When Lin Hua accepted the combat mission at the headquarters, neither Remizov nor Andryushenko told him that his company was not the first offensive unit.
As early as two days ago, Major General Dovatore, commander of the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, personally went into battle and led the commanders and fighters of the 50th Cavalry Division to attack the enemy's positions. Unfortunately, the attack launched by the cavalry failed, and Dovatore was unfortunately shot and died during the battle.
It was precisely because of the sacrifice of Dovatore that Remizov understood that cavalry was not suitable for attacking fortresses, so he decided to leave the task of capturing the German positions on the Rama River to the infantry.
At five o'clock in the morning, Lin Hua was sleeping in his tent when he suddenly heard someone outside the tent asking in a low voice: "Is Lieutenant Sokov here?"
Lin Hua suddenly woke up from his sleep. He grabbed the submachine gun placed next to his head, sat upright and rushed outside to ask alertly: "Who? Who is outside?"
The man just heard someone talking in the tent, so he continued: "Comrade Lieutenant, I am the staff officer sent by the brigade headquarters, and I have been ordered to take you to the starting point of the attack."
When the staff officer spoke outside the tent, he not only woke up Lin Hua, but also woke up the other platoon leaders inside the tent. Everyone sat up and turned their attention to Lin Hua, waiting for his order.
"Comrades, platoon leaders, it's time to teach the Germans a lesson." Lin Hua stood up, straightened his belt, and pulled the hem of his uniform, "Call up the soldiers, we don't have much time left. .”
Since the soldiers all slept in their clothes, it only took ten minutes to assemble after being woken up by the platoon commanders. Then, under the leadership of the brigade staff, the entire company arrived at the starting point for the attack designated by the superiors.
After entering the position, the staff officer took Lin Hua to the brigade headquarters to meet with the brigade commander Andryushchenko. Andryushchenko waited for Lin Hua to salute him, and then asked with concern: "Comrade Lieutenant, have all the soldiers had breakfast?"
"Not yet." Lin Hua glanced at the staff officer standing nearby and replied, "We rushed here as soon as we received the notice from the staff comrade."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Andryushchenko heard what Lin Hua said and quickly ordered the staff officer who was leading them: "Go and notify the cook immediately to prepare breakfast for the soldiers of the Istria Company. Remember, each person must have at least one Hot soup, don’t let the soldiers freeze in such a cold weather.”
After the staff officer waited for Andryushchenko to finish speaking, he smiled and asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you allow me to carry out the mission?"
"Go!" Andryushenko waved to him, and then called to Lin Hua: "Sit down, Lieutenant Sokov, please sit down!"
After Lin Hua sat down on a bench, Andryushchenko sat opposite him and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, the attack will start at seven o'clock. Are you ready?" Seeing Lin Hua thinking He stood up and came back, quickly raised his hands and pressed them down, "Sit down and talk, sit down and talk."
Lin Hua looked at Andryushenko and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our company has made all preparations for combat and can go into battle at any time. But..."
"But what?" Seeing Lin Hua hesitate to speak, Andryushchenko urged: "Lieutenant Sokov, if you have any questions, just ask. I will find a way to solve it for you."
"I want to understand the terrain." Lin Hua knew very well in his heart that only by knowing yourself and the enemy can you win a hundred battles. Now that you don't even know what the enemy's position is, and you just launch an attack rashly, that's not letting the soldiers die. It was out of this consideration that he bluntly told Andryushenko: "Only by understanding the enemy's deployment, we can be more certain of winning."
After listening to Lin Hua's request, Andryushchenko immediately stood up, raised his hand to straighten the military cap on his head, and then said: "Comrade Lieutenant, come with me, I will take you to see the terrain."
The two of them walked along the traffic trench and arrived at the frontmost trench. Andryushchenko pointed to the front and said to Lin Hua: "The German defenses are about two kilometers away from us. The front of the defense is 800 meters and the depth is 200 meters. The defenders are one company, equipped with machine guns and mortars. Shooting..."
Lin Hua quietly stared at Andryushchenko's introduction, secretly calculating in his mind: the defenders were a company, and even if they were at full strength, they would only have 200 people. All of them would be placed in the first trench. Each soldier had to defend a distance of up to four meters. But in fact it is impossible for the German commander to arrange his troops in this way. He is bound to leave a considerable amount of troops for in-depth defense. In other words, if your troops want to occupy this position, the probability of success is quite high.
"How's it going? Do you understand everything?" Andryushchenko saw Lin Hua raising a telescope and looking at the German positions non-stop, and couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure you can win the enemy's positions? "
Lin Hua put down the telescope in his hand, turned to face Andryushenko and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, as long as I can get the necessary artillery support, I think we can still win this position."
Half an hour later, Lin Hua summoned several of his platoon leaders, pointed to the German positions in the distance, and said to everyone: "Comrades, the position we want to attack is in front of us. Take a look at the terrain first. Wait for it. I will assign tasks to you later."
As soon as Lin Hua finished speaking, several platoon leaders raised the telescopes hanging on their chests and looked at the enemy positions in the distance. Seeing this situation, Lin Hua couldn't help but laugh, secretly saying that a few days ago, when he observed the enemy's situation, he could only rely on his own naked eyes. After accepting the task of collecting supplies, the equipment of the troops can be said to have been replaced by cannons. Not only did the rifles he usually used be replaced by submachine guns, but the platoon leaders also had a submachine gun and were equipped with binoculars.
After everyone had finished looking at the terrain, Lin Hua continued: "Everyone has finished looking at the terrain, and then I started to assign tasks. The first platoon of Second Lieutenant Vanya, who was responsible for the first wave of attack, and the second platoon of Sergeant Andre, the machine gun The platoon served as fire cover. Saviev's third platoon served as a reserve and stayed at the offensive starting position on standby."
When the hour hand pointed to seven o'clock, a howitzer regiment deployed behind the 115th Infantry Brigade opened fire. Large clouds of fire and gunpowder smoke rose from the German defensive positions, and large tracts of snow mixed with loose soil were thrown into the air; some civil bunkers were directly hit and exploded into wood chips flying in the sky.
After half an hour of shelling, before the smoke from the enemy's position dissipated, Vanya and Andrei jumped out of the trench, raised their submachine guns high, and shouted at the top of their lungs: "Brothers, for Stalin! For the sake of the motherland! Come with me!"
