As for whether to blow up tanks that have been depleted of ammunition and fuel after breaking through the German defense line, Sokov feels that it should be determined based on the specific circumstances. For example, as soon as I led my troops to break through the German defense line, the enemy's large forces came up. At that time, I was thinking about how to escape. Carrying these tanks was a burden and had to be blown up; but if I was breaking through the enemy's defense line, After that, Rokossovsky's troops came from the other side to join forces. Not only would they not be able to bomb, they might also have to shoulder the task of covering friendly attacks.
Therefore, in response to Yakov's reminder, Sokov said unhurriedly: "Yakov, I agree with you. Whether to blow up these tanks depends on the specific situation after breaking through the German defense line."
Yakov did not expect Sokov to answer like this, with a surprised expression on his face: "Misha, I saw that you emphasized the need to blow up the tank in several meetings every time. I thought you had to blow up the tank. I would rather have these tanks explode."
"Yakov, the reason why I kept bringing this up in the meeting is because the friendly forces are unable to break through from this direction, probably because they cannot use tanks." Sokov said with a wry smile: "I'm worried that we Having broken through the enemy lines and being unable to carry these tanks across the river, it was better to blow them all up than to let them fall into the hands of the Germans.”
Yakov took out his cigarette case, handed a crumpled cigarette to Sokov and asked: "Misha, before dawn, we will launch an attack on the enemy's defense line. How successful do you think we are? Are you sure?"
"I don't know," Sokov held the cigarette in his mouth and shook his head and said truthfully: "Judging from Colonel Bely's reconnaissance, the enemy's defense direction is all towards the north. But when we attack, do we It’s hard to say whether we will encounter tenacious resistance from them. Once we are unable to break through their defenses, and enemies from other directions surround us from behind, I am afraid we will not be able to escape the end of the entire army being destroyed.”
"Misha," Yakov lit a match, lit Sokov's cigarette, and asked tentatively: "Let me ask you one last time, do you really not need to report this matter to General Chuikov? If we report it Maybe we can get some help from him for our breakout plan!"
"Yakov, what kind of help do you think we can get if we report our breakout plan?" Sokov took a puff of cigarette and continued: "Don't forget, although the 37th and 39th Guards Divisions are with We were only a few kilometers apart, but the enemy's tenacious defense prevented them from completing their goal of joining us."
Yakov heard from Sokov's reply that his childhood friend was planning to make a desperate move. He thought for a moment and felt that Sokov's approach of killing first and telling later was undoubtedly correct. At least he didn't have to worry about leaking the news, thus greatly improving the success rate of a breakout. He threw the two-smoked cigarette on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and said with a clear attitude: "Misha, I support the decision you made. If someone wants to be held accountable in the future, I am willing to help you share the responsibility."
…………
Five minutes before the attack began, Sokov came to the area where the 308th Infantry Division was lurking. After finding Gurdiev, he asked straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, are the troops ready for battle?"
"Yes, Comrade Brigadier." Gurdiev replied respectfully: "All commanders and fighters are ready to attack. We will launch an attack immediately when the time comes."
Sokov raised his binoculars and looked at the German positions in the distance. It was already dark at this time, and he could clearly see one fortification after another, but there was not a single person in these fortifications, and he did not know whether the Germans were sleeping. , still placed the warning direction in the north, and did not realize that a few kilometers south of them, there was an ambush of a troop of thousands of people.
After putting down the telescope, Sokov sighed softly, looked at Gurdiev and said, "Comrade Colonel, it's so quiet here. I really can't bear to break the silence here."
"If we want to break through the enemy's defense line," Gurdiev raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said to Sokov, "we have to break the silence before dawn."
Seeing that the time for the attack was coming, Sokov raised his telescope again, glanced at the silent German position, turned to Gurdiev and said: "Comrade Colonel, tell the soldiers, before the tanks go into battle, , when the attacking troops approach the enemy's position, try not to make too much noise, so as not to be noticed by the enemy."
Gurdiev understood what Sokov meant and knew that the later his troops were exposed, the closer they could get to the enemy's position, thus greatly reducing the casualties of the troops. Therefore, after hearing Sokov's instructions, he nodded vigorously and replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will convey your order directly to the commanders of each regiment."
A few minutes later, the commanders and fighters of the 308th Infantry Division stood up from their hiding places, put their rifle butts on their abdomens, bent their waists, and walked toward the enemy's position with long strides. Although there were thousands of people in action, the noise they made was not loud. As long as the German sentries did not pay special attention to the south, they would not be able to detect the appearance of Soviet troops behind them.
But when the soldiers had walked halfway, the roar of a tank engine suddenly came from behind. Sokov turned around and saw the tanks of the tank battalion approaching in a wedge-shaped formation, growing larger and larger in his sight.
The appearance of the tank alerted the sentry on duty, but he was frightened when he discovered that the defense where the sound appeared contained a large group of Soviet infantry, approaching the position in skirmish formation. Fortunately, he did not forget his duty and quickly fired his gun into the air while shouting loudly: "Russians, the Russians are coming up!"
The shouts of sentries and the rumble of tank engines awoke many German soldiers from their sleep. They rushed out of the sleeping shelter and entered the shooting position, but they soon discovered that the north of the position was silent and there was no trace of the Russians at all. On the contrary, all these sounds came from behind him.
The German army hurriedly turned the MG34 machine gun mounted in the sandbag fortification and started shooting wildly at the Soviet infantry a few hundred meters away. More than a dozen mortar groups also mounted their guns, and after a brief calculation, they couldn't wait to start firing.
When Sokov saw the attacking troops, they were suppressed by German machine gun fire and had to lie down and take cover. German mortar shells landed in the ranks and exploded, blowing apart some unlucky warriors.
Seeing the constant casualties in the troops, Sokov couldn't help but blood welling up in his head. He wanted to rush forward with an assault rifle and kill all the enemy's machine gunners and mortar crews. Then he understood his responsibilities better in his heart. As a commander with overall overall situation, what he should do is to direct the troops to attack, rather than charge into battle like ordinary soldiers.
He pointed at the machine gun fire point in the distance and said to Gurdiev: "Comrade Colonel, immediately contact the commander in front and ask the snipers to kill the enemy's machine guns and mortars, and then use our machine guns to suppress the enemy." firepower, covering troops launched a charge."
"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander." Gurdiev readily agreed: "I will immediately contact the commanders in front and convey your order to them."
While Gurdiev was in contact with the forward commander, the tanks of the tank battalion had already arrived near Sokov. Since this place was still far away from the enemy's position, Sokov didn't have to worry about being injured by stray bullets. He jumped out of his hiding place and raised his assault rifle high above his head, regardless of whether the people in the tank could hear him. He shouted, waving his assault rifle and shouting at the top of his lungs: "Forward! Brothers of the tank crew, use artillery fire to destroy the enemy's firepower points and cover the infantry attack. Forward! Forward!!"
A dozen tanks rumbled past Sokov, formed a battle formation as they marched, and charged menacingly toward the German position. The distance of two or three kilometers may take the infantry more than ten minutes, but for the speeding tanks, only four or five minutes is enough.
The tank stopped 800 meters away from the German position. Bely issued an order to all the tank crews through the vehicle radio: "Everyone pay attention, everyone pay attention. Each crew selects its own target to fire! Repeat, each crew Choose your own target and fire!”
After the two rounds of shooting, the exposed fire points and mortar positions on the German position were all destroyed by artillery fire. Belly opened the hatch, leaned half out of the turret, and after checking the results for a while, decisively issued the second order: "Attention everyone, keep moving forward, keep moving! Pay attention to the German anti-tank crews!"
As the dozen or so tanks of the tank battalion continued to gallop forward, the infantrymen suppressed by the German firepower also got up from the ground and rushed forward after the tanks. Once German soldiers were discovered rushing out of their positions, no matter whether they were preparing to blow up tanks or surrendering, they would be shot and beaten into pieces.
If the Germans had a large number of long-range anti-tank weapons, they might be able to block the Soviet attack, but they only had some anti-tank grenades. The anti-tank fighters climbed out of the trenches, and before they could throw grenades, they were beaten into pieces by the Soviet infantry following the tanks. Moreover, there is a fire director on each tank. Once he discovers that there is another German fire point there, he will notify the tanker by phone, and the tank will stop and use artillery fire to destroy the fire point that poses a threat to the infantry.
Ten minutes later, the battle was over. When Sokov designated the breakout plan, he repeatedly emphasized to commanders at all levels that no prisoners would be taken in, so as not to affect the troops' breakout. Therefore, when the first echelon occupied the German position, none of the hundreds of defenders survived.
