After dark, Vanya led the commanders and soldiers of the first battalion to set off. Before he set off, he called Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we are about to set off. Do you have anything else to tell me?"

Hearing Vanya's question, Sokov was silent for a while. He thought to himself that he had explained everything he should have done, and there was no need to repeat it again. Thinking of this, he said to the microphone: "Comrade Captain, I am waiting for the good news of your victory here. Good luck!"

Although it began to become long and short in the seventh month, it still had to wait until nine o'clock before it went dark, and it was dawn at five o'clock in the morning. In other words, Vanya's troops had to find a suitable place within eight hours, cross the Tenebra River, and before dawn, they rushed to the near German camp.

In order to ensure that the troops did not attract the attention of the German army during operation, the first battalion implemented radio silence, so that before the battle began, Sokov could not know where they were, whether they were ready for battle, etc.

When Belkin saw Sokov walking back and forth in the command center with his hands behind his back, he raised his hand and looked at the watch. He saw that it was already one o'clock in the morning, he said to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, listen, how quiet it is outside. This means that the first battalion was not discovered by the enemy while crossing the river and approaching the enemy camp. You have been walking in the house for so long, you must be hungry. I will have someone to get you some food." After saying that, Belkin called a staff officer, approached his ear and whispered a few words. After Belkin finished speaking, he nodded and turned around and walked out of the command center.

Sokov walked in the house for a long time, and was really tired and hungry. After sitting down at the table, he looked at Belkin and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, although Vanya and his friends' counterattack were completely unexpected to the German army, I was always a little uneasy before the battle started."

The staff who was ordered to find food returned to the house shortly after. Looking at the food placed on the table, Sokov asked curiously: "Why, Comrade Political Commissar, is there corn in July now?" Sokov has lived in Russia for so many years, and naturally knows that due to climate and dimensions, corn must be ripe for at least September.

"When I went out to inspect today, I saw a corn field next to the forest in the north of the city. So I asked someone to pick a few and come back to try it." Berkin picked up a corn, handed it to Sokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade Brigade Commander, try it."

Sokov took the corn and was about to start gnawing, Berkin handed over another small plate with salt and said, "Spray some salt." Spreading salt on food has always been a tradition in Russia: bread should be sprinkled with salt, which is a gift for treating guests; tomatoes are the best dish for serving. As corn is sprinkled with salt, Sokov's understanding is that the taste is too poor and salt must be sprinkled to cover it up.

Belkin looked at Sokov who was gnawing corn and asked curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think the superiors will order us to carry out a large-scale counterattack after the main force arrives?"

Counterattack?! Hearing Berkin say this, Sokov quickly stopped and looked at Berkin with some amusement and cry, thinking to himself, "Brother, don't joke, okay?" If you want to launch a counterattack from the Kursk area, let alone a few infantry divisions, even if there are a few army groups, it will be useless. You must know that in the Battle of Kursk a year later, the Soviet army won the final victory in the Battle of Kursk a year later, in addition to the four fronts they used, they also launched a landing operation in Sicily, forcing the German army to transfer some of its main forces away.

Sokov took a deep breath and then said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, although the reinforcements sent by the base camp will be able to arrive in Kursk soon, with the strength of our army, we can only barely defend the city and are unable to launch a large-scale counterattack. The reason why I decided to launch a counterattack in the south of the city was simply because the enemy there was weak force and there was no defense, so our sudden attack could achieve results."

As the two were talking, the communications company commander Maxim suddenly hurried in and handed a telegram in his hand to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is an emergency telegram from the first battalion."

When Sokov received the telegram, he glanced at the watch on his wrist and found that it was less than two o'clock and there were still three hours before the attack was launched. And Wanya actually broke the silence of the radio. Something unexpected happened. After reading the contents of the telegram, he couldn't help but look shocked on his face. He really didn't expect that the enemy situation had changed unexpectedly.

Seeing Sokov's shocked look, Belkin asked hurriedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, has something happened?"

"Look at this telegram," Sokov handed the telegram to Belkin and said hurriedly: "Vanya reports that the scouts found a convoy heading towards the German camp. According to their analysis, this may be a reinforcement from the Germans. Many of the trucks were also traction artillery..."

After reading the contents of the telegram, Belkin's expression became serious. He said with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if Captain Vanya's intelligence is not wrong, the enemy's reinforcements will have almost two battalions, and there are artillery soldiers. Look, will we cancel this counterattack mission?"

"No," Sokov denied Belkin's proposal without hesitation: "Our troops finally crossed the Tenebra River and approached the enemy's camp. If they retreat at this time, all their efforts will be wasted."

"But, Comrade Brigade Commander." Although the weather was cold in the early morning, Belkin's cold sweat came down: "There were only more than 1,300 people in the first battalion, and after the German army received reinforcements, the total strength exceeded them more than twice their strength. In addition, there were so many artillery, I was worried that our troops would suffer!"

"Before the first battalion set off, I sent a telegram to the Front Command, asking the superiors to send air force to support us." Sokov gently tapped the table with his finger and frowned and said, "General Rokosovsky agreed to send us two flight brigades, but if the German army increased its troops, this air force would be a bit insufficient."

After Maxim waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he asked carefully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think you need to send a report to the Front Command immediately and report our information to them?"

"It's too late," Sokov shook his head and said, "Fortunately, General Rotmistrov's command has a dedicated line that can be contacted with the Front Command. I think I'll arrive at him immediately and call the commander."

"How should I reply to them from Captain Vanya?" Maxim asked briefly.

"No need to give them any reply for the time being. After I report the situation here to the Front Command, I will call them back." After Sokov explained Maxim, he faced Belkin and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, I will immediately arrive at General Rotmistrov's command center, and everything here will be left to you to take responsibility."

"Don't worry, comrade comrade commander." Belkin told Sokov: "If you make any decision, please call me immediately and I will forward it to Vanya by telegram."

Five or six minutes later, the jeep Sokov was riding stopped at the door of the Tank Army Command. The officer on duty at the door knew Sokov. Although he felt strange when he saw him coming here late at night, he immediately trotted over and saluted him, and said politely: "Hello, lieutenant colonel! Are there any important things you are here at this time?"

Sokov nodded at the other party and then asked, "Where is General Rotmistrov?"

"Comrade Commander is sleeping." The officer quickly replied: "Do you have any urgent matters to see him?"

"Since Comrade General is resting, let him continue talking." Sokov asked the officer politely: "I have important situations and need to report to the Front Command immediately. I wonder if I can borrow your dedicated line?"

Faced with this problem of Sokov, the officer smiled wryly and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am just an officer on duty. I really can't help you in communications."

"Take me to the general's office," Sokov said to the other party: "I need to report to the Front Command immediately on his phone!"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please wait here for a while. I will report to the leader on duty immediately." After the officer finished speaking, he saw Sokov nodding in agreement, and then ran to the duty room at the door and called his superior to report.

Not long after, the officer returned to Sokov and said politely to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the officer on duty has notified the general, he will go to his office soon, please follow me." Sokov followed the officer into the building and went to General Rotmistrov's office.

When he arrived at the office door, the door was open. Sokov stood at the door and could see everything inside clearly. General Rotmistrov was sitting behind the desk, wearing clothes in a hurry. Sokov raised his hand and knocked on the open door twice, then asked Rotmistrov who looked up at him, "Comrade General, can I go in?"

"Come in, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Rotmistrov said with some displeasure: "I want to know what happened when you woke me up from my sleep in the middle of the night."

"Comrade General, can you use your phone?" Sokov asked politely: "If there is important information, you need to report it to the Front Command immediately. It is not clear in the telegram, so I can only borrow your dedicated line."

General Rotmistrov muttered, picked up the microphone, and said, "I am General Rotmistrov, immediately pick up the Front Command. I have important information to report."

The staff officer on duty in the Front Command heard that it was General Rotmistrov's call. He thought something big had happened, so he quickly woke up Malining, who had just fallen asleep. Malining, who was sleepy, walked to the table, picked up the receiver and put it in his ear, and asked weakly: "I am Malining, General Rotmistrov. You call at this time. Is there anything important?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep." Rotmistrov looked at Sokov standing in front of him and said dryly: "It's Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. He said there are important things that need to be reported to you immediately. Because the telegram cannot be clearly stated, I can only come to me to borrow a dedicated line."

"Give him the phone." Malining knew very well that Sokov was definitely not the kind of person who called his superiors casually for a trivial matter. He quickly ordered Rotmistrov to hand over the phone to Sokov. When he heard Sokov's voice coming from the receiver, he immediately asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, is there anything important?"

When Sokov heard Malining's name and position, he replied in an official manner: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is the case. During the marching, the counterattack troops I sent found a large number of German reinforcements and were heading towards the south of the city. The total force was about two battalions, and there were also many artillery."

After listening to Sokov's report, Malining was shocked: the German army had more troops than the Soviet army, with more than 2,000 people in two battalions. In addition, the original garrison, the total German army had at least 4,000 troops. He hurriedly asked Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, how many people are there in the infantry battalion you carried out the counterattack, and what kind of equipment do you have?"

"The first battalion now has more than 1,300 people, equipped with more than 20 MG34 general-purpose machine guns and five 50mm mortars..." After Sokov briefly explained the number of heavy equipment, he specifically emphasized to Malining: "We are not only at a disadvantage in terms of number of people, but also not the enemy."

Malinin knew Sokov very well, knew that he had said this to him, and must have his own ideas, so he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you need us to do anything for you?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov, after Malining finished speaking, hurriedly continued: "According to the original plan, the superiors will send two flight brigades to provide air cover for our offense. But now it seems that this air force is far from enough. Do you see if you can provide us with more help."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I can't make the decision on this matter, I need to ask the commander for advice." Malining asked slowly: "Now the enemy situation has changed, what do you plan to do?"

"It's very simple. Order the troops to launch a sudden attack on the German reinforcements while they were not firmly established." Sokov said confidently: "The enemy's reinforcements arrived and figured out the situation. Under the attack of our army, they would definitely fall into chaos. When they barely came back to their senses, the air force that arrived at the battlefield could bombard them indiscriminately, thus causing the enemy to completely fall into chaos..."
Chapter completed!