send someone to deliver the armored vehicle hidden in the underground garage.
Fortunately, Mamayev Heights is not far from the Red October Factory, and the armored vehicle Sokov asked for arrived quickly. Because it still retained the German cross painting, in order to prevent misunderstandings, the soldiers were still on the vehicle.
A red flag was tied for identification.
Fortunately, a red flag was tied to the car. The Guards soldiers who were stationed in this area did not regard the car as an enemy armored vehicle. They also enthusiastically pointed out the road to the driver.
Seeing the armored vehicle coming, Yakov asked Sokov impatiently: "Misha, when will we set off?"
"Wait until the main force of the 117th Guards Regiment comes back." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. More than an hour had passed since Chuikov gave him the order. No matter how slow the movements of the 117th Guards Regiment were, it was almost the same.
Arrived. "I want to ask the regiment leader about the enemy's defense situation."
After a while, an army appeared in the distance. Sokov guessed that it might be the 117th Guards Regiment returning, so he took Yakov to meet it. Unexpectedly, after seeing the opposite side clearly, he couldn't help being shocked. This is
Are you going to take over the 117th Guards Regiment for your own defense? Why does it look like a defeated army?
A colonel, whose face was darkened by gunpowder smoke, came to Sokov, nodded to him, and asked politely: "Is this Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade?"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel. It's me!"
"I am the commander of the 117th Guards Regiment," the colonel said expressionlessly, "We have been ordered to take over your defense."
"Comrade Colonel, I want to ask." Yakov asked curiously when he saw that there were seventy or eighty stretchers among the returning troops, and most of the walking soldiers had some injuries on their bodies.
: "Are your casualties a bit too high?"
The colonel glanced at Yakov, nodded, and said listlessly: "After the fierce battle in our regiment, except for the one battalion that stayed here, the other two battalions and the troops directly under the regiment suffered more than two-thirds of the casualties. Now,
There are only five to six hundred warriors left in the whole regiment who can fight."
Sokov did not expect that the casualties of the Guards Division would be so heavy, and he quickly asked with concern: "Comrade Colonel, I would like to ask, what combat mission are you performing, and why do you pay such a heavy price?"
"What other missions can there be?" The colonel replied with a wry smile: "I was ordered to launch an attack on the enemy's defensive positions."
"To be able to cause such heavy casualties to your regiment, could it be that the enemy has strong fortifications?" Sokov considered that his troops would soon be dealing with the same group of German troops, so he asked in particular detail: "How many troops do they have for defense?"
?”
"The Germans are the attacking party. How strong are their defenses?" the colonel said angrily: "They can only pull up a few barbed wire fences and lay a few minefields in front of the position."
When Sokov heard this, he became more and more surprised. There were barbed wire fences and minefields in front of the position. This was a normal thing. Why did the 117th Guards Regiment suffer such a heavy price? He asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel,
Did your regiment suffer heavy casualties in front of the enemy's minefields and barbed wire fences?"
"We did pay a price in front of the minefields and barbed wire fences." The colonel replied: "In fact, our biggest casualties were during the distance when we attacked the German positions. Since there was no cover from artillery fire, our soldiers could only
We braved the enemy's bullets and charged forward until we sacrificed our lives. During the charge, we were not only intercepted by German artillery fire, but enemy aircraft also appeared in the sky. They swooped down from high altitudes and aimed at our targets.
The soldiers dropped bombs and strafed, causing huge casualties to our army."
After learning that the German army had an air force to assist in the battle, Sokov realized that this battle was not easy to fight. After asking the colonel for some details, he arranged for Vanya to hand over defense to the other party. After getting into the compartment of the armored vehicle, he faced the person sitting in the armored vehicle.
The radio operator inside said: "Send a report to the Air Force and order them to rush to the northwest of the Red October Factory immediately to provide us with air cover."
Sokov's order to the Air Force was a little late. Colonel Khostnikov thought that there would be no combat missions today, so all the aircraft were hidden. After receiving Sokov's notice, he quickly ordered the aircraft to be
Push it out from hiding, refuel urgently, hang bombs, and prepare for attack.
Since refueling and attaching bombs took time, Sokov's troops had already arrived at the area where the 39th Guards Division was fighting before the fighter jets of the flight group took off, and were bombed by a group of German aircraft.
The three tanks opening the way in front, as well as the two dozen soldiers sitting on the tanks, were spotted by the enemy planes circling in the sky. The enemy planes swooped down from high altitudes, dropped bombs and strafed the speeding tanks. Although the tank soldiers used their maneuvers to
, escaped the bombs dropped by enemy planes, but the flying shrapnel knocked the soldier sitting on the tank off the body.
After the tanks that opened the way escaped the pursuit of the enemy planes, the three tanks were already covered in scars, but almost all of the infantrymen sitting on the vehicles were killed.
After Sokov arrived at the battlefield, he saw a group of wounded people being moved backwards, and asked them loudly: "Comrades, which unit are you in?"
Upon hearing Sokov's question, most of the soldiers looked up at him expressionlessly, and then moved back along the road in silence. Fortunately, a health worker couldn't stand it any longer, so he
He replied loudly: "Comrade commander, we are from the 39th Guards Division."
"Where is your division commander?" Sokov confirmed that these wounded were from the 39th Guards Division and quickly asked: "Where is your division headquarters?"
The health worker pointed sideways to the back and continued to say loudly: "Go forward along this road, about a few hundred meters, and you will find our division headquarters in the woods on the roadside."
After thanking the health worker, Sokov told the driver: "Keep going!"
The Soviet soldiers guarding outside the woods heard the sound of armored vehicles driving on the highway. They instinctively looked in the direction of the sound. When they saw it was a German armored vehicle, they all got ready for battle. Just then
At the critical moment, some soldiers clearly saw the red flag tied to the car and shouted loudly: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, we are one of our own."
The armored vehicle stopped by the woods, and Sokov asked the soldiers: "Comrades, is your division headquarters here?"
A sergeant asked warily: "Comrade commander, who are you, and what do you want from our division commander?"
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade." After identifying himself, Sokov said bluntly: "I have important matters and I need to see your division commander immediately."
When the sergeant learned that the commander in front of him was a friendly force who came to assist him in the attack, his attitude immediately became enthusiastic. He quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if you have no objection, I am willing to serve for you."
You act as a guide.”
"Please, Comrade Sergeant." Sokov smiled slightly when he heard what the Sergeant said, and then said: "Please take us to your division headquarters."
Guryev's division headquarters was located in a simple tent in the woods. Seeing Sokov's arrival, Guryev's frown relaxed. He stepped forward and took the initiative to hold Sokov's hand, impatiently
Asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are finally here. I wonder how many troops you have brought with you?"
"A tank battalion and an infantry battalion." Sokov replied dryly: "We were ordered to advance towards Orlovka and establish a fire support point there to wait for the arrival of friendly forces."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the situation is very serious." Guryev pointed to the map in front of him and said to Sokov: "Our division has been fighting for several hours, but it has only advanced two kilometers. According to this
At this speed, it will take us at least ten days to reach Orlovka."
"Comrade General, I would like to ask," Sokov felt that the terrain here should be very conducive to the deployment of tank troops, so he asked tentatively: "Does the enemy have many anti-tank weapons?"
"Anti-tank weapons?" When he heard this question, Guriyev was stunned for a moment, and then remembered that Sokov said that the troops he led were an infantry battalion and a tank battalion. He secretly thought, maybe Sokov's soldiers
The number of tanks inside was limited, and he was worried that if they were all destroyed by the enemy, they would not be able to complete the next mission. Therefore, he answered solemnly: "According to my observation, the Germans don't seem to have any anti-tank weapons."
When Sokov learned that the enemy had no anti-tank weapons, he felt much more at ease. He felt that the tactic of using tanks to attack and infantry to follow up would be able to successfully break through the German defenses. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the battle, he asked again
Guryev: "Comrade General, can you brief me on the situation on the battlefield?"
Guryev nodded and said: "According to the information we have, the enemy on the frontal position only has two companies and no heavy weapons. However, due to their favorable terrain, coupled with the minefields and minefields in front of the position,
The barbed wire fence caused several consecutive attacks we launched to end in failure."
In order for Sokov to have a more vivid understanding of the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield, Guryev even took a few people to the front line in person. When he came to an observation post, Guryev pointed to the German position on the opposite side that was still smoking.
He said with a face: "Although we had carried out artillery preparations before the attack. During the artillery attack, the Germans on the position did not move at all, but once we launched the attack, they seemed to emerge from the ground and used all kinds of weapons to attack them.
weapons to stop our attacking forces."
Sokov thought silently in his heart: The offensive commanded by Guryev all allowed the infantry to attack the German positions without artillery cover. You know, no matter how brave the soldiers are on the battlefield,
, but how can a flesh-and-blood body block the enemy's shells and bullets?
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Guryev asked, feeling a little uneasy when he saw Sokov was silent, "I want to ask, how do you plan to attack?"
"Comrade General," Sokov pointed to the German position opposite and said to Guriyev: "Since there are no anti-tank weapons and no anti-tank trenches on the German position, I plan to order the tanks to rush up first, and then
Stop in front of the German trenches, suppress the enemy with firepower, and cover our infantry as they charge forward."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Guryev quickly reminded him after learning that Sokov planned to lead the battle with tank troops: "Although I have not found any anti-tank weapons on the enemy, if they find out that you have so many tanks,
Artillery fire may be called to intercept, or even air force bombing may be dispatched.”
Hearing Guryev say this, Sokov wanted to answer the other party: Labor and management also have aircraft, which can knock down the enemy's bombers. But he just thought about it silently in his heart, but did not say it out loud. He knew
Guryev's reminder makes sense. When a tank soldier stays in a tank, his field of vision is too narrow, and many places are blind spots for observation. If the enemy really wants to blow up the tank, he only needs one or two cluster grenades to do it.
at this point.
He turned to Guriyev and said: "Comrade General, please rest assured that I am confident that we will capture the German positions in front of us in the shortest possible time."
"Secure the opposite position in the shortest possible time?" When Guryev heard what Sokov said, he almost cursed. He had suffered more than two thousand casualties and could not break through the position. He had an infantry battalion and a tank.
Can the battalion do it? However, in order not to dampen Sokov's enthusiasm, he sighed softly and said a little insincerely: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you are so confident, then I wish you good luck."
Got it!" After saying that, he still reached out and shook Sokov's hand.
When Sokov walked out of the observation post, a soldier immediately ran over and reported to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Colonel Bely and Captain Vanya are here, and they are waiting for you in the woods."
Sokov thought that the tank battalion would play the leading role in the next battle, and was about to discuss the matter with Bely. When he heard the soldier say this, he quickly told the other party: "Hurry up and take me to see them."
The soldier quickly agreed: "Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander, please come with me." After saying that, he turned back, bent over and walked forward along the trench to lead the way for Sokov.
This chapter has been completed!