The sound of artillery alarmed Sokov, who was drawing in the division command. He put down the pen in his hand and looked up at the Lyudnikov sitting opposite him: "Comrade Colonel, what's going on outside? Why did the artillery fire?"
Lyudnikov also didn't know what was going on outside, so he quickly picked up the phone, called the artillery commander Savage, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Major, what happened? Why did you fire the artillery?"
"Report to the division commander," Savage said on the phone: "We are providing artillery support to the troops who sneaked into the No. 6 production workshop, and they were attacked by the Germans."
When Lyudnikov heard this, he covered the microphone with his hands and frowned and asked Sokov: "Col. Sokov, you gave the artillery regiment an order to cover the night attack troops, right?"
"Let the artillery cover the night attack troops?!" Sokov said in confusion: "I have never issued such an order!" In order to figure out what was going on, he took the microphone from Lyudnikov and said, "I am Sokov, Major Savage, please tell me who ordered you to cover the sneak attack troops with artillery fire?"
"No one ordered me." Savage replied: "This is the suggestion that Brisky made to me. I thought it was pretty good, so I adopted it."
When he learned that this was related to the second battalion commander Brisky, Sokov quickly ordered Savage: "Comrade Major, is Captain Brisky by your side? If so, let him answer the phone."
When Captain Brisky's slightly excited voice came from the receiver, Sokov said to the microphone with a straight face: "Comrade Captain, please explain to me, what's going on?"
"Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation." Brisky heard Sokov's tone with dissatisfaction and explained anxiously: "After we used artillery fire to destroy the enemy's attack during the day, we never saw the enemy appear again. I realized in my heart that although the enemy did not take the initiative to launch an attack, with your personality, you will never let them live a good life and will definitely organize troops to conduct night attacks. Although we are temporarily assigned to artillery command, our battalion is still infantry. Even if we cannot participate in the night attack in person, we should still use our identity to do something for the comrades of friendly forces..."
Halfway through Brisky's speech, he suddenly found that there was no movement on Sokov, so he stopped and asked guiltily at the microphone: "Comrade Commander, are you still listening?"
"I'm listening." Sokov was surprised by the fact that his subordinates could guess his intention to fight. He heard the other party's inquiry, and quickly said to the microphone: "You keep talking."
"I guess you may order the regiment commander tonight to ask him to send troops to attack the enemy in the factory." Brisky continued: "I am worried that the night attack troops will not be able to operate smoothly. After all, the enemy has occupied the factory for a short time. They have careful deployment in many areas, which will add trouble to our night attacks. Therefore, I divided the artillery positions into the artillery areas and told them that once they find a fire in the area they are responsible for, it must be that our army and the enemy are fighting fire. They can carry out artillery attacks in that direction according to the actual situation and use artillery fire to support friendly forces' operations.
Not long ago, I saw a fire in the direction of the No. 6 production workshop, and could hear gunshots and explosions. After careful observation, I found that my night attack troops were discovered by the enemy and started a fire exchange. I decisively ordered the No. 2 artillery position to fire and eliminate those enemies that threaten our army."
Sokov was shocked and happy when he heard this. What was shocked was that the night attack of the Belkin regiment was noticed by the enemy and he did not know how the casualties of the troops were. What was happy was that Brisky asked the artillery to fire artillery to provide artillery support for the exposed night attack troops, which could minimize the casualties of the troops.
"You did a good job, Captain Brisky." Sokov smiled and praised the other party after he finished speaking, and then said: "Closely monitor the enemy's movements and ensure that my night attack troops can escape successfully."
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Seeing that Sokov not only did not blame himself, but also praised him, Brisky was overjoyed. He quickly replied: "We will ensure that the night attack troops are safely withdrawn."
Sokov finished his call with Brisky and called the Belkin command post. As soon as he heard Belkin's voice, Sokov said straight to the point: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you know that your night attack was discovered by the enemy."
Belkin also heard the sound of cannons coming from outside. He was arranging people to find out why the artillery on the side was firing at the enemy's position. Before the sent people came back, Sokov called the phone first. Hearing Sokov talk about his night attack, the enemy noticed it, he said with shame: "Misha, after the troops attacked, something unexpected happened."
Sokov heard something was wrong from Berkin's tone and asked quickly: "Comrade Political Commissar, tell me quickly, what happened?"
"That's right, Misha." Berkin originally planned to wait for the troops to come back from the mission and report the sewer blocked by the enemy to Sokov, but at this moment he felt that hiding it would cause misjudgment to the current situation: "Captain Paulkosky, the first company commander, reported to me that they were moving to the No. 6 production workshop occupied by the enemy through the sewer, and found that the sewers leading to the factory were blocked by gravel. It was estimated that the enemy would do this intentionally to prevent our army from using the sewer to attack."
"Comrade Political Commissar, why didn't you report this to me earlier?" Sokov was angry that Belkin had concealed something about such an important matter, but he tried hard to control his emotions and said in a steady tone: "The troops that had just sneak attacked the No. 6 factory were exposed and they also exchanged fire with the enemy. Fortunately, Captain Brisky was smart and guessed that you would definitely have a night attack at night, so he ordered the artillery to prepare for your support."
"It turns out that the sound of artillery coming from outside was our artillery firing." After figuring out where the sound of artillery came from, Belkin breathed a sigh of relief: "The artillery position is only seven or eight hundred meters away from the area where we were sneak attacking. At such a close distance, the artillery can fully aim and shoot directly and use high-explosive bombs to eliminate more enemies."
Sokov heard the sound of gunfire outside and was very lively. He no longer cared about Belkin concealing the sewer's inability to pass, but was anxious to inquire about the results of the night attack troops: "Comrade Political Commissar, will the night attack troops you sent have any results?"
"No," Belkin replied quickly, "I have not received any reports so far."
The two were talking when the regiment chief of staff Vanya, who was standing beside him, suddenly said in surprise at Belkin: "Comrade Commander, Captain Paulkosky is back."
"Misha, Captain Paulkosky, the first company commander, is back." Seeing Paulkosky walk in from outside the door, Berkin quickly said to the microphone: "Don't hang up the phone, I'll ask him first what happened."
Belkin put the microphone on the table, looked at Paulkosky and asked, "Captain, how is your company's sneak attack mission executed?"
"Report to the regiment commander, our company's mission failed." Paulkosky replied with a bitter face: "The enemy blocked all sewers leading to the factory. We tried to approach the enemy's station from the ground, but the combat team sent out stepped on a landmine not far from the factory, resulting in three people sacrificing and seriously injuring two people. If we hadn't received a sudden fire support during the retreat, the troops would have suffered greater casualties."
"The artillery regiment that provides you with artillery fire support is the artillery regiment where Captain Brisky is." Berkin said with a straight face: "You go down and rest first. After the night attack troops of the other two companies come back, we are summarizing the lessons learned from this night attack."
After Paulkosky left, Belkin picked up the microphone again and said to Sokov: "Misha, you heard it all. Paulkosky and the others accidentally stepped on landmines when approaching the factory, which led to the failure of this operation. It seems that the enemies in the factory are more cunning than those we have ever contacted before..."
"Comrade Commander," Belkin said before he could hear someone outside shouting. He covered the microphone with his hand and asked dissatisfiedly: "What happened? Who was shouting outside and disturbing me talking to the commander?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier rushed in from outside. Berkin looked closely and found that it was the soldier he sent out to find out about the situation. He slowed down and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, something happened, something big happened." The soldier reported to Belkin in a panic expression: "The enemy will increase the troops, and the enemy will increase the troops to the defenders of the No. 4 assembly workshop and workshop building south of the factory."
"What, the enemy has increased their troops?" Belkin asked with a frown: "Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The soldier nodded vigorously and replied: "I just saw a large number of German soldiers riding in various vehicles through a telescope on a nearby building..."
Belkin realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly let go of his hand covering the microphone and said to Sokov: "Misha, the situation in the factory has changed unexpectedly, and the enemy has increased troops to the No. 4 assembly workshop."
"Have the enemy increased their troops?" Sokov was shocked when he heard this news and asked quickly: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you know the strength and equipment of the newly arrived Germans?"
Chapter completed!