After receiving the telegram from Sokov, Shechtman sneered and said to the political commissar: "Comrade political commissar, look at what is written in the telegram sent to us by the commander?"
Colonel Billing received the telegram, quickly read the contents, and said solemnly: "Comrade Division Commander, it seems that the commander also discovered that something is wrong with the enemy. Under our attack, they retreated too quickly."
He put the telegram on the table and then asked Schechtman: "Comrade division commander, if the commander's analysis is correct, the enemy has set this trap to eat our division. How should we deal with it?"
"My comrade political commissar, don't worry about it." Shechtman waved his hands and said: "If one of our divisions acted alone, I admit that it is possible. But now we are not fighting alone, except for the two behind us. division, and more troops are coming.
Even if the enemy really sets a trap in the city and surrounds our division, as long as we hold on for a few hours, reinforcements will arrive and complete the siege of the enemy. At that time, we can cooperate internally and externally to annihilate more enemies and reduce resistance for our next battle. "
Regarding Shechtman's statement, Colonel Billing thought about it carefully and felt that it still made some sense. In any case, the 84th and 188th Divisions were now stationed in the outer positions in the north of the city. If he was attacked by the Germans, , they will definitely come in time to support.
Although other friendly forces have no chance of winning when they are equal in strength to the German army, even if your own army encounters an enemy with superior strength, there is still a possibility of victory. With this thought in mind, he did not raise any further objections to Shechtman. He turned to look at the chief of staff next to him and asked: "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think of the commander's order?"
Seeing Colonel Billing asking himself, the chief of staff quickly replied: "Division commander, political commissar, this is what I think about. Since the comrade commander has also made such a judgment, it proves that the enemy is really planning something. To be on the safe side, I It is recommended that the main force of the division be withdrawn from the city, leaving only one regiment to hold on to the existing position."
"Only one regiment is left to hold on to the occupied position?" Shechtman asked with a frown.
"Yes, there is only one regiment left in the city." The chief of staff explained to Shechtman: "In this way, even if we fall into the enemy's trap, only one regiment will be surrounded. By then our other two regiments will Then launch an attack on the city and rescue the besieged troops."
"Comrade Division Commander, I think the Chief of Staff's proposal is good and we can adopt it." Colonel Billing looked at Shechtman and asked, "What do you think?"
"Chief of Staff, which regiment do you think is better left behind?"
"How is Prochenko's regiment?" the chief of staff said cautiously: "Their regiment's chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, is an old subordinate of the commander. He is very good at dealing with the German surrender at night."
The Prochenko Regiment's designation is the 762nd Regiment. This regiment achieved great results when fighting the Color Guard Division outside the city of Prokhorovka. There is no doubt that such a heroic team is responsible for the defense of the city. is very suitable. Shechtman immediately agreed with the chief of staff's proposal: "Yes, I think it is more appropriate for Colonel Prochenko's 762nd Regiment to be responsible for the defense of the city's positions at night."
Seeing that Shechtman agreed to his proposal, the chief of staff quickly picked up the phone on the table and called the 762nd Regiment: "Hello, the 762nd Regiment? I am the chief of staff of the division. Call me your regiment leader immediately. Colonel Prochenko spoke.”
…………
An hour later, except for the commanders and fighters of the 762nd Regiment, the rest of the troops quietly withdrew from Dergach and entered what became the night fighting position.
Seeing the friendly troops withdrawing from the city one after another, the commander of the 762nd Regiment, Colonel Prochenko, asked his subordinates to bring him two bottles of vodka and some food to go with wine, and then called the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, to start drinking. .
"Comrade Commander," Vanya said hesitantly when he saw the food and wine on the table: "According to the notice from superiors, the enemy may launch an attack on our regiment at night. The military commanders of our two regiments are sitting there. Isn’t it appropriate to drink here?”
"What's inappropriate?" Prochenko said disapprovingly: "With just two bottles of vodka, how can we drink you and me down? Besides, we have strengthened our patrols. Even if the enemy launches a sneak attack on us, we can still Respond in the shortest possible time.”
After hearing what Prochenko said, Vanya hesitantly sat across from him and asked uneasily: "Comrade leader, is it really okay for the two of us to drink here?"
"What can be the matter?" Prochenko unscrewed the cap of a bottle of vodka with his hand, poured the wine into two teapots, then pushed one of them in front of Vanya and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff , the temperature is low at night, we can drink some to keep out the cold, and at the same time, it can be used as a midnight snack to relieve boredom."
Now that Prochenko has already said this, Vanya still refuses to drink, which seems a bit pretentious. He picked up the teapot and said to Prochenko: "Comrade leader, I offer you a toast. I wish our regiment can achieve more results tomorrow."
Prochenko picked up the teapot, touched it lightly with the teapot in Vanya's hand, and said confidently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since the division has allowed our regiment to stay in the city and hold its position, it proves that the division commander, The political commissar thinks highly of us and will definitely let our regiment continue to be the main attacker in the next battle."
The wine is good and the food is good. The two of them were drinking and chatting. Somehow the topic came to Sokov: "...Comrade Chief of Staff, you are the commander's old subordinate, and you must be very fond of him." I know the tactics very well. Tell me, what would you do if the Germans occupied some territory in the city you were holding?"
"According to the character of Comrade Commander," Vanya took a sip of wine and continued, "I will definitely use the cover of night to launch a sneak attack on the enemy. We have done this before, directly killing the Germans with rockets. A regiment-level headquarters disrupted the German offensive steps on the second day..."
"I've heard about this," Prochenko said, nodding. "It is said that after the rocket attack, the entire village was in flames. Except for the troops sent to search, there was no one alive in the village."
"Comrade leader, I remembered something and felt it necessary to report it to you." After hearing the other party say that the village was burned to a sea of flames, Vanya suddenly remembered something important and quickly said to Prochenko: " In many of the buildings where we were standing, there were a large number of gasoline barrels."
Prochenko heard this for the first time and seemed a little distracted: "Could it be an empty oil drum used by the German armored forces?"
"No." Vanya shook her head and said, "The gasoline in the oil drum is full. I feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong, my comrade chief of staff." Prochenko raised the teapot towards Vanya again: "Maybe it's the fuel the enemy prepared for their armored forces, but because our attack was too fast, The enemy didn't have time to move the fuel away..."
"I'm worried that the enemy may have some conspiracy behind leaving so many gasoline barrels."
"Chief of Staff, do you want to say that the enemy is preparing to attack us with fire? Oh, the wind is blowing outside," Prochenko sneezed several times: "It is still summer, and it is so cold at night. It seems that this year's It’s hard to live in winter.”
As soon as Prochenko said that the wind was blowing, Vanya stood up suddenly, walked to the window and looked outside, and it turned out that the wind was blowing. He looked around, picked up a piece of paper from the ground, held it with his hand and stretched it out the window. After a moment, he let go, and the paper was blown away by the wind.
Watching the paper quickly disappearing into the darkness, Vanya said with some worry: "Comrade leader, something is not good. We are now hanging in the southeast. If the enemy launches a fire attack on us, we who are at the disadvantage will be It’s a big disadvantage.”
"Fire attack?! Is this impossible? You know, three-quarters of the city is still in the hands of the enemy. If they want to carry out a fire attack, are they not afraid of burning themselves?" Although Prochenko said Li didn't want to admit it, but at the same time, doubts were aroused in his heart, especially the word "fire attack", which made him feel flustered.
"Comrade Commander, I just said that the enemy is upwind. If they set fire, we are the only ones who will be burned..." Before Vanya could finish her words, she suddenly saw flames bursting out in the distance.
"No, the enemy has set fire!" Vanya shouted as he rushed to the phone, preparing to alert several battalion commanders under his command.
"Damn it, the enemy really set a fire!" Prochenko walked to the window, looked at the several fires rising in the distance, and said emotionally: "Aren't they afraid of burning their own people?"
"Regiment, commander!..." Before Vanya could make a call, a staff officer broke in from outside the door: "The Germans set fire to the city."
"Why panic? The enemy set fire just to throw us into chaos. Immediately order all personnel in the regiment to prepare for battle and prepare to retreat in response to the enemy's attack!"
"Comrade leader, there are many wooden buildings in the city, and we are downwind. Even if we are not burned to death, we will be killed by the thick smoke." Seeing that the call could not be connected, Vanya put the phone on the table. After throwing it away, he said to Prochenko: "The top priority is to move to the north of the city immediately. As long as we exit the city, we will be safe."
Seeing the phone thrown on the table, Prochenko asked Vanya anxiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why didn't you call."
"The phone cannot be reached, Comrade Commander." Vanya sighed softly and said: "The enemy has cut off our phone lines before setting fire. Now we can only send communications troops to notify the battalions and quickly evacuate the city. outside, lest he be burned to death in the fire.”
"Comrade leader, I remembered something and felt the need to report it to you." After hearing the other party say that the village was burned to a sea of flames, Vanya suddenly remembered something important and quickly said to Prochenko: " In many of the buildings where we were standing, there were a large number of gasoline barrels."
Prochenko heard this for the first time and seemed a little distracted: "Could it be an empty oil drum used by the German armored forces?"
"No." Vanya shook her head and said, "The gasoline in the oil drum is full. I feel something is wrong."
"Something's wrong, my comrade chief of staff." Prochenko raised the teapot towards Vanya again: "Maybe it's the fuel the enemy prepared for their armored forces, but because our attack was too fast, The enemy didn't have time to move the fuel away..."
"I'm worried that the enemy may have some conspiracy behind leaving so many gasoline barrels."
"Chief of Staff, do you want to say that the enemy is preparing to attack us with fire? Oh, the wind is blowing outside," Prochenko sneezed several times: "It is still summer, and it is so cold at night. It seems that this year's It’s hard to live in winter.”
As soon as Prochenko said that the wind was blowing, Vanya stood up suddenly, walked to the window and looked outside, and it turned out that the wind was blowing. He looked around, picked up a piece of paper from the ground, held it with his hand and stretched it out the window. After a moment, he let go, and the paper was blown away by the wind.
Watching the paper quickly disappearing into the darkness, Vanya said with some worry: "Comrade leader, something is not good. We are now hanging in the southeast. If the enemy launches a fire attack on us, we who are at the disadvantage will be It’s a big disadvantage.”
"Fire attack?! Is this impossible? You know, three-quarters of the city is still in the hands of the enemy. If they want to carry out a fire attack, are they not afraid of burning themselves?" Prochenko said, although Li didn't want to admit it, but at the same time, doubts were aroused in his heart, especially the word "fire attack", which made him feel flustered.
"Comrade Commander, I just said that the enemy is upwind. If they set fire, we are the only ones who will be burned..." Before Vanya could finish her words, she suddenly saw flames bursting out in the distance.
"No, the enemy has set fire!" Vanya shouted as he rushed to the phone, preparing to alert several battalion commanders under his command.
"Damn it, the enemy really set a fire!" Prochenko walked to the window, looked at the several fires rising in the distance, and said emotionally: "Aren't they afraid of burning their own people?"
"Regiment, commander!..." Before Vanya could make a call, a staff officer broke in from outside the door: "The Germans set fire to the city."
"Why panic? The enemy set fire just to throw us into chaos. Immediately order all personnel in the regiment to prepare for battle and prepare to retreat in response to the enemy's attack!"
"Comrade leader, there are many wooden buildings in the city, and we are downwind. Even if we are not burned to death, we will be killed by the thick smoke." Seeing that the call could not be connected, Vanya put the phone on the table. After throwing it away, he said to Prochenko: "The top priority is to move to the north of the city immediately. As long as we exit the city, we will be safe."
Seeing the phone thrown on the table, Prochenko asked Vanya anxiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why didn't you call."
"The phone cannot be reached, Comrade Commander." Vanya sighed softly and said: "The enemy has cut off our phone lines before setting fire. Now we can only send communications troops to notify the battalions and quickly evacuate the city. outside, lest he be burned to death in the fire.”
