When the Soviet army wanted to attack the enemy's position, the tactics they used were to launch an infantry attack after the artillery preparations were completed. With luck, the attacking troops would be supported by tanks or air force. But this method directly lurked the troops in the German positions.
Before, this was the first time that short-distance assault tactics were used. If Sokov hadn't had the final say here, the plan probably wouldn't have been approved.
Sokov has seen many war-themed movies in later generations, in which there are scenes of lurking in front of enemy positions. In order to achieve a sudden attack, lurking troops usually have to stay under the enemy's nose for a day and a night.
Although the lurking time this time was only a few hours, Sokov's heart was still uneasy. After all, this was the first time the Soviet army used such tactics. Whether he could enter the lurking position without the enemy noticing was still a question.
What's unknown? Also, even if you successfully enter the lurking location, if you are noticed by the enemy within these few hours, the lurking unit will be in danger of being completely destroyed.
Therefore, after assigning the task, he chose a higher position, raised his telescope and looked at the German positions in the distance. Bely stood next to Sokov, and imitated his example, raising his telescope
He picked up the telescope and asked at the same time: "Comrade Brigadier, is it really okay to lurk in front of the enemy's position?"
Regarding Bely's question, Sokov could only reply with a wry smile: "Colonel Bely, this is the fastest way for us to seize the enemy's position. As for whether it can succeed, we have to give it a try."
After listening to Sokov's words, Bely put down his telescope and said thoughtfully: "This line of defense was built by our army. Since the main defense direction is to the west, the Germans are in front of our army's lurking area."
There are no minefields laid, no barbed wire fences, only a hastily dug trench. If our army can successfully launch an attack from the hiding place, then there should not be much problem in seizing the enemy's defense line."
Sokov also put down his telescope, turned to Bely and said: "Comrade Colonel, you are right. The key to the success or failure of our attack lies in whether the guard battalion can successfully enter the hiding place."
"I don't think the problem is big." After some observation, Belly became confident: "We broke through the three front lines of defense and used tank battalions. As long as the Germans did not hear the roar of tank engines at night,
You will think that we will not launch an attack."
"Yes, the Germans will definitely think that we will send out tank troops before attacking." Sokov replied: "But they never dreamed that our attacking troops would take advantage of the darkness to enter the grassland in front of their position.
Lurking.”
…………
When the departure time came, Tenev came to the temporary command post and said goodbye to Sokov. He straightened his body and said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please rest assured that I will ensure that the troops enter the lurking position smoothly."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Seeing Tenev preparing to leave, Bely suddenly stopped him, then turned and asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I find that we seem to have overlooked an important issue."
"What's the problem?" Although the plan of lurking in front of the enemy's position was proposed by Sokov, he knew in his heart that it was the first time he used this tactic, and there must be some imperfections. Therefore, when he heard Bely say this
He said, and immediately urged: "Colonel Bely, hurry up and tell me."
"How do we communicate with the latent troops?" Bely pointedly pointed out: "I just saw that the grass there is more than half a person deep. After the soldiers enter it, it is difficult for us to see clearly whether they have successfully reached the designated location.
.Also, if an accident occurs and they need our support, how will they notify us?"
Bely's words made Sokov realize his negligence. He raised his hand and slapped his forehead hard, and said angrily: "Damn, damn, how could I forget such an important thing?"
He frowned and thought for a while, then walked up to Tenev and said to him: "Comrade Major, your lurking position is very close to the enemy's position. If you need to contact us for anything, you may not be able to call directly, so we have to
Make an appointment with a contact method in advance."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any good ideas?" Tenev said expressionlessly: "Please give instructions!"
Sokov walked to the walkie-talkie, picked up the microphone, and signaled to Tenev: "Comrade Major, please remember the contact methods I demonstrated." After seeing Tenev nodding, he
Start the demonstration: after the troops successfully enter the lurking position, they blow into the microphone three times in a row, with slow and long breaths; if there is any danger and require rear support, they also blow three times in a row with short and rapid breaths...
Hearing the contact information Sokov told, Bely opened his eyes in surprise and said in an admiring tone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are so awesome that you can actually come up with such a contact method. In this way,
We can understand the situation of the latent troops in a timely manner without exposing the target."
Tenev was also impressed by this method of contact. He nodded vigorously and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have already remembered it. I will report to you in time after the troops successfully enter the lurking position.
"
After the latent troops set off, Sokov did not go outside to observe. He only arranged two observation posts to monitor the movements of the German positions. Once he found anything wrong, he reported it to himself in time. At the same time, he also ordered Wanni
Ya set up rocket launchers and was ready to carry out fire strikes on German positions at any time.
About half an hour later, the operator suddenly said to Sokov in surprise: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the guard battalion has successfully entered the latent position." After saying that, he turned on the radio broadcast, so that Sokov and others
Both Ray and Ray could clearly hear Tenev blowing into the microphone.
"Comrade Brigade Commander, your method of contact is really great." Hearing the three long blows indicating that the troops had successfully entered the lurking position, Bely said with emotion again: "Major Tenev can promptly
Report the situation to us without being noticed by the enemy."
When Sokov heard Bely's praise, he did not feel complacent about it. On the contrary, he said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that the commanders and fighters of the guard battalion were so well-trained and could defeat the enemy without any trace in such a short period of time."
Without being aware of it, smoothly enter the lurking position."
Now that the troops have entered the lurking position, Sokov feels a little more at ease. Because the troops will launch the offensive before dawn, it can avoid the situation where many commanders and soldiers are exhausted due to the long lurking time, and even the target is exposed.
Sokov took out the cigarette case from Bely's coat pocket, smoked one and put it in his mouth. However, he did not light it immediately. Instead, he asked with some concern: "Comrade Colonel, do you think we will arrive in Orlovka tomorrow?"
After that, can you hold it there?"
"I guess it's quite difficult." Bely once commanded the troops to fight in that area, so he said with confidence: "There are no solid fortifications that can be used for defense. If we want to hold on there, we can only fight with Germany.
People work hard to see who can't support it first."
"We can't do this kind of loss-making business." Sokov sneered, and then said: "If all the troops are used up, what force will be used for defense in the future?"
"What?" Hearing what Sokov said, Belly couldn't help but hesitated for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, don't you have any confidence in us to defend Stalingrad?"
"If all our troops are lost in this counterattack, it will be very difficult to resist the enemy's attack." Sokov felt that he needed to sound the alarm to Bely, so he said with a serious expression.
: "We need to find ways to preserve more troops so that we can be more confident in defending the city."
He lit the cigarette, took a puff, and then remembered an important thing: "Comrade Colonel, this is what I think about it. If we evacuate Orlovka again, we must take out the fortifications of these lines of defense that we have occupied."
Blow up..."
"What, you plan to blow up the fortifications in these defense lines?" Regarding Sokov's inexplicable order, the confused Bely asked: "Comrade Brigadier, I can ask you the reason for doing this.
?"
"It's very simple," Sokov said while smoking: "When our troops outside the encirclement attack the enemy, the enemy can use these fortifications to block their advance. But if we blow up these fortifications during the evacuation
, Facing our army’s attack, it will be difficult for the enemy to build a new defense system in the shortest possible time, which is very beneficial to us in annihilating the enemies who broke into Stalingrad.”
"It makes sense, it makes sense." After listening to Sokov's words, Bely couldn't help but nodded repeatedly. Yesterday before dark, he led his troops to attack the German army's third direction from the west, but was blocked by these fortification chiefs.
Time blocked it, so he very much agreed with Sokov's idea. He said to Sokov: "Then I will immediately arrange manpower to place explosives in these fortifications, and when we evacuate, we will blast them immediately.
"
"Comrade Colonel, you go make arrangements now." Anyway, there were still a few hours before the attack, so Sokov simply arranged something for Bely to do, lest he get too bored: "Let's see how many usable explosives are planted.
In the fortifications. If it is not enough, I will immediately contact the factory director Peter and ask him to send us some more."
"Okay, leave this matter to me." Bely said carelessly: "I will definitely plant explosives in all the fortifications before the attack begins. It doesn't matter if I don't give up the position. Once I give up here, I will blow it up immediately."
These fortifications will never be left to the Germans."
After Bely left the command post, Sokov received a telegram from Chuikov, which specifically mentioned the information provided by Lisa and asked him to arrive at Orlovka tomorrow morning and set up a defensive position there.
Join forces with friendly forces on the outside of the encirclement.
After reading the telegram, Sokov found that the problem was more serious than he thought. If the German army really used so many troops to launch an attack on the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory, they would use the 37th Guards Division's troops.
It is impossible to defend it. Maybe when the time comes, Chuikov will let himself be a firefighter and lead his troops there to provide support.
After holding Chuikov's telegram for a while, he said to the operator: "Call back to the Army Group Headquarters and say that our brigade will definitely be able to reach Orlovka tomorrow morning."
While the radio operator was still sending the message, Vanya came in from outside, straightened his body and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, our rocket launcher is ready. When can it be launched?"
"It's still early, Comrade Captain." Sokov walked up to Vanya and said to him: "Leave two launchers on duty and let the rest of the comrades rest."
"We still have fifteen rockets," Vanya waited for Sokov to finish and then asked tentatively: "I want to ask, how many will be launched later?"
"Fight them all, not a single one is left." Sokov considered that even if his troops arrived in Orlovka, they might not be able to stay for long. The soldiers would not be able to run away with such heavy rockets on their backs.
It's convenient, it's better to use them all when attacking the fourth line of defense.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya asked hesitantly in response to Sokov's order: "If we use up all the rockets when we attack the fourth position, then when we reach Orlo
When we reach Fka, we will have no rockets to use."
Sokov would not tell Vanya that he was just following the orders of his superiors to go around Orlovka and had no intention of sticking to it. But in the face of Vanya's worries, he still pretended
He said with a nonchalant look: "Comrade Captain, what does it matter if we run out of rockets? After we arrive at Orlovka, we can ask Mamayev Heights to send us another batch. Then, you can still
Are you worried that there are no rockets to use?”
Having said this, he waved to Vanya and said, "Okay, let your soldiers rest quickly. It won't be too late to let them enter the launch position when it's time to attack."
After sending Vanya away, Sokov saw that the operator had finished sending the telegram, and said to him: "Operator, send another telegram to Director Peter and ask him to send us five trucks of explosives, saying that we have
Urgently needed."
The telegraph operator heard the conversation between Sokov and Bely and knew that these explosives were intended to blow up those fortifications. He quickly agreed and started sending a message to Peter's factory building again.
After receiving the telegram from Sokov, Peter had a confused expression on his face. He thought to himself: "Five trucks of explosives, what does Lieutenant Colonel Sokov need so much explosives for?"
Although he could have used so many explosives in his hands, for the sake of caution, he still picked up the phone and prepared to report the matter to Chuikov and ask whether this batch of explosives should be provided to Sokov's troops.
This chapter has been completed!