Sokov agreed very much with Bely's statement. Although his troops have broken through the four lines of defense of the German army, the troops standing there will be constantly attacked by the German troops from the west. Once one of the positions is lost, his retreat will be cut off, so he He agreed to let Belei go to reinforce friendly forces.
After receiving Sokov's order, Bely immediately returned to the tank camp, picked out eight tanks from the remaining tanks, took two platoons of infantry, and headed east to meet Colonel Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division. . ,
Guchakov looked at the tank troops in the distance and asked Sokov with some worry: "Comrade Brigadier, we only have fifteen tanks in total. Colonel Bely took away eight at once, plus the ones in the northwest Of the two that were searching in this direction, there are only five left on the position. If the Germans launch an attack at this moment, I'm worried that we won't be able to withstand it."
Sokov turned to look at his subordinate and said to him: "Comrade Guchakov, Colonel Bely is leading people to meet friendly forces. Once the 308th Infantry Division can get here smoothly, then our defense Our strength will be greatly strengthened, and we will be more certain to defend this place."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a crisp gunshot from the foot of the hill. Just as he was about to ask someone to ask why the gunshots were fired, a hoarse shout came from the fortifications at the foot of the hill: "Air raid, air raid siren. Take cover, everyone, hurry up and find a place to hide."
Hearing the shouts, Sokov immediately thought that the gunshots he just heard should be the shots fired by the air defense posts he promoted in the army. They used the gunshots to warn their comrades who were still reinforcing the fortifications. Sokov listened carefully, and sure enough he heard the roar of aircraft engines in the sky, and it was getting louder and louder, indicating that the enemy was approaching his location. He quickly waved to the soldiers standing on the top of the hill and shouted loudly: "Air raid siren, everyone quickly find a place to hide."
The four German dive bombers arrived over the infantry brigade's defensive position, then lowered their altitude and dived down, dropping bombs and strafing the fortifications on the ground. Since there was no time to dig an air-raid shelter, the soldiers could only cover their ears with their hands and huddle in the trenches to avoid the bombing of enemy planes.
Sokov, who was hiding in the crater on the top of the hill, was worried about his men and did not look towards the foot of the hill. Although the bombs dropped by enemy planes raised the soil high, the soldiers did not run around, but stayed in the trenches to avoid air attacks, thus reducing unnecessary casualties.
Seeing this situation, Sokov suddenly felt relieved. He knew very well that when being bombed by the enemy, as long as they did not run around, the casualties of the troops would not be too great. After all, as long as the bombs dropped by enemy planes did not directly hit the trenches, the soldiers hiding inside would not be in much danger.
After the enemy plane left, Sokov climbed out of the bomb crater and dusted off the dirt on his body. When he was about to have someone count the casualties, he heard Guchakov complaining from the side: "Hell, where is our air force?" ? They just watched us being bombed and didn’t even think of coming to support us.”
"That's enough, Guchakov, stop talking." Sokov interrupted Guchakov and said to him unhappily: "There is a reason why our air force cannot provide us with air cover. Now , you immediately go to the foot of the hill and notify Captain Vanya and Major Tenev, asking them to immediately count the casualties of the troops." After being criticized, Guchakov did not dare to refute, and quickly agreed and turned around He ran down the hill to deliver Sokov's orders.
After Sokov waited for Guchakov to leave, he walked to the other side of the hill, raised his telescope and looked east. He was worried that the tank unit led by Colonel Bely would also encounter a gap in the German army, which would cause heavy losses. However, the actual situation was more optimistic than he imagined. The tank riding on the infantry was heading east without any sign of being bombarded by enemy planes.
After counting the casualties of the troops, Vanya and Tenev came to the top of the hill one after another and reported to Sokov. Vanya first said: "Comrade Brigadier, in the bombing just now, 4 people from our battalion died and 11 were injured."
Tenev then reported: "Our battalion suffered 29 casualties, of which 15 were killed."
After hearing the casualties of the troops, Sokov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the German bombing did not cause too many casualties to the troops. He quickly ordered the two battalion commanders: "The enemy planes did not cause too many casualties to us." The large casualties are because they dispatched too few planes. Once they dispatch several times the number of planes to bomb our positions, we may be threatened with the destruction of the entire army. The two of you immediately urge the troops to seize the time to make repairs. Air-raid shelter to avoid a new round of enemy bombing."
"Understood." The two battalion commanders replied in unison, then turned and walked down the hill, preparing to urge their men to seize the time to build fortifications in the trenches.
Although Sokov once mentioned the matter of digging air-raid shelters, except for the commanders and fighters of the first battalion who followed his orders and took the time to repair the air-raid shelters, the soldiers of the guard battalion were just doing their jobs. As a result, when enemy planes arrived, the guard battalion suffered more casualties than the first battalion. At this moment, the soldiers heard Sokov's order to repair the air-raid shelter again. For the sake of their own lives, they threw away their arms and dug hard, trying to repair the air-raid shelter before a new wave of German air raids arrived.
While the commanders and soldiers who were stationed in Orlovka were desperately digging air-raid shelters, the tank unit led by Colonel Bely had already arrived near the German defense line. He ordered all the tanks to stop through the radio, then opened the hatch cover himself, leaned out half of his body, raised his binoculars and looked at the enemy position not far away.
There were no permanent fortifications on the German position, only two long trenches and a few civil fire points, and the shooting direction was all towards the east. Bely turned to the infantry commander sitting on the tank and said: "Comrade commander, let your soldiers get off the car, and let's go and teach the Germans a lesson."
The commander loudly agreed, then stood up straight and shouted to the infantrymen on the left and right tanks: "Everyone get off the vehicle, spread out the battle formation, and advance behind the tanks!" A few minutes later, Belly's tank troops were leading the way. Infantry, rushing towards the enemy's position.
The German soldiers who were shooting wildly in the trench heard the roar of tank engines behind them and thought that their reinforcements had arrived. When they discovered that it was not their own people but Soviet tanks, they immediately caused a panic. Some soldiers turned their guns and aimed at the approaching tanks and infantry. Since the infantry were hiding behind the tanks, the bullets of the German soldiers could not hit them. They all hit the tank body, splashing a series of sparks.
Seeing the German troops on the position firing, the Soviet tanks stopped, aimed at the location of the German firepower point, and blasted it with a "bang". Since the Soviet tanks used high-explosive grenades, the German soldiers near the explosion point were immediately hit. Waves of air lifted up from the trenches, were thrown high into the air, and then scattered in pieces.
The Germans were able to block the attack of the 308th Infantry Division because Gurdiev's troops were not covered by artillery fire during the attack. Now that they saw a dozen behemoths coming towards them, the German soldiers who lacked anti-tank weapons immediately Consciousness said: The position cannot be defended.
Smart, he immediately ran to both sides along the trench, trying to escape from there. But there were still some stupid German soldiers who stayed in the fortifications, shooting in vain at the approaching Soviet tanks with their weapons, and then were blown to pieces after a loud noise.
There was no suspense in such a battle, and it didn't take much time. The tank unit led by Bely joined forces with Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division. Gurdiev received orders from his superiors to lead his troops to Orlovka and then accept Sokov's command.
At this moment, he saw a tank unit emerging from the enemy's rear, and he immediately realized that this unit might be related to Sokov. He tentatively asked Bely: "Comrade Colonel, are your troops from Orlovka?"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel." Seeing that the person asking him was a colonel, Bely guessed that it must be the commander of the 308th Infantry Division, and nodded and said, "I am following the order of Comrade Sokov. , here to help you."
Knowing that the tank unit in front of him was indeed from Orlovka, Gurdiev felt much more at ease. He quickly said to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, our division has been ordered to reinforce Orlovka." Card, to strengthen the defense there, please take us there."
"Colonel Gurdiev," Bely reminded Gurdiev when he saw that Gurdiev was eager to rush to Orlovka, "Should you leave a force here for defense to avoid being attacked by the enemy again?" Occupy, causing our retreat to be cut off?”
Bely's words puzzled Gurdiev: "Comrade Colonel, aren't we waiting for reinforcements to arrive in Orlovka? Since reinforcements will arrive soon, it doesn't matter whether we leave troops here or not. What about the relationship?"
Seeing that Gurdiev was reluctant to leave troops here, Bely reminded him specifically: "Colonel Gurdiev, this is what Brigadier Sokov meant. He felt that if he did not leave troops here, Once we are counterattacked by the German army, we may be surrounded by the enemy, so..."
"Okay, Comrade Colonel, you don't have to say any more." Before Bely could finish speaking, the political commissar Sverin, who had been silent, interrupted and said: "You are right, we do need to leave a force here for defense. "In order to show that he was not just talking nonsense, he turned around and called a captain in front of him.
Sverin said to the captain: "Comrade captain, your battalion will stay and be responsible for the defense of this place. Do you understand?"
"Understood! Comrade Political Commissar."
Bely originally planned to ask Gurdiev to leave more troops to hold on here, but when he heard the political commissar ordered a battalion commander to lead the troops to stay, it was hard to say anything else. But he never dreamed that after successive battles, the battalion left behind by Sverin would only have about thirty people left in the battalion. It was barely capable of carrying out security missions, but when it came to holding its position, it was beyond its capabilities.
Bely led the 308th Infantry Division to Orlovka, and took Colonel Gurdiev and Political Commissar Sverin to the top of the hill to meet Sokov.
Gurdiev couldn't help being shocked when he saw that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who was commanding him, was actually a young man. He couldn't help but wonder to himself: What is the origin of this man? His superiors would actually order him to obey his orders.
"Misha." Before Gurdiev could speak, he heard a major standing next to Sokov say: "The defensive position here is too narrow. If so many troops are deployed at once, if they are attacked by the Germans, Artillery or bombing, I'm afraid the casualties will be insignificant. I suggest that the 308th Infantry Division be deployed in other areas."
"Colonel Bely," Gurdiev saw Sokov's thoughtful expression on his face after listening to the other party's words, so he tilted his head and asked Bely in a low voice: "Who is this major? Why does Lieutenant Colonel Sokov seem to respect his opinion?”
"This is Major Yakov, from the Weapons and Equipment Department in Moscow." Although Bely knew Yakov's true identity, he did not reveal it to Gurdiev easily, but said vaguely: " He and Lieutenant Colonel Sokov are good friends.”
"What qualifications does a major from the weapons and equipment department have to dictate here?" Gurdiev was about to retort a few words, but was stopped by his political commissar. He turned to look at the political commissar and asked dissatisfied: " Comrade Political Commissar, what are you going to do?”
"Comrade Commander, I was about to ask you this, what are you going to do? Is it to refute the other party's proposal?" Sverin said with a sneer: "This major has quite a lot of background."
Gurdiev, who was about to have an attack, heard his political commissar say this and couldn't help but become curious: "Comrade political commissar, do you know him and know his background?"
"Colonel Bely," Gurdiev saw Sokov's thoughtful expression on his face after listening to the other party's words, so he tilted his head and asked Bely in a low voice: "Who is this major? Why does Lieutenant Colonel Sokov seem to respect his opinion?”
"This is Major Yakov, from the Weapons and Equipment Department in Moscow." Although Bely knew Yakov's true identity, he did not reveal it to Gurdiev easily, but said vaguely: " He and Lieutenant Colonel Sokov are good friends.”
"What qualifications does a major of the weapons and equipment department have to dictate here?" Gurdiev was about to retort a few words, but was stopped by his political commissar. He turned to look at the political commissar and asked dissatisfied: " Comrade Political Commissar, what are you going to do?”
"Comrade Commander, I was about to ask you this, what are you going to do? Is it to refute the other party's proposal?" Sverin said with a sneer: "This major has quite a lot of background."
Gurdiev, who was about to have an attack, heard his political commissar say this and couldn't help but become curious: "Comrade political commissar, do you know him and know his background?"
