In addition to Sokov's Istria Battalion, there was also a full regiment of the 97th Infantry Division, the 322nd Infantry Division and the 11th Guard Infantry Division.
After half an hour of artillery preparation, before the smoke of gunpowder was dissipated, the troops of the 97th Infantry Division launched a charge towards the town.
Sokov, who was standing in his observation station, stood in his observation room, raised his telescope and looked at the friendly soldiers wearing short yellow cotton uniforms and holding rifles, lined up in dense formations in the snow, and strode towards the town where the thick smoke was still emitting, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help but twitch violently. He was thinking to himself: Why use such a dense formation? Don't the commander know that the Germans only need to use a few machine guns to knock down the soldiers in pieces?
When the attacking troops were more than 500 meters away from the town, the German army who were guarding the town fired. Mortar shells fell into the dense Soviet army's queue, and a pile of smoke columns rose up and knocked one warrior after another to the ground. However, as soon as the queue in front appeared, the soldiers behind immediately accelerated their pace to fill it up, and the entire team kept moving towards the town.
Seeing the soldiers falling down one after another under the German artillery fire, Sokov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thinking to himself who the commander of this unit was? He actually asked the soldiers to charge in such a dense formation. Wouldn't they let them die?
When the soldiers were only a hundred meters away from the town, a row of firelights of all sizes suddenly flashed in the direction of the town. The soldiers who were moving forward seemed to hit an invisible wall and fell down a large number of them. Faced with such dense firepower of the German army, the most correct way was to lie down on the spot and shoot back and wait for an opportunity to launch an attack towards the town. But the commander who led the team didn't know what to do. Not only did the soldiers not lie down on the spot, but on the contrary, they also accelerated and continued to rush forward, as if they wanted to rush into the town in the rain of bullets from the enemy.
"Idiot, I'm simply an idiot." Sokov was so angry that he punched the earth wall with his fist and cursed: "According to this kind of fighting style, even if all people die, he will not rush into the town."
"What's wrong, Comrade Battalion Commander." Belkin, who was following the offensive route with several company commanders, heard Sokov's scolding and couldn't help but walk over and ask curiously: "What happened? You're so angry?"
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Sokov angrily stuffed the telescope into Belkin's hand, and said unhappily: "Look, how did our friendly forces fight?"
Belkin raised his telescope and looked at the battle town in the distance for a while, and spoke: "The Germans' firepower is very strong, but our soldiers are very tenacious. They are continuing to charge in the enemy's rain of bullets."
"Silly, it's so stupid." Sokov, standing at the table, slapped the table hard, shouting loudly with some hysterical voice: "If any of my subordinates dared to line up in such a dense formation when attacking and rush forward to let the Germans be targets, I would kill him without saying a word."
The company commanders around the table saw Sokov inexplicably venting, all looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, Wanya was smarter and quickly came to the lookout port, raised his telescope and looked towards the town, and saw clearly the bloody battle ongoing. With Wanya taking the lead, the other company commanders also used the lookout port and watched the battle of friendly troops with the telescope.
After reading all the company commanders, Sokov and others said, "Comrades in command, it is inevitable to sacrifice in order to win. But it would be a bit too stupid to rush over and let the Germans use their targets to attack, when they encounter dense firepower attacks from the enemy, the commander does not order the soldiers to lie down on the spot and shoot against the enemy, but to order them to speed up the charge and attempt to rush into the town in the rain of bullets from the enemy."
Sokov said this and deliberately paused for a moment to observe the expressions on the faces of the company commanders. After seeing some people showing disapproval expressions on their faces, he said seriously: "Everyone has seen how fierce the German firepower is. For such a firepower density, it is the stupidest way to fill it with human lives. Friends' soldiers are not fighting, but are being massacred. Their sacrifice is meaningless."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do if it is our battalion's turn to attack?" Andrei immediately asked, after finishing Sokov's speech, he asked, "Can you give us a clear instruction?"
If he had just arrived in this time and space, maybe Sokov would ask everyone to adopt the "three-three system" assault tactic, but after practice, he found that it was very important to cooperate with each other in order to skillfully use this tactic. After several large-scale supplements in the battalion, the soldiers had not had time to get familiar with each other, and their comrades around him died or were injured and left the army. In this case, using the "three-three system" assault tactic will not only have limited effects, but also cause unnecessary chaos.
Regarding Andrei's question, Sokov was silent for a while and said slowly: "When attacking, we should adopt a loose formation. When encountering enemy fire intercept, our machine guns and artillery fire in the rear should immediately suppress the fire point so that our infantry can continue to advance..."
After explaining the tactics of the offensive to the company commanders, Sokov waved to them and said, "Okay, let's go back to their respective companies. Maybe it's our turn to attack in a while."
After the company commanders left, Sokov felt as if his strength was being taken away. He sat down on the edge of the table, staring at the map in front of him in a daze, thinking in his mind that if it was his turn to attack, where should he choose the main attack direction?
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Belkin, who was standing in front of the lookout, suddenly turned his head and said to Sokov: "Come and see, friendly troops have been withdrawn."
Hearing Belkin say this, Sokov quickly got up and came to the lookout, took the telescope and looked into the distance. The soldiers of the 97th Infantry Division were retreating sparsely, and some soldiers supporting the wounded were falling far behind. If the Germans had not stopped shooting, they would probably have had their lives to worry. In front of the town, there were Soviet soldiers who died in their respective positions.
Chapter completed!