Since Sokov received a call from Belkin in the morning, he knew that they had repelled the attack of the 24th Armored Division of the German Army, he was still considering where to draw troops from to fill the gap once the position in that direction was broken by the German army. However, he waited left and right, and until the afternoon, he did not receive any information about the German attack.
"Strange, why did the Germans not attack after so long?" Sokov looked at his watch. It was only more than two hours before it was dark. If the Germans did not attack, it would have been dark. The role of the tank at night was far less than that of the day. It was precisely for this reason that he said to himself: "What the hell are the Germans doing?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin saw Sokov's absent-minded look. Without waiting for him to speak, he picked up the phone on the table, called Belkin's command post, and asked straight to the point: "Captain Belkin, how is your situation there?"
Seeing the German attack, Belkin was also very depressed. He tried his best to compete with the 24th Armored Division and let the Germans taste the power of the rocket launcher. As a result, after killing more than a dozen tanks from the opponent, the German attack on his position completely stopped. Now a few hours have passed, and the enemy's position is still quiet, without any attack.
"There is no movement on the enemy's position?" After hearing Belkin's answer, Cidolin frowned slightly and asked, "Captain Belkin, are you sure?"
"Yes, I can be absolutely sure." Belkin replied in a affirmative tone: "Since the German offensive was repelled by us, the area they occupied was quiet and there was no movement at all."
Sokov, who was sitting aside, heard the conversation between Cidolin and Belkin, and a trace of ominous premonition surged in his heart. He quickly got up and took the phone call from Cidolin and asked tentatively: "Comrade Political Commissar, is the enemy really not moving at all?"
"Yes, Misha." Although Belkin had just answered this question, when he heard Sokov was asking, he answered truthfully: "The enemy has no movement at all."
"Comrade Political Commissar, this is too abnormal." Sokov frowned and said to the microphone: "How could the enemy attack only once and there was no movement? I think there must be a problem."
"Misa, I think there is a problem, too." Belkin replied truthfully, "but I just don't know where the problem lies."
"Since there is no movement on the enemy's position," Sokov continued, "have you sent someone to reconnaissance?"
"Reconnaissance? Send scouts to perform reconnaissance missions during the day?" Belkin said with some embarrassment: "It is too dangerous to do this? You know, it is still during the day. If we send scouts, it is easy to be discovered by the enemy..."
"Comrade Political Commissar, I think something is wrong with the enemy." Sokov, before he could finish Berkin's speech, he interrupted the words behind him: "Send personnel to reconnaissance immediately, and be sure to figure out what the Germans are doing."
Although Berkin had different opinions on Sokov's tough order, he still agreed out of respect for his superiors: "Okay, I will send people immediately to reconnaissance in the combat area."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Cidolin couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Commander, what are you worried about?"
"This is really strange." Sokov explained to Sidolin: "The enemy's troops are stronger than ours. Even when attacking our flanks, they are blocked by the shrinking regiments, and they will not be able to hold their troops for a long time. I think there may be any problem, so I ordered Commander Belkin to send someone to try reconnaissance."
After saying this, Sokov said to Cydolin: "Chief of Staff, call the commander to find out the progress of the peripheral forces."
"Okay," it has been relatively difficult to get the latest battle report since Golikov left. After all, even the commander Cui Kov, who is the commander of the division level, doesn't know many things, let alone the division level commander below. Sidorin was also anxious to know the situation outside. After receiving this order from Sokov, he immediately ordered the communications troop to connect with the group army headquarters and he wanted to talk to Cui Kov. "I will contact the commander immediately and ask what happened."
After the phone was connected, Cuikov asked anxiously without waiting for Cidolin to explain his purpose: "Lieutenant Colonel Cidolin, are there something wrong with calling me in such a hurry?"
"There is no problem." Sidolin quickly replied: "The 24th Armored Division of the German Army, who attacked our division's defense zone from the flank, launched an attack on the Belkin's position. It's strange that they have not made any noise since then. The division commander asked me to ask you if you have received the latest news?"
"Latest news?" Cui Kefu did not come back to his senses about Sidolin's question, and he said in a daze: "The troops of our army are in the existing defense zone and are fighting against the enemy on a small scale."
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Hearing Cuikov say this, Sidorin immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood and quickly explained to him: "The division commander asked me to ask, do you know the latest battle situation of our army on the periphery?"
"Oh, you are talking about this. Wait a minute, I'll ask the Chief of Staff." Sidolin heard Chokov asking Krelov next to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any new movements in the friendly forces on the periphery?"
"I heard that the Supreme Command issued a combat order to all the peripheral troops." Krelov replied: "Let our army launch a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area."
"Centripetal attack?!" Sokov, who had been listening to the conversation between Sidolin and Cuikov, couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Have the superiors determined that the enemy's command center is located in the Gumlak area?" Sidolin quickly repeated Sokov's question to Cuikov.
"That's right, the superior said that the communications department found that there were a large amount of radio wave activities in the Gumlak area, which should be the location of the German headquarters." Cuikov replied: "That is why the superior issued an order to carry out a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area."
"Gumlak area?" Sokov and Sidolin asked tentatively after putting down the phone: "Did we sent to the reconnaissance team after arriving last time, did we use rockets to attack the Gumlak station occupied by the German army?"
"Yes, it was the enemy-behind team led by Guchakov and Samoilov. They successfully destroyed the supplies stored by the German army in Gumlak Station, and interrupted the enemy's supplies for several days." After answering this question, Cidolin asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to send troops to the enemy's backbone for harassment?"
"This is worth considering." Sokov nodded and said, "There are many German troops gathered there. If a smuggling squad behind enemy lines is sent, even if it is pretending to be an enemy, the possibility of exposing its identity is not very large. We must make a good idea of how large the troops should be sent and who will command it."
Considering that when Sokov sent out the enemy's squads in the past, the personnel selected were basically reduced groups or guard battalions. As for the commanders and fighters of the other three regiments, he rarely considered them, so he reminded him: "Comrade Commander, I think this time, you can choose from the three regiments in front of Mamayev. So that the commanders and fighters in these regiments would not complain privately about you and say that you have any important tasks to the reduction groups and guard battalions to complete, and it seems that they have always regarded them as outsiders."
Sidolin's words reminded Sokov. After thinking carefully, he seemed to be a little too fond of the reduction regiment and the guard battalion. No matter what, the three guard regiments are their own subordinates, so they should not be too favorable to each other. Thinking of this, he nodded and said, "Chief of Staff, you are right. Next time you select the candidates for the enemy's squad, you will pick people from the three guard regiments."
After pausing for a moment, Sokov added: "It is necessary to select elite soldiers and generals. If possible, I hope that this small team sent out can remove Paulus's Army Command."
"Destroy Paulus's Army Command?!" Hearing Sokov's thought, Cidolin's breathing became rapid: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's headquarters must be on high alert. I am worried that our enemy's team will not be able to approach the target at all."
"Don't we have new rockets?" Sokov smiled faintly and said, "As long as we find the location of Paulus Command, there is no need to get close. Just fire a few rockets from a distance, and we can make the enemy dizzy."
…………
Although the reconnaissance mission assigned by Sokov was a bit too difficult for Belkin, since the order had been issued, he could only find a way to execute it.
He asked Captain Vanya, the chief of staff of the regiment: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the division commander ordered us to send people immediately to detect the movements of the enemy opposite. Do you have a suitable candidate?"
"What, send reconnaissance personnel to reconnaissance the enemy's positions in broad daylight?" Hearing the order conveyed by Belkin, the muscles on Vanya's face twitched violently a few times, and said awkwardly: "Comrade Commander, aren't you worried that the scouts we sent will be discovered by the enemy?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, how could I not worry about actinide?" Belkin said with a wry smile: "But this is an order issued by Misha, and we can only implement it unconditionally."
It was heard that it was the order assigned by Sokov himself, and Vanya stopped complaining. He quickly thought in his mind about who should be sent to carry out this dangerous task? After thinking for a while, he finally thought of a suitable candidate. He said to Belkin: "Comrade Commander, I have a suitable candidate to perform reconnaissance missions."
"Who is it?"
"Sergeant Kopeto of the 5th Company of the Second Battalion," Vanya replied: "He is a very good tactic. I think it is perfect for him to lead the team."
"Okay." Belkin nodded when he heard that Vanya was so optimistic about the other party, and said in agreement: "Then explain the mission to him as soon as possible and quickly rush to the enemy-controlled area to carry out reconnaissance missions."
Sergeant Kopeto, who received the mission, set off immediately with his five soldiers. In order not to be discovered by the enemy in front, they and six of them carefully circled around from the west. The reason they chose this direction was entirely because it was within the control of the German army. The German army on the opposite side did not monitor the place closely and could easily get over it.
According to Copetus's idea, it was possible to have fire with the German army halfway. After all, it was daytime at this moment, and even if the detour was taken, it was still possible to be discovered by the enemy. Therefore, from the moment of departure, all the soldiers were ready for battle. However, until they approached the German position in front, no trace of the enemy was found.
The soldier Ye Feim asked Copetus curiously: "Comrade Squad Leader, what's going on? We haven't met Germans along the way? Where have they all gone?"
"This is really a hell." Copeto did not encounter the enemy in the place where the Germans were most likely to encounter the Germans, and he was quite puzzled. He thought that the Germans were doing something, and there was no patrol along the way, so he actually let his reconnaissance team get into their positions without any obstacles? "What the hell is going on?"
After walking for a while, Ye Feim suddenly said in surprise: "Comrade Squad Leader, do you think the Germans will retreat? We can't see a German on the road?"
"The Germans retreated?" Copeto frowned and asked, "A few hours ago, they were still attacking our positions. Where could they retreat? I see, they probably lurked where they are. We will look for it later."
The few people approached the first line of defense of the German army. They were afraid of exposing their targets and dared not move forward any further, so they stopped to find a place to hide and observe the movements on the opposite side from a distance. However, after watching for a long time, they did not see anyone walking in the fortifications. At this time, Ye Feim volunteered again: "Comrade Squad Leader, if you can trust me, let me take two people over and take a look."
Seeing that there was no movement between the opposite side, Copeto was full of doubts, so he readily agreed to Ye Feim's request, only reminding the other party: "You should be more careful. Once you find something wrong, you should withdraw immediately."
After Yefim and the others left, Kopetu ordered a radio operator who accompanied him: "Report to the regiment headquarters, we did not find any traces of Germans along the way. Now people are sending to the German positions to conduct reconnaissance. For the specific situation, we will report to the regiment headquarters later."
The radio operator here just reported the situation to the regiment headquarters. Kopeto saw Ye Feim who had just crawled forward and turned over into the German trenches. His heart couldn't help but raise his throat and said inwardly: Why are these people so rash? If they break into the enemy's position rashly, they will be eaten by the enemy.
Just as I thought of this, I suddenly saw Ye Feim emerging from the trench, dancing to such a hand, as if shouting something loudly. Seeing all this, the radio operator said to Kopeto: "Comrade Squad Leader, something is wrong. Is there no one on the enemy's position?"
"There is no one on the enemy's position?" Copetus thought this inference was really ridiculous. How could the Germans easily give up their position? However, seeing Ye Feim's expression in the distance, it seemed that there was really no one in that area, so he said to the remaining soldiers: "Let's go up and take a look."