According to the order issued by Sokov, the group army troops pursuing southward all retreated to the north of Yakovlevo for rest and recuperation after the battle. The task of holding on to the town naturally fell on the 46th Infantry Brigade.
After receiving this order, the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, called for his four battalion commanders. After passing Sokov's order to them for circulation, he asked: "Comrade battalion commanders, the commander ordered us
The brigade is holding on to the town of Yakovlevo, what do you think?"
"Comrade Brigadier." The first person to speak was the battalion commander: "The Germans already have fortifications in the town. We only need to reinforce them to be able to block the enemy's attack."
According to the idea of the first battalion commander, the main force of the group army is to the north of the town. As soon as the battle in the town starts, reinforcements will be received quickly. Therefore, he proposed to use the original defenses to organize defense and resist possible German attacks.
.
After the first battalion commander finished speaking, the third battalion commander immediately raised his concerns to Uzakov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if we put all our troops in the town, once the German army launches an attack, we will be surrounded.
possible. Therefore, I suggest choosing a suitable location in the south of the town and establishing an outpost."
"Build an outpost?" asked Uzhakov. "Why do you do this?"
"We established an outpost in the south, so that once the enemy attempts to attack the town, the troops at the outpost can detect and stop them in advance, buying us precious time."
Regarding the statement of the third battalion commander, the brigade chief of staff expressed support: "Comrade brigade commander, I think what the third battalion commander said makes sense. Establish an outpost to the south of the town. Once the German army tries to approach the town, the troops at the outpost will
This will enable us to issue early warnings in a timely manner and carry out initial blocking missions, leaving us with enough preparation time."
"Then where do you think we should locate the outpost?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the third battalion commander said before the brigade chief of staff: "When our battalion was chasing the enemy, I found an abandoned small village three or four kilometers south of the town. We can completely set up an outpost.
over there."
Seeing that the third battalion commander's idea coincided with his own, the brigade chief of staff also nodded and said: "Comrade brigade commander, what the third battalion commander said makes sense. We can definitely set up the outpost there."
After Uzakov stared at the map for a while, he felt that the location chosen by the brigade chief of staff and the third battalion commander was very suitable for establishing an outpost. He nodded slightly and asked: "Then which troop should we send to establish the outpost?
?”
The third battalion commander and the brigade chief of staff looked at each other, stepped forward and said, "Comrade brigade commander, if you can trust me, please give this task to our battalion."
Uzakov did not speak, but just stared at the third battalion commander, wondering whether he should give such an important task to the third battalion.
Seeing that Uzakov didn't speak for a long time, the brigade chief of staff was worried about being left in the dark and quickly asked the third battalion commander: "Third battalion commander, which company do you plan to send to establish the outpost?"
"Lieutenant Paul's Ninth Company."
"Lieutenant Paul?!" The second battalion commander who had been silent next to him frowned and interrupted after hearing the name of the third battalion commander: "I know all the company and platoon-level officers in your battalion, and I have never heard of him.
What did you say about Lieutenant Paul?"
"Comrade Second Battalion Commander," faced the second battalion commander's questioning, the third battalion commander explained to him: "Lieutenant Paul is a commander we rescued when we liberated the prisoner of war camp."
"Oh, it turned out to be the commander who was rescued from the prisoner of war camp?" Hearing what the third battalion commander said, the second battalion commander's face showed a contemptuous expression: "Is it appropriate to put him in charge of such an important area?"
The company commander, Lieutenant Paul, was originally a commander of the 69th Group Army with twenty years of military experience. On the first day of the Battle of Kursk, he and more than thirty soldiers unfortunately became prisoners of the German army and were imprisoned in Yaya.
In the prisoner-of-war camp in the forest north of Kovlevo. When the 46th Infantry Brigade commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov occupied the prisoner-of-war camp, Lieutenant Paul and more than 2,000 prisoners of war held here were liberated.
Since the infantry brigade suffered serious attrition in the early battles, Sokov agreed with Uzhakov to integrate all these rescued commanders and fighters into the infantry brigade. He also arranged for some officers with combat experience to take over the duties of grassroots commanders. Paul
It was under this circumstance that the lieutenant became a company commander of the brigade.
At this moment, when he heard the second battalion commander questioning Lieutenant Paul's loyalty, Uzakov spoke: "Comrade second battalion commander, I hope you will not have any prejudice against Lieutenant Paul. In our army, we have long used prisoners who were captured
It is a precedent for military officers, and these officers have performed bravely in previous battles. I believe that Lieutenant Paul will not let me down if he is responsible for holding such an important position."
The brigade chief of staff thought carefully about Uzakov's words and felt that they seemed quite reasonable. It was said that when Sokov was transferred from the 21st Army, several of the commanders he brought with him had been captured.
Their performance in this battle of Kursk was very outstanding. For example, Captain Guchakov, it is said that he will soon receive a medal and be promoted to major.
After Uzakov said that, he turned his attention to the third battalion commander and ordered him: "Third battalion commander, call Lieutenant Paul here. I will personally explain the mission to him."
Hearing that Uzakov asked the third battalion commander to invite Lieutenant Paul over, the second battalion commander, even if he had thoughts in his mind, did not dare to have an attack at this time and could remain silent without saying a word.
Lieutenant Paul, who didn't know what happened, came to the brigade headquarters in trepidation after receiving a phone call from the commander of the third battalion.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw the room full of people and became even more nervous.
He quickly found the brigade commander Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov among the crowd, took two steps forward quickly, raised his hand to his forehead, and said loudly: "Report to Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Paul, Commander of the Third Battalion and Ninth Company, has been ordered to come
, I am waiting for your orders, please give instructions!"
"Please rest a moment, Comrade Lieutenant." After Uzhakov looked at the middle-aged officer in front of him, he waved to him and said, "Come to me!"
After Lieutenant Paul came to the table, he pointed to the map on the table and said to Paul: "Comrade Lieutenant, I have an important task for you now. You immediately take your company to the town.
Set up an outpost in the village to the south."
After Paul saw clearly where Uzhakov was pointing, he asked nervously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, may I ask, what is the mission of our company?"
"Your company has established an outpost in the village, and its task is to monitor the enemies in the direction of Belgorod." Uzakov told him: "As soon as you find any trouble with them, report it to the brigade headquarters immediately. If the enemy
If they try to sneak attack the town, your company will have to hold them off for a period of time to buy us time to prepare for battle."
"Comrade Brigadier, please rest assured." Lieutenant Paul waited for Uzakov to finish speaking and immediately expressed his position: "As long as our company remains in the village, the enemy will not even think about taking a step forward."
"Comrade Lieutenant, the village is three or four kilometers away from the town. Due to the severe shortage of communication equipment in the brigade, we cannot lay telephone lines for you yet." Uzakov reminded Paul: "So if anything happens, we must call it as soon as possible.
Send someone back to report."
"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander!" After Lieutenant Paul answered this question, he asked tentatively: "Do you allow me to leave?"
"Permission!" After Uzhakov gave the other party a positive answer, he extended his hand to him: "I wish you good luck!"
"Comrade Brigadier!" After Lieutenant Paul left, the brigade chief of staff, probably thinking that there was no telephone line, would delay the fighter plane, so he said to Uzakov: "It's three or four kilometers away from the town to Lieutenant Paul's station.
, if we don’t lay out telephone lines for them, I’m worried that if there is an emergency, I might not be able to deliver the message in time and it will be delayed.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Hearing his Chief of Staff say this, Uzakov replied with a wry smile: "I also want to lay telephone lines for them, but our current communication equipment is extremely scarce, and now we can only barely establish a connection with the headquarters.
The contact with the battalion-level units below. I think this is the first thing to do. Once the superiors provide us with enough communication equipment, I will give them priority in laying telephone lines."
Lieutenant Paul led more than a hundred commanders and fighters from the Ninth Company, and after an hour's march, they arrived at the village south of Yakovlevo Town. This was a long-abandoned village with collapsed wells burned into black frames.
The wooden houses and open spaces covered with weeds clearly indicate that this place has not been inhabited for a long time.
"Comrade company commander," seeing the situation in front of him, the deputy company commander asked Paul for instructions: "The houses in the village are simply uninhabitable. Where will our soldiers stay tonight?"
"Deputy company commander," Paul glanced at the surrounding environment and said to the deputy company commander: "Let the soldiers dig a trench to the south of the village, and if possible, dig a few more shelters, and we will have a place to live.
Already."
"Comrade company commander, digging trenches and shelters is a big project." The deputy company commander heard Lieutenant Paul's order and said with some embarrassment: "Even if we start now, I'm afraid we won't be able to do it until dawn."
"Then when is the time to dig and when is the time to rest?" Seeing that the deputy company commander did not convey the order, but kept raising difficulties, Paul said impatiently: "Comrade deputy company commander, we don't know whether to station here.
How long. If there are no fortifications and shelters, not only will the soldiers have no place to live, but once the enemy launches an attack and we have no fortifications, how can we stop them?"
Seeing that Paul was angry, the deputy company commander did not dare to say any more and could only obey the order and let the soldiers use the ravine to dig defensive trenches to the south of the village.
When most of the commanders and fighters in the company began to build fortifications, Paul called a squad leader and said to him: "Comrade squad leader, take your squad and go to the south to serve as a guard. Once you find any trace of the enemy, rush there immediately."
Report back. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant." The squad leader replied loudly.
Shortly after the squad leader left, the deputy company commander came back and reported to Paul: "Comrade company commander, a soldier just reported to me that many corpses were found a few hundred meters west of the village."
"Corpse?!" Paul asked in surprise: "Do you know whose corpse it is?"
"There are both Germans and our own." The deputy company commander replied: "I guess there was a fighting nearby when our army was pursuing the pursuit, so the corpses were left behind."
"Take me to see it."
Paul and the deputy company commander took more than a dozen soldiers and hurried to the place where the bodies were found. Sure enough, as the deputy company commander said, the corpses here were both German and Soviet soldiers. A destroyed car from the side
Judging from the German armored vehicles, it should be the enemy riding in the armored vehicle. Here they were overtaken by Soviet soldiers. A battle broke out between the two sides. In the end, the enemy was wiped out by coefficient, and the Soviet army also suffered a certain amount of casualties.
When Paul expressed his judgment, the deputy company commander said with some disbelief: "Comrade company commander, how do you know that both sides did not die together?"
"Look around these corpses," Paul pointed to the scattered corpses on the ground and asked the deputy company commander: "Did you find any weapons?"
The deputy company commander took a closer look and saw that there really were no weapons. If this situation were seen on the battlefield, there would only be one explanation. The weapons of the dead on both sides had been taken away by officers and soldiers of one side. There were no weapons left.
Analyzing this point, the party that took away the weapons searched very carefully, and under the circumstances at that time, only the Soviet troops could do this.
After understanding this truth, the deputy company commander admired Lieutenant Paul a little more. He then asked: "Comrade company commander, what should we do with these corpses?"
Paul roughly counted more than thirty corpses here. With the dozen or so people he brought, it would definitely take a lot of time to bury them all. After some thought, he asked the deputy
The company commander said: "Comrade deputy company commander, let the soldiers arrange the bodies in order first, and then come and bury them when we have time."
The deputy company commander was originally worried that Paul would order these corpses to be buried on the spot. In that case, he would need to send people back to get tools. At this moment, after hearing Paul's order, he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly started working with the soldiers.
All the trenches and shelters were dug at ten o'clock in the evening. After Paul arranged for each squad to enter their respective shelters, he said to the deputy company commander in charge of the night shift: "Comrade deputy company commander, our fortifications and shelters have been dug.
, the soldiers now have a place to sleep. How many sentries have you arranged to be on duty at night?"
"Four people." The deputy company commander held out four fingers and said: "Two people work in groups, and they will be on duty on both sides of the trench."
"No, four people are too few." Paul shook his head and said, "We don't know whether the enemy will come over at night, so we must be more vigilant and set up squads, and they must be the strongest squads, so that we can