"Major Sokov, everyone is here." Seeing Colonel Taileev, the commander of the 322nd Infantry Division, and walking into the division headquarters with his three regiment commanders, Chernesov nodded at Sokov and said, "You can assign tasks now." After that, he stood up and greeted Bantaileev and his subordinates and sat down.
Sokov came to the wall, pointed to the map nailed on it, and said to everyone: "Comrades, I believe everyone knows that the town of Marklaki is an important military stronghold of the German army. Once our army occupied this place, the Germans' complete defense system in the direction of Jizdra will be broken. Our next task is to eliminate the enemies stationed in the village of Brun and the small villages distributed on the vast plains, so that they will not retreat to Jizdra..."
Bantaileev stared at Sokov who was standing in front of the map and asked Chernesov in a low voice: "Comrade General, who is this major?"
"Major Sokov, the battalion commander of Istria," Chernesov replied in a low voice: "Comrade Commander decided that he would come and direct the battle to seize the town of Marklaki."
"What?" Bantaileev couldn't help but exclaimed: "A major will command us to fight..."
"Don't talk!" Before he finished speaking, he was severely interrupted by Rokosovsky, who was sitting beside him. Seeing Sokov stopped, Rokosovsky said to him in an encouraging tone: "Major Sokov, continue speaking."
Sokov nodded, and he pointed to the map with a branch and said to everyone: "...Marklaki town is a very important stronghold for the Germans, and they will never give up here. Therefore, if we want to seize this stronghold, we will inevitably engage in an extremely cruel battle..."
"My offensive plan," Sokov began to arrange tasks after introducing the situation in the town of Marklaki. "Lieutenant Colonel Delepinsky's 291st Infantry Regiment was the main attacker, the 33rd Guards of the 11th Guards of the 11th Guards of the 33rd Guards of the 11th Guards of the 33rd Guards of the 33rd Guards of the 322nd Infantry Division was responsible for clearing the German troops in the villages of the right wing. The 34th Guards of the 35th Guards were the general reserve team."
After the deployment was completed, Sokov looked at Derepinsky and asked politely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you still command the battle?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Telepinsky stood up suddenly. Because he was too strong, he held the wound on his arm, which made him grin. However, he gritted his teeth and replied, "No problem, I can continue to command the troops."
Sokov stared at him for a while, shook his head slowly and said, "No, lieutenant colonel, you are so incapable of charging with a gun. I think you should stay and recuperate."
"Major Sokov is right." Rokosovsky expressed his support for Sokov's proposal in time. He said to Derepinsky: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you should stay with peace of mind to recuperate."
"It would be a pity if I could not participate in this offensive battle." Although Rokosovsky arranged for himself to stay and recuperate, Derepinsky asked unwillingly: "Who will take over my command of the troops?"
"I will command you on your behalf, Lieutenant Colonel Telepinsky." Sokov quickly took the conversation and comforted him, "You can stay in the health team to recover from your injuries with peace of mind. I wish you a good health as soon as possible. See you after victory." After that, he waved to the health officer standing in the corner, signaling him to help Telepinsky out.
After Delepinsky left, Sokov began to talk about the details of how to attack: "... Ten minutes after the shelling began, I will lead the troops to attack. When we approached the town 150 meters away, the artillery stopped shooting... As the 33rd Regiment of the second echelon, after the troops I led rushed into the town, they immediately took action and rushed to the town to support us..."
"Comrades, Commanders," Sokov asked in a calm tone after introducing the details of the attack, "Maybe everyone will ask why I led the troops to attack before the shelling stopped. Wouldn't the attacking troops be accidentally injured by our army's artillery fire?"
After asking this question, Sokov paused for a moment, as if waiting for the commanders present to give him an answer. But no one spoke, just looked at him silently, hoping to hear the answer he wanted to know from his mouth.
Sokov coughed softly, and then said, "It is almost 1,200 meters away from our starting position to the German position on the edge of the town. It takes at least ten minutes for the soldiers to pass through this open area with snow over the knees. And in such a long time, it is enough for the Germans to enter the position from their hiding places and be prepared to face our army."
"What you said makes sense." Cherneshov couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "But you have to reach a distance of 150 meters from the town before the artillery stopped the artillery. Major Sokov, can you make sure that there will be no accidental injury?"
"I can't guarantee it." Sokov shook his head and said, "But we can rush to the Germans and catch them off guard before they come back to their senses."
"Major Sokov's tactics are indeed very risky," Rokosovsky said to Sokov: "But I think there is hope for success, so I can give it a try."
Seeing that his plan was approved by Rokosovsky, Sokov felt relieved. He looked at the commander present and said, "Comrade Commander, since the mission is clear, then everyone will go back to their respective troops to prepare. Our attack will start in two hours."
After the people in the command center were almost gone, Rokosovsky came to Sokov, called his nickname, and asked with concern: "Misha, do you have confidence?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov knew very well in his heart that the outcome of this battle would directly affect his image in Rokosovsky's mind, so he said in a positive tone: "I am confident of taking down the town of Marklaki."
Chapter completed!