Smirnov picked up the phone and was about to contact Timofevich. Suddenly he thought of a question, stopped what he was doing, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, if we directly call Timofevich When Veitch issued the order, is it considered an overstepping of command? Will this create a bad association with Comrade Solomatin?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. If we bypass General Solomatin and directly give orders to Timofevich, it will be a leapfrog command." Sokov agreed: "If we do this , even if General Solomatin doesn’t say anything, he will definitely have knots in his heart, which will have a negative impact on future operations. Also, if Solomatin gives different orders to the troops, I am afraid that Mofevich would also be confused as to whose instructions to follow, causing chaos in the chain of command."
After talking about the harm of skipping command, Sokov then ordered Smirnov: "Chief of Staff, then you contact General Solomatin and ask him to send the 219th Tank Brigade to meet the 13th Cavalry Division."
After Solomatin answered Smirnov's call, he called Colonel Timofevich to his headquarters and said to him with a serious expression: "Comrade Colonel, I just received a call from Army Chief of Staff Smirno I received a call from General Husband, saying that the 13th Cavalry Division was blocked by the Germans on its way over, and I hope our tank brigade can respond."
Hearing what Solomatin said, Timofevich quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, how many tanks does the enemy have?"
"According to the report from the chief of staff of the group army," Solomatin said: "The enemy is only infantry hiding in the fortifications, and no tanks or armored vehicles were found."
Knowing that the enemy did not have tanks or armored vehicles, Timofevich showed a proud smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, if the enemy has a large number of tanks or armored vehicles, our brigade will definitely not be able to chew such a big bone. But now Well..." he laughed and said, "What the hell are these German guys doing with their fortifications? They all look like they haven't had enough to eat. Let our tanks teach them what fighting is."
Solomatin was worried that Timofevich would underestimate the enemy, and specifically reminded him: "Comrade Colonel, you must not take it lightly just because the enemy does not have tanks. This is very dangerous."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Timofevich assured Solomatin: "I will not underestimate the enemy. Since the Germans do not have tanks, they can only rely on anti-tank guns or anti-tank guns to deal with our tanks. Hand. It will be daybreak soon, and the Germans’ intentions will be easily detected by us.”
At this time, the German infantry battalion blocking the 13th Cavalry Division did not know that it was about to be in disaster. The battalion commander was still drinking coffee comfortably in his command post and said to his men: "They say the Russian cavalry is powerful, but in front of our fortifications and machine guns, they are just a group of pitiful targets. If they don’t attack, forget it, but if they want to attack, our soldiers will shoot them off their horses one by one, just like shooting at a shooting range.”
The reason why the German battalion commander made such a statement was entirely because when he ordered the soldiers to build fortifications yesterday, he encountered resistance from the soldiers. Everyone felt that since they were about to break through, why bother building fortifications? It is with this mentality that the fortifications built are somewhat perfunctory.
But even such crude fortifications still repelled the Soviet cavalry attack. The small victory made the German battalion commander feel swollen. After taking a sip of coffee, he shook his head and said: "If our superiors hadn't ordered us to garrison, with the combat effectiveness of our battalion, we could have launched a countercharge and knocked out the Russians on the opposite side. The cavalry were all annihilated.”
The German officers and soldiers outside were secretly cursing the battalion commander a few hours ago, feeling that he was just looking for trouble when he ordered everyone to dig fortifications here, and they couldn't help but complain in private. However, the attack of the Soviet cavalry made the officers and soldiers more vigilant. They found that if the battalion commander had not been stubborn and insisted on building fortifications here, I am afraid that the entire battalion officers and soldiers would have been destroyed by the impact of the Russian cavalry.
The soldiers who had been complaining or lying feebly in their tents now stayed in the trenches, monitoring the Soviet cavalry on the opposite side with heightened vigilance. Be prepared to give them a head-on blow when the opponent attacks.
It was about to dawn, and when the soldiers felt that the Russian cavalry on the opposite side would definitely attack them again, they suddenly heard the roar of a tank engine behind them.
Hearing this sound, the soldiers all looked towards the rear in unison. They all felt that their own tanks must have arrived. With the support of these tanks, they were able to launch a counterattack against the Soviet troops attacking the position.
But then, they heard the whistling sound of artillery shells cutting through the air. Soon, a artillery shell landed near the trench and exploded. A pillar mixed with dirt and debris rose into the sky, with dust and snow rising upwards. Flying, then the goddess scattered flowers on the bodies of the German soldiers.
"What the hell is going on?" A second lieutenant wiped the dust off his shoulders and said to himself: "Hell, how can our tanks fire at will? Do they think we are Russia?" Human position?”
Before the second lieutenant could come up with an answer, another artillery shell roared over, landed next to the second lieutenant and exploded, blowing his entire body into pieces.
Then, more shells fell from the sky and exploded near the fortifications, bursting into countless dazzling fireballs and making deafening explosions. In an instant, the German position turned into an erupting crater, tightly wrapped in rising black smoke. There were explosions in the black smoke, one after another, and there were explosions everywhere, everywhere. Firelight.
It turned out that Timofevich had learned lessons from previous battles. In order to break through the German position as quickly as possible, he decided to cover the enemy with a wave of artillery fire before the attack began. In addition to one artillery battalion, there were also more than 50 tanks from three tank battalions participating in the bombardment.
Timofevich, who was standing in the observation post, saw that enemy or weapon parts, and even wood fragments used in civil fire points, were being blown away by the air waves of the explosion. He couldn't help waving his fists and cheering loudly.
While the 219th Tank Brigade was using all its strength to bombard the German positions, Sokov, who was staying at the headquarters, suddenly felt his feet trembling slightly, and then there was a thunder-like rumble outside. He couldn't help but feel a little agitated. He asked in surprise: "What's going on? Is there an earthquake?"
"It's not an earthquake, Comrade Commander." Smirnov reported to Sokov with a smile: "I just received a telegram from the sabotage team behind enemy lines. They have discovered the enemy's oil depot and ammunition depot and are preparing to carry out sabotage. . If I guess correctly, the reason why you feel the ground shaking is entirely because the explosion of the ammunition depot and oil depot makes too much noise."
Sokov was concerned about the return of all the personnel who participated in the mission. He quickly said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send a telegram to ask what their casualties are? You know, from what happened just now Judging from the movement, when two targets are blown up, if they are too close, their lives will definitely be in danger."
After twenty minutes of shelling the German positions, Timofewicz's troops launched a formal attack. Seeing his tank unit launching an attack on the German position, the commander of the 13th Cavalry Division was overjoyed and quickly ordered his men: "Brothers, our reinforcements are here! All of them are here. Listen to my command and attack the enemy's position." attack."
The original crude defenses of the German army had become pitted after a round of shelling. The German soldiers who were preparing to repair the fortifications first saw the Soviet tanks attacking and were frightened. When he saw that the Russian cavalry that he had been defending actually launched an attack, he panicked and quickly picked up his gun and started shooting randomly.
However, these Germans forgot that they now had neither solid fortifications nor tanks or armored vehicles. Facing the Soviet assault force composed of tanks and cavalry, any resistance they had was in vain.
As the 219th Tank Brigade and the 13th Cavalry Division approached, the German troops on the position had completely lost their confidence to resist. Seeing the Soviet commanders and soldiers rushing up, they directly dropped their weapons and surrendered without even the thought of resisting.
When Stemerman learned about the gathering of large Soviet troops, he quickly contacted Giller through the walkie-talkie: "General Giller, I feel that something is wrong with the atmosphere today. The Russians are pressing towards us from all directions. If you If we can't move any faster, I'm afraid there is a danger of the entire army being annihilated."
"Then what should we do?"
"The Baker Heavy Tank Regiment has suffered heavy losses. They can no longer pose a threat to the Russians, so it is difficult for us to open a gap." Faced with such a severe situation, Stemmermann decided to take a gamble: "You should turn around immediately and head towards North Face Movement…”
"What, moving north?" Gille asked in surprise: "General, don't you know that we only need to advance two or three kilometers further west to return to the friendly defense zone?"
"That's right, General Giller." Stemmerman patiently explained to Giller: "Although we are only two or three kilometers away from our friendly forces, the Russians will definitely try their best to cause sabotage in order to prevent our rendezvous. , I am afraid that our effective strength has been exhausted and we will not be able to break through their last defense."
He slapped the map with his hand, and then said: "But our attack to the north will definitely give the Russians the illusion that we will return to the north of the encirclement and rush over to join the friendly forces there."
Smirnov picked up the phone and was about to contact Timofevich. Suddenly he thought of a question, stopped what he was doing, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, if we directly call Timofevich When Veitch issued the order, is it considered an overstepping of command? Will this create a bad association with Comrade Solomatin?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. If we bypass General Solomatin and directly give orders to Timofevich, it will be a leapfrog command." Sokov agreed: "If we do this , even if General Solomatin doesn’t say anything, he will definitely have knots in his heart, which will have a negative impact on future operations. Also, if Solomatin gives different orders to the troops, I am afraid that Mofevich would also be confused as to whose instructions to follow, causing chaos in the chain of command."
After talking about the harm of skipping command, Sokov then ordered Smirnov: "Chief of Staff, then you contact General Solomatin and ask him to send the 219th Tank Brigade to meet the 13th Cavalry Division."
After Solomatin answered Smirnov's call, he called Colonel Timofevich to his headquarters and said to him with a serious expression: "Comrade Colonel, I just received a call from Army Chief of Staff Smirno I received a call from General Husband, saying that the 13th Cavalry Division was blocked by the Germans on its way over, and I hope our tank brigade can respond."
Hearing what Solomatin said, Timofevich quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, how many tanks does the enemy have?"
"According to the report from the chief of staff of the group army," Solomatin said: "The enemy is only infantry hiding in the fortifications, and no tanks or armored vehicles were found."
Knowing that the enemy did not have tanks or armored vehicles, Timofevich showed a proud smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, if the enemy has a large number of tanks or armored vehicles, our brigade will definitely not be able to chew such a big bone. But now Well..." he laughed and said, "What the hell are these German guys doing with their fortifications? They all look like they haven't had enough to eat. Let our tanks teach them what fighting is."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Timofevich assured Solomatin: "I will not underestimate the enemy. Since the Germans do not have tanks, they can only rely on anti-tank guns or anti-tank guns to deal with our tanks. Hand. It will be daybreak soon, and the Germans’ intentions will be easily detected by us.”
At this time, the German infantry battalion blocking the 13th Cavalry Division did not know that it was about to be in disaster. The battalion commander was still drinking coffee comfortably in his command post and said to his subordinates: "They say the Russian cavalry is powerful, but in front of our fortifications and machine guns, they are just a group of pitiful targets. If they don’t attack, forget it, but if they want to attack, our soldiers will shoot them off their horses one by one, just like shooting at a shooting range.”
The reason why the German battalion commander made such a statement was entirely because when he ordered the soldiers to build fortifications yesterday, he encountered resistance from the soldiers. Everyone felt that since they were about to break through, why bother building fortifications? It is with this mentality that the fortifications built are somewhat perfunctory.
But even such crude fortifications still repelled the Soviet cavalry attack. The small victory made the German battalion commander feel swollen. After taking a sip of coffee, he shook his head and said: "If our superiors hadn't ordered us to garrison, with the combat effectiveness of our battalion, we could have launched a countercharge and wiped out the Russian troops on the opposite side. All cavalry were annihilated.”
The German officers and soldiers outside were secretly cursing the battalion commander a few hours ago. They felt that he was just looking for trouble when he ordered everyone to dig fortifications here. They could not help but complain in private. However, the attack of the Soviet cavalry made the officers and soldiers more vigilant. They found that if the battalion commander had not been stubborn and insisted on building fortifications here, I am afraid that the entire battalion would have been destroyed by the impact of the Russian cavalry.
