Sighs and regrets sounded chaotically in the temporary headquarters. No one expected that with victory in sight, such an unexpected accident would happen. Ivanov stamped his feet anxiously and kept saying: "Only a few minutes, only a few minutes, comrades. If the enemy's reaction is a little slower, our tanks and infantry will rush into the enemy's second line of defense." .”
Seeing the tanks and infantry in the distance starting to retreat, Sokov was so angry that he made a fist with his right hand and slammed it into the palm of his left hand. There was a snap, startling Golikov who was watching the battle intently next to him.
Golikov looked at Sokov and asked in surprise: "What's wrong with you, Colonel Sokov?"
"I really didn't expect that there would be enemies popping up in the communication trenches on both sides of the attacking troops." Sokov said angrily: "It was my poor thinking that led to the failure of this attack."
"Comrade division commander, I can't blame you for this." Chief of Staff Sidorin heard what Sokov said and said with shame: "As chief of staff, I was not familiar with the situation on the battlefield, which caused our army to seize the second place." I bear the unshirkable responsibility for the failure of the defense line operation."
"Okay, okay, you two, stop arguing." Golikov waved his hand and said impatiently: "What's the big deal if the attack fails? Just reorganize the attack. By the way, over there at Workers' New Village What's the situation like, were they also repulsed by the enemy?"
It stands to reason that standing on the commanding heights of Mamayev Hill, one can see the movement in the direction of the Workers' New Village. However, due to the smoke from the shelling and the high temperature generated when the shells exploded, the snow melted and vaporized, so that the horses The area between Mayevgan and Workers' New Village is blocked by a thick layer of fog.
Since he could not see the situation in Workers' New Village, Sokov signaled Sidorin and Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko to get in touch to learn about the offensive situation of the right-wing troops. Sidorin nodded, walked to the table, picked up the phone, dialed the 122nd Regiment headquarters, and said loudly into the phone: "Is this Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko? I am Sidorin, Chief of Staff, Division Commander Let me ask you, is your regiment's attack going well? ...What, you have successfully captured the second line of defense and are preparing to attack the enemy's third line? This is great. Wait a minute , I will tell the teacher the good news."
Sidorin covered the microphone with his hand and reported excitedly to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko reported that the 122nd Regiment, under the cover of the 1st Tank Battalion, successfully occupied the German second line. The defense line is preparing to attack the third line of defense."
"Strange," Sokov said with a frown: "Didn't they encounter attacks from the flanking communication trenches as they advanced toward the second line of defense?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sidorin removed his hand from covering the microphone and asked, "The division commander asked, during the attack, were you attacked by fire from the communication trenches on both sides? ...What, you were also attacked. , but wiped out all the enemies?...Tell me, how did you wipe them out?"
After asking some questions that needed to be clarified, Sidorin stood up straight and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, I have inquired carefully. The 122nd Regiment was indeed attacked when advancing towards the second line of defense. The enemies hiding in the communication trenches attacked. However, Colonel Bely organized self-propelled artillery to bombard the enemies in time and covered the infantry to eliminate the enemies hiding in the communication trenches. After clearing the enemies on both wings, they were able to successfully occupy the second line of the German army. Line of defense.”
After Sidorin hung up the phone, Golikov smiled bitterly and said: "I really didn't expect that the two tank battalions we sent from the left bank played almost no role in the battle and were repelled by the Germans. The improvised tank battalion covered the troops and successfully occupied the German second line of defense."
Sokov was thinking that it was indeed the first tank battalion commanded by Bely that played a role in the successful occupation of the German second line of defense by the troops on the right wing. But the fact that they were able to achieve such results probably had something to do with the tactics they used. If Bely had never fought alongside them before and learned a lot of tactics from him, I'm afraid they would be like Mamayev Heights. The two regiments are the same, and they will be defeated in front of the German second line of defense.
"Colonel Sokov." Golikov watched the frustrated troops retreat to the first line of defense, then faced Sokov and asked: "When are you going to launch another attack on the enemy?"
"Report to Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said, thinking that the commanders and soldiers had just retreated to their positions and were still undecided to take a breath, so it was obviously unrealistic to order them to launch a new attack. They must be given sufficient time to rest and recuperate. Thinking of this, Sokov replied: "I think it will take two hours at the earliest before we can attack the enemy again!"
"No, two hours is too long. I can't wait that long." Golikov said in a commanding tone: "I can only give you one hour. When the time is up, I will attack the enemy again." attack."
"An hour?!" After hearing the time set by Golikov, Sidorin and Ivanov couldn't help but look at each other. As commanders, both of them understood that an hour's rest would be a huge blow to a unit that had just lost a battle. It's simply not enough. But now that Golikov has given the order, even if he knows it is wrong, he can only accept it bravely. They looked to Sokov for help, hoping that he could come out and say a few words to everyone. "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, it may be difficult for the soldiers' physical strength and morale to recover in such a short period of time."
"I know that if you are asked to launch an attack in an hour, the troops are not well prepared." Golikov said with a straight face: "But have you ever thought about it? The longer the time is delayed, the more prepared the enemy will be to counterattack us. The worse it is.”
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army..." Sidorin wanted to defend himself a few more words, but Sokov interrupted him with a wave of his hand.
Sokov straightened his body and said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, my troops will launch an attack on the second line of defense occupied by the enemy in an hour. Moreover, we are sure to capture the enemy's position."
Hearing Sokov speak so confidently, both Sidorin and Ivanov had surprised expressions on their faces. But Golikov smiled and nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Colonel Sokov, I guess you will find a way to deal with the enemy. I hope you will not disappoint me in the next battle."
"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly replied: "We will never let you down."
Golikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then glanced at the regrouped troops in the first position, and then said: "I didn't sleep all night last night, and now I'm a little sleepy. I'll go back and take a nap first, and wait until I get there." If you know the progress, please call me to inform me."
After seeing off Golikov, Sidorin said to Sokov anxiously: "Comrade division commander, how can you easily give a guarantee to the deputy commander of the front army? You know, now we have no idea what our soldiers will do next. In the battle, can we win victory? If the attack fails again, how do you plan to explain it to Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Sidorin was anxious, Sokov quickly comforted him and said: "Securing the enemy's second line of defense is not a big deal for us. As the division chief of staff, You can’t mess up your position.”
"Comrade division commander, I would like to ask, how do you plan to seize the second line of defense in front of our army?" Sidorin asked: "You know, the enemy has deployed a lot of troops in the defense line. Just one of our divisions, It’s probably not an easy task to eat them.”
"Based on the strength of the 124th and 125th regiments, it may not be easy to capture the enemy's position." Sokov told Sidorin: "You immediately call the commander of the third battalion, Captain Andre. Let him transfer Guchakov's ninth company to assist the two Guards regiments in launching the attack."
"Just transfer one company here?" Sidorin asked with a wry smile: "Comrade division commander, are the reinforcements too few?"
"One company is enough." Seeing that Sidorin was still trying to get into trouble, Sokov reminded him: "Especially those troops who have followed us and fought in many places are the most trustworthy."
"Comrade Commander," despite Sokov's confidence, Sidorin still felt uneasy. He frowned and asked, "Can you explain it to me in more detail?"
"There are many soldiers in the third battalion who are familiar with new rockets. We have drawn them out so that they can use rockets to attack enemy positions and cover the advance of our tanks and infantry." Sokov Remind the other party: "If possible, I also plan to transfer one or two platoons of troops from the barricade factory and let them use rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's fortifications."
After receiving Sokov's order, Guchakov immediately hurried over with his ninth company. After arriving at Mamaev Hill, he left his troops at the foot of the mountain, rushed up the hill, and reported to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, Guchakov, commander of the ninth company of the third battalion, has been ordered to come to you. Report. I follow your orders, please give instructions!”
"Comrade Captain," Sokov led Guchakov to the lookout point, pointed to the position shrouded in smoke and mist in the distance, and said: "Because the superiors shortened the time of our shelling, the German second The fortifications along the defense line have not been completely destroyed and still have value for continued use. Therefore, you can use rockets to attack these fortifications and burn the enemies to death in the fortifications."
After Guchakov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he immediately replied loudly: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured, I will not let you down."
"Also," Sokov added: "During the first attack, our tanks advancing towards the enemy's position were attacked by German infantry from both sides. If you want to cooperate with the 124th and 125th regiments, just The enemies hiding in the traffic trenches must be eliminated."
"Understood." After Guchakov answered loudly, he asked Sokov about the rockets: "Where can we get the rockets?"
Sokov called a staff officer and told him: "Immediately take Captain Guchakov and others to the warehouse to get the new rockets they need."
After the staff officer took Guchakov away, Sokov looked at Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, are there any soldiers in the division's direct troops who know how to use rocket launchers?"
"Yes." Sidorin nodded and replied: "Major Tenev, the commander of the guard battalion, and Lieutenant Seryosha, the commander of the guard company. They all use rocket launchers, and they use them pretty well."
Tenev is the guard battalion commander, so Sokov naturally cannot send him to perform these assist tasks, but is going to hand it over to the guard company commander Lieutenant Seryosha. After a moment of silence, Sokov said: "I think it is up to Seryosha to lead the soldiers carrying rocket launchers to eliminate the enemy's hidden fire points."
After Sidorin understood Sokov's intention, a smile appeared on his face, and he continued: "Don't worry, comrade division commander, I will call Seryosha immediately and ask him to rush here immediately."
"No need to call." As soon as Sidorin finished speaking, Sidorin's voice rang out not far away. He quickly raised his right hand high and walked out of the crowd. He quickly came to Sokov and said with a sincere expression: "Comrade Commander, I am right here. If you have any instructions, please give me the order."
"Lieutenant Seryosha," although Seryosha was Sokov's friend, friendship was friendship and work was work. In front of everyone, Sokov still ordered him with a straight face: "You immediately bring ten soldiers with you." Two rocket launchers, rush to the attack location of the 125th Regiment and cooperate with them to attack the enemy."
With the addition of the Third Battalion, Ninth Company and Guard Company, Sokov was full of confidence in seizing the enemy's position. However, just to be on the safe side, he still made a call to Bely and said straight to the point: "Colonel Bely, I plan to order the 124th and 125th Regiments to attack the enemy positions again. I hope to get your cooperation?"
"Comrade division commander, please give the order on how to cooperate." After listening to Sokov's order, Bely replied readily: "I will resolutely obey your order."
"Lieutenant Seryosha," although Seryosha was Sokov's friend, friendship was friendship and work was work. In front of everyone, Sokov still ordered him with a straight face: "You immediately bring ten soldiers with you." Two rocket launchers, rush to the attack location of the 125th Regiment and cooperate with them to attack the enemy."
With the addition of the Third Battalion, Ninth Company and Guard Company, Sokov was full of confidence in seizing the enemy's position. However, just to be on the safe side, he still made a call to Bely and said straight to the point: "Colonel Bely, I plan to order the 124th and 125th Regiments to attack the enemy positions again. I hope to get your cooperation?"
"Comrade division commander, please give the order on how to cooperate." After listening to Sokov's order, Bely replied readily: "I will resolutely obey your order."
