Half an hour before the artillery preparations started, Sokov suddenly received a call from Bely.
As soon as he heard Bely's voice, Sokov couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Colonel, are your tank brigade ready to attack?"
"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Since Belly's troops were under the command of Sokov at this moment, he did not call the other party by his nickname, but directly addressed his position: "Two tank battalions coming from the east coast.
, I have deployed behind the Mamayev Hills, and after seeing the attack signal, they will move in along the canyon between the north and south hills."
"How did you organize the three tank battalions?"
"In order from north to south, the three tank battalions are organized into the first battalion, the second battalion and the third battalion. The battalion commanders of the second battalion and the third battalion will be served by the original commander; the first battalion will be under my personal command
Enter the battle." After Belly briefly reported the situation, he hesitated and said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, I called you for other reasons."
"Something else?" Sokov couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart when he heard what Bely said. He secretly said that it was less than half an hour before the attack started. If something went wrong with the tank brigade, he didn't know if there would be enough time to remedy it, so he asked quickly
Said: "Colonel Bely, what happened?"
"That's right," Bely said, seeming a little embarrassed: "Director Peter just sent over some strange tanks, and I'm considering whether to let them participate in the battle."
"A strange tank?" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned and asked: "What kind of tank?"
"A tank without a turret is equipped with a 76.2 mm cannon on the base. It only has protective armor plates around it, and the top is open like an armored personnel carrier." Bely said disapprovingly: "If such a tank is put into battle, don't say goodbye.
The enemy's anti-tank weapons hit directly, and even if a shell exploded nearby, the flying shrapnel could knock down the soldiers on the vehicle."
As soon as he heard that it was a tank without a turret, Sokov immediately remembered the drawings he had drawn for Peter. Unexpectedly, after the other party produced the bicycle train according to the drawings, he did not even give him a greeting and directly equipped the troops. But when the war started
At that moment, it was not appropriate to go to Peter to question the enemy for this matter. He said into the microphone: "Colonel Bely, the tank without a turret you are talking about is a self-propelled artillery designed by me. It is specially designed to deal with German infantry or fortifications.
However, since the protective performance is not as good as that of tanks, they must be placed at the back of the team when attacking..."
Bely and Sokov had been dealing with each other for a period of time, and naturally knew that the other party had many fantastic ideas, and even invented several weapons that were very practical on the battlefield, such as new rockets, which often made the enemy miserable.
Since Sokov has explained how to use self-propelled artillery, he said smoothly: "Okay, I will let these self-propelled artillery follow the tank battalion and wait for the right time to let them enter the battle."
"Colonel Sokov," Golikov saw Sokov put down the phone and couldn't help but curiously asked: "What is a self-propelled artillery?"
"The artillery is mounted on the base of the tank," Sokov explained: "In this way, the artillery can be extremely maneuverable like a tank."
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Golikov nodded and said: "If our army's artillery is equipped with a large number of such artillery, then it can quickly establish artillery positions at any location to bombard the enemy."
"You are right, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Regarding Golikov's statement, Ivanov immediately agreed: "If this self-propelled artillery is really as good as the division commander said, then it should be
Install artillery as quickly as possible to maximize the power of artillery."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Sokov smiled faintly after hearing Ivanov's statement, and then said: "Even if self-propelled artillery performs well on the battlefield, the artillery cannot be completely converted into execution artillery. Future artillery
The equipment will consist of traditional artillery and self-propelled artillery coexisting."
After saying these words, before Ivanov could speak, he turned around and asked Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, the battle is about to begin. Do you want to take command here or go to the top of the hill?"
What about setting up a temporary command post?”
Regarding Sokov's question, Golikov did not answer directly, but said with a smile: "Colonel Sokov, you are the one who plays the leading role today. You have the final say on where to command the troops."
Seeing that Golikov did not want to overstep his authority, Sokov did not show any pretense and directly ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately move the headquarters to the top of the hill, where we will direct the battle today."
Since Sidorin became the chief of staff, he has spent almost every battle in the headquarters. He can only understand everything that happens outside through the battle reports of his subordinates. He has long been depressed. At this moment, Sokov heard
This order was immediately agreed to without hesitation, and then communications troops were arranged to go to the top of the hill to pull telephone lines and set up antennas.
Since there are already telephone lines and communication antennas on the top of the mountain, the communications at the temporary headquarters will soon be in normal use. Along with Sokov, who went to the temporary headquarters on the top of the mountain, in addition to Golikov, Ivanov and others
In addition, even Sidorin was not left behind. This time, Sidorin finally had the opportunity to see what the battle was like with his own eyes.
As the time pointed to nine o'clock, Sokov nodded to Sidorin who was wearing headphones and holding a microphone and said: "Let's get started, Comrade Chief of Staff."
After receiving the order, Sidorin loudly agreed and said loudly into the microphone: "General Rozanovitch, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, start the bombardment!"
Less than a minute after the order was issued, rumbles of artillery were heard on the west bank of the Volga River. The artillery shells flew across the Volga River, passed Mamayev Hill, and landed accurately at the position provided by the artillery observer.
Amidst the deafening sound of artillery, the German positions in the distance were shrouded in smoke and fire.
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. When ten minutes were approaching, he called a staff officer and told him: "Immediately launch three red signal flares and let the infantry and tanks attack."
The staff officer agreed and walked towards the temporary headquarters with a flare gun, preparing to follow Sokov's order to fire three red flares to send the attacking troops into battle.
Before the staff officer could reach the door, Sokov suddenly heard Golikov sigh and say leisurely: "Oh, I still miss the days when I was the regimental commander and battalion commander, who could at least be the first to issue an attack to the troops.
Order."
Golikov's seemingly grumbling words made Sokov excited. He thought to himself: Today's counterattack is destined to be recorded in history, and the person who sent the attack signal will also leave his name in history.
Golikov is the highest-ranking commander. If he directly asks his subordinates to send the attack signal, there is no problem on the surface. But on closer inspection, it seems that he is stealing credit?
Thinking of this, Sokov decided to hand over the task of launching the signal bomb to Golikov. He quickly shouted to the staff officer who had just walked to the door: "Wait a minute!"
After the staff member stopped, Sokov quickly walked up to him, stretched out his hand to him, and said: "Give me your flare gun!"
The staff officer didn't know what Sokov wanted the flare gun for, but he still held the gun in both hands and handed it to Sokov respectfully. After taking the flare gun, Sokov directly handed the gun to Golikov and accompanied him.
He said with a smile: "Comrade, Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I think it is most appropriate for you to launch the signal flare?"
When Golikov heard what Sokov said, a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. However, he did not reach out to pick up the flare gun. Instead, he said politely: "Colonel Sokov, you are commanding the battle today."
, I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for me to pay the attack signal, right?”
"It's suitable, it couldn't be more suitable." Sidorin and Ivanov are both smart people. After hearing the conversation between Sokov and Golikov, they immediately guessed that Sokov was trying to please Golikov.
Husband, repeatedly echoed: "We all feel that it is more significant for the deputy commander of the front army to personally launch the offensive signal flares!"
Seeing that everyone agreed that he should fire the flare, Golikov pretended to refuse a few times, then took the flare gun from Sokov's hand. He stepped outside the command headquarters, raised his hand and pulled the trigger in his mouth.
trigger.
As the three red flares representing the attack took off, thousands of Guards officers and soldiers participating in the attack stood up from their hiding places and quickly formed a skirmish formation suitable for attack. They straightened their bodies and stepped forward.
At a vigorous pace, they advanced towards the German positions shrouded in fire and gunpowder smoke.
As the infantry attacked, the tank units originally parked at the rear also started to move forward along the designated route. After passing the infantry, these tanks would then form a battle formation and attack the enemy's position.
Although Sokov knew that when the German troops were bombarded, they would retreat to the second line of defense to avoid the intensive bombardment. But today's bombardment was too short, and the density of the artillery fire was not as high as expected. Once the enemy risked
If the artillery fire is left on the position for defense, your own troops may suffer heavy losses.
Sokov raised his binoculars and looked nervously at the German positions shrouded in gunpowder smoke. He was deeply afraid that enemy firepower would suddenly appear somewhere and inflict heavy damage to the troops approaching the positions. But his worries were obviously unnecessary, and he was
The bombardment position was very calm, and there were no fire points at all.
As the artillery fire extended, the tank troops at the front quickly rushed into the enemy's defense line. However, after they jumped over the trench, they stopped and stayed in place to wait for the infantry behind them.
The infantry following the tank couldn't help but cheer when they saw that the tank had occupied the first line of defense of the German army. Then, they turned from brisk walking to trotting, hoping to enter the occupied position as soon as possible. First, for
Completely occupy the enemy's position; second, eliminate those anti-tank fighters who may be hiding to ensure the safety of the tanks.
Sokov saw that some of the infantrymen who rushed into the enemy's position jumped into the trenches to search for possible enemy remnants. Others climbed onto the tank body, preparing to charge towards the enemy's second line of defense.
"Colonel Sokov," Sokov was looking through the telescope at the infantrymen boarding the vehicle in the distance. When he heard Golikov calling him from the side, he quickly put down the telescope and turned to look at him. Golikov saw Soko
The husband focused his attention on himself and said with a smile: "It seems that your troops are progressing very smoothly. The soldiers easily occupied the enemy's position without firing a shot. If you maintain this offensive,
I think tomorrow at the latest, we will be able to join forces with friendly forces heading south or north."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, please forgive me, it may be unrealistic to join forces." Sokov replied with a bitter look on his face: "At best, we can only implement a limited counterattack."
"Limited counterattack?" When Golikov heard this, he couldn't help but frowned and asked dissatisfiedly: "Colonel Sokov, why can we only carry out a limited counterattack?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, please listen to my explanation." Sokov saw Golikov's dissatisfaction and quickly explained to him: "The enemy's defense lines on the Don River and in the south have been broken through by our army.
The repulsed troops are retreating towards the city. If the enemies in front of Mamayev Heights are defeated by us and rush to join us, their strength will become stronger. With the strength of one of my divisions, we have to fight
I'm afraid it's possible to repel the same number of German troops. But if I'm asked to deal with several times or even ten times the number of enemies, please forgive me, I can't do it."
In order to make Golikov aware of the seriousness of the problem, Sokov also added: "Now, except for the reduced regiment that is sticking to the barricade factory, the other three regiments of our division are all out, and the back has become extremely empty.
If we advance too far, once the German troops attack us from the flanks, our division's retreat can be easily cut off. Not only will the troops be encircled, but Mamayev Hill may not be able to be defended either."
If Sokov hadn't mentioned Mamayev Heights, maybe Golikov would have planned to let him continue to advance and rush to the Don River to join forces with friendly forces. But after listening to Sokov's words, he thought about it.
Not many reinforcements can be sent to the left bank of the Volga River. If the German troops on the left and right sides really cut off the retreat of the 41st Guards Division, not only will the troops be in danger, but Mamayev Heights may not have much strength.
, will soon fall into the hands of the Germans.
After Golikov was silent for a while, he looked at Sokov and asked: "Colonel Sokov, I want to ask you, where do you plan to advance the new defense line?"
Sokov pointed to the map on the table and said to Golikov: "I plan to let the troops break through the German third line of defense and then switch from offense to defense. After all, we are in the same position as the enemy in terms of strength and technical equipment.
We are all at a disadvantage in comparison, so there is no need to risk the entire army's destruction by continuing to charge into the depths of the enemy's defenses."
Golikov stared at the map for a while and found that behind the enemy's third line of defense, there were ravines and canyons everywhere, which was not conducive to the deployment of armored forces. The only way to continue to advance forward was to rely on infantry. However, our own troops were comparable to the enemy's.
Compared with the enemy, we are at an obvious disadvantage. If we attack forcefully, there is indeed a danger of the entire army being destroyed.
After thinking about this, Golikov nodded towards Sokov and said: "Okay, Colonel Sokov, according to your plan, after occupying the German third line of defense, the troops will switch from offensive to offensive."