After Yakov looked over and saw the contents of the telegram, he said in confusion: "Misha, I am forgiving that the order given to you by General Cuikov is too ambiguous. If you say it, it means you have not said it. Let you act according to the opportunity, should you continue to stick to Orlovka and wait for the reinforcements that will appear? Or should you decide to break through when the situation is not good? Whether you choose to stick to it or break through, once Orlovka falls into the hands of the Germans, your superiors will hold you accountable."
Sokov thought about it and felt that Yakov was very reasonable, so he smiled bitterly without expressing any opinion. He turned his head and looked at the radio operator next to him and said to him: "I inform Colonel Gurdiev, Major Tenev, Captain Vanya, to come to me for a short meeting after dark."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the radio operator waited for Sokov to finish his speech, and asked tentatively: "Where is Colonel Bie Lei, should you notify him too?"
If it weren't for the radio operator's reminder, Sokov almost forgot Bielei. You should know that the meeting held tonight would discuss the issue of how to break through. The direction of the breakthrough was to be in the north controlled by Bielei. If he did not attend, the meeting would not be discussed in any substantial content. Therefore, he nodded and said to the radio operator: "That's right, Colonel Bielei will also attend to tonight's meeting. Remember to notify him later."
Taking advantage of the time when the radio operator sent telegrams to several commanders, Yakov approached Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Misha, have you really decided to break through?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded and said in a affirmative tone: "Now the enemy has separated us from the main force, and we can't get any supplies here. Once the ammunition and food are exhausted, no matter how brave the commanders and soldiers are, they cannot escape the fate of being killed in battle or being captured. In order to prevent this situation, we must take the initiative and launch a breakthrough operation before the troops fall into a desperate situation and jump out of the enemy's encirclement."
"Misha, I'll ask you a question very seriously." Yakov looked at Sokov and asked with a serious expression: "Do you have only one way to break through now?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded and said seriously: "Under the current situation, we can only choose to break through, otherwise there will be a danger of the entire army being destroyed."
Yakov continued, "Do you really think that reinforcements outside the encirclement cannot rush in and meet with us?"
Sokov thought, not to mention now, even if he waited for another month, the reinforcements outside the encirclement could not reach Orlovka. When the logistics supply was cut off, sticking to this place would be like a death. However, he could not tell Yakov that everything that happened in front of him was recorded in the book. The Soviet counterattack not only did not achieve ideal results, but would make the situation in Stalingrad even more severe. If he really said that, Yakov would definitely regard him as a psychopath. Therefore, he said vaguely: "Yakov, we don't know when the reinforcements outside the encirclement will arrive, and with our existing weapons, equipment and soldiers, we will not last long. Instead of making unnecessary sacrifices here, it is better to jump out of the enemy's encirclement as soon as possible, preserve our strength and continue fighting with the enemy."
After hearing this, Yakov remained silent. He was quietly thinking about what Sokov said. After a long time, he sighed and said, "Misha, I understand your current situation. It seems that breaking through is the only choice. Don't worry, do what you want. If the superior blames you, I will explain it for you."
Yakov's words gave Sokov a reassurance. The reason why he sent a telegram to Cuikov was to make his breakthrough move legitimate. However, Cuikov's brief call made him feel uneasy. Now with Yakov's guarantee, Sokov's heart has finally been put back in his stomach. Even if his superiors have to hold him accountable in the future, with Yakov as an endorsement, the matter will be left in the end.
After dark, several commanders who received the notice came to the hill where the Sokov command was located. Therefore, the space in the command center was too narrow to accommodate so many people, so everyone could only sit at the door for a meeting.
Seeing that everyone was here, Sokov said, "Comrades Commanders, I have called everyone here for a meeting today to notify you that Orlovka can no longer hold on. I plan to lead the troops to break through and jump out of the German encirclement."
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, everyone began to discuss. When they received the notice of the meeting, they thought Sokov was going to deploy defense matters. Unexpectedly, as soon as they spoke, they mentioned breaking through, which was beyond everyone's expectations.
After a while, the discussion gradually stopped. Gurdiev stood up and asked on behalf of everyone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I want to ask, is it the order of the superior to give up Orlovka's breakthrough, or what do you mean?"
"Col. Gurdiev," Sokov said calmly in response to Gurdiev's doubts: "I have reported to Commander Cuikov about the breakthrough and have been allowed."
When he learned that Cuikov had agreed to let the troops break through, Gurdiev did not ask again and said briefly: "I have no problem." Then he sat down again.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," said Gurdiev, who then asked Major Tenev after sitting down. He stood up and asked, "As far as I know, our roads to the south and east have been blocked by the Germans. I want to ask, where are you planning to break through?" The question asked by Tenev was exactly what everyone was concerned about. Everyone's eyes were focused on Sokov, waiting patiently for him to give his final answer.
Unexpectedly, Sokov's reply surprised everyone again: "Comrades in command, I plan to break through from the north..."
"What, breaking from the north?" Several commanders were stunned by the answer. According to their ideas, Sokov's breakthrough direction was either east or south, and the possibility of choosing the east was the greatest, because only by breaking through a line of defense of the German army, he could join the friendly forces on the opposite side. Who knew that Sokov chose to break north, which made everyone confused. After a long time, Svellin, the political commissar of the 308th Infantry Division, asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I heard it right? Break to the north, you must know that the enemy gathered a large number of troops in the north. If you break through in that direction, wouldn't it mean that a sheep entered the tiger's mouth?"
Svellin's words resonated with everyone. Except for Yakov and Bere, who knew the inside story, everyone agreed that Sokov might have said it wrong. He wanted to say it to the east or south, but because he was too excited, he had a slip of the tongue.
Sokov raised his hands and pressed down. After several commanders were quiet again, he continued: "Comrades Commander, you heard it right. The direction I chose to break through is north. Yes, there are a large number of German troops in this direction, but their defense directions are all north to prevent General Rokosovsky's troops from moving closer to us. If we launch an unexpected attack from behind, we will definitely catch them off guard."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, would it be too risky to do this?" Tenev asked cautiously: "After all, several armies cannot break through the enemy's defense line. Can we, one thousand people, break through?"
"Misha," Yakov heard this and leaned close to Sokov's ear and whispered: "Do you see if you ask the troops to report the number of troops and see how many troops there are?"
Considering that the troops had fought during the day and there were some casualties, Sokov stood up and asked, "All commanders, tell me your existing forces."
The first person to stand up was Gurdiev. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "Our division launched several counterattacks to the enemy's positions during the day, so the casualties were a bit serious. At present, there are still 937 people in the division, including more than 200 minor and serious wounded people."
When Sokov learned that there were less than a thousand people left in the 308th Infantry Division, the muscles on his face couldn't help but twitch violently. He didn't expect that in just one day, the unit lost nearly half of its strength. After Sokov recorded the number of people in the division in his notebook, he asked Tenev: "Comrade Major, how many people are there in your guard battalion?"
"There are 197 people in the battalion, and there are about 40 minor and serious injuries." After reporting the numbers, Tnev asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, although we have a little fewer people, we are fully qualified for the main attack mission."
Sokov directly chose to ignore the words behind Tnev, and he turned his attention to Vanya. Before he could speak, Vanya answered first: "Report to the brigade commander, there are 121 people in the battalion and 14 wounded."
Sokov's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He thought to himself: When he set out from the Red October Factory, the first battalion of Vanya still had more than 600 people, but in less than two days, only one-fifth of the troops were left. When he broke through the German defense and joined Rokosovsky's troops, how many people could this army be left?
After counting the number of troops, Sokov said, "Comrades Commanders, in order to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, we will need to hold on in Orlovka for one day tomorrow. After dark, all the troops will move to the north and carry out a breakthrough operation north under the cover of the tank battalion."
After saying this, Sokov's eyes swept across the people one by one, and then asked: "Who has any questions?"
Gurdiev stood up and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I want to ask, how many tanks can be used in the Tank Battalion? Can they complete the mission of covering the troops' breakthrough?"
"Col. Bere," Sokov immediately turned to Bere, and said, "You will answer this question for you."
Bere nodded and stood up and said to Gurdiev, "Col. Gurdiev, there are 12 tanks we can use. Although the number of tanks is a little smaller, I am confident that I can definitely help the infantry break through the enemy's siege."
Chapter completed!