Chapter 1146 Sokov's Intentions

  The German army was worried that the town of Rockinsick would fall, so they sent troops overnight for reinforcements. By dawn, the entire force of the Imperial Division had been deployed around the town.

  For the sake of safety, Major General Val set up his division headquarters in a forest fifteen kilometers north of the town. The reason why he set up the division headquarters here is that once the town is under the strong attack of the Soviet army and unable to hold on, he can retreat to a safe area in time.

   Knowing that the enemy was making a large-scale mobilization, Sokov decided to go to the front to see for himself.

  Merkulov's headquarters is located on the edge of a forest five kilometers south of Rockinsick Town. There is a high ground here. From the observation post there, you can see the whole town clearly.

  Sokov was just at the headquarters of the division, but the staff officer yelled loudly: "The commander is here!"

  Following his shout, the busy people in the division headquarters stopped their work, straightened up one after another, and saluted Sokov who had just entered the headquarters.

Sokov hurriedly waved to everyone, gesturing for everyone to continue working, then walked towards Merkulov who was standing by the table, and greeted with a smile: "Comrade General, hello! It seems that you have survived another one." overnight."

"Comrade Commander," Merkulov replied with a smile: "I slept until midnight, and some subordinates reported to me that there was a huge noise coming from the north of the town of Rockinsik. I hurriedly sent someone to Reconnaissance, I found out that it is a large German army, which is deploying defenses in the north of the town and other places, and is about to report to you, but I didn't expect you to come first."

  After sitting down, Sokov looked at Merkulov and asked, "Comrade General, do you think the enemy will attack you?"

"According to the reconnaissance, there are not many enemies stationed in the town." Merkulov replied: "It may be that the enemy thinks that with their strength in the town, they can completely block our attack, so they did not send people to strengthen them." Defense of the town."

  After listening to Merkulov's report, Sokov tentatively asked: "Comrade General, how many troops do you think the German army that came overnight has?"

   "According to the scout's report." Merkulov replied: "I think all the troops of the Imperial Division should have reached the vicinity of the town of Rockinsik."

"Very good." After listening to the report, Sokov nodded and said, "Since the main force of the Imperial Division has arrived at the area we have designated for them, then we can blockade them and cut off the They resupply with ammunition and supplies, and then consume them little by little."

"I have given orders to the scouts," Merkulov said to Sokov: "As soon as the enemy's transport convoy is spotted, we will attack immediately. As long as they can block the enemy's convoy for half an hour, then our The Air Force will be there."

"Comrade General, your decision is very correct." After saying this, Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was still early, he asked Merkulov: "I want to go to your observation post." Look, can you come with me?"

"I'll go with you," said Sokov, when Merkulov continued: "I thought you might let the artillery fire into the town, so I ordered the commander of the artillery to wait for me there. Wait." After receiving your accurate order, I will ask the artillery regiment commander to provide the artillery with more accurate shooting parameters based on accurate observation data."

"General Merkulov, you are very thoughtful." Hearing what Merkulov said, Sokov said approvingly: "Our artillery has limited reserves of shells, which requires us to be more accurate in shooting. It seems that you have considered all the issues that should be considered, so let's go and verify the data held by the artillery commander carefully."

   When entering the observation post, the commanders and fighters staying inside quickly stood up and raised their hands to salute Sokov. Sokov nodded at them, walked quickly to the observation port, and raised his binoculars to look into the distance. Here, you can clearly see the buildings in the distant town and the barricades built in the town.

  Sokov thought to himself that all the troops of the Imperial Division had gathered near the town of Rockinsick. Even if a general attack was launched at this moment, the enemy might flee. But in doing so, it is too different from my original idea.

   "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?" Seeing that Sokov hadn't put down the binoculars for a long time, Merkulov couldn't help asking curiously, "Are you thinking about when to attack the enemy?"

  Sokov put down the binoculars, and asked Merkulov with a sideways face: "Comrade General, how sure are you that you can take the town of Rockinsick in the shortest possible time?"

Merkulov thought for a while, then shrugged his shoulders and replied: "It's hard to say. According to the normal style of play, at least one hour of artillery preparation should be carried out before the attack, and the German army should be destroyed as much as possible. Defensive positions, reduce the pressure for our next attack." Speaking of this, he pouted in embarrassment, and said rather helplessly, "But due to the limited reserves of artillery shells, the shelling of the enemy's positions should not be said for an hour. , I'm afraid it won't last even ten minutes. I think it's an impossible task to destroy the enemy's fortifications in the town with such a short bombardment.

"General Merkulov, I just took a look. Although the enemy seems to have a lot of fortifications in the town, in fact, these hastily built fortifications can play a limited role." Sokov pointed to the distance Rockinsick Town, continued: "Aren't our troops equipped with new types of rockets and bazookas? These are killers against the enemy's fortifications and firepower points. We can destroy their defenses bit by bit."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Merkulov couldn't help asking a little itchyly: "Comrade Commander, when can we launch an offensive?"

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov originally wanted to order Merkulov to attack the town again today, but then he thought, if his troops take the town of Rockinsick, the strength of the Imperial Division The deployment will become scattered, which is not conducive to sending the air force to bomb, so he changed his words and said: "If the enemy launches a counterattack to the positions south of the town, you must return these positions to the Germans."

"What, return all the positions we occupied to the Germans?" Merkulov was stunned when he heard Sokov's order, and he quickly asked: "Comrade commander, I heard correctly. Bar?"

"No, Comrade General." Sokov explained to him with a smile: "According to our plan, it is to attract the Imperial Division to gather in this area, and then dispatch the air force and ground destruction teams to cut off their supplies from the rear. The enemy's supplies are exhausted, and if we attack them again, the battle will be much easier."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov had already said this, Merkulov knew that no matter what he said, he would not be able to make the other party change his mind, so he could only say with a wry smile: "Then we will resolutely implement the plan." Your order, as soon as the enemy launches an attack, take the initiative to abandon the attack south of the town."

Sokov was worried that the enemy would see through his plot, and he specifically emphasized to Merkulov: "Comrade General, remember, don't tell the commanders and soldiers that they are really willing to retreat. I am afraid that after they know the real reason for the retreat, they will In the battle with the enemy, if we are absent-minded, our plans may be discovered by the Germans."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Merkulov quickly replied: "Please rest assured, I will definitely give the Germans the illusion that we are after a fierce battle, because we cannot stop their attacks, We had to give up the position.”

   As soon as Sokov returned to his headquarters, he received a call from Merkulov. The latter said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade Commander, the enemy dispatched a battalion of troops, and under the cover of tanks, launched a fierce attack on the position south of the town."

"Great, this is really great." Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the Germans had indeed launched an attack. He quickly said into the microphone, "You must organize resistance immediately, and you must repel the German attack. In addition, Didn’t you equip you with a special company? Let them use rocket launchers to deal with German tanks. Comrade General, you have to remember that we have eliminated one enemy tank at this moment. In the next battle, the tanks we will deal with, There will be one less car."

"Comrade Commander, please rest assured that I will resolutely repel the enemy's attack and destroy as many of their tanks as possible." Merkulov assured Sukov: "After the enemy retreats, we will fight again." Abandon the position south of town."

Vitkov heard the conversation between Sokov and Merkulov, but he was at a loss. He asked in puzzlement: "Comrade Commander, what is going on? I seem to have heard you order Merkulov General Love, are you going to give back those positions south of town to the Germans?"

   "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you heard me right." Sokov nodded and said affirmatively, "I do intend to return the position south of the town to the Germans."

"Comrade commander, why did you do this?" Lunev, who has always been in a transparent state, immediately jumped out to express his point of view when he heard Sokov say this: "If the position that our army has finally captured is really taken, Returning it to the Germans is a crime for me."

   "Comrade Military Commissar, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that both of them questioned him, Sokov looked at them and asked, "Do you know why I asked General Merkulov to abandon the position?"

   "I don't know." "I don't know." They shook their heads and replied.

"Come and see," Sokov pointed to the map and explained to the two, "If we occupy the position south of the town, the Germans will continue to attack our army in order to reduce the possibility of the town falling. Even if our army can Repelling the enemy's attack, I am afraid that there will be no small price to pay.

  Secondly, if the Germans feel that the town is in danger of falling at any time, then they will not put the main force in the town, but deploy it on the vast land north of the town. If their deployment is too scattered, I think the effect of our air force bombing will be greatly reduced. "

As Sokov's chief of staff, Witkov's understanding of the situation is naturally much better than that of Lunev, a political cadre. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he suddenly realized: "Comrade commander, I understand. You let General Merkulov's troops withdraw from the position south of the town so that the Imperial Division can build a defensive line around the town. As long as the enemy's forces are concentrated in one place, the results we can achieve by sending out bombers will be as high as possible. will be greatly improved.”

"That's right, that's exactly what it is." Sokov waited for Witkov to finish, and then continued: "Also, if the Imperial Division wants to build their defense area centered on Rockinsick Town, then it must be A lot of supplies need to be sent to the rear, and in this case, we can send out the air force to bomb their transportation lines and cut off their supply routes."

Lunev, who was belatedly aware of this, finally understood when he heard this. He smiled and said, "Comrade Commander, that's what happened. Please forgive me for misunderstanding you. I apologize for your impoliteness, please forgive me!"

   "Comrade Military Commissioner, you are too polite." Sokov waved his hand and said with a smile: "Actually, I am to blame for this matter. I did not explain it clearly to you, which led to your misunderstanding."

  Merkulov's 67th Guards Division, according to Sokov's order, fought fiercely with the counterattacking German army. After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the German army attacking the position left more than 200 corpses and five destroyed tanks in front of the position, and returned to the town in despair.

  When the commanders and fighters on the position were rejoicing because of the enemy's retreat, they received an order from the division headquarters: "Withdraw from the position immediately and return to the original offensive starting position."

  The commander who received the telegram thought that the operator had mistranslated the content. When he confirmed that the translation was correct, he was stupefied, but he, who was used to obeying, had no choice but to bite the bullet and give his soldiers an order to retreat, giving up the position that was still fighting not long ago.

  The process of the Soviet army withdrawing from the position was clearly seen by the German observation post in the town, and he quickly reported the situation to his superiors. Soon the news reached the ears of Major General Val. Knowing that the Soviet army had retreated, Major General Val couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly ordered his subordinates, "Attack immediately to occupy the positions abandoned by the Russians."

   The German commander who stood firm in the town was distressed by the fact that his attack was repelled by the Soviet army. First, he was confused when he learned that the Soviet army had withdrawn from the position, but he still truthfully reported the situation to Major General Val. At this moment, he received Major General Val's order to restore the position. He didn't dare to neglect, and hurriedly led the troops to the position in the south of the town.

  (end of this chapter)