News of the Soviet army occupying Orlovka soon reached Paulus's headquarters.
After reading the report, Paulus was not furious, but stared at the map for a while before turning around and asking Schmid, who was standing in the middle of the room: "Chief of Staff, have you figured out the number of this Russian army?"
Schmid shook his head and replied, "Commander, since we have not sent ground troops to attack, we cannot know the number of this Russian army for the time being. However, according to the air force's reconnaissance, there are about five or six hundred Russian troops guarding this area."
"The Russians occupied Orlovka and planned to support Rokosovsky's troops here." Paulus said in a stern tone: "We must not let their conspiracy succeed."
"Hiss Commander," Schmid asked cautiously, "What should we do now?"
"Immediately order the troops to restore their lost positions and cut off the connection between this Russian army and other areas." Paulus picked up an explanation stick by the wall and drew a circle at Orlovka's position: "When they become an isolated army, we will concentrate our superior forces to launch an attack, and we must wipe out them all."
"I understand, Commander." Schmid replied respectfully: "I will give orders now."
…………
Half an hour later, the 120th Guards, who was standing in the third and fourth lines of defense, was violently bombarded by the German army. In an instant, the entire defense line was blown into a sea of fire, and shrapnel were splashed in mud.
The regiment commander hid in the reinforced concrete fortifications on the third line of defense and shouted at the microphone at the top of his lungs: "...Comrade Commander, we were violently bombarded by the enemy. It seems that they are preparing to attack us..."
After receiving the report from the troops, Guriev stared at the map in front of him for a moment, and then said in a stern tone: "Comrade Colonel, it seems that the enemy wants to restore their lost position. I now order you to defend the position at all costs and not be allowed to retreat at any step. Do you understand?"
Hearing Guriyev's order, the commander hesitated for a while and replied with a stern tongue: "I understand, I will find a way to defend the position."
"Comrade Colonel," Guriev was afraid that the regiment commander would disobey his orders, so he emphasized to him: "Once the two lines of defense you have adhered to have fallen, then the 73rd Infantry Brigade that went forward to Orlovka would be cut off by the enemy. Therefore, you must do everything possible to protect the safety of their flanks."
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Guriyev's words made the regiment commander realize the seriousness of the problem. He quickly said: "We will find a way to keep here."
The enemy's shelling of the third and fourth directions were seen by Sokov, who was standing on the hill. After watching with his telescope for a while, he said to Bere standing beside him: "Col. It seems that the Germans want to regain their lost line of defense."
"Yes." Bere agrees with Sokov's statement: "Once they seize these positions, we can cut off our retreat and make us an isolated army."
"Even if the Germans cut off our way to retreat south, we can still choose to retreat east when necessary..." Sokov said this, suddenly remembered that Bereh had been back for so long and had not yet learned about the defense situation in the east from him, so he hurriedly asked: "By the way, Colonel Bereh, how many troops have been deployed in the defense position in the east?"
"Col. Gurdiev deployed a battalion to defend there." Beret heard Sokov's question and casually replied: "Even if the enemy attacks there, we can still rush over and support in time."
Sokov heard that a battalion was deployed to defend the defense line in the east. He instinctively thought that even if the battalion suffered heavy casualties, one or two hundred people might still have. As long as they could block the enemy for half an hour, he would have enough time to send Ley's tank battalion to support him. But what he and Bere never expected in their dreams was that the number of people under Gurdiev's battalion was only equivalent to one platoon, and it was okay to serve as a warning, and it was impossible to block the enemy's attack.
In the situation in front of him, what Sokov had to consider was how to use his troops to hold onto the areas that were not conducive to defense and wait for the possible reinforcements in theory. He no longer cared about the east direction, but pointed at the small village in the northwest direction and asked: "Col. Do you want to know the two tanks you sent to that direction, why haven't you returned yet?"
If Sokov did not remind him, Bere had almost forgotten the matter. He quickly called the radio operator and called Xie Lida on the phone. After calling for a while, the radio operator finally contacted Captain Xie Lida. Berere asked loudly at the sender: "Comrade Captain, how is your situation there? Why haven't you come back yet?"
"Report to Colonel..." It may be that the signal is bad, and the sound coming from the headphones is intermittent: "We...discover the enemy...fight...now we..."
From the intermittent words of Xieleda, Bere didn't know what the other party was saying. He quickly asked the radio operator: "Comrade Jileda, is there any way to let me hear clearly what Captain Xieleda is saying?"
The radio operator shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, comrade Colonel, the signal here may be bad, and I can't make the call work better."
Hearing the radio operator say this, Bo Lei was so angry that he threw the headphones and the megaphone to him, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Captain Shereda and the others have not come back for a long time. I probably have encountered some trouble. Or should I take people to see what happened."
The situation in the small village was unknown, and Sokov was unwilling to let Bere take risks, so he stopped him: "Col. Berere, I think it's better to let Lieutenant Varenra's ball tank go over and take a look. I will let another squad of infantry go with them in armored vehicles."
Bere had no objection to Sokov's arrangement, so he nodded in agreement. Seeing that Berere did not object, Sokov turned around and ordered Guchakov: "Guchakov, please immediately inform Lieutenant Varenra and ask him to lead a squad of infantry to the small village in the northwest to figure out what was going on there."
After Guchakov left, Sokov looked northwest and said to Bereth with emotion: "We are only a dozen kilometers away from General Rokosovsky's troops. If I had a powerful tank unit and a sufficient number of infantry soldiers, maybe I would lead my troops directly to continue north and try my best to join his troops."
Bi Lei grinned and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, if others say this, I definitely think he is bragging. But I think it is entirely possible for you to say this. You led a tank battalion and hundreds of infantrymen, and in one day, broke through four directions and successfully advanced to the Orlovka area. It's really not easy."
Sokov was somewhat proud when he heard Bere's mention of his record. But not long after he was happy, the expression on his face became dim again. In terms of heart, he prefers to fight sports wars and leads troops to attack the weak links of the Germans, rather than leading troops to fight with the Germans in such a region that is not conducive to defense.
When he saw the familiar ball tank and an armored vehicle full of soldiers heading towards the northwest, he thought silently in his heart: "I hope Lieutenant Varianla and the others can figure it out as soon as possible. What happened to Captain Shereda and the others in that small village."
Sokov raised his telescope and looked at the south side of the smoke and the sound of cannons; then he looked to the southeast where there were commanders and fighters of the 308th Infantry Division, who were hurrying to repair fortifications. He thought to himself: "When we are attacked by the German army, Gurdiev can send troops to support us; and when they are attacked by the enemy, we can also provide help to them, which is better than concentrating all the troops in one place and being bombarded by the enemy."
But when he saw the tanks parked behind the hills, he couldn't help but frown again. The tanks were parked at the reverse slope, which could certainly avoid enemy artillery bombardment. But if the enemy carried out air strikes, these tanks would become targets for enemy aircraft and they must be transferred to a safe and convenient position.
Thinking of this, he turned around and asked Believe: "Comrade Colonel, our tanks are placed here and it is easy to become targets for enemy aircraft. Where do you think they should be hidden?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Bere was silent for a long time, and finally said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, our tanks are not many anymore, so why not disperse them and place them everywhere as fixed turrets?"
If he was somewhere else, he used the tank as a fixed turret, Sokov had no objection. But he had never considered sticking to Orlovka for a long time, so there was no need to use the tank as a turret. Therefore, his eyes looked around and finally stayed in the northwest direction.
Sokov pointed his finger at the village where the ball tank was heading, and said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, I have an idea to hide your tank in that village. When the enemy tank troops attack our positions, you will attack from their flanks and beat them hard. What do you think?"
Bi Lei raised his telescope and looked at the location of the village. He silently calculated the time it took to attack in his heart, then nodded and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, it is a good attack location. Unfortunately, we don't know what the situation is in the village. We can only wait for Varira's report to come back before deciding whether to hide the tank there."
More than half an hour later, Vulianla contacted Belle via the on-board radio station. After hearing Vulianla's voice, Belle immediately asked excitedly: "Comrade Lieutenant, have you arrived in the village?"
"Yes, comrade Colonel." Varrenla replied, "We have arrived at the village."
"What's going on in the village?" Sokov learned that Varianla and the others had entered the village, so he couldn't wait to say, "Report to me immediately."
"When we entered the village, we found that the two tanks driven by Captain Shereda and others had been destroyed. All the infantrymen who were operating with the tanks were sacrificed." Varianla said in shock: "It seems that there was a fierce battle here not long ago. In addition to the soldiers we died, there were more than twenty German corpses."
"Where is Captain Sereda?" Sokov learned that the troops entering the village had been destroyed in advance, and he quickly asked again: "Is he still alive?"
"Yes, comrade comrade commander." Varianla replied respectfully: "Captain Shereda is still alive, but he was seriously injured and could not tell us what happened in the village just now."
"Search the village immediately to see if there are any hidden German troops." After giving the order to Varenra, Sokov asked Guchakov to call Tenev up.
After Tenev came to him, Sokov said to him with a serious expression: "Major Tenev, immediately send a company of troops to the small village in the northwest to assist the troops there in defense."
"Lt. Colonel," after hearing the task assigned by Sokov, Tnev said with some embarrassment: "If a company is transferred to the village, the defense here will become weak. If the enemy launches an attack, I am worried..."
"Don't worry, Major," Sokov interrupted his words before he finished speaking: "If all the troops are concentrated here, the enemy's shelling and bombing can cause us a lot of casualties. Therefore, we must consider dispersing our troops and defending in different regions."
After saying these words, Sokov said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, you will lead all the tanks and guard companies to the village to hide."
After learning that his subordinates were seriously injured, Bere could not wait to rush over and take a look. At this time, the order issued by Sokov was just in line with his wishes. He nodded quickly and said, "Well, comrade brigade commander, I will lead the remaining tanks and go to the small village to hide with the soldiers of the guard company."
"Col. Bere," Sokov reminded him later: "When you arrive in the village, remember to contact me and tell me what happened in the village."
"Don't worry, comrade comrade commander." Be Lei nodded and replied, "I can."
When the remaining dozen tanks and infantrymen of a company headed towards the small village, Guchakov asked Sokov cautiously: "Comrade Commander, once the tank battalion and this infantry company left, the defense power on the position became weak. If the enemy took the opportunity to launch an attack, can we stop it?"
Sokov turned his face and looked at Guchakov and said expressionlessly: "Comrade Guchakov, let's place the tanks here. Once they are bombed by enemy planes, these tanks will become targets for their attack. Now hide them in that village. In addition to avoiding air strikes, they can also rush out of the village unexpectedly when the enemy attacks and hit their flanks hard. Do you understand?"
After Sokov's explanation, Guchakov suddenly realized and nodded quickly and said, "It's still the brigade commander who thought it carefully, and admire him!"
Sokov hid the tanks in the village. In addition to the reasons he said to Guchakov, he also planned to use these tanks to cover the infantry to attack north when the war situation was unfavorable, break through the enemy's defense, and rushed to Ivanovka, a little more than ten kilometers north of Orlovka, to meet with Rokosovsky's troops.