After Operation Ring begins, the results achieved by the Soviet army will be distributed to each army group headquarters that evening. And Sokov thought that when Chuikov almost got the battle report, he would shamelessly make a phone call to find out how the battle was going on the front line.
After hearing that the 38th Infantry Division commanded by Colonel Safiullin destroyed a German field airfield, captured eighteen transport aircraft, and captured all crew members, Sokov couldn't help but think about the lack of fuel and The German army, out of ammunition, has basically become a toothless tiger. It seems that they still have small teams operating behind enemy lines, allowing them to carry out some actions. Even if they cannot eliminate many enemies, they can still stir up panic within the enemy.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let me ask you, do we still have any small units behind enemy lines?"
"Squad?!" Sidorin heard this question, frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head, turned around and asked Ivanov who was talking to Anisimov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, do you know we are here?" Are there any small units behind enemy lines?"
"Didn't the squad led by Captain Guchakov and Cavin withdraw a long time ago?" Ivanov said with a blank look on his face: "We are behind enemy lines, and there are no squads active anywhere."
Just as Sokov was secretly disappointed, he suddenly heard Anisimov say: "The squad may not be there anymore, but the last time the squad attacked, they left several wounded with the guerrillas."
Anisimov's words made Sokov's eyes light up. He quickly picked up the phone in front of him, called the guard battalion, and asked the battalion commander Tenev: "Comrade Major, this is Sokov. Captain Guchakov Isn’t it at your place?”
Since the last time Guchakov came back from sending an ultimatum to the German army, Sokov has not allowed him to return to the third battalion for the time being. Instead, he has left him in the guard camp so that he can be dispatched casually when there is another mission to persuade them to surrender. Tenev heard Sokov's inquiry and quickly replied: "Comrade division commander, Captain Guchakov is still here. Is there anything I can convey to you?"
"Have him report to the division headquarters immediately. I have something to ask him."
Hearing that it was the division commander's call, Guchakov didn't dare to neglect, so he trotted over quickly. He came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and asked breathlessly: "Comrade division commander, are you looking for me?"
"Yes, Captain Guchakov." Sokov nodded and went straight to the topic: "I heard that when you last performed a mission behind enemy lines, you left several wounded people behind enemy lines. Is this true? "
"That's right, Comrade Division Commander." Guchakov replied affirmatively: "Senior Sergeant Tavlin was injured in the battle. In order not to affect the movement of the troops, I left him and the other two wounded men behind the guerrillas. Team."
"Which guerrilla group is it?" Sokov picked up the map on the table and stretched it out in front of Guchakov: "Where do they usually operate?"
Guchakov looked closely at the map, then pointed to a place decisively and said to Sokov: "Here, comrade division commander. After the guerrillas of Mishiga and Vovga were transferred from their original stations, , often active in this area.”
Hearing two familiar names, Sokov thought for a moment, then remembered the name of the guerrillas, and asked: "Is it the Ignatov Brothers guerrillas?"
"Exactly."
Sokov spread the map back out on the table, and then carefully checked to see if there were any valuable military targets here. When he saw Pitomnik Airport, his pupils couldn't help but shrink suddenly. He raised his head and asked Guchakov: "How far is their new station from Pitomnik Airport?"
Before Guchakov could speak, Sidorin asked in surprise: "Comrade division commander, you don't want the Ignatov brothers' guerrillas to attack Pitomnik Airport, do you? You know, even if the German army is now They suffered a disastrous defeat and their morale became low, but they still had no problem dealing with guerrillas who were poorly equipped or trained."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sidorin just finished speaking, Guchakov retorted: "The equipment of the Ignatov brothers' guerrillas is not bad. After the last attack on the German train station, the guerrillas captured A large amount of weapons and ammunition were provided, and their equipment was all replaced with German-style equipment."
Sokov interrupted and asked Guchakov: "Comrade Captain, you haven't answered me yet, how far is their new station from the Pitomnik Airport occupied by the Germans?"
"It's about thirty kilometers away."
"Can I get in touch with them?"
"Yes." Guchakov replied: "Among the wounded left with Tavlin was a radio operator, who carried a radio with him."
"Captain, get in touch with them immediately." Sokov stood up and ordered Guchakov: "I have important combat tasks to assign to them."
Guchakov agreed, went straight to the radio, gave the operator a communication code, and then contacted Sergeant Tavlin who stayed in the guerrillas. Sidorin frowned and asked: "Comrade Division Commander, you don't want a guerrilla force to attack Pitomnik Airport, do you? You know, this is a large airport controlled by the Germans. I believe that the number of garrison troops will not be large." Master, if you let the guerrillas attack, won't you let them die?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov asked with a smile after patiently listening to Sidorin's words: "When have you ever seen me ask soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices?"
Hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin asked in confusion: "But, didn't you ask Guchakov to contact the Ignatov Brothers guerrillas just to let them seize Pitomnik Airport?"
"I plan to let them move around the airport and shoot at the enemies guarding the airport, not to let them occupy the airport. Besides, with their small strength, even if they barely occupy the airport, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold it."
"Comrade division commander," Guchakov, standing behind the radio operator, turned to Sokov and shouted: "Contact has been established with the guerrillas."
Sokov walked quickly to Guchakov and said to the operator who was sitting on a stool and turned to look at him: "Call back the guerrillas and ask them what kind of transportation they have."
The call back came quickly: "Three captured armored personnel carriers, a truck, and a dozen sleds."
Sokov calculated in his mind that one armored vehicle and personnel carrier could carry 12 people, so three armored vehicles could carry 36 people. It is obviously unrealistic to seize the airport with such a small number of troops, but it should be enough to let them go around the airport and scare the Germans. Therefore, he told the operator: "Tell the other party to immediately use three armored personnel carriers to carry soldiers and rush to Pitomnik Airport to harass the enemies at the airport."
The call back this time was very slow. I waited for almost ten minutes before a brief inquiry message came: "Who is the commander who issued the combat order?"
"Tell them." Sokov proudly told the operator: "The person who gave them the order was Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division."
Less than a minute after the message was sent, the call back came: "Resolutely obey the order. This mission will be commanded by Sergeant Tavlin. We will also use sleds to carry more guerrillas and rush to the airport to receive them."
Seeing that the other party accepted his order so readily, Sokov felt very satisfied. He added again: "Since the enemy has lost air superiority in the Stalingrad area, and the German troops on the ground have been panicked by our troops, you can attack at any time without worrying about encountering major dangers. At the same time, , I want to remind you that when Sergeant Tavlin leads the troops in action, he must carry a radio so that he can communicate directly with the division headquarters."
While the operator was sending the report, Sokov was secretly thinking: If the guerrillas commanded by Tavlin encountered any danger near the airport, he would call Rokossovsky and ask him to dispatch. The air force went to reinforce.
…………
It is only more than thirty kilometers from the guerrilla station to Pitomnik Airport. If it's a clear day and the roads are in good condition, it only takes an hour for an armored vehicle to drive there.
But it took the team led by Staff Sergeant Tavlin two hours to drive the armored vehicle out of the snow-covered forest, and then took the same amount of time to approach Pitomnik Airport. . At this moment, the sky was already bright, and Tavlin couldn't help but secretly complain. He had planned to sneak attack the enemy, but who knew that now it was already bright, and he would be discovered by the enemy's garrison before approaching the airport, and a fierce battle might occur.
The three armored vehicles were still seven or eight hundred meters away from the airport when they were discovered by the garrison at the airport. At first, the German soldiers standing on the watchtower thought they were their own and didn't take it seriously. But as the armored vehicle approached, he saw clearly that the people on the vehicle were mostly wearing casual clothes. There was actually a Russian wearing a helmet on the first armored vehicle. He immediately shouted in panic: "Russian, Russian People are coming!”
After he shouted twice in a row, shouts came one after another from below: "The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!" Following the shouts, countless people came from the wooden houses or tents on both sides of the airport runway. run out. What happened next made the German sentry standing on the watchtower dumbfounded. Not only did the people who ran out not enter the position, but ran in the opposite direction, shouting as they ran.
The armored vehicle parked more than two hundred meters away from the airport. Sitting in the first armored vehicle, Tavlin saw the chaos of the enemies in the airport, but he did not shoot at him.
He raised his binoculars strangely and looked in the direction of the airport. He saw countless German soldiers who did not enter the defensive position to shoot at him, but ran further into the forest to cause trouble. Countless German soldiers were crowded around some cars that were slowly starting. They pushed forward desperately, trying to climb into the car. They even fought to compete for these precious positions. Taflin even saw some wounded people with leg injuries, limping and hopping away on crutches or rifles...
Seeing this scene, not only Tavlin and Monk Zhang Er were confused, but even the other guerrillas in the car were dumbfounded. He asked Tavlin in confusion: "Comrade Sergeant, what happened to the Germans? Why? What if we don’t shoot, but run away without our lives?”
Although Tavlin couldn't figure out what happened, he still ordered the telegraph operator to send a telegram to the division headquarters and promptly reported what happened here to Sokov.
When Sokov received the telegram, his eyes widened in surprise. After a while, he ordered the operator: "Call back to Sergeant Tavlin and ask them to chase the fleeing German soldiers with machine guns to make them more confused."
After receiving the order, Tavlin immediately ordered three armored vehicles to line up in a row, and while slowly advancing towards the airport, he used machine guns to shoot at the German soldiers who were fleeing in a hurry. Amidst the intensive firing, the German soldiers crowded together fell in pieces like cut wheat.
Seeing their companions falling in pieces under the gunfire, the remaining soldiers became even more confused. Many soldiers who found themselves unable to get into their vehicles immediately fled in all directions, trying to stay away from the machine guns that were shooting wildly.
When no more standing German soldiers could be seen at the airport, the guerrillas in the car cheered and shouted with tears in their eyes: "Victory, we are victorious!"
Tavlin was particularly excited when she saw the piles of German corpses at the airport. But he knew very well that it was simply impossible to defend the airport with his thirty-some men and guns. Therefore, he ordered the radio operator: "Send a telegram to the division commander and report to him the situation here, saying that we have eliminated at least more than 300 German soldiers and that no occupied Germans can be seen in the airport. Ask him to instruct us to get off." One step of action.”
"Sergeant Tavlin did a good job." After reading the telegram, Sokov said to Sidorin and Ivanov with a smile: "Our army was actually wiped out without any casualties. We defeated more than 300 Germans. This is truly an amazing victory."
"Comrade Commander," Ivanov said doubtfully about the results achieved by Tavlin and the others: "Don't you think there is something wrong with this battle report?"
"Is there a problem?" Sokov asked in confusion: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, what's the problem?"
"The enemy saw three armored vehicles approaching the airport. Not only did they not defend themselves, but they fled in a hurry." Ivanov said cautiously: "I think this situation is too unrealistic. Even if a few German soldiers fire, the tower will be destroyed." It would be difficult for Sergeant Fulin and his armored vehicles to approach the airport."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you are worrying too much. Nothing is impossible." Sokov explained to Ivanov: "The offensive launched by our army in the past two days was so fierce that the Germans panicked. Maybe they saw When Taflin and the others showed up, they thought our army was going to attack the airport, so they naturally fled in a hurry as they still had the courage to hold on."
After Sokov finished speaking, he ordered the operator: "Call back to Sergeant Tavlin and tell them that their mission has been completed and they can return to the guerrilla camp."
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