Chapter 848 Countermeasures

As early as the German convoy began to enter the No. 4 factory building, it was discovered by Briski. He held up his binoculars to observe for a while, then called Major Savage, the commander of the artillery regiment, and said to him: "Comrade Major, look , the Germans have reinforced the No. 4 factory building, can you see if you can hit them a few times?"

   Regarding Briski's proposal, Savage pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, Comrade Captain, none of the artillery positions we have now can bombard this German convoy."

Perhaps because he was worried that Briski would misunderstand his answer, he explained in detail without waiting for Briski to speak: "Comrade Captain, the No. 4 factory building is a full 2,300 meters away from us, and the factory building There are still a large number of ruins in front of us, which has affected our shooting range and made it impossible to shoot at the enemy."

"Comrade Major, you don't need to say anything, I understand." Briski interrupted Savage, and said with a wry smile: "Just now the infantry was attacking the factory building and was discovered by the enemy inside. When there was an exchange of fire, didn't we just because The distance is too far, and there are a large number of ruined walls blocking the sight of the artillery, so in order to prevent accidental injury to our own people, they did not dare to fire in the direction of the No. 4 factory building."

  In order to alleviate the embarrassing situation, Briski promptly changed the subject: "Comrade Major, you have been staying at the barricade factory for a long time. Do you often see the Germans reinforcing at night?"

"No, the Germans have never reinforced at night before." Savage shook his head and replied, "After all, they have air supremacy over the city, and they have many more tanks and artillery than us. Even if we find them There is nothing they can do about their reinforcements, so the enemy chooses the time of reinforcements during the day."

   "What, the enemy has never reinforced at night before?" Briski immediately realized the seriousness of the problem after hearing Savage's words, "We need to report this matter to the comrade commander immediately."

A few minutes later, Briski, who returned to the regiment command post, called the division headquarters and reported what he found to Sokov. He finally said: "Comrade commander, I just asked Sa Major Vitch, he said that the enemy's reinforcements in the past were all during the day. This is the first time that reinforcements have been made at night."

"Commander Belgin has already reported to me about the enemy's reinforcements." Sokov had been waiting for Belkin's reconnaissance information. At this moment, he received a call from Briski and heard that the other party also mentioned the reinforcements of the German army. The troops asked tentatively, "Can you find out the enemy's number?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, although we can see the enemy, but because the distance is too far, we can't figure out the enemy's number at all." Hearing Sokov's question, Briski replied with some embarrassment: "I'm afraid we can only rely on Comrades from the first battalion, come to find out the number of this reinforcement to the enemy."

Before ending the call, Sokov suddenly remembered something, and asked quickly: "Captain Briski, I just heard from Commander Belgin that the troops who attacked Factory No. 4 were also discovered by the enemy. After some firefights, less than half of the soldiers escaped. I want to ask you, why didn't you support them with artillery fire?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Briski had a bitter expression on his face. He turned his head and glanced at Savage who was standing beside him, and replied in a difficult tone: "Mr. , but the No. 4 factory building is too far away from our artillery position, and there are a lot of ruined walls in the middle, which affects the sight of artillery observers and makes them unable to accurately calculate the impact point. If we fired rashly at that time, the enemy might not be able to hit it. As a result, the shells fell on the heads of our own people."

   "I see." Sokov said casually, and hung up the phone without waiting for Briski to speak again.

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Lyudnikov on the opposite side asked curiously: "Colonel Sokov, the troops who attacked No. What about artillery support?"

"The artillery position is too far away from the No. 4 factory building, and there are a lot of ruined walls in the middle." Sokov pointed to the map on the table, and explained to Lyudnikov with a sigh: "If they fire rashly, it is possible They will hit their own people."

After figuring out the reason why the artillery could not fire, Lyudnikov began to think about the enemy who reinforced the No. 4 factory building: "Colonel Sokov, my troops have been stationed here for such a long time, and I have never seen the German army reinforce at night. Please tell me, what is the reason why the enemy suddenly and abnormally increased their troops to No. 4 factory?"

"We repelled the enemy's attack with artillery fire, and they will definitely not let it go. I guess they must be planning a large-scale attack." Sokov analyzed to Lyudnikov based on the information he had: "I It is estimated that the enemy's increase of troops tonight is to prepare for a large-scale attack during the day tomorrow."

"It's not likely." Lyudnikov expressed doubts about Sokov's statement: "From the situation reported below, the enemy's reinforcements to No. 4 factory will not exceed one battalion. Although we have not yet I know the number of this unit, but with their small number of people, I think it is impossible to break through our last line of defense."

"You're right. It's simply impossible for the enemy to break through our defenses with hundreds of people." Sokov agreed with Lyudnikov's statement and reminded him: "But The enemy is cunning. They may have studied the location of our army's artillery positions long ago, and confirmed that the number of troops added to the No. 4 factory building will be so blatant that our artillery fire will hardly hit them. But in other directions? Maybe there are still others? A small number of enemies are quietly sneaking into other positions, but we have not found their whereabouts for the time being."

After listening to Sokov, Lyudnikov stared at the map for a long time, then raised his head and said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, this is just a guess, I don't think that under the current circumstances, How many troops the Germans still have are quietly deployed in factories."

"Comrade Colonel, don't take it lightly." Seeing Lyudnikov showing signs of underestimating the enemy, Sokov reminded him again: "I suggest that you immediately send reconnaissance personnel to carry out reconnaissance on the German defense area in the factory area, and thoroughly Find out if the enemy has other reinforcements in other directions."

  Lyudnikov was unwilling to believe that the enemy would increase its troops on a large scale at night, and it would be without exposing the target. However, seeing that Sokov spoke so seriously, he nodded and said a little reluctantly: "I will immediately send scouts to conduct reconnaissance at the German defense area in the factory area."

   Just when the scouts sent by Lyudnikov left the line of defense and set off towards the area controlled by the enemy, Paul Koski returned to the regiment command post and reported to Belkin dejectedly about the execution of the mission.

After hearing this, Belkin immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and said to Bolkowski: "Comrade Captain, you come with me to the division headquarters immediately, and repeat what you just said to the division commander. "

  Bolkoski followed Belkin to the division headquarters not far away. When he saw Sokov sitting in the room, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute. Before he could speak, Sokov, who was sitting at the table, asked first, "Comrade Captain, if I remember correctly, you should be the company commander, Captain Bolkowski!"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov recognized him, Bolkowski suppressed the excitement in his heart, and tried his best to reply in a calm tone: "I am Bolkowski."

   Sokov greeted Belgin and Bolkowski to sit down, and asked, "Comrade Captain, can you tell me why your whereabouts were exposed?"

Bolkowski, who had just sat down, heard Sokov's question, immediately stood up from his seat, straightened his body and replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, we originally wanted to walk into the No. 6 factory building along the sewer, and ruthlessly Teach the enemy a lesson. Unexpectedly, the dispatched combat team accidentally stepped on a landmine when approaching the factory building, which exposed the target. If there is no sudden artillery support, I am afraid that more people will fail to return Come."

"Landmines, did the enemy plant mines outside the factory building?" Lyudnikov couldn't help interjecting when he heard this, "Comrade Captain, I remember that there is a trench about 100 meters away from No. 6 factory building. Are there no Germans?"

"No, Comrade Colonel." Although Bolkowski had never met Lyudnikov before, he guessed the identity of the interrogator when he saw that the interrogator was a colonel, and quickly replied respectfully: "There are no enemies in the trenches outside. They are all hiding in the factory building to keep warm."

   "It is indeed a headache for us that the enemy has planted landmines around the factory building." Lyudnikov looked at Sokov and asked, "Colonel Sokov, do you have any solutions?"

Sokov did not speak, but picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette from it, put it in his mouth and lit it, and after taking two puffs, he turned to Belkin who had been silent all this time: "Comrade Commissar, yours?" Are there any engineers in the troops directly under the regiment?"

"Sappers?!" Belkin was taken aback when he heard this question, then nodded and replied, "Yes. There are currently more than 20 people in Lieutenant Vasya's engineering platoon, all of whom have rich combat experience. Engineers. Misha, are you planning to entrust them with any combat tasks?"

   "Comrade Commissar," Sokov said bluntly to Belkin: "You immediately call Lieutenant Vasya and ask him to come to me. I have important tasks to hand over to them."

   Ten minutes later, Vasya hurried over after receiving the notification. After saluting Sokov, he asked carelessly: "Comrade commander, do you have any important mission for me here?"

   "Lieutenant Vasya, tell me, how many people are there in your engineering platoon?"

   "27 people, Comrade Master."

   "Are they all experienced engineers?"

"yes."

  Sokov then asked: "Can you clear mines at night?"

   "Demining at night?!" Hearing what Sokov said, Vasya tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, are you planning to let us open a path for the sneak attack troops in the minefield?"

   "It's not to open up a passage, but to transfer the mines." Sokov said with a smile: "I want you to transfer the landmines from the place where the enemy buried them to the passage where the enemy usually walks."

"Using landmines to block the enemy?" Vasya's eyes lit up when he heard Sokov say this, and he immediately remembered the previous battles, and asked quickly: "It's like a few months ago, using landmines to block the enemy." Is it like the enemy is trapped in front of our position?"

"That's right, the situation is similar to that time." Sokov remembered the past few months ago when he blocked the enemy's retreat with landmines and completely wiped out the invading enemy, with a knowing look on his face. Smile. "After you unearth the landmines, bury them on the road that the enemy must pass every day, and blow them up alone."

   When Sokov assigned tasks to Vasya, Lyudnikov, who was sitting across from him, widened his eyes in surprise. He didn't expect that the battle could be fought like this. It means that every time the engineers on missions go out to perform missions, except for the tools and self-defense weapons they carry, they don’t need to carry a bunch of mines at all. They only need to dig out the mines that were originally buried in the ground and rebury them. position, it can achieve the purpose of blocking the enemy.

   After Belkin and the others left, Lyudnikov asked Sokov curiously: "Colonel Sokov, is the method you mentioned really effective?"

"Of course it works, Comrade Colonel." Sukov was able to propose such a method, and naturally he had such a successful battle, so he replied confidently: "The enemy must never have thought of it in their dreams. When they wake up, they originally used To guard against the landmines of our army, they will appear in the places where they usually pass."

   "Using landmines to deal with the enemy is a common tactic used by guerrillas." Lyudnikov said thoughtfully, "Even if you blow up the enemy with landmines, how much damage can it cause to the enemy?"

"Comrade Colonel, we moved the mines and did not expect it to kill many enemies." Sokov explained to Lyudnikov: "As long as the enemy is bombed in a different place, they will be killed." Fear arises, and we don’t know where we have planted landmines. Under the current circumstances, it is unrealistic to send a large number of engineers to clear mines, so they can only reduce their range of activities for safety reasons. In this way, It will reduce the pressure you are under. Wait for another ten days, and we will have enough strength to deal with them..."

  Sokov was so happy for a moment that he didn't even mention the counterattack inadvertently. Although he discovered the mistake and stopped in time, it aroused Lyudnikov's curiosity: "Colonel Sokov, do you have any inside information about when our army will launch a counterattack?"

  Lyudnikov's question made the communications soldier sitting in the corner **** up his ears, wondering if there would really be a big counterattack. Sokov rolled his eyes and immediately thought of a good reason: "Comrade Colonel, you really like to joke. You don't even know that there is a counterattack plan. How could I know?"

   "But you just said clearly that in ten days..."

"Oh, that's what happened." Sukov pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said, "Didn't the transportation on the river be interrupted recently because there was too much ice on the water surface? In another week, the river surface will be flat." When it is frozen, supplies and troops from the east bank will be able to enter the city continuously through the ice, and we will have enough troops and supplies to launch a counterattack against the enemy."

   "So that's what happened." Sokov's words were so watertight that Lyudnikov believed them without any doubt. He said with some disappointment, "I thought you knew about the counterattack."

  (end of this chapter)