,!
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin lost his confidence when he heard Lunev say this. He asked Sokov tentatively: "Do you want to transfer the headquarters?"
Sokov knew very well that Lunev's worries were not unfounded. If the German army really succeeded in breaking through the 109th Infantry Brigade's defense line, it would only take half an hour to rush outside the headquarters. But now there are not many direct troops around the headquarters. If the Germans rush over, it may be difficult to stop them.
However, it is still uncertain whether the Germans will attack. If the headquarters is transferred in a hurry, it may have a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops. It was out of this consideration that Sokov gave up the plan to transfer. He picked up the phone, dialed a number and said: "I am Sokov. Ask Captain Koshkin to come to my place."
A few minutes later, Koshkin hurriedly walked into the headquarters, came to Sokov, straightened his body and waited for the next order.
"Comrade Captain," Sokov said to Koshkin: "We have just received news that the German army is attacking the defense area of the 109th Brigade. Since we do not know the specific strength of the enemy, although we have sent troops to reinforce, they cannot We can guarantee that we can block the enemy's offensive. Therefore, I order you to lead two companies of troops to find a suitable area outside the headquarters and build fortifications to block the enemy who may rush over."
"Understood." Koshkin didn't waste any words. After agreeing loudly, he turned and walked outside, preparing to deploy troops to protect the safety of the headquarters.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin looked at Koshkin's leaving figure and said with concern: "Can two companies stop the enemy's attack?"
"Calm down, Comrade Chief of Staff, please stay calm." Sokov said to Sidorin: "You have to believe in Captain Koshkin and the combat effectiveness of the headquarters guard force. I believe that even if the Germans break through the defense line of the 109th Brigade , rushing towards us, Koshkin can also lead his soldiers to block them."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov's confidence, Sidorin couldn't say anything else and could only bite the bullet and said, "Then we will stay and continue working."
Ten minutes later, the phone on the table rang again. Sokov grabbed the microphone: "I'm Sokov."
"Misha." Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "I heard that you were attacked by the Germans and threatened the safety of the headquarters? What is the situation now? Do you need to move?"
"Comrade Marshal." After hearing the call from Rokossovsky, Sokov said quickly: "The fighting is still going on. The location of the headquarters is still very safe. I don't think there is a need to move. I I believe that my men will do everything possible to block the German attack."
"The enemy appeared too suddenly." Rokossovsky said: "You don't have many troops there. I think we should allocate two infantry regiments and a tank brigade from the troops directly under the front army to support you."
Sokov's words of rejection came to his lips and he swallowed them back. Although he felt that it was unlikely that the German army would hit his headquarters, he was afraid of the worst, so he would not refuse Rokossovsky's proactive assistance: "Comrade Marshal, Thank you so much. With your help, I believe that the German attack will be completely repulsed by us before long."
After ending the call with Rokossovsky, Sokov personally contacted the 109th Brigade Headquarters. As soon as he heard Sukhalev's voice, he asked straight to the point: "Comrade Major, how is the situation there? Have you figured out the strength of the German army?"
"Comrade Commander," Sukharev replied: "We have all figured it out. The enemy attacking our brigade position is the German 170th Infantry Division. They have just gone through a long march of more than 200 kilometers and found that our defenses here are weak. area, so they launched a surprise attack on us."
After figuring out the number of the German army, Sokov felt somewhat confident. What he was most worried about was that the troops had been fighting the enemy for several hours without even being able to figure out which part of the enemy they were. He then asked: "One Who is holding the position of the Second Battalion now?"
But Sukharev did not answer him. Seeing that the other party did not speak, Sokov felt somewhat dissatisfied, so he raised his voice: "Comrade Major, why don't you speak?"
Sukharev remained silent for a while before speaking: "Comrade Commander, the positions of the 1st and 2nd Battalions have been occupied by the Germans. The 3rd and 4th Battalions and the reinforcements arriving are fighting with the enemy, trying to occupy the positions. Take it back from the enemy."
Hearing what Sukharev said, Sokov realized that the fighting situation there might be more tragic than he imagined. He paused for a moment and then asked: "Apart from the enemies attacking you, are there any other enemies? "
"According to the scouts' reports, there seems to be a large German army three or four kilometers away from us." Sukhalev said: "However, they did not launch an attack. They seemed to be waiting for something."
"Send someone to monitor them closely. If anything happens, report to me in time."
Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidorin and Lunev: "The number of the German army attacking the 109th Brigade position has been figured out. It is the 170th Infantry Division. In addition to this unit, there are also other troops a few kilometers away from our position. There are a large number of German troops present. However, they did not participate in the attack on the 109th Brigade and seemed to be waiting for something."
"What are they waiting for?" Lunev repeated Sokov's words and asked puzzledly: "What are they waiting for?"
After staring at the map for a while, Sokov slapped his hand on the table and said, "I understand! What are the Germans waiting for?"
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked in surprise, "What are they waiting for?"
"Chief of Staff, look here." Sokov pointed to the side of the 109th Brigade defense area and said to Sidorin: "The artillery of the group army is deployed in this area, including cannon regiments, howitzer regiments, Guards rocket launcher battalions, etc. Wait for the unit. Think about it, if the German army rushed here directly, took away our artillery position, and used the captured artillery to deal with us, what kind of losses would it cause us?"
After hearing Sokov's words, Sidorin was suddenly startled and broke into a cold sweat: "Yes, the group army's artillery unit is indeed stationed near the 109th Brigade. If the German army breaks through the 109th Brigade's position and rushes directly to the artillery Station, a large number of artillery pieces will be captured. If these artillery pieces are turned to fire at us, they will cause us huge casualties."
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, this is indeed the case." Sokov picked up the phone on the table: "I want to call General Potapov to remind him to pay attention to this issue and prepare in advance to avoid The Germans were caught off guard.”
"General Potapov, this is Sokov." When the call to the artillery headquarters was answered, Sokov said to Potapov who answered the phone: "Now there are large German troops near your artillery station. According to my judgment, you will be their target next. So you need to mobilize everyone and take precautions so that you will not be caught off guard when the enemy starts to attack."
"Comrade Commander," Potapov waited for Sokov to finish speaking before replying: "When the sound of gunfire came from the 109th Brigade position, I realized that the enemy might have launched an attack on our position, so A battle alert was issued immediately. Most of our artillery units are now ready to fire, waiting for your order to fire at the enemy immediately."
Knowing that Potapov had ordered the artillery to prepare for firing, Sokov seemed a little hesitant: "General Potapov, if you order the artillery to fire at night, won't you accidentally injure your own people?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Potapov said confidently: "We have already set up the shooting in this area. We only need to shell the area where the enemy may gather. There is no need to Worried about accidentally hurting one of our own.”
"Okay." Hearing what Potapov said, Sokov's heart ignited hope again. He quickly said into the microphone: "You should immediately contact the commander of the 109th Brigade, Major Sukhalev, and ask him to help you." The artillery provides shooting parameters, and then you carry out artillery fire coverage at the German army's assembly point, trying to eliminate the enemy's effective forces as much as possible."
"It's okay now." Sidorin heard the conversation between Sokov and Potapov and breathed a sigh of relief, saying: "As long as the artillery can cover the German army's assembly point with fire, no matter how many enemies there are, With our military strength, we can defeat them all."
"That's right." Sokov agreed with Sidorin's statement: "Now we don't know exactly how many troops the enemy has, so we can only invest troops in the areas where the fighting takes place. But what I'm worried about is that the Germans The attack in a certain area is just a sheep attack, which is to attract our effective forces there. When the forces in other places become weak, they will attack our key units by surprise, thus causing us huge losses. .
At present, according to General Potapov's proposal, direct bombardment of the gathering place of the German troops will not only cause them huge casualties, but also disrupt their offensive rhythm, thus changing the situation on the battlefield in favor of our army. direction of development. "
The subsequent development of the situation, as Sokov expected, developed in a direction favorable to the Soviet army.
The German army that arrived near the 48th Group Army's defense area had a total of two infantry divisions. Among them, the 170th Infantry Division dispatched one regiment to launch a surprise attack on the 109th Brigade's defense area, while two regiments of the 170th Division and another The infantry division had been on standby a few kilometers away, preparing to take advantage of the Soviet troop mobilization and a vulnerability in a certain defense area to launch a surprise attack. But what they didn't expect was that the fighter planes did not wait, but instead waited for overwhelming artillery fire. Tens of thousands of German troops were suddenly shrouded in artillery fire.
The German troops, caught off guard by the Soviet artillery fire, immediately fell into chaos. The officers and soldiers were scurrying around like headless flies, running here and there again. Many people's minds go blank and they run wherever they see a crowd of people. It seems that only in this way can they find a sense of security.
In just five minutes, the Germans lost at least nearly two regiments to artillery fire. The remaining German officers and soldiers took advantage of the artillery's inability to conduct observations at night and managed to escape from the area covered by artillery fire. The German officers and soldiers who had escaped had completely lost their structure at this moment. They had no courage to stay here and fled in the direction they came from.
The troops skimming behind were scattered and fled by a burst of Soviet artillery fire. The German troops attacking the 109th Brigade position would definitely be affected. Seeing that his main force was driven away by Soviet artillery fire, the German commander felt that if he stayed any longer, he might not be able to escape the fate of the entire army being annihilated, so he hurriedly ordered his troops to withdraw from the battle. Seeing that the retreat route had been cut off by Soviet artillery fire, the German commander did not want his remaining troops to be defeated and become artillery fire, so he chose to retreat to the northeast. This was a blind spot for artillery fire. Although he would have to take some detours to join the main force, he would at least be safe. Much more.
As soon as the German troops retreated, the Soviet troops quickly regained their lost positions.
Seeing that the lost position had been retaken, Sukhalev immediately called Sokov and asked for instructions whether to send troops to pursue him.
"No, Comrade Major." But Sokov rejected his proposal: "It is still night and the visibility is limited. We still don't know how many troops the Germans have. If we see them retreating and pursue them rashly, we will lose everything." Once they set up an ambush halfway, they will cause us huge losses. What you have to do now is to treat the wounded, strengthen the position, and prevent the Germans from counterattacking."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sukharev quickly replied: "I will carry out your instructions immediately."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin after putting down the phone: "The enemies who attacked the 109th Brigade position have begun to retreat. I ordered Major Sukhalev to organize personnel to rescue the wounded and reinforce fortifications to prevent the Germans from attacking. Possible counterattack."
"This arrangement is correct." Sidorin said: "Although our bombardment caused certain casualties to the enemy, they will definitely come back again after dawn. If we don't seize the time to repair the fortifications, waiting for the enemy When the attack begins, our army may pay a greater price."
When Sokov heard what Sidorin said, he did not speak, but nodded slightly, thinking to himself: The German army's successful sneak attack this time may be related to the fact that his commanders had the idea of underestimating the enemy. You must know that if the German army uses a regiment to launch a surprise attack, there will definitely be some noise in advance, but the sentries on duty at night did not discover it in advance. As a result, the troops were caught off guard by the German army's sneak attack.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin: "Before dawn, figure out the causes and consequences of this battle, as well as the losses suffered by our army. After making a summary, report it within the entire army. All commanders are reminded not to underestimate the enemy because we think we have the initiative on the battlefield. You know, even if the Germans are wounded beasts, it will be very painful if they bite people hard. Do you understand? "
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sidorin nodded and said: "I will definitely investigate the causes and consequences of this battle, and tell the lessons of this matter to the commanders at all levels of the group army, so as to avoid everyone's inconvenience in the future. During the battle, similar mistakes were made again.”
