Not long after the retreat of the 1st Battalion began, Sokov received a call from Rodimtsev. The general asked angrily on the phone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what on earth do you want to do? Don't you know that No. 1
Doesn’t Order No. 227 stipulate that no one is allowed to retreat even half a step before receiving the order to retreat from the superior?”
"Comrade General." Rodimtsev's words about raising troops to accuse Sokov were confused. He asked in confusion: "What happened? My troops stayed on the position and did not retreat?"
"My observation post just reported to me that the friendly forces on our right wing have begun to retreat." Rodimtsev said on the phone: "When I first heard the news, I thought the observation post was wrong and the enemy was targeting you.
The shelling had just ended, how could your troops retreat? But when I went to the commanding heights to observe in person, I found that this was actually true. Your troops were withdrawing from their positions and escaping towards Nangang."
When Rodimtsev said this, Sokov understood what was going on. He must have regarded the battalion that was retreating to the reverse slope as a force that escaped without permission, so he quickly explained: "Comrade General, you
You made a mistake, my troops are moving as planned, definitely not escaping, and we will never let the Germans occupy Mamayev Heights."
"If it's not an escape, why do you want to withdraw from the current position?" Rodimtsev heard that the troops of the first battalion were not fleeing. His tone softened a lot, but he still asked unhappily: "In this way,
Didn’t you hand over the position to the Germans?”
"Comrade General, please listen to my explanation." In order to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, Sokov explained to Rodimtsev: "The location of the first battalion is exposed on the open land without any obstruction.
We have built a large number of fortifications on the position, but enemy shelling or bombing will cause them huge losses. In order to reduce unnecessary losses, I made a temporary decision to evacuate them to a new defensive area."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," after listening to Sokov's explanation, Rodimtsev said in an uncertain tone: "This matter is of great concern, and neither you nor I have the right to make a decision. You first order the troops to stop
Retreat, I will immediately report this matter to Comrade Commander, listen to his opinion, and then decide whether to retain this position."
Chuikov's phone call came quickly. He asked Sokov loudly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who gave you the right to withdraw the troops? Don't you know that by occupying Mamafugan, you can control the entire city?
The factory area and the Volga River? If you voluntarily give up the defensive position in front of Nangang, you are giving the Germans a starting point for attack. They will continue to gather troops there, and then launch attacks on you one after another until they capture Mama and Ma.
As of Yevgan. I am now officially informing you that the original retreat order is cancelled, and the 1st Battalion will continue to stay in its original position."
Sokov did not expect that Chuikov would give him such an order indiscriminately. Although Chuikov had hung up the phone, he was still holding the phone in a daze, and he was having a fierce ideological struggle in his heart: should the first battalion retreat or stay?
On the position? If you retreat, you can certainly reduce the casualties of the troops, but it will definitely anger Chuikov. If he removes himself from his post, he may only be able to charge into the battle like an ordinary soldier; but if he does not retreat, he can only continue
I watched helplessly as a battalion of commanders and fighters were killed and injured in the enemy's shelling and bombing.
Belkin saw Sokov's dilemma, took the microphone from his hand, placed it on the base of the phone, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what do you think about it? Let the troops stay where they are."
Position or continue to retreat?"
"Withdraw, continue to withdraw!" Sokov gritted his teeth and decided to risk everything. He decisively ordered Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, inform Captain Vanya that according to the original plan, except for one platoon serving as a blocker, the main force of the first battalion will
They all withdrew to the reverse slope of Nangang and built new defenses. In addition, you tell him that the platoon responsible for blocking the position will lay mines in the trenches before withdrawing from the position to make the Germans suffer."
"Comrade Brigadier," Sidorin had just heard what Rodimtsev and Chuikov said. Knowing that Sokov was disobeying his orders, he reminded him: "You are disobeying orders, and you may be sent away at any time."
Court martial."
"Chief of Staff, I can't worry about that much anymore." Sokov knew the consequences of disobedience, but in order to have enough troops to defend Mamayev Heights in the future, what he has to do now is to do everything possible to defend the first battalion.
Save more troops, so he said decisively: "Immediately order the first battalion to speed up the retreat, and must retreat to the anti-slope position before the German infantry launches an attack."
Seeing that Sokov had already risked his life, Sidorin knew that no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it would be useless. Moreover, in the infantry brigade, Sokov was the highest military commander, and the orders he issued could not be fulfilled even if he was the brigade chief of staff.
Change. Sidorin quickly called a communications staff officer and ordered him to take two communications soldiers to find Vanya and convey the order issued by Sokov.
After receiving Sokov's new order, Vanya successfully withdrew the main force of the first battalion to the reverse slope. The entire retreat of the first battalion was seen by Rodimtsev, who was standing on the expert floor.
However, he did not call again to stop Sokov. He thought to himself that he had already reported to Chuikov about the unauthorized withdrawal of the infantry brigade, and now they are still retreating, obviously with Chuikov's permission, so
He stopped meddling in other people's business.
Not long after the retreat of the first battalion was completed, the platoon commander who was stationed at the original position called Vanya. He reported in a panic: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy has sent out tanks and infantry to rush towards our position.
coming."
Hearing his subordinates reporting to him in such a panicked tone, Vanya was not surprised at all. Originally there were nearly a thousand commanders and combatants on the position, but now there are only about forty people left, allowing them to block the enemy's attack.
It was strange to be panicked. But he still tried to ask in a calm tone: "How many tanks does the enemy have?"
"I saw seven of them," the platoon leader said with some excitement: "They are followed by the same number of armored personnel carriers. Comrade Battalion Commander, I'm worried that our platoon alone won't be able to stop the enemy."
"Don't worry, Comrade Second Lieutenant." In order to prevent his subordinates from panicking and abandoning their positions without authorization, Vanya comforted him and said, "We will provide you with help." As soon as the phone was put down, Vanya ordered aside
The communications soldier said, "Get me to the brigade headquarters immediately. I have important information to report to the brigade commander."
After receiving the call from Vanya, Sokov thought for a moment and then said to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Captain, I won't let your soldiers fight alone. Please tell him immediately and I will provide him with
Necessary artillery support."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin quickly asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you plan to let the artillery on the east coast use artillery fire to block the attacking enemy?"
Sokov turned his head and glanced at Sidorin, then shook his head and said: "The Germans only dispatched seven tanks and the same number of armored vehicles. If they use artillery fire from the east coast for this small force, it is absolutely inappropriate for me to use artillery fire from the east coast."
Of..." Before he could finish his words, the phone on the table rang.
Sidorin picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then covered the phone and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the call came from the artillery observers on the top of the hill. They said they saw enemy tanks and armored vehicles heading towards
They came towards our army's forward position. They asked if they could notify the artillery fire on the east coast to intercept it?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please express my gratitude to the comrades of the artillery on my behalf." Sokov replied: "The German army only dispatched a few tanks, and our artillery is enough to cope with it, and we do not need their help for the time being."
After Sidorin put down the phone, Sokov said to him: "Chief of Staff, I will go to the observation post above to see the situation, and I will leave it to you. By the way, let Lieutenant Porochenko control the artillery company.
The cannons were pulled to the top of the hill and let them destroy the German tanks."
Sokov trotted to the observation post on the top of the hill. The artillery lieutenant who was observing the enemy's situation inside saw Sokov breaking in from the outside and quickly raised his hand to salute him. Sokov nodded at the opponent and couldn't wait to see him.
Ask: "How is the situation?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," the artillery lieutenant replied: "The enemy's tanks and armored vehicles are rushing towards the forward position. In five minutes at most, they will rush into our position."
"Five minutes?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned when he heard the time mentioned by the artillery lieutenant. In other words, if Lieutenant Porochenko's artillery company did not fire at the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles within five minutes,
The enemy will rush into the first battalion's position. At that time, the soldiers in the armored vehicles can get out of the vehicle, occupy the position, and eliminate the blocking platoon.
Sokov thought hesitantly: "It seems a bit wasteful to let the artillery fire from the east coast provide support for these few tanks and armored vehicles. But if there is no support, the enemy will soon rush into our forward position."
Just when Sokov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard the sound of shouting not far away. He quickly put down his telescope, leaned out and looked outside. He saw the soldiers of the artillery company moving cannons one by one along the slope from the tunnel.
Rila came out. When Sokov saw the appearance of the artillery battery, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He quickly shouted to the crowd: "Lieutenant Porochenko! Come to me!"
Following the shouting, a lieutenant wearing a steel helmet quickly ran up to Sokov, stood up to attention and asked: "Comrade Brigadier, what are your instructions?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, look." Sokov pointed to the German tanks and armored vehicles in the distance with his hand and said: "The enemy tanks and armored vehicles are rushing over quickly. In a few minutes at most, they will rush into a
The battalion's defensive position. When will your artillery be ready to fire?"
After Porochenko raised his telescope and looked into the distance for a while, he replied decisively: "Report to comrade brigade commander, if you want to fire within two minutes, only one gun can be fired at most..."
"That's enough," Sokov interrupted before the other party finished speaking: "Let one gun fire first to slow down the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles so that they cannot rush into our positions quickly."
Porochenko did not dare to neglect, and quickly ran back to his men, hailed a gun crew, positioned the cannon that had been pulled out, and then opened fire at the German rapid column in the distance. Because Porochenko realized the problem
The severity of the incident was so serious that there was only a minute and a half between when he received the order and when the artillery fired the first shell.
Because the artillery was fired in a hurry, it did not hit the German tank or armored vehicle at all. Instead, it landed more than fifty meters away from the first tank and exploded. Although the artillery shell failed to hit the target, it still shocked the enemy.
, in order to figure out where the shells came from, a tank soldier leaned out of the turret and used binoculars to look around for the direction in which the shells were flying.
The German tank soldier thought that the artillery shells were fired from some hidden gun position at the foot of the mountain, so he focused his attention mainly on the area near the foot of the mountain. Before he could find the location of the Soviet artillery, another artillery shell fell.
More than ten meters away from him, the soil stirred up by the air waves fell on him like raindrops. Seeing that the situation was not good, the tank crew quickly retracted the tank and closed the hatch cover.
After the first artillery fire on the top of the hill had fired two rounds, several other artillery pieces were in position one after another and participated in the condescending bombardment. The six artillery pieces fired at the speeding tanks and armored vehicles at the same time. Even if the impact points were scattered, they still hit the target.
An armored car was hit by a shell. The shell hit the cab of the armored car, causing an explosion that made the German soldiers in the car howl like ghosts.
Perhaps seeing an armored vehicle being hit by artillery fire, the German commander was worried that a similar incident would happen again, so he quickly ordered the armored vehicles to stop, asked the infantry on board to get off, and followed the tanks to continue the assault.
Sokov in the observation post couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw the enemy infantry being released from the armored vehicles and the tanks opening the way in front of them slowing down appropriately in order not to lose touch with the infantry.
As long as the enemy's infantry does not charge in armored vehicles, the infantry that sticks to the position can cause considerable casualties to them.
When the artillery lieutenant first saw the German tanks and armored vehicles rushing towards the front quickly, he was worried that the infantry brigade's position would be breached. But now when he saw the artillery battery firing, the situation changed. Not only the infantrymen sitting in the armored vehicles got off the
During the battle, even the speeding tanks had to slow down in order to prevent them from getting separated from the infantry. In this way, the infantry left behind on the forward position could repel the German attack with the support of artillery on the hills.
