After completing the dressing of the troops on the south side of the hillside, Gurdiev felt uneasy, so he sent a fifteen-man reconnaissance team led by a lieutenant and carried a radio station to lurk five kilometers south of the position to closely monitor the enemy's movements.
Sokov agreed with Gurdiev's arrangement: "Comrade Colonel, you are right. Send troops to lurk far away from the position. Once the enemy is found, you can call the police through the radio in time, so as to buy time for preparation for the comrades who are holding their positions."
Although he sent a reconnaissance team, Gurdiev still felt that he was going up and down, because the position on the south side was too simple. Apart from the two trenches connected by traffic trenches, there were only four or five hastily built civil and industrial fire points, with captured MG34 machine guns installed inside. Such a firepower configuration is OK to deal with the enemy's infantry, but if the enemy has tanks, it will not be able to stop it.
He frowned and asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, see if we need to lead wire and lay minefields in front of the position, so as not to rush to the position with just one charge."
"Col. Gurdiev, are you planning to tell the Germans that the position here has been occupied by our army?" Sokov sneered after Gurdiev finished speaking and retorted: "If there is nothing in front of the newly dug trenches, even if there are German troops nearby, they will not feel that this place has been occupied by our army. But once they see barbed wire and minefields in front of the position, even fools will understand that the enemy is hiding in the position. Then they will use artillery fire to bombard us. How many obstacles do you think will be left in front of the position after the dense shelling is over?"
"Okay." Seeing that Sokov insisted on not laying any obstacles in front of the position, Gurdiev could only agree with a stern promise: "Since you said that, I will obey your orders and set up any minefields and barbed wires in front of the position." After saying this, he sighed and added, "I hope the enemy will not see through us."
When Sokov returned to the command center, he saw Bere talking to Askel, and asked curiously: "Captain, you said your division can come here to meet us within three hours. But now three hours have passed, why haven't you seen them appear yet?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Askel couldn't help but blush and said embarrassedly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although the division commander once said that the troops can arrive here to take over your defense within three hours. However, the troops are scattered in different places, and it takes a long time to assemble."
In fact, Sokov did not mean to blame Askel. He knew very well that most of the Soviet troops were backward in communication, and the radio stations were only equipped to the regiment level. To convey orders to the battalions and companies below, they could only send orders through wired telephones or communication soldiers. It would be better to concentrate the troops. If they were too dispersed, let alone a few hours, even if they were more than ten hours, it would not be easy to gather the troops.
Just as Sokov was planning to ask Askel to send a soldier back to contact him, Guchakov suddenly ran in from outside and said excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Lieutenant Samoilov, the third platoon leader, brought people back."
"Oh, Samoilov is back?!" Sokov heard that Samoilov was back, and guessed that the other party must have brought back some important news, and asked quickly: "Where is he?"
Guchakov replied: "I saw a few of them crossing the river, and maybe they would be here in a few minutes."
Sokov could not sit still, so he stood up and said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, let's go out and have a look!"
Several people came to the trenches outside and looked down the hillside. Sure enough, they saw Samoilov and several soldiers sitting on wooden boats, rowing their oars desperately so that they could board the south shore as soon as possible.
After waiting for five or six minutes, the wooden boat that Samoilov and others were riding on finally docked on the south bank. But when they got off the boat and walked towards the hillside, Bere suddenly sighed. Sokov turned his head and looked at Berere and asked curiously: "Col. Birere, why are you sighing?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Bere pointed at the hillside and said to Sokov: "I just calculated the time. It took Lieutenant Samoilov and his team to paddle over from the other side for five or six minutes. No wonder our army could not capture the position that was held by a battalion of the German army with one division. I guess most of the commanders and fighters died under the dense firepower of the enemy when crossing the river."
"You are right." Sokov also realized the seriousness of the problem after hearing what Bere said. He nodded quickly and said, "So he must try every means to defend this place and not let the enemy take it over again, otherwise we still don't know how many commanders and soldiers will sprinkle blood on this land."
"Comrade Brigade Commander!" As soon as Samoilov jumped into the trench, he saw Sokov and Bere standing not far away. He quickly walked over and straightened his body and reported, "I'm back!"
"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov asked unhappily when he thought that the boy had no news for several hours: "I asked you to find a friendly army, but you disappeared. Tell me, what's going on?"
"That's right, comrade comrade commander." Samoilov saw Sokov's unhappy look, and quickly explained: "We arrived at the division headquarters of the 292nd Division, contacted Colonel Korogotsky, and handed your radio contact code to the commander of the 24th Army.... I originally wanted to return as soon as possible, but Colonel Korogotsky said we had worked so hard, so he left us to rest in his division headquarters..."
When he learned that the other party came from the headquarters of the 292nd Division, Sokov continued to ask: "Line Samoilov, Colonel Korogotsky said when will his troops arrive here?"
"According to the plan, the vanguard troops sent by Colonel Korogotsky should have arrived here. However, a German army was found nearby, and the vanguard troops temporarily changed direction to eliminate the enemy." Samoilov explained to Sokov: "The Colonel was worried that you were anxious, so he sent us back to report to you."
"Are Germans appearing nearby?" Sokov asked quickly: "What kind of Germans are there, how many people are there, and what kind of weapons are they equipped?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, don't worry," Samoilov continued: "I heard from Colonel Korogotsky that there were only about one hundred German soldiers, probably paratroopers airdropped to the rear of our army. Except for a few mortars, they were all light weapons and could be easily eliminated."
Although he was just a paratrooper equipped with light weapons, Sokov was worried about Yakov and the others in his heart. Although there was another battalion and guard battalion beside him, there were so many wounded people, which would have some impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops. Therefore, he asked nervously: "Lin Samoilov, have you seen Major Yakov and the others on the way back?"
Chapter completed!