After Yakov came over to read the contents of the telegram clearly, he said doubtfully: "Misha, with all due respect, the order General Chuikov gave you is too ambiguous. If you say it, it means you haven't said it. I want you to act according to the situation, and continue. Should you stick to Orlovka and wait for the reinforcements that don't know when they will appear? Or should you see that the situation is not good and decisively choose to break out? No matter you choose to stick to Orlovka or break out, once Orlovka falls to Germany By human hands, your superiors will hold you accountable.”
Sokov thought for a while and felt that what Yakov said made sense, so he smiled bitterly and did not express any opinion. He turned to look at the radio operator next to him and said to him: "Inform Colonel Gurdiev, Major Tenev, and Captain Vanya to come to my place for a short meeting after dark."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the operator asked tentatively after Sokov finished speaking: "What about Colonel Bely, do you want to inform him too?"
If the operator hadn't reminded him, Sokov almost forgot about Bely. You know, the meeting held tonight will discuss how to break out of the encirclement. The direction of the breakout is to the north controlled by Bely. If he does not attend, this meeting will not discuss anything substantive. Therefore, he nodded and said to the operator: "Yes, Colonel Bely will also attend tonight's meeting. Remember to inform him later."
While the telegraph operator was sending telegrams to several commanders, Yakov approached Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Misha, have you really decided to break out?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "Now the enemy has separated us from the main force, and we cannot get any supplies if we stand here. Once the ammunition and food are exhausted, even if the commanders and soldiers perform well No matter how brave we are, we cannot escape the fate of being killed in battle or being captured. In order to prevent this from happening, we must take the initiative and launch a breakout operation before the troops are in dire straits and jump out of the enemy's encirclement."
"Misha, I ask you a very serious question." Yakov looked at Sokov and asked solemnly: "Is there only one way for you to break out now?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded and said seriously: "Under the current circumstances, we can only choose to break out, otherwise there is the risk of the entire army being destroyed."
Yakov then asked: "Do you really think that the reinforcements outside the encirclement can't rush in and join us?"
Sokov thought not to mention now, even if he waited for another month, reinforcements from outside the encirclement would not be able to reach Orlovka. With logistical supplies cut off, holding on to this place is tantamount to death. However, he could not tell Yakov that for him, everything that happened before him was history recorded in books. Not only did the Soviet counterattack not achieve the desired results, it would actually make Stalingrad's The situation becomes more serious. If he really said that, Yakov would definitely treat him as a lunatic. So he said vaguely: "Yakov, we don't know when the reinforcements from outside the encirclement will arrive, and with our existing weapons, equipment and soldiers, we can't hold on for long. Rather than doing this pointlessly here, It is better to break out of the enemy's encirclement as soon as possible, preserve your strength and continue fighting with the enemy."
Yakov was silent after hearing this. He was quietly thinking about what Sokov said. After a long time, he sighed and said: "Misha, I understand your current situation. It seems that breaking out is the only option. You can do what you want to do with confidence. If the superiors blame you, I will help you. Explained.”
Yakov's words gave Sokov reassurance. The reason why he sent a telegram to Chuikov was to make his breakout action justified. However, Chuikov's brief reply made him feel uneasy. Now with Yakov's guarantee, Sokov's heart finally rests in his stomach. Even if his superiors want to hold him accountable in the future, with Yakov's endorsement, the matter will finally be settled.
After dark, several commanders who received the notice came to the hill where Sokov's headquarters was located. Therefore, the space in the headquarters is too narrow to accommodate so many people, so everyone can only sit at the door for meetings.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Sokov said: "Comrade commanders, I have called you here for a meeting today to inform you that Orlovka can no longer hold on and I plan to lead my troops to break out. Break out of the German encirclement.”
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, everyone started talking. When they received the notice of the meeting, they thought Sokov was going to deploy defense matters. Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened his mouth, he mentioned breakout, which greatly exceeded everyone's expectations.
After a while, the discussion gradually stopped. Gurdiev stood up and asked on behalf of everyone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I would like to ask, is it the order from the superiors to abandon the Orlovka breakout, or is it yours?" the meaning of?"
"Colonel Gurdiev," faced Gurdiev's doubts, Sokov said without changing his face: "I have reported to Commander Chuikov about the breakout and received permission."
Knowing that Chuikov had agreed to let the troops break out, Gurdiev did not ask any more questions and simply said: "I have no problem." Then he sat down again.
"Comrade Brigadier," Gurdiev sat down, and the next question was Major Tenev. He stood up and asked: "As far as I know, our roads to the south and east have been blocked by the Germans. I want to ask, from which direction do you plan to break out?" The question Tenev asked was what everyone was concerned about. Everyone's eyes were focused on Sokov, waiting patiently for him to say the final word. s answer.
Unexpectedly, Sokov's reply surprised everyone again: "Comrade commanders, I plan to break out from the north..."
"What, breakout from the north?" Several commanders were immediately stunned by the answer. According to their thoughts, Sokov's breakout direction was either east or south, and the east was the most likely choice, because it only required Breaking through the German defense line will allow you to join the friendly forces on the opposite side. Unexpectedly, Sokov chose to break out to the north, leaving everyone puzzled. After a long time, Sverin, the political commissar of the 308th Infantry Division, asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, did I hear you correctly? Break out to the north. You must know that the enemy has gathered a large number of troops in the north. If you break out in that direction, Isn’t it like a sheep entering a tiger’s mouth?”
Sverin's words resonated with everyone. Except for Yakov and Bely who knew the inside story, everyone agreed that Sokov might have said it wrong. He wanted to say east or south, but because I was so excited that I made a slip of the tongue.
Sokov raised his hands and pressed them down. After several commanders were quiet again, he continued: "Comrade commanders, you heard it right. The direction I chose to break out is the north. Yes, this direction There is a large concentration of German troops, but their defense direction is to the north to prevent General Rokossovsky's troops from approaching us. If we attack from their rear unexpectedly, we will definitely catch them by surprise."
"Comrade Brigadier, is this too risky?" Tenev asked cautiously: "After all, several armies cannot break through the enemy's defense line. Can more than a thousand of us break through?"
"Misha," Yakov heard this and whispered in Sokov's ear: "Would you like to ask each ministry to report the number of troops to see how many troops are left?"
Considering that the troops had fought during the day and there would be some casualties, Sokov stood up and asked: "Comrade commanders, please report to me your current strength."
Gurdiev was the first to stand up. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "During the day's battle, our division launched several counterattacks against the enemy's positions, so the casualties were a bit heavy. There are currently 937 soldiers in the division. people, including more than 200 lightly and seriously injured people."
Knowing that there were less than a thousand men left in the 308th Infantry Division, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help but twitched violently. He didn't expect that just one day later, this unit had lost nearly half of its strength. . After Sokov recorded the number of people in the division in his notebook, he asked Tenev: "Comrade Major, how many people are there in your guard battalion?"
"There are 197 people in the whole battalion, and there are about 40 lightly or seriously wounded." After reporting the number, Tenev asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, although our number is a little small, we are fully capable of the main attack mission. .”
Sokov directly chose to ignore Tenev's next words, and he turned his attention to Vanya. Before he could speak, Vanya answered first: "Report to comrade brigade commander that there are still 121 people in the whole battalion and 14 wounded."
Sokov's heart couldn't help but thump, and he thought to himself: When they set off from the Red October Factory, Vanya's battalion still had more than 600 people, but after less than two days, only 600 people were left. One-fifth of the troops. How many people will be left in this unit when it breaks through the German defenses and joins Rokossovsky's troops?
After counting the number of troops, Sokov said: "Comrade commanders, in order to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, we need to hold on for one day in Orlovka tomorrow. After dark, all The troops moved to the north, and under the cover of the tank battalion, they carried out breakout operations northward."
After saying these words, Sokov glanced at everyone one by one, and then asked: "Does anyone have any questions?"
Gurdiev stood up in a hurry and asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I would like to ask how many tanks the tank battalion has that can be used now? Can they complete the task of covering the troops' breakout?"
"Colonel Bely," Sokov immediately turned to Bely after hearing this question and said, "It's up to you to answer this question, Colonel Gurdiev."
Bely nodded, stood up and said to Gurdiev: "Colonel Gurdiev, we have 12 tanks that can still be used. Although the number of tanks is a bit small, I am confident that they can definitely assist the infantry to break through. Enemy siege."
Then, Tenev and Vanya also asked some questions they might encounter when breaking out, and Sokov answered them one by one. After the scene returned to calm, Sokov waved to everyone and said, "Okay, today's meeting is over. You all go back to your respective units to prepare."
