Before the reinforcements from the base camp arrived, Sokov felt that there were more important things to do, so he ordered his staff to call the four battalion commanders and inform them to come to the brigade headquarters for a meeting immediately. He had just returned to the battalion headquarters and had not yet
The four battalion commanders, who had time to take a sip of water, received the notice and thought that Sokov was going to comment on today's military competition, so they rushed over without hesitation.
Seeing that all four battalion commanders had arrived, Sokov said: "Comrade battalion commander, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"
The battalion commanders may have never heard anyone speak to them in this tone, so after Sokov asked the question, they hesitated for a while, and then the battalion commander Vanya said carefully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, then
Let’s talk about the good news first.”
"The reinforcements sent to us from the base camp will arrive tomorrow at the latest." Seeing that Vanya chose to hear the good news first, Sokov said with a smile: "As soon as they arrive, we can shrink our defenses and concentrate our strength.
Conduct one-way defense."
"Great, this is really great." Although the four battalion commanders had known about the arrival of reinforcements for a long time, they still felt very happy when they heard Sokov mentioned it. What made them happiest was undoubtedly the shrinkage
As for the defense line, after all, five or six thousand people defending a city are two completely different concepts than simply defending one direction.
After the room returned to calm, Andre asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, can you tell me, what is the other bad news?"
Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him, Sokov sighed softly and said: "When the large forces enter Kursk, the warehouse area we currently control must be handed over to friendly forces immediately."
After listening to Sokov's words, the battalion commanders couldn't help but feel a little bit in their hearts, secretly thinking that this is really bad news. If the warehouse area is really handed over to friendly forces, they will no longer be able to receive supplies as they like now. No
People can still hold on with food; but if the guns are out of ammunition, they are no better than burning fire sticks.
Vasily, who was in charge of guarding the warehouse, waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately stood up and asked: "Comrade Brigadier, should I do something?" Vasily asked this question with a trace of luck in his heart, thinking that Sokov
For your own sake, why would you leave one or two warehouses of supplies behind?
"All warehouses, not one left, will be handed over to friendly forces." When Sokov said this, he saw the embarrassed expressions on the faces of the battalion commanders, and added: "But before the handover work is carried out, each battalion should
Send people to the warehouse to collect the supplies they need."
"Captain Vasily," Sokov told Vasily: "All the officers and soldiers of my brigade, no matter what materials, ammunition, fuel, supplies and combat equipment they want to receive, as long as they are available in the warehouse, they will be distributed."
After Vasily, who was full of joy, answered resoundingly, Sokov turned to the other battalion commanders and said: "In the warehouse we occupied, the weapons and equipment stored include both those of the German army and those of our army that were captured by the enemy.
Nowadays, some troops are all equipped with German equipment, while some are standard equipment of our army. In the coming days, we can capture the weapons and ammunition required for German equipment in battle; and equip our army
It may be much more difficult to supply troops with standard weapons. Therefore, you should use the precious time left to replenish sufficient ammunition and supplies for the troops."
"Comrade Brigadier," Brisky waited for Sokov to finish, then stood up and asked, regardless of the other party not announcing the end of the meeting: "Are you allowed to return to the army now? I need to immediately arrange for the commanders and soldiers to receive ammunition and supplies.
."
"Permission to leave." Sokov nodded to Briski, and then said to everyone: "Time is running out. You all should return to your respective units immediately and seize the time to collect supplies. The meeting is adjourned!"
Watching the battalion commanders leaving, Belgin asked with some worry: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if the friendly forces take over the warehouse area and find that all the warehouses inside are empty, will we have any trouble?
"
"What kind of trouble will there be, my comrade political commissar?" Sokov looked at Belgin and asked in surprise: "Our troops did not leave any documents when they received the supplies. Even if the superiors tracked them down, we
It can also be said that when we occupied the German warehouse area, it was almost empty."
In response to Sokov's statement of completely shirking responsibility, Belkin's muscles on his face twitched violently for a few times, and then he asked: "But if the superiors want to thoroughly investigate this matter, what should we do?"
?”
Sokov found Belkin's concerns ridiculous. He said to the other party: "Comrade political commissar, don't forget that after we captured Kursk, we could recruit thousands of new soldiers. If we don't use the German warehouse
Weapons and equipment inside, where should we find weapons to arm them?"
Sokov raised his hand and patted Belkin gently twice on the shoulder, and then said: "Don't worry, comrade political commissar, as long as we can hold on to Kursk, our superiors will definitely understand our difficulties. They will definitely not
This matter will be pursued."
Each battalion sent manpower to the warehouse area to collect the supplies they needed. Several battalion commanders all held similar ideas. Anyway, they are free things. You can move as much as you can, otherwise once the friendly forces take over
In this warehouse area, it will not be so easy to receive supplies in the future.
In order to pull the supplies back to their respective battalions as quickly as possible, the battalion commanders also showed their magical powers across the sea. Except for an infantry company in the first battalion that stood guard in the west of the city, the rest of the people were sent to the warehouse to transport supplies by Captain Vanya; while the second battalion
Captain Vasily took advantage of his position to use the military trucks in the warehouse to transport weapons, ammunition and various supplies to the second battalion's new location. And the commander of the third battalion, Andrei, saw the military camp in the warehouse.
The trucks were all requisitioned by Vasily, so he used civilian vehicles, including buses, to help the third battalion pull ammunition and supplies; even the newly appointed commander of the fourth battalion, Captain Brisky, offered 300 grams of bread a day.
At the cost of doing it, he summoned five to six hundred able-bodied workers to help him carry the supplies...
Sokov and Belkin went to the warehouse area and saw the lively scene of military and civilian mobilization to move supplies. They couldn't help but smile and said: "It seems that these battalion commanders are not simple. They all know how to do it."
Use their own methods to move as much ammunition and various materials as possible back to their bases. In the following battles, as long as nearly 50,000 rounds of ammunition are not consumed in one battle again, our existing
The ammunition will last a long time.”
The two were talking when suddenly the rumble of cannons came from the south of the city. Hearing the sudden sound of cannons, Sokov couldn't help but turned pale with fright. He quickly rushed into the office in the warehouse area and rushed towards the people sitting there.
Vasily, who was on the phone at the table, asked loudly: "Captain Vasily, what happened? Why are there gunfire from the south of the city?"
Vasily nodded, looked up at Sokov, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Brigadier, Commander Zhelya of the Second Company reported that the enemy is shelling the defensive position of the Second Company, and it seems that they are preparing to cross Tnebo again.
Lahe."
"Captain Vasily, tell Zheliya to ask the soldiers to pay attention to concealment and do a good job in artillery defense. Try to reduce the losses of the troops in the artillery attack." After instructing Vasily, Sokov turned to Belkin and said, "Political Commissar
Comrade, let’s go back to the brigade headquarters now.”
As soon as Sokov returned to his headquarters, he immediately called Rotmistrov. He said urgently on the phone: "Comrade General, the German army is shelling our south position. It seems that they are preparing to attack again."
Cross the Tenebra River and launch an attack on our defensive positions."
"Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." After Rotmistrov finished speaking to Sokov, he immediately comforted him and said: "When the German army begins to cross the river, my artillery will give them a severe lesson and completely crush them.
Their attempt to seize the position south of the city."
The Tenebra River is actually not wide, and the current is not fast. But after crossing the river, there is still a vast plain soaked in water. When the German infantry passes through this area, it will move slowly and become a target for Soviet shooting.
Target. This time, the German troops who took advantage of the artillery bombardment to cross the river were well prepared. They also specially brought in four amphibious tanks to cover the infantry attack.
The amphibious tanks were originally planned by the German army to attack the English Channel. Later, they were found to have fatal flaws and were shelved. It was not until the Soviet-German war broke out that when the German army attacked the Brest Fortress, these amphibious tanks were forced to cross the Bug River.
Only then did they participate in the first actual combat. In order to effectively break through the Soviet defenses south of Kursk, the German commander specially borrowed these four tanks from friendly forces to strengthen the attacking firepower of the offensive troops.
Although these tanks were modified from Panzer III light tanks, these tanks still caused a headache for the Soviet army, which lacked anti-tank weapons. Zhelia looked at the tanks moving in the water and the ones hiding behind the tanks.
The infantryman quickly picked up the microphone and reported to Vasily: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the situation is not good. The enemy has dispatched tanks during this attack. Our company lacks anti-tank weapons and may not be able to block them."
"Hell, where did the German tanks come out from?" After listening to Zheliya's report, Vasya shouted angrily: "Did they come up from the river?"
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander, you are right." Zhelia heard what Vasily said, nodded vigorously, and said in a positive tone: "The enemy's tanks swam over the water."
Vasily had never heard of a tank that could swim. When he heard what Zheliya said, he thought that the opponent was stunned by the enemy's artillery fire, so he said with some displeasure: "Lieutenant Zheliya, I don't care what you use."
You must block the enemy by any means. If you let them rush past your position, you can guess what the consequences will be even if I don't tell you."
"Understood, comrade battalion commander." Zheliya heard from Vasily's tone that the other party did not believe the situation he reported, but only ordered him to stick to it, so he replied bravely: "Don't worry, our company only needs
If there is one person here, he will never let the German tanks pass."
After Vasily put down the phone, he remembered the swimming tank Zhelya mentioned and felt that he should report the matter to Sokov, so he picked up the phone.
"What, Captain Vasily, what did you say? Repeat it again." When Sokov heard Vasily mention the tank that could swim, he thought he had heard it wrong, and quickly said into the microphone: "The tank that can swim, just right."
Rushing towards the Second Company's position? I understand, let Zheliya hold on, we will provide them with artillery support as soon as possible."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Belgin asked curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I just seemed to hear you talking about a tank that can swim. What is going on?"
"In order to attack Britain a few years ago, the Germans modified some of their Panzer III light tanks and turned them into amphibious tanks that could swim or lie on the water. But later they found that this tank was of little use, so it was temporarily shelved."
Sokov explained to Belkin: "It wasn't until the German army attacked the Brest Fortress that they used this tank to forcefully cross the Bug River. After this battle, I never heard of this tank again. I thought
They were all lost in the war, and I didn't expect them to appear here."
"Most of the soldiers of the Second Company who are sticking to the position are new recruits. When they see the enemy's tanks galloping towards them, some of them will definitely be scared out of their wits." Belkin carefully reminded Sokov: "If we don't
Find a way to destroy the enemy's tanks as soon as possible, and some soldiers will become deserters out of fear."
"Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar, I won't let deserters appear in the Second Company." After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table, dialed the artillery company, and said to the company commander Porochenko: "Porochenko
Company commander, your company’s mission has come.”
Porochenko: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I obey your orders, please give instructions!"
"Four German light tanks are rushing towards the defensive position of the Second Company in the south of the city." Sokov said into the microphone: "The mission of your company is to use artillery fire to destroy these enemy tanks." Considering that the artillery company may
Without knowing the specific location of the German amphibious tanks, Sokov specifically added, "You immediately send artillery observers to the front, and they provide firing parameters and guide your artillery to bombard."
"Comrade Brigadier, don't worry, we have observers staying at the Second Company's position." Porochenko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately expressed his position: "I will contact them immediately and let the artillery
The soldiers used the data provided by the observers to destroy enemy tanks."
"Very good, Comrade Porochenko, you did a good job." Regarding Porochenko's precautionary approach, Sokov affirmed, and finally drew a huge pie for the other party: "Wait for us
When the artillery battalion is formed, I appoint you as the battalion commander."