But when Sokov's troops launched an attack on the German second line of defense, Krylov was reading the day's battle report to Chuikov: "...the 37th and 39th Guards Rifle Divisions, the 308th, 95th and 95th Infantry Divisions The attack launched by the 195th Division, due to the tenacious defense of the German army and the powerful firepower they possessed, our army did not achieve the desired results..."
After Chuikov waited for Krylov to finish reading, he frowned and asked: "So, the attack we launched today, apart from losing a large number of troops, achieved no results at all?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, that's exactly the case." Krylov replied: "Although our commanders and fighters performed extremely tenacious and brave in the battle, due to the enemy's too strong firepower and the strong Fortifications were used, so the results achieved were minimal. Even if individual troops wedged themselves into the German defense zone for four to five kilometers, there were no decent fortifications in the occupied area. Once the Germans counterattacked, they would not be able to defend it."
Chuikov smiled bitterly, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, so the results achieved by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops are the only highlight in our counterattack today?"
"Comrade Commander, you can say that." Krylov agreed with Sokov's statement, but he said with regret: "But Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has limited troops. Victory can be achieved on local battlefields, but the results are inconspicuous."
"As long as his troops can reach Orlovka and fortify themselves there until friendly forces arrive, it will be a great victory." Although Chuikov knew very well that with Sokov's current strength, it would be impossible to break through. The remaining three lines of defense of the German army were extremely difficult, but he still took a chance and said: "As long as we can join forces with friendly forces outside the encirclement, the battle situation will develop in a direction that is beneficial to our army."
Krylov raised his hand to look at his watch and said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops should be attacking the German second line of defense at this moment. I wonder if their progress is going well?"
…………
The German second line of defense was much tighter than the first line of defense. The tank battalion only managed to seize the position after losing seven tanks and the infantry battalion suffered more than a hundred casualties.
After Sokov entered the position, he ordered the radio operator angrily: "Operator, send a telegram to the Air Force and ask them why the fighter planes supporting us have not appeared yet?"
The reason why he was so angry was that according to prior arrangements, the air force should appear in the air when the troops attacked the German first line of defense. Unexpectedly, now that the second line of defense has been taken down, there is still no sign of the air force. Therefore, he was particularly angry and ordered a telegram to be sent to question Colonel Khostnikov.
Colonel Khostnikov quickly sent a reply. He said in the telegram: "Because rats were found inside the fuselages of several aircraft, they chewed up the insulated wires and damaged the instruments on the aircraft. It cannot be used normally, resulting in the inability to dispatch fighter planes to provide air support to the troops."
After reading the telegram, Sokov threw it to the ground angrily and said angrily: "Hell, this is really hell. How come Colonel Khostnikov's flying regiment also encountered rat infestations..."
After Yakov waited for Sokov to vent, he asked tentatively: "Misha, is it because a mouse got into the fuselage of the plane that our air force cannot provide air cover for the ground troops?"
"Yes, Yakov." Hearing Yakov's question, Sokov nodded with a wry smile and said, "Such a situation has happened before. A mouse got into the fuselage of an airplane and bitten it. It damaged the insulated wires, making the instruments on the aircraft inoperable, and caused plague among the pilots, which prevented our air force from entering combat for a long time."
"Then what should we do?" Yakov originally thought that with the cover of the air force, it wouldn't be a big problem to break through the remaining two lines of defense. But now he found out that the air force couldn't come for some reason, and he couldn't help but feel a little panicked: " What should we do when the enemy bombs us?"
"It's getting dark soon. We must speed up our operations. Otherwise, when it gets dark, the effectiveness of our tanks will be greatly reduced." Sokov looked up at the sky and continued: "As for the enemy's air strikes, , once it gets dark, their air force won’t be of much use.”
At this time, both Bely and Vanya came to look for Sokov and asked him for instructions on the next step. Seeing the arrival of the two men, Sokov nodded to them, then pointed to the map placed on the trench wall and began to say: "Vanya, use the rockets you carry to attack the enemy's defensive positions; Colonel Bely, You lead the tank battalion to detour from the left flank of the enemy's defense line and engage Vanya's troops in a flanking attack to break through the German third line of defense."
"Understood!" Vanya and Bely replied in unison. After a while, Bely continued: "Comrade Brigadier, it's almost dark today. Once we capture the enemy's position, I'm afraid we won't be able to move forward. Do you think you can wait until dawn tomorrow before attacking the enemy?" The fourth line of defense launches an attack?"
"No, Comrade Colonel, this is absolutely not possible." Regarding Bely's proposal, Sokov rejected it without hesitation: "The time we need now must advance to Orlovka as quickly as possible. If Postponing the attack until tomorrow morning will, firstly, give the Germans an extra night of preparation time, and secondly, during the daytime attack, we will be hit by German artillery fire and air force bombing, and will inevitably pay a greater price."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Seeing Sokov rejecting his proposal, Bely said reluctantly: "You also know how to drive a tank. Naturally, you know that tank soldiers stay in the tank and their field of vision is quite narrow. Fighting at night, this These shortcomings will become more apparent."
"I understand what you mean, Comrade Colonel. In this case, after seizing the third line of defense, your tank battalion will temporarily stop and rest." Sokov's eyes turned to Vanya: "For the German fourth line of defense I think the attack on the defensive line should be done by the infantry.”
"What, let the infantry independently complete the attack on the German fourth line of defense?" Bely said with some surprise: "Without the support of tanks, it is undoubtedly a suicidal act to let the infantry attack the German defensive positions."
"Colonel Bely, don't worry." Vanya grinned and said confidently: "Although we will encounter some difficulties when attacking without the support of tanks, we can use new rockets to The enemy deals heavy blows. While the enemy is in chaos, we can take the opportunity to rush forward."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Seeing that Vanya was so confident, Bely's worries diminished a bit. He looked at Sokov and asked, "I would like to ask, when will we launch a new attack?"
Sokov raised his hand to look at the time and said to Bely and Vanya: "The two of you return to the troops immediately and attack the enemy in ten minutes."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vanya asked with some worry: "We have put all our troops into the attack, but who will protect your safety?"
"Comrade Captain, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov patted the assault rifle on his shoulder and said with a smile: "As long as I have this gun with me, dozens or twenty enemies will still be unable to get close to me. Yes. And our superiors have sent us a battalion, and they are heading here. I think they will arrive in a short time, so you don’t have to worry about my safety."
Shortly after Bely and Vanya left, a soldier staying in the trench suddenly shouted to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, a convoy appeared behind us, it may be the enemy."
Hearing that the enemy was coming, Sokov immediately held the assault rifle in his hand and shouted loudly: "Get ready to fight!"
Although there were only a dozen soldiers in the trench, after hearing the orders from Sokovl and others, they all put their weapons on the edge of the trench and got ready for battle. Guchakov, who has been responsible for protecting Sokov's safety, even set up an MG34 machine gun, preparing to shoot as soon as the enemy approached.
Sokov raised his telescope and looked into the distance, and found a convoy of more than ten trucks coming. Although it was a truck with a cover, Sokov recognized it at a glance as a truck equipped by the Soviet army. He quickly put down his binoculars and shouted to the side: "Don't shoot, our own people!"
The convoy slowed down when it was more than two hundred meters away from the trench. Except for the first car, which continued to drive forward, the remaining cars stopped one after another. Seeing that only the leading truck was coming, Sokov guessed that the other party might be afraid of causing misunderstanding, so he sent only one truck to get in touch, and quickly told Guchakov: "Guchakov, go and take a look. Which part is it?”
Guchakov agreed, climbed out of the trench on his hands and knees, and trotted towards the truck. When he was still thirty or forty meters away from the truck, he waved his hands desperately at the truck and shouted loudly: "Stop, stop quickly!"
The truck stopped five or six meters away from Guchakov, and a major officer jumped out from the passenger cab. He came to Guchakov, looked at his rank, and said: "Lieutenant." Comrade, this is Major Tenev, please tell Lieutenant Colonel Sokov that the guard battalion of the Army Group Headquarters has been ordered to report."
Hearing what Tenev called him, Guchakov couldn't help but blush. Even though he was demoted to a corporal by Sokov, he now wears the rank of lieutenant, so Tenev even got it wrong. He quickly explained: "Comrade Major, you are mistaken. I am no longer a lieutenant, but a corporal."
"Ah, are you a corporal?" Tenev looked at the other party's rank carefully and asked in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant, the situation is urgent, please don't make such a joke to us."
"It's not a joke, Comrade Major." Guchakov explained to Tenev with a red face: "I made a mistake and was demoted to corporal. The specific situation involved confidentiality regulations, so I couldn't I apologize for telling you too much."
"Don't worry, comrade corporal, I won't ask about things you shouldn't ask." After Tenev changed his address to Guchakov, he urged him: "Hurry up and take me to see Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Bar."
A few minutes later, Tenev followed Guchakov to the trench and informed Sokov of his intention. Sokov held the opponent's hand and asked: "Comrade Major, how many troops do you have?"
"The whole battalion has just been replenished before crossing the river. There are currently 425 people." Tenev replied: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please give us an order."
"That's it, Comrade Major." Sokov immediately brought the opponent to the map, gestured with his hands and said: "My troops are about to launch an attack on the German third line of defense. Your battalion will be on standby here temporarily. After they capture the enemy's position, you continue to advance towards the enemy's fourth direction."
Vanya's troops launched a feint attack against the German defenses from the front, while Belly's tank troops carried out a detour from the flanks of the German defenses. Tenev heard the sound of gunfire not far away and couldn't help but asked anxiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard that your troops are not large in number. Do you really don't need us to go up and help them?"
"Comrade Major, thank you for your kindness. But they really have no place for you to help." Sokov now asked Tenev: "I want to ask, what weapons are you all equipped with?"
"Rifles and submachine guns." Tenev replied: "Each platoon has a rotary machine gun, and the output firepower is considered medium."
Sokov pointed towards the trench full of German corpses and continued to ask: "Comrade Major, would you like to ask the soldiers to search here to see if they can find suitable equipment?"
"Thank you for your kindness." Tenev glanced at the weapons next to the German corpses, shook his head and said: "Our battalion is all equipped with Soviet-style equipment. If we add some German-style equipment, I am worried that supplies may be lost. Adding to the trouble."
While the two were talking, the operator suddenly called Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Colonel Bely wants to speak to you."
Sokov ended the conversation with Tenev, walked to the operator, knelt down, took the earphone and microphone, and said loudly: "Comrade Colonel, I am Sokov, what happened to you there? ?”
"Reporting to Comrade Brigade Commander," although the roar of the tank engine was loud, Sokov could still clearly hear what Bely said: "While we were marching, we met a girl in her twenties. "
"Meet a girl?" Sokov couldn't help but frown slightly when he heard this, and said with some displeasure: "Comrade Colonel, the mission of your battalion is to quickly rush to the enemy's rear. Don't worry about the girl. , let the troops continue to move forward."
