Sokov stood alone in the crater, raised his telescope and looked at the German artillery position in the distance, thinking in his mind that if the German army really transferred a few more heavy artillery, these simple fortifications on the top of the mountain would inevitably be razed to the ground. It seems that to defend the position, we cannot make passive defenses, and we must take the initiative.
If you want to take the initiative, you obviously cannot launch an attack directly from the high ground. The soldiers who have lost the cover of the trench fortifications will be directly exposed to the German firepower. They will be killed by artillery fire and machine gun fire during the charge and suffer huge losses. The companies stationed at the foot of the mountain have no combat missions for the time being before the third company withdraws from the position, and can completely order them to attack the German artillery positions.
Thinking of this, Sokov left the crater and walked towards the base at the foot of the mountain without looking back. Saviev and Stepan, who were commanding the soldiers to strengthen fortifications, saw Sokov's departure. After they looked at each other, Saviev said, "Instructor, do you know why the battalion commander suddenly went down the mountain?"
Stepan looked at Sokov's back, shook his head, and said in an uncertain tone: "I think the battalion commander may have been to the foot of the mountain to arrange the troops to replace our defense. After all, the enemy's artillery fire is too strong. If we come to the next few rounds like we did just now, there will be only a few people left in our company."
Belkin, who was in charge of the command post of the battalion at the foot of the mountain, heard the report from the soldiers that the battalion commander had come down from the position on the mountain alone, and hurried out of the command center to greet Sokov. Each company had observation posts observing the direction of the top of the mountain, so the company commanders of each company also received the news that the battalion commander went down the mountain at the first time.
When Sokov returned to his battalion command post, he found that Belkin and several company commanders were standing at the door waiting for him. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Why are you all here?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Andrey replied first, "We saw you coming back from the top of the mountain, and guessed that you might have a combat mission to hand over to us, so we rushed over."
Vasily asked anxiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we have just seen the enemy's shelling on the top of the mountain, and we know that the officers and soldiers of the Third Company have suffered heavy casualties. I ask that our machine gun company be transferred up to strengthen the firepower of the highlands."
"What are you anxious? When you should let you go, I will let you go up." Sokov glared at Vasily with dissatisfaction and ordered: "What are you standing at the door and doing, and you have anything to say."
After everyone sat down in the narrow battalion command post, Sokov looked at the three company commanders and said, "Comrades, because the top of the mountain is not large, but the fortifications are simple, it is difficult to withstand the German heavy artillery bombardment. In order to better defend the position, I plan to send a unit to sneak attack the German artillery positions while the night is dark."
"Sneaking attack?!" Berkin couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "Comrade Battalion Commander, can this work? If the sneak attack fails, will it have a bad impact on the morale of our army?"
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Sokov turned his head and looked at Belkin and said with a smile: "We cannot carry out unilateral defense, we must find fighter jets to take the initiative. Suvorov once said: Only by surprise can we win! We must take the initiative on the battlefield in our own hands, so that the enemy cannot attack us as planned. Therefore, I plan to send a small army to sneak attack the German artillery positions and reduce the pressure of defense for the three companies on the high ground."
Hearing Sokov say this, Belkin did not raise any objections, but looked at the three company commanders and humbly asked Sokov for advice: "Comrade Battalion Commander, which company do you plan to send to perform this task?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," as soon as Belkin finished speaking, Vanya volunteered: "Although my company suffered considerable casualties when seizing the high ground, I am confident that I am still capable of pursuing the enemy's artillery positions. Please hand over this glorious task to our company to complete."
Seeing that the other two company commanders were eager to try, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop them and said, "In order to prevent the target from being exposed, we can only send a small army to attack. But I thought about it. It is not possible to rely on one company alone, so I plan to draw ten soldiers in each company and form a small team, led by Bavel, the deputy platoon leader of the guard platoon, to sneak attack the enemy's positions. Do you have any opinions?"
Seeing that Sokov asked the companies to draw personnel to participate in this operation, who would still object? Therefore, the three company commanders shook their heads neatly and said in unison: "No objection!"
"You all go back to your respective troops and pick out the soldiers participating in the night attack as soon as possible." Sokov specifically reminded them when the three of them left: "Remember, soldiers participating in the night attack must select elite soldiers and powerful generals. If I find someone perfunctory, I will definitely punish him."
After the company commanders left, Sokov called out to the door: "Come!" With the shouting, a soldier came in from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he immediately stood at the door, waiting for Sokov to give orders. Sokov pointed at him with his hand and said, "Comrade Warrior, call Corporal Bavel immediately!"
After Bavel walked into the command post, he asked with a smile: "Comrade Battalion Commander, are you looking for me?"
"Come here, Comrade Bavel." Seeing Bavel enter the command post, Sokov quickly called him to the wooden table and said to him: "I have an important task that I will leave to you to complete."
Bavel came to the table and saw a sketch spread out on it. This was a topographic map drawn by Sokov while waiting for Bavel. He pointed to various symbols on it and said to Bavel: "Comrade Corporal, look, this is the high ground for the defense of the third company, and three kilometers south of them, there is a temporary artillery position of the German army. The task I give you is to destroy the enemy artillery position."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Bavel asked after he finished speaking, "I wonder how many people you plan to give me to complete this task?"
"Since you are performing sneak attack missions, in order to prevent the target from being exposed, the number of people cannot be too large, I have only arranged thirty people for you." Sokov emphasized: "These people are all elites drawn from each company. I think they will cooperate with you to complete this mission."
"I have another question, Comrade Battalion Commander." Bavel asked expressionlessly: "How many troops do the enemy have?"
"Before attacking the high ground, they had a total of about 200 people. When they were repelled, they lost about fifty or sixty people." Sokov said slowly when he introduced the situation to Bavel: "But not long ago, they had a new infantry unit. The total force was about 300."
"There are more than 300 infantry and dozens of artillery soldiers, and there are quite a few people." Bavel murmured at the map. Then he straightened his body and replied: "Please rest assured that the enemy's troops are ten times that of ours, I promise you that we will definitely destroy the German artillery positions."
Chapter completed!