After dawn, Mamayevgang ushered in violent artillery bombardment, and the two hills in the north and south were immediately shrouded in smoke. As soon as the shelling ended, the enemy bomber formation appeared over the high ground again, bombing the positions on the top of the mountain that had not been destroyed by artillery fire.
Sokov, who was staying at the command center, could imagine how violent the enemy's shelling and bombing were based on the slight tremor from the ground. Ivanov might have encountered this situation for the first time, and he asked Sokov worriedly: "Comrade Commander, our command center will not be blown up, right?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, don't worry." Sidolin stayed in the tunnel for the longest time and knew the strength of the fortifications best. Seeing that Ivanov was so worried that the command would be blown down, he comforted him and said, "Our command is more than ten meters away from the ground. Unless the enemy uses ground-based bombs, it will not be able to destroy our fortifications at all."
After listening to Sidolin's explanation, Ivanov raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and said repeatedly with relief: "It's good if it doesn't blow it up, it's good if it doesn't blow it up."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov, based on his own experience, felt that the shelling and bombing he suffered today was different from the past, so he asked Cydollin tentatively: "Did you notice anything abnormal?"
"An abnormal place?" Sidolin was stunned at first, then understood what Sokov wanted to express, and quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, are you saying that the enemy's shelling and bombing are crazier than before?"
Sokov nodded and expressed his thoughts: "In recent times, the Romanian army responsible for attacking Mamayevgang suffered all the hardships of our army. Seeing his lackeys hitting his head in front of our army's position, I think the Germans, who are the masters, probably can't hold back, so they are going to take action in person and fight to the death with our army here."
When Ivanov heard Sokov say this, he couldn't help but sneer and said, "The Germans thought that they could take the position held by our guard soldiers by themselves? I think after today, when the Germans see their bodies piled up all over the mountains and valleys, they will understand that the victory they imagined is out of reach."
Sokov thought that in recent times, he was like a firefighter running around and staying in Mamayev's hill for very little time. During his absence, both of them seemed a little conservative, whether they were Vitkov or Sidolin, and they only knew to carry out negative defenses, fight against the enemy head-on and fight attrition. If he hadn't planned ahead and built tunnels and fortifications early to compete with the enemy, perhaps the commanding heights of this city would have fallen into the hands of the Germans.
Now that I have come back, I need to make adjustments in tactical aspects and take the initiative of the local battlefield again in my hands. Thinking of this, he said to Sidolin and Ivanov: "Comrades, there is no fortress in the world that cannot be broken. Even if we have complete tunnel defenses in Mamayev Hill, if we only conduct negative defenses, then one day the high ground may be occupied by the enemy. In order to avoid this possibility, from now on, we need to make tactical adjustments, from the original negative defense to active defense."
As Sokov's assistant, Sidolin naturally understood what Sokov said about active defense. And because Ivanov was not long-term partnering with Sokov, his understanding of active defense was deviated. As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, you are right. We cannot just stay on the position for passive defense, but should seize all opportunities and attack the enemy hard. For example, we can take the initiative to deal with the attack later to crush the German offensive."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you misunderstood what I mean." After hearing Ivanov's words, Sokov said with some amusement: "Without air supremacy and artillery cover, we should use the tactic of attack against attack, and fight against the Germans head-on to fight for consumption, that is, hitting stones with eggs. I can't think there are only a few defenders left in Mamayev's hill."
"The division commander is right," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Cidolin nodded and echoed: "When we were still an infantry brigade, the division commander was injured and sent someone to replace him. He used this tactic of attacking against the German offensive. As a result, in just two days, the troops lost more than 3,000 people, resulting in the defensive power of Mamayev's gang being greatly weakened."
From the conversation between Sokov and Cydolin, Ivanov realized that the tactics he advocated were not good at Mamayevgang. Fortunately, he was not discouraged, but humbly asked: "Comrade of the Division, then can you tell me what you are talking about for active defense?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, in addition to fighting with the enemy at Mamayev's Gate, we must also eliminate a small group of troops, go deep into the enemy's rear, and attack their traffic lines, warehouses, barracks and command centers." Sokov saw that Ivanov was ashamed to ask, and explained to him in detail: "Through this uninterrupted attack, the enemy's offensive deployment is disrupted, so that they cannot concentrate all their strength to attack Mamayev's Gate."
Ivanov was skeptical about Sokov's tactics: "Comrade Commander, divide our elite troops into small groups and send them to the rear of the enemy to perform the guerrilla mission. Is this appropriate? If you really want to harass the enemy, I think you can just ask your superiors to contact the guerrillas behind the enemy and let them perform such a mission."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, the guerrillas have a relatively complex composition. They are either broken up small troops, local workers, and collective farm workers." Sokov explained patiently: "Since most guerrillas have not undergone systematic military training and are not well equipped, the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas is unsatisfactory. The small troops we sent are commanders and fighters with rich combat experience. Even if there is only one squad of troops, the results of the battle will not be worse than that of a guerrilla. Think about it, if we have more than 20 such small teams moving behind the enemy, how many troops will the enemy send back to clear them in order to stabilize their rear, so that the pressure on our frontal defense will be greatly reduced."
After Sokov's explanation, Ivanov felt that this was the case. He nodded vigorously and said thoughtfully: "Comrade Commander, if this tactic is really effective, then we should form a small army as soon as possible. When it gets dark, we will send them deep into the enemy's rear and turn the enemy's nest upside down."
Thanks to book friend l599xl, Yang Cheng for his powerful reward and support!
Chapter completed!