After Bely led his troops to the village, he immediately learned about what happened in the village from his subordinates who had arrived earlier. After he understood the ins and outs, he gave a detailed report to Sokov via the radio.
There was originally a platoon of German soldiers deployed in the village. When they saw two Soviet tanks carrying infantry heading towards the village, they found a place to hide. As soon as the tanks entered the village, they immediately opened fire. Seleda and the others were beaten.
He was caught off guard, and all the infantrymen were killed. Two tanks were also destroyed one after another. Although Seleda escaped from the destroyed tank by chance, he was seriously injured.
After listening to Bely's report, Sokov asked cautiously: "Comrade Colonel, have all the enemies in the village been eliminated?"
"Yes, all the enemies in the village have been eliminated." After answering this question, Bely added: "I sent a platoon of soldiers to search the nearby woods to see if there are any who have slipped through the net.
German."
"Colonel Bely," considering the importance of the small village in his plan, Sokov specifically emphasized to Bely: "The village you are in is very important to us, so we must kill all the enemies in the village and nearby woods.
Purge. Do you understand?"
Bely thought that the importance Sokov mentioned was to ambush the tanks in the village and catch the enemy by surprise from the flank when the enemy attacked. He quickly expressed his position: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will definitely clear out the surrounding area."
Enemies in the woods."
Sokov had someone dig a cave that could accommodate four or five people on the reverse slope of the hill as his temporary headquarters. At the same time, he also asked the communications troops to be assigned to the 1st Battalion, the Guard Battalion and the 308th Infantry Division.
A telephone line, so that if you want to understand the situation of the troops or convey any orders, you don't have to send communications soldiers back and forth.
While the communications soldier was busy pulling the telephone line, the radio operator squatting in the temporary headquarters stuck his head out and shouted to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the telegram was sent by General Guryev."
Hearing that the telegram was sent by Guryev, Sokov immediately felt an ominous premonition in his heart. He quickly came to the headquarters and took the telegram from the operator. After reading it, he found that he
The situation we faced was not good. The two lines of defense handed over to the 120th Guards Regiment were currently under fierce attack by the German army.
Although Guryev emphasized in the telegram that his men were fighting tenaciously, Sokov knew very well that in the face of such a fierce German offensive, it was only a matter of time before these two lines of defense were lost. See himself
The troops' retreat route to the south was in danger of being cut off. After some thought, Sokov asked the radio operator to send a message to Chuikov, asking how long his troops needed to hold on in Orlovka.
After the telegram was sent, Chuikov waited for a full quarter of an hour before Chuikov responded with a telegram. The content of the telegram was very simple: "Resolutely defend Orlovka. Without orders, you are not allowed to retreat even one step."
Seeing this telegram that was exactly the same as Order No. 227, Sokov was really dumbfounded. He had very limited troops and technical equipment, no artillery and air force, and he was stuck in this area that was very unfavorable for defense. If the German army launched
If you attack fiercely, your troops may be exhausted in a short time.
But since it was Chuikov who gave the order, there was no room for bargaining, so he could only sigh and then told the operator: "Call back to the headquarters. I will resolutely obey the orders of my superiors and defend this place at all costs."
Although the message expressed his determination to live and die with the position, Sokov was not willing to bury his life here, so he once again set his sights on the small village in the northwest, thinking to himself: "In Orlov
More than ten kilometers north of Ka is Little Ivanovka, where Rokossovsky's headquarters is located. As long as Bely clears out the enemies in the village, I can lead the troops to withdraw when the situation is unfavorable to us.
Get there, then march north from there, break through the enemy's blockade, and rush over to join Rokossovsky's troops."
In the evening, Guryev sent another telegram. He said in a regretful tone: After a fierce battle, the third line of defense has fallen into the hands of the German army, but he is organizing troops to counterattack in an attempt to restore the lost position.
.
Seeing this message, Sokov's heart froze. He knew very well that with the equipment of the Guards Division, it would be impossible to regain the lost positions from the Germans.
Moreover, the loss of the third line of defense meant that the troops holding on to the fourth line of defense lost contact with the main force of the division. In the end, the defenders were either wiped out by the enemy, or they retreated to the north and came to fight with themselves.
Convergence.
But no matter what the outcome is, Sokov is not willing to see it. Once the fourth line of defense is lost, it means that the road to the south is blocked; the remnants of the defenders go north, and it seems that their defense strength has increased.
But in an area that is not conducive to defense, even if the German army does not launch a ground attack, it only needs to carry out long-term artillery bombardment and bombing, which is enough to cause its troops to lose most of their combat effectiveness.
Just at this time, the telephone line had been set up, so Sokov connected to the headquarters of the 308th Infantry Division. Gurdiev who answered the phone said: "Comrade Colonel, the current situation south of Orlovka is not good.
You immediately send troops to the south to serve as a guard, and once you discover the enemy's appearance, immediately block it."
"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Gurdiev said politely: "I will immediately send a security force to the southwest and closely monitor that direction. Once I find any enemy movements, I will report to you."
Although the situation in the south is critical, Sokov's attention is still focused on the west, because not only will the Germans launch an attack from that direction, but reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement may also appear from that direction.
Sokov stood on the hill, raised his telescope and looked to the west, hoping to see some movement. However, except for the endless grassland, no moving objects could be seen in the telescope.
Vanya, who was staying at the foot of the hill, saw Sokov observing the terrain on the hill. He quickly told his deputy, and then jogged to the top of the hill. He asked Sokov breathlessly: "Brigade
Comrade Chang, we have been here for so long, how come we haven’t seen the Germans or reinforcements yet?”
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Captain." Sokov put down the telescope in his hand, looked at Vanya and said calmly: "The more this happens, the more we as commanders must stay calm. Do you understand?
?”
Although Vanya did not understand what Sokov meant, he still habitually replied: "Understood." After a pause, he looked at the small village in the distance and asked Sokov curiously: "Brigade
Comrade Commander, Colonel Bely took all the remaining tanks to distant villages, I wonder when they will come back?"
"When can we come back?" Hearing this question, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help but twitched twice. He replied with some embarrassment: "When we defeat the enemy who attacked Orlovka, we will be able to fight from the outside of the encirclement."
After the friendly forces that rushed in are reunited, the tank battalion commanded by Colonel Bely can return here."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya realized the seriousness of the problem from Sokov's words. He asked tentatively: "Do you think reinforcements can come?"
"I am not commanding the reinforcements outside the encirclement." Sokov replied angrily: "How do I know if the reinforcements can come? Our mission is to stick here and wait patiently for the reinforcements to arrive. Without orders,
You are not allowed to take a step back. Do you understand, Comrade Captain?"
"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander." Vanya nodded and replied: "We will never take a step back before reinforcements appear."
When Sokov was about to speak, a telephone placed next to him suddenly rang. He grabbed the phone, put it to his ear and said, "I'm Sokov, what can I do?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, this is Gurdiev." Gurdiev's voice came from the receiver, and he said in a panic: "Something happened, something big happened!"
"What's the big deal?" Sokov's heart was in his throat. He thought to himself that the enemy had already rushed to the defense area of the 308th Infantry Division. He quickly urged: "Comrade Colonel, what happened? Hurry up.
tell me the story."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have just received information." Gurdiev said in a heavy tone: "Our position to the east was occupied by the Germans half an hour ago."
"What, the eastern position was occupied by the Germans?" Hearing the bad news, Sokov almost jumped out of the crater where he was squatting. He asked angrily: "Colonel Gurdiev, you are not
Is there a battalion holding the position? Why was the position captured by the enemy so quickly?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I did leave one battalion to hold the position to the east." Gurdiev replied awkwardly: "But after a long battle, the whole battalion was left with only
Twenty or thirty people, equivalent to an infantry platoon."
If Gurdiev were in front of Sokov at this moment, Sokov would definitely throw the microphone in his hand at the opponent without hesitation. After joining the 308th Infantry Division at that time, Bely represented himself and asked the opponent to stay more.
Use troops to defend the captured positions to prevent the Germans from taking the retreat.
But Sokov never dreamed that Gurdiev would actually play a word game with him. He said that he had left a battalion of troops to defend the eastern position. Unexpectedly, the number of people in this battalion was only equivalent to one
Platoon. With this small force, how can it stop the German attack? He said sternly into the microphone: "Colonel Gurdiev, take it back, organize the troops immediately and take back the lost position. If the Germans are allowed
Once we gain a foothold there, we will become a lone army trapped in a tight siege. At that time, the fate we will face is either to sacrifice all of us or become prisoners of the Germans. Do you understand?"
"Understood." He lost his position and was short of breath as a result of his retreat. Gurdiev was also a little panicked. He quickly replied: "I immediately organized my forces to take the position back from the Germans."
Vanya overheard something when Sokov was on the phone. When he waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he carefully asked: "Comrade Brigadier, if our retreat is cut off, what should we do? Continue.
Stay here and wait for reinforcements to rush in from outside the encirclement?"
"Captain Vanya!" Sokov waited for Vanya to finish speaking and immediately said with a straight face: "Do you really think there will be reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement?" Sokov thought of the last time he was here.
He waited until the end to receive the reinforcements, but what he waited for was the news that the entire reinforcements had been destroyed. Therefore, he had not been optimistic about the plan to join forces with the reinforcements from the beginning.
After sending Vanya away, Sokov sat in the bomb crater and pondered for a long time. Finally he got up and walked back to the temporary headquarters. He said to the operator sitting inside: "Operator, put me through Colonel Bely. I have
If you have important matters, please contact him."
When the operator saw Sokov's livid face, he immediately realized that something important must have happened and did not dare to neglect. He quickly grabbed the microphone and started calling Belly. Two minutes later, he handed over the earphone and microphone to Belly.
Sokov said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the call is connected, Colonel Bely is waiting to speak with you."
"Colonel Bely," Sokov felt that it was necessary to let Bely understand the current situation, so he did not beat around the bush, but said bluntly: "Our retreat has been cut off by the Germans."
"What, our retreat has been cut off?" Bely thought Sokov was talking about the southward retreat. After a moment of silence, he comforted him and said: "It doesn't matter, comrade brigade commander, even if the southward retreat is cut off by the enemy.
, but we can also retreat from the east and enter our army’s defensive zone from there..."
"Colonel Bely," Sokov interrupted Bely's last words in time and said in a solemn tone: "I am contacting you just to tell you that our retreat to the east has also been cut off by the Germans."
"Here, what is going on?" Sokov's words confused Bely: "Didn't Colonel Gurdiev put a battalion there for defense? How come the position was occupied by the Germans in such a short period of time?
Are people occupying it?”
Sokov sneered twice, and then said in a contemptuous tone: "Yes, Colonel Gurdiev did deploy a battalion to defend there. However, after a long battle, his battalion was only
There are only twenty or thirty people left, which is only equivalent to the number of people in an infantry platoon. With this small number of troops, it is obviously impossible to block the German attack."
Before Belly led his troops to the village, he knew that the German army had concentrated its superior forces and launched an attack on the third and fourth lines of defense. Since the fall of these two positions was only a matter of time, Belly had not considered a southward withdrawal plan at all.
He cautiously said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I think it is better to let Colonel Gurdiev organize the troops, take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold, launch a counterattack, and regain the lost position."
This chapter has been completed!