Chapter 931 Unsafe Christmas Eve

  Soon after Sokov entered the tunnel, Sidolin and Ivanov got the news. The two walked out of the headquarters and stood in the aisle waiting for him to bring them.

  I thought it would only take ten minutes at best to come from the Beigang Tunnel. Unexpectedly, I waited and waited, but I didn't see Sokov appearing. Worried about what might happen, Ivanov hurriedly said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you give Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov of Beigang Make a phone call and ask him if he saw the teacher."

"Yes." Seeing that Sokov did not appear for a long time, Sidolin was not at ease. After hearing Ivanov's order, he nodded, turned around and walked towards the headquarters, and said in his mouth: "I Just go and call Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov."

  The phone was connected quickly, and as soon as he heard Yershakov's voice, Sidolin couldn't wait to ask: "Lieutenant Colonel Yershakov, have you seen the division commander?"

   "I see." Ershakov replied excitedly: "I was still in the command post of my regiment just now, and chatted with me for a while to understand the defense situation of my regiment..."

  After listening to Ershakov's words, Sidolin finally understood why Sokov didn't show up for a long time. It turned out that he went to the regiment headquarters of the 125th regiment. He put down the phone, came to the corridor, and said to Ivanov who was waiting here: "Comrade deputy division commander, I have figured it out. The division commander met Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov on the way and went to his regiment Stayed in the command post for a while."

   After figuring out why Sokov was delayed by something, Ivanov put his heart hanging in his throat back into his stomach again. Sidolin asked tentatively: "Comrade deputy division commander, I don't know when the division commander will be back. Why don't we go back to the headquarters first?"

   "No need." Ivanov shook his head and said, "We've all waited for so long, and we don't care about waiting a few more minutes. I think it's better to wait for the division commander to come back before entering the headquarters together."

Sokov didn't know that Sidolin and Ivanov would be waiting for him outside the headquarters. After he left Yershakov's regimental command post, he was still thinking silently: tonight is the German Army's Christmas Eve, Is it possible to take the opportunity to make a move to turn the enemy's defense upside down?

   When approaching the headquarters, Samoilov, who was walking in front, suddenly slowed down. Sokov didn't notice it for a while, and slammed into him. Samoilov found that Sokov bumped into himself, and quickly apologized and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander."

  Sokov frowned slightly, and asked displeasedly: "Why did you stop?"

   "Look." Samoilov turned his body slightly to give Sokov a view: "It seems that the deputy division commander and the chief of staff are waiting for you outside the door."

  Sokov hurriedly looked in the direction of the headquarters, and sure enough, he saw Ivanov and Sidolin standing outside the door, and they seemed to have been waiting for a long time. Sokov thought that he had spent a lot of time in Yershakov's regiment command post, and that the two lieutenants must have been waiting for him here, so he hurried over.

   Still far away, he stretched out his hand to the two of them, and said apologetically, "Comrade Deputy Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting."

   "Comrade Commander," when the two shook hands with Sokov, they both said with smiles on their faces: "Welcome back!"

  When Sokov and others walked into the headquarters, the staff officers and communications soldiers inside stopped their work, raised their hands to salute Sokov, and shouted in unison: "Hello, Commander!"

   "Comrades!" After returning a salute to everyone, Sokov nodded with a smile and said, "Let's continue working."

After Sokov sat down on the familiar seat at the table, he smiled at Ivanov and Sidolin: "It's still comfortable to sit in this seat. During the days when I stayed in Moscow, I missed my seat every day." seat."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Ivanov said jokingly: "Comrade commander, are you worried that if you can't go back to Stalingrad, this seat will be taken by me?"

"Look at what you said, Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov replied with a smile: "Before the merger of the troops, you were originally the commander of the 41st Guards Division. Even if you took over my position as division commander, at best, you can only be regarded as Officer reinstated."

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Sokov, asking curiously, "Did you gain anything from this visit to Moscow?"

"Yes." Sokov said: "First of all, the newly developed self-propelled artillery has begun mass production. I believe it will not take long to equip troops on a large scale. In this way, our artillery Its mobility and battlefield survivability have been greatly improved."

  How effective the self-propelled artillery is, both Sidolin and Ivanov have fully experienced it during this period. Therefore, when they heard that the self-propelled artillery had started mass production, both of them couldn't help being overjoyed: "If our artillery can be equipped with a large number of self-propelled artillery, then we can better provide artillery support for the infantry."

   Although Sokov learned something about the troops through chatting with Ershakov. But the other party is always a regimental commander. If you want to know more about the situation, you can only ask Sidolin and Ivanov: "How is the situation of each regiment?"

"The downsized regiment deployed on the right flank of the division has been the least combative unit in the past month." Sidolin reported to Sokov, "Commander Belgin called me several times, hoping to mobilize some troops, but strengthen defenses in other directions.”

   "Why did they experience the least amount of battle?" Sokov asked puzzledly after hearing this: "Don't the enemy know that as long as they break through their defense line, they can divide our troops?"

"Of course the enemy has seen this, but at the same time they also realize that if they want to do this, they may also be cut off." In order for Sokov to understand the situation of the enemy and ourselves more vividly, Sidolin pointed to the map and said: "Comrade Commander, look, if the enemy attacks the defense zone of the reduced regiment, they may be attacked by our army from the east. In this way, they will face the danger of being attacked on both sides. The German commander does not want this to happen. "

"Tell Commander Belgin," Sokov said without hesitation, "under no circumstances can his troops mobilize a single soldier." In order to let everyone understand what was going on, he added, pointing to the map , "Even if the three regiments in front of Mamayev Gang cannot stop the German attack, they can still retreat to Mamayev Gang. But if the defense line of the Belgin Regiment is breached, the enemy can take the opportunity to cut off the three regiments." retreat and supplies. Once the frontal enemy launches a fierce attack again, their situation will become very bad."

   "Comrades, tonight is Christmas Eve." Sokov paused for a moment, then asked again: "Should we take some action to toss the Germans?"

   "Christmas Eve?!" Hearing the words Sokov said, Sidolin showed a confused expression on his face, "Comrade Commander, what holiday is it?"

"December 25th is Christmas every year in the West, and the night before Christmas is Christmas Eve." Sokov explained to Sidolin: "Christmas in our country is on January 7th every year, but already It has been banned for ten or twenty years. It is estimated that many young people have no idea what Christmas represents."

  In fact, both Sidolin and Ivanov knew about Christmas, but they didn’t react when they suddenly heard Sokov mentioning the festival that had been banned long ago. At this moment, after hearing Sokov saying that he was going to teach the Germans a lesson on Christmas Eve, Sidolin quickly asked, "Mr. Comrade, what are you going to do?"

   "What I mean is that all regiments send troops to carry out night attacks." Sokov explained: "However, the purpose of this operation is to disrupt the enemy and destroy their vital forces, and there is no need to seize their positions."

Knowing that Sokov would not allow the troops to occupy the enemy's position, Ivanov showed a bitter expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, if the enemy is really going to spend Christmas Eve tonight as you said, I think their vigilance It will not be too strict. In this way, the night attack we carry out can take back more positions from the enemy while destroying the enemy's vital forces."

"Seizing the enemy's positions is not difficult." Sokov waved his hand, denying Ivanov's proposal: "The point is, we don't have that many troops to defend these positions. If we spread our forces, we can defend the captured positions." position, the enemy can concentrate superior forces and defeat us one by one in a leisurely manner. At that time, not only will we not be able to defend the newly captured positions, but we will even lose a lot of the original positions.”

   "I understand." Ivanov nodded, and then asked: "Comrade commander, do you think you should call the heads of the regiments together for a meeting, or give them combat orders directly?"

   "Calling everyone together for a meeting will definitely delay time." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. "We don't have much time to use. I think it's better to use the phone to issue night attack orders to the regiments."

   "Will the Belkin regiment also participate in tonight's operation?" Sidolin asked tentatively.

   "Yes." Sokov nodded slightly, and said in an affirmative tone: "Anyway, the night attack tonight is not aimed at capturing the enemy's position, but only to disturb the enemy and destroy their vital forces."

  Sidorin quickly conveyed Sokov's order truthfully to the regiments, ordering them to dispatch the necessary troops according to the actual situation to carry out a sneak attack on the German positions. Finally, he also emphasized: "Comrades, please remember that tonight's night attack is only to disturb the enemy and destroy his vital force, not to seize the enemy's position, because we don't have that many troops at all. To defend these positions. Got it?"

   "Understood." Several team leaders replied one after another.

"By the way." Before putting down the phone, Sidolin caught a glimpse of Sokov sitting aside, looking down at the map, and quickly added: "The division commander just returned to the division headquarters, and he personally issued the night attack order. Yes, I hope you will not disappoint his expectations of you."

  Except for Ershakov, the rest of the regiment leaders heard the news of Sokov's return for the first time, and couldn't help cheering immediately. Hearing the cheers of the group leaders, Sidolin quickly asked, "What are you yelling about?"

   "I am very happy to hear that the division commander is back." Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, head of the 122nd Regiment, quickly replied: "With him, we are more confident in winning."

"Okay, don't talk nonsense, hurry up and arrange the night attack troops." Although it is a happy thing for everyone to support Sukov, but at this moment time is running out, Sidolin urged everyone: "Master, please return!" We are waiting for your good news."

   When the sneak attack troops sent by each regiment sneaked close to the enemy's position, they found that the German defense was extremely lax. Except for a few listless sentries, most of the soldiers were eating and drinking around the fire.

  The commander in charge of leading the team immediately reported the situation to his team leader. The heads of the regiments also felt that the division commanders should be informed of the situation on the front line in a timely manner, and they also reported the matter.

   Knowing that the enemy was eating and drinking by the fire, Sokov felt that the chances of a successful night attack had been greatly improved. But just to be on the safe side, he still asked Sidolin to tell the regiment leaders: "Tell them, let the sneak attack troops wait, and wait until the German soldiers sitting by the fire drinking are unconscious, and then attack the enemy." Launch an attack so our casualties can be minimized. Understand?"

   "Understood." Sidolin nodded quickly, and replied, "I'll call the heads of the regiments right away and ask the troops to launch an attack later."

  After receiving Sokov's order, the troops that originally wanted to launch an attack all temporarily died down. The commanders and fighters hid two to three hundred meters away from the enemy's position, quietly watching the German soldiers who were eating and drinking, and patiently waited until their superiors gave the order to attack.

   Time passed by every minute and every second, and when the lurking soldiers were about to freeze to death, the German bonfire party was drawing to a close. From the shaky way the German soldiers walked, even a blind man could tell that they were all drunk. The commander who stayed at the forefront felt that the time to attack had come, and quickly asked the regiment leader again whether to launch an attack immediately.

  There was no need for Sokov to give orders this time. The heads of the regiments knew what to do, and they all decisively sent a signal to the troops to attack: "Do it!"

   Not long after the order to attack was issued, three red flares rose in the air, signaling the attack to the Soviet commanders lurking in different positions.

  Due to the lurking position of the troops, it was only two to three hundred meters away from the German positions. With the launch of the signal flares, the commanders and fighters who had been lying on the ground for several hours all jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the enemy with their weapons.

   Soon, dense gunfire sounded in these areas. Many German officers and soldiers were already very drunk. When they heard the sudden gunshots, they couldn't think of how to fight back. Instead, they held wine bottles and looked at the place where gunshots and explosions were dense.

   The commanders and fighters who rushed over shouted, but regardless of whether the Germans were sober or drunk, as long as they saw those who did not raise their hands, they would be shot down immediately. If it's okay, add another bayonet.

  (end of this chapter)