When Sokov walked into the division command, he saw Chernesov standing by the table with himself on his back, holding a cigarette in one hand, while the other pointed to the map on the table, and was talking loudly to the commanders beside him.
He quickly came behind Chernesov, raised his hand to his forehead, and said loudly: "Comrade Commander, Major Sokov, the commander of the Istrian battalion, is ordered to come, please instruct!"
Cherneshov heard Sokov's voice and turned around suddenly, looked Sokov up and down, and said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Major, the order I gave you yesterday was to send two companies to Suxinic to accept my command before 3 pm, otherwise you will be removed from your post. I will ask you, where is the troops I want?"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov saw that Chernesov seemed angry, and hurriedly explained to him: "I personally led the troops to Sucinic yesterday, but just halfway through, I got the news of the German attack, so I brought the troops back."
Seeing Sokov's somewhat panicked look, Cherneshov smiled: "Major Sokov, what I want to tell you is that you are good! Your whole battalion is good! You have successfully crushed the German attack and caused a lot of casualties to them. They did a good job!"
After a sigh of relief in his heart, Sokov asked, "Comrade Commander, I want to ask, what is the next combat mission of our battalion?"
Chernesov waved his head at Sokov and said, "Come to the front of the table, I'll introduce you to the situation."
Sokov stood by the table and listened to Cherneshov explaining to himself the next combat mission: "In the north of the city, there is a large village called Popkovo, which is located on the surrounding high ground. From here, the German artillery often fires shells at Sucinic.
According to the combat plan, we should have captured this village and town with the troops of the 61st Army. Unfortunately, the German army suddenly launched an attack that repelled the 61st Army by about 30 kilometers. In order to avoid the enemy's flanks of our army, the commander had to transfer the troops that were preparing to attack Popkovo to the right wing for defense.
According to the order of the Army Command, our division will launch an attack on Popkovo alone. The task of your battalion is to clear the nearby villages occupied by the German army and relieve the main force's worries during the attack."
After Cherneshov finished speaking, the Chief of Staff of the Division added: "Comrade Major, the *** elements, taking into account the characteristics of the terrain and winter conditions, turned the frontier and deep villages and farms into strongholds surrounded by barbed wire. They built masking parts with circular shooting holes under many houses, and placed some tanks in positions where direct aiming and shooting were used for fixed fire points."
After hearing the introductions of the two, Sokov stared at the map and thought quickly in his mind: "Although he just ordered us to seize some villages occupied by the German army, there were German tanks deployed in these villages. If there was no cooperation of artillery soldiers, the attack we carried out would be to hit stones with eggs."
Thinking of this, he raised his head and looked at Chernesov and said, "Comrade Commander, I want to ask, can our battalion get support from artillery fire when attacking?"
When Chernesov heard Sokov's question, he turned his head and looked at the Chief of Staff next to him, and then asked back: "Why, Comrade Major, can't you take over the village that the enemy is defending without the cooperation of artillery?"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said with a serious expression: "Because our battalion lacks effective anti-tank weapons, if we rashly launch an attack on the village with tanks, even if we barely take down the village, it will be a miserable victory that is not worth the loss."
After hearing Sokov's words, Chernesov suddenly laughed, and turned his head to the chief of staff of the division and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have said a long time ago that after receiving the mission, Major Sokov will definitely ask if there is any cooperation from artillery soldiers. How about it, I am not wrong, right?"
The Chief of Staff grinned and then said to Sokov: "Don't worry, Major Sokov, we have considered the issues you are worried about. This time, the artillery that cooperates with your attack will have a 76.2mm cannon company and a 45mm anti-tank gun company. With their cooperation, I think your attack will be much smoother."
"That's great, this is really great." When Sokov learned that his superiors would equip him with two artillery companies, he felt that it was not difficult to complete the tasks assigned to him by Cherneshov, and quickly expressed his opinion: "Comrade Commander, if we have these two artillery companies, we will definitely be able to eliminate the enemies entrenched in the village in the shortest time."
"Major, you can't take it lightly." Cherneshov felt that Sokov underestimated the enemy, so he reminded him: "The Germans are very sensitive to the loss of such strongholds, because this will affect its fire defense system and open the gap in its defense line. Therefore, after seizing the village, you must also be wary of the counterattacks carried out by the German army."
"I asked the commander to ask friendly troops to change defenses in advance, just to allow your battalion to enter the defensive position as soon as possible." Chernesov raised his hand and looked at his watch and asked, "Where is your army? Sucinic or the nameless highland?"
"Comrade Commander, I came to the division headquarters to accept the mission in advance." Sokov replied with a wry smile: "The army should still be on the way to Sushinic, and you also know that it will take some time to change defenses."
"I understand." Cherneshov nodded, called a staff officer, and told him: "Comrade Lieutenant, take Major Sokov to meet the two artillery company commanders, so that they can get familiar with each other first."
The staff officer took Sokov to an office not far away. Two officers were standing in the room chatting. When they saw the staff officer walking in with a major, they immediately stopped talking and stood there to salute each other.
The staff officer pointed at the two officers and said to Sokov: "Comrade Major, these two commanders are the artillery company commanders who cooperate with you in the battle. Let's have a good talk. I'll leave first." As he said that, he raised his hand and saluted Sokov, turned around and walked out of the office.
Chapter completed!