There were nearly a thousand men in the third battalion. If they were all used to attack the German artillery positions, the troops would not be fully deployed, so Sokov began to arrange the troops: "The task of attacking the artillery positions will be completed by Second Lieutenant Yegor's Eighth Company."
The Seventh Company sent out a warning to the south to monitor the enemy in that direction; the Ninth Company of Lieutenant Guchakov established a defense to the north of the artillery position to prevent the German infantry regiment from hearing the movement and rushing over to support..."
After a series of orders were issued, Sokov stood up straight and asked the three company commanders: "Are the tasks clear?"
"It's clear!" the three company commanders replied in unison.
Just when Sokov was about to ask them to carry out his order, several people hurriedly ran over from a distance. From their clothes, Sokov guessed that they were the scouts sent by Andre. He turned to tell Andre
: "Andre, it looks like your scout is back. Go over and ask what happened."
Andre nodded, trotted forward to meet them, and asked the scouts who had just returned to learn about the situation. Seeing the scouts returning, the company commanders guessed that the situation might have changed, so they did not leave, but
Just stand there and wait.
After a while, Andrei walked back to Sokov and said to him: "Comrade Brigadier, the scouts reported that the German infantry regiment stationed in the north began to move south. It may be that the attack ahead was not going well.
They rushed to support."
"All the infantry regiments have moved away, or only part of them?" Sokov asked briefly.
Andrei knew Sokov's character and knew that he would definitely get to the bottom of it, so when he asked the scouts about the situation, he asked them very carefully. When he heard Sokov's question, he replied without hesitation: "The enemy
Except for one company left to guard the camp, the rest of the troops have already left."
"Comrades, company commanders, the enemy situation has changed, and we have just made some adjustments to the combat deployment." After understanding the situation outside, Sokov said to the three company commanders: "The troops attacking the artillery position are still the Eighth Company.
, this point does not change; since the enemy's main force rushed to the south, the strength of the Seventh Company, which was originally planned to be deployed in the south, seemed a bit weak. In this way, in addition to leaving two platoons in the north to monitor the enemy, the Ninth Company's remaining
Several platoons are used to strengthen the seventh company."
After adjusting the deployment, Sokov casually asked: "Do you have any questions?"
He originally thought that everyone would say no in unison, but as soon as he finished speaking, the seventh company commander raised his hand and asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, can I say a few words?"
"Say it!"
The commander of the seventh company turned to look at Lieutenant Guchakov, and then asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since our company and the main force of the ninth company are operating together, I would like to ask, who should be under unified command of the troops?"
When Sokov heard this question from the seventh company commander, he thought it made sense. Two companies of about 500 people would easily fall into chaos without a unified command. So he stared at the two men for a while and said:
"This operation will be commanded by Lieutenant Guchakov, the ninth company commander, and you will be his deputy. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Although Sokov only asked himself to be Guchakov's deputy, the Seventh Company Commander's face showed no expression of frustration at all. Instead, he readily agreed: "I will cooperate with Lieutenant Guchakov to complete the task."
Good for this mission."
The company commanders went back to assemble their troops and prepare to rush to their respective combat locations. Sokov ordered the radio operator behind him: "Get in touch with the 124th and 149th brigades immediately and ask them how the situation is there."
It took about ten minutes before I received a call back from the two brigade commanders. The situation on the south side defended by Gorokhov was better because they had a group of captured tanks used as bunkers and fortifications, and the German offensive force was not large.
, so it’s very easy to fight.
On the north side where Bolvinov held firm, the situation was much worse. The Germans launched one fierce attack after another on his position, and even rushed into the trenches twice. Fortunately, Bolvinov
The husband personally led the guard company and drove the enemy out with bayonets and grenades.
Seeing that the area Bolvinov was holding was in danger, Sokov couldn't help but frowned. He thought of the infantry regiment that had just been transferred from the forest area. If this unit also participated in the attack on the 149th Brigade,
Bolvinov and the others simply cannot hold their position. Once the position is lost, not only will a breakthrough be opened, but it will also be blocked by the enemy; at the same time, the enemy will also threaten Gorokhov's rear.
Thinking of this, he said to the operator in a stern tone: "Send a message to Colonel Bolvinov and order him to hold his position at all costs. If he loses his position, I will shoot him."
After sending a tough telegram to Bolvinov, Sokov raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said to Andre: "Captain Andre, judging from the current situation, the situation of the 149th Brigade is very bad.
Therefore, you must move quickly. After taking down the enemy's artillery positions, immediately launch an attack from the enemy's rear."
"Understood." Andre replied confidently: "In a quarter of an hour at most, we can clear out the enemy's artillery position, and then concentrate our forces to attack the enemy's rear and relieve the 149th Brigade."
The German artillerymen probably never dreamed that Soviet troops would appear near them, so they did not establish any defense at all. The sentry on duty saw the Soviet troops appearing at the edge of the forest. As soon as he shouted, he was hit by a bullet.
The flying bullet hit his forehead, his body jumped back, and he fell straight on his back.
As soon as the sniper killed the enemy's sentry, Second Lieutenant Yegor jumped up from the ground first, brandished his pistol, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Comrades, charge with me! Forward~!"
The soldiers jumped up from the ground one after another, holding the weapons in their hands, shouting and rushing towards the German artillery position.
The warning issued by the German sentry alerted the artillerymen who were resting on the position. Seeing the Soviet soldiers rushing from the edge of the forest, they rushed to the place where small weapons were piled, trying to prevent the Soviet army from seizing the position. However, the artillery was equipped with
After all, the number of guns is only a small number. An artillery regiment without infantry cover is not as good as an artillery company in close combat.
At a distance of more than 100 meters, the soldiers only took a dozen seconds to complete the run. The soldiers in the front row threw the stringed grenades towards the place where the enemy was most densely populated. A series of explosions sounded, and a film was formed.
Many German artillerymen were cut down by flying shrapnel. Some died on the spot, while others survived their injuries and fell to the ground covering their wounds and howling.
Soldiers equipped with submachine guns took the opportunity to step forward and fired at the surviving enemies with their submachine guns, frantically harvesting their lives. After just two or three minutes, the artillery position was littered with corpses.
Second Lieutenant Yegor rushed to an artillery and shot dead a wounded soldier who tried to fire a grenade and die with the surrounding soldiers. Then he shouted loudly: "Don't waste time, clean the battlefield quickly and eliminate the remaining enemies."
Although the German army was almost twice as numerous as the Soviet army, since most of the artillery had no weapons, they had little power to resist the oncoming Soviet soldiers. In less than a quarter of an hour, except for more than a hundred active soldiers,
Those who surrendered, and the rest were either shot to death randomly or blown up with grenades.
Before the battle started, Sokov and Andrei found a position with a wide view at the edge of the forest to observe the progress of the battle. Seeing that the soldiers of the Eighth Company had taken over the artillery position so quickly, they also rushed to the scene.
Surprised, he turned to Andre and said: "Comrade Captain, your men have done a good job. Let's go to the artillery position to have a look."
Second Lieutenant Yegor, who was directing the soldiers to clean the battlefield, saw Sokov and Andrei approaching and quickly ran over to report to them: "Brigadier Commander, Battalion Commander, in the battle that just ended, our company killed 385 enemy people.
, captured 179 people, and also seized 32 artillery pieces, as well as a batch of small arms and supporting ammunition."
"Comrade Brigadier," Andrei waited for Yegor to finish his report, then turned to ask Sokov: "These artillery pieces may not be able to be pulled back. What do you think should be done with them?"
"If these artillery pieces fall into the hands of the Germans again, they will use them to continue bombarding us." Sokov ordered without hesitation: "Blow up the artillery pieces immediately, blowing them all away. Let the soldiers
We can just put grenades into the barrels and blow up these artillery pieces."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Yegor said hesitantly after hearing Sokov's order: "It would be a pity if all such good guns were blown up."
"What's the pity?" Andre lectured his subordinate with his eyes wide open: "Do you plan to leave these artillery pieces to the Germans and let them deal with us?"
"Comrade Brigadier, please listen to my explanation." Yegor looked at Sokov and said: "In addition to capturing 32 artillery pieces, we also captured more than a hundred artillery shells. I think even if we want to blow up the artillery, we should also
Shoot out all these shells."
Sokov thought that the front was in full swing, but the artillerymen were doing nothing. There were no more artillery shells. Who knew that there were more than a hundred artillery shells? It was really beyond his expectation, so he decisively said to Yegor
: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, immediately ask the soldiers who have served as artillerymen in the company to shoot out all these shells and let the Germans have a taste of their own shells."
Being able to bombard the German troops with German artillery shells was a pleasant thing for Yegor. He agreed loudly, then turned around and ran towards the place where the most soldiers were.
Shouting loudly: "Who has been an artilleryman, who has been an artilleryman? Come to my place immediately and assemble!"
Following his shouting, many soldiers soon gathered around him, saying at once: "Comrade company commander, I have been an artilleryman, I used to be the gunner." "I am a loader.
"...
Seeing so many former artillerymen popping up at once, Andrei said to Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it looks like the Germans are going to suffer."
