The German commander did not know that the machine gun fire that blinded his troops came from the two machine gun platoons led by Vasily; and those soldiers who charged with shouting "Ula" were the main force of the Istrian battalion. But he saw that the Soviet army outnumbered him and that he was no match for him in a head-to-head confrontation, so he immediately ordered a retreat.
Going back an hour, not long after Lieutenant Vasily left the high ground with his troops, Belgin, who was supposed to stay in the command post of the camp at the foot of the mountain, walked into the observation post with two other company commanders. As soon as the three of them entered, the small observation center immediately became more crowded.
Sokov did not expect these three people to suddenly appear here, so he asked strangely: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, why did you suddenly come to my place?"
"That's it, comrade battalion commander." Belkin explained to Sokov: "We learned that the machine gun company rushed to the high ground. We thought there was some combat mission, so we rushed here to accept your order."
Ever since he saw a firefight in the distance and the sneak attack turned into a strong attack, Sokov had been secretly regretting: There were two radio stations in his camp, but he didn't even think of bringing one to the highlands, which made him unable to do it in time. Get in touch with the troops at the foot of the mountain. If Vasily didn't attack first and take the initiative to take the cannon battery to the high ground, he could only watch Pavel's team fighting alone.
At this moment, when he heard that Belkin said that he had come to the high ground to accept the mission, a new hope arose in his heart: If the troops at the foot of the mountain followed these people to the high ground, then he could take the opportunity to launch an attack on the German army. Counterattack. Therefore, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, how many of you are here?" As soon as he said the words, he was afraid that the other party would not understand what he meant, and added, "What I'm asking is, only three of you are here." Yes, the main force of the battalion is here."
"I brought up the main force of the battalion." Belkin explained to Sokov with a smile: "Except for the remaining platoon of the machine gun company, I brought up the first company, the second company and your guard platoon. .”
"Great, this is really great." Hearing Belkin say this, Sokov suddenly felt a little fond of him. For the first time, he discovered that his political deputy battalion commander was not So annoying. Now that the main force of the battalion has reached the high ground at this moment, it is completely possible to take the initiative and disrupt the enemy.
He faced several commanders and said: "I am giving an order now: The third company, continue to guard the high ground; the first company, the second company and the guard platoon, follow me to attack!"
Although Saviev was extremely dissatisfied with Sokov's deployment in his heart, he could not sing the opposite at this time. He could only bite the bullet and answered loudly like the other two company commanders: "Yes!"
Sokov turned to Belkin, smiled and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, you are a political cadre and have no combat experience, so just stay on the high ground."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Belkin pull out his pistol and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Battalion Commander, please let me attack with you! I have fought against the Germans in Spain, and I have Rich combat experience will never hold you back on the battlefield."
Sokov blushed. He didn't expect that the political cadre he looked down on would actually fight the Germans on the Spanish battlefield. He thought to himself: Belgin was his deputy, and he He knew nothing about his previous experiences. In order to get out of this embarrassing situation, he quickly said: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, since you said so, let's lead the troops to attack together."
The weapons and ammunition carried by the machine gun company that set off first affected their marching speed, so the first and second companies that set off later quickly caught up with them. In this way, as soon as the machine gun fires, the infantry can immediately charge towards the enemy.
When Sokov led the guard platoon and followed the attacking troops towards the German artillery position in the distance, he suddenly heard someone calling him next to him, and then a soldier rushed in front of him. He took a closer look and saw that it was actually Christopher. He quickly asked: "Christopher, why are you here? Where is Pavel, where is he?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Kristoff couldn't help but feel a little excited when he saw Sokov leading a large force to the rescue. He said in a slightly trembling voice: "Corporal Pavel saw that the enemy's defense was too tight, and we couldn't blow it up. When the enemy's artillery fired, he ordered me to take my men to withdraw first, and he and his men to cover behind."
"How many of you are left?" Sokov asked quickly: "Where is Pavel now? Has he withdrawn as well?"
"We still have six people left." Christopher turned to look in the direction of Pavel and said in a low voice: "A few minutes ago, I heard gunfire from Corporal Pavel's blocking position, but now There was no sound, and I don’t know whether he was sacrificed or captured.”
"Christopher," Sokov said in a stern tone after the other party finished speaking: "I know Pavel. Even if he died with the Germans, he would never be a prisoner. I guess he must be too injured. Zhong, fainted. You take people to find him immediately, and you will see him alive or dead or his corpse. Do you understand?"
"Understood, comrade battalion commander." Christopher agreed, and took the few soldiers who had withdrawn with him to return to the original route to find the whereabouts of Pavel.
Fighting at night, if not commanded properly, will cause unnecessary chaos. When the German commander ordered the troops to retreat, he originally wanted to retreat to the artillery position for defense. Unexpectedly, when the German soldiers saw hundreds of Soviet troops rushing towards them under the cover of more than a dozen G34 machine guns, they immediately became confused. The retreat turned into a rout. Not only the soldiers were fleeing, but the officers were also fleeing. Everyone wished they had two extra legs. They threw away the things that hindered their escape and fled towards the forest to the south. They were afraid that if they ran too slowly, they would be killed. The Soviet troops behind caught up.
The cannons and trucks thrown away by the German army were captured by the soldiers of the Istrian battalion; the tents, guns and various supplies they threw away were also captured. Belkin stood on the artillery position, looking at the five captured 150-mm howitzers, and couldn't close his mouth with joy.
Sokov, led by Christopher, found the unconscious Pavel and another seriously injured person in the blocking position. He reached out and touched Bavel's arteries and found that the other party was still alive. He quickly ordered Christopher: "He is still alive. You should take people back to the high ground immediately and let the assistant military doctor perform rescue operations."
