As soon as it dawned, Sokov and Belkin came to the roof of the building and inspected the terrain from a high position. They held up telescopes and looked down from here to see the entire defensive zone clearly.
There is a building in the distance, but it has long been reduced to ruins after enemy shelling and bombing. In front of the archives building is an open space, but it is fragmented by trenches and traffic trenches. The damaged German tanks and armored vehicles,
They were all blackened by the fire and were parked in disorder in front of the trenches, or stretched across the trenches.
Seeing this scene, Sokov put down his telescope and said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, this building is in the direction of Germany's frontal breakthrough. We must hold it resolutely. This way the enemy cannot rush towards the barricade factory or the Volga River.
side."
"Since the friendly forces can hold their position under the enemy's fierce attack." Belkin also put down the telescope in his hand, turned to assure Sokov: "Then we will definitely be able to hold it."
"To block the enemy's attack, you can't just rely on words." Sokov said, raising the telescope again and looking at the defensive positions below: "Now, let's see how the defenses are being repaired.
?”
As the telescope lens moved, Sokov saw a new trench that had been formed on the basis of the original trench. There was also a fire point every forty or fifty meters, and the fire point was covered with two layers of logs, enough to
Withstand mortar bombardment.
Sokov was very satisfied with such fortifications. He nodded and said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, our newly built fortifications may not be able to withstand the repeated bombardment of German artillery fire. Therefore, in the defensive positions
Go ahead, don't deploy too many troops, lest you suffer heavy losses in the shelling before you even see the enemy."
"I understand, Misha." Belkin nodded and said, "I plan to place only one company of the new battalion on the defensive position outside the building, and the other two companies will be hidden elsewhere to wait for the front line.
After more than half of the troops have suffered casualties, another company will be sent to take over the defense."
Sokov knew that each company of the downsized regiment had two to three hundred men, which was even more than a friendly regiment. It was more than enough to use one company to defend the front line. He pointed to the buildings in the distance with his finger.
Ruins, said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, I suggest you arrange several combat groups in the ruins. Each group consists of five people, one sniper, two machine gunners and two submachine gunners.
They can rely on the terrain to harass the advancing German troops..."
When Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered something: in real history, Vasily Zaitsev was sniping and killing enemies everywhere at this moment, but because of his own appearance, he was asked to command the troops to hold on to what Vasily Zaitsev
Building, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of enemies he eliminated. Should he send someone to take over his position so that he can be a sniper with peace of mind and freely kill the enemies he encounters?
"Misha, Misha..." Seeing that Sokov had just finished speaking, Belkin suddenly stood there in a daze. He thought something had happened to him, so he quickly grabbed his shoulders and shook him vigorously.
At the same time, he leaned close to his ear and called his name loudly: "What's wrong with you?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Belgin's shout woke Sokov out of his thoughts. He shook his head and said, "I suddenly thought of something, and it was inevitable that I would be a little distracted. Let's continue talking about defense.
.”
He pointed his hand towards the roof where he was standing and said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, didn't you bring a lot of German mortars this time?" Seeing the other party nodding in affirmation, he continued, "Then
A 50mm caliber mortar has a range of 500 meters. If you establish a mortar position on the roof of the building, you can use artillery fire to support the defenders outside the building at any time."
"We brought six mortars this time, and each gun has about fifty rounds of shells." Belgin said with some regret: "If I had known that we could use artillery fire to attack the enemy here, we should have brought more shells.
.”
"It doesn't matter if there are few artillery shells. You can use them sparingly. But I see that you carry a lot of machine gun bullets." When mentioning machine guns, Sokov was thinking to himself: The troops are still equipped with MG34 machine guns. I don't know when the German army will officially start
Replace the MG42 machine gun. Although the weapon consumes bullets, its lethality is not weak: "You establish machine gun positions on the roof and the fifth floor, so that you can form cross-fire with the firepower points in the fortifications outside the building and eliminate a large number of attacking enemies.
.”
After listening to Sokov's order, Belkin quickly walked aside, picked up the phone that had just been set up, and said into the microphone: "Chief of Staff, this is Belkin. Immediately order Lieutenant Grisa to come to the roof to report to the division commander.
Report to me."
After putting down the phone, Belkin explained to Sokov: "Misha, you know that Lieutenant Grisa is very capable. I plan to let his company set up defenses on the roof."
Sokov smiled faintly and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, you are the leader of the drawdown regiment. You can decide how to deploy. You don't have to ask me for instructions on everything."
Seeing that Sokov was so reasonable, Belgin smiled at him gratefully and said: "Misha, to be honest, there is a commander with a much higher position than me beside me. When commanding operations, I am still a little cautious.
.But with your words, I feel much more at ease."
After receiving the notice, Lieutenant Grisa immediately ran all the way to the top of the building. Seeing Sokov and Belkin there, he quickly stood up and reported to them: "Report to the division commander, regiment commander, the new second battalion
Lieutenant Grisa, commander of the fourth company..."
"Okay, okay, you don't have to do this in front of us." Sokov didn't wait for Grisa to finish speaking, and directly interrupted him and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant, there are people in your company
How many mortars and machine guns?"
Grisa was Sokov's old subordinate. As soon as he heard this question, he knew that his superiors must have entrusted him with some important tasks. He quickly answered truthfully: "Comrade division commander, our company has six mortars."
and twelve MG34 machine guns."
After listening to the data reported by Grisa, Sokov turned to Belkin and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, now that you have figured out their equipment situation, you can assign tasks."
Belkin nodded, and then said to Grisa: "Comrade Lieutenant, your company is responsible for the defense of the fifth floor and the roof. Mortars are placed on the roof to provide artillery support and suppress the defenders outside the building when necessary.
Charging enemy."
"I understand, comrade leader."
Seeing that Belkin was assigning tasks to Grisa, Sokov felt that there was no need to stay here to hinder him, so he said to him: "Comrade political commissar, you continue to assign tasks, I will go to the defensive position outside the building to see
Look, talk to the soldiers."
"Misha!" Belkin quickly stopped Sokov and reminded him: "The enemy may launch an attack at any time. I think you should stay in the building. At least this can ensure your safety."
"It's okay, comrade political commissar, don't worry." Sokov waved his hand at Belkin and said disapprovingly: "This is not my first time on the battlefield. I will pay attention to my own safety."
