Seeing that the German army had torn a hole in their defense line, the Soviet commander immediately organized his troops and launched a counterattack against the enemy, trying to close the gap that was opened and find ways to block the enemy.
The two sides launched a desperate struggle in this area, with gunfire and explosions everywhere, and fighting taking place everywhere. One side refused to give up an inch of ground, while the other side was risking its life in a desperate attack in order to escape the fate of destruction. Both sides tried their best to fight their opponents regardless of casualties. Before long, the rain on the ground was stained red with the blood of officers and soldiers from both sides.
This scene is very similar to when Hoth's troops were going south to Belgorod. However, after seeing the heavy casualties of the blocking troops, Sokov did not insist on ordering them to fight for every inch of territory with the enemy, but took the initiative to open the passage. , allowing the German troops who were eager to break through to pass. Seeing the passage open, the fighting will of many German officers and soldiers will weaken. They will become unwilling to fight, but will be eager to pass through the opened passage and return to a safe area.
When this situation occurred, the best opportunity to attack came. When the Soviet army launched a new attack, the German army, eager to escape, had no intention of stopping and fighting, but just spread its legs and ran forward desperately. Everyone's thoughts are simple. As long as they run faster than their companions, their chances of escaping will be greatly increased.
But the Soviet commanders here could not compare with Sokov. The order they received was to resolutely block the enemies fleeing south. At this moment, they saw the enemy pouring into the gap like a tide. All they could do was to mobilize all the troops they could to fight the enemy who appeared in their field of vision.
The brutal battle lasted for more than an hour. After paying an extremely heavy price, the Soviet army finally restored its original defense line and blocked the continuous flow of German troops heading south.
Starikov finally breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that his troops had blocked the German troops fleeing south, and that friendly forces from the north were systematically annihilating the German troops. After picking up the cup and taking a few sips of hot tea, he cautiously asked his chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, what are our casualties?"
When the chief of staff heard this question, he replied with a stern expression: "Comrade Commander, although the casualty data have not been calculated yet, I estimate that the first two divisions that entered the battle have basically been disabled. Before they can be supplemented, I'm afraid they won't be able to participate in the next stage of the battle. The infantry division and tank brigade that came forward with reinforcements later suffered more than one-third casualties."
After listening to the data reported by the Chief of Staff, Starikov's mouth twitched violently a few times, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think as long as we can defeat the enemy and make some sacrifices, it is acceptable."
"However, we lost almost three divisions in this battle, equivalent to nearly half of our strength." The chief of staff reminded Starikov: "In other words, in the next stage of the battle, our group army will If they are unable to take on the main offensive mission, they may become the reserve force of the front army."
Starikov tapped his fingers lightly on the table and asked thoughtfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a question. The 27th Army of the Steppe Front is the unit commanded by Major General Sokov. From the battle report From the looks of it, they successively annihilated the elite German troops such as the Imperial Division, the Totenkopf Division, and the 19th Armored Division.”
"That's right," the chief of staff nodded and agreed, "That's indeed what the battle report says."
"Although our group army has not fought against the Imperial Division and the Skeleton Division, there are people in the front army who have fought against the 19th Armored Division, and not a single group army has defeated the enemy. But why did Sokov's troops easily annihilate them as soon as they took action? Where is the army? Tell me, is this battle report fake? "
Starikov's words startled the Chief of Staff. He quickly shook his head and said: "Comrade Commander, this is completely impossible. The battle reports we have seen all come from the Intelligence Bureau, who How dare you lie on such an important news channel."
"That's true." Starikov frowned and said, "The battle reports from the Intelligence Bureau will definitely not be false, but how did General Sokov achieve victory in repeated battles?"
The chief of staff thought for a while and replied: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, Sokov's troops are equipped with new equipment that is not only better than our army, but also better than the German army, such as new rockets and rocket launchers. The former It is equivalent to carrying a Katyusha with you, which can deal a heavy blow to the enemy at any time; and the latter is a sharp weapon against German tanks. In the battle that ended not long ago, if our troops had these two kinds of equipment, I believe Casualties will be greatly reduced."
While the troops of the Southern Front were encircling and annihilating the enemies trying to escape back to Donbas, Sokov, who was far away on the outskirts of Belgorod, was moving his headquarters to October Town.
Due to the continuous heavy rain, the road turned into a quagmire. Although the commanders and soldiers were wearing raincoats, they struggled to move forward in the heavy rain in the quagmire, but everyone was soaked through. When the cold wind blew, many people were shivering.
Sokov, who was sitting in the jeep, had put on a military coat to resist the cold outside the car. He looked down at the map in front of him and asked Sameko, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where are the Italian prisoners of war?"
Hearing Sokov asking himself, Samyko quickly turned around and replied: "Comrade Commander, the rain came suddenly. The troops who moved with the prisoners are now trapped in the forest. Probably still It will take two or three days to reach our original location.”
Knowing that the Italian prisoners of war would have to wait two or three days before arriving at their originally designated station, Sokov couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do they have enough food?"
Although the Italians brought back by the troops are now their prisoners of war, who knows when they will become their allies, so they cannot be wronged in terms of supply.
After Samyko understood what Sokov meant, he nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this. Before we set off, I had already talked with Colonel Yakov, and he would personally lead the team with the hovercraft. Send food to the Italians."
Sokov looked out of the car window and saw that the rain was still falling. He thought of another important thing: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if the rain continues, it must be very cold at night, right? The soldiers are still wearing their clothes." In single clothes, can your body bear this?"
The weather in Russia is annoying. Although it is still August in the middle of summer, as soon as it rains, it becomes as cold as late autumn. Especially at night, the temperature will drop to several degrees, and the officers and soldiers wearing only single clothes and single pants will definitely get frostbite.
"Comrade Commander," Sameko said hesitantly, "It's just the beginning of August. I didn't expect such a heavy rain, so I didn't ask the logistics department to prepare winter clothes."
The reason why Samyko did not say autumn clothes, but winter clothes, is that there is almost no autumn in Russia. Often not long after trees begin to lose their leaves, there will be a sudden heavy snowfall, covering the ground with fallen leaves, and summer will go directly into winter.
"If we start mobilizing winter clothes now, when can we distribute them to the soldiers?"
"Now that the war is coming, the trains and cars coming from all over the country are transporting weapons and ammunition." Sameko said awkwardly: "I'm afraid there won't be enough transportation capacity to transport winter clothes for us. If we want every soldier to We all put on winter coats, I guess it won’t be until the end of August at the earliest.”
"The end of August?" Sokov said with a wry smile: "If we really have to wait until that time to let the soldiers wear winter clothes, I don't know how many commanders and soldiers will get frostbite."
Lunev, who was sitting next to Sokov and had never spoken, suddenly interrupted and said: "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. In fact, it is easy to solve this problem. We still have hundreds of military coats, which can be used at night Commanders and fighters on duty wear them so that they can avoid frostbite while on duty at night."
"This is a good idea." Sokov readily agreed to Lunev's suggestion and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately distribute the military coats to all units and give them to the soldiers on duty at night. , to ensure that no one will get frostbite before all the soldiers put on their military coats."
"Okay." Sameko nodded and said, "I will arrange this immediately when we arrive at the new headquarters."
The jeep came to a stop at the door of the church in the center of October Town. When the three of them got out of the car, Samyko said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, because the security force of the group army headquarters is weak, I transferred it from other units. We need manpower to strengthen the security here."
"From another army?" Sokov asked in surprise, "Which army?"
"Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Division."
"The 182nd Division?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned, "This unit is basically composed of old, weak and disabled soldiers. What's the use of bringing them here?"
Due to the continuous heavy rain, the road turned into a quagmire. Although the commanders and soldiers were wearing raincoats, they struggled to move forward in the heavy rain in the quagmire, but everyone was soaked through. When the cold wind blew, many people were shivering.
Sokov, who was sitting in the jeep, had put on a military coat to resist the cold outside the car. He looked down at the map in front of him and asked Sameko, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where are the Italian prisoners of war?"
Hearing Sokov asking himself, Samyko quickly turned around and replied: "Comrade Commander, the rain came suddenly. The troops who moved with the prisoners are now trapped in the forest. Probably still It will take two or three days to reach our original location.”
Knowing that the Italian prisoners of war would have to wait two or three days before arriving at their originally designated station, Sokov couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do they have enough food?"
Although the Italians brought back by the troops are now their prisoners of war, who knows when they will become their allies, so they cannot be wronged in terms of supply.
After Samyko understood what Sokov meant, he nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this. Before we set off, I had already talked with Colonel Yakov, and he would personally lead the team with the hovercraft. Send food to the Italians."
Sokov looked out of the car window and saw that the rain was still falling. He thought of another important thing: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if the rain continues, it must be very cold at night, right? The soldiers are still wearing their clothes." In single clothes, can your body bear this?"
The weather in Russia is annoying. Although it is still August in the middle of summer, as soon as it rains, it becomes as cold as late autumn. Especially at night, the temperature will drop to several degrees, and the officers and soldiers wearing only single clothes and single pants will definitely get frostbite.
"Comrade Commander," Sameko said hesitantly, "It's just the beginning of August. I didn't expect such a heavy rain, so I didn't ask the logistics department to prepare winter clothes."
The reason why Samyko did not say autumn clothes, but winter clothes, is that there is almost no autumn in Russia. Often not long after trees begin to lose their leaves, there will be a sudden heavy snowfall, covering the ground with fallen leaves, and summer will go directly into winter.
"If we start mobilizing winter clothes now, when can we distribute them to the soldiers?"
"Now that the war is coming, the trains and cars coming from all over the country are transporting weapons and ammunition." Sameko said awkwardly: "I'm afraid there won't be enough transportation capacity to transport winter clothes for us. If we want every soldier to We all put on winter coats, I guess it won’t be until the end of August at the earliest.”
"The end of August?" Sokov said with a wry smile: "If we really have to wait until that time to let the soldiers put on winter clothes, I don't know how many commanders and soldiers will get frostbite."
Lunev, who was sitting next to Sokov and had never spoken, suddenly interrupted and said: "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. In fact, it is easy to solve this problem. We still have hundreds of military coats, which can be used at night Commanders and fighters on duty wear them so that they can avoid frostbite while on duty at night.”
"This is a good idea." Sokov readily agreed to Lunev's suggestion and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately distribute the military coats to all units and give them to the soldiers on duty at night. , to ensure that no one will get frostbite before all the soldiers put on their military coats."
"Okay." Sameko nodded and said, "I will arrange this immediately when we arrive at the new headquarters."
The jeep came to a stop at the door of the church in the center of October Town. When the three of them got out of the car, Samyko said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, because the defense force of the group army headquarters is weak, I transferred it from other units. We need manpower to strengthen the security here."
"From another army?" Sokov asked in surprise, "Which army?"
"Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Division."
"The 182nd Division?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned, "This unit is basically composed of old, weak and disabled soldiers. What's the use of bringing them here?"
