Sokov knew very well that the current 41st Guards Division was in the hands of Kurishenko. Even if Sidorin had good suggestions, it would be in vain if the other party did not adopt them. Especially at critical moments, if a decision-making error occurs,
It will cause huge losses to the troops and even affect the war situation.
Based on his understanding of Sidorin, even if his suggestions were vetoed by Kurishenko, he would not report them higher up. If he wanted to make Hill 239 unbreakable, he must convince Kurishenko and let him understand the purpose of the high ground.
importance.
Thinking of this, Sokov stood up and said: "General Kurishenko, I want to visit Highland 239. Can you accompany me?"
Since Sokov wanted to inspect Highland 239, Kurishenko could not say no. He could only bite the bullet and said: "Comrade Commander, how about we go to the 122nd and 124th defense zones to inspect first, and then go
126 Heights?”
"Let's go to Highland 239 first." Sokov said expressionlessly: "As for the defense areas of the other two regiments, let's wait until we come down from the high ground."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov's firm attitude, Kurishenko couldn't refute, so he could only bite the bullet and agreed: "I'll take you to Hill 239 right now."
However, before leaving the division headquarters, Kurishenko did not forget his responsibilities and specifically told Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please arrange for the new regiment-level commanders to take up their posts as soon as possible so that they can become familiar with the troops as soon as possible.
It will be very helpful for their subsequent command operations."
"Okay, comrade division commander." Sidorin nodded and said, "I will send someone to send the new commanders to their combat posts immediately."
Although Kurishenko did not tell Sidorin to inform the commander on the high ground when he left with Sokov, when they arrived at the high ground, the commander of the 126th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Harin, who received the notification from Sidorin,
Already waiting below the high ground.
Seeing Kurishenko coming with a general holding a cane, Dukhalin guessed that this person should be the new commander Sokov, and quickly stepped forward to greet them, saluted the two, and reported in accordance with the regulations:
"Comrade Commander, I am Harlem, commander of the 126th Guards Regiment. I am waiting for your orders. Please give me instructions!"
"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin!" Sokov returned the gift, smiled and said to Dukhalin: "I hope our arrival will not cause you any inconvenience."
"That's not possible, Comrade Commander." Duhalin chuckled and said with an honest face: "It is our honor for you to come to inspect our regiment."
He glanced at Sokov's feet and then said: "Comrade Commander, the road up the mountain is not easy. How about I report to you here?"
"No, no, no." Sokov knew that this place would become a battlefield soon. If he didn't understand the terrain here, he would never feel at ease, so he rejected Duharin's proposal and said directly: "Take me to the high ground to see
Look."
Seeing that Sokov was so stubborn, Kurishenko winked at Harin and signaled him to obey Sokov's order and go to the high ground to have a look together.
However, after Sokov went up the mountain, he specially introduced Glushko and Krezhiow to Dukhalin: "Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin, let me introduce to you, these two are Glushko
Lieutenant Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel Krezhiow, from now on, they will serve as deputy commander and chief of staff respectively in your regiment."
Hearing that they were the new deputy commander and chief of staff, Du Harin quickly stepped forward to shake hands with the two men and said repeatedly: "Great, this is really great. After my regiment was replenished, although some grassroots personnel were replenished,
Commander, but there is still no deputy commander and chief of staff. After you come, I will have helpers."
While walking up the rugged and snow-covered path, Sokov deliberately called Dukhalin to his side and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin, do you think this road is easy to walk?"
"It's not easy to walk." Duharin quickly replied: "When it snows, the snow will cover the road; when there are more people walking up and down, the snow on the ground will be trampled firmly, and it will become slippery when it becomes thin ice.
fall……"
Before he finished speaking, Sokov accidentally stepped on a piece of ice and fell suddenly to the side. Fortunately, Glushko, who was walking aside, caught him in time and prevented him from falling in public.
fall.
After thanking Glushko, Sokov said to Dukhalin with a serious expression: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if I am not mistaken, this is the only way for you to go up the mountain, right? If there is a fierce battle on the high ground, you need to go from the mountain.
Transport the ammunition you need under your feet, will the ice accumulation on the road delay things?"
After Du Harin heard this, his old face suddenly turned red and he said quickly: "Comrade Commander, I will immediately send someone to clear this road to ensure that supplies can be transported smoothly at any time."
Sokov was still very satisfied with Dukhalin's attitude. He nodded and said to Glushko and Kryzhiow: "As deputy commanders and chiefs of staff, you two must assist Dukhalin."
The lieutenant colonel is carrying out his work. Especially this road must be ensured to be accessible at all times. Do you understand?"
"Understood." The two lieutenant colonels replied in unison.
When he arrived at the top of the mountain, Sokov saw several long trenches and couldn't help but feel happy. It seemed that Kurishenko was not just perfunctory. At least he was still working hard to fulfill his duties when it came to building Highland 239.
own responsibilities.
Sokov walked forward along the trench, and from time to time he could see commanders and soldiers walking in the trench. When the commander saw Sokov and his group, he immediately stood at attention and raised his hands in salute; while when the soldiers saw Sokov, they
After standing at attention, pay attention to him.
"Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin," Sokov asked Dukhalin who was following him as he watched, "How long have you dug trenches on the top of the mountain?"
Duharin replied without thinking: "Comrade Commander, the length of the trenches we have completed so far should have exceeded three kilometers."
"It's colder on the high ground than down below. Where do the officers and soldiers live?"
"We have built shelters in the trenches, and the officers and soldiers usually live in them." Duhalin said: "Once a battle alarm is issued, they can quickly enter the trenches from the shelter and make all battle preparations."
Sokov looked forward along the trench and found that there was no civil firepower point in the long trench. He couldn't help but frowned slightly: "Why is there no civil firepower point?"
"We haven't had time to build it yet." Although the temperature outside at the moment was more than 20 degrees below zero, cold sweat broke out on Du Harin's forehead. Before he could raise his hand to wipe it off, it was frozen into a sheet of white frost: "Commander
Comrade Comrade, I will arrange manpower to carry out the construction."
Sokov looked into the distance and saw only a vast expanse of white. There was nothing but snow. There were no trees or hills. It was simply an open land with nothing.
Seeing Sokov looking intently into the distance, Kurishenko came over and said: "Comrade Commander, you see, a radius of more than ten kilometers is within the control range of the highlands. As long as the enemy appears, no matter how far away it is,
, our soldiers can also detect them."
Sokov walked to the edge of the high ground, looked down at the hillside, frowned and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin, why didn't I see the barbed wire fence and the minefield?"
"Comrade Commander," Dukhalin looked a little flustered when he heard Sokov's question: "Our regiment did not receive the barbed wire for the mines, so we cannot set up obstacles in front of the position."
"I didn't receive it." Sokov asked with a straight face: "What's going on?"
"It literally means that when our group went to collect landmines and barbed wire, the logistics department said they didn't have any for us."
When Sokov heard this, he became a little strange and angry. In front of such a simple fortification, if minefields were not laid out and barbed wire fences were pulled up, the German troops could easily rush to the position. If this happened, even the commanders and soldiers would
No matter how tenacious you are, if you want to repel the enemy's attack, you will probably pay a heavy price.
He turned around and asked Kurishenko: "General Kurishenko, please explain to me, what is going on? Why did the 126th Guards Regiment not have their share when they went to collect mines and barbed wire?"
"Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation." Kurishenko hurriedly explained to Sokov: "There are various indications that the areas defended by the 122nd and 124th Guards Regiments are the focus of the German attack. So.
I have used all the resources in the division in that direction."
"General Kurishenko, I have told you that there are many friendly forces in front of you. If the Germans attack you, they will definitely expose their weak flanks to them. In order to avoid this situation, the Germans
, we dare not launch an attack on your main defense area casually.
On the contrary, judging from the current signs, it is unlikely that the Germans will attack Hill 239. But because of this, we need to be more vigilant, otherwise we may be caught off guard by the Germans.
If you think about it carefully, if Hill 239 is lost, the Germans will have a foothold in your defense area. Whether they are attacking or defending, our army will be put into a passive position."
Faced with Sokov's accusation, Kurishenko's face turned red and red. Finally, he summoned up the courage to ask: "Comrade Commander, do you really think the Germans will attack Hill 239?"
"Yes." Sokov said in a positive tone: "According to my judgment, this is for sure. The Germans will not only attack Highland 239, but it will even become a cruel tug-of-war battlefield, so you must be prepared.
preparations to ensure that the position does not fall into German hands."
After saying this, he called Duharin to him and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will give you two days. No matter what method you use, you must establish minefields and obstacle areas, otherwise
I will remove you from your post. Do you understand?"
When he learned that Sokov was about to remove him from his post, Dukhalin was a little flustered: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will definitely find a way to lay out the minefields and pull up the barbed wire within two days." The reason why he was so fast.
He replied because he knew in his heart that if he did not perform well, the two lieutenant colonels Sokov brought today could take over his position at any time.
Seeing Harin's guarantee, Sokov slowed down his tone, pointed to the distance and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, in addition to laying out minefields in front of the position, you can also lay out a few mines in the distance.
For example, five hundred meters or even six hundred meters away..."
"What, how many landmines are laid five or six hundred meters away?" Dukhalin was confused by Sokov's words. He asked puzzledly: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand, how many landmines are buried so far away from the position?"
What use can a few landmines bury in such a place?"
"Alert, the role of alert." Sokov said to Dukhalin: "If the German army comes to sneak attack your position, they must not be very vigilant at such a far distance from the position, so they are very likely to step on your buried
In this way, not only can you detect the Germans in advance, but the Germans have to stop temporarily because of this mine and send engineers to clear the nearby mines before moving forward. This will buy you enough preparation time.
.”
Kulishenko, who was next to him, saw that Dukhalin had made a promise to Sokov, and knew that he could not do it without expressing his position. When the two of them finished talking, he said: "Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin, you will send someone there tomorrow.
Go to the warehouse to pick up the required supplies, and I will greet the logistics staff."
It took Sokov almost an hour to circle around Highland 239, and then he came to the other side of the highland. Pointing to the hillside below, he said to Dukhalin: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if I were you, I would
I will order people to build some caves to hide soldiers on the hillside in this direction."
"Build a cave to hide soldiers here?" Du Halin asked again puzzled: "Why?"
"Before the Germans attack, they will shell and bomb our positions." Sokov said: "Now our air force has firmly mastered the air superiority on the battlefield, and the possibility of enemy planes bombing the positions is relatively low. In order to destroy them, the enemy
Our troops on the position can only adopt the tactics of violent bombardment.
If we put all our troops on the position, even if there are shelters and anti-gun holes, we will probably suffer huge casualties. But if we move the troops to the hiding holes on the reverse slope before the bombardment begins, let the enemy bombard us
No matter how long our position lasts, the casualties it will cause us will not be too great."
Although Sokov had implemented this tactic in the 41st Guards Division as early as when he was the division commander, after the unit was reduced in size and reorganized, many commanders who knew this tactic were transferred to other units, and the remaining
Those who understand this tactic often have low-level positions and have no chance to speak out.
Kurishenko, who was standing behind him, couldn't help but nodded secretly when he heard what Sokov said. He felt that the young commander did have some good ideas. At least he had never heard of the tactics he mentioned.
Pass.
How many troops should be placed on the position has always been a headache for him. If there are too many troops, it will be painful for him to take the casualty figures after the enemy's artillery bombardment is over. But if there are too few troops, it will not be able to stop the enemy's attack. But
The plan proposed by Sokov now solves this problem very well. As soon as the enemy's shelling begins, he can first move his troops to the hiding hole on the back slope, and then return to the position after the enemy's shelling ends.
Prepare to block the enemy's attack.
After completing the inspection of Highland 239, Kurishenko said to Sokov respectfully: "Comrade Commander, since the inspection of Highland has ended, why don't we go to the defense areas of the 122nd and 124th regiments and see with your own eyes what's going on?"