After repelling the German attack, Sokov immediately called Cuikov and reported to him about the situation here.
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said to the microphone: "In my judgment, the German army wanted to occupy Lugansk and cut off the retreat of the southwestern front to the east; at the same time, it used this as a new starting point for the attack on Stalingrad."
After learning the battle in detail with Sokov, he asked thoughtfully: "Col. Sokov, you used only one reinforcement battalion to repel the attack of a German tank-strengthening infantry. If, from your combat record, is the German really capable of cutting off the retreat of the Southwest Front? Don't you think that their counterattack is just to ensure that their main force can safely retreat to the other side of the Dnieper River?"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov understood very well. It was because the optimism of his superiors misled Cuikov, so that he even doubted his own statement: "This is undoubtedly. According to my judgment, the German troops in the Caucasus direction had completely escaped our army and came to join Manstein's troops. In this way, they formed local advantages in military strength and equipment. Not to mention dealing with the Sixth Army and the Popov rapid cluster, even if they severely damaged the entire Southwest Front."
"As for our division's use of a reinforced battalion to smash the German offensive, it was not that the enemy was too weak, but because our troops were very strong in combat." In order to make Cuikov agree with his point of view, Sokov specifically emphasized: "Most of the commanders and fighters of this battalion are my old subordinates. They have superb technical and tactical skills, rich combat experience, and extremely hatred for the German invaders, which are the reasons for their victory."
After listening to Sokov's statement patiently, Cuikov said helplessly: "Col. Sokov, I can report what you have analyzed to General Rokosovsky, and he will definitely report this matter to the higher authorities. But I am frank, even if we believe in you, our superiors may not believe that as long as they do not issue new orders to Vatujing, we cannot change anything."
Cui Kov's words made Sokov feel powerless. He clearly saw that his friendly troops were in danger and issued warnings many times, but nothing could be changed. He put down the phone, pondered for a long time, raised his head and said to Bere: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, it seems that it is not realistic to help friendly troops get out of the predicament. The only thing we can do is to report ourselves first. The arrangement of fake fortifications must be done quickly and must be completed before the next attack by the German army begins."
"Don't worry, Misha." As the deputy commander of Lugansk, Bere naturally knew what the situation is like now. He nodded quickly and said, "I will arrange personnel to complete this work overnight."
Before dawn the next day, Sokov received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko, who reported: "Comrade Commander, our regiment's fake position has been deployed, there are two fake tank positions in total and one fake artillery position..." Before he could finish his words, a rumbling sound of cannons came from the receiver.
"What's going on, comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" Sokov heard the sudden sound of cannons and immediately asked sternly: "Where is the sound of cannons coming from?"
"I don't know very well, comrade of the division commander." Papuqinko replied in a panic: "I will send someone to figure out where the cannon sounds came."
Two minutes later, Papchinko called again, and he reported to Cydolin who answered the call: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy is shelling our fake positions. According to the observation post, the enemy has used at least fifty artillery pieces, and the shelled positions have been bombarded into a sea of ​​fire."
"Misha, it seems that our fake position really deceived the Germans' eyes." After hearing the sound from the earpiece, Bere excitedly said to Sokov: "If it weren't for the fake position that helped us attract German artillery fire, I'm afraid the defensive position would have suffered considerable losses."
"I really didn't expect that the Germans had deployed so many artillery near the defense zone of our division." Sokov frowned and said, "If they were not eliminated as soon as possible, they would probably bring us a lot of casualties."
"Damn, what's going on?" Ciderin shouted at the microphone from the side: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where did the enemy artillery come out?"
Before Papuchinko could answer, Sokov interrupted: "Chief of Staff, ask Lieutenant Colonel Papuchinko if they can lock in the German artillery position?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the division commander asked me to ask you, can you lock in the enemy's artillery position?"
Papchinko hesitated for a moment and replied: "The enemy's artillery position should be west of our regiment's position, but the specific location and distance are not clear at the moment."
"Send scouts and artillery observers immediately to find out the enemy's artillery positions." As soon as Sidolin heard Sokov ask about the German artillery positions, he immediately guessed his intention and directly issued an order to Pupchenko: "Then destroy them with new rockets."
The power of the new rockets was witnessed by Papchinko many times. After hearing the orders that Cidolin said, he immediately replied excitedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I immediately sent scouts and artillery observers to figure out the location of the enemy's artillery positions, and then destroy them with the new rockets."
Before the German artillery bombardment had stopped, the scouts sent by Papchinko had found the location of the artillery position. Shortly after the coordinates were issued, more than twenty rockets dragging long flame tails flew over the German artillery position.
As soon as the rocket landed, it exploded immediately. The explosion point suddenly exploded, and the shrapnel and the flying gravel intertwined each other, like a tornado that swept across the cannon, throwing the artillery's broken limbs and arms high, and the rising black smoke wrapped everything that was blown away, and the soil and gravel that was lifted covered the sky and the sun with the flash of fire.
As the German artillery positions were destroyed, the deafening sound of artillery suddenly stopped, and the entire battlefield became quiet. The soldiers hiding in the trenches unconsciously looked at the place where smoke rose in the distance, listening to the faint sound of explosions.
A recruit asked curiously: "Why did the enemy's shelling stop? Did our guerrillas touch the enemy's position and blew up all their cannons?"
Chapter completed!