Although Sokov planned to advance with the troops, in order to prevent the division headquarters from being overtaken by the enemy at once, he left Potukin at the headquarters and led a guard platoon and a communications team across the river to the newly occupied position on the other side. .
After being shelled by the Soviet army for half an hour, the German position was filled with empty soil that reached the feet. Sokov led the security platoon and communications team, one foot at a time and one foot at a time, passing the corpses that had not yet been collected, and kept walking forward.
Because the German position had been bombed beyond recognition, Sokov could not find the location of Bindasov's regiment command, so he stopped a sergeant who was leading soldiers to clean the battlefield and asked loudly: "Shanghai Comrade Shi, do you know where the regiment headquarters is?"
When the sergeant saw that the acting division commander was asking him, he straightened up quickly and respectfully showed him the way: "Comrade division commander, if you keep going forward, you will see a bombed civil fire point. Behind the fire point, A complete trench more than five meters long, where Colonel Bindasov’s command post is located.”
Following the sergeant's guidance, Sokov successfully found Bindasov's headquarters. He jumped into the trench and said to Bindasov who was sitting on the ground: "Comrade Colonel, why did you set up the command post here?"
Hearing Sokov's voice, Bindasov quickly stood up from the ground, raised his hand in salute, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Division Commander, our army's artillery fire has destroyed all the fortifications on the position. I have been looking for it for a long time. I found that only this section of the trench was still intact, so I made it my command post.”
"Where is Lieutenant Colonel Pavel?" Sokov took out a cigarette case from his pocket, handed it to Bindasov, and asked: "According to the division's combat plan, shouldn't you establish a joint here? Command?"
Bindasov took out a cigarette from the pack and held it in his mouth, but did not light it immediately. He first used a match to light Sokov's cigarette, then lit his own cigarette, and then said: "Comrade division commander, you have also seen that it is difficult to even establish an ordinary headquarters here, let alone a joint headquarters. . Now Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, with two regiments of troops, continues to pursue the enemy. Our regiment, on the other hand, stays to clean up the battlefield."
Hearing that Pavel had led his troops to pursue the enemy, Sokov felt that he had made the right decision. If we really stay here and establish a joint command post, should Colonel Bindasov, who commands a regiment, command Lieutenant Colonel Pavel? Or should Lieutenant Colonel Pavel command two regiments, and Colonel Bindasov command only one regiment?
After finishing the cigarette in his hand, Sokov said to Bindasov: "Comrade Colonel, you leave one battalion here to clean the battlefield and repair the position, and then lead the other two battalions to continue advancing to the southwest."
"Understood, I'll leave now." Bindasov stood up and shouted to the staff and communications soldiers who were busy next to him: "Everyone, please pack up, we are ready to leave."
After Bindasov left with his troops, Sokov asked the communications team to set up the headquarters in the trench. The guard platoon leader looked at the surrounding environment and asked nervously: "Comrade division commander, will you set up your headquarters in the trench?"
"Yes, Comrade Second Lieutenant." After Sokov waited for the guard platoon leader to finish speaking, he nodded and replied helplessly: "Judging from the current situation, we can only use this place as a headquarters."
"Comrade division commander," the guard platoon leader looked around and then said, "I see that there must be a bombed-down shelter nearby. I will lead people to clear it out right away."
Hearing the guard platoon leader talk about the bombed-down bunker, Sokov's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself that it should be filled with German corpses. It would be really frightening to use such a place as a headquarters. Seeing that the guard platoon leader was still waiting for his answer, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay, Comrade Second Lieutenant, I'll leave this matter to you."
As soon as the phone line was set up, Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky himself: "Misha, why are you going to the front if you don't stay well at the headquarters?"
When Sokov heard what Rokossovsky said, he immediately realized that he must have learned about the situation from Kazakov or Potukin, otherwise he would not have known that he had left the command so quickly. But Sokov knew that Rokossovsky was caring about him, so he smiled and said: "Comrade Commander, didn't you say that the commander should be with his troops as much as possible, so that he can not only understand the battlefield in a timely manner? situation can also play a role in boosting morale.”
"Yes, I said that." Rokossovsky said on the phone: "According to the famous writer and journalist Ellenborg, our army's division-level headquarters is generally located three hundred meters away from the front line. place, and the German division headquarters is usually ten kilometers behind the front-line troops. His report explains from one side why the number of casualties among senior commanders in our army is high, because they almost all stay at the forward command."
Sokov patiently waited for Rokossovsky to finish, and immediately replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will pay attention to safety. Our division will never have a command loss because a division-level commander withdraws from the battle. Systems come to a standstill."
After ending the call with Rokossovsky, Sokov told the operator: "Send a message to Lieutenant Colonel Pavel immediately and ask him to immediately report on the progress of the 1137th and 1139th regiments."
But it took half an hour for the operator to receive a call back from Lieutenant Colonel Pavel. The content of Pavel's telegram was very simple, saying that the two regiments encountered a counterattack by the enemy while pursuing them. After repelling the enemy's counterattack, for the sake of safety, he promptly ordered the troops to move to defense on the spot and rush to repair the occupied positions.
Sokov glanced down at the map spread out on his knees, studied the situation of the German troops in front of Pavel's troops, and then said to the radio operator: "Call back to Lieutenant Colonel Pavel and ask him to stay on the defensive for the time being and let the troops hurry up. Time to rest and be ready for the next phase of operations."
After receiving Sokov's telegram, Pavel felt very relieved. The two regiments under his command marched overnight to the crossing point. After completing the crossing, they marched non-stop for several kilometers to attack the German flank. Now the commanders and fighters are very tired. If they can take a good rest, it will be very beneficial to the next battle.
When he was deploying defense, he asked the accompanying communications troops to start laying telephone lines with Sokov's headquarters so that if anything happened, they could communicate directly by phone. After all, when the situation was critical, it was too difficult to communicate by telegraph. convenient.
The enemy in the direction of Pavel's department saw that the Soviet attack suddenly stopped and thought that their counterattack was effective, so they began to bombard the defense areas of the two regiments with artillery fire. After the bombardment ended, the German army sent infantry to launch a charge, but was repelled by the Soviet army.
In the next more than two hours, Pavel realized that something was wrong. Although the Germans had been shelling their position, the enemy's infantry behaved extremely abnormally. They advanced to a distance of two to three hundred meters from the position. If there is a certain place, they will stop and fire a burst of guns at their own position, and then withdraw in a hurry.
The actions of the German army made Pavel feel that something was wrong, so he picked up the phone and reported to Sokov. After listening to his report, Sokov asked noncommittally: "Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, what do you think?"
"Comrade Division Commander," Pavel replied cautiously: "I think the Germans are just bluffing in our direction. Their purpose is not to repel us, but to pin us firmly in the existing area so that To cover possible actions they may take in other directions.”
Sokov agreed very much with Pavel's analysis. After all, he had just played a trick with the Germans not long ago. It is entirely possible for the Germans who have suffered a loss to repeat the same thing. The key lies in where they will choose the real direction of counterattack.
However, everything is currently speculative. What exactly the Germans are selling in their gourds remains to be seen. Thinking of this, he said to Pavel: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, pay attention to the movements of the Germans. If you find anything, report it to me immediately. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Pavel assured on the phone: "If there is any change in the enemy's situation, I will report to you immediately."
Sokov put down the phone and stared at the map on his lap again, secretly wondering about the enemy's intentions: Does he want Bindasov on Pavel's left wing, or the friendly troops on the right wing? After thinking about it for a while, he felt that no matter which unit the German army planned to attack, they must be vigilant and adjust their forces in a timely manner to prevent being plotted by the German army.
He raised his head and looked at the radio operator sitting beside him, and ordered him: "Operator, send a message to Colonel Bindasov and ask him where his troops are now."
Bindasov's reply came quickly. According to his report, Sokov found that he had wedged himself into the German defenses five or six kilometers deep, leaving Pavel's troops far behind. When Sokov discovered this situation, he was suddenly startled and broke out in a cold sweat. He felt that the reason why the Germans were making feints in the direction of Pavel's headquarters was probably because they wanted to concentrate their forces to eat the 1135th Regiment, which was alone in the depths.
After realizing this problem, he immediately ordered the telegraph operator: "Send a telegram to Colonel Bindasov. It is extremely urgent. Your regiment has distanced itself from the main force of the division and may be surrounded by German troops. Your regiment is now ordered to stop immediately." Move forward and move to the defensive position to await further orders."
Bindasov, who was directing the troops to move forward quickly, frowned and said after receiving the telegram from Sokov: "Hell, how can you stop advancing at this time?" After that, he told the station The radio operator on the side said, "Immediately call back to the division commander and say that our regiment's current attack is going well and it is expected to achieve greater results before dark."
Sokov received Bindasov's telegram, which clearly wanted to disobey the order. He gritted his teeth and said to the operator: "Call back to Colonel Bindasov: Is the division commanding the regiment or the regiment commanding the division? Your regiment is ordered to immediately Stop advancing and build fortifications on the spot to prepare for the German counterattack. If you continue to disobey, you will be sent to a military court." Sokov knew that his tone must be strong in order to suppress these military officers who are higher than himself. The commander, after dictating the telegram, nodded to the operator, "Send it!"
When Bindasov ordered the telegraph operator to send the telegram, he thought that after receiving his telegram, Sokov would change his original intention and allow his troops to continue to advance. After receiving the new telegram, he realized that although Sokov was only a major, he was his superior after all, and there was no room for bargaining with the orders he gave. In desperation, he could only order the troops to stop advancing and switch to defense on the spot.
The two battalion commanders under him were also very confused about the order that Bindasov suddenly issued. Especially the commander of the first battalion, Captain Jetrov, went to the regiment command post and asked Bindasov: "Colonel Comrade, our battalion is fighting smoothly, why did it suddenly stop attacking?"
Bindasov glared at him and said angrily: "You think I want to stop the attack? This is an order given to me by the division commander via telegram, and it must be carried out." He waved to Jetrov. He said, "Okay, Comrade Captain, stop talking. You can go back to the army immediately to arrange defense matters."
After learning that Sokov personally issued the order, Jetrov knew that there was no room for change in the matter. After raising his hand to salute Bindasov, he turned and left the regiment command post and returned to his camp to arrange defense matters. .
Another battalion commander learned that the order to stop the attack was issued by Sokov. Although he didn't say anything, he was muttering in his heart. He thought that the acting division commander was too young and did not know how to catch such a good fighter in front of him. However, he inexplicably ordered the troops to move to defense on the spot. But his complaints turned into admiration an hour later. The German army used artillery from an artillery regiment to bombard the defensive position of the 1135th Regiment, and then tanks led the infantry to launch an attack.
After hearing the news from the front, Bindasov suddenly broke out in cold sweat on his forehead. He thought to himself: It's so suspenseful. If the division commander hadn't sent a telegram strictly ordering us to stop advancing and turn to defense on the spot, Otherwise, the round of German artillery fire just now was enough to wipe out most of my two battalions. When the German infantry rushed forward, it was difficult for the remaining soldiers to mount an effective defense. Then the scene of the German army being annihilated in the early morning will happen in your own regiment.
After Sokov learned that the 1135th Regiment had been attacked by the Germans, he immediately ordered the battalion remaining on the existing position to move out immediately, rush to join the main force of the regiment, and prepare to block the German counterattack.
