After dark, Sokov was having dinner with everyone in the temporary headquarters. Suddenly a staff officer came in from outside and reported to Shumilov: "Comrade Commander, Major General Vasilenko, commander of the 15th Guards Division, reported , German snipers were discovered near their division headquarters, causing them considerable casualties."
Regarding the staff report, Shumilov said impatiently: "Since a German sniper has appeared near the division headquarters, Vasilenko can just find a way to send someone to kill the sniper. Why did he call us to report?"
"The enemy is in the dark, and the snipers we sent can't find any trace of the enemy." As soon as Shumilov finished speaking, the staff officer immediately rushed to say: "Five of General Vasilenko's snipers have fallen. Under the gun of a German sniper."
The staff officer's words shocked everyone. They did not expect that the German snipers were so powerful. They killed five of Vasilenko's snipers in succession, while they themselves were still safe.
"Comrade Commander, this matter is a bit tricky." The chief of staff of the group army said to Shumilov: "The 15th Guards Division is the ace unit of our group army. Once the division-level command structure is killed by German snipers, I am afraid that this The unit will lose its command and its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."
"But it's dark outside at the moment. If the German snipers are hiding in the dark and firing cold shots, our soldiers will not be able to detect them." Shumilov said with a frown: "Unless there is a way to illuminate the hiding place of the German snipers. , otherwise it would be impossible to eliminate him.”
"Comrade Commander, we can order General Vasilenko to launch illumination bombs." The chief of staff suggested to Shumilov: "In this way, Vasilenko's snipers can find the location of the German snipers. .”
"It's useless, Comrade General." As soon as the Chief of Staff finished speaking, Sokov interjected: "If the German sniper continues to lurk when our army launches flares, not only will we not be able to detect his traces, but Let him see our deployment situation clearly, which will cause more innocent soldiers to lose their lives."
"Comrade Sokov," Konev, who had never spoken next to him, listened to Sokov questioning the opinion of the Army Chief of Staff and guessed that he might have some good ideas, so he interrupted and asked: "What good ideas do you have? Against German snipers at night?”
In fact, even if Konev didn't ask, Sokov planned to tell Shumilov and the others the method he knew, lest Vasilenko's men die in vain. Now that Konev asked, Sokov said openly: "There are two ways to deal with enemy snipers at night.
The first is to order the soldiers to hide in different places and shoot. Once an enemy hiding in the dark hears a gunshot, his first reaction is to look for the direction from which the gunshot came. Inevitably, he will make some noise, thus creating some favorable conditions for our sniper to find him. .
Second, light several fires near the division headquarters. The high temperature will distort the air near the fire. When the German sniper uses the scope, there will be a certain degree of deviation, causing him to miss the target with one hit..."
After Sokov finished speaking his thoughts, everyone looked at him blankly, and no one spoke. Seeing this situation, he felt weak and could only pick up the teacup and drink tea to cover up his embarrassment.
At this moment, there was only a "pop" sound, and the chief of staff of the group army slapped the table hard with his palm, which scared Sokov so much that he almost threw the teacup in his hand.
"Genius, General Sokov, you are such a genius." The Army Chief of Staff repeatedly shouted at Sokov's plan: "Lighting a fire and letting the soldiers shoot in different places can increase the difficulty of sniping by German snipers. So that he cannot hit the target in the first place. As for how to find him, I still recommend firing flares into the air so that the German snipers can't hide."
After the chief of staff of the group army finished speaking, he saw Shumilov frowning and quickly explained: "Comrade Commander, if you simply fire flares, the enemy will definitely know more about the whereabouts of our army. But if Soko is added With the plan proposed by my husband, it will be much easier to eliminate the snipers near the division headquarters."
After Shumilov listened, he thought about it carefully and realized that this was really the case. He then ordered the staff officer who came to report the news: "Comrade staff officer, go back and call General Vasilenko to find out what happened." Tell him how to choose the right person to carry out this operation to drive out snipers."
After the staff left, everyone continued to have dinner while discussing how to cooperate in the battle during the day tomorrow. At this moment, a phone placed in the headquarters rang. The chief of staff of the group army stepped forward and picked up the phone. After listening to a few words, he handed the microphone to Sokov and said: "General Sokov , it’s your phone number.”
Sokov was surprised. At this time, there was probably no one else who could call him except Samek. With the microphone pressed to his ear, he asked: "Is this Chief of Staff Samyko? I'm Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander." Sameko said in a somewhat urgent voice: "Something big has happened, and I feel it is necessary to report to you."
When Sokov heard this, his heart beat faster than expected, but he still forced himself to calm down and asked: "Don't be anxious, Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me slowly, what happened?"
"We invaded Chigilin's troops and were driven out of the city by the Germans..."
Even if a cannonball fell and exploded next to Sokov at this moment, the shock to him would never be as great as what Samyko said: "How could you be driven out? Comrade Chief of Staff, hurry up Tell me, what happened?"
"Two hours ago, German reinforcements entered Chigilin." Sameko reported in a serious tone: "The commanders and fighters of the 84th Division who entered the city faced the frantically attacking German army. Although they put up tenacious resistance, In the end, they were driven out of the city by the Germans because they were outnumbered. Our troops suffered heavy casualties, and more than half of the Belkin regiment suffered casualties."
"How many reinforcements did the enemy send?"
"According to the report, there is only one grenadier regiment and one assault artillery battalion." Samek reported: "But their combat effectiveness is extremely powerful, far exceeding our imagination..."
"Strong combat effectiveness?!" Sokov couldn't help but sneer after hearing this, and asked disdainfully: "Are the reinforcements more powerful than the elite SS divisions of the German army?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and then Sameko's heavy voice came again: "Yes, the troops reinforcing Chigilin City this time are the German Viking Division."
Hearing the number of the Viking division, Sokov fell silent. The 300th Division under his command fought against the Viking Division in August. Although they were on the defensive, they still paid a huge price in the face of the crazy German attack. Unexpectedly, in the process of liberating Qijilin, our troops encountered this damned army again.
Since the reinforcements came from the Viking Division, it was only natural that the 84th Division could not stop their attack. After all, Fomenko did not carry any heavy weapons. Even if they faced the German assault artillery battalion, they would probably be Helpless.
After being silent for a while, Sokov ordered Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to the two division commanders Fomenko and Koida, ordering them to regroup on the outskirts of Chigirin and prepare to launch another attack on the city. attack."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko said with some surprise after hearing Sokov's order: "Even if our troops are on the defensive, they cannot stop the enemy. Now the offensive and defensive positions are changed. The enemy defends and we attack. Can it be successful?"
"If we attack directly, we will definitely suffer failure." Sokov began to give orders to Samyko on the phone: "Immediately mobilize an artillery division and rush to the vicinity of Chigilin. Before attacking tomorrow, we will use artillery fire to teach Germany a hard lesson." I don't believe we can't capture the city if we give them a pause and then launch an infantry attack."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Since Sokov had given such an order, Samyko naturally would not contradict him, but readily agreed: "I will call the 1st Artillery Division and ask him to They moved overnight in the direction of Qijilin."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Konev stood up and asked with concern: "What's wrong, Comrade Sokov? What happened to make you so sad?"
Sokov knew that Chigilin's gains and losses could not be concealed at all, so he waited for Konev to finish speaking and immediately replied: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, my Chief of Staff just reported to me, Our troops occupying the city were driven out of the city by the Germans not long ago."
"What, your troops stationed in the city were driven out of the city by the enemy?" After hearing Sokov's report, Konev asked in surprise: "How could this happen?"
"A grenadier regiment and an assault artillery battalion of the German Viking Division entered the city of Chigirin." Sokov reported to Konev: "Although my men put up strong resistance, due to the lack of sufficient heavy weapons, Faced with the crazy German attack, they had no choice but to retreat."
It turns out that the German troops that entered Qijilin for reinforcements were actually Viking divisions? ! Everyone present could not help but gasp when they heard the number of the Viking division. Some of them had dealt with the Viking Division and knew how powerful the opponent was. Even if a group army faced this force, there was not much chance of winning. Now there is only one division fighting against the Viking division. It is definitely unrealistic to hold the position.
When Sokov called, Konev was engrossed in eating and did not hear the content of Sokov's conversation, so he continued to ask: "Comrade Sokov, your troops were driven out of the city by the enemy. Come out, what are your plans?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied: "I ordered the 84th and 188th Divisions to regroup outside the city, and at the same time dispatched the 1st Artillery Division to rush for reinforcements. Once the artillery reaches the designated position, we can Launch a heavy bombardment of the city."
Konev was thinking in his mind, in the face of the enemy's attack, your troops can't stop it. Now you have to switch from defense to offense, from the original defense to offense. Can you succeed? But in order not to dampen Sokov's enthusiasm, he still said cautiously: "Is there anything you need my help with?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov was originally thinking about how to ask Konev for help. Since the other party took the initiative to bring it up, he followed suit and said, "I wonder if you can provide us with air cover when we attack tomorrow."
"Comrade Sokov, if air support is needed, do you need to report to me?" Konev waited for Sokov to finish and said with some laughter and laughter: "Now you and General Goryunov can contact each other directly. What do you plan to do?" Wherever you want to bomb, just ask, and Goryunov will definitely fulfill your request.”
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said, licking his face: "Sending out the air force to bomb cities occupied by the enemy is a big deal. I think it is better to communicate with you first and get your consent before contacting Goryunov. It’s not too late, General.”
Seeing Sokov respecting him so much, Konev felt happy in his heart. He smiled and said: "I agree, then you contact General Goryunov as soon as possible and tell him the time and place of your attack and let him You can prepare in advance.”
However, Sokov did not rush to call Samyko and ask him to contact Air Force Commander Goryunov, but continued to chat with everyone. Although he was still chatting and laughing during the chat, the sadness that could not be dissipated from his brow showed that he still had no confidence in this attack.
About half an hour later, Samyko called again and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the commanders and fighters of the 1st Artillery Division are gathering. I believe it won't be long before they can move in the direction of Chigilin." Move in. Also, I have ordered Major General Gritsenko’s 384th Division to also move in towards the Chigilin defense line.”
After learning that the total number of troops participating in the battle outside Chigilin City had reached three infantry divisions and one artillery division, Sokov began to wonder whether he should send a tank unit to strengthen them. After all, the troops were driven out of the city by the enemy today. The reason why they came out was entirely due to the lack of heavy weapons, and the commonly used rocket launchers did not play much role due to the limited number they carried. As a result, as soon as the German assault guns rushed up, the troops without the rocket launchers could only use their flesh and blood to tie cluster grenades and rush in front of the German tanks to detonate them, thereby achieving the purpose of destroying the enemy tanks.
Sokov was very worried. His troops usually used rocket launchers to destroy German tanks and combat vehicles. Now, if they use cluster grenades to deal with enemy tanks, will they be successful?
Samyko heard Sokov's hesitation from his tone, and quickly guessed what was on his mind, and quickly expressed his position: "Comrade Commander, I will organize a convoy to send troops to the third camp outside Chigilin City." The 84th Division transports a sufficient number of new rockets and rocket launchers."
Although Sokov knew that sending out a convoy at night to transport troops on such a bumpy road was a very dangerous thing. But in order to ensure that the troops attacking tomorrow would have enough weapons to deal with the enemy, Sokov decided to take a risk, so he said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please arrange this as soon as possible. After all, the weapons and equipment will arrive at the front earlier." , our commanders and fighters will become more confident in defeating the enemy."
