The Soviet army's sudden counterattack caught the German army in the factory off guard. Originally, the enemy was in chaos because of the bombing of tanks and assault guns. Now, seeing the tide of Soviet troops coming from all directions, the remaining officers and soldiers could not organize decent defenses. After they fired a series of guns, they took advantage of the twilight cover to retreat outside the factory.
The retreating German soldiers retreated to the river and found that the highway bridge on the river had been blown up, leaving only a simple floating bridge built with gasoline barrels. In order to escape from birth as soon as possible, they rushed to the bridge. Because the bridge deck was too narrow and the bridge was swinging with the water, many German soldiers were unstable, like dumplings being squeezed into the water. The officers and soldiers who fell into the water did not care about the cold and harsh river water, swam to the other side, and fled to the position they had already stood.
If this night counterattack was organized by Sokov, he would definitely prevent the German army from being defeated and using the pontoon bridges on the river to escape. Even if he could not blow up all the pontoon bridges on the enemy's retreat, he would arrange machine gunners and snipers nearby to eliminate as many enemies that had lost their establishment as possible.
However, neither Rujev nor Sokolov expected that the enemy would retreat so quickly. Before his troops reached the lost positions, the enemies who held these positions had already escaped from the factory through the floating bridge. When the two discovered that the defeated enemies had successfully withdrawn from the factory, they regretted it too late.
The German infantry battalion deployed in the factory area was more than 700 people at the time of full termination. After being counterattacked by the Soviet army, more than 200 people successfully retreated to the starting position during the day. Among the four or five hundred people who were annihilated, more than 150 were the result of Alitai's combat team.
Cuikov was overjoyed when he learned that Ruolujev and Sokolov's troops had successfully restored the lost positions in the factory. But when he asked about the results he had achieved, he couldn't help but feel silent again. Such a record really made him feel ashamed. He used thousands of people to participate in the counterattack and achieved such results.
Seeing Cui Kev's depressed look, Krelov comforted him and said, "Comrade Commander, although the number of enemies to be wiped out is limited tonight, we have taken back the lost position. In this way, we will finally have an explanation to our superiors."
Cuikov agreed with Krelov's statement. What his superiors are concerned about now is how large his troops are in the city, and how many enemies they annihilate are placed in the second place. After a while, he said to Krelov: "Chief of Staff, call the two division commanders. The German army may launch an attack on the factory again after dawn, so that they can hurry up and repair fortifications and consolidate the defense line. If they throw the position to the enemy again, let them wait to go to the military court."
"Where is the regiment of the 41st Division of the Guards?" Krelov asked Trekov and said, "If General Lujeff's troops were insufficient, would they be left?"
Cui Kev thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "No, I borrowed this regiment from Sokov. If it is not built, it will probably affect his next combat deployment. Let them go back. The road bridge on the river has been blown up, and the German tanks and assault guns cannot cross the river and enter the factory in a short period of time. If Lugef's troops are solely attacked by infantry, they can completely block them."
"Well, since that's the case, I will inform them immediately of Reconstruction." Krelov sighed and said, "As for General Jorugev, I will explain it to him, and I believe he will understand."
…………
If it weren't for the participation of the Belkin regiment, Sokov would not have paid attention to the counterattack in the Derrensky factory. After all, it was too far from his defense zone. After seeing the final battle report, he was shocked. He thought he had read it wrong and checked it again one by one.
Sidolin, who was sitting next to him, smiled bitterly, "Comrade Commander, don't look at it. The counterattack of our two divisions led a regiment to destroy less than 400 less than 500 German troops. One third of them were the results of the combat team commanded by Lieutenant Alitai."
"Comrade Commander, I don't understand." Ivanov took the telegram from Sokov, read it briefly, and asked with a frown: "Although the troops who were standing in the Derrensky factory have suffered serious losses after this period of battle. But no matter what, with the Belkin regiment, there must be five or six thousand people. There should be no problem in solving a German infantry battalion that has fallen into chaos, right? But the final result is surprising. What happened?"
"Is this a matter of tactical use?" Sidolin inferred the general situation at that time from the contents of the war report, and explained to Ivanov: "General Rudjeff and Colonel Sokolov were both used to fighting regular wars, only considering how to break through the enemy's defense from the front, but neglecting the tactic of sending troops to detour from both wings and implementing the encirclement of the enemy. This led to the German army leaving only a small force to defend and delay our attack speed to achieve the goal of covering the retreat of other officers and soldiers."
"The Chief of Staff is right. The reason why the number of enemies was not large in this counterattack was because the two division commanders did not send troops to cut off the German retreat." Sokov picked up a paper pen and drew a sketch and explained to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you can see from the picture that the enemy will definitely choose to retreat west after being attacked by our army. As long as the two division commanders send even one platoon of troops to guard the floating bridge on the river, the number of enemies that can escape will be greatly reduced."
Ivanov stared at Tu for a while, raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, although the number of anti-enforcement annihilation of the enemy this time is a little less, we have recovered all the lost positions after all."
After hearing Ivanov's words, Sokov smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I disagree with your point of view. If you want to smash the enemy's attack on the city, you must find a way to consume his vitality. In the battle to recover the lost land tonight, we are not fighting annihilation wars, but defeat wars, and the enemy's living forces are preserved. When the day dawns, these fleeing enemies will make a comeback and launch a new attack on the factory again."
"Come on, what's scary?" Ivanov said disapprovingly: "Since we can defeat them once, we can defeat them again, the third, and even more."
Ivanov's view made Sokov laugh and cry: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, let me give you a 15,000 German division. If we eliminate 5,000 enemies in an annihilation battle, will the enemy's combat effectiveness be seriously weakened? But if we fight ten consecutive defeats and annihilate 5,000 opponents, the opponent's combat effectiveness will be very limited."
Sokov said this, seeing Ivanov open his mouth, as if he was ready to refute him. He quickly raised his hand to stop the other party and continued to say: "Although the annihilation and defeat wars both annihilated 5,000 German troops, the former eliminated 5,000 people at a time, reducing the enemy by one third; while the latter completed such annihilation number in ten times. The enemy lost one-thirty of its troops each time. They could quickly replenish them from the reserve army, and the impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops was minimal... Can you understand if I explained this?"
After listening to Sokov's in-depth explanation, Ivanov realized that he was trapped in a misunderstanding. If the number of enemies annihilated in each victory was not large, the enemy would not be damaged, and they would soon launch a new attack. In this case, the defenders who had been replenished due to heavy casualties, which caused the overall combat effectiveness of the troops to decline, could they still block their attack? Thinking of this, he asked Sokov respectfully: "Comrade Commander, what would you plan to do if you command this counterattack?"
"I will definitely use the tactic of frontal attack and detour on both sides." Sokov said lightly: "But first of all, I will definitely send people to lurk near the pontoon bridge, and immediately blow up the pontoon bridge as soon as the battle starts. Even if the enemy's defense is tight and I cannot blow up the bridge, I will deploy machine gun positions near the pontoon bridge and use machine gun fire to block the bridge deck. In this way, few Germans who fled may be able to escape to the other side of the river."
"Two division commanders!" Seeing that Sokov and Ivanov have been commenting on the counterattack at the Derrensky factory, Sidolin couldn't help but interrupt them: "The counterattack organized by Captain Guchakov will soon begin. Do you think there is anything else to explain to him?"
After Cidolin reminded him, Sokov immediately realized that the top priority in front of him was not to discuss the gains and losses of the counterattack in the Derrensky factory, but to get greater results if the counterattack organized by Guchakov was allowed to achieve. Sokov paused for a moment, pointed at Cidolin with his hand, and said, "Chief of Staff, please write down all the precautions I said, and forward them to Guchakov after it is sorted out later."
Sidolin nodded, immediately picked up the paper and pen, and prepared for the record. Sokov only heard: "After the attack on the 564th kilometer station and Kotluban station, the surrounding German troops will definitely come to reinforce. Therefore, before the attack, we must arrange the troops to attack the reinforcements to buy valuable time for the troops attacking the station..."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin stopped the pen in his hand and reminded Sokov carefully: "The combat effectiveness of the guerrillas is limited, and if they are allowed to take on the blocking mission, it may not last long."
"This is also impossible. If possible, I even want to draw a regiment and attack the station directly." After Sokov said these two angry words, he sighed and said helplessly: "But our regular army cannot cross the enemy's defense line, so the task of attacking aid can only be completed by the guerrillas themselves."
Seeing Sidolin lower his head and recorded what he said in the notebook, Sokov continued: "The strength of the guerrillas in positional warfare is indeed a little weak, but they still have strengths."
Sokov's words made Sidolin's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, I don't know what it is?"
"They usually bury landmines behind enemy lines, cut off German communication lines, or attack transport convoys, etc. These are their strengths." Sokov said: "The two stations were attacked by our army. If the enemy wants reinforcements, they can only transport troops through roads or railways. They can completely bury landmines on the roads, blow up bridges, or destroy railways, so that the enemy's troops sent by the enemy have to stop on the road."
"I think the Germans must have guessed that we would lay mines along the way, and their troops must have a large number of engineers." Cidolin sighed and said, "As soon as there are mines on the road, engineers will be sent to clear mines..."
"Can you find a few sharpshooters in the guerrillas?" Sokov waited for Sidolin to finish his words, and then said with a smile: "Let these sharpshooters lurk in the distance, specializing in mine-removing engineers. The engineers were knocked out, how could the Germans advance? When they transferred new engineers from the rear, at least a few hours had passed. Maybe Guchakov and the others would have taken down the station long ago."
"Comrade Commander, your method is really amazing." Ivanov couldn't help but slap at the table when he heard this: "Even if the guerrilla sharpshooters only knocked out a few engineers, the remaining engineers would probably not dare to clear mines anymore. They were afraid that they would be killed by a bullet that flew from somewhere. Even if the officers forced them to clear mines with guns, they might not work hard. In this way, Guchakov and others would have enough time to get the station."
After Sokov finished talking about the precautions he had thought of, he did not ask Sidorin to send a report immediately, but looked at Ivanov and asked politely: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have anything else to add?"
"You have thought it through very carefully, and I have nothing to add." Ivanov waved his hand and signaled that he had nothing to say. "As long as Captain Guchakov follows what you said, I think he will be able to complete this mission successfully."
Seeing his proposal and being recognized by Ivanov, Sokov felt very relieved. He turned his head and looked at Cidolin: "What about you, Comrade Chief of Staff? Is there anything you need to add?"
Cidolin nodded instinctively, then shook his head suddenly and replied, "No, comrade instructor, I think the precautions you put forward are guarantees for victory, and I have no disagreement."
Since the opinions of the division leaders were unified, Sokov was not pretentious. He nodded from Sidolin and ordered him: "Chief of Staff, immediately organize what I just said into a telegram and send it to Captain Guchakov quickly."
Chapter completed!