Since receiving a call from Belkin in the morning, Sokov learned that after they repelled the attack of the German 24th Armored Division, he was still considering where to deploy troops to fill the gap once the position in that direction was breached by the Germans. But after waiting and waiting until the afternoon, no more information about the German attack was received.
"Strange, why haven't the Germans attacked after such a long time?" Sokov looked at his watch. It was only more than two hours before dark. If the Germans didn't attack, it would be dark. The role played by tanks at night is far inferior to that during the day. It was out of this consideration that he said to himself: "What on earth are the Germans doing?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin saw Sokov looking distracted. Without waiting for him to speak, he picked up the phone on the table, dialed Belkin's command post, and asked straight to the point: "Bergin Captain Jin, how is the situation there?"
Seeing that the German attack came to an end, Belkin was also very depressed. He tried his best to challenge the 24th Armored Division and let the Germans have a taste of the power of rocket launchers. In the end, after killing more than a dozen of the opponent's tanks, the Germans The attack on his own position completely stopped. Several hours have passed, and the enemy's position is still quiet, with no movement of attack at all.
"There is no movement on the enemy's position?" After hearing Belkin's answer, Sidorin frowned slightly and asked, "Captain Belkin, are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm absolutely sure." Belkin replied in a positive tone: "Since the German attack was repelled by us, the area they occupied has been quiet and there has been no movement at all."
Sokov, who was sitting aside, heard the conversation between Sidorin and Belgin, and an ominous premonition surged in his heart. He quickly stood up, took the phone from Sidorin's hand, and asked tentatively: "Political Commissar Comrade, is it true that there is no movement from the enemy at all?"
"Yes, Misha." Although Belgin had just answered this question, when he heard that it was Sokov who was asking, he answered truthfully: "The enemy has not made any movement at all."
"Comrade Political Commissar, this is too abnormal." Sokov frowned and said to the microphone: "How could the enemy only attack once and not make any movement? I think there must be something wrong with it."
"Misha, I also think there is a problem." Belkin replied truthfully: "But I just don't know where the problem lies."
"Since there is no movement on the enemy's position," Sokov then asked, "Have you sent anyone over to conduct reconnaissance?"
"Reconnaissance? Send scouts to perform reconnaissance missions during the day?" Belkin said with some embarrassment: "Isn't it too dangerous to do this? You know, it is still daytime, if we send scouts, it will be easy to be discovered by the enemy... "
"Comrade Political Commissar, I think something is wrong with the enemy." Sokov didn't wait for Belkin to finish speaking before interrupting what he was saying: "Immediately send out personnel to conduct reconnaissance, and we must find out what the Germans are doing."
Although Belkin still had different opinions on Sokov's tough order, out of respect for his superiors, he bit the bullet and agreed: "Okay, I will immediately send people to conduct reconnaissance in the combat area. "
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what are you worried about?"
"This is really strange." Sokov explained to Sidorin: "The enemy's forces are stronger than ours. Even if they are blocked by the shrinking regiment when attacking our flanks, they will not be able to stay for long. The troops had been standing still, so I thought there might be something wrong, so I ordered Commander Belkin to send someone to try reconnaissance."
After saying these words, Sokov said to Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, please call Comrade Commander to learn about the progress of the peripheral troops."
"Okay," since Golikov left, it has been relatively difficult to obtain the latest battle reports. After all, there are many things that even commander Chuikov doesn't know, let alone the division commanders below. Sidorin was also anxious to know the situation outside. After receiving Sokov's order, he immediately ordered the communications troops to connect to the group army headquarters. He wanted to speak to Chuikov. "I immediately contacted Comrade Commander and asked what happened."
After the call was connected, Chuikov asked anxiously without waiting for Sidorin to explain his purpose: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, are you calling me in such a hurry? Is there something wrong?"
"There is no problem." Sidorin quickly replied: "The German 24th Armored Division, which attacked our division's defense area from the flank, launched an attack on the Belkin Regiment's position. Strangely enough, they started from that time , there has been no movement. The teacher asked me to ask you, have you received the latest news? "
"The latest news?!" Regarding Sidorin's question, Chuikov did not recover for a moment, and still said in a confused manner: "The troops of our group army are engaged in small-scale battles with the enemy in the existing defense zone. "
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." When Chuikov said this, Sidorin immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "The division commander asked me to ask, do you know the latest battle situation of our troops in the periphery?"
"Oh, that's what you're talking about. Wait a minute, let me ask the chief of staff." Sidorin heard Chuikov asking Krylov next to him: "Comrade chief of staff, what's new about the friendly forces on the periphery?" Is there any movement?"
"I heard that the Supreme Command issued a combat order to all the peripheral troops." Krylov replied: "Let our troops carry out a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area."
"Central attack?!" Sokov, who had been listening to the conversation between Sidorin and Chuikov, couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Have the superiors determined that the enemy's headquarters is located in the Gumlak area?" Dolin quickly repeated Sokov's question to Chuikov.
"Yes, the superiors said that the communications department found a large amount of radio wave activity in the Gumlak area, which should be the location of the German headquarters." Chuikov replied: "That's why the superiors ordered a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area. Order."
"Gumlak area?!" Sokov waited for Sidorin to put down the phone and asked tentatively: "Last time, the reconnaissance team we sent to the rear used rockets to attack the Gumlak station occupied by the Germans. ?”
"That's right, it was the squad behind enemy lines led by Guchakov and Samoilov. They successfully destroyed the supplies stored by the German army at Gumlak Station, interrupting the enemy's supplies for several days." After Duolin answered this question, he asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, do you plan to send troops to harass behind enemy lines again?"
"This is worth considering." Sokov nodded and said: "There are many numbers of German troops assembled there. If a sabotage team is sent out behind enemy lines, even if they pretend to be enemies, the chances of their identity being exposed are not very high. We need to Let’s make a careful calculation, how large of a force should be sent, and who will command it.”
Sidorin considered that when Sokov sent out small units behind enemy lines in the past, the personnel he selected were basically downsized regiments or guard battalions. As for the commanders and fighters of the other three regiments, he rarely considered them, so he reminded him: "Comrade Division Commander, I think this time we can select manpower from the three regiments in front of Mamayev Ridge. Otherwise, the commanders and fighters in these regiments will privately complain about you and say that any important tasks you have will be handed over to the downsized regiment. and guard battalions to complete it, seemingly always treating them as outsiders.”
Sidorin's words reminded Sokov. When he thought about it carefully, he seemed to be a little too partial to the downsizing regiment and the guard battalion. In any case, the three Guards regiments are all his subordinates, and they cannot be too favorable to one another. Thinking of this, he nodded and said: "Chief of Staff, you are right. Next time when selecting candidates for the small team behind enemy lines, choose people from the three Guards regiments."
After a pause, Sokov added: "Be sure to select elite soldiers and strong generals. If possible, I hope that this small team sent can take away Paulus's army headquarters."
"Take away Paulus's army headquarters?!" Hearing Sokov's idea, Sidorin's breathing became rapid: "Comrade division commander, the enemy's headquarters must be heavily guarded. I'm worried about our There was no way the small team could get close to the target behind enemy lines.”
"Don't we still have new rockets?" Sokov smiled faintly and said: "As long as you find the location of Paulus' headquarters, you don't have to get close at all. You only need to launch a few rockets from a distance to destroy the enemy. I was beaten so hard that I was dizzy."
…………
Although the reconnaissance mission assigned by Sokov was a bit too difficult for Belkin, since the order had been issued, he could only find a way to carry it out.
He asked the regiment's chief of staff, Captain Vanya: "Comrade chief of staff, the division commander ordered us to immediately send out manpower to detect the movements of the enemy on the opposite side. Do you have a suitable candidate?"
"What, sending reconnaissance personnel in broad daylight to reconnoiter the enemy positions on the opposite side?" Hearing the order relayed by Belkin, the muscles on Vanya's face twitched violently a few times, and he said with some embarrassment: "Regiment Comrade Chang, aren't you worried that the scouts we sent will be discovered by the enemy?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, how could I not be worried about actinium." Belkin said with a wry smile: "But this is an order from Misha, and we can only execute it unconditionally."
Hearing that it was Sokov who personally arranged the order, Vanya stopped complaining. He thought quickly in his mind, who should be sent to carry out this dangerous mission? After thinking for a while, he finally thought of a suitable candidate. He said to Belkin: "Comrade Commander, I have a suitable candidate who can perform reconnaissance missions."
"who is it?"
"Sergeant Copetuo of the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion," Vanya replied: "He is a very good tactician. I think it is most appropriate for him to lead the team."
"Okay." Belkin nodded when he heard that Vanya was so optimistic about the other party and said in agreement: "Then give him the task as soon as possible and quickly rush to the enemy-controlled area to carry out reconnaissance missions."
After receiving the mission, Sergeant Copetto set off immediately with his five soldiers. In order not to be discovered by the enemy from the front, the six of them carefully walked around from the west. The reason for choosing this direction is entirely because it is within the control range of the German army. The German army on the opposite side does not monitor this place closely and can easily get through.
According to Copetuo's idea, there might be a firefight with the Germans on the way. After all, it was daytime, and even if they took a detour, there was still a possibility of being discovered by the enemy. Therefore, from the moment of departure, all soldiers are ready for battle. However, until they approached the German position in front, they still found no trace of the enemy.
Soldier Yefim asked Kopetuo curiously: "Comrade squad leader, what's going on? We didn't meet any Germans along the way? Where have they gone?"
"What the hell." Copetuo didn't encounter the enemy at the place where he was most likely to encounter the German army. He was also quite puzzled. He thought to himself: What the hell did the Germans do? There was not even a patrol along the way, and they actually let themselves go. This reconnaissance team successfully entered their position without any hindrance? "What exactly is going on?"
After walking for a while, Yefim suddenly said in surprise: "Comrade squad leader, do you think all the Germans have retreated? We can't see a single German on the road?"
"Have the Germans retreated?" Copetuo asked with a frown: "A few hours ago, they were still attacking our positions. How could they just withdraw? Let me see, they are probably lurking somewhere. Wait. We’ll have to search hard later.”
After receiving the mission, Sergeant Copetto set off immediately with his five soldiers. In order not to be discovered by the enemy from the front, the six of them carefully walked around from the west. The reason why we chose this direction is entirely because it is within the control range of the German army. The German army on the opposite side does not have strict surveillance here and can easily get through.
According to Coppetto's idea, there might be a firefight with the Germans halfway. After all, it was daytime, and even if they took a detour, there was still a possibility of being discovered by the enemy. Therefore, from the moment of departure, all soldiers are ready for battle. However, until they approached the German position in front, they still found no trace of the enemy.
Soldier Yefim asked Kopetuo curiously: "Comrade squad leader, what's going on? We didn't meet any Germans along the way? Where have they gone?"
"What the hell." Copetuo didn't encounter the enemy at the place where he was most likely to encounter the German army. He was also quite puzzled. He thought to himself: What the hell did the Germans do? There was not even a patrol along the way, and they actually let themselves go. This reconnaissance team successfully entered their position without any hindrance? "What exactly is going on?"
After walking for a while, Yefim suddenly said in surprise: "Comrade squad leader, do you think all the Germans have retreated? We can't see a single German on the road?"
"Have the Germans retreated?" Copetuo asked with a frown: "A few hours ago, they were still attacking our positions. How could they just withdraw? Let me see, they are probably lurking somewhere. Wait. We’ll have to search hard later.”
