As soon as Sokov returned to his command, he was welcomed by everyone. Belkin held his hand and said excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are back, and the commanders and soldiers of the brigade have been thinking about you."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Sokov held Belkin's hand and said excitedly: "I have been thinking about you all the time. How about it, the enemy has not moved, right?"
"No, comrade comrade commander." The person who answered Sokov's question was Chief of Staff Cydolin. After a period of running-in, he had fully adapted to the working environment of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. "There is very quiet near Mamayev's hill. There was no trace of the enemy found, nor had it been bombarded or bombed by the enemy."
"Have the Third Battalion returned?" Although the Third Battalion led by Andre left the Aksai River defense line a day ago, Sokov was worried that they were recruited by other troops on the way, so he asked specifically.
"I'm back!" Hearing Sokov's question, Belkin replied happily: "When the entire battalion left, there were only more than 800 people, but when he came back, there were more than 1,200 people, and six 76.2 mm cannons, so that we will be more sure of defending Mamayev's hill."
Just as Sokov was about to call Andre over and ask about the supplementary situation of the Ninth Company, the phone ringing on the table rang. Sidorin picked up the phone and listened for a while, then held the microphone and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the first battalion report, found the German tank in the northwest direction of the railway."
"German's tanks?" The news from Sidolin surprised Sokov. Although the German army was approaching Stalingrad step by step, Mamayev's hill was the Soviet defense depth after all. The enemy could rush here, which means that they had successfully broken through a series of defense lines of the Soviet army. He hurriedly asked: "How many tanks do the enemy have?"
Sidolin quickly asked into the microphone: "Brig Commander, how many tanks are there in the enemy?" After a moment, his brow frowned, "What, don't know? What are you doing for food? You can't even figure out the number of enemy tanks..."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov interrupted Cidolin and asked with a serious expression: "Who called?"
"It's Captain Vanya, the first battalion commander," Sidolin quickly covered the microphone and reported to Sokov: "He said he was close to the railway checkpoint and found an enemy tank in the distance. He felt it was necessary to report to the brigade headquarters, so he called."
"Give me the phone number." Sokov walked over, took the phone and posted it in his ear: "Hey, Captain Vanya? I'm Sokov. Tell me in detail about your situation. What's going on?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, are you back?" Vanya asked in surprise.
"I just came back. Comrade Captain, it is not the time to reminisce about the past. Report the situation there to me in detail."
"That's right, comrade brigade commander." Vanya quickly replied respectfully: "A few minutes ago, the sentry reported to me that he saw dust flying in the distance, and it seemed that a tank unit was sailing towards us."
"Can you confirm that these tanks are all enemy?" Sokov said coldly: "Even if they are enemy tanks, you should figure out how many and what model they are."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I was wrong." Wanya hurriedly expressed his opinion to Sokov, "I will send someone to send you a clear message immediately."
"I'll give you five minutes." Sokov said in an unquestionable tone: "In five minutes, tell me the details of the enemy." After that, he hung up the phone without waiting for the other party to speak.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Cidolin asked cautiously, "Will five minutes be too little?"
"A lot, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov stared at Cidolin and said, "If it were really German tank troops, five minutes would be enough for them to cross the railway line and rush to the vicinity of Mamayev's hill. Where is the six cannons that Andre brought back?"
Sokov's jumping thinking made Sidolin stunned. He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Just hide behind Mamayev's hill."
"Chief of Staff, immediately call the third battalion commander Captain Andrei and the artillery company commander Lieutenant Porochenko." Sokov said in an orderly tone: "The speed must be fast, I will assign combat missions to them."
Five minutes later, Sokov called the first battalion command and asked straight to the point: "Captain Vanya, have you figured it out? What kind of troops does the enemy have?"
"Yes, comrade comrade, I figured it out." Vanya replied on the phone: "This may be a fast column of the German army. In addition to a No. 4 tank, there are five light tanks of 35t and 38t models, and the same number of armored personnel carriers."
"I understand." After figuring out the enemy's troops, Sokov continued: "Let your soldiers prepare for battle immediately. You must not let the enemy's tanks cross your defense line, do you understand?"
"But, comrade brigade commander, our battalion does not have anti-tank weapons." Wanya said embarrassedly: "It is very difficult to block the enemy's tanks. Do you see, have the military dog ​​company be transferred?"
"No, Comrade Captain, this is definitely not possible." Sokov knew very well how the dog company that was used on the blade was specially responsible for bombing German tanks. How could it be used to deal with German light tanks? So he said simply: "Since the enemy is all light tanks, you can blow it up with cluster grenades. Don't worry, I won't let you fight alone, you will get artillery support."
As soon as I put down the phone, Andrei and Porochenko walked into the tent. Sokov said to Porochenko: "Comrade Lieutenant, I have brought six 76.2mm cannons from other places. From now on, I will be officially equipped for your company."
Porochenko, who had been an infantryman for a long time, was overjoyed when he heard Sokov say this and quickly said, "It's great, it's great. But Comrade Brigade Commander, where are these cannons now?"
Sokov pointed his hand at Andre: "You have to ask Captain Andre for this, because he brought the cannons back."
"Lt. Porochenko," Andre smiled at Porochenko and said, "I will take you to receive these artillery later."
"Don't wait, go now." Sokov said to the two: "A fast column of the German army is coming towards our Mamayev hill. Lieutenant Porochenko, I order you now to establish artillery positions on the hillside immediately and bombard the German rapid column. And you, Captain Andre, draw some soldiers to help the artillery company push the artillery up the hillside."
It is quite simple to push the cannons up the hillside, but it is not that easy to implement them. After all, the cannons are so heavy, and there is no decent road to go up the hill. Even if you get the help of the warriors of the Third Battalion, it is not possible to pull all the cannons up the mountain in a short time.
Sokov and Belkin came to the observation room on the hillside through the tunnel. When he raised his telescope and looked into the distance, he saw the enemy tanks parked about 300 meters away from the frontier position of the first battalion, bombarding the fire points of the machine guns with artillery fire, covering the soldiers behind him jumped off the armored vehicles, and quickly seized the favorable terrain.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Berkin seemed a little anxious when he saw his troops being crushed by German tanks: "The first battalion has no anti-tank weapons, and they are at a disadvantage in fighting such a battle."
"We are at a disadvantage in equipment, and there are still many such battles to fight in the future." Seeing Belkin's worried look, Sokov comforted him and said, "But don't worry, the enemy is all light tanks, and they cannot break through the first position. As long as they are close to our trenches, Vanya will arrange for the soldiers to blow up these tanks with cluster grenades."
What happened next surprised Sokov. Suddenly, an armored train with only one carriage came from the factory area to the north. Since this armored train had to travel back and forth twice a day, Sokov also recognized that it was the No. 74 armored train. Its armored carriage adopts a unique three-turret structure, with two large turrets in the front and rear each equipped with a M1902/30 76.2mm gun, and the small turret in the middle uses the turret of the T-26 light tank.
The armored train drove to the middle of the two armies and stopped. The three turrets on the roof fired at the enemy not far away at the same time. The armored train opened fire at such a close distance, and the shells easily tore open the thin armor on the front of the German light tank. After the violent explosion, the turret was blown up.
The artillery on the train continued to fire, and the German tanks were beaten to a terrible surprise. Turrets flew into the sky with the explosion, and were blown open and turned into burning torches one by one.
Seeing this, Sokov said with emotion: "The German light tanks are simply vulnerable in front of our armored trains. Comrade Political Commissar, look, the German infantry began to retreat. If Vanya was smarter, he should have commanded the troops to launch a charge, and maybe he could wipe out all the enemies."
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he saw countless soldiers jumping out of the trenches and rushing towards the German soldiers who were fleeing in a panic. Without the armored train, these German soldiers would have a chance to escape after the failure of the attack. But now they are within the range of the firepower of the armored train. When they run to the left, the shells will fall to the left; when they flee to the right, the shells will also fall to the right, forcing them to return to the middle lane and raise their hands obediently to surrender to the commanders and soldiers of the first battalion.
This battle ended after only ten minutes due to the Soviet armored trains participating in the battle. At this time, the artillery company and the soldiers of the Third Battalion were still pulling artillery on the hillside.
"Great, comrade brigade commander, this is simply amazing." After witnessing the entire battle, Belkin said excitedly: "If we could have more armored trains like this, no matter how many enemies come, we would smash their attack."
"Comrade Political Commissar, you are too optimistic." Seeing that Belkin was a little proud, Sokov quickly reminded him: "Don't look at the armored train's strong power and powerful firepower, it can withstand the attack of small-caliber artillery, and it also has certain air defense capabilities. It can even be used as a tool for carrying infantry to assist friendly forces in rapid maneuvers.
However, its shortcomings are also obvious. For example, it relies entirely on a complete railway network. Once the enemy destroys the railway in the direction of the armored train during combat, it will stop on the railway tracks and become a target for enemy artillery or aircraft attacks. Therefore, for armored trains, intact railway transportation lines are more important than guns and cannons on the train. Also, the operation of the train requires sufficient water and coal, and the dependence on logistics is very serious."
Belkin pondered for a long time about Sokov's statement, and finally nodded, saying, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right. Although the armored train is not small, if the railway line on which it depends for survival is destroyed, it can only stop there and move. The final outcome is either to be blown up by German artillery fire or planes, or to be seized by the Germans, and then turn the gun to hit us."
Sokov used a telescope to watch the soldiers in the distance cleaning the battlefield, and couldn't help but say to himself: "Those armored vehicles seem to be intact. People should drive them back and hide them. Maybe they will be used one day."
Fortunately, there was a telephone in the observation center. Sokov picked up the phone on the table and called the tank company. The company commander Alitai, who was answering the phone, said loudly: "Lieutenant Alitai, it's me Sokov. I'll tell you good news. In the battle that just ended, the first battalion seized several German armored vehicles. You can immediately take people to drive them all back, and then find a place to hide."
"There are only armored vehicles, what about the tank?" Alitai asked with a hint of luck: "Has not a tank been seized?"
"No, Comrade Lieutenant, the German tanks were destroyed by our armored trains." Sokov urged: "Don't be too slow, hurry up and take people to drive the armored car back."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Alitai asked Sokov specifically before he was about to put down the phone: "After driving the armored vehicle back, you need to re-paint it, apply the white cross on it, and replace it with our five-star?"
"No, everything remains the same." Sokov suddenly had a new idea in his mind. He felt that when the battle broke out near Mamayev's hill, these armored vehicles might be used for a big purpose. Therefore, he specifically reminded Alitai: "Remember, after the armored vehicles come back, you must hide and never be blown up by German planes."
Chapter completed!