Upon learning that the troops of the 122nd Regiment had occupied the second line of defense, Sokov immediately reported the good news to the headquarters. After the report, he was afraid that Krylov would involuntarily order his troops to attack the concession stand, so he took the initiative and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to what we learned from the prisoners, the people who are holding on to the concession stand are The German army. They have an infantry company and an artillery platoon. If we do not get the support of tank artillery fire in our new offensive, it may be difficult to succeed."
"Colonel Sokov, please stop complaining to me." Krylov easily saw through Sokov's intention. He was deeply afraid that the other party had any bad thoughts, so he quickly comforted the other party and said: "Don't worry, this Without the support of tank artillery fire, I will not let you take risks easily."
After receiving Krylov's promise, Sokov suddenly felt more at ease. In fact, he also understood in his heart that the reason why Krylov behaved so reasonably was entirely because the troops on the right wing were advancing too slowly. If he kept urging himself to speed up the attack, in the end he would be in a situation where he would be alone and deep in attack at any time. There is a possibility of being surrounded by enemies. And this is a situation that no one wants to see.
After putting down the phone, Sokov looked at Ivanov and asked: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I want to take a look at the front position. Will you stay and take over my command, or will you go to the front with me?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Ivanov made his choice without hesitation: "Comrade Division Commander, Mamayev Heights can be left to the Chief of Staff to command. I want to go to the front with you to see our Warriors.”
Seeing that Ivanov was willing to go to the front position with him, Sokov called Sidorin and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the deputy division commander and I are going to see the 122nd Regiment in front. Look, Mamayev Heights is left to you. Remember, order the observation post on the top of the mountain to closely guard the two flanks of the high ground. If you find anything wrong, contact me immediately. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Sidorin assured Sokov: "I will definitely monitor the enemy's movements closely. If they make any changes, I will report to you immediately."
It was several kilometers from Mamayev Heights to the front position, so Sokov naturally would not spend an hour walking there, so he ordered Guchakov to drive out the armored vehicle hidden in the underground garage and prepare to ride there.
A few minutes later, the armored vehicle drove to the foot of the mountain west of Nangang. Seeing Guchakov waving to him in the carriage, Sokov said to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, the armored vehicle is here, let's go."
Ivanov followed Sokov to the armored vehicle and saw clearly that it was a German armored vehicle with a white cross painted on it. He couldn't help asking worriedly: "Comrade division commander, this is a German armored vehicle. Don't you think it's a German armored vehicle?" Are you worried that the soldiers will mistake it for an enemy vehicle and be attacked?"
"You don't have to worry about this. The commanders and fighters at Mamayev Ridge all know this car." Sokov pointed to the side of the armored vehicle's compartment: "In addition, Guchakov also planted a red flag next to the compartment. I think as long as If there is no problem with the eyes of the commanders and combatants, accidental shooting incidents will never happen."
When the two came forward, Guchakov, who was sitting in front, slapped the top of the cab twice with his palm, and then shouted: "Let's go!"
On the way to the position of the 122nd Regiment, Ivanov couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Division Commander, there is one thing I don't understand. If my troops are progressing so smoothly, my superiors will definitely order me to continue to develop deeper into the enemy. But why would General Krylov allow us to temporarily stop and wait until we have the support of tanks before attacking the enemy?"
Sokov raised his hand and pointed to the north, and said to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, haven't you noticed that the troops on the right are advancing too slowly? There has been a gap between them and us. If the enemy takes advantage of this By opening gaps and interspersing them, both of our troops might be encircled. Perhaps taking this into consideration, our superiors ordered us to stop temporarily to wait for the friendly forces on the right."
Ivanov looked to the north, thinking of the 124th Regiment disguised as the Romanian Army and surrendering to the enemy's position, so he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, can we help our friendly forces again like we just did?"
"This is impossible." Sokov shook his head and replied: "The Romanians are not fools. How could the same strategy be used against them twice? Do you believe it or not, after the Romanians suffered this loss, even if If you watch your own people running towards their position, you may shoot them directly to block them away from the position, and only after careful interrogation and confirmation, your own people will let them in."
"Also," Sokov paused for a moment after finishing these words, and then continued: "The reason why I want to go to the 122nd Regiment's position is that there is a more important thing."
"What's more important?" Sokov's words confused Ivanov, and he asked in confusion: "What's more important? Is it the task of deploying an offensive and surrendering the station?"
"I estimate that our army has little chance to attack the enemy's surrender position." Sokov sighed softly and said: "After the Germans know about the counterattack launched by our army, it won't be long before they launch an attack. A large force has come to support the Romanian army, and I'm afraid we will soon be attacked from several directions. When I went to the 122nd Regiment's position, I didn't just visit the commanders and fighters, but also deployed defensive tasks to them."
The armored vehicle drove into the position of the 122nd Regiment, and Papuchenko immediately brought people to greet him. After Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with him, he found that not only was there no joy on his face, but he looked a little downcast. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, what happened? How do I feel about you?" His face looked unhappy. Am I not welcome here? If so, I will turn around and leave."
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Seeing Sokov turning to leave, Papuchenko quickly stopped him and explained with a blushing face: "I made a mistake and I have no face to face you."
Although Sokov knew very well why the other party said that, he asked knowingly: "What mistake did you make?"
"I shot and killed a prisoner in front of the soldiers." Papuchenko lowered his head and said: "Comrade division commander, I was wrong. I will definitely reflect on it."
Sokov did not answer his words, but asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, tell me, why did you kill the prisoner in front of the soldiers?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Papuchenko raised his head and replied emotionally: "Because the prisoner was a sniper. During the battle, he deliberately killed the female health worker of our regiment who was rescuing the wounded. Wu Liya, I want to avenge my fallen comrades."
"Since it is to avenge his comrades, what does it mean to kill a prisoner?" Sokov knew that this matter had put a heavy burden on Papuchenko, so he explained to him: "Comrade Stalin said at the beginning of this year , once issued an order to all commanders and fighters of the Western Front: All officers and soldiers of the 332nd Regiment of the German 197th Infantry Division who captured the German Army will be shot on the spot, and we will not accept their surrender."
When Sokov said this, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe the reaction on the other person's face. Seeing Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko's expression of sudden realization, he continued: "The reason why Comrade Stalin issued such an order is because the enemy brutally killed our scout Comrade Zoya. And you shot the prisoners of war today as well. In order to avenge our comrades, this approach is acceptable and understandable to us. Are you right, Comrade Deputy Division Commander?" His last words were asked to Ivanov.
"That's right, that's right." Seeing that Sokov actually downplayed Papuchenko's impulsive mistakes, Ivanov nodded repeatedly and said: "In order to avenge the sacrifice of his comrades, I killed a prisoner. I think it’s still okay.”
When Papuchenko learned of the arrival of Sokov and Ivanov, he was extremely nervous. He was deeply afraid that the two division commanders would punish him for this matter. Unexpectedly, Sokov's reaction was beyond his expectation. He opened his eyes wide in surprise, looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Commander, are you really not going to punish me?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko," Sokov couldn't help laughing when he heard Papuchenko's silly question: "Why should I punish an outstanding commander who has just made military exploits? Okay, let's do this. That’s it for now, don’t think too much.”
Seeing that he passed the test so easily, Papuchenko couldn't help but be overjoyed and said excitedly: "Thank you, Master!"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov said to Papuchenko when he saw the smile on his face again: "Show me the position you just occupied."
Half an hour later, Sokov, who had walked through the entire position, arrived at Papuchenko's command post. He came to the table and sat down, took out a pen and paper from his bag, and began to say to Papuchenko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just took a look at your position. I found that all the defense directions are aimed at the east, and It’s in the direction of Mamayev Hill. There are very few fortifications facing the west, so why didn’t you let the soldiers seize the time to build them?”
"Comrade Commander," Papuchenko heard Sokov say this, with a confused expression on his face: "Aren't we about to launch an attack on the surrender station? Is it necessary to build the fortifications here? "
Sokov was worried that the German counterattack would start at any time, so he quickly drew a sketch in his notebook, raised his head and said to Papchenko: "If the enemy attacks from west to east before your attack starts, do you think you can Can the current fortifications block the enemy’s attack?”
Papuchenko hesitated for a while, then replied with a blushing face: "If the attacking enemy is covered by tanks, I think we can't stop it."
"Even if there is no tank cover, you can't defend it." Sokov tapped his pen on the notebook a few times and said unceremoniously: "The enemy piled all the soil dug out from the trenches on the horse and horse The direction of Yevgan; thus, the height of the trench in the direction of the transfer post is much shorter, and the soldiers cannot hide in it..."
After listening to the question pointed out by Sokov, Papuchenko quickly replied: "Comrade division commander, I will organize manpower and strengthen the fortifications to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack."
"You have to move quickly." Although Sokov didn't know when the German army would launch an attack, he knew in his heart that he didn't have much time left for him. He specifically emphasized to Papchenko: "The Germans may There will be a counterattack soon, and if you don’t have suitable defenses, you won’t be able to stop them.”
Papuchenko heard that Sokov was talking about Germans, and quickly reminded him in a low voice: "Not Germans, but Romanians."
"When I say they are Germans, they are Germans." Sokov said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "They see that the Romanian army cannot stop our attack, and they will soon take action themselves. You must not take it lightly. .”
"Understood." Papuchenko said he understood, but he didn't agree in his heart. He thought that the battle had been going on for such a long time and there was no sign of the Germans. Could it be that they would fall from the sky?
"Alarm, air raid siren!" Just as Papuchenko was thinking wildly, there was a sudden shout from outside: "Air raid siren, take cover, take cover quickly!"
When they heard the air raid siren shouting outside, the expressions of everyone in the command post changed. What Sokov was worried about was that there was no air raid shelter on the position. If it was really bombed by enemy planes, the casualties of the troops would definitely be huge. What Papchenko was thinking was, couldn't it be such a coincidence? Just as the division commander said that the Germans might take action, their bombers appeared?
Before they could rush out of the command post, there were explosions one after another outside. It seemed that the position was being bombed by enemy planes. Sokov quickly rushed to the door, looked up into the air, and saw Stuka dive bombers screaming from the sky one after another, dropping bombs on the position. In the rising firelight and gunpowder smoke, soldiers who were unable to dodge were seen flying into the air from time to time.
Although he only took a quick glance, Sokov realized the seriousness of the problem, and quickly turned his head and shouted at Papuchenko who was still standing in a daze: "What are you still doing? Hurry up and let the soldiers hide. "
"Ah!...Okay, I will give the order immediately." Papuchenko threw himself on the table, grabbed the phone, and called the battalion commanders: "...I am Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, ordering the soldiers not to run around. , hide in place; repeat, don’t run around, hide in place..."
While Papuchenko was shouting hoarsely into the microphone, Sokov was thinking to himself: "The enemy's air attack came so fast that the soldiers had no time to react. I just hope that the enemy air attack can end soon." , which can allow us to lose less troops."
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