Sokov looked at the infantrymen who followed the tanks and used short-leap forward tactics to use the bomb craters to quickly approach the forward position. He was worried that the platoon on the position alone would not be able to resist them, so he picked up the phone again and answered the call. Arrive at the second battalion command post.
As soon as the phone call came through, he said bluntly: "Is it Captain Vasily? I'm Sokov! The German army is charging towards the first battalion position. You immediately let two machine guns shoot at the infantry following the tank. Do you understand?"
"Comrade Brigadier, didn't the First Battalion abandon their position and retreat?" Vasily said with some surprise: "If we fire too early, will we expose the firepower on the position?"
"There is still a platoon of soldiers left in the first battalion to hold on to the position." Sokov knew in his heart that the other party was worried that there was no one in the forward position, and firing prematurely would not only have a low hit rate, but also easily expose the target, so he quickly said to him: "If If you don't provide them with fire support, it will be difficult for them to hold their position."
"But, Comrade Brigadier, we don't have anti-tank weapons." Vasily said without confidence: "It's no problem to eliminate the infantry behind the tanks. But there is nothing we can do about the enemy's tanks."
"The enemy's tanks will naturally be dealt with by artillery batteries." Sokov said loudly into the microphone: "You can't let our artillery use armor-piercing bullets to destroy the enemy's infantry."
"Understood, comrade brigade commander." Vasily learned that the enemy's tanks had artillery to deal with them, and immediately replied loudly: "We will cooperate with the comrades of the first battalion to destroy the enemy's infantry."
After receiving Sokov's order, Vasily rushed to the trench on the hillside and arranged two machine guns to aim at the German infantry approaching the friendly front. But when the enemy entered the 800-meter shooting range, a machine gunner next to Vasily asked quietly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, can we shoot?"
"Wait a moment." Although the German infantry had entered the effective range of 800 meters, Vasily knew very well that if he fired now, the chance of hitting the target would be very low, so he said decisively: " Put the enemy closer and then attack."
The machine gunner said anxiously: "But if you put the enemy too close, the bullets will hit your own people."
"The front line of the first battalion is 350 meters away from our position. We will shoot when the enemy is still 500 meters away." Vasily calculated the range of the machine gun like an old accountant: "At that time, your shooting target , one hundred and fifty meters away from the first battalion’s trench, as long as they don’t launch a counterattack, bullets will never hit their own people’s heads.”
When Vasily was assigning shooting tasks to his men, the six cannons on the top of the mountain were still firing at the enemy tanks. Sokov stood in the observation post, staring at the artillery shells exploding around the tanks, thinking to himself that the German tanks had insufficient elevation angles. Facing our artillery attacks, they could only choose to evade them, but could not effectively fight back. . It seems that there should be no problem in repelling this enemy attack.
When the commanders and fighters of the platoon who stayed in the forward position saw the enemy tanks and armored vehicles rushing toward them, they thought they would die here today, but they soon discovered that they had overthinking it. The tanks leading the way had to slow down because more and more bomb craters appeared. As a result, one tank was destroyed by the artillery on the top of the hill and parked more than 300 meters in front of the trench, burning violently. None of the tank crew could escape.
The German infantry was not much better, but the defender platoon leader saw that the enemy was still 150 meters away from the trench, and was about to order the soldiers to shoot. Unexpectedly, the machine gun on the hill behind them rang out. Get up and block the enemy's path forward. After the few German soldiers who rushed at the front were knocked down, those behind them continued to rush forward, but they still did not escape the fate of being knocked down. Seeing that the comrades in front were beaten into sieves by machine guns, spinning and falling to the ground, the remaining soldiers hid in the crater.
Cannons and machine guns on the hills firmly blocked the German army's path forward. As the tanks were destroyed one after another, the infantry hiding in the craters were frightened. They realized that if they continued to stay, the entire army would be destroyed, so they used the craters to turn back.
Captain Vasily in the hillside fortification saw that the enemies had already fled, and he quickly ordered the machine gun to stop shooting: "Stop, stop shooting. The fleeing enemies are too scattered, and it is difficult for us to eliminate them all, so don't waste any more bullets." "
The artillery lieutenant standing next to Sokov saw that all the German tanks were destroyed by the artillery, and most of the infantry following the tank attack were also wiped out. He reminded Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest that you immediately move the hill The top guns are concealed.”
"Why?" Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, didn't you say that it is difficult for enemy artillery fire to hit the top of the mountain?"
"The possibility of artillery fire hitting the top of the mountain is indeed small," the artillery lieutenant said to Sokov: "But if the enemy sends out planes to bomb, it's hard to say."
Sokov agreed very much with the artillery lieutenant's statement. He quickly called Porochenko over and ordered him: "Comrade Lieutenant, immediately pull all the artillery into the tunnel and hide it."
"Comrade Brigadier," after hearing Sokov's order, Porochenko, who had just won the battle, asked with confusion: "Although we have just repelled the enemy's attack, they will not be willing to fail. It will come back soon. I suggest that our company continue to stay on the top of the mountain and use artillery fire to destroy the enemy tanks..."
"Comrade Lieutenant, obey the order and immediately pull all the artillery back into the tunnel." Sokov said to Porochenko in a stern tone: "The Germans are definitely not willing to abandon their soldiers and will come back soon. But If planes are sent to bomb this place before they attack, do you think your artillery can survive the bombing?"
Sokov's words have reached this point. If Porochenko still can't understand, Sokov plans to change someone to serve as the artillery company commander. Porochenko quickly stood up and agreed: "Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander, we will move the artillery back to the tunnel immediately!" Then he ran towards the artillery position not far away, and at the same time prepared to shout loudly, "Brothers , move the position, and immediately move all the artillery into the tunnel."
The soldiers of the artillery company had just won the battle and eliminated seven enemy tanks and two armored vehicles. They were having a great time when they suddenly heard the company commander shouting that all the artillery should be moved back to the tunnel. They must have felt unhappy. Although orders from superiors must be implemented, it is still okay to make small moves during the implementation process. The soldiers slowly packed up the things on the position and dragged the artillery towards the entrance of the tunnel calmly. In their hearts, they were eagerly waiting for the German army to attack again, so that they could legitimately stay and continue the bombardment. enemy.
However, the Germans had just suffered a defeat. How could they start a new attack so quickly? Until the last artillery piece was dragged into the tunnel, the German attack did not start. The artillerymen were thinking: Comrade Brigade Commander is really too neurotic. We are in a position where even if the German army launches an artillery attack, they may not be able to hit us, but they want us to retreat to the tunnel.
Porochenko, who was walking at the end, was also thinking: Now that the artillery has been pulled into the tunnel, when the German army launches a new round of attack, we will have to pull the artillery out again and rearrange the artillery positions. It's really terrible. Trouble.
At this moment, a strange whistling sound suddenly came from the air, coming from far and near. As an artillery commander, Porochenko naturally knew better than others that this was caused by artillery shells cutting through the air when flying in the air. He hurriedly shouted to Sokov's observation post: "Shelter, comrade brigade commander, hurry up and hide!"
In fact, it was not just Porochenko who heard the scream of artillery shells. The artillery lieutenant staying in the observation post also heard it. His face suddenly turned pale, and he shouted at Sokov: "No, shelling." !" Then he threw Sokov to the ground.
After an earth-shattering explosion, Sokov, who was lying on the ground, felt that his internal organs were shaken out of place. With the help of the artillery second lieutenant, he stood up with difficulty. Before he could speak, the second lieutenant had already leaned into his ear and shouted loudly: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, please return to the headquarters immediately. The enemy is attacking Mamaev Hill." There's been a shelling and it's not safe to be outside."
When Sokov heard what the artillery lieutenant said, he was about to ask, isn't the top of the hill less susceptible to shelling? But I heard the artillery lieutenant continue: "The enemy is using a 305mm heavy artillery. Even if it cannot hit the target directly, the shock wave generated by the explosion can still kill people alive."
When Sokov heard this, he knew that if he continued to stay here, his life would definitely be in danger, so he did not persist. He shouted to the artillery second lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, you should withdraw to the tunnel as soon as possible. If something goes wrong with you, , but there is no one to indicate the firing direction for the artillery on the east coast!"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," but the artillery lieutenant stood still and said to Sokov: "I will take advantage of the German heavy artillery fire to determine their location, and then call on the artillery on the east bank to destroy them. they."
From the words of the artillery lieutenant, Sokov understood that no matter how fierce the artillery fire here was, the artillery observers would not leave their posts. After testing the location of the enemy's artillery, they would direct the artillery fire from the rear to suppress the enemy. Looking at the brave artillery lieutenant in front of him, Sokov's eyes were red. He grabbed the opponent's hand and shook it vigorously a few times. He said: "Be safe!" Then he stumbled back to the tunnel from the hidden entrance. .
When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Belkin saw that he was covered in dirt and asked with concern: "Comrade Brigadier, are you injured?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and replied: "The enemy started shelling our position again. The dust on my body was obtained when I was lying down to avoid the artillery fire."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidorin walked around Sokov and asked curiously: "Is the forward position held?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, our forward position is held." Sokov said with a normal expression: "Because the defenders were supported by artillery and machine guns on the south hill, more than half of the attacking enemies were lost before they even got close to the trenches. , and had to retreat in despair."
Sidorin raised his hand to dust off the dirt on his shoulders and continued to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, is the enemy's shelling more intense than just now?"
"I heard from artillery comrades that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery." Although there was a layer of soil about ten meters thick above his head, Sokov still said with a guilty conscience: "I hope our tunnel fortifications can withstand the enemy's artillery fire." .”
Belkin felt that the ground was shaking slightly as each shell hit the ground and exploded. He couldn't help saying with emotion: "With such a fierce shelling, if the first battalion still stayed on the original position, there would be inevitable casualties."
"That's right." Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement: "The original position of the first battalion could not withstand such a bombardment. If we had not moved them, they would have suffered heavy casualties by now. .”
Chuikov's call came in at this time. He asked cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I heard that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery to carry out violent shelling on Nangang and forward positions. How about your forward positions? Can you withstand such a bombardment?"
"No, Comrade Commander, the forward fortifications simply cannot withstand such an artillery bombardment." Sokov knew that it must be the artillery commander on the east coast who specifically reported to Chuikov after learning that the enemy was using heavy artillery, so he answered truthfully: "Even if the artillery shells cannot destroy our army's forward fortifications, the soldiers hiding in the fortifications will be shocked to death by the huge shock wave."
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Chuikov suddenly apologized to him unexpectedly: "It was my stubbornness that harmed the commanders and fighters of the first battalion. If I had followed your orders in advance, they should have all been killed at this moment. Stay in a relatively safe place instead of sacrificing your life in vain like now."
Sokov was originally worried about his disobedience. Now when he heard Chuikov say this, he immediately realized that the crisis was over and quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, there is one thing I want to ask your forgiveness for. You ordered me to let you I did not carry out the order to stop the movement of the 1st Battalion. Now there is only one platoon in the forward position, and the main force of the 1st Battalion has moved to the anti-slope position in Nangang."
When Chuikov heard what Sokov said, he was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you would actually disobey orders on the battlefield. Aren't you afraid that I will send you to a military court?"
"I'm afraid, I'm very scared in my heart." Sokov knew from Chuikov's tone that he would not pursue the matter again, and said quickly: "But in order to prevent the commanders and fighters of the first battalion from suffering unnecessary casualties, I can only Disobey your orders and have them evacuate to a safe place at the risk of a court martial."
"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, this matter is over." Although Chuikov would not pursue Sokov's disobedience, in order to prevent similar things from happening again in the future, he felt it was necessary to give him a slap: " If this happens again next time, I will never let you off lightly."
