In the evening, the troops who came to take over the defense came late.
Sokov stared at the troops crossing the river across the hillside, called Askel over and asked, "Captain, is the troops crossing the river the one from your 292nd Division?"
Unexpectedly, Askel raised his telescope and looked for a while, then shook his head and said, "No, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this unit that is crossing the river is not from our 292nd Division."
"What, isn't your division's troops?" Sokov heard Askel say this, and hurriedly shouted at Samoilov who was standing aside: "Lieutenant, let the soldiers prepare for battle!"
"Wait a minute, lieutenant colonel." Askel quickly called Sokov: "Although we were not from our 292nd Division, there were a few people who were crossing the river that I happened to know. They should be from the 298th Division."
When Sokov learned that the 298th Division was coming, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Samoilov, who had not had time to walk away, "There are no need to let the soldiers prepare for battle. The commanders and soldiers of the 298th Division are crossing the river."
The commanders and soldiers who crossed the river did not immediately climb up the hillside, but lined up by the river. Sokov saw several commanders walking towards the hillside under the protection of more than a dozen soldiers. Askel, who was standing next to him, quickly said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, look, he is Major General Vasilyev, the commander of the 298th Division."
Although Sokov was commanding several colonels, he was just a lieutenant colonel after all. Now a general was walking towards the hillside. If he was still standing in the trenches and still moving, he would be too ignorant. Sokov looked left and right, and Bere, Gurdiev and others were not there, so he decided to greet Vasiliev alone.
Sokov met Vasiliev along the slope, which was still ten meters away. He stopped, stood attentively, raised his hand to his forehead, and said loudly: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, report to you, I obey your orders, please give instructions!"
After Vasiliev raised his hand and returned the salute, he stepped forward and held Sokov's hand, and said with a smile: "It's not simple, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are really not simple. We have been attacking the position that we haven't taken down for a few days, but you took it in just one hour. It's amazing."
Faced with Vasilyev's praise, Sokov grinned silently, and then replied: "Comrade General, we are just lucky and caught the German off guard."
Vasiliev looked at the busy commanders and fighters on the hillside and asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are these your subordinates?"
"It can be considered my subordinate."
"It's your subordinate, it's your subordinate," Sokov's answer puzzled Vasiliev: "How can you say it's your subordinate?"
"That's right, Comrade General," Sokov explained: "My direct troops only have one battalion, and in the morning, I had escorted the wounded to the rear. Now the one who stayed on the hillside to build fortifications is Colonel Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division."
As the two of them spoke, they came to the trench on the top of the hillside without knowing it. Vasiliev leaned over and looked down the hillside and said with emotion: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the terrain here is too dangerous. If you hadn't captured this place by surprise, we wouldn't know how much sacrifice we would have to make."
"Yes," Sokov nodded and said, "the attacking troops must first cross the river with the enemy's artillery fire and machine gun fire. After successfully crossing the river, they will then rush up along the steep hillside. The enemies who are standing on the top of the hillside can wait for their hard work and use firepower to kill our attacking troops with high fire."
"Our long-range artillery fire cannot hit the enemy's fire point at all." Vasiliev said with a wry smile: "When you hit far away, the shells flew over the enemy's position; when you hit closer, the shells all fell on the hillside and exploded, and they could not hit the enemy's target at all. But when we launched our attack, the enemies on the high ground could destroy every target that appeared in their sight like a target."
"Comrade General," Vasiliev saw that the sky was getting darker and Vasiliev was still discussing the fortifications with himself, so he asked tentatively: "Is your troops here to take over the defense?"
"Yes, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our division is here to take over the defense." Vasiliev looked at Sokov and asked, "You can hand over the defense to me now, right?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade General, it's not possible yet. Because the troops that hold the position are not under my command." Sokov knew that after leaving this position, the 308th Division might be separated from his command, so he must first clear the responsibility, "I'll ask Colonel Gurdiev to be invited and he will hand it over to you for defense."
After saying that, Sokov shouted at Samoilov who was standing not far away: "Comrade Lieutenant, call Colonel Gurdiev and ask him to come here, and then he said that the friendly troops who took over their defense had arrived."
When Samoilov went to call, Sokov continued to ask Vasiliev: "Comrade General, do you know if there are any tank soldiers in your division?"
"Tank soldiers?!" Vasiliev nodded and replied, "Some of them are tank soldiers of two tank brigades. All the tanks were lost in the battle, so they were changed to infantry and were under my direct command."
"It's great that you have tank soldiers in your division."
"That's great, what's great?" Vasiliev asked in confusion: "Lt. Col., can you find them a tank?"
"You guessed right, Comrade General." Sokov nodded vigorously, "There are still more than a dozen tanks on our position, because the tank soldiers are going to be transferred with me, but these tanks cannot be taken away. Since you have tank soldiers under your command, I will hand over all the tanks to you."
Vasiliev turned his head and glanced at the commanders who followed him into the trenches, and said casually: "Who do you know where the comrades of the Tank Brigade are, and ask them to come and receive the tank?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a lieutenant said first: "Comrade Commander, I know where the comrades of the Tank Brigade are, so I'll go find them now."
The lieutenant left for the front foot and Gurdiev appeared in the trenches. When he saw Vasilyev standing in front of Sokov, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, saying, "Hello, Comrade General, I am Colonel Gurdiev, the commander of the 308th Division, and I am here to hand over the defense to you."
"Are there any defense maps?" Vasiliev asked.
"Yes, I'll show you immediately." Gurdiev took out a square drawing from his briefcase, unfolded it, and introduced the defense situation of the entire position to Vasilyev.
After listening to Gurdiev's explanation, Vasiliev took the drawings and was about to find a place to sign for them. A staff officer hurried forward, bent down to Vasiliev and said, "Comrade Commander, put the drawings on my back."
Vasilyev put the drawings on the back of the staff and wrote on the paper: "The 298th Division took over the defense of the position from the 308th Division. Signature: Vasilyev!"
Chapter completed!