After the battle, Sokov and Gurdiev came to the newly occupied position together.

Bere came out of the tank and came to Sokov, and said happily: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this battle was so exciting. We all destroyed more than 300 defenders on the position, and we only suffered more than 30 casualties, and none of the tanks were lost."

"Col. Gurdiev, contact the second echelon immediately." Sokov saw that the troops had already controlled the positions that originally belonged to the German army, so he said to Gurdiev: "Let Major Yakov come over as soon as possible with all the wounded. We must rush to the north to meet with our friendly forces before the German army comes back to their senses."

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Berei took advantage of Gurdiev's time to find the radio operator and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Do you really want to blow up these tanks?"

Sokov knew very well that if today's attack was not supported by the Tank Battalion, even if the terrain here was easy to attack and difficult to defend, it would have to pay a heavy price. He was still a little reluctant to blow up all the tanks. Before making the final decision, he jumped into the trenches, came to the north slope, and leaned out to look outside.

At the foot of the hillside, there was a river that was fifty or sixty meters wide. On the north bank of the river, there was a land with craters covered with craters. Countless destroyed tanks, armored vehicles and trucks were distributed in a mess. Of course, near these damaged technical equipment, there were dense corpses. From their uniforms, Sokov could identify these were the remains of Soviet soldiers.

By the river, in addition to the shocking pile of corpses, there are also many broken wooden boats. It seems that Soviet commanders and soldiers were destroyed by German mortar fire when they were preparing to cross the river. The south bank of the river to the hillside of the position was also covered with countless corpses. All this made Sokov understand how heavy losses Rokosovsky's troops suffered here.

After seeing the battlefield, Sokov turned his head and said to Berei who followed in, "Col. Bilei, look at the terrain here. The terrain in the south is smooth, which is conducive to the situation of tanks; while the hillside in the north is too steep and there are ravines. Not to mention driving the tank, it is probably difficult to climb the hill with bare hands."

After Sokov finished speaking, Bere nodded and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right. With such a steep terrain, our tanks cannot drive. Even if they barely drive, how can we pass through that river dozens of meters wide?"

"Col. Bie Lei," Although Sokov kept shouting that after breaking through the enemy's defense, he was about to blow up the tank and break through lightly, but now that he really occupied the German position, he became hesitant: "How much ammunition does your tank have?"

"Each tank has seven or eight grenades and two or three armor-piercing bullets." Bellei's eyes turned to a MG34 in the fortification, and then said: "As for machine guns, if the German MG34 is used, the ammunition should not be a problem."

"If I'm not wrong," Sokov finished speaking, looking at the other party and said, "You want to fight a blocking battle here to consume more of the enemy's vitality."

"Yes, that's what I think." Be Lei nodded and said, "We have a large number of wounded people. It will take a very long time to take them to safely cross the river under the hillside. I think the enemy will soon know that we have broken through their defense line and then come to us. There will definitely be a bad battle next time. Without the cooperation of tanks, we will not be able to support it for much time."

"Secretary Samoilov!" After breaking through the German defense line, Sokov didn't know where to find friendly troops. Therefore, it was completely necessary to stay here for a while, so that he could have enough time to send people to find friendly defense lines. He called Samoilov and told him: "Take five soldiers, bring a radio station, and immediately cross the river to the other side of the river, and find a way to find the friendly defense positions."

Shortly after Samoilov and his men left, Yakov hurried over with several soldiers. Seeing that the position had been occupied, he couldn't help but ask Sokov curiously: "Misha, since he has broken through the German defense line, why don't he continue to move forward and why are you still here to do?"

"Yakov, we don't know where Rokosovsky's troops are." Sokov replied: "I have sent someone to search for it, and I believe I will get a reply soon."

Yakov found a mound of soil and sat down, looked at Sokov and asked curiously: "Misha, I think it's easy for you to take the position, but why did Rokosovsky's troops never break through the defense here even though they used several divisions?"

"Yakov, come with me." Sokov did not answer the question immediately, but took Yakov to the trench and pointed at the bottom and said to him, "You can take a look at the following first."

Yakov looked down from the trenches, gasping for breath, and said in surprise: "O my God, our army paid such a heavy price in front of the German positions."

"Yakov, you are right. In order to break through the German defense line here, General Rokosovsky's troops paid a huge price." Sokov pointed to the bottom and said, "Judged from the traces left on the battlefield, friendly troops were bombed by enemy planes on the way to the river, and a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks were blown up. The commanders and fighters who finally arrived at the river were killed and killed by the German firepower that stood here when boarding the ship. After huge casualties, the survivors who finally crossed the river successfully braved the enemy's guns and bullets and rushed up the steep hillside, but in the end they all fell under the dense firepower of the enemy."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Yakov remained silent for a long time and finally said, "Misha, I think what we need to do next is not to continue breaking through, but to stay here to build a defensive position and prepare to fight against the possible attacks that the German army has launched."

"Yakov, don't you know that the terrain here is easy to attack and difficult to defend?" Sokov said with some amusement when he heard Yakov's proposal: "If we really stay and stick to it, we may not be able to support it for long."

"Misha, listen to me, this is how I think about it." Yakov explained to Sokov patiently: "General Rokosovsky's troops paid heavy losses to seize this position, but they still could not seize this position that was only guarded by hundreds of German soldiers. If we gave up this place so easily, if we want to retake it in the future, I wonder how many commanders and soldiers would die in front of this death hillside."

Bere and Gurdiev, who were standing next to him, heard Yakov say this and echoed: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Major Yakov is right. If we give up here easily today, if we want to take it back in the future, we will definitely pay a heavier price."

"Then tell me, what should we do next?" Sokov did not express his opinion easily, but asked back: "Are you really setting up defenses here?"

Yakov turned his head and looked at Bere and Gurdiev. Seeing that both of them nodded seriously, he replied decisively: "Yes, Misha, I absolutely should seize the time to repair the fortifications and resist the German attack here. As long as General Rokosovsky knew that we were here to hold on, he might send troops to reinforce us soon."

Sokov admitted that Yakov's words made some sense. The German line of defense blocked the path of friendly forces to Orlovka. Now that he has occupied this place, he must not give up easily. Otherwise, if he wants to take it back, he still has to pay how many lives of commanders and fighters will be paid.

Thinking of this, he turned to the radio operator and said, "The radio operator, send a message to the Army Command, telling Commander Cuikov that we had jumped out of the German encirclement from the north of Orlovka. We will stick to the newly occupied positions and ask him to contact General Rokosovsky immediately and let friendly forces come to pick us up."

Yakov and others were also worried that Sokov would go his own way and was about to lead the troops to continue north from here. At this moment, when he heard that he decided to stay and hold on, the few people were overjoyed. Bi Lei said first: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't worry, even if the German army wants to come, at least we have to wait until the afternoon. We have enough time to strengthen the fortifications."

Yakov said happily: "Misha, if we stick to this place, General Rokosovsky can use this place as the starting point of the attack, and can concentrate his strength to rush towards Orlovka at any time and meet with the troops in the city."

"Col. Gurdiev," Sokov took a direct ignorance of Yakov's optimistic estimate. He remembered that there were two small troops left in Orlovka, and hurriedly ordered Gurdiev: "We still have two small troops left in Orlovka to monitor the enemy's movements. Since we have decided to stick here, we will order them to withdraw as soon as possible. If we are surrounded by the enemy, we will not be able to retreat."

"I understand, comrade comrade commander." Gurdiev quickly expressed his opinion: "I will send a message to them immediately, so that they can give up their positions immediately and move closer to us."

Sokov closed his eyes and thought for a moment, feeling that he could not let Yakov stay here to take risks with him, and should try his best to send him far away, so he said to him: "Yakov, I will hand over the task of escorting the wounded. When the wounded arrive, you will take them across the river and go north and find a way to meet with our friendly forces."
Chapter completed!