After Bellei led his troops to the village, he immediately learned about what happened in the village from his subordinates who arrived earlier. After he figured out the whole story, he made a detailed report to Sokov via the radio station.
There was a platoon of German soldiers deployed in the village. They saw two Soviet tanks carrying infantry and drove towards the village, so they found a place to hide. As soon as the tanks entered the village, they immediately opened fire and fired. Shereda and the others were caught off guard. Not only did all the infantry be killed, the two tanks were also destroyed one after another. Although Shereda was lucky enough to escape from the destroyed tank, she was seriously injured.
After listening to Belei's report, Sokov asked cautiously: "Comrade Colonel, have all the enemies in the village cleared?"
"Yes, all the enemies in the village have been cleared." After answering this question, Bere added: "I sent a platoon of soldiers to search in the nearby woods to see if there are any Germans who have missed the net."
"Col. Bere," considering the importance of the small village in his own plan, Sokov emphasized to Berere: "The village you are in is crucial to us, so all the enemies in the village and in the nearby woods must be cleared. Do you understand?"
Bere thought that the importance of Sokov's words meant that the tanks were ambushed in the village, and while the enemy was attacking, he caught the enemy off guard from the flank, and quickly expressed his opinion: "Don't worry, comrade brigade commander, I will definitely clear the enemies in the nearby woods."
Sokov asked someone to dig a cave that could accommodate four or five people on the back slope of the hill to serve as his temporary command center. At the same time, he also asked the communications soldiers to lead a telephone line to the first battalion, the guard battalion and the 308th Infantry Division respectively. In this way, if you want to understand the situation of the troops or convey any orders, you don’t have to send the communications soldiers to run back and forth.
While the correspondent was busy pulling the telephone line, the radio operator squatting in the temporary command center poked his head and shouted at Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the telegram was sent by General Guriyev."
When Sokov heard that it was a telegram sent by Guriyev, an ominous premonition immediately arose in his heart. He hurried to the command center and took the telegram from the radio operator. After reading it, he found that the situation he was facing was very bad, and handed over to the two lines of defense of the 120th Regiment of the Guards, who were now attacked by the German army.
Although Guriev emphasized in the telegram that his subordinates were fighting tenaciously, Sokov knew very well that in the face of such a fierce attack by the German army, the loss of these two lines of defense was only a matter of time. Seeing that his troops retreated south and facing the danger of being cut off, Sokov asked the radio operator to send a message to Cuikov and asked his troops how long they would need to stay in Orlovka.
After the telegram was sent, he waited for a quarter of an hour before Cui Kefu replied to a telegram. The content on the telegram was very simple: "Resolutely defend Orlovka, without orders, and no step is allowed to retreat."
Seeing this telegram that was exactly the same as Order No. 227, Sokov was really amused and wailed. His troops and technical equipment were very limited, without artillery and air force, and he was in this very unfavorable area. If the German army launched a fierce attack, his troops would probably be exhausted in no time.
But since it was the order issued by Cuikov, it meant that there was no room for bargaining, so he could only sigh and then ordered the radio operator: "Call back to the headquarters, I firmly obey the orders of my superiors and guard here at all costs."
Although the telegram showed his determination to live and die with the position, Sokov was unwilling to ruin his life here. Therefore, he turned his attention to the small village in the northwest direction again, thinking to himself: "A dozen kilometers north of Orlovka is the Little Ivanovka where the Rokosovsky headquarters is located. As long as Bere eliminated the enemies in the village, I can lead the troops to retreat there when the situation is unfavorable to us, and then head north from there, break through the enemy's blockade, and rush over to join Rokosovsky's troops."
In the evening, Guriev sent another telegram, and he said in a regretful tone: After the fierce battle, the third line of defense has fallen into the hands of the German army, but he is organizing troops to fight back and try to restore the lost position.
Seeing this telegram, Sokov's heart was cold. He knew very well that with the equipment of the Guards Division, it was harder to regain the lost positions from the hands of the Germans than to climb the sky. Moreover, the loss of the third line of defense was equivalent to causing the troops that were standing on the fourth line of defense to lose contact with the main force of the division. In the end, the defender was either wiped out by the enemy, or retreated to the north and came to meet with him.
But no matter which ending it is, it is something Sokov doesn't want to see. Once the fourth line of defense is lost, it means that the road to the south is blocked; the remnants of the defenders head north, and it seems that their defense has increased, but in a zone that is not conducive to defense, even if the German army does not launch a ground attack, it only takes a long time of artillery and bombing, which is enough to lose most of its combat effectiveness.
Just then, the telephone line had been set up, so Sokov connected to the headquarters of the 308th Infantry Division. Gurdiev, who was answering the phone, said: "Comrade Colonel, the situation in the south of Orlovka is not very good at the moment. You immediately send troops to the south as a warning. Once the enemy is discovered, you will immediately block it."
"I understand, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Gurdiev said politely: "I will immediately send a warning force to the southwest to monitor that direction closely. Once the enemy's movement is discovered, I will report it to you."
Although the situation in the south was critical, Sokov's attention was still focused on the west, because not only did the Germans launch an attack from that direction, but the reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement might also appear from that direction.
Sokov stood on the hill, raised his telescope and looked west, hoping to see some movement. However, in the telescope, there were no moving objects except the grassland that could not be seen at a glance.
Wanya, who was staying at the foot of the hill, saw Sokov observing the terrain on the hill, quickly explained to his deputy, and then trotted to the top of the hill. He asked Sokov with some breath: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have been here for so long, why haven't we seen the shadow of the Germans or reinforcements?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Sokov put down the telescope in his hand and looked at Wanya slowly and said: "The more this happens, the more we commanders should be calm. Do you understand?"
Although Vanya did not understand what Sokov expressed, he still replied habitually, "I understand." After pausing for a moment, he looked at the small village in the distance and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Bere took the remaining tanks to the village in the distance. I wonder when they will come back?"
"When will we come back?" Hearing this question, Sokov's muscles on his face twitched twice. He replied awkwardly: "After we defeat the enemy attacking Orlovka and join the friendly forces rushing in from the periphery of the encirclement, the tank battalion commanded by Colonel Bere will be able to return here."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya realized the seriousness of the problem from Sokov's words, and he asked tentatively: "Do you think reinforcements can come?"
"I am not in command of the reinforcements outside the encirclement." Sokov replied angrily: "How do I know if the reinforcements can come? Our mission is to stay here and wait patiently for the arrival of reinforcements. Without orders, I am not allowed to retreat at all. Do you understand, Comrade Captain?"
"I understand, comrade comrade commander." Vanya nodded and replied, "We will never take a step back until reinforcements appear."
Just as Sokov was about to speak, a telephone set beside him suddenly rang. He grabbed the microphone and put it in his ear and said, "I am Sokov, what's the matter?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I am Gurdiev." Gurdiev's voice came from the receiver, and he said in a panic: "What happened, something big happened!"
"What big thing happened?" Sokov's heart was in his throat. He wondered if the enemy had rushed to the defense zone of the 308th Infantry Division. He hurriedly urged: "Comrade Colonel, what happened? Tell me quickly."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just got the information." Gurdiev said in a heavy tone: "Our position to the east was occupied by the Germans half an hour ago."
"What, the position on the east was occupied by the Germans?" Hearing this bad news, Sokov almost jumped out of the squatting crater. He asked with some angrily: "Col. Gurdiev, don't you have a battalion holding the position? Why was the position taken so quickly by the enemy?"
"That's right, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I did leave a battalion to defend the east." Gurdiev replied in embarrassment: "But after a long battle, there were only twenty or thirty people left in the battalion, which was equivalent to an infantry platoon."
If Gurdiev was in front of Sokov at this moment, Sokov would have thrown the microphone in his hand at the other party without hesitation. After joining with the 308th Infantry Division, Bie Lei would represent himself, let the other party leave more troops to defend the captured positions to prevent the German army from tracing the way out.
But Sokov never dreamed that Gurdiev actually played a word game with him. He said that he had left a battalion's troops to defend the positions in the east. Who knew that the number of people in this battalion was only equivalent to a platoon. With this little force, how could he block the attack of the Germans? He sternly said to the microphone: "Col. Gurdiev, take it back, immediately organize troops to take back the lost positions. If the Germans have a firm foothold there, we will become an isolated army. At that time, the fate we will face will either be sacrificed or be captured by the Germans. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Losing the position caused his retreat to be short of breath. Gurdiev was also a little panicked. He quickly replied: "I will organize my strength immediately and take the position back from the Germans."
Wanya heard some content when he was calling Sokov. When he waited Sokov put down the phone, he asked carefully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what should we do if our retreat is cut off? Keep staying here and waiting for reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement?"
"Captain Vanya!" Sokov waited for Vanya to finish his words and immediately said with a stern face: "Do you really think there will be reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement?" Sokov thought of the last time he received reinforcements here, but in the end, what he waited for was the news that the reinforcements were destroyed. Therefore, he had been unfavorable from the beginning of the plan to meet with reinforcements.
After sending Wanya away, Sokov sat in the crater and pondered for a long time, finally got up and walked back to the temporary command center, and rushed to the radio operator who was sitting inside and said, "Runner, please contact me, Colonel Bere, I have something to do to contact him."
When the radio operator saw Sokov's face turned pale, he immediately realized that something important must have happened, and did not dare to neglect it. He quickly grabbed the sender and started calling Bo Lei. Two minutes later, he handed Sokov the headphones and sender to Sokov and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I've connected, Colonel Bo Lei is waiting to talk to you."
"Col. Bere," Sokov felt it necessary to let Berere understand the current situation, so he did not go around in circles, but said bluntly: "Our retreat was cut off by the Germans."
"What, our retreat has been cut off?" Bere thought Sokov was talking about the road to retreat south. After a moment of silence, he comforted him and said, "It's okay, comrade comrade, even if the road to retreat south is cut off by the enemy, we can still retreat from the east and enter the defense zone of our army..."
"Col. Bere," Sokov interrupted Berere in time and said in a serious tone: "I contact you just want to tell you that our retreat to the east was also cut off by the Germans."
"What's going on?" Sokov's words confused Bere: "Did Colonel Gurdiev put a battalion there to defend, why was the position occupied by the Germans in such a short time?"
Sokov sneered twice, then said in a contemptuous tone: "Yes, Colonel Gurdiev did set up a battalion to defend. However, after a long battle in his battalion, there were only twenty or thirty people left in the battalion, which was only equivalent to the number of infantry platoons. With this little force, it is obviously impossible to block the German attack."
Chapter completed!