Sokov's heart became much more at ease after confirming from Malining that the Air Force would provide more air support. After the call with Malining, he immediately contacted his brigade headquarters and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, call Captain Vanya immediately and order them to attack the enemy immediately."
When Belkin heard Sokov say this, he was startled and quickly reminded him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is your decision too hasty? You should know that the German reinforcements are coming continuously, and our troops and equipment are at a disadvantage. Once action is taken, it will not only be difficult to achieve any results, but will put the commanders and soldiers of the first battalion in danger."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Sokov said unhappily when he saw Belkin questioning his orders: "It is precisely because our army is at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and equipment that we must launch an attack immediately. The German reinforcements have just arrived in an unfamiliar area and have not had time to get familiar with the environment. If we are suddenly attacked by our army, we will definitely fall into chaos. Only by doing this can we take the initiative on the battlefield. Do you understand, Comrade Political Commissar?"
"Well, comrade comrade brigade commander, since you insisted so, I will call the first battalion immediately and let them take an offensive action immediately." Belkin said helplessly on the phone: "I hope they can catch the enemy off guard."
Rotmistrov, who was sitting at the table, took the initiative to hand him a cigarette after Sokov finished calling and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, why, is your brigade going to attack the enemy?"
"Yes, comrade General." Sokov took Rotmistrov's cigarette, but did not ignite it, but held it in his hand and played with it: "In order to block the attack launched by the German army from the south of the city, I dispatched a unit to carry out a sneak attack. Unexpectedly, before they reached the designated position, they discovered the German convoy transporting reinforcements."
After listening to Sokov's story, Rotmistrov said thoughtfully: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although I don't have the right to point fingers at you, I still feel that it is a bit too hasty to let the first battalion enter the battle at this time. No matter what, you are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and equipment. Even if the German army was caught off guard in the early stage, they will soon come back to their senses and organize a counterattack against you. It is hard to say what will happen at that time."
Seeing that Rotmistrov, like Berkin, opposed the decision he made, Sokov did not argue with the other party, but smiled faintly: "Once we wait for the enemy's reinforcements to stand firm and we will launch an attack again, it will make our officers and soldiers make a great sacrifice. Comrade General, I still have something to do. I need to rush back to the brigade headquarters immediately and will not disturb you." After that, Sokov raised his hand and saluted the other party, and then walked out of the office.
Looking at Sokov's back as he left, Rotmistrov smiled bitterly and shook his head, whispering: "I hope the decision you made is correct, otherwise this army that carried out sneak attacks will not escape the danger of the destruction of the entire army."
Sokov, who was walking out of the building, naturally couldn't guess what Rotmistrov was thinking. He was eager to return to his command center, readjust the plan, and send troops to reinforce the First Battalion, otherwise the situation of the First Battalion would be worrying.
As soon as he returned to the command center, Sokov couldn't wait to ask Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, did you send a telegram to the first battalion?"
Belkin nodded and replied with affirmative answer: "Yes, comrade brigade commander, the telegram has been sent."
After receiving Belkin's affirmative answer, Sokov walked to the table and picked up the phone and answered the second battalion. As soon as he heard Vasily's weak voice, he raised his voice and said, "Captain Vasily, are you still sleeping?"
Sokov's voice was like a thunderbolt, exploding in Vasily's ears, scaring his sleepiness without a trace. He asked hurriedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you have any instructions?"
"Second Battalion Commander, I'll ask you, are there any river crossing equipment in the warehouse?"
"Yes," Vasily didn't know what Sokov asked about this, but he replied truthfully: "There are about forty rubber boats and more than twenty wooden boats."
"Very good," Sokov continued to say, "You can arrange manpower immediately and transport all these river crossing equipment to the second company's position. Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade brigade commander." Vasili said quickly: "I immediately arrange the soldiers of the Third Company to meet the second Company's position." He paused for a moment and asked tentatively, "Comrade brigade commander, can I ask, what do you want so much comrade brigade crossing equipment to do?"
"Comrade Captain," Sokov replied, "Have you not learned the confidentiality regulations? Do you not know what you shouldn't ask casually?"
Vasily was frightened by Sokov's tone and said in a panic: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I just asked casually. Since you need these river crossing equipment in urgent need, I will send them all to the second company's position in the shortest time."
After Belkin and Sokov put down the phone, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you asked Captain Vasily to send all the equipment to the second company's position. Is it because you plan to send someone to cross the river to reinforce the first battalion?"
"Yes, that's how I thought about it." Sokov saw that Belkin guessed his intention, nodded and continued: "After the first battalion exchanged fire with the enemy, it will definitely lead the enemy's attention away from the Tenebra River, so that I can send an army to carry out a forced crusade to reinforce the first battalion."
"Which battalion are you going to send to perform this glorious mission?" asked Belkin briefly.
Sokov had already considered it on his way back. Brisky's Fourth Battalion had just replaced the defense zone of the First Battalion, and rashly mobilized it would cause chaos; the Second Battalion is currently responsible for the warehouse and defense in the south of the city, and cannot be easily used. The only thing that can be used is Andre's Third Battalion. "I plan to let Andre's Third Battalion complete this difficult task."
Andre, who was sleeping, was awakened by the ringing of the phone. He learned that Sokov had an important combat mission to him. He hurriedly got up and put on his clothes, and rushed over.
Seeing his arrival, Sokov immediately called him to the wall and pointed to a map above and said to him: "Comrade Captain, I have an important task to hand over to you. A few hours ago, Captain Vanya's battalion crossed the river from the upper reaches of the Tnebra River and quietly touched the German army's garrison in the south of the city. As a large number of German reinforcements suddenly appeared, the battalion had become an isolated army, so I plan to send people to reinforce them."
Andre said with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigade Commander, please give orders! I promise to rescue the first battalion from the enemy's encirclement."
"Comrade Captain, you misunderstood. The first battalion was not trapped in the enemy's encirclement." Seeing that Andre did not understand his intention, Sokov told him again: "According to the pre-fighting plan, they will attack the enemy's camp at dawn. However, before they arrived at the destination, they found that German reinforcements arrived. I had temporarily changed the combat plan and asked them to attack immediately. Although they could cause chaos to the enemy with unexpected attacks in the early stages of the battle, because they were at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and equipment, they would soon fall into an unfavorable situation. The task of your battalion is to take advantage of the enemy's attention to be attracted by the first battalion, attack from the position of the second battalion's second company, force the Tenebra River to support the first battalion's operations."
From Sokov's story, Andre realized that the mission was a life-and-death death, and he couldn't help but show a embarrassed expression on his face. Sokov saw his reaction, and couldn't help but show an unhappy expression on his face. He curled his lips and said, "Captain Andre, I know that this mission is very dangerous, but you have to escape, and there is a chance for you to escape. When the day dawns, our air force will arrive at the battlefield and provide you with the necessary air support. With the support of the air force, let alone escape, even if you launch a counterattack against the German army, there is still a possibility of success."
Perhaps it was Sokov's air support that moved Andrei. After Sokov finished speaking, he nodded immediately and asked back: "Comrade Brigade Commander, when will we set off?"
Sokov raised his hand and looked at the table, and replied, "I have ordered Captain Vasily to transport the crossing equipment to the second company's position as soon as possible. You will go back now and gather the troops and strive to start forcing the crossing of the Tenebra River in an hour."
Just as Sokov arranged the third battalion to reinforce the first battalion, Captain Vanya, the commander of the first battalion, was in the forest not far from the German camp, and assigned tasks to the three company commanders under him: "Comrades, the brigade commander sent us a telegram, ordering us to launch a sudden attack on them while the German army was not yet firmly established, and catch them off guard."
As soon as he finished speaking, the company commander said in embarrassment: "Comrade Battalion Commander, look, there is no moon in the sky, the visibility is low, and people can't be seen clearly if the attack is launched for more than ten steps. How can we command the troops?"
"That's right, Comrade Battalion Commander." As soon as the first company commander finished speaking, the second company commander added: "Stop commanding the troops, if the melee starts, even the enemy and me will not be able to distinguish them."
After the two company commanders' opinions were expressed, Vanya did not speak, but looked at the third company commander and asked, "Third Company Commander, you can also say what you think."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, see if we asked the soldiers to tie a white towel on their arms." The third company commander saw that the battalion commander was asking himself, and quickly replied: "This can also play a role in identification in the melee."
"No, you can't use a white towel." Vanya said without hesitation about the third company commander's proposal: "Not mentioning the towel tied to the arm, will it fall off during the battle for various reasons. Even if it doesn't fall off, when you see a group of dark people rushing towards you, your instinctive reaction is to pull the trigger, and you have no time to identify whether the towel tied to the other party's arm..."
Seeing that his proposal was rejected by Vanya, the third company commander asked a little depressedly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, then tell me, how should we command and how to identify the enemy and me in the next attack?"
"At this time, we can only take risks." Wanya said to the three company commanders, "We divide our troops into three groups and launch an attack in three directions at the same time. Remember, after you return to your respective companies, you must tell the soldiers that they can only rush forward and never look back. In this way, those who appear in front of us are our enemies, so that the soldiers can just shoot at the other side."
"This is a good idea." As soon as Wanya's plan was proposed, it immediately received the approval of the three company commanders. The first company commander said: "Three companies attacked in different directions at the same time. In this way, our soldiers only need to shoot at the figures appearing in front of them to avoid accidental injuries to the greatest extent. A good idea, this is a good idea."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, I still have another question." Just as Vanya was about to order everyone to return to the company to prepare, the third company commander suddenly raised another question: "I think everyone knows very well that we are at a disadvantage in terms of military strength and equipment. Taking advantage of the night and launching an unexpected attack on the enemy, you can catch the enemy off guard in the shortest time and put them in chaos. But what should we do if the battle continues until dawn and the enemy figures out our details?"
The concerns of the third company commander resonated with the two company commanders: "Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander. Now there are only two hours left before dawn. If we cannot solve the enemy within two hours, the situation will become unfavorable to us after dawn."
"Don't worry about this." Out of trust in Sokov, Wanya felt that his brigade commander must have taken into account all the issues that should be considered, so he swears to his three subordinates: "I think with the brigade commander's character, he will never let us suffer. When the day dawns, he will not only ask his superiors to provide us with air support, but also have friendly artillery fire to cooperate with us to encircle and annihilate the enemy in front of us."
After dawn, the air force and artillery were assisting in the war, and the concerns of the three company commanders disappeared. They stood up at the same time, looked at Wanya in front of them and said, "Comrade Battalion Commander, are we allowed to return to the army to arrange tasks?"
"Of course you are allowed to leave." Because the light was too dark, even if it was close, Vanya still couldn't see the faces of the three company commanders. However, he nodded to the direction of the sound and said with a smile: "You go back as soon as possible to assign tasks to the soldiers. Our attack will begin in twenty minutes, so that the soldiers will prepare for all combat."
Chapter completed!