The Germans were worried that the town of Roginsik would be lost and sent troops overnight for reinforcements. By daybreak, the entire Imperial Division was deployed around the town.
For safety reasons, Major General Val set up his division headquarters in a forest fifteen kilometers north of the town. The reason why he located the division headquarters here was that he could retreat to a safe area in time once the town was under strong attack by the Soviet army and unable to hold on.
Knowing that the enemy was making large-scale mobilizations, Sokov decided to go to the front to see for himself.
Merkulov's command headquarters is located on the edge of a forest five kilometers south of the town of Rojinsik. There is a higher plateau here. From the observation post located there, the entire town can be seen clearly.
When Sokov arrived at the division headquarters, the staff officer shouted loudly: "Commander is here!"
Following his shout, the busy people at the division headquarters stopped their work, straightened their bodies, and saluted Sokov who had just walked into the headquarters.
Sokov quickly waved to everyone, indicating that everyone should continue working, then walked towards Merkulov who was standing at the table, and greeted with a smile: "Hello, Comrade General! It seems that you have endured another one." overnight."
"Comrade Commander," Merkulov replied with a smile: "I slept until midnight, and one of my subordinates reported to me that there was a huge noise coming from the north of the town of Rojinsik. I quickly sent someone to We conducted reconnaissance and found out that it was a large German army that was setting up defenses on the north side of the town and others, and was about to report to you, but I didn’t expect you to come first.”
After Sokov sat down, he looked at Merkulov and asked: "Comrade General, do you think the enemy will attack you?"
"According to reconnaissance, there are not many enemies stationed in the town." Merkulov replied: "Maybe the enemy felt that with the small amount of troops they had in the town, they could completely block our attack, so they did not send anyone to strengthen them. The defense of the town.”
After listening to Merkulov's report, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade General, how many troops do you think the German troops who came overnight have?"
"According to the scout's report." Merkulov replied: "I think all the troops of the Imperial Division should have arrived near the town of Roginsik."
"Very good." After listening to the report, Sokov nodded and said: "Now that the main force of the Imperial Division has arrived at the area we have designated for them, then we can implement a blockade on them and cut them off. resupply them with ammunition and supplies, and then consume them bit by bit.”
"I have given orders to the scouts," Merkulov said to Sokov: "As soon as the enemy's transport convoy is discovered, attack immediately. As long as they can block the enemy's convoy for half an hour, then our The air force will be there soon."
"Comrade General, your decision is very correct." After Sokov said this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was still early, he asked Merkulov: "I want to go to your observation post." Look, can you go with me?"
"I'll go with you." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Merkulov continued: "I thought you might let the artillery bombard the town, so I ordered the artillery regiment commander to wait for me there. Wait. After receiving your accurate order, I will ask the artillery regiment commander to provide the artillery with more accurate shooting parameters based on accurate observation data."
"General Merkulov, you are very thoughtful." After hearing what Merkulov said, Sokov said approvingly: "Our artillery has a limited reserve of shells, which requires us to have higher shooting accuracy. It seems that you have considered all the issues that should be considered, so let's go and carefully verify the data held by the artillery regiment commander."
When entering the observation post, the commanders and fighters staying inside quickly stood up and raised their hands to salute Sokov. Sokov nodded to them, quickly came to the observation port, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. Here, you can clearly see the buildings in the town in the distance, as well as the barricades built in the town.
Sokov secretly thought that all the troops of the Imperial Division had gathered near the town of Rojinsik. Even if a general attack was launched at this moment, the enemy would probably flee. But doing so was very different from my original idea.
"Comrade Commander, what are you thinking about?" Seeing that Sokov had not put down the telescope, Merkulov couldn't help but asked curiously: "Are you thinking about when to attack the enemy?"
Sokov put down the telescope and asked Merkulov sideways: "Comrade General, how confident are you that you will capture the town of Rojinsik in the shortest possible time?"
Merkulov thought for a while, then shrugged and replied: "It's hard to say. Originally, according to the normal fighting method, at least one hour of artillery preparations should be carried out before the attack to destroy the German army as much as possible. Defensive position to reduce the pressure on our next attack." At this point, he pursed his lips in embarrassment and said helplessly, "But due to the limited reserves of artillery shells, the shelling of the enemy's positions will not last for an hour, let alone , I am afraid that it cannot be maintained for even ten minutes. I think it is an unachievable task to destroy the enemy's defenses in the town with such a short artillery bombardment.
"General Merkulov, I just took a look. Although the enemy's fortifications in the town seem to be many, in fact, these hastily built fortifications can only play a limited role." Sokov pointed into the distance with his finger. In the town of Roginsik, he continued: "Aren't our troops equipped with new rockets and rocket launchers? These are the trump cards for dealing with enemy fortifications and firepower points. We can destroy their defenses bit by bit."
When Merkulov heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help but asked with some itching: "Comrade Commander, when can we launch an attack?"
"Don't be anxious, Comrade General." Sokov originally wanted to order Merkulov to attack the town again today, but then he thought about it. If his troops captured the town of Rojinsik, then the strength of the Imperial Division would be The deployment will become scattered, which is not conducive to sending the air force for bombing, so he changed his words and said: "If the enemy launches a counterattack against the positions south of the town, you must return these positions to the Germans."
"What, return all the positions we occupied to the Germans?" Merkulov was stunned when he heard Sokov's order. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, I heard you right. Bar?"
"No, Comrade General." Sokov explained to him with a smile: "According to our plan, we attract the Imperial Division to gather in this area, and then dispatch the air force and ground destruction squads to cut off their supplies from the rear. etc. The enemy's supplies are exhausted, and if we attack them again, the battle will be much easier."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov has said this, Merkulov knows that no matter what he says, he can't make the other party change his mind. He can only say with a wry smile: "Then we will resolutely implement it. Your order is to give up the attack on the south side of the town as soon as the enemy launches an attack."
Sokov was worried that the enemy would see through his plan, and specifically emphasized to Merkulov: "Comrade General, remember not to tell the commanders and soldiers about their true willingness to retreat. I'm worried that they will react badly when they know the real reason for the retreat. If we act absentmindedly during the battle with the enemy, then our plan may be discovered by the Germans."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Merkulov quickly replied: "Don't worry, I will definitely give the Germans the illusion that we are after a fierce battle because we cannot stop their attack. That’s why we had to give up our position.”
As soon as Sokov returned to his headquarters, he received a call from Merkulov. The latter said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade Commander, the enemy dispatched a battalion of troops. Under the cover of tanks, they launched a fierce attack on the position south of the town."
"Great, this is really great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the Germans had indeed launched an attack. He quickly said into the microphone: "You should organize resistance immediately and be sure to repel the German attack. In addition, Didn't we equip you with a special company? Let them use rocket launchers to deal with German tanks. Comrade General, you have to remember that we are destroying an enemy tank at this moment. In the next battle, the tanks we have to deal with will be There will be one less car.”
"Comrade Commander, please rest assured that I will resolutely repel the enemy's attack and destroy as many of their tanks as possible." Merkulov assured Sokov: "After the enemy retreats, we will Abandon the position south of the town."
Vitkov heard the conversation between Sokov and Merkulov, but he was confused. He asked puzzledly: "Comrade Commander, what is going on? I seem to hear you ordering Merkulov General Love, are you going to relinquish those positions south of the town to the Germans?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you heard that right." Sokov nodded and said affirmatively: "I do intend to return the position south of the town to the Germans."
"Comrade Commander, why are you doing this?" Lunev, who has always been transparent, heard Sokov say this and immediately jumped out to express his opinion: "If we really capture the position that our army finally captured, It would be a criminal act for me to hand it back to the Germans."
"Comrade Military Commissar, Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov saw both of them questioning him, so he looked at them and asked, "Do you know why I asked General Merkulov to abandon his position?"
"I don't know." "I don't know." The two replied, shaking their heads.
"Look," Sokov pointed to the map and explained to the two of them: "If we occupy the position south of the town, the Germans will continue to attack our army in order to reduce the possibility of losing the town. Even if our army can Defeating the enemy's attack will probably cost you a lot.
Secondly, if the Germans feel that the town is in danger of being lost at any time, then they will not put all their main forces in the town, but deploy them on the vast land to the north of the town. If their deployment is too spread out, I think the effectiveness of our air force bombing will be greatly reduced. "
As Sokov's chief of staff, Vitkov naturally has a much better understanding of the situation than Lunev, a political cadre. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he suddenly realized: "Comrade Commander, I understand. You asked General Merkulov's troops to withdraw from their positions south of the town in order to allow the Imperial Division to build a defense line with the town as the center. As long as the enemy's forces are concentrated together, the results we can achieve by dispatching bombers will be will be greatly improved."
"Yes, that's exactly what it is." Sokov waited for Vitkov to finish and continued: "Also, if the Imperial Division wants to build their defense area with the town of Rojinsik as the center, then it will inevitably A large amount of supplies need to be transported from the rear, and in this case, we can dispatch the air force to bomb their transportation lines and cut off their routes to obtain supplies."
After hearing this, Lunev finally understood. He smiled and said: "Comrade Commander, this is what happened. Please forgive me for misunderstanding you. I just said to myself I apologize for being rude and please forgive me!"
"Comrade Military Commissar, you are too polite." Sokov waved his hand and said with a smile: "Actually, this matter is my fault. I did not explain it clearly to you, which led to your misunderstanding."
Merkulov's 67th Guards Division, following Sokov's orders, launched a fierce battle with the counterattacking German troops. After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the German troops who attacked the position abandoned more than two hundred corpses and five destroyed tanks in front of the position, and then returned to the town in despair.
Just as the commanders and soldiers on the position were rejoicing at the enemy's retreat, they received an order from the division headquarters: "Withdraw the position immediately and return to the original offensive starting position."
The commander who received the telegram thought that the operator had mistranslated the content. When he confirmed that there was no mistake in the translation, he was completely stunned. However, he was accustomed to obeying, so he could only bite the bullet and give the order to retreat to his soldiers, giving up the position where they were still fighting not long ago.
The process of the Soviet troops withdrawing from their positions was clearly seen by the German observation post in the town, and he quickly reported the situation to his superiors. Soon the news reached the ears of Major General Val. Upon learning that the Soviet troops had retreated, Major General Val could not help but be overjoyed and quickly ordered his men to "attack immediately to occupy those positions abandoned by the Russians."
The German commander who stayed in the town was distressed that his attack was repelled by the Soviet army. First, he learned that the Soviet troops had withdrawn from their positions, which made him feel confused, but he still reported the situation to Major General Val truthfully. At this moment, he received Major General Val's order to restore the position. He did not dare to neglect and quickly led his troops to the position in the south of the town.
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