Jia Xiaoning's friendly tone made Samoilov's nervous mood calm down a little. After taking a deep breath, he said into the microphone: "Comrade General, after we broke through the German defenses, the brigade commander decided to stay on the occupied position for the time being. After I find the location of the friendly troops, I will decide what to do. Such actions.”
When Gao Xiaoning heard what Samoilov said, he couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, so to speak, your troops are still on the position they just captured."
"Yes, Comrade General." Although Samoilov had left the army for a long time, he guessed that before he contacted Sokov, the army would not easily give up the occupied German positions, so he used affirmative The tone said: "The troops should still stay in that position at this moment."
"How many troops do you have left?" Jia Xiaoning asked briefly.
In response to Gachanin's question, Samoilov thought for a moment and replied: "There is currently a battalion on the position, a guard battalion of the group army headquarters, and the 308th Infantry Division, with about a thousand people. In addition, there are There was a tank battalion with 11 tanks."
Jia Xiaoning originally thought that after Sokov's infantry brigade protruded from the enemy's encirclement, there would be at most dozens or hundreds of people left. But now after listening to Samoilov's report, he discovered that there was actually an infantry division and a group army. The guard camp at the headquarters couldn't help but feel alive.
But the next thing to be done is of great importance. Even if he is a group army commander, he has no right to make the decision. He needs to ask Rokossovsky for instructions. Of course, Samoylov's level is too low, and it is impossible to assign tasks to him directly. He also needs to find the main person in charge, Sokov. Thinking of this, he then asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, if I want to contact Lieutenant Colonel Sokov directly, what band and contact code should I use?"
Although Samoylov's military rank was low, he was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs after all. He immediately guessed that Gacolonin must have important matters and needed to contact Sokov directly, so he quickly asked Lieutenant Colonel Starcha to send someone to wait. The operator outside the door called him in, asked him about the contact band and code of the radio station, and told Jia Xiaoning respectfully.
After listening to this, Gao Xiaoning said politely: "Second Lieutenant Samoilov, you must be tired too, so just stay at the 292nd Division headquarters to rest. As for Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will talk to him later." He will put in a good word for you when he contacts you."
After putting down the phone, Jia Xiaoning picked up another phone on the table and said into the phone: "I'm Jia Xiaoning. Please call me from the front army headquarters and ask for Comrade Commander."
In the front army headquarters in Mali Ivanovka, Rokossovsky was chatting with the newly appointed brigade political commissar Kirichenko. Suddenly he heard Malinin calling him, and he quickly turned around and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, whats the matter?"
"Comrade Commander." Malinin covered the microphone with his hand, looked at Rokossovsky and said, "It's General Jia Xiaoning, the commander of the 24th Group Army. He said he has something important to report to you."
"Is there anything important to report to me?" Rokossovsky thought in confusion. The 24th Army has no combat mission today, so what important thing can he report to himself? He walked up to Malinin with doubts, took the microphone and put it to his ear and said: "I am Rokossovsky."
"Hello, Comrade Commander." Hearing Rokossovsky's voice coming from the receiver, Jia Xiaoning said excitedly: "I have important information to report to you."
"What is it?" Rokossovsky asked briefly.
Gao Xiaoning reported: "I have just confirmed that the 73rd Infantry Brigade standing in Orlovka has successfully broken through the German defense line in the north."
Rokossovsky recalled that not long ago, he had received a telegram from Chuikov through the Stalingrad Front Army Headquarters, saying that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's 73rd Brigade was breaking out to the north and hoped that he could send someone to respond. At that time, he did not have high hopes for whether Sokov and the others could break through the enemy's encirclement. Therefore, he did not immediately mobilize troops to respond. Instead, he only called the commander of the 24th Group Army, Jia Xiaoning, to let him know. Whether there are friendly forces in the defense area.
Unexpectedly, less than half an hour later, the other party would give me such a big surprise. But for the sake of safety, he still asked cautiously: "General Jia Xiaoning, are you really sure that the 73rd Infantry Brigade has successfully broken through the German defenses?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, they have successfully broken through the German defenses." Jia Xiaoning replied in a positive tone: "The liaison officer sent by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is staying in Korogotsky at the moment. Colonel’s Division Headquarters.”
After confirming that Sokov's troops had broken through the encirclement, Rokossovsky couldn't help but feel relieved. He then asked: "Where are they?"
"Still staying on the occupied German positions." Jia Xiaoning said cautiously: "According to the liaison officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov wants to find out where our troops are before deciding in which direction to move."
"Then what do you think about it, General Jia Xiaoning?"
Hearing that Rokossovsky immediately got to the point of the question, Jia Xiaoning's heartbeat couldn't help but accelerate a little, but he still tried hard to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Commander, our troops were We once launched an attack on that position, trying to open a gap from the enemy's encirclement. But unfortunately, our attack was not successful. Now that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops have occupied it, can we send troops to take over? What about their defenses and using it as a starting point for a new offensive against the enemies defending Stalingrad?”
"You have a good idea." Seeing that Jia Xiaoning's proposal coincided with his own, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then asked: "While the position is still in the hands of friendly forces, you can immediately send The 292nd Infantry Division rushed over to join them and take over the defense, and we want to turn that place into a new starting point for the attack."
Now that he had Rokossovsky's permission, Jiaxiaonin immediately began to mobilize his troops. He knew very well that in order to rush from there to the depth of the enemy's defense, he could only rely on Korogotsky's 292nd The division was far from enough, so he issued an order to the commander of the 298th Division, Major General Vasilyev, to have his troops move in the same direction.
While Jia Xiaoning was mobilizing troops, Rokossovsky was not idle either. He called several other group army commanders to a meeting and together they began to study ways to break the German encirclement. After the map was placed on the table, everyone gathered around the table and waited quietly for Rokossovsky to tell him his plan.
"Comrade commanders," Rokossovsky used a red and blue pencil to draw a line between his position and Orlovka, "Everyone knows that the distance between our location and Little Ivanovka is There are only a dozen kilometers between Orlovka and Orlovka, which is the closest distance to friendly forces. We once tried to break through the German defenses in this direction and move forward to Orlovka to join our friendly forces. However, the German defenses were tenacious. , but our intentions failed.”
Except for Malinin and Kirichenko, the other commanders who attended the meeting had no idea that the German defense line that was causing them headaches had been occupied by Sokov's troops. The commander of the 21st Group Army, Major General Deniziv, was curious. Question: "Comrade Commander, if I remember correctly, a division of the 24th Group Army was completely destroyed when attacking this line of defense a few days ago. You called us here today to prepare for replacement with other units. Are you going to continue the attack?"
When several other group army commanders heard what Deniziv said, they couldn't help but feel a little bit in their hearts. They thought to themselves: Isn't Rokossovsky planning to let his troops attack Death Hill? The infantry division that was destroyed in front of the enemy's position left an indelible impression on everyone, and no one was willing to let their troops make the same mistake again.
In order to avoid this fatal task from falling on his own head, Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, commander of the 63rd Army, said: "Comrade Commander, please forgive me, if we don't get the cooperation of the Air Force, we will not be able to break through. A line of defense." In order to gain the support of several other group army commanders, he also specifically emphasized, "Due to the special terrain there, our long-range artillery fire cannot destroy the enemy's fortifications on the top of the hillside at all, while tanks and artillery fire at close range , will be bombed by the Germans again. If you really plan to launch an attack from there, I'm afraid we will also lose two to three divisions."
"That's right, that's right." After Kuznetsov finished speaking, several people immediately responded: "If we don't get cover from the air force, then our tanks and artillery will be of no use. The enemy will only need to be on the hillside." With a few machine guns deployed on top, our attacking troops can be eliminated in the river or on the hillside."
When many group army commanders expressed their opinions, Rokossovsky did not speak, but remained silent. After the room regained calm, he made an earth-shattering announcement: "Comrade commanders, what you are worried about is The German defense line was captured not long ago."
"What, the German defense line has been taken down?" As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but stood there with a look of disbelief on their faces. They had searched withered intestines more than once, thinking about good strategies to seize the enemy's position, but they never came up with a solution. At this moment, Rokossovsky suddenly told them that the enemy's position had been captured. How could they not be stunned and doubtful. "Comrade Commander, are everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true. General Jia Xiaoning's troops are rushing there to take over the defense at the moment." Malinin felt that it was time for him to appear, so he came out to support Rokossovsky: "But the troops that capture the enemy's position, But it did not come from our Don Front, but a small force that broke out from the direction of Orlovka."
