Knowing that the troops of the 122nd Regiment had occupied the second line of defense, Sokov immediately reported the good news to the headquarters. After the report, he was deeply afraid that Krylov would involuntarily order his troops to go
After attacking the surrender station, he took the initiative and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to what we learned from the prisoners, the Germans are holding the surrender station. They have the strength of an infantry company and an artillery platoon. If we are in the new
During the attack, without the support of tank artillery fire, it may be difficult to succeed."
"Colonel Sokov, please stop complaining to me." Krylov easily saw through Sokov's intention. He was deeply afraid that the other party had any bad thoughts, so he quickly comforted him and said: "Don't worry, this is
If there is no support from tanks and artillery fire, I will not let you take risks easily."
After receiving Krylov's promise, Sokov suddenly felt much more at ease. In fact, he also understood in his heart that the reason why Krylov behaved so reasonably was entirely because the troops on the right wing were progressing too slowly.
If you constantly urge yourself to speed up the attack, in the end, you will be in a situation where you are alone and deep, and you may be surrounded by the enemy at any time. This is a situation that no one wants to see.
After putting down the phone, Sokov looked at Ivanov and asked: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I want to take a look at the front position. Will you stay and take over my command, or will you go to the front with me?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Ivanov made his choice without hesitation: "Comrade division commander, Mamayev Heights can be left to the command of the chief of staff. I want to go to the front with you to see our
Soldiers."
Seeing that Ivanov was willing to go to the front position with him, Sokov called Sidorin and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the deputy division commander and I are going to see the 122nd Regiment in front.
Look, I’ll leave this Mamayev Heights to you. Remember, order the observation post on the top of the mountain to closely guard the two flanks of the high ground. If you find anything wrong, contact me immediately. Do you understand?”
"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Sidorin assured Sokov: "I will definitely monitor the enemy's movements closely. If they make any changes, I will report to you immediately."
It was several kilometers from Mamayev Heights to the front position, so Sokov naturally would not spend an hour walking there, so he ordered Guchakov to drive out the armored vehicle hidden in the underground garage and prepare to ride there.
A few minutes later, the armored vehicle drove to the foot of the mountain to the west of Nangang. Seeing Guchakov waving to him in the carriage, Sokov said to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, armored vehicle
Here we go, let’s go.”
Ivanov followed Sokov to the armored vehicle and saw clearly that it was a German armored vehicle with a white cross painted on it. He couldn't help asking worriedly: "Comrade division commander, this is a German armored vehicle. Don't you think it's a German armored vehicle?"
Are you worried that the soldiers will mistake it for an enemy vehicle and be attacked?"
"You don't have to worry about this. The commanders and fighters at Mamayev Ridge all know this vehicle." Sokov pointed to the side of the armored vehicle's compartment: "In addition, Guchakov also planted a red flag next to the compartment. I think as long as
If there is no problem with the eyes of the commanders and soldiers, there will never be any accidental shooting incident."
When the two men came forward, Guchakov, who was sitting in front, slapped the top of the cab twice with his palm, and then shouted: "Let's go!"
On the way to the position of the 122nd Regiment, Ivanov couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Division Commander, there is one thing I don't understand. If my troops are progressing so smoothly, my superiors will definitely order me to continue to advance deeper into the enemy.
But why would General Krylov allow us to temporarily stop and wait until we have the support of tanks before launching an attack on the enemy?"
Sokov raised his hand and pointed to the north, and said to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, haven't you noticed that the troops on the right are advancing too slowly? There has been a gap between them and us. If the enemy takes advantage of this
By opening gaps and interspersing them, both of our troops might be encircled. Perhaps taking this into consideration, our superiors ordered us to stop temporarily to wait for friendly forces on the right."
Ivanov looked north, thinking of the 124th Regiment's troops disguised as Romanian troops and surrendering to the enemy's positions, so he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, can we help our friendly forces again like we did just now?"
"This is impossible." Sokov shook his head and replied: "The Romanians are not fools, how could the same strategy be used against them twice? Do you believe it or not, after the Romanians suffered this loss, even if
If you watch your own people running towards their position, you may shoot them directly to stop them far away from their position. Only after careful interrogation and confirmation, your own people will let them in."
"Also," Sokov paused for a moment after finishing these words, and then continued: "The reason why I want to go to the position of the 122nd Regiment is because there is a more important thing."
"What's more important?" Sokov's words confused Ivanov, and he asked in confusion: "What's more important? Is it the task of deploying an offensive station?"
"I estimate that our army has little chance to attack the enemy's surrender position." Sokov sighed softly and said: "After the Germans know about the counterattack launched by our army, it won't be long before they launch an attack.
A large force has come to support the Romanian army, and I am afraid that we will soon be attacked from several directions. When I went to the position of the 122nd Regiment, I did not just visit the commanders and soldiers, but also deployed defensive tasks to them."
The armored vehicle drove into the position of the 122nd Regiment, and Papuchenko immediately brought people to greet him. After Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with him, he found that not only was there no joy on his face, but he looked a little downcast, and he couldn't help but wonder.
He asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, what happened? Why do I see that you look unhappy? Do you not welcome me here? If so, I will turn around and leave."
"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Seeing Sokov turning to leave, Papuchenko quickly stopped him and explained with a blushing face: "I made a mistake and I have no face to face you."
Although Sokov knew very well why the other party said that, he asked knowingly: "What mistake did you make?"
"I shot and killed a prisoner in front of the soldiers." Papuchenko lowered his head and said, "Comrade division commander, I was wrong. I will definitely reflect on it."
Sokov did not answer his words, but asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, tell me, why did you kill the prisoner in front of the soldiers?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Papuchenko raised his head and replied emotionally: "Because the prisoner was a sniper. During the battle, he deliberately killed the female health worker of our regiment who was rescuing the wounded.
Wu Liya, I want to avenge my fallen comrades."
"Since it is to avenge a comrade, what does it mean to kill a prisoner?" Sokov knew that this matter had put a heavy burden on Papuchenko, so he explained to him: "Comrade Stalin said at the beginning of this year
, once issued an order to all commanders and fighters of the Western Front: All officers and soldiers who capture the 332nd Regiment of the German 197th Infantry Division will be shot on the spot, and we will not accept their surrender."
When Sokov said this, he deliberately paused for a moment to observe the reaction on the other party's face. Seeing Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko's expression of sudden realization, he continued: "The reason why Comrade Stalin issued such an order is because
The enemy brutally killed our scout Comrade Zoya. And you shot the prisoners of war today to avenge your comrades. This approach is acceptable and understandable to us. Are you right, Comrade Deputy Division Commander?" His last sentence
The question was asked to Ivanov.
"Yes, that's right." Seeing that Sokov actually downplayed Papuchenko's impulsive mistakes, Ivanov nodded repeatedly and said, "In order to avenge his fallen comrades, he killed a prisoner.
I think it’s still okay.”
When Papuchenko learned of the arrival of Sokov and Ivanov, he was extremely nervous. He was deeply afraid that the two division commanders would punish him for this matter. Unexpectedly, Sokov's reaction was far beyond his expectations.
Unexpectedly, he widened his eyes in surprise, looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, are you really not going to punish me?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko," Sokov couldn't help laughing when he heard Papuchenko's silly question: "Why should I punish an outstanding commander who has just made military exploits? Okay, let's do this.
That's it for now, don't think too much."
Seeing that he passed the test so easily, Papuchenko couldn't help but be overjoyed and said excitedly: "Thank you, sir!"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov said to Papuchenko when he saw the smile on his face again: "Show me the position you just occupied."
Half an hour later, Sokov, who had traveled through the entire position, arrived at Papuchenko's command post. He came to the table and sat down, took out a pen and paper from his bag, and began to say to Papuchenko: "
Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just took a look at your position. I found that all the defenses are directed to the east, that is, the direction of Mamayev Hill. But there are very few defenses facing the west. Why didn't you let the soldiers
How about taking the time to build it?"
"Comrade Commander," Papuchenko heard Sokov say this, with a confused expression on his face: "Aren't we about to launch an attack on the surrender station? Is it still necessary to build the fortifications here?
"
Sokov was worried that the German counterattack would start at any time, so he quickly drew a sketch in his notebook, raised his head and said to Papchenko: "If the enemy attacks from west to east before your attack starts, do you think you can
Can the current fortifications block the enemy's attack?"
Papuchenko hesitated for a while, then replied with a blushing face: "If the attacking enemy is covered by tanks, I think we can't stop it."
"Even if there is no tank cover, you can't defend it." Sokov tapped his pen on the notebook a few times and said unceremoniously: "The enemy piled all the soil dug out from the trenches on the horse and horse.
The direction of Yevgan; thus, the height of the trench in the direction of the base is much shorter, and the soldiers cannot hide in it..."
After listening to the question pointed out by Sokov, Papuchenko quickly replied: "Comrade division commander, I will organize manpower and strengthen the fortifications to prevent the enemy from launching a counterattack."
"You have to act fast." Although Sokov didn't know when the Germans would launch an attack, he knew in his heart that he didn't have much time left for him. He specifically emphasized to Papchenko: "The Germans may
A counterattack will be launched soon, and if you don't have suitable defenses, you won't be able to stop them."
When Papuchenko heard that Sokov was talking about Germans, he quickly reminded him in a low voice: "Not Germans, but Romanians."
"When I say they are Germans, they are Germans." Sokov said in an unquestionable tone: "They see that the Romanian army cannot stop our attack, and they will soon take action themselves. You must not take it lightly.
.”
"Understood." Papuchenko said he understood, but he didn't agree in his heart. He thought that the battle had been going on for such a long time and there was no sign of the Germans. Could it be that they would fall from the sky?
"Alert, air raid siren!" Just as Papuchenko was thinking wildly, there was a sudden shout from outside: "Air raid siren, take cover, take cover quickly!"
Hearing the air raid siren shouting outside, the expressions of everyone in the command post changed. Sokov was worried that there were no air raid shelters on the position. If they were really bombed by enemy planes, the casualties of the troops would definitely be huge. And Papp
What Qinke was thinking was, couldn't it be such a coincidence? Just as the division commander said that the Germans might take action, their bombers appeared?
Before they could rush out of the command post, there were explosions one after another outside. It seemed that the position was being bombed by enemy planes. Sokov quickly rushed to the door, looked up in the air, and saw one aircraft after another.
A Stuka dive bomber screamed and swooped down from the sky, dropping bombs on the position. Amidst the rising fire and smoke, soldiers who were unable to dodge could be seen from time to time, and were blown into the air.
Although he only took a quick glance, Sokov realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly turned to Papuchenko who was still standing in a daze and shouted: "What are you still doing? Hurry up and let the soldiers hide.
"
"Ah!...Okay, I will give the order immediately." Papuchenko threw himself on the table, grabbed the phone, and called the battalion commanders: "...I am Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, ordering the soldiers not to run around.
, hide in place; repeat, don’t run around, hide in place..."
While Papuchenko was shouting hoarsely into the microphone, Sokov was thinking to himself: "The enemy's air attack came so fast that the soldiers had no time to react. I just hope that the enemy air attack can end soon."