Chapter 2222

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin lost his confidence when he heard Lunev say this. He tentatively asked Sokov, "Do you want to transfer the headquarters?"

  Sokov knew very well that Lunev's worries were not unfounded. If the German army really succeeded in breaking through the defense line of the 109th Infantry Brigade, it would only take half an hour to rush outside the headquarters. But now there are not many direct troops around the headquarters. If the Germans rush over, it may be difficult to stop them.

  However, it is still uncertain whether the Germans will fight over. If the headquarters is transferred in a hurry, it may have a negative impact on the morale and morale of the troops. It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov gave up his plan to transfer. He picked up the phone, dialed a number and said, "I am Sokov. Let Captain Koshkin come to me."

   A few minutes later, Koshkin hurried into the command post, came to Sokov, straightened his body and waited for the next order.

"Comrade Captain," Sokov said to Koshkin, "we have just received news that the Germans are attacking the defense zone of the 109th Brigade. Since we do not know the specific strength of the enemy, although we have sent troops to reinforce them, we have not I can assure you that we can stop the enemy's attack. Therefore, I order you to lead two companies of troops to find a suitable location outside the headquarters, build fortifications, and block the enemy who may rush over."

   "Understood." Koshkin didn't talk nonsense. After agreeing loudly, he turned and walked outside, preparing to deploy troops to protect the safety of the headquarters.

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin looked at Koshkin's leaving back and said with great concern: "Can the enemy's attack be blocked with just two companies?"

"Calm down, Comrade Chief of Staff, please stay calm." Sokov said to Sidolin: "You have to trust Captain Koshkin and the combat effectiveness of the guards of the headquarters. I believe that even if the Germans break through the defense line of the 109th Brigade , rushing towards us, Koshkin can also lead the soldiers to block them."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov was so confident, Sidolin couldn't say anything more, so he could only bite the bullet and said, "Then we will stay and continue working."

  Ten minutes later, the phone on the desk rang again. Sokov grabbed the microphone: "I'm Sokov."

  "Misha." Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "I heard that your place has been attacked by the Germans, which has threatened the safety of the headquarters? How is the situation now, do you need to transfer?"

"Comrade Marshal." Hearing that it was Rokossovsky's call, Sokov said hastily: "The battle is still going on, and the location of the headquarters is still very safe. I don't think there is any need to move it. I believe that my subordinates will do everything possible to stop the German attack."

   "The enemy appeared too suddenly." Rokossovsky said: "You don't have many troops there. I think you should send two infantry regiments and a tank brigade to support you from the troops directly under the Front Army."

  Sokov's words of refusal reached his lips, and he swallowed them back. Although he felt that it was unlikely that the German army would hit his headquarters, he was not afraid of 10,000 or 10,000, so he would not refuse the active assistance provided by Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, Thank you very much. With your help, I believe that the German attack will be completely repulsed by us in a short time."

   After finishing the call with Rokossovsky, Sokov personally connected the 109th Brigade Headquarters. As soon as he heard Sukharev's voice, he asked straight to the point: "Comrade Major, how is the situation there? Have you figured out the strength of the German army?"

"Comrade Commander," Sukharev replied, "I have figured it out. The enemy attacking our brigade's position is the German 170th Infantry Division. They have just gone through a long march of more than two hundred kilometers and found that our defense is weak. The lot, so they launched a surprise attack on us."

After figuring out the number of the German army, Sokov felt more confident. What he was most worried about was that the troops fought with the enemy for several hours, and he couldn't even figure out who the opponent was. He then asked: "One Who owns the position of the Second Battalion now?"

  But Sukharev didn't answer himself. Seeing that the other party didn't speak, Sokov felt somewhat dissatisfied, so he raised his voice: "Comrade Major, why don't you speak?"

Sukharev was still silent for a while before he said: "Comrade Commander, the positions of the first and second battalions have been occupied by the Germans, and the third and fourth battalions and the reinforcements who came here are fighting with the enemy, trying to occupy the positions. Take it back from the hand of the enemy."

Hearing what Sukharev said, Sokov realized that the fighting situation there might be more tragic than he imagined, paused for a moment, and then asked: "Besides the enemy attacking you, have you found any other enemies? "

   "According to scout reports, there seems to be a large German army three or four kilometers away from us." Sukharev said: "But they didn't launch an attack, and they seemed to be waiting for something."

   "Send someone to monitor them closely, and report to me in time if there is any situation."

Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidolin and Lunev: "The number of the German army attacking the 109th Brigade's position has been clarified. It is the 170th Infantry Division. In addition to this unit, a few kilometers away from our army's position, there are also There are a large number of German troops. But they did not participate in the attack on the 109th Brigade, it seems that they are waiting for something."

   "What are they waiting for?" After repeating Sokov's words, Lunev asked puzzledly, "What are they waiting for?"

   After staring at the map for a while, Sokov slapped the table with his hand, "I see! What are the Germans waiting for?"

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked in surprise, "what are they waiting for?"

"Chief of Staff, look here." Sokov pointed to the side of the 109th Brigade's defense area, and said to Sidolin: "The artillery of the Army Group is deployed in this area, including the Cannon Regiment, Howitzer Regiment, Guards Rocket Battalion, etc. Wait for the unit. Think about it, if the German army rushed here, took away our artillery positions, and used the captured artillery to deal with us, what kind of losses would it cause us?"

After hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin was shocked into a cold sweat: "Yes, the artillery unit of the group army is indeed located near the 109th brigade. If the German army breaks through the position of the 109th brigade, it will rush directly to the artillery. If they are stationed, a large number of artillery pieces will be seized. If these artillery pieces are turned around and fired at us, it will cause us huge casualties.”

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, that is indeed the case." Sokov picked up the phone on the table: "I want to call General Potapov and remind him to pay attention to this problem and make preparations in advance, so as not to Caught off guard by the Germans."

"General Potapov, this is Sokov." When the artillery command got through, Sokov said to Potapov who answered the phone: "Now there is a large German army near your artillery station. According to my judgment, you will be their targets next. So you must mobilize everyone and take precautions so that you will not be caught off guard when the enemy starts to attack."

"Comrade Commander," Potapov waited for Sokov to finish, and replied: "When the sound of gunfire came from the 109th Brigade's position, I realized that the enemy might have launched an attack on our army's position, so The battle alert was issued immediately. Most of our artillerymen are now ready to fire, waiting for your order, and can immediately fire on the enemy."

   Knowing that Potapov has ordered the artillery to prepare for shooting, Sokov seemed a little hesitant: "General Potapov, ordered the artillery to fire at night, won't you accidentally injure your own people?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Potapov said confidently: "We have already set up the shooting elements in this area, and we only need to shoot towards the area where the enemy may gather. Worried about accidentally hurting someone else."

"That's good." Hearing what Potapov said, Sokov hoped again, and he quickly said into the microphone: "You immediately contact Major Sukharev, the commander of the 109th brigade, and ask him to help you. The artillery provides the shooting parameters, and then you cover the German army's assembly point with artillery fire to destroy the enemy's vital forces as much as possible."

"That's all right now." Sidolin heard the conversation between Sokov and Potapov, heaved a sigh of relief, and said: "As long as the artillery can cover the German army's assembly point with firepower, no matter how many enemies there are With our strength, we can all beat them to pieces."

"That's right." Sokov agreed with Sidolin's statement: "Now we don't know how many troops the enemy has, so we can only send troops to the area where the fighting takes place. But what I worry about is that the Germans The attack in a certain area is just a feigned attack, which is to attract our vital forces there, and when the forces in other places become weak, they will attack our key troops by surprise, causing us huge losses.

Right now, according to General Potapov's proposal, directly bombard the assembly point of the German troops. This will not only cause them huge casualties, but also disrupt their offensive rhythm, thus making the situation on the battlefield more favorable to our army. direction of development. "

  The next development of the situation, just as Sokov expected, was to develop in a direction favorable to the Soviet army.

The German army near the defense area of ​​the 48th Army had two infantry divisions in total. Among them, the 170th Infantry Division dispatched a regiment to launch a surprise attack on the defense area of ​​the 109th Brigade, while the two regiments of the 170th Division and the other The infantry division has been staying on standby a few kilometers away, ready to launch an attack by surprise when there is a loophole in a certain defense area while the Soviet army is mobilizing. But what they didn't expect was that the fighter planes did not wait, but waited for the overwhelming artillery fire, and tens of thousands of German troops were immediately enveloped by the artillery fire.

  Being caught off guard by Soviet artillery fire, a German unit suddenly fell into chaos. The officers and soldiers ran around like headless flies, running here for a while, and running there for a while. Many people's minds are blank, and they run wherever they see there are many people. It seems that only in this way can they find a sense of security.

   After just five minutes, the German army lost at least nearly two regiments in artillery fire. The remaining German officers and soldiers took advantage of the shortcomings of the artillery's inability to observe at night, and escaped from the area covered by the artillery fire. The German officers and soldiers who had escaped from the sky had completely lost their organizational system at this moment. Where did they have the courage to stay here, they fled in the direction they came from.

  The troops sweeping behind were scattered and fled by a burst of artillery fire from the Soviet army. The German army attacking the 109th brigade's position would definitely be affected. Seeing that his main force was driven away by Soviet artillery fire, the German commander felt that if he stayed, he might not escape the fate of the entire army, so he hurriedly ordered his troops to withdraw from the battle. Seeing that the retreat route had been cut off by the artillery fire of the Soviet army, the commander of the German army did not want his remnants to become artillery fire, so he chose to retreat to the northeast. This is the blind spot of the artillery fire. Although he rushed to join the main force, he would take some detours, at least to be safe much.

  As soon as the German army retreated, the Soviet army quickly recovered its lost positions.

   Seeing that the lost position had been regained, Sukharev immediately called Sokov to ask whether he would send troops to pursue it.

"No need, Comrade Major." But Sokov rejected his proposal: "It's still night, and visibility is limited. We don't know how many troops the German army has. If you see them retreating, rush to pursue them. Once they set up an ambush on the way, it will cause us huge losses. What you have to do now is to treat the wounded, strengthen the position, and prevent the Germans from counterattacking."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Sukharev quickly replied, "I will immediately follow your instructions."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidolin after putting down the phone, "The enemy attacking the 109th Brigade's position has already begun to retreat. I ordered Major Sukharev to organize rescue of the wounded and reinforce the fortifications to prevent the Germans from attacking the 109th Brigade. possible counterattack."

"This arrangement is correct." Sidolin said: "Although our bombardment caused some casualties to the enemy, they will definitely make a comeback after dawn. If you don't hurry up to repair the fortifications, wait for the enemy When the offensive begins, our army may pay a greater price."

  Sokov heard what Sidolin said, didn't speak, but nodded slightly, thinking to himself: The German army's successful sneak attack this time may have something to do with the commander's thinking of underestimating the enemy. You must know that the German army used a regiment to make a surprise attack, and there must be some movement in advance, but the sentinels on duty at night did not find out in advance, and as a result, the troops were caught off guard by the German army's sneak attack.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidolin: "Before dawn, you should find out the cause and effect of this battle, as well as the losses suffered by our army. After making a summary, report it to the entire group army, Remind all commanders to pay attention, don't think that we have mastered the initiative on the battlefield, so that we have the idea of ​​underestimating the enemy. You know, even if the Germans are wounded beasts, if they bite people hard, it will hurt. Understand? "

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sidolin nodded and said, "I will definitely investigate the cause and effect of this battle, and tell the lessons of this matter to the commanders at all levels of the group army, so as to prevent everyone In battle, make similar mistakes again."

  (end of this chapter)