After receiving the call from Peter, Cuikov felt very strange. Since he couldn't figure out the purpose of Sokov asking for these explosives, he did not make a decision rashly, but said to Peter: "Director Peter, I will first learn about Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and see the purpose of his desire for these explosives, and then give you a reply, okay?"
"Well, Comrade General," Peter replied, "The explosives are ready-made. If you agree to allocate to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will arrange for the loading of the vehicle immediately."
After finishing the call with Peter, Cuikov turned his head and said to Krelov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Director Peter called me and said Sokov asked him for five trucks of explosives. Do you know what's going on?"
"I don't know very well." Krelov shook his head and said in an uncertain tone: "Does Sokov plan to use this batch of explosives to build fortifications?"
"Although the weather is getting colder and colder now, the ground has not been frozen yet." Seeing that Krelov was not aware of the situation, Cuikov frowned and said, "There is no need to use explosives to explode the land and build fortifications."
"Comrade Commander," Krelov suggested to Trikov: "Instead of being fooled by this, we might as well send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to find out what was going on."
"Good solution." Cuikov agreed with Krelov's proposal and urged: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Sokov immediately to ask about the purpose of this batch of explosives. Director Peter is still waiting for my reply."
After about five or six minutes, Krelov returned to Cuikov with Sokov's telegram, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Commander, I have figured it out. Lieutenant Colonel Sokov intends to use this batch of explosives to blow up the fortifications on the defense lines."
"What, blow up the fortifications?" Cuikov heard Krelov say this and suddenly stood up from his seat and asked in surprise: "Why did he blow up the fortifications?"
Krelov looked down at the telegram in his hand, handed it to Cuikov, and sighed and said, "Comrade Commander, according to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's analysis, even if his troops arrived in Orlovka, they would not last long. Therefore, he planned to blow up all the fortifications along the way when he retreated and prevent the Germans from using it again."
Cui Kov took the telegram and carefully browsed the content written on it, and found that it was basically the same as what Krelov said. After reading the telegram, Cui Kov threw it on the table and said expressionlessly: "Give him these explosives."
"Comrade Commander, why is this?" Krelov couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Why should Sokov give these explosives to blow up these fortifications that are useful to us?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Cuikov looked at Krelov with a serious expression, "Actually, you and I understand in your heart that the counterattack was launched too hasty and may not last long. Even if Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops arrived at Orlovka, with their strength, they probably would not last long. Once they retreat, the defensive positions they occupied now will definitely fall back into the hands of the Germans, so they blow up the fortifications in advance, in order not to allow the Germans to use these fortifications to resist friendly forces rushing in from outside the encirclement."
"This matter is of great importance," Krelov reminded Cuikov cautiously: "Do you see if you need to report to your superiors?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately draft the report materials to the Front Command." Cuikov did not refute what Krelov reminded, but nodded and said, "I will call Director Peter now and ask him to arrange manpower as soon as possible to provide Sokov with this batch of explosives."
…………
When Belie returned to the temporary command center, he heard that the Group Army Command had sent a telegram to understand the purpose of the explosives, he couldn't help but ask with concern: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this will not cause you any trouble, right?"
"Trouble?" Cui Kefu asked in confusion when he heard the question of Be Lei, "What's the trouble?"
"According to Order No. 227, no one is allowed to take a step back before receiving the order." Bellei said hesitantly: "But what we have to do next is to give up the position we have occupied, and to use explosives to blow up all the fortifications on the position. Once the superior pursues it, you may be sent to the military court."
During the war, going to the military court and going to the execution ground were synonyms. Although Sokov knew in his heart that he did this to better preserve the vitality of the troops, he still felt a chill after hearing Bere mentioning Order No. 227. However, after some trade-offs, Sokov decided to insist on doing it according to his plan. After all, in another month and a half, the Soviet army would launch a large-scale counterattack. If these ready-made fortifications were used by the German army, it would cause considerable casualties to the attacking troops.
Sokov raised his hand and looked up, and said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, I am the commander of the infantry brigade. If my superiors want to hold him accountable in the future, I will bear everything."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, look at what you said." Who knew that when Beret heard Sokov say this, he pursed his lips and said dissatisfied: "I am now a member of the infantry brigade. If my superiors want to hold him accountable, I am willing to share the responsibility with you."
"Thank you, Colonel Bere." Seeing that Berere expressed his willingness to advance and retreat with him, Sokov held his hand tightly and expressed his gratitude to him. Then he said to him: "When the explosives arrive, you will arrange for people to install them. After we remove them, we will immediately blow up these fortifications."
"By the way, comrade brigade commander, I have one more thing to report to you." When Bere shook hands with Sokov, he suddenly remembered an important thing and quickly said to him: "The first and second lines of defense that we broke through are now defended by the 120th Regiment of the Guard Division. When our soldiers went to bury explosives, they were also blocked by them. See if you communicate with General Guriyev and let their soldiers not interfere with our work of burying explosives."
Sokov did not expect that the work he arranged would be blocked by friendly forces. He nodded quickly and said, "Then I will contact General Guriyev immediately and inform him of this matter."
Bi Lei whispered to a phone on the table and said, "That phone can be called directly with General Guriyev, so there is no need to send a telegram."
After the phone was connected, Guriyev learned that it was Sokov who was looking for him, so he asked first: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I was about to call you, but I didn't expect you to call me first."
"Comrade General," Sokov asked tentatively when he heard Guriyev say he was about to call himself, "Is there any instructions for you to come to me?"
"I just received the following report." Guriev said on the phone: "It said they had caught several sabotage elements, who tried to lay explosives on the defense line controlled by our division. After interrogation, those people all said in unison that they were your subordinates."
"Yes, Comrade General." When he learned that several of his subordinates had been arrested by Guriyev's men, Sokov quickly replied: "They are indeed my subordinates, and I also sent them to bury explosives."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." After hearing Sokov's words, Guriev asked in an incredible tone: "Did you really send these people?"
"Yes," Sokov replied decisively: "They were sent by me."
When Guriev learned that the person who buried the explosives was sent by Sokov himself, he asked a little displeasedly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, explain to me why the explosives were buried in these places? Are you trying to accompany the Germans and take down Stalingrad?"
"Of course it's not like this." Sokov was worried about Guriyev's misunderstanding, so he explained to him: "I guess we will soon give up our existing location and return to our original location. In order not to allow the Germans to reuse these fortifications, he sent people to bury explosives everywhere and detonate them when the enemy entered and destroy them."
"So that's how it is." After figuring out what happened, Guriev said to Sokov in an apology: "I apologize to you for the recklessness of my subordinates."
Considering that he had too few people and would have been too busy to bury explosives, Sokov planned to ask Guriyev to help him, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade General, I wonder if you can draw some of the manpower to help us bury explosives on the occupied positions?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Guriev did not immediately agree to Sokov's situation, but asked curiously: "Based on what we have, it is entirely possible that you will arrive in Orlovka today. Why do you suddenly remember to blow up the fortifications? Also, you just said that the troops will soon return to their original garrison, so what's going on? Do you know any inside information?"
"I don't know anything, Comrade General." Sokov replied with a wry smile: "I only know that with our existing strength, even if we barely rush to Orlovka, we have no way to defend it, so we must prepare for retreat in advance."
Guriev asked without moving, "Have you reported this to Commander Cui Kev?"
"Reported." Sokov replied simply: "But no reply has been received yet."
At this moment, the radio operator stood up and walked to Sokov and handed a telegram to Sokov. After Sokov quickly browsed the contents above, he showed a surprise expression on his face. He quickly said to the microphone: "I just received a telegram from the commander. He agreed to my plan and urged the factory to send us explosives as soon as possible."
Seeing that this matter had been approved by Cuikov, Guriyev no longer had his own opinions, but said to the microphone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will immediately call the commander below and let him release the two comrades who were wrongly arrested."
…………
After some trouble, the truck carrying explosives finally arrived at the area where Sokov's temporary command was located before dawn. After learning that the explosives were delivered, Sokov said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, the attack is about to begin. Please accept these explosives and bury them properly in the designated location."
Before Belieh left, Vanya walked in from outside and asked Sokov for advice: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the time is almost over. Can I attack the position with rockets?"
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. He felt that the time was almost over, so he nodded and said, "Comrade Captain, let your people enter the launch position immediately, and our attack will begin."
In order to better observe the scene on the battlefield, Sokov walked out of the command center, came to the top of the hill not far away, and raised his telescope to look forward. He saw that the German positions were pitch black and there was no light. He didn't know whether the Germans were sleeping in the hidden department or hiding in somewhere, closely monitoring the direction they were in.
With Vanya's order, five rockets were dragging their long flame tails and flew towards the enemy's position. Sokov first saw a dazzling fire ball rising from the position, and then heard a shocking explosion. Then five rockets flew towards the enemy's position...
Fifteen rockets were all fired in less than a minute, and the enemy's positions were burning everywhere. At this moment, Sokov saw countless figures jumping out of the grass and rushing towards the positions illuminated by the fire.
The German army thought that the Soviet army's attack must have been initiated with the cooperation of tanks. After waiting for most of the night, they did not hear the roar of the tank engine, so they thought that the Soviet army would not launch an attack before dawn, so they all hid in the fortifications and slept in the fortifications.
Therefore, when attacked by Soviet rockets, the German soldiers in the bunker that were directly hit died without pain in their sleep; while the German soldiers who were not bombed were still confused and did not understand the situation. In this case, the commanders and fighters of the guard battalion rushed into the German trenches and rushed along the trenches to the fortifications or bunkers to eliminate the enemies hidden in it.
Seeing the battle started, Bie Lei, who had received the explosives, hurried over and asked impatiently: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what's the situation? Has our troops attacked?"
Sokov put down his telescope, turned his head and grinned at him, and said, "Comrade Colonel, our troops have rushed up, and some commanders and soldiers have entered the enemy's trenches."
"What, our troops rushed up so quickly?" Bi Lei couldn't help but raise his hand and looked at his watch, saying in surprise: "It's amazing that our troops have rushed into the enemy's trenches in just five minutes from the beginning of the attack."
Chapter completed!