, red moscow
Sokov knew very well that after seizing the German material transfer station, capturing the prisoner of war camp in Duminich, and rescuing Yakov who was imprisoned by the Germans there, he had become a thorn in the side of the Germans and must be eliminated. The goal is to quickly go after that. Therefore, he ordered his troops to repair their positions and strengthen fortifications in preparation for possible German attacks.
But in the next two days, except for the scouts who drove armored vehicles and walked around two to three hundred meters away from the position, the enemies in front of the unknown highland did not do anything at all. There was no sign of attack.
In the area north of Susinich, the fighting was in full swing. The 61st Group Army, which had changed its commander, seemed somewhat powerless in the face of the German offensive. In just two and a half days, they retreated thirty kilometers to the rear from the original occupied position.
Their retreat completely exposed the right wing of the 16th Army to the Germans. Rokossovsky had no choice but to transfer troops from Susinich to strengthen his right wing. Chernyshev's 11th Guards Division was demobilized, leaving only one guard platoon in the city responsible for the protection of the division headquarters. Under this circumstance, Chernyshev brought up the old matter again and hoped to transfer two companies from the Istria Battalion. Therefore, early in the morning, he sent an emergency telegram to the Istria Battalion.
When Belkin received the telegram, he said to Sokov with a grimace: "Comrade battalion commander, the division commander has sent another telegram, ordering us to dispatch two companies to Sushinich as soon as possible to accept the command of the division headquarters."
"No." Sokov said angrily: "The division headquarters stayed in the city and did not go to the front line. One guard platoon is enough to protect their safety. There are four hundred people in two companies. If they are transferred, I will The defense force will become weak. If the German army launches a fierce attack on the unknown high ground, we will not be able to defend it at all."
"But, comrade battalion commander." Seeing that Sokov wanted to disobey the order, Belkin quickly persuaded him: "Judging from the situation in the past two days, the German army has not shown any signs of attack. I think it is better to obey the order of the division headquarters and dispatch two troops." The whole company should go to Susinich. Otherwise, if the division commander blames us, neither you nor I can bear this responsibility."
Sokov sat at the table, frowning and staring at the map in front of him, wondering what the Germans were doing. Apart from daily reconnaissance, there was no sign of an attack. Could it be that the Germans looked down upon the nameless high ground they were holding and did not bother to send troops to attack? But if you think about it carefully, it doesn't look like it, because the enemies deployed in the south have not withdrawn, and the muzzles of more than a dozen heavy artillery are always aimed at the unknown high ground.
He raised his head and looked at Belkin and said: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, don't be anxious. We will put aside the division headquarters' orders for the time being. Wait patiently and see what the Germans are up to."
Seeing Sokov being so stubborn, Belkin had no choice but to sigh, put Chernyshev's telegram on the table, and said helplessly: "Okay, comrade battalion commander, let's just wait. But after noon, no matter what, troops must be mobilized immediately to Susinich.”
Sokov said to him calmly: "Deputy Battalion Commander, you have to trust my judgment. We have made such a big noise recently, and even caused the division commander von Giles to be dismissed. The Germans have long been responsible for this." We hate it so much that we wish we could be broken into pieces. The reason why there has been no movement must be that the preparations have not been completed."
Time passed by, and it was almost noon. Unexpectedly, before the German army launched an attack, Chernyshev personally called. Chernyshev asked angrily on the phone: "Major Sokov, I sent you a report at six o'clock in the morning, asking you to dispatch two companies to Sushinich. But now it's almost noon, I I didn’t even see a single figure, please explain to me, what is going on?”
"Comrade Division Commander." Sokov heard that Chernyshev was angry and quickly explained to him: "I think the unknown heights may be attacked by the German army at any time. If we mobilize our troops and leave, our defense will change. Gotta be weak..."
"Stop talking nonsense," Chernyshev raised his voice and said dissatisfied: "Don't you know that you must obey the orders of your superiors? I will give you another three hours. If at three o'clock in the afternoon, I have not Seeing your troops in Susinich will result in you being relieved of your duties as battalion commander.”
Belkin, who was standing aside, was frightened by Chernyshev's tone. As soon as he saw Sokov put down the phone, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do now? If we don't mobilize troops again, Rush to Susinich and you will be dismissed directly."
Although Sokov insisted on his opinion and felt that the unknown highlands would be subject to a fierce offensive by the German army, Chernyshev had already issued such a strict order. If he continued to resist, there would be no good end. Thinking of this, he picked up the phone on the table and connected the third company on the high ground. After hearing Saviev's voice, he asked straight to the point: "Captain Saviev, how is the situation there, Germany?" Is there any movement?"
"There is no movement, comrade battalion commander." Saviev gave Sokov a positive reply: "My observation post has been closely monitoring the German positions in the distance, but there is no movement at all. I guess they still won't do it today. Attack us."
"I understand." After Sokov finished speaking, he hung up the phone and said to Berkin who was standing aside: "According to Saviev's report, there was no movement at all on the German positions."
Hearing that there was no movement from the German army, Belkin quickly asked: "Then shall we dispatch troops to Sushinich?"
Sokov sighed and said helplessly: "Deputy battalion commander, give the order to the second company and the machine gun company to pack up and follow me to Sushinich in an hour."
Seeing that Sokov finally agreed to transfer troops to Sushinich, Belgin breathed a sigh of relief. He readily agreed, then picked up the phone and called Andrei from the second company and Vasily from the machine gun company. , informed them to assemble their troops and prepare to move towards Susinich immediately.
An hour later, Sokov led the assembled second company and machine gun company on foot toward Susinich. Vasily left the team behind, ran to the front and walked side by side with Sokov, and asked curiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, are the superiors seeing that there is no fighting in the nameless highlands, so they transferred us to Sushinich?" "
Sokov did not immediately answer his question, but instead asked: "Do you think the Germans will attack the unknown heights?"
"It stands to reason that we have caused the Germans such a big loss, and they should retaliate. I have asked the soldiers in the company to prepare for reinforcements on the high ground." Vasily frowned and said with some confusion: "But It’s very strange that so many days have passed without any movement from the Germans.”
Sokov stopped and turned to ask Vasily: "Why, do you also think there is a problem with the Germans?"
"Yes, that's what I thought." Vasily also stopped and said to Sokov: "I suspect this is a conspiracy by the Germans. They want to wait until our army is paralyzed before launching a sudden attack."
Sokov heard that Vasily's thoughts coincided with his own, and he was even more convinced that the German army's delay in attacking was just an illusion, just to confuse him so that he could be caught off guard at a certain time. Thinking of this, he raised his right hand high and shouted loudly: "The troops stop advancing!"
"The troops stop advancing!"...
His order was immediately and faithfully conveyed, and the advancing troops stopped.
Andrei, who was walking at the end of the queue, saw the troops stopped and trotted to the front of the queue. He asked Sokov breathlessly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, why did the troops stop?"
