Sokov received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko and learned that a tank brigade in Popov's rapid group had successfully broken through and rejoined his own troops. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel
, how many more tanks do they have?”
"Tank?!" Hearing Sokov's question, Papuchenko was stunned for a moment, and then replied with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, they don't have a single tank. They should have all exploded during the retreat."
Lost."
After listening to Papchenko's analysis, Sokov felt that it made sense. If the brigade's tanks had not been destroyed, they would still be struggling to break out of the encirclement. Thinking of this, he told Papchenko: "China
Comrade school, please immediately ask that commander to come to my headquarters."
The two entered the headquarters. Papuchenko introduced to Ruhle: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce to you. This is our division commander, Colonel Sokov. Now he is the commander of the Sokov Combat Group."
."
Ruhle looked at Sokov opposite and couldn't help but be secretly surprised. Although he had heard about Sokov's deeds and knew that he was very young, he didn't expect that he would be so young. But he quickly returned to normal and looked up.
After saluting Sokov with his hand, he reported in accordance with the regulations: "Comrade Colonel, I am Colonel Ruhle, commander of the 19th Independent Tank Brigade. I led my troops to break out of the enemy's encirclement and just met with your men in the west of the city.
Already."
"Thank you, Colonel Ruhle." Sokov raised his hand in return, pulled the other person to sit down, poured him a cup of hot tea, and asked politely: "I wonder how many troops you still have in your army?"
"The mission of our brigade is to cover the retreat of the troops." Ruhle reported to Sokov: "After all the artillery shells were fired, I ordered all the tanks to be burned and retreated eastward with the remaining soldiers.
On the way, we encountered a group of defeated troops and incorporated them into my tank brigade. Along the way, we fought several more battles in order to break through the enemy's defenses. Now the total strength of the brigade is still
More than 800 people."
"Comrade Colonel, I would also like to ask, how many tank soldiers are there among these more than 800 people?" Sokov had just asked this question when he suddenly saw Ruhle cast a wary look at him and quickly explained.
Said: "Today, the tank brigade under my command still lacks skilled tank soldiers. I plan to incorporate your men into it to improve the combat effectiveness of the unit. Training a tank soldier is not an easy task. If they are used as ordinary infantry,
, it’s simply a waste.”
Sokov's last few words gave Ruhle a sense of confidant, because he also thought so. He felt that if tank soldiers were used as ordinary infantry, not only would their combat effectiveness be incomparable to that of ordinary infantry, but the cost of each battle would also be high.
The casualties would also be staggering. Therefore, he replied very simply: "To tell you the truth, I only have more than 70 tank crews left. If you can really get them to drive tanks again, I think everyone will
I feel very happy.”
Seeing that Ruhle agreed to integrate his tank troops into the tank brigades that lacked skilled tank troops, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. Then, he integrated the remaining more than 700 infantrymen into Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko
The 122nd Guards Regiment.
Ruhle, who had become the polished commander, suddenly asked: "Comrade Colonel, I would like to ask, have General Popov and his men succeeded in breaking through?"
Hearing Ruhle's question, Sokov sighed softly and said: "They are now more than 60 kilometers away from the city and are being stubbornly blocked by the German army. According to General Popov's telegram,
, they have launched fifteen attacks, but were repelled by the enemy without exception. I have sent my most elite tank brigade and a Guards regiment to rush over to support. If everything goes well,
They should be able to reach Lugansk tomorrow."
"Comrade Colonel, let me ask one more question." Ruhle continued and asked: "Besides our brigade, have any troops belonging to Popov's rapid group successfully broken through?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "You are the first unit to successfully break through."
Vitkov, who had been silent all this time, thought of a key question and asked: "Colonel Ruhle, I would like to ask, other people's breakthroughs have not been successful. Why was your tank brigade's breakthrough so easy?"
"
Since no one explained Vitkov to him, Ruhle did not know the other party's true identity. He glanced at the other party's military rank and said politely: "During the breakout process, our brigade encountered a German army disguised as
Second Lieutenant Sasha, the commander of my small team, told me that the enemy is usually entrenched in residential areas or villages. If you want to successfully break out, you must bypass these places. I followed his instructions and ordered
The troops bypassed residential areas and villages, thus avoiding many bitter battles and successfully leading the troops out of the encirclement."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, did you hear that?" Sokov heard this and turned to Vitkov and said: "Immediately send a telegram to General Popov, asking them not to entangle the enemy on the main traffic thoroughfares and bypass them.
Those settlements and villages where the enemy is stationed pass through the uninhabited forest."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Vitkov understood that Sokov's words might really save more friendly soldiers from death, so he agreed and ran to the radio to urge the operator.
Sent the report.
After Vitkov left, Sokov introduced to Ruhle: "Comrade Colonel, I just forgot to introduce you. That is Colonel Vitkov, the chief of staff of the combat group. He turned out to be the deputy staff officer of the 62nd Army.
Commander, he was sent here by his superiors not long ago to serve as chief of staff."
"It turns out that he is also from the 62nd Army." Ruhle looked at Vitkov's back and said with emotion: "All the commanders and fighters of the 62nd Army are good. If they hadn't stood up tenaciously,
Paulus's attack defended the city named after the Supreme Commander himself and bought time for the assembly of large forces. If we want to destroy Paulus's Sixth Army, it will probably not be an easy task."
After Vitkov finished making the phone call, he walked back to Sokov and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, I have truthfully conveyed your intention to General Popov. If he can really
If I follow your advice, I might be able to break through with more troops."
"What's the situation like with Colonel Bely?" Sokov no longer had much hope for Popov to break through the German siege. He could only put his last hope for the two sides to join forces on Bely's tank brigade:
"Did they break through the German defenses?"
"The battle is still going on." Vitkov replied with some embarrassment: "Colonel Bely just sent a telegram, saying that they will soon break through the enemy's defenses."
"Comrade Colonel, I want to ask a question." Ruhlie waited for the two to finish speaking and then asked tentatively: "If the two sides join forces, do you plan to let the troops hold on there, or let them all withdraw into the city?"