Chapter 270 Air Support

  The German attack was repelled, which is certainly a gratifying thing, but Sokov was not happy because he knew very well that it was only the vanguard of the German army that was defeated. Not to mention just repelling them, even if they are completely wiped out, with the current strength of the German army, one or two divisions can be dispatched soon. With the cooperation of planes, tanks, and artillery, they are enough to wipe out My newly-built infantry brigade, which has more than 6,000 people, but is strong in the outside world, has been crushed to pieces.

  Andre found that Sokov was a little unhappy, and asked inexplicably: "Comrade Brigadier, we have crushed the German attack. Why do you look a little unhappy?"

   "The Germans have suffered such a big loss, and they will definitely not let it go. I am worried that they will make a comeback soon." Sokov said with a serious expression: "I am worried that it will be difficult for us to stop the enemy's attack."

"Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier Commander." It may be that he had just repelled the German attack, and Andre seemed confident: "Since we can repel their attack once, then we are confident to repel their second and third attacks." Three strikes."

Sokov glanced at Andrei, whose confidence was beginning to swell, and said to himself: You repelled two German attacks today, but the casualties of the troops are close to 700. If you continue to fight like this, it will take less than two days. The Third Battalion should be abolished. However, in order not to dampen the opponent's enthusiasm, he still said euphemistically: "In the just-concluded battle, Alitai's tank company lost four tanks, so we only have thirteen tanks left. If the Germans dispatched If the armored divisions come to attack, even with their assistance, it will be difficult for you to hold the position in the east of the city."

   "Comrade Brigadier, in addition to the tank company, don't we have an artillery company?" Andrei looked at Sokov and said, "Our artillery company also played a big role in the battle just now."

"We only have one artillery battery," Sokov said with a straight face: "They not only provide you with artillery support, but if other directions are attacked by the enemy, they also need to provide support for the comrades who are standing there. The enemy knows that we have artillery, and will definitely try to eliminate it, so I will not use artillery lightly unless it is a last resort.”

   "Comrade Battalion Commander, Comrade Battalion Commander!" The two were talking when an officer suddenly broke in from the outside. The officer originally wanted to report the situation to Andre, but when he came in, he found that Sokov was also here. He couldn't help hesitating, not knowing who to report to.

Fortunately, Andrei saw his embarrassment and said to him: "Lieutenant Guchakov, since Comrade Brigadier Commander is here, report to him if you have anything to do." He introduced to Sokov, "Comrade brigade commander, the lieutenant was not long after he was rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp. I think he has rich command experience, so I made him the commander of the third company."

  Andrei thought that he would be criticized by Sokov for appointing Guchakov as the company commander privately. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sokov just nodded, and said to Guchakov expressionlessly: "Comrade lieutenant, tell me, what's the matter?"

   "That's right," Guchakov replied in a panic, "Our company has captured more than 30 prisoners, including seven or eight wounded. I would like to ask the battalion commander for instructions on how to deal with them?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, we don't have the ability to take prisoners for the time being, and those wounded will waste our precious medicine." Hearing about this, Andre's face flashed a trace of displeasure: "Shoot them all immediately Lose."

"Yes!" Guchakov may have had enough of the uselessness of the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camp, and when he heard Andrei's order, he readily agreed: "I will go back immediately and let the soldiers put these damned **** to death." All the elements were shot."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Lieutenant." Seeing Guchakov turning around to leave the command post, Sokov stopped him behind him. Then he turned to Andre and said, "Captain Andre, we cannot shoot these German prisoners."

   "Comrade Brigadier, how can we let them go?" Hearing what Sokov said, Andrei immediately became impatient: "If they go back there, they will take up arms and fight us again..."

"Okay, Comrade Captain, you don't need to say anything." Sokov raised his hand to stop Andrei before he finished speaking: "Even if we shoot these German prisoners, it won't have much impact on the enemy's strength. On the contrary, the German commanders can use this to make a fuss, saying that as long as they fall into our hands, they will be shot, thus forcing the German soldiers to fight us. If we put these German soldiers back, they They will tell their companions that it is just a rumor that we are going to shoot the prisoners. In this way, when the situation is not good for them in the future, the enemy may choose to surrender instead of fighting us to the end."

  After Sokov’s explanation, both Andrei and Guchakov suddenly realized, and quickly nodded and said: “Comrade Brigadier, you are right, we will release the German prisoners.”

  Many of the soldiers of the third company came from prisoner-of-war camps, and their hatred of the Germans was stronger than anyone else. Therefore, before Guchakov went to ask Andre for instructions, he specially selected a dozen soldiers rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp, and a sergeant led them to take care of the German prisoners of war. All executions will be carried out by these soldiers, giving them a chance to avenge their hatred.

  The soldiers thought that these captives would be shot sooner or later, so they were naturally not polite to them. If they were a little displeased, they would punch and kick the captives who dared not fight back until their noses and faces were bruised. Seeing Guchakov trotting all the way back, the sergeant leading the team hurried up to meet him and asked, "Comrade company commander, should we shoot them all?"

  Unexpectedly, Guchakov shook his head and said unexpectedly: "Let them all go!"

"What, let them all go?" Guchakov's words not only surprised the sergeant, but even the soldiers on the side thought they had heard it wrong, and they gathered around and asked, "Comrade company commander, why did you let them go?" Lost? Have you forgotten how they treated us in the prisoner-of-war camp?"

Hearing his subordinates mention the prisoner-of-war camp, Guchakov, who had suffered humiliation and torture in it, involuntarily put his hands on the holster around his waist. He wished he could immediately draw out his pistol and capture the group of German soldiers in front of him. kill them all. Fortunately, his rationality overcame his impulse. He removed his hand from the holster, and then told his subordinates: "This is an order from the brigade commander. Let go of all the prisoners immediately, and execute the order!"

  The Soviet Army is a unit that strictly obeys orders. Even if they know that the orders of their superiors are wrong, they will execute them without hesitation. Although these soldiers were full of hatred for the Germans, they heard that it was the order of the brigade commander, so they stepped forward and loosened the ropes on the Germans' wrists, then spit at them and said, "Go away, **** Germans!" Guys, go back to your own people."

  The German prisoners who thought they were going to die could not help being stunned when they saw that the Soviet soldiers not only did not kill themselves, but loosened the rope for themselves. Due to the language barrier, they could only hear the Soviet soldiers cursing themselves, but they couldn't understand what the other party said.

Fortunately, Guchakov learned a few words from the German soldiers in the prisoner-of-war camp. He first took out a piece of black bread from his backpack and threw it at a German soldier kneeling in front of him. Then he took out a first-aid kit and threw it at a German soldier kneeling in front of him. A wounded German soldier lying on the ground finally gritted his molars and said in blunt German: "You guys are lucky, if you don't shoot, get out!"

The German prisoners understood Guchakov's non-standard German, but they still stayed where they were and didn't dare to move, fearing that Guchakov was lying to them. Shoot at them. Seeing the Germans squatting on the ground without moving, Guchakov kicked a prisoner to the ground and shouted loudly, "Get out!"

  The German prisoners confirmed that Guchakov really wanted to let them go. After thanking them quickly, they picked up the wounded and ran towards the east.

Seeing the German prisoners going away, the sergeant said somewhat unconvinced: "Comrade company commander, I don't understand why the German prisoners were released. Don't you know that after they go back, they will pick up weapons again and attack us?" ?"

"I understand!" Guchakov yelled at the sergeant: "Did I suffer less than you in the prisoner-of-war camp? Don't I want to shoot all the German prisoners I caught?" The sergeant saw Gu Tsarkov got angry, and quickly shut his mouth obediently.

Seeing that the sergeant was silent, Guchakov sighed and said: "Comrade Brigadier said that even if we shoot all these prisoners, it will have no effect on the Germans. On the contrary, the Germans can take advantage of this matter." Come to make a fuss that we will shoot all the prisoners we take, so that their soldiers will have to fight me to the death. But today we put the prisoners back, and these rumors will be self-defeating, understand?"

  Although the soldiers still had pimples in their hearts, since the company commander said so, even if they wanted to object, it was useless. They could only bite the bullet and reply: "Understood, comrade company commander!"

   Rokossovsky, who was far away in the direction of Yelets, also became anxious after learning that the enemy had begun to attack Kursk. He asked Malinin: "Chief of Staff, where is the 7th Tank Army, and how long will it take for them to reach Kursk?"

Malinin quickly pointed to the map and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, according to Major General Rotmistrov's report, his Seventh Tank Army is still 70 kilometers away from Kursk. If the road If the situation is good, they will be able to reach Kursk in just one day and night. But..."

   "But what?" Rokossovsky asked with some displeasure: "Can't they rush to Kursk tomorrow?"

"I find it very difficult." Ma Linin replied dryly: "On their way forward, there are forests and swamps everywhere, which restrict their movements. And there are many tanks along the way that have broken down, requiring professionals to carry out Maintenance, in their current state, even if they arrive at Kursk, it may be difficult to join the battle immediately."

  Seeing that Rotmistrov's tank army is hopeless, Rokossovsky can only retreat to the next best thing: "Where are the reinforcements sent by the headquarters?"

"According to the information I have, they have arrived at Yelets at noon today." Malinin reported to Rokossovsky: "Two infantry divisions can rush to Chur in two days through forests and swamps." sk; for tank brigades and artillery units, at least twice as long.”

   "Chief of Staff, that is to say:" Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, staring at the map and said: "Sokov's 73rd Infantry Brigade will not receive any reinforcements within two days?"

   "That's right, Comrade Commander." Ma Linin nodded and replied affirmatively, "That's exactly the case."

After staring at the phone in front of him for a while, Rokossovsky shook the handle decisively a few times, then picked up the receiver and put it to his ear, and said to the microphone: "I am Rokossovsky, immediately Get me Major General Krasovsky, commander of the 2nd Air Force Army."

The phone was quickly connected, and when he heard Krasovsky's voice coming from the receiver, Rokossovsky immediately said: "Comrade General, judging from the current situation, the German army will attack Kursk. Attack, I hope you can dispatch the air force to provide air support to the troops standing there!"

Krasovsky didn't know that Sokov's troops had occupied Kursk. Hearing what Rokossovsky said now, he couldn't help asking in surprise: "Comrade Commander, isn't that an enemy-occupied area? How can there be our troops?"

"Our troops went deep into the enemy's rear two days ago and captured Kursk." Rokossovsky said briefly: "The enemy is unwilling to lose this city and is gathering troops to try to take it back. Our troops in the city The defenses are weak, and your air force will be needed to support them in order to hold the city."

   After figuring out what was going on, Krasovsky immediately stated: "Understood, Comrade Commander. Tomorrow morning, I will dispatch the air force to provide air support to the troops standing in Kursk."

After Rokossovsky and Krasovsky discussed the matter of air support, they put down the phone and called Malinin to him, and said to him: "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov that we will meet tomorrow." Provide him with air support, let him do everything possible, and also hold Kursk, and absolutely never let the city fall into German hands again."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin immediately beamed with joy: "I think Misha is more determined to stick to Kursk after hearing the good news. I'll send him a telegram right away." , inform him of the news."

  (end of this chapter)