After receiving confirmation from Malinin that the Air Force would provide more air support, Sokov suddenly felt more at ease. After ending the call with Malinin, he immediately called his brigade headquarters and said to Belkin who answered the phone
: "Comrade Political Commissar, call Captain Vanya immediately and order them to attack the enemy immediately."
Belkin was startled when he heard what Sokov said and quickly reminded him: "Comrade Brigadier, is your decision too hasty? You must know that German reinforcements are arriving in a steady stream. We
The troops and equipment are at a disadvantage. Once action is taken, not only will it be difficult to achieve any results, but on the contrary, it will put the commanders and fighters of the first battalion in danger."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Seeing that Belkin had questioned his order, Sokov said with some displeasure: "It is precisely because our army is at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment that we must immediately launch an attack. German reinforcements
We have just arrived in a strange area and have not had time to familiarize ourselves with the environment. If we are suddenly attacked by our army, we will definitely fall into chaos. Only in this way can we take the initiative on the battlefield. Do you understand, my comrade political commissar?"
"Okay, comrade brigade commander, since you insist like this, I will call back the first battalion immediately and ask them to take offensive action immediately." Belkin said helplessly on the phone: "I hope they can catch the enemy by surprise."
Rotmistrov, who was sitting at the table, waited for Sokov to finish the phone call, then took the initiative to hand him a cigarette and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what, your brigade is going to attack the enemy?"
Have you launched an attack?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Sokov took Rotmistrov's cigarette, but did not light it, but played with it in his hand: "In order to block the German attack from the south of the city, I mobilized
They recruited a force to carry out a sneak attack. Unexpectedly, before they reached the designated location, they discovered a German convoy transporting reinforcements."
After listening to Sokov's story, Rotmistrov said thoughtfully: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although I have no right to tell you what to do, I still feel that you let the first battalion go into battle at this time.
, it’s a bit too hasty. In any case, you are at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment. Even if the German army is caught off guard in the early stage, they will soon recover and organize a counterattack against you. Then we will
It’s hard to say what kind of situation will happen.”
Seeing that Rotmistrov and Belkin were both opposed to the decision he had made, Sokov did not argue with the other party, but smiled faintly: "Once the enemy's reinforcements have established a firm foothold, we will
If we carry out the attack, our officers and soldiers will have to pay heavy sacrifices. Comrade General, I have something else to do and need to rush back to the brigade headquarters immediately, so I won’t disturb you." After saying that, Sokov raised his hand and saluted the other party.
He changed hands and walked out of the office.
Looking at Sokov's leaving figure, Rotmistrov shook his head with a wry smile and said in a low voice: "I hope the decision you made is correct, otherwise this unit that carried out the sneak attack will not be able to escape."
The danger of the army being destroyed."
Sokov, who was walking out of the building, naturally couldn't guess what Rotmistrov was thinking. He was eager to return to his headquarters, readjust his plan, and send troops to reinforce the first battalion.
The situation of the camp is dire.
As soon as he returned to the headquarters, Sokov couldn't wait to ask Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, has the telegram to the First Battalion been sent?"
Belkin nodded and replied affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Brigadier, the telegram has been sent."
After receiving Belkin's affirmative answer, Sokov walked to the table, picked up the phone, and called the Second Battalion. As soon as he heard Vasily's feeble voice, he raised his voice and said: "Captain Vasily, are you still here?"
Are you sleeping?"
Sokov's voice was like a thunderbolt, exploding in Vasily's ears, scaring him out of his sleep. He hurriedly asked: "Comrade Brigadier, what are your instructions?"
"Second Battalion Commander, let me ask you, are there any river crossing equipment in the warehouse?"
"Yes," although Vasily didn't know why Sokov asked this, he still answered truthfully: "There are about forty rubber boats and more than twenty wooden boats."
"Very good," Sokov continued after learning that there were river-crossing equipment in the warehouse: "Immediately arrange your manpower to transport all these river-crossing equipment to the Second Company's position. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." Vasily said quickly: "I will immediately arrange for the soldiers of the Third Company to meet the crossing equipment at the Second Company's position." He paused for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Comrade Brigadier, I
Can I ask, what do you need so much river crossing equipment for?"
"Comrade Captain," Sokov replied, "haven't you learned the confidentiality regulations? Don't you just ask questions if you don't know what you shouldn't ask?"
Vasily was frightened by Sokov's tone and said in a panic: "Comrade Brigadier, I just asked casually. Since you are in urgent need of these river-crossing equipment, I will send them all as soon as possible."
Go to the Second Company’s position.”
After Belkin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigadier, you asked Captain Vasily to send all the river-crossing equipment to the position of the second company. Are you planning to send people across the river to reinforce the first battalion?"
"Yes, that's what I thought about it." Seeing that Belkin had guessed his intention, Sokov nodded and continued: "After the first battalion exchanges fire with the enemy, they will definitely draw the enemy's attention away from Teneb
Pull the river aside so that I can send a force to force the crossing to reinforce the first battalion."
"Which battalion do you plan to send to carry out this glorious mission?" Belkin asked briefly.
Sokov had already thought about it on the way back. Brisky's fourth battalion had just taken over the defense area of the first battalion, and rash transfer would cause chaos; and the second battalion was currently responsible for the defense of the warehouse and the south of the city, and could not be used easily.
The only one that can be used is Andre's Third Battalion. "I plan to let Andre's Third Battalion complete this arduous task."
Andrei, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened by the ringing of the phone and learned that Sokov had an important combat mission for him. He hurriedly got up, got dressed, and hurried over.
Seeing his arrival, Sokov immediately called him to the wall, pointed to a map on it and said to him: "Comrade Captain, I have an important task to give you now. A few hours ago, Wan
Captain Nia's battalion crossed the river from the upper reaches of the Tenebra River and quietly approached the German garrison in the south of the city. Due to the sudden appearance of a large number of German reinforcements, the battalion had become a lone army, so I planned to send
Send people to reinforce them."
Andre said solemnly: "Comrade Brigadier, please give the order! I promise to rescue the first battalion from the enemy's encirclement."
"Comrade Captain, you misunderstood. The first battalion was not surrounded by the enemy." Seeing that Andre did not understand his intention, Sokov told him again: "According to the prior battle plan, they will attack at dawn.
Launch an attack on the enemy's camp. However, before they could reach their destination, they found that German reinforcements had arrived. I had temporarily changed the battle plan and asked them to launch an attack immediately. Although they could use surprise in the early stages of the battle
The attack will cause chaos to the enemy, but because they are at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment, they will soon fall into an unfavorable situation. The task of your battalion is to take advantage of the enemy's attention being attracted by the first battalion to attack from the first battalion.
The 2nd Battalion and 2nd Company attacked from their positions and forcibly crossed the Tenebra River to support the 1st Battalion."
From Sokov's story, Andre realized that this mission was a narrow escape, and he couldn't help showing an embarrassed expression on his face. When Sokov saw his reaction, he couldn't help showing an unhappy expression on his face. He
He curled his lips and said: "Captain Andre, I know this mission is very dangerous, but if you want to escape, there is still a chance. As soon as daybreak, our air force will rush to the battlefield to provide you with the necessary supplies."
Air support. With the support of the air force, let alone escape, even a counterattack against the German army is possible."
Perhaps it was what Sokov said about air support that moved Andrei. After Sokov finished speaking this time, he immediately nodded vigorously, and then asked: "Comrade Brigadier, when will we set off?"
Sokov raised his hand to look at his watch and replied: "I have ordered Captain Vasily to transport the river-crossing equipment to the Second Company's position as soon as possible. You should go back immediately, assemble the troops, and strive to start forcibly crossing the river in an hour."
Niebra River."
While Sokov was arranging for the third battalion to reinforce the first battalion, the commander of the first battalion, Captain Vanya, was in the forest not far from the German camp, assigning tasks to his three company commanders: "Comrades, company commanders, the brigade
The commander sent us a telegram, ordering us to launch a surprise attack on the German army while they were still on a weak footing, catching them off guard."
As soon as he finished speaking, the first company commander said in embarrassment: "Comrade battalion commander, look, there is no moon in the sky, the visibility is low, and you can't see people clearly from more than ten steps away. If we launch an attack under such circumstances, how will we do it?"
Command the troops?"
"That's right, comrade battalion commander." As soon as the first company commander finished speaking, the second company commander added: "Let alone commanding the troops, if a melee breaks out, you won't even be able to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy."
After the two company commanders expressed their opinions, Vanya said nothing. Instead, she looked at the third company commander and asked: "Third company commander, you can tell me what you think."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, do you think we ask the soldiers to tie a white towel on their arms?" Seeing the battalion commander asking himself, the third company commander quickly replied: "This can also play a role in identification in melee.
"
"No, you can't use a white towel." Regarding the third company commander's suggestion, Vanya said without hesitation: "Don't worry about whether the towel tied to the arm will fall off for various reasons during the battle. Even if it doesn't fall off,
When you see a dark group of people rushing toward you, your instinctive reaction is to pull the trigger, and you don’t even have time to identify whether the other person’s arm is tied with a towel..."
Seeing that his proposal was rejected by Vanya, the third company commander asked somewhat depressedly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, please tell me, how should we direct the next attack and how can we identify ourselves and the enemy?"
"At this time, we can only take risks." Vanya said to the three company commanders, "We divided our troops into three groups and launched attacks in three directions at the same time. Remember, after you return to your respective companies,
We need to tell the soldiers that they can only charge forward and never look back, so that all those who appear in front of us are our enemies, so the soldiers can just shoot at each other."
"This is a good idea." As soon as Vanya's plan was put forward, it was immediately approved by the three company commanders. The first company commander said: "The three companies attack in different directions at the same time. In this way, our soldiers
You only need to shoot at the figure appearing in front to avoid accidental injuries to the greatest extent. Good idea, this is really a good idea."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, I have one more question." Just when Vanya was about to order everyone to return to the company to make preparations, the third company commander suddenly raised another question: "I think everyone knows very well that we are in trouble in terms of strength and equipment.
We are all at a disadvantage. Taking advantage of the darkness and launching a surprise attack on the enemy can catch the enemy off guard in the shortest possible time and plunge them into chaos. However, if the battle continues until dawn and the enemy figures out our details, what should we do?
what to do?"
The worries of the third company commander aroused the resonance of the two company commanders: "Yes, comrade battalion commander. There are only two hours left before dawn. If we cannot defeat the enemy within two hours, the situation will be worse after dawn."
become detrimental to us."
"Don't worry about this." Out of trust in Sokov, Vanya felt that his brigade commander must have considered all the issues that should be considered, so he vowed to his three subordinates: "I
With the character of the brigade commander, he will never let us suffer. When daybreak, he will not only ask his superiors to provide us with air support, but may also provide friendly artillery fire to cooperate with us to encircle and annihilate the enemy in front of us."
Hearing that the air force and artillery would assist in the battle after dawn, the worries of the three company commanders immediately disappeared. They stood up at the same time, looked at Vanya in front of them and said: "Comrade Battalion Commander, do you allow us to return to the army to assign tasks?
"
"Of course you are allowed to leave." Because the light was too dark, even if they were close at hand, Vanya still couldn't see the faces of the three company commanders clearly, but he still nodded in the direction of the sound and said with a smile: "You guys should hurry up
Go back and assign tasks to the soldiers. Our attack will begin in twenty minutes, so the soldiers should be ready for all battles."
The three company commanders raised their hands and saluted where Vanya was, then turned around and relied on their own memories to walk towards the direction where the company was gathering.