Hearing Sokov assigning tasks to Krylov, Sokov felt that he would have nothing to do here. He quickly stood up to attention and asked, "Comrade Commander, can I leave?"
"Okay." Chuikov nodded and said, "Although the attack will not start for a few days, you still need to make all preparations in advance, do you understand?"
"I understand completely, Comrade Commander."
"Very good." Chuikov nodded with satisfaction at Sokov's answer, and then said, "Now you can return to Mamayev Heights."
According to Sokov's idea, after leaving the army headquarters, he immediately returned to Mamayev Heights. Now that the army was in chaos, it was better to return to the safety of his own territory as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, halfway through, he found that he could not walk anymore because the German army was launching an attack on the Krutoy ravine where the 42nd Guards Regiment was located.
Sokov had no choice but to take his people to Colonel Ye Lin's regimental command post for temporary refuge. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, he heard someone asking him, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why are you here?"
Sokov took a closer look and saw that the person asking the question turned out to be Rodimtsev. He quickly stood up and answered, "Comrade General, it was Commander Chuikov who summoned me to the headquarters to accept the task."
"What mission?" Rodimtsev asked casually.
"I'm sorry, Comrade General." Logically speaking, Rodimtsev is now Sokov's immediate boss, and it doesn't matter even if Chuikov tells him the tasks assigned by Chuikov. But now we are in Colonel Ye Lin's command post. There are many people here talking. What should we do if there is a leak? It was out of this consideration that Sokov said euphemistically, "This involves important military secrets, and I can't tell you."
Fortunately, Rodimtsev is also an old soldier and understands the principle of confidentiality, so when he heard Sokov say this, he did not continue to ask. He changed the topic in time and said to Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, come to me. The Germans are attacking the 1st Battalion's position. Come and see if they can hold their position?"
Sokov came to the lookout, took a telescope handed over by the staff next to him, and looked into the distance, only to see the defensive position of the first battalion shrouded in smoke. Through the smoke, German tanks and infantry could be faintly seen, rushing towards the position of the position.
He heard Colonel Ye Lin who was on the phone not far away, yelling at the top of his lungs into the phone, "Captain Fedoseyev, I order you to hold your position at all costs. Hold it for me at all costs, do you hear me?" ?”
After Ye Lin put down the phone, he walked to Rodimtsev and reported to him, "Comrade division commander, I have called Captain Fedoseyev of the 1st Battalion and ordered him to hold the position resolutely."
Rodimtsev put down the telescope in his hand, stared at Yelin and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you think the first battalion can hold its position?"
"Comrade Commander, it's hard to say." Faced with Rodimtsev's question, Ye Lin said with some embarrassment, "If our regiment had just entered the defensive position, the scale of the German attack would not be able to break through our regiment's defense. . But now our troops have suffered heavy losses in the battle. Although the newly recruited militiamen can fire guns, they have little combat experience. I am worried that some people will turn around and run away when they see the tanks rushing in front of them, thus affecting the The morale of our regiment.”
"Comrade Colonel, you are too pessimistic." After listening to Ye Lin's words, Rodimtsev said to him in a stern tone, "Don't look at the new recruits that have just been added to your regiment. They are all militiamen from various factories and mines. I admit it. They lack sufficient military training and have no combat experience, but they are defending their homeland, and seeing these Germans trying to destroy their homeland, they will definitely be able to burst out with superhuman fighting power."
Seeing that Rodimtsev was so confident in his men, Colonel Yelin could not say anything more and could only follow his wishes: "Comrade Commander, maybe you are right. Our soldiers will use their own flesh and blood to block the way." Enemy so that they cannot capture the factory behind us."
Sokov did not speak. He just held up his binoculars and watched everything happening quietly. However, he was thinking that the artillery observers deployed on the Mamayev Hills should be able to see the troops attacking here. The enemy, should they direct the artillery on the east coast to fire a round of blocking fire to reduce the pressure on the defenders?
Just when Sokov was worried about the defenders, the whistling sound of artillery shells was heard in the air. Then in the German offensive formation, the soil blown up by the artillery shells rose into the sky. Not only could you see the German soldiers near the explosion point being blown away , even the tanks that opened the way in front were like paper toys, torn to pieces by the power of the explosion and then thrown high into the air. Facing the sudden Soviet artillery fire, the charging German officers and soldiers had to lie on the ground to avoid the damage of the artillery fire.
"Colonel Yelin," Rodimtsev said when he saw his own artillery fire forcing the Germans to lie on the ground, he quickly urged Yelin to "call the 1st Battalion immediately and ask them to carry out a counterattack. We must defeat the enemy."
After hearing the order issued by Rodimtsev, Ye Lin did not dare to neglect, quickly picked up the phone and called Captain Fedoseyev again, "Comrade Captain, have you seen the enemy being suppressed by our army's artillery fire?" ...Very good, now that you have seen it, you and your men should stop hiding in the trenches and counterattack. Immediately order each company to counterattack, and we must drive the enemy away from our position."
A few minutes after the order was issued, Sokov saw an officer wearing a large-brimmed hat leaping out of the trench with a submachine gun in his hand. He stood above the trench and turned around and shouted something to the soldiers. Then he Holding the gun and rushing forward. Seeing the officer charging forward, two to three hundred soldiers crawled out of the trenches and charged forward behind the officer.
"Comrade Division Commander," Ye Lin put down the phone and returned to the lookout. After seeing clearly the commander leading the charge, he proudly said to Rodimtsev, "The commander leading the attack is the First Battalion." Captain Fedoseyev."
"Well done, really well done." Seeing his officers leading the charge despite the enemy's bullets, Rodimtsev couldn't help but said with emotion, "I believe they will be able to defeat the enemy."
However, Rodimtsev's words seemed to be spoken a little too early. When everyone saw Fedoseyev charging forward, they were suddenly shocked and stopped where they were. First, they knelt down in this posture. After holding it for a few seconds, he fell down crookedly. Seeing the battalion commander fell after being shot, the charging soldiers fell into chaos. In order to avoid the flying bullets and shrapnel, they had to lie on the ground again.
Seeing this situation, Rodimtsev couldn't help but said anxiously, "What the hell, what's going on? Why are you all lying down?"
"Comrade Commander," Ye Lin saw clearly that as Captain Fedoseyev fell, all the charging commanders and soldiers fell to the ground in unison. "Captain Fedoseyev, the commander of the first battalion, died, and the troops lost their unified command, so they became a little at a loss."
"Colonel, send someone immediately to take over his command." Seeing that his troops only needed to charge forward to defeat the enemy, the charge was terminated because the battalion commander leading the charge fell. The husband couldn't help but feel anxious, so he urged Ye Lin, "Stop dawdling, act quickly."
Sokov didn't care at all who Yelin would let take over the command of Captain Fedoseyev. He just hoped that Rodimtsev wouldn't notice him. If he was asked to lead his troops to charge, he really wouldn't care. Any idea what to do?
But before Colonel Yelin could find a suitable candidate, Sokov saw an officer getting up from the ground and shouting something loudly at the soldiers around him. Sokov saw clearly that the officer who had just stood up was actually Captain Dragan, the commander of the first battalion and company. His heart was suddenly full of expectations, hoping that Dragan could lead the commanders and soldiers lying on the ground again and launch another attack on the German army. A charge.
But Dragan shouted in place for a long time, but very few people got up. Dragan was so angry that he fired two shots at a militiaman lying not far away. When he saw Dragan firing, Sokov trembled in his heart. He thought to himself: Why is this Dragan so violent? He actually shot at the soldiers. If everyone is killed, who will continue the attack? ?
Fortunately, he quickly saw clearly that Dragan's bullets did not hit the militiaman, but all hit the soil next to the militiaman. The startled soldier suddenly jumped up from the ground. , holding the bayonet on the spear and rushed forward. The other soldiers were lying on the ground, and no one noticed Dragan shooting at the militiamen who did not dare to get up. They only saw a man charging forward again with a gun, so they stood up and rushed forward with shouts. Go up.
Seeing their troops rushing forward, the artillery observers were worried that the artillery fire would accidentally injure their own people, so they quickly sent a signal to the east bank to stop the shelling. The German troops, who had been suppressed by artillery fire, saw that the Soviet artillery fire had stopped. They hurriedly got up from the ground, turned around and ran back.
The first battalion's counterattack achieved great results, but their casualties were also high. More than a hundred soldiers died in the battle, including the battalion commander Captain Fedoseyev. After listening to Ye Lin's report on the casualties, the muscles on Rodimtsev's face couldn't help but twitched violently a few times, and then ordered: "Comrade Colonel, since the commander of the first battalion, Captain Fedoseyev, has died, I think... Let Captain Dragan, First Company Commander, take his place."
"Understood." Ye Lin nodded vigorously, and then said into the microphone, "Captain Dragan, I now officially appoint you as the acting battalion commander of the 1st Battalion, do you understand?"
"Comrade Commander." Regarding Ye Lin's appointment, Dragan said with some concerns, "But the Political Deputy Battalion Commander is still there. Do you think it would be up to him..."
"Comrade Captain," Ye Lin interrupted Dragan before he could finish his words, "I appoint you as the commander of the first battalion. This is what Comrade Division Commander means. You should do your job well. If you can't hold your position. , I will still remove you from your post."
When he learned that it was the division commander Rodimtsev who personally appointed him as the battalion commander, Dragan did not shirk anymore, but straightened his back and replied, "I understand, comrade commander, I will resolutely obey the orders of my superiors. Please rest assured, As long as there is one soldier alive in our battalion, the enemy will never rush into our position."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," seeing that the enemy was repelled, Sokov was about to say goodbye to Rodimtsev and return to Mamayev Heights, but was stopped by Rodimtsev, "I have something to say." you say."
Sokov quickly stopped and looked at Rodimtsev, waiting for him to assign a task to him. Just listen to Rodimtsev say: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the weapons and ammunition of the 42nd Guards Regiment used to be provided by your brigade. After these few days of fighting, their ammunition consumption is very high. Can you see? Do you want to support them again?"
Rodimtsev's request put Sokov in a dilemma. Before leaving Mamayev Heights, he mentioned to Sidorin and Belkin that the troops' ammunition consumption was too high and they might face supply difficulties. At that time, Sokov considered that the entire brigade was mainly equipped with German equipment, so he just asked the troops to immediately collect weapons and ammunition that could still be used after repelling the enemy to supplement the consumption of the troops. There are still a lot of Soviet standard equipment and supporting ammunition in the warehouse, but those are what Sokov intends to use to arm the troops after the German equipment and ammunition are exhausted. How can they be easily handed over to others?
Seeing Sokov frowning and refusing to speak, Rodimtsev knew that the other party was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, so he reminded him, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, if Colonel Yelin's troops defend because of lack of ammunition, If you don't hold your position, your flanks will be directly exposed to the enemy. Then..."
Although Rodimtsev had not finished speaking, Sokov had already understood what he meant. Blackmail, this is simply blackmail, Sokov cursed secretly in his mind. Don't give it if you have the intention. You really can't say this. After all, others are using conspiracy. Even if you want to refuse, you can't find a suitable reason.
Thinking of this, Sokov could only sigh, raised his head and said helplessly to Rodimtsev, "Comrade General, I can provide another two hundred rifles, one heavy machine gun and two light machine guns for the 42nd Guards Regiment. And the matching ammunition. This is already my limit, I really can’t take out any more.”
When Sokov was speaking, Rodimtsev had been observing the expression on his face, confirming that what he said was the truth, and did not make any more demands. Instead, he said to Yelin, "Comrade Colonel, send someone immediately." A platoon escorted Lieutenant Colonel Sokov back to Mamayev Heights. Tell the officer leading the team that he must protect Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's safety as much as he cares for his own eyes. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ye Lin turned to look at Sokov and replied in a loud voice, "We will escort Lieutenant Colonel Sokov back to Mamayev Heights safely."
escort? ! When Sokov heard the two singing in harmony, he couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. He secretly said that escort was not just sending people to my place to carry weapons and ammunition. But at this moment, he couldn't care about so much. He could only bite the bullet and said to Ye Lin, "Comrade Colonel, it's getting late. I need to rush back to Mamayev Heights immediately. Please arrange manpower as soon as possible to escort me." Go back to the headquarters."
