Sokov looked at the infantry who followed behind the tank, used the crater to quickly approach the front position, and was worried that the platoon on the position would not be able to resist them by relying solely on the position, so he picked up the phone and connected the command post of the Second Battalion.
As soon as the phone was heard, he said bluntly: "Is it Captain Vasily? I am Sokov! The German army is charging towards the first battalion positions. You immediately let two machine guns shoot at the infantry following the tank. Do you understand?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, hasn't the first battalion given up its position and retreated?" Vasily said somewhat surprised: "If we fire too early, will the firepower points on the position be exposed?"
"The first battalion also left a platoon of soldiers to hold their positions." Sokov understood in his heart that the other party was worried that there was no one in the front line. Fired too early not only had a low hit rate, but also easily exposed the target. He quickly said to him: "If you don't provide fire support for them, it will be difficult for them to defend their positions."
"But, comrade brigade commander, we don't have anti-tank weapons." Vasily said with little confidence: "It's no problem to eliminate the infantry behind the tanks. But we have nothing to do with the enemy tanks."
"Of course, the artillery company will deal with the enemy's tanks." Sokov said loudly at the microphone: "You can't let our artillery use armor-piercing bullets to destroy the enemy's infantry."
"I understand, comrade comrade commander." Vasily learned that the enemy's tank had artillery to deal with it, and immediately replied loudly: "We will cooperate with the comrades of the first battalion to eliminate the enemy's infantry."
After receiving Sokov's order, Vasily rushed to the trench on the hillside, arranged two machine guns to aim at the German infantry that were approaching the frontier of friendly forces. But when the enemy entered a range of 800 meters, a machine gunner beside Vasily asked in a low voice: "Comrade Battalion Commander, can we shoot?"
"Wait a little longer." Although the German infantry had entered an effective range of 800 meters, Vasily knew very well that if he opened fire now, the chance of hitting the target would be very low. Therefore, he said decisively: "Put the enemy closer and then hit it."
The machine gunner said anxiously: "But if the enemy is put too close, the bullet will hit his own people."
"The front of the first battalion is 350 meters away from our position, and wait until the enemy is still 500 meters away before firing." Vasily calculated the range of the machine gun like an old accountant: "At that time, your shooting target will be 150 meters away from the trench of the first battalion. As long as they do not launch a counter-charge, the bullet will never hit their own people."
While Vasily was setting up shooting missions to his subordinates, the six cannons on the top of the mountain were still firing at the enemy's tanks. Sokov stood in the observation center, staring at the shells that exploded around the tanks, thinking in his mind that the German tanks had no elevation angle, and faced with our artillery fire attacks, they could only choose to avoid them and could not conduct effective counterattacks. It seemed that there should be no problem to repel the enemy's attack.
When the platoon of commanders and fighters who remained on the front line saw the enemy tanks and armored vehicles rushing towards him, they thought they would die here today, but soon they found that they were overthinking. The tanks that opened the road in front had to slow down their speed because more and more bullet craters appeared. As a result, one of them was destroyed by artillery soldiers on the top of the hill and burned violently more than 300 meters in front of the trenches. None of the tanks inside could escape.
The German infantry was not much better, but the platoon leader of the defending army saw that the enemy was still 150 meters away from the trench and was about to order the soldiers to shoot, but the machine guns on the hills in the rear sounded, blocking the enemy's way forward. After the German soldiers who rushed in the front were knocked down, the ones behind continued to rush forward, but still did not escape the fate of being knocked down. Seeing that the companions in front were shot into sieve by the machine gun, they fell to the ground while storming, and the remaining soldiers hid in the crater.
Cannons and machine guns on the hills firmly blocked the Germans' way forward. As tanks were destroyed one after another, the infantry hiding in the craters were scared. They realized that if they continued to stay, it would be the end of the entire army's destruction, so they used the craters to turn back.
Captain Vasily in the fortification on the hillside saw that the enemy had already escaped, and quickly ordered the machine gun to stop shooting: "Stop, stop shooting. The escaped enemies are too scattered, and it is difficult for us to eliminate them all, so don't waste bullets anymore."
The second lieutenant of the artillery standing beside Sokov, saw that all the German tanks were destroyed by artillery, and most of the infantry attacking with the tanks were also destroyed, so he reminded Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest you hide the artillery on the top of the hill immediately."
"Why?" Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, didn't you say that the enemy's artillery fire would be difficult to hit the top of the mountain?"
"There is no possibility that the artillery fire hit the top of the mountain," the artillery lieutenant said to Sokov: "But if the enemy dispatches aircraft to bomb, it's hard to say."
Sokov agreed with the second lieutenant of the artillery, and he quickly called Porochenko and told him: "Comrade Lieutenant, immediately pull all the artillery into the tunnel and hide it."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Porochenko, who had just won the battle, asked with confusion: "Although we have just repelled the enemy's attack, they will definitely not be willing to fail and will make a comeback soon. I suggest that we continue to stay on the top of the mountain and use artillery fire to destroy the enemy's tanks..."
"Comrade Lieutenant, obey the orders and immediately pull all the artillery back into the tunnel." Sokov said to Porochenko in a stern tone: "The Germans are certainly unwilling to let their soldiers go back soon. But if before they attack, planes are sent to bomb the place, do you think your artillery will survive the bombing?"
Sokov's words were all about this. If Porochenko could not understand it, Sokov planned to change to another person to serve as the artillery company commander. Porochenko quickly stepped forward and agreed: "Yes, comrade brigade commander, we will transfer the artillery back to the tunnel immediately!" Then he ran towards the artillery position not far away, and was about to shout loudly, "Brothers, transfer the position and immediately transfer all the artillery to the tunnel."
The soldiers of the artillery company had just won the battle and wiped out seven enemy tanks and two armored vehicles. They were having fun. Suddenly, they heard the company commander shouting to transfer all the artillery back to the tunnel, and they were definitely unhappy. Although the superior's orders must be implemented, it is still possible to make a little move during the execution. The soldiers were slowly packing up the things on the position, dragging the artillery toward the entrance of the tunnel, but they couldn't wait to see the German army launch another attack so that they could stay and continue to shell the enemy with justification.
However, the Germans had just suffered a defeat, so they could not start a new attack so quickly. Until the last artillery was dragged into the tunnel, the Germans' attack did not begin. The artillery soldiers were thinking: Comrade Brigade Commander is so nervous. In our position, even if the Germans bombarded us, they might not be able to hit us, but they insisted that we withdraw back to the tunnel.
At the end, Porochenko was also thinking in his mind: Now that the artillery has been pulled into the tunnel, when the German army launches a new round of attacks, we have to pull out the artillery again and re-arrange the artillery positions. It is really troublesome.
At this moment, a strange roar suddenly came from the air, from far to near. As an artillery commander, Porochenko naturally knew better than others. This was the sound of shells cutting through the air when flying in the air. He hurriedly shouted loudly at the observation center where Sokov was: "Arson, hide, comrade comrade, hide quickly!"
In fact, it was not only Porochenko who heard the whistle of the shells, but also the artillery lieutenant who was staying in the observation center heard it. His face suddenly turned pale and he shouted at Sokov: "No, shelling!" Then he suddenly threw Sokov to the ground.
After a shocking explosion, Sokov, who was lying on the ground, felt that his internal organs were shaken and moved. With the help of the artillery lieutenant, he stood up with difficulty. Before he could speak, the lieutenant had approached his ear and shouted loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please go back to the command center immediately. The enemy launched a shelling attack on Mamayevgang, and it is not safe to stay outside."
When Sokov heard the lieutenant of the artillery, he was about to ask if the top of the hill was not easy to be bombarded? But he heard the lieutenant of the artillery continued: "The enemy used a 305mm heavy artillery. Even if he could not directly hit the target, the shock wave generated during the explosion could still shake people to death."
Sokov heard this and knew that if he continued to stay here, his life would be in danger, so he did not persist. He rushed to the artillery lieutenant and said loudly: "Comrade Lieutenant, you should also withdraw the tunnel as soon as possible. If something goes wrong with you, no one will indicate the shooting direction for the artillery on the east coast!"
"Ltd. Colonel," the artillery lieutenant stood there without moving his nest, but said to Sokov: "I will take advantage of the opportunity of the German heavy artillery firing to measure their location, and then call on the artillery on the east coast to destroy them."
From the words of the Second Artillery Lieutenant, Sokov understood that no matter how fierce the artillery fire was here, the artillery observers would not leave their posts. They would guide the artillery fire behind them to suppress the enemy after testing the enemy's artillery location. Looking at the brave artillery Lieutenant in front of him, Sokov's eyes turned red. He grabbed the opponent's hand and shook it hard for a few times, and said, "Be careful!" Then he stumbled back to the tunnel from the hidden entrance.
When Sokov returned to the command center, Berkin saw that he was covered in dirt and asked with concern: "Comrade Brigade Commander, are you injured?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and replied, "The enemy has started shelling our positions again. The dust on my body was brought to me when I was lying down to avoid the cannon."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidolin walked around Sokov and asked curiously: "Have the frontier position been defended?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, our frontier positions have been defended." Sokov said as usual: "As the defenders received the support of artillery and machine guns from the Nangang, the attacking enemy had lost more than half of them before they approached the trenches and had to retreat in shame."
Sidolin raised his hand and dusted off the soil that fell on his shoulders and continued to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is the enemy's shelling more violent than just now?"
"I heard from the artillery comrades that the enemy used 305 mm heavy artillery." Although there was a layer of soil worth ten meters above his head, Sokov still said guiltily: "I hope our fortifications can withstand the enemy's artillery."
Belkin felt that the ground was trembling slightly as each shell landed and exploded, and couldn't help but sigh: "If the first battalion was still on its original position, casualties would definitely be inevitable."
"That's right." Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement: "The original position of the first battalion could not withstand such shelling. If we had not transferred them, there would have been heavy casualties at this moment."
Cui Kov's phone call came in at this time, and he asked cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I heard that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery to launch violent shelling on Nangang and the frontier positions. How about it, can your frontier positions withstand such shelling?"
"No, comrade Commander, the fortifications on the frontier cannot withstand such artillery attacks." Sokov knew that it must be the artillery commander on the east coast who reported to Cui Kov specifically after learning that the enemy used heavy artillery, and replied truthfully: "Even if the artillery shells cannot destroy the fortifications of our army, the soldiers hiding in the fortifications will be shocked to death by the huge shock wave."
"Sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Cuikov suddenly apologized to him unexpectedly: "It was my stubbornness that harmed the commanders and fighters of the first battalion. If you follow your prior orders, they should be in a relatively safe place at this moment, rather than sacrificing their lives in vain as they are now."
Sokov was originally worried about his disobedience. When he heard Cui Kov say this, he immediately realized that the crisis had ended and quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, I want to forgive you for your order to stop the transfer of the first battalion. I did not implement the order you ordered me to stop the transfer of the first battalion. Now there is only one platoon in the front line, and the main force of the first battalion has been transferred to the reverse slope position in Nangang."
When Cuikov heard Sokov say this, he was stunned at first, and then laughed and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you would still be able to disobey the battlefield. Are you not afraid that I will send it to the military court?"
"I'm afraid, I'm very scared." Sokov knew from the tone of Cuikov's speech that he would not pursue the matter again, and quickly said: "But in order to avoid unnecessary casualties from the commanders and fighters of the first battalion, I can only risk going to the military court and break your orders and let them retreat to a safe place."
Chapter completed!