Chapter 164 Offensive Battle in a New Direction (Part 1)
When Sokov left the division headquarters, the troops that participated in the attack on the villages and towns of Popkovo had already withdrawn one after another. He quickly ordered people to summon the company commanders of each company and assign them new combat tasks.
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Andrei came to the command post. The first thing he said when he saw Sokov was: "I wonder what tasks our superiors have assigned us?"
When Sokov heard Andre's question, he looked at Belkin who was standing aside and smiled, and then said: "Captain Andre, you are really extraordinary. You guessed it before I spoke.
New combat mission."
Andrei asked casually, but when Sokov gave him a positive answer, a sad look appeared on his face: "The troops arrived here overnight yesterday, took a short rest, and then launched an attack on the village of Popkovo.
I thought our superiors would let us rest for two days before assigning tasks, but who would have thought that a new task would come down so soon."
"Comrade Captain," Belgin waited for Andre to finish speaking and immediately reminded him: "As a commander, you should not say such complaints casually, otherwise it will have a bad impact if the soldiers hear it.
"
Seeing that all the company commanders had arrived, Sokov announced: "Now that everyone is here, we will hold a meeting immediately."
After he finished explaining the new tasks assigned by the division to everyone, he briefly asked: "Does anyone have any questions?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," the first person to ask the question was Sergeyev, the commander of the cannon company. In today's attack on Popkovo, due to the artillery support of the group army, his company did not win a fight. He was thinking
He was worried. When he heard that he was going to attack Makrakki Village, he was the first to stand up and ask: "I wonder what the German army's troop deployment and firepower distribution in Makrakki Town are like. Do we need to prepare artillery fire before attacking?
"
For Sokov, the town of Maklaki is a code name on the map. The task he received is to get there before dawn and build an offensive starting position. As for the terrain there, what is the enemy's defensive deployment?
He knew nothing about it. Therefore, he could only reply with a wry smile to Sergeyev's question: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant, I can't answer your question because I don't know anything about the situation there.
Known.”
Seeing the disappointment on Sergeyev's face, Sokov turned to Christopher who was sitting in the corner and said to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you immediately rush to the town of Maklaki with the reconnaissance platoon.
, to understand the enemy's troop distribution and firepower deployment there, so that the battalion can formulate a combat plan based on the specific situation."
The soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon did not participate in today's attack and were on standby in the shelter near the battalion command post. Christopher, who received Sokov's order, came out of the battalion command post less than five minutes later with a
The squad's scouts set off. The remaining scouts will follow the deputy platoon leader in half an hour.
After Sokov deployed the mission, he asked the company commanders to go back and gather their teams and be ready to set off at any time. When he announced that the meeting was over, the company commanders got up and left the command post one by one. Only the first company commander Vanya was still there.
He sat where he was without moving.
Seeing Vanya's depressed look, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that the other party was in a low mood because today's battle did not go well. He could understand Vanya's mood very well: According to the battle plan, Vanya
Yaying led a company of commanders and fighters to intercept the enemies who were trying to escape from the village of Popkovo near the cemetery. Unexpectedly, because the road was too far and rugged, it took almost an hour for the commanders and fighters of the first company to arrive one after another.
The blocking location in the northeast allowed most of the enemies to escape.
Sokov walked up to Vanya, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder. When the other person raised his head, he smiled and said: "Captain Vanya, are you still fighting for letting the Germans go?"
Are you sad?" Seeing the other party nodding in affirmation, he continued: "Remember the lesson learned this time, and just don't make similar mistakes next time."
"I understand, comrade battalion commander." Vanya saw that Sokov did not criticize himself for letting the enemy go, but instead encouraged himself. He quickly stood up and replied: "I promise you, I will never do something like this again in the future."
It’s a mistake.”
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and urged: "Comrade Captain, please hurry back to the army. We will set off before dark. You must gather the troops first and prepare to set off."
Vanya said nothing more, raised his hand to salute Sokov and Belkin, turned around and strode out of the command post.
Looking at Vanya's leaving figure, Belkin smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I thought you would severely criticize Captain Vanya at today's meeting. Who would have thought that not only did you not
Criticizing him actually encouraged him, which is really beyond my expectation."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Sokov looked at Belkin and explained: "The enemy escaped, and I felt very uncomfortable. But it is not only Captain Vanya who is responsible for this, I am also responsible. It is precisely because of me
The deployment was not perfect, which gave the Germans a chance to escape. Simply blaming his subordinates would not help, but would make them fearful in the next battle, which would have a negative impact on the troops.
."
After hearing this, Belkin chuckled and said: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I think you are not only good at military command, but also have your own unique insights into political work. I think even if you become a political worker now,
The achievements achieved are not necessarily worse than being a military officer."
While Sokov and Belkin were chatting, Rokossovsky said to the artillery commander Kazakov who had just arrived at the division headquarters in Chernyshev: "Comrade artillery commander, we
An attack will be launched on Makrakki Town tomorrow. You should mobilize two to three artillery regiments and the same number of rocket launcher battalions in that direction as soon as possible to cooperate with the infantry attack."
"Comrade Commander," Kazakov said with some embarrassment after waiting for Rokossovsky to finish: "We have three artillery regiments near the town of Maklachi, but we don't have many artillery shells. We want to serve the infantry
There may be a problem with providing artillery cover."
"How many shells are left?" Rokossovsky asked with a frown.
"An average of five shells per gun." After answering this data, Kazakov, perhaps fearing that Rokossovsky would blame him, added: "Our artillery has not received a supply of shells for a long time.
."
"There should be some artillery shells in the warehouse." Rokossovsky thought for a moment and said to Kazakov: "I will give you a note immediately. You take people to get all the artillery shells and hand them over to participate in the shelling."