When Sokov walked out of the factory, he saw a team in the distance, trotting towards his location. Sokov's sharp eyes immediately saw that Belkin and Vanya were at the front of the team. Seeing the political commissar he hadn't seen for many days, Sokov's heart was filled with joy. Just when he wanted to speed up to meet him, something unexpected happened.
A German bomber got rid of the entanglement of Soviet fighter jets and dived towards the marching troops, dropping bombs and strafing. The marching troops were suddenly enveloped in gunpowder smoke.
Seeing his troops being bombed and strafed by enemy planes, Sokov's heart felt as if someone had violently tugged him. He looked at the smoke-filled place and shouted: "Political Commissar! First Battalion." Long!" he shouted as he ran forward.
Briski, who was following behind, saw another German bomber diving in his direction, and quickly shouted: "Comrade Brigadier, it's dangerous, get down quickly!" He rushed to Soko as quickly as possible. Next to her husband, she hugged the other person's shoulders and used all her strength to push him to the ground. As soon as the two of them lay down, the enemy plane dropped a bomb and exploded seven or eight meters away, sprinkling the dust all over them.
Briskey looked up at the sky and saw that the enemy plane had lifted up again and was flying to other places. Then he stood up, pulled Sokov up by the way, and said in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Brigadier, didn't you see the enemy plane in the sky? How could you take such a risk?"
When Sokov was crushed by Briskey, his arms and legs suffered varying degrees of contusions, but he was worried about the safety of Belkin and Vanya, and ignored his own injuries, so he urged Brischi: " Hurry up and see the political commissar and the first battalion commander to see how they are doing?"
"Don't worry, comrade brigade commander. The political commissar and the first battalion commander are fine!" The smoke in the distance dissipated, allowing Briski to see the people there clearly. After looking at it for a moment, he said in surprise: "Look , they are coming towards us."
Looking in the direction of Briski's finger, Sokov saw the familiar Belkin and Vanya, stumbling out of the smoke. Sokov was eager to know whether the two men were injured, so he completely ignored the possibility that the enemy plane in the air would swoop down again, and walked towards Belkin and the others in three steps and two steps at a time.
"Comrade Brigadier!" "Comrade Political Commissar!"
Sokov and Belkin held each other's hands, thinking that everyone had just been on the verge of death. They couldn't help but feel emotional when they met at this moment: "Comrade Political Commissar, are you not injured?"
"No." Belkin shook his head and said, "The bombs dropped by the enemy are still far away from me." He turned to look at the troops coming one after another, and added with a serious expression, "But we still suffered some casualties. "
"First battalion commander," Sokov let go of Belkin's hand, shook Vanya's hand again, and asked with concern: "You are not injured, are you? How many casualties were there in the battalion?"
"The specific data haven't been calculated yet." Vanya said solemnly: "I estimate that there were at least thirty casualties."
"Brigade commander, political commissar." Seeing that Sokov was actually standing in the open talking to Belkin and the others, Briski hurriedly came over and urged: "It's too dangerous here. Let's go back to the basement."
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar." After Briski's reminder, Sokov immediately realized that this was not the place to talk. If another enemy plane came and dropped two bombs or swept a shuttle, the 73rd Infantry Brigade would be destroyed. To lose half of the important commanders: "Let's go to the basement."
In order to prevent a possible German attack, Vanya immediately sent a company of soldiers into the trenches to assist the fourth battalion and the militia in defense. The remaining soldiers and all the wounded followed Sokov and the others into the basement.
Asiya, who was treating the wounded, suddenly saw a dozen more wounded, and they looked familiar, and she couldn't help but show a surprised expression on her face. After staring at the wounded for a while, she recognized that one of the sergeants with a head injury was from the 1st Battalion. She quickly grabbed him and asked curiously: "Comrade Sergeant, aren't you from the 1st Battalion?"
"Yes, Comrade Asiya." The sergeant also recognized Asiya: "I am from the 1st Battalion, why are you here?"
"I was ordered to come here to take care of the wounded." After Asiya answered the other party's question, she asked: "Comrade Sergeant, why are you here?"
"We were ordered to come here to strengthen defense." The sergeant replied: "We were bombed by enemy planes on the way, and dozens of people were injured or killed. The wounded who came in with me were all from the first battalion."
"Who is leading the team when you come this time?" Asiya heard that the First Battalion was here to support, and she felt more at ease. She knew that the First Battalion had many fighting backbones and was Sokov's most valued unit. As long as there were They are here, and there should be no problem guarding the assembly workshop. While helping the sergeant bandage his wound, she asked tentatively: "Who is leading the team when you come here this time? Is it Captain Vanya?"
The sergeant knew that Asiya was the wife of the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, so he did not keep this matter a secret from her, but answered truthfully: "Yes, not only is Captain Vanya here, but also the farewell Political Commissar Erjin is here too!”
"What, the political commissar is here too?" When Asiya heard this, she couldn't help being stunned for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal. While continuing to help the sergeant bandage his wounds, she asked: "There is no need to do politics here. Propaganda work, what are you doing here, comrade political commissar?”
In response to Asiya's question, the sergeant smiled bitterly and replied with some embarrassment: "Asiya, I don't know about this. As long as we can defeat the enemy, it doesn't matter whose command we follow."
While Asya was dressing the wounds of the wounded, Sokov held a brief military meeting in his command post to discuss how to fight the next battle?
After Sokov first introduced Belkin and Vanya to Colonel Bely, he then said: "Comrade Colonel, although we have the support of the air force, the enemy has too many aircraft. If we want to control the air superiority on the battlefield, it may not be possible. It’s too easy. If this happens, your tank battalion may not be able to deploy in a short time.”
Hearing that his tank battalion might not be able to fight for a while in the coming battle, Belly did not feel the slightest relief. Instead, he frowned: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I want to ask you, what do you think about your situation?" Can the existing troops defend the assembly workshop?"
"If the Germans don't send out tanks," Brisky said quickly before Sokov could say anything, "we should be able to hold on here."
"Comrade Captain," Bely turned to look at Briski and said with a sneer: "Do you think the Germans will not send out tanks in order to seize this place?"
"It's impossible if the enemy doesn't dispatch tanks." Seeing Brisky's face flushed with shame, Sokov rescued him in time: "We lack anti-tank weapons and can only rely on soldiers holding explosive bags. Or anti-tank grenades, risking your life to rush up and blow up enemy tanks."
"Comrade Brigadier, I have a suggestion." Seeing that Sokov was also troubled by the enemy's tanks, Beley took the initiative and said: "Although we no longer need to take the initiative to attack the enemy, we can place a few tanks behind the position. Use it as a fixed turret. You know, our T-34 tank can easily penetrate the armor of the German Panzer III and IV tanks at a distance of five hundred meters."
"Comrade Brigadier, this is a good idea." Belkin waited for Bely to finish, and immediately interrupted: "If tanks are used as fixed forts, then we will have anti-tank power, even if the German army dispatches more tanks , we can also beat them into piles of scrap metal."
"Yes, by using tanks as fixed forts, we are close to the problem of insufficient anti-tank weapons." Seeing that Belgin also supported his opinion, Belei struck while the iron was hot and said: "And the tanks are scattered in different places, so the enemy Even if planes bomb, it will not be easy to destroy them."
"Comrades, two battalion commanders," seeing that both Bely and Belkin planned to use tanks as fixed forts, Sokov did not immediately express his position, but looked at the other two battalion commanders and asked: "What do you two think? Like them, do you support the use of tanks as fixed turrets?"
Vanya and Briski looked at each other, then nodded together, expressing agreement in unison.
Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Sokov said smoothly: "Since everyone agrees with Colonel Bely's opinion, then ten tanks will be deployed and deployed near the defensive position to be used as a fixed fort."
After hearing Sokov's words, Bely stood up immediately and said impatiently: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I will arrange for the tanks to serve as fixed forts right now."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Colonel." Sokov quickly stopped Bely and said to him: "I haven't finished speaking yet."
After Bely sat down again, Sokov said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, the position the Fourth Battalion is currently holding is a trench more than thirty meters away from the factory. There is no anti-gun hole in it. Once it is attacked by the Germans, The soldiers in the trenches would suffer heavy casualties if shelled.”
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya interjected: "When the enemy starts shelling, I think we can temporarily hide the troops, and then let them re-enter the position after the enemy's shelling ends!"
"First Battalion Commander, you put it lightly." Briski heard Vanya say this and sneered: "In the past, when the factory was intact, we could still let the soldiers take shelter in the factory. Now the factory is under enemy shelling and bombing. There is only an empty frame and piles of ruins left, where do you want our soldiers to hide?"
Briski's words left Vanya speechless. He did not expect that there was not even a decent fortification in the assembly workshop. Therefore, he could only turn to Sokov for help, hoping to get useful information from him.
Seeing everyone's eyes looking at him, Sokov was really dumbfounded. He thought to himself: You are all waiting for me to make my decision. If I leave this brigade in the future, won't you be able to fight?
"Comrade Brigadier, I have a suggestion." Seeing that Sokov was also troubled by the enemy's tanks, Beley took the initiative and said: "Although we no longer need to take the initiative to attack the enemy, we can place a few tanks behind the position. Use it as a fixed turret. You know, our T-34 tank can easily penetrate the armor of the German Panzer III and IV tanks at a distance of five hundred meters."
"Comrade Brigadier, this is a good idea." Belkin waited for Bely to finish, and immediately interrupted: "If tanks are used as fixed forts, then we will have anti-tank power, even if the German army dispatches more tanks , we can also beat them into piles of scrap metal."
"Yes, by using tanks as fixed forts, we are close to the problem of insufficient anti-tank weapons." Seeing that Belgin also supported his opinion, Belei struck while the iron was hot and said: "And the tanks are scattered in different places, so the enemy Even if planes bomb, it will not be easy to destroy them."
"Comrades, two battalion commanders," seeing that both Bely and Belkin planned to use tanks as fixed forts, Sokov did not immediately express his position, but looked at the other two battalion commanders and asked: "What do you two think? Like them, do you support the use of tanks as fixed turrets?"
Vanya and Briski looked at each other, then nodded together, expressing agreement in unison.
Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Sokov said smoothly: "Since everyone agrees with Colonel Bely's opinion, then ten tanks will be deployed and deployed near the defensive position to be used as a fixed fort."
After hearing Sokov's words, Bely stood up immediately and said impatiently: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I will arrange for the tanks to serve as fixed forts right now."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Colonel." Sokov quickly stopped Bely and said to him: "I haven't finished speaking yet."
After Bely sat down again, Sokov said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, the position the Fourth Battalion is currently holding is a trench more than thirty meters away from the factory. There is no anti-gun hole in it. Once it is attacked by the Germans, The soldiers in the trenches would suffer heavy casualties if shelled.”
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya interjected: "When the enemy starts shelling, I think we can temporarily hide the troops, and then let them re-enter the position after the enemy's shelling ends!"
"First Battalion Commander, you put it lightly." Briski heard Vanya say this and sneered: "In the past, when the factory was intact, we could still let the soldiers take shelter in the factory. Now the factory is under enemy shelling and bombing. There is only an empty frame and piles of ruins left, where do you want our soldiers to hide?"
Briski's words left Vanya speechless. He did not expect that there was not even a decent fortification in the assembly workshop. Therefore, he could only turn to Sokov for help, hoping to get useful information from him.
Seeing everyone's eyes looking at him, Sokov was really dumbfounded. He thought to himself: You are all waiting for me to make my decision. If I leave this brigade in the future, won't you be able to fight?
