Sokov looked at the infantrymen who followed the tanks and used short-leap forward tactics to use the bomb craters to quickly approach the forward position. He was worried that the platoon on the position alone would not be able to resist them, so he picked up the phone again and answered the call.
Arrive at the Second Battalion Command Post.
As soon as the phone call came through, he said bluntly: "Is it Captain Vasily? I'm Sokov! The German army is charging towards the first battalion position. You immediately let two machine guns shoot at the infantry following the tank. Do you understand?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, hasn't the First Battalion abandoned its position and retreated?" Vasily said with some surprise: "If we fire too early, will the firepower on the position be exposed?"
"There is still a platoon of soldiers left in the first battalion to hold on to the position." Sokov knew in his heart that the other party was worried that there was no one in the forward position, and firing prematurely would not only have a low hit rate, but also easily expose the target, so he quickly said to him: "If
If you don't provide them with fire support, it will be difficult for them to hold their position."
"But, Comrade Brigadier, we don't have anti-tank weapons." Vasily said without confidence: "It's no problem to destroy the infantry behind the tanks. But there is nothing we can do about the enemy's tanks."
"The enemy's tanks naturally have artillery batteries to deal with them." Sokov said loudly into the microphone: "You can't let our artillery use armor-piercing bullets to destroy the enemy's infantry."
"Understood, comrade brigade commander." Vasily learned that the enemy's tanks had artillery to deal with them, and immediately replied loudly: "We will cooperate with the comrades of the first battalion to destroy the enemy's infantry."
After receiving Sokov's order, Vasily rushed to the trench on the hillside and arranged two machine guns to aim at the German infantry approaching the friendly front. But when the enemy entered the 800-meter range, a man beside Vasily
A machine gunner asked quietly: "Comrade battalion commander, can we shoot?"
"Wait a moment." Although the German infantry had already entered the effective range of 800 meters, Vasily knew very well that if he fired now, the chance of hitting the target would be very low, so he said decisively: "
Put the enemy closer and then attack."
The machine gunner said anxiously: "But if you put the enemy too close, the bullets will hit your own people."
"The front line of the first battalion is 350 meters away from our position. We will shoot when the enemy is still 500 meters away." Vasily calculated the range of the machine gun like an old accountant: "At that time, your shooting target
, one hundred and fifty meters away from the first battalion’s trench, and as long as they don’t launch a counterattack, bullets will never hit their own people’s heads.”
When Vasily was assigning shooting tasks to his men, the six cannons on the top of the mountain were still firing at the enemy tanks. Sokov stood in the observation post, staring at the shells exploding around the tanks, feeling in his heart
I secretly thought that due to the insufficient elevation angle of the German tanks, they could only choose to evade our artillery attacks, but were unable to effectively fight back. It seems that there should be no problem in repelling this enemy attack.
When the commanders and fighters of the platoon staying in the forward position saw the enemy tanks and armored vehicles rushing toward them, they thought they would die here today, but they soon discovered that they had thought too much. The tanks opening the way in front, because
More and more bomb craters appeared, and the driving speed had to be slowed down. As a result, one tank was destroyed by artillery on the top of the hill, and it was parked more than 300 meters in front of the trench and burned violently. None of the tank soldiers inside were able to escape.
.
The German infantry was not much better, but the defender platoon leader saw that the enemy was still 150 meters away from the trench, and was about to order the soldiers to shoot. Unexpectedly, the machine gun on the hill behind them rang out.
They got up and blocked the enemy's path forward. After the few German soldiers who rushed at the front were knocked down, the ones behind them continued to rush forward, but they still did not escape the fate of being knocked down. When they saw their companions in front, they were shot to death by machine guns.
The soldiers fell through the sieve, whirled to the ground, and the remaining soldiers hid in the crater.
The cannons and machine guns on the hills firmly blocked the German army's path forward. As the tanks were destroyed one after another, the infantry hiding in the craters were frightened. They realized that if they continued to stay, they would inevitably be killed.
When the entire army was wiped out, they all used the bomb craters to turn back.
Captain Vasily, who was in the hillside fortification, saw that the enemies had already fled, and quickly ordered the machine gun to stop shooting: "Stop, stop shooting. The fleeing enemies are too scattered, and it is difficult for us to eliminate them all, so don't waste any more bullets."
"
The artillery lieutenant standing next to Sokov saw that all the German tanks were destroyed by the artillery, and most of the infantry following the tank attack were also wiped out. He reminded Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest that you immediately move the hill
The top guns are concealed."
"Why?" Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, didn't you say that it is difficult for enemy artillery fire to hit the top of the mountain?"
"The possibility of artillery fire hitting the top of the mountain is indeed small," the artillery lieutenant said to Sokov: "But if the enemy sends out planes to bomb, it's hard to say."
Sokov agreed very much with the artillery lieutenant's statement. He quickly called Porochenko over and ordered him: "Comrade Lieutenant, immediately pull all the artillery into the tunnel and hide it."
"Comrade Brigadier," after hearing Sokov's order, Porochenko, who had just won the battle, asked with confusion: "Although we have just repelled the enemy's attack, they will not be willing to fail.
It will come back soon. I suggest that our company continue to stay on the top of the mountain and use artillery fire to destroy the enemy tanks..."
"Comrade Lieutenant, obey the order and immediately pull all the artillery back into the tunnel." Sokov said to Porochenko in a stern tone: "The Germans are definitely not willing to abandon their soldiers and will come back soon. But
If planes are sent to bomb this place before they attack, do you think your artillery can survive the bombing?"
Sokov's words have reached this point. If Porochenko still can't understand, Sokov plans to change someone to serve as the artillery company commander. Porochenko quickly stepped forward and agreed: "Yes,
Comrade Brigade Commander, we immediately move the artillery back to the tunnel!" Then he ran towards the artillery position not far away, and at the same time prepared to shout loudly, "Brothers, move the position, move all the artillery to the tunnel immediately
Go inside."
The soldiers of the artillery company had just won the battle and eliminated seven enemy tanks and two armored vehicles. They were having a great time when they suddenly heard the company commander shouting that all the artillery should be moved back to the tunnel. They were definitely not happy. Although their superiors said
The order must be executed, but in the process of execution, it is still okay to make a few small moves. The soldiers slowly packed up the things on the position and dragged the artillery towards the entrance of the tunnel unhurriedly, but they couldn't wait in their hearts.
He hoped that the German army would attack again, so that he could legitimately stay and continue to bombard the enemy.
However, the Germans had just suffered a defeat. How could they start a new attack so quickly? The German attack did not start until the last artillery piece was dragged into the tunnel. The artillerymen were thinking: Comrade Brigade Commander is really too neurotic.
, we were in a position where even if the Germans launched an artillery attack, they might not be able to hit us, but they forced us to retreat to the tunnel.
Porochenko, who was walking at the end, was also thinking: Now that the artillery has been pulled into the tunnel, when the German army launches a new round of attack, we will have to pull the artillery out again and rearrange the artillery positions. It's really terrible.
Trouble.
At this moment, a strange whistling sound suddenly came from the air, coming from far and near. As an artillery commander, Porochenko naturally knew better than others that this was caused by artillery shells cutting through the air when flying in the air.
After hearing the sound, he hurriedly shouted to the observation post where Sokov was located: "Shelter, bombardment, comrade brigade commander, hurry up and hide!"
In fact, it was not just Porochenko who heard the scream of artillery shells. The artillery lieutenant staying in the observation post also heard it. His face suddenly turned pale, and he shouted at Sokov: "No, shelling."
!" Then he threw Sokov to the ground violently.
After an earth-shattering explosion, Sokov, who was lying on the ground, felt that all his internal organs were shaken out of place. With the help of the artillery second lieutenant, he stood up with difficulty. Before he could speak, the second lieutenant had already approached him.
shouted loudly in his ear: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please go back to the headquarters immediately. The enemy has launched an artillery bombardment on Mamayev Heights. It is not safe to stay outside."
When Sokov heard the artillery lieutenant say this, he was about to ask if the top of the hill was not vulnerable to artillery fire. But he heard the artillery lieutenant continue: "The enemy uses a 305mm heavy artillery. Even if it cannot hit the target directly, it will explode when it explodes."
The shock wave generated can also shock people to death."
When Sokov heard this, he knew that if he continued to stay here, his life would definitely be in danger, so he did not insist. He shouted to the artillery second lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, you should retreat to the tunnel as soon as possible. If something goes wrong with you,
, but there is no one to indicate the firing direction for the artillery on the east coast!"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," but the artillery lieutenant stood still and said to Sokov: "I will take advantage of the German heavy artillery fire to determine their location, and then call on the artillery on the east bank to destroy them.
they."
From the words of the artillery lieutenant, Sokov understood that no matter how fierce the artillery fire here was, the artillery observers would not leave their posts. After testing the location of the enemy's artillery, they would direct the artillery fire from the rear to suppress the enemy.
Looking at the brave artillery lieutenant in front of him, Sokov's eyes were red. He grabbed the opponent's hand and shook it vigorously a few times. He said: "Be careful!" Then he stumbled back to the tunnel from the hidden entrance.
.
When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Belkin saw that he was covered in dirt and asked with concern: "Comrade Brigadier, are you injured?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and replied: "The enemy started shelling our position again. The dust on my body was obtained when I was lying down to avoid the artillery fire."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidorin walked around Sokov and asked curiously: "Has the forward position been held?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, our forward position has been held." Sokov said with a normal expression: "Because the defenders were supported by artillery and machine guns on the south hill, more than half of the attacking enemies were lost before they even got close to the trenches.
, and had to retreat in despair."
Sidorin raised his hand to dust off the dirt on his shoulders and continued to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is the enemy's shelling more intense than just now?"
"I heard from artillery comrades that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery." Although there was a layer of soil about ten meters thick above his head, Sokov still said with a guilty conscience: "I hope our tunnel fortifications can withstand the enemy's artillery fire."
.”
Belkin felt that the ground was shaking slightly as each shell exploded, and he couldn't help but sigh: "With such a fierce shelling, if the first battalion still stayed on the original position, there would be inevitable casualties."
"That's right." Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement: "The original position of the first battalion could not withstand such a bombardment. If we had not moved them, they would have suffered heavy casualties by now.
.”
Chuikov's call came in at this time. He asked cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I heard that the enemy used 305mm heavy artillery to carry out violent shelling on Nangang and forward positions. How about your forward positions?
Can you withstand such a bombardment?"
"No, Comrade Commander, the frontline fortifications simply cannot withstand such an artillery bombardment." Sokov knew that it must be the artillery commander on the east bank who specifically reported to Chuikov after learning that the enemy was using heavy artillery, so he answered truthfully:
"Even if the artillery shells cannot destroy our army's forward fortifications, the soldiers hiding in the fortifications will be shocked to death by the huge shock wave."
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Chuikov suddenly apologized to him unexpectedly: "It was my stubbornness that harmed the commanders and fighters of the first battalion. If I had followed your orders in advance, they should have all been killed at this moment.
Stay in a relatively safe place instead of sacrificing your life in vain like now."
Sokov was originally worried about his disobedience. Now when he heard what Chuikov said, he immediately realized that the crisis was over and quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, there is one thing I want to ask your forgiveness for. You ordered me to let you go."
I did not carry out the order to stop the movement of the 1st Battalion. Now there is only one platoon in the forward position, and the main force of the 1st Battalion has moved to the anti-slope position in Nangang."
When Chuikov heard what Sokov said, he was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you would actually disobey orders on the battlefield. Aren't you afraid that I will send you to a military court?"
"Afraid, I'm very scared in my heart." Sokov knew from Chuikov's tone that he would not pursue the matter again, and quickly said: "But in order to prevent the commanders and fighters of the first battalion from suffering unnecessary casualties, I can only
Disobey your orders and have them evacuate to a safe place at the risk of a court martial."
"Okay, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, this matter is over." Although Chuikov will not pursue Sokov's disobedience, in order to prevent similar things from happening again in the future, he feels it is necessary to give him a slap: "
If this happens again next time, I will never forgive you lightly."