Chapter 1161 Departure Northward

Two days later, Sokov took a group of forty officers of all levels selected by himself, as well as Sergei's guard company, to form a convoy of five jeeps and eight trucks, and headed towards the steppe front army. direction forward.

Before setting off, Sokov gathered all the accompanying commanders and fighters and said to them: "Comrades, from now on, we are no longer a member of the Sixth Army. We are about to go to a new unit and accept new operations Task.

  Our current location is more than 1,600 kilometers away from our destination. Even by car, I am afraid it will take three or four days. Although most of the areas along the route are within the control of our army, no one can guarantee whether they will encounter small groups of enemy troops along the way. Therefore, the guard company responsible for the security work must be vigilant at all times to avoid being attacked by the enemy. "

  After Sokov finished speaking, he ordered the commanders and fighters to board the vehicle. Taking advantage of the time when the commanders and fighters got into the car, he called Sergey Sha aside and said to him: "Sergesha, I think you have heard what I just said. The journey to the grassland front this time is not peaceful. Everyone’s safety depends on you.”

   "Don't worry, Misha." Seryozha said carefreely: "Our army is controlling everything along the way. Even if there is a small German army, as long as we persist for a while, the surrounding reinforcements will come to support us."

  After receiving Sergey's guarantee, Sokov felt more at ease. Back in the car, he said to Belkin who had been sitting in the car long ago: "Comrade my political commissar, this time we went to a new unit, and the two of us can work together again."

Hearing what Sokov said, Belgin grinned and replied: "Misha, I think I am still suitable to be a military officer to command troops in battle. As for the political cadres, let Konev The general will assign you another."

  After the convoy set off, Belkin suddenly asked again: "Misha, I'm very curious, why did you think of going to another army?"

  Sokov stared at Belkin, his mind was spinning at a high speed, he was thinking about what reason to use to answer Belkin's question. After thinking for a while, he said, "Comrade Belkin, you should know that the tactics I use on the battlefield are different from those of other commanders."

  Belkin nodded, and then said encouragingly: "Go on."

"The reason why my infantry brigade was able to persist for so long on Mamayev Post was entirely because I mastered the tactics I used." Sukov said: "But since the merger with the 41st Guards Division , Many of my tactics are difficult to implement on the battlefield."

"Misha, you are right." Belkin nodded in agreement when he heard this, "Because the army is busy fighting every day, there is no time for training, let alone implementing your tactics to every company. .”

"I served as the commander of the Sixth Army not long ago, but the only units that can obey my command are the 41st, 67th, 71st and 75th Guards Divisions." Sokov continued: "The division commanders of these divisions I used to fight side by side with me, and I know what kind of effect my tactics play on the battlefield. However, the new troops have some obedience to my orders, and they have come here for a long time, and there is still a lack of adaptation between them. Therefore, the number of troops belonging to the group army has increased, but the combat effectiveness has not been significantly improved.

  The reason why I asked to go to General Konev's Steppe Front Army was because that army had just been formed, and it would take a long time to train before it could be put into battle. "Sokov said: "Now the fighting on the Red Army Village-Donetsk line has basically stopped. Whether I am there or not will not have much impact on the situation of the enemy and ourselves.

   On the contrary, if I am in a new army at this moment, I will pass on my tactics to those new commanders and fighters who join the army. During their usual training, they can subtly learn my tactics and use them naturally in battle. "

  After Sokov's explanation, Belkin finally understood the reason why Sokov asked to go to the Steppe Front Army. He nodded and said: "Misha, you have considered everything thoroughly. If you want to implement your tactics into the army, it is best to start with recruit training. Our previous troops are all soldiers who have participated in many battles." Veterans, they are still accustomed to using the old tactics. And we have to fight every day, so there is no time to train them, so that even if they become your subordinates, I am afraid that they will not be able to improve their combat effectiveness."

  For safety reasons, the first night of camping, Sokov ordered the convoy to stop in a small town where friendly troops were stationed. As long as there are troops stationed here, the possibility of being attacked by the German army is relatively small.

Seryozha kept Sokov's advice in mind. He knew that there was a company of friendly troops stationed in the town, but for safety reasons, he still set up double guards around the camp. Patrol all around.

   Nothing to say all night.

  Sokov woke up the next day, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he learned that the night was safe and sound. You must know that the forty commanders who went with him this time all have rich combat and command experience. If there are some mistakes on the way and one or two casualties, Sokov's heart will bleed.

Before the troops set off again, Sokov stopped Sergey Sha and said to him: "Sergesha, the area ahead was still occupied by the German army half a month ago. You send a car to explore the road ahead. If If there is any situation, you can inform the rear in time."

   "Okay," Seryozha quickly agreed, "I'll send a truck to open the way ahead. Even if they encounter a small group of enemies, they can fully handle it."

  The convoy set off, and the truck sent by Seriosha to open the road was driving two kilometers in front of the entire convoy.

  After driving less than five kilometers, the second lieutenant, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, saw a tree lying down on the road ahead, blocking the road tightly. He hurriedly ordered the driver to stop, opened the door casually, stood on the pedal and shouted at the soldiers in the car: "Machine gun, be careful, there may be enemies nearby."

  The machine gunner sitting in the carriage heard the second lieutenant's shout, and quickly agreed, and put the machine gun on the top of the bridge. Unexpectedly, as soon as the machine gun was set up, a bullet flew out from the forest on the side of the road, penetrated into his right temple, and flew out of his left temple with blood foam. After the machine gunner's body paused for a few seconds, he slid into the carriage.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!" Seeing that their comrades were killed by a bullet, the soldiers in the carriage immediately understood that they were hiding from German snipers in the forest on the side of the road, and hurriedly held the weapons in their hands and moved towards the enemy. The direction the bullets might come from was a random shot.

   But as soon as their gunfire stopped, another bullet flew out of the forest and hit the second lieutenant standing on the step. The second lieutenant held his chest, shook his body a few times, and then rolled from the car to the ground with a plop.

Seeing the second lieutenant was shot and fell down, the soldiers in the carriage didn't care to check his life or death, so they let go of the baffle, jumped out of the car, and rushed into the forest in groups with weapons in hand, looking for the man who hid inside and shot coldly. enemy.

  The following convoy stopped immediately when they heard the sudden gunshots ahead. Sokov listened attentively for a moment, then ordered someone to call Seryozha, and asked, "Seryozha, what happened in front?"

  Seryozha quickly reported: "It seems to have been approached by the enemy."

"Comrade Captain," Belkin said to Seryozha, "I listened carefully. Basically, our army was shooting, but the enemy didn't seem to fight back. According to my estimation, the one who attacked our army may be the enemy's. Sniper."

"What, a sniper?" Seryozha was startled into a cold sweat when he heard Belkin say that. He clearly remembered that two months ago, Colonel Ivanov, the deputy commander of the 41st Guards Division, , was encountered by a German sniper and died unfortunately. Now Sokov and a group of excellent commanders of the Guards Division are here. If snipers come over and kill one or two of them, then the problem will be serious.

  Thinking of this, Seriosha quickly ordered two platoons of troops to set up a cordon on both sides of the road, while he led two guard squads to reinforce the vanguard of the attack.

The commander staying here is Lieutenant Samoilov. Based on his rich experience, he clearly knows that if the cordon is only placed on the edge of the road, then the German snipers hiding in the forest can still attack calmly. Purpose. So he ordered a group of five people to advance deep into the forest, at least one hundred and fifty meters away from the road. As a result, the German snipers had to retreat to the depths of the forest. As long as the distance was far, the sniper effect would be greatly reduced.

  The convoy was attacked by two German snipers, one of whom killed the machine gunner and the second lieutenant on the leading vehicle, in order to attract the attention of the Soviet army so as to cover the other companion and sniper the important target on the vehicle behind.

  But what the German snipers didn't expect was that a Soviet lieutenant actually ordered the soldiers serving as guards to search deep into the forest in groups of five. In order to prevent being found, the German snipers could only retreat to the depths of the forest step by step. He found a suitable location, observed the distance between himself and the road, and found that it was more than 400 meters away. And there are many trees in the middle, even if you see the target, the chance of shooting the target is extremely low.

  After weighing the stakes, he felt that there was no need to use his own life, but carried out a sniper operation with almost zero success rate. So he came out of his hiding place and ran further into the forest, gun in hand.

   Seryozha led two squads of soldiers, joined the soldiers in the front car, and searched the forest carefully. Since the snow in the forest has not completely melted, the footprints left by the German snipers can be clearly seen. Fearing that the snipers left behind would become hidden dangers in the future, Sergesha personally led more than twenty soldiers and chased them into the forest.

  The sniper who was being chased saw that he could not escape, so he hid on the spot, and relied on his superb shooting calculations to snipe and kill the Soviet soldiers who were chasing him. With the sound of gunshots, the soldiers around Seryozha kept falling down, but fortunately, Seryozaghi had his own nature, and none of the bullets fired by the sniper hit him.

   Seryosha found the sniper hiding behind a tree only more than 30 meters away from him, and immediately took an assault rifle and fired at him. The first bullet hit a place two or three meters away from the sniper. The sniper didn't even blink his eyelids, and continued to lock on to the soldiers who were chasing him and shoot.

  According to the sniper's understanding, it is impossible for the opponent's gun to fire continuously, and it is not too late for him to move his position after hitting a target. But he never dreamed that what Seryozha was holding in his hand was an assault rifle he had never seen before. Its shooting speed was similar to that of a submachine gun, but its shooting accuracy was comparable to that of a rifle.

  By the time the sniper realized that he had made a mistake in his judgment, Seryosha had already fired more than a dozen bullets in a row, and two of them hit the sniper's face impartially. The sniper's head burst open like a ripe watermelon.

  After killing the sniper, Seryozha did not come out of the hiding place immediately. He was worried that there would be Germans hiding in other places. After lying on the ground for a while, after making sure that there was no movement, he carefully walked up to the killed sniper with a gun in his hand, and searched for him.

  In order to kill this sniper, the Soviet army paid the price of eleven people, which made Seriosha very distressed. You must know that the soldiers of the guard company have all been born and died with themselves. They did not die on the battlefield, but fell to the snipers of the German army.

  Sokov's convoy quickly caught up from behind. Seeing the corpses lined up on the side of the road, Sokov felt very sad. He quickly ordered Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, you lead a squad and bury the remains of these soldiers. Remember, we must make a record so that we can find their burial place after the war is over." .”

  The convoy continued to set off, and Sokov felt particularly heavy when he thought of those sacrificed soldiers. He said to Belkin who was sitting beside him: "Comrade Comrade, we used snipers to eliminate thousands of German soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad. Now the Germans have learned how to use the same tactics to deal with them. us."

  After what happened today, Belkin became worried about Sokov's safety. He said cautiously: "Misha, when we camp tonight, you can ask if the garrison has any armored vehicles?"

   "Armored vehicles?" Sokov asked puzzled, "What do you need armored vehicles for?"

   "For your safety, I think you should take an armored vehicle." Belkin said solemnly: "If something really happens to you, it will be a huge irreparable loss to our army."

  Hearing what Belkin said, Sokov couldn't help laughing: "Comrade my political commissar, you are exaggerating too much. I am just a small major general. Can I still play a role in controlling the situation of the battle?"

"Misha, you are so humble." Belkin said: "I used to be your partner, and I know your abilities better than anyone else. Your role alone can block several divisions. Your It exists, and it does have the possibility to change the situation on the battlefield.”

  (end of this chapter)