The Starcha regiment's record of defeating Donetsk made the commanders and fighters of the other two regiments of the Guard Division particularly jealous. The battalion company commanders found their own regiment commander, hoping that he could obtain new combat missions from the division commander.
Papchinko and Yershakov, who were following the troops, were so annoyed that they could only order the radio operator to send a message to Sokov, hoping that he could deploy combat missions to him as soon as possible to appease his subordinates.
Sokov just finished talking with Belkin when he received a telegram from the two regiment leaders. He shook the telegram from Belkin and said with a smile: "Comrade Political Commissar, you see it. When you learn that your regiment has achieved such great results, the other two regiments can't hold back. Taking advantage of the high morale of the soldiers, let them attack the enemy, and I believe they will not disappoint us."
After saying that, Sokov called a communications officer and ordered him to say, "Call back to the two regiment commanders, ask the 125th Regiment to speed up the marching speed, quickly rush to the Red Army Village, and launch an attack on the enemies entrenched there. The 122nd Regiment, as a reserve, follows closely. Once the 125th Regiment is not attacking well, they will take their place to attack."
After receiving a call from Sokov, Yershakov immediately discussed with his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, according to our existing marching route, even if there are vehicles to transport, it will take at least five hours to reach the near the Red Army Village. I plan to adjust the marching route and shorten the time to reach the attack position."
The chief of staff of the regiment pointed to the map and said to Yershakov: "Comrade Commander, according to the map, our convoy will drive forward for about one kilometer and a fork will appear. The road on the right can lead to the Red Army Village, which is more than 70 kilometers less than the route we went to Donetsk first and then to the Red Army Village."
"The Chief of Staff, every minute is precious on the battlefield. If you can enter the battlefield one minute earlier, the enemy will be less ready for combat." Yershakov ordered the Chief of Staff of the regiment without hesitation: "Immediately send a signal to the vehicles in front, so that they can turn right at the intersection ahead and quickly advance towards the Red Army Village."
After hearing Yershakov's order, the Chief of Staff of the regiment hesitated, "Comrade Commander, do you need to ask the division commander for instructions on adjusting the marching route without authorization?"
"It's too late, and even if the division commander knows, he won't blame us." Yershakov said: "Chief of Staff, execute the order." In this way, the convoy of the 125th Regiment adjusted the marching route halfway without asking Sokov for instructions and headed towards the Red Army Village.
Sokov, who was in Donetsk, waited left and right until Vitkov and the Guards division headquarters were arrived. Before he could see the shadow of the 125th Regiment, he realized something was wrong. He hurriedly asked Cidolin: "Chief of Staff, have you seen the troops of the 125th Regiment when you were on the road?"
"What, has the 125th Regiment not arrived yet?" Cidolin said with surprise: "The convoy of the regiment set out an hour earlier than us. Even if the convoy was moving slower than us, we should see them on the road. But we didn't find any troops along the way?"
"Hehe, what's the matter with this Yershakov?" Sokov was furious when he learned that the 125th Regiment was missing, and quickly ordered Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Yershakov immediately and ask him to report the location of the troops."
The telegram sent to the 125th Regiment was waited for a long time without any response. Under Sokov's order, a second copy was sent. Sokov said angrily: "You must figure out where the 125th Regiment is going. I don't believe it. Five thousand people just said that and it was gone."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked Sokov for advice: "If the 125th Regiment is lost and cannot participate in the battle to attack the Red Army Village, will the 122nd Regiment be brought to the top?"
"How far is the 122nd Regiment from Donetsk?"
"Since they are hiking, they are still more than seventy kilometers away from us." Cidolin said carefully: "At the current speed, they will not arrive in Donetsk as early as noon tomorrow."
"It's too slow. When they arrive at Donetsk and turn to the Red Army village, it's probably dark." Sokov said angrily: "I've given the enemy so long, I'm afraid they've been ready for battle. This Yershakov is simply outrageous. If it's because of his reasons, I'll definitely send him to the military court."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said this as soon as he said, a communications officer standing next to the phone turned his head and shouted at Sokov: "The 125th Regiment has replied to the telegram."
When Cidolin learned that the 125th Regiment had a reply, he quickly ordered the communication staff to "Come on the telegram quickly."
Two minutes later, the communications consultant handed over the translated telegram to Cydolin. After seeing the contents of the telegram, Cydolin showed a shocked expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, the 125th Regiment has arrived at the Red Army Village and is fighting with the enemy."
"What, they have started a battle with the enemy?" Sokov snatched the telegram from Sidolin and browsed it carefully. After reading the above content, a smile appeared on his face: "This Colonel Yershakov is quite clever. In order to catch the enemy off guard, he adjusted the direction of the march halfway, thus saving two hours."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin smiled at Sokov: "Since Colonel Yershakov has explained the problem to you, can you not send him to the military court?"
"I may not send him to the military court, but when he comes back, I will still criticize him well." Sokov said: "How can you not ask me for instructions on changing the marching route? Think about it, if we are commanders, if we don't even know where our troops are, how can we command the battle?"
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Cluster Chief of Staff Vitkov expressed his opinion on Sokov's statement: "He probably relies on his old subordinate to be so bold. If the Cluster Commander was someone else, he would probably have to wait until his superiors approved it before he could adjust the marching route of the troops."
…………
At this time, on a high ground on the west side of the Red Army Village, the officers and soldiers of the Second Battalion of the 125th Regiment were attacking the German trenches under the cover of machine gun fire.
Chapter completed!