When the phone rang at the Army Group Headquarters, Sokov was sitting at the table staring at the map in a daze. He felt that his judgment should be correct. How could a mine buried several hundred meters away from the position explode inexplicably?
There is no forest near the explosion point, and naturally there will be no large animals. Even if there are animals, they are only small animals such as foxes or hares. They will never detonate landmines. Then the truth is about to come out. Someone must have appeared in that area.
.
Sokov didn't sleep, and naturally it was impossible for Smirnov to sleep. He sat aside and read various battle reports, wondering in his mind whether his superiors would order him to temporarily take charge of the entire army group if Sokov was really suspended because of this incident.
As soon as the phone rang, Smirnov reached out and grabbed the receiver, put it to his ear and said, "I'm Smirnov, what can I do?" The next second, a shocked expression appeared on his face.
, "What? Say it again."
Sokov noticed something strange about Smirnov, looked up at him and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov couldn't help but raise his voice because of his excitement: "Colonel Sidorin reported that Hill 239 was suddenly attacked by the German army..."
Before Smirnov could finish speaking, Sokov snatched the microphone from his hand, put it to his ear and asked impatiently: "Sidolin? I am Sokov, tell me quickly, 239
What happened in the Highlands?”
"Comrade Division Commander," Sidorin said on the phone, "I just received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Glushiko, deputy commander of the 126th Regiment, saying that the 239 Highlands defended by the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment was attacked by the Germans.
Now the fighting is going on on the high ground."
After learning that the Germans had indeed launched an attack on Hill 239, Sokov breathed a sigh of relief and then asked: "What kind of strength is the enemy?"
"This is not very clear yet." Sidorin said with some embarrassment: "The news I have received so far is that fighting is taking place on the highlands. It is not yet known how many troops the Germans have invested."
Seeing that Sidorin could not figure out the size of the attacking German army, Sokov felt somewhat disappointed. He could only say into the microphone: "Sidolin, as soon as you have the latest news, report it to me immediately."
After Sokov put down the phone, he called a staff officer and told him: "Go and bring General Tsarev over!"
After the staff left, Smirnov asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to order the artillery to bombard the high ground?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said: "The 41st Guards Division has added a large number of new recruits. These recruits have neither military training nor combat experience. Without the support of artillery fire,
It is very difficult to block the German surprise attack in a night battle."
"However, we don't know much about the situation on the highlands at the moment." Smirnov said awkwardly: "In addition, the visibility at night is limited. If we fire rashly, we may accidentally injure our own people."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will not order the artillery to fire on the high ground." Sokov reminded Smirnov: "You only need to use artillery fire to block fire in front of the high ground, so that the enemy cannot approach our army.
position. And those enemies who break into the position will be easily wiped out after losing their backup."
After receiving the notice, Tsarev hurried into the headquarters. While buttoning his military coat, he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, is there anything urgent?"
"General Tsarev!" Sokov looked at his army artillery commander and asked: "How many artillery pieces can you use now?"
"There are 140 artillery pieces of various calibers." Tsarev asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, why do you ask this?" ""
"Highland 239 was attacked by the German army." Sokov did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point: "Due to the low visibility at night, hastily sending reinforcements may cause confusion, or even lead to an enemy ambush, resulting in unnecessary casualties.
Therefore, I plan to order the artillery to fire and use artillery fire to build an insurmountable wall of fire in front of the high ground to prevent the German offensive troops from approaching our positions."
After listening to what Sokov said, Tsarev frowned and said: "Comrade Commander, to be honest with you, although we have more than 140 artillery pieces of various calibers, due to the deployment position of the gun positions, we can hit 239
On the front of the highland, there are only more than 20 76.2mm howitzers and 5 105mm howitzers."
After listening to what Tsarev said, Smirnov couldn't help but frowned: "General Tsarev, it is basically impossible to build a wall of fire that is difficult for the enemy to overcome with just these few artillery pieces. If we want to start again,
How long does it take to adjust the gun position?"
"It's hard to say, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tsarev said in embarrassment: "Don't say it's night now, even if it's daytime, it would take five or six hours to move the gun position to the ideal shooting position.
"." Perhaps because he was worried about being scolded by Sokov, he specifically added, "After all, according to the original battle plan, the enemy we want to defend is in the southwest."
Sokov originally wanted Tsarev to move the artillery position and let the artillery directly under the group army also participate in the artillery bombardment, but after hearing what he said, he immediately changed his mind. Although there was no movement from the German troops in the southwest for the time being, it could not be ruled out that they would cooperate.
There was no possibility for German troops to move within the encirclement, so the original artillery positions remained unchanged.
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov asked Sokov, "What do you think we should do?"
"The position of the artillery of the group army will not change." Sokov said: "I plan to call the artillery commander of the front army, General Fomin, and ask for his help."
"Isn't it a bit too rash to call General Fomin now?" Smirnov reminded Sokov: "After all, we don't know how many German troops are attacking Highland 239. Maybe with the strength of the 126th Regiment,
It’s enough to annihilate them.”
Sokov felt that what Smirnov said was very reasonable. At this moment, he didn't even know the strength of the German army, so he rashly asked the artillery of the front army for help. If it turned out that the German army in the surprise attack was only company-sized, he would do this on his own.
A large-scale bombardment will definitely attract criticism from others.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Smirnov, "call General Kurishenko and ask him if he knows the enemy's strength."
"Okay, Comrade Commander, I'll fight right now."
While Smirnov was on the phone, Sokov called the director of the communications corps to him and asked: "Comrade director of the communications corps, have the dedicated lines with Lieutenant Colonel Ponedelin been laid?"
When Sokov sent Ponedelin to the Fomin headquarters a few days ago, in order to facilitate contact, he specifically asked his communications director to connect a dedicated telephone line between himself and Ponedelin.
"It has been laid and can be put into use at any time."
"Please help me get through to Lieutenant Colonel Ponejelin. I have something to tell him."
After the call was connected, Ponejelin's lazy voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I heard that you ordered the artillery to bombard the front of Hill 239 without permission. Is that true?"
"That's right, General Ponedelin." When Sokov called Ponedelin privately, he would always add general. "I did order the artillery regiment of the 41st Guards Division to open fire on the open space in front of Hill 239.
A basic cannonball." After saying this, he paused for a moment and asked, "What else have you heard?"
"Misha, you may have gotten into trouble." After receiving Sokov's confirmation, Ponedelin's voice became serious: "I thought it was just a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true. I heard a staff officer say
Starting from now, your superiors may give you a severe punishment. After all, when the ammunition is not very abundant, your behavior is a waste."
"As long as these shells hit the Germans, is it not a waste?"
"I think so." Ponejelin said: "Even if your artillery shells can kill dozens of Germans, then the artillery bombardment you command is completely correct. But if all the artillery shells hit the open ground,
If not a single enemy is killed, then I'm sorry, you may be in trouble. To put it nicely, it is a waste; to put it badly, it means that the enemy has scared the enemy out of their wits and become panicked."
Sokov knew in his heart that Ponedelin said these words because he was worried about his future. Now Ponedelin and others share weal and woe with him. If he is severely punished, he may even be dismissed as the commander of the group army.
If they lose their positions as members, their future will also become bleak.
In order to dispel the other party's concerns, Sokov said with a smile: "General Ponedelin, I'm calling you because I have something important to tell you."
"what's up?"
"Not long ago, Highland 239, where the 41st Guards Division was stationed, was attacked wildly by the German army." Sokov said: "The fighting on the high ground is still continuing."
"Is this true?" Logically speaking, after hearing such news, Ponejelin should feel worried, but for some reason, he felt a burst of joy in his heart. "The Germans really attacked Hill 239."
Have you launched an attack?"
"Yes, the Germans are indeed attacking Hill 239." Sokov said: "I am calling you because I want you to contact General Fomin and ask the artillery to prepare for shelling the open space in front of Hill 239."
"Okay, I'll contact General Fuming immediately." After Ponejelin said this, he suddenly thought of an important question: "Misha, I want to ask, how many enemies are attacking the high ground?"
"It's not clear yet." Sokov replied: "But I guess it is definitely not a small force. In order to prevent their attempt to seize the high ground, it is necessary to use intensive artillery fire to block the German offensive troops and drive them far away.
Stay out of position."
"Misha," Sokov's answer put Ponjerin in a dilemma: "If General Fomin asks, how will I answer him? It is impossible to say that according to your estimation, the enemy attacking the highlands is not a small force. You
Do you think General Fomin will believe it?"
Just as Sokov was thinking about how to answer Ponedelin, Smirnov suddenly said with excitement: "Comrade Commander, the situation is not good."
"Two companies of the Second Battalion of the 126th Regiment launched an attack on the high ground. However, they were met with a crazy counterattack by the German army. After ten minutes of fierce fighting, less than fifty people retreated."
Sokov's pupils shrank violently. He knew that there were more than 600 people in the Second Battalion, but in less than half an hour, there were only less than 50 people left. This shows how huge the German army is on the high ground now.
. He looked at Smirnov and asked: "Chief of Staff, has Lieutenant Colonel Dukhalin taken any measures?"
"He is gathering the first and third battalions to prepare to attack the high ground again with the support of artillery fire from the mortar platoon."
When Sokov heard this, he immediately issued an order to Smirnov: "Chief of Staff, immediately tell General Kurishenko to ask the 89th Guards Artillery Regiment to fire and use artillery fire to form a line of fire two hundred meters in front of the position.
Wall of fire to prevent more enemies from entering our positions."
When Smirnov heard what Sokov said, he immediately understood that if more enemies were allowed to enter the position continuously, even if the 126th Regiment responsible for guarding Highland 239 was wiped out, they might not be able to regain the lost position. He quickly agreed.
, and then spoke into the microphone: "General Kurishenko, Comrade Commander ordered the 89th Guards Artillery Regiment to open fire immediately and bombard the position two hundred meters in front of the high ground with artillery fire to prevent more enemies from entering the high ground."
Sokov spoke into the microphone with a serious expression: "General Ponejelin, did you hear it? One of our battalions launched an attack on the German troops on the high ground, and the entire army was almost annihilated in just ten minutes. Here.
Under such circumstances, do you still think that the enemy attacking the highlands is just a small force?"
Ponyjelin realized that his judgment was biased. Sure enough, a large number of German troops were attacking Highland 239. He quickly said: "I will go to General Fomin and explain the situation to him and ask the artillery to prepare it."
Preparation for firing."
As soon as Sokov ended his call with Ponedelin, he ordered the director of the communications corps: "Get me through the front headquarters. I want to see General Zakharov."
Zakharov was on duty tonight and stayed at the headquarters without leaving. When he heard that Sokov was calling him, he thought that the other party wanted him to help him plead for mercy. Before Sokov could tell the reason, he took the initiative
He said: "Comrade Sokov, whether your matter is big or small depends on whether your superiors want to target you. Don't worry, when it's time to speak for you, I will naturally speak up."
After saying this, Zakharov thought Sokov would burst into tears of gratitude to him, but the other party said in shock: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I just received a report from the 41st Guards Division that Highland 239 was attacked.
Due to a sneak attack by the German army, a battalion holding its position has been defeated by the German army, and the commander of the 126th regiment is preparing to organize his troops to launch a new round of attack."
"What, the enemy launched an attack on Highland 239?" Zaharov couldn't believe his ears: "What the hell, the enemy is at least ten kilometers away from Highland 239, and there is a friendly defense zone in the middle. They are
How did you arrive near Highland 239 without anyone noticing?"
"I don't know either." Sokov replied truthfully: "Anyway, our army and the enemy are fighting on Hill 239 at the moment."
"What size of enemy is it?" Zakharov asked.
"I don't know." Sokov answered simply. "Although I don't know what the enemy's strength is, the second battalion holding on to the high ground has been completely defeated by the enemy. There are only less than fifty people left in the whole battalion."