Chapter 1758 Loopholes in defense

   "Please wait a moment, General Sokov." However, at this moment, the second lieutenant of the German army who had not spoken yet spoke up, and he asked a little nervously, "Are you going to drag us out and shoot us?"

   Sokov quickly glanced at his collar badge and military rank, and said coldly: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, you are in the Wehrmacht, not the SS, so even if you can't provide any useful information, you won't be shot."

"General Sokov," the second lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he would not be shot, and asked tentatively: "If I tell you useful news, can you give me a piece of food? After the cut-off, our rations were all reduced to varying degrees.”

Smirnov had a look of joy on his face. He approached Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, this is good news. The Germans who were besieged by our army have begun to reduce their rations. Does this mean that we will continue If the siege continues, will their officers and soldiers be so hungry that they can’t even hold up their weapons?”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation of the Germans is not as bad as we imagined." Sokov understood that Smirnov wanted to use the Battle of Stalingrad as an example, so he vaccinated the opponent in advance: "Really? It will take at least a month or two for the German officers and soldiers to be so hungry that they can’t hold their weapons. But judging from the current situation, we only need a week at most to completely wipe out the enemies in the encirclement.”

After saying this, Sokov said to the interpreter: "Comrade interpreter, you tell this second lieutenant that we can provide him with the necessary food. As for whether he provides us with information, I don't care at all, because what he knows, I know it all."

  Sokov’s question was not alarmist. He even knew the German army’s breakout plan and the route of the breakout. If relying on this kind of information to deal with the German army, it would be enough to rewrite history and wipe out or capture all the tens of thousands of people who had escaped.

After the second lieutenant of the German Army waited for the translator to finish speaking, he looked at Sokov with a calm expression. He realized that what the other party said was not his own words, and he might have really understood something. Otherwise, how would he know that the people who acted with his troops were Walloons? What about the assault brigade?

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "General Sokov, you are right, our regiment is indeed operating together with the Walloon Assault Brigade. However, according to the combat plan, they will carry out a surprise attack on Height 239 first, and wait for control After your position, our regiment will follow up to expand and consolidate the occupied positions."

  Sokov was about to order someone to take the two prisoners away, but he couldn't help being surprised when he heard what the second lieutenant said, and asked quickly, "Since the Walloon Assault Brigade took the lead, why did you switch to your regiment later?"

"General Sokov, you don't know something." The German lieutenant probably knew that the secret could no longer be concealed, so he rushed ahead of the second lieutenant and said: "The reason why our regiment replaced the Walloon Assault Brigade as the first round of attack is entirely because That shelling."

   "Bombardment?!" Hearing what the German lieutenant said, Smirnov was taken aback for a moment, and then a surprised expression appeared on his face: "You mean, our bombardment disrupted your attack plan?"

"Yes, Mr. General." The German lieutenant looked at Smirnov and said respectfully: "According to the original attack plan, the Walloon Assault Brigade will attack the 239 Heights at five o'clock in the morning, when the defenders are most scarce. A sudden attack was launched. Unexpectedly, there were still a few hours before the attack, but it was inexplicably shelled and suffered huge losses."

   "Have you suffered huge losses?" Knowing that the lurking German army suffered huge losses in the early shelling, Smirnov became more interested: "Tell me, how big is your loss?"

   "I definitely don't know the exact number of casualties at my level." The German lieutenant said carefully: "But I know that the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lipett, was seriously injured in the shelling."

   "Liput was seriously injured?" Smirnov asked impatiently, "Is this news reliable?"

   "Totally reliable." The German lieutenant nodded and said in a positive tone: "When our regiment took over the assault brigade and continued to ambush, I saw him lying on a stretcher and being carried down by several soldiers."

   "Then how did you bypass our friendly defense zone and reach near Height 239?"

"It's very simple." The German lieutenant said: "Before dark, the troops of the Walloon Assault Brigade took a surprise attack, wiped out your highland defenders in Komarovka, occupied the position there, and then our troops It went through there without a hitch."

Seeing that Smirnov continued to ask, Sokov raised his hand to stop him, and ordered the soldiers: "Take them down first, and provide them with the necessary food and water, I think they must be starving in the past two days. "

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov said to Sokov excitedly after the prisoners were taken out, "I think this should be reported to the Front Army Command immediately. The shelling we carried out a few hours ago, It not only disrupted the German attack plan, but even seriously injured the commander of the Walloon assault brigade, which is a remarkable victory."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is just one side of the story of the Germans. We have to believe it, and we can't believe it all." Regarding the blow-up of the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade who was seriously injured, Sokov expressed calmly: "I think it is better to wait. Our troops have retaken the high ground, and it is not too late to report to our superiors."

  Sokov's words made Smirnov sober. If the 239 Heights cannot be regained, even if the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade is killed, it will not help. Wanting to understand this, he nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Commander, after our army recovers Height 239, we will report this matter to our superiors."

After waiting for a few minutes, Smirnov called the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division. As soon as he heard someone say it, he went straight to the topic: "I am Smirnov, how is the situation there, take the 239 Highland down yet?"

The person who answered the phone was division commander Kurishenko. Hearing Smirnov's inquiry, he quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Chief of Staff, now part of the 124th Regiment and the remaining commanders and fighters of the 126th Regiment have rushed into the 239th Regiment. The position on the high ground is engaged in melee and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy."

When Smirnov heard this, he couldn't help frowning: "General Kurishenko, how long has it been? Why are you still fighting melee and hand-to-hand combat? When will we completely wipe out the enemies occupying our positions? "

"Comrade Chief of Staff, it's hard to say." Kurishenko said awkwardly: "You also know that the original intention of our defense line at 239 at that time was to prevent the German troops from the southwest from breaking the siege, so all the fortifications were facing South. Now it is these fortifications that have brought great obstacles to our counterattack."

"I don't want to hear your objective reasons." Without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Smirnov interrupted him and asked aggressively: "You just need to tell me how long it will take to completely retake the 239 Heights ?”

Faced with Smirnov's aggressiveness, Kurishenko hesitated for a long time, and finally gritted his molars and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, half an hour, at most another half hour, I promise to take the position out of the hands of the Germans." Take it back. If you can't do this, you can remove me from my post."

   "Okay, I'll give you another half an hour." Smirnov said forcefully, "If you still can't take the high ground by then, let your chief of staff take your place."

  After putting down the phone, he said angrily: "It's really outrageous. The counterattack has been going on for almost an hour, and the position has not yet been taken. How can he be a division commander?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, General Kurishenko cannot be entirely blamed for this incident." Sokov said with a smile: "If it was the 41st Guards Division a few months ago, most of the commanders and fighters in the division at that time had rich experience. Combat experience and excellent equipment, it may only take half an hour or even more time to recapture the 239 highlands. But now, the division has just been replenished, and most of them are recruits with little combat experience. In terms of equipment, It's also very poor, and it's not bad to be able to fight to this level. Let's wait patiently, even if they can't take the position, once the reinforcements from the 116th Infantry Division arrive, the situation will be completely changed."

Sokov is right to say this. The German army’s support on the high ground has been cut off. The two regiments of the Guards Division have fought for so long. The German army occupying the position has been almost exhausted. , it is equivalent to picking up ready-made ones.

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov waited for Sokov to finish, and suggested to him: "Although I don't know when the high ground will be recaptured, I think we should report the situation here to the Front Army Command in time. What do you think?"

"I think so." Sokov did not object to Smirnov's proposal. He nodded and said, "Now the Front Army Command only knows that our 239 Heights has been attacked by the Germans, but it is the Germans who came. Which army, what kind of force it has, and what kind of battle results we have achieved, but we don't know anything about it."

  Seeing that Sokov agreed to report to the Front Army Command, Smirnov immediately ordered the director of the Communications Corps to connect the phone.

  Sokov heard Zakharov's voice coming from the receiver, and immediately said to him: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army. I am Sokov, and I will report to you about the situation at Height 239."

   "Speak, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov opened the book, picked up the pencil and said, "I'm listening."

   "After our interrogation of the prisoners, the situation has become completely clear." Sokov said: "The German troops participating in tonight's attack are the 105th Regiment of the 72nd Infantry Division and the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade of the Viking Division..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Sokov." Before Sokov could speak, Zakharov interrupted him, "You said there is another unit that is the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade of the Viking Division?"

"yes."

   "Then can you tell me, is the enemy occupying the 239 diversion now the 105th Grenadier Regiment or the Walloon Assault Brigade?"

"It's the 105th Grenadier Regiment." Sokov replied: "According to the confession of the captives, according to their combat plan, the first round of assault troops to 239 Heights was the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade. Our shelling disrupted their deployment and caused great casualties to the brigade, even Lieutenant Colonel Lipett, the brigade commander, was seriously wounded by our army's shelling."

   "Brigade Commander Lieutenant Colonel Liputt was seriously injured in our army's shelling?" Zakharov heard this, and couldn't help raising his voice because of excitement: "Can this news be confirmed?"

"I can't confirm it at the moment." Sokov replied truthfully: "This is just the information provided by a captured lieutenant of the 105th Grenadier Regiment. Soldiers carried back to the rear."

Zakharov understood Sokov's character and knew that the other party would not talk nonsense about things he was not sure of, so he continued: "So, the shelling a few hours ago still achieved some results. "

"That's right. Although I don't know how many casualties were caused to the enemy, it did disrupt the German army's offensive steps." When Sukov mentioned this matter, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. If the German army that attacked first was not the 105th grenadier The Corps, but the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade, let alone the loss of the high ground, I am afraid that the opponent will rush down the mountain in one breath and attack from behind the 124th regiment, which will cause the entire defense line of the 41st Guards Division to collapse. "Although the high ground has not been completely recaptured, the enemy occupying the position has been isolated from their rear by our army's artillery fire, and cannot receive the slightest supplement. I believe that it will not be long before we can completely wipe out the enemy on the high ground. enemy."

Zakharov gave a soft "um", and then raised his own doubts: "I want to know how the Germans bypassed the defense line of the 5th Guards Airborne Division and arrived at the What about the ones near Highland 239?"

   "According to the confession of the captives," Sokov continued: "The Walloon Assault Brigade used a surprise attack to occupy the high ground of the friendly army in Komarovka before dark, and their troops passed through there."

"This is impossible." Zakharov yelled loudly when he heard this: "If our army's position is lost, we will definitely get a report, but so far, I have not received any information. Comrade Sokov, Tell me, are the captives lying, just to make us misjudge?"

"I don't think this possibility is great." Sokov rejected Zakharov's speculation, and cautiously put forward his own point of view: "Could it be that the Germans' raid speed was too fast? We are in Komarov The defenders on Kaheu were wiped out by the enemy before they even sent out a signal?"

Regarding Sokov's guess, Zakharov thought for a while, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, the possibility you mentioned exists. I think I need to contact the 5th Guards Airborne Division immediately, and see if there is any possibility." Is the highland at Marovka still in our hands?"

"This is exactly as it should be, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov said: "If the highlands of Komarovka are controlled by the Germans, then more troops will pass there, continuously passing through the friendly defense lines. , to advance to the position of 239 Heights, and I worry that the 3rd Armored Army outside the encirclement will actively act and give us an inside and outside attack, so as to rescue the besieged troops."

   "Comrade Sokov, what you said makes sense. If the highlands of Komarovka are really occupied by the German army, it would be a loophole in our army's defense. If it is not blocked in time, it may lead to catastrophe."

  (end of this chapter)