"Col. Bere," Sokov pointed in the direction where gunfire and explosions were still sounding. "At a few minutes at most, this line of defense of the German army will fall into our hands. You will go back and prepare immediately. After our army completely occupy the enemy's position, you will lead the tank battalion to attack. Be sure to go forward to the Orlovka area before the enemy planes appear."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Be Lei looked at the battle still on the distant positions and said hesitantly: "I think the tank battalion should wait for dawn before setting off. Although our army is about to occupy the enemy's position, perhaps anti-tank soldiers have survived. If they use the cover of the night to attack the moving tanks, we will suffer unnecessary losses."
By heart, Bere’s concerns make sense. If the tank troops are not yet dawn today, they will set off. First, they are easily attacked by hidden anti-tank hands, and second, the soil in some areas is too soft and the T-34 tanks are easily trapped. But considering that the tanks are easily attacked by German aircraft during the day, Sokov had to take the risk: "Col. Bere, I understand what you mean. When the tanks set off after dawn, they may not be attacked by German anti-tank hands, but they may be bombed by enemy planes..."
Before Sokov finished speaking, Belei understood why the other party urged him to set off. He quickly took the conversation and said, "I understand, comrade brigade commander, I will go back and prepare now. When the previous battle is over, I will lead the tank battalion to set off."
It was about ten kilometers from the station of the Tank Battalion to Orlovka. The Tank Battalion led by Bereh arrived at its destination in less than 40 minutes. Although there was a company of German troops stationed here, due to the lack of long-range anti-tank weapons, facing the Soviet tanks that were rushing up, they could only let the anti-tank hands hold anti-tank grenades and rush forward to blow up the tanks. But how could the infantry operating with the tanks make them come true? The soldiers jumped off the tanks and used dense firepower to knock down the rushing anti-tank hands one after another.
The German commander hiding in the command post saw the anti-tank hand coming out of the trenches and fell under the dense firepower of the Soviet army. The machine guns on the position could not pose any threat to the approaching Soviet tanks, and were even shattered by artillery shells from time to time, and knew that it would be meaningless to continue to attack. So he issued an order to retreat to his soldiers.
After the order to retreat was issued, many German soldiers stopped shooting and ran back along the traffic trench, trying to run as far as the Soviet tanks as possible. Unfortunately, there were open plains around the positions here. Once they left the fortifications, they became targets of Soviet tank artillery fire and machine gun attacks, and were killed in open ground in pieces.
The German soldiers who remained in the position saw that continuing to resist was death and escaping were also death, so they decisively put down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to the Soviet commanders and fighters who rushed up.
Seeing that his subordinates assisted the infantry to capture Orlovka, Bere couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then reported to Sokov via the on-board radio station: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have successfully arrived at Orlovka."
"Great, Colonel Bere, this is great." Sokov was overjoyed to hear that the troops led by Berere had successfully arrived at Orlovka. But he was not proud of it. He reminded Berere: "Comrade Colonel, immediately deploy defense to prevent the enemy's counterattack. I will take the troops to meet with you as soon as possible."
After Sokov finished his call with Bere, he felt that the news that the troops had already left Orlovka should be reported to Cuikov, so he ordered the radio operator: "The radio operator, send a report to the Army Command, and said that our troops had successfully broken through the fourth line of defense of the German army and went forward to Orlovka."
Although it was not yet completely dawn at this moment, there was a busy scene in Cuikov's headquarters. The radio operator desperately called the commanders of various troops towards the sending machine; the busy staff were constantly walking in or going out. The three leaders of the army were sitting at the table, looking down at the map in front of them, and whispering to discuss the key points of today's attack.
Krelov said to Trikov: "Comrade Commander, we have verified Lisa's report. The enemy does show signs of gathering troops. Once our counterattack fails, they can concentrate their superior forces and launch an attack on the Derrensky factory, trying to establish a support point here..."
"Our soldiers are already exhausted." Military Commissioner Gurov said with a frown: "If the German army really launched an attack with such a large number of troops, then Major General Lujeff's 37th Guard Division would not be able to stop it at all."
Faced with Grov's worries, Cuikov's face was filled with sorrow. He knew that the counterattack against the German army would end in failure. Once the German army regained the initiative on the battlefield, there was no idea how many defensive areas would be lost.
Just when everyone was at a loss, a communications officer came over quickly and straightened his body to report to Krelov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, just received a telegram from Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, they had successfully broken through the fourth line of defense of the German army and left the Orlovka area."
In the huge command center, it suddenly became quiet. When everyone learned that Sokov's troops had broken through the fourth German line of defense and arrived at Orlovka smoothly, everyone had an unreal feeling. Krelov did not reach out to receive the telegram, but looked at Cui Kov and asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, I heard it correctly, did the staff officer say that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops have successfully advanced to Orlovka area?"
Cui Kev did not speak, but snatched the telegram from the staff's hand, looked carefully, and leaned over to look at the map on the table. After a while, he slapped the table with his hand and said excitedly: "It's great, it's simply great! Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops came forward to Orlovka, which would be very beneficial to today's battle situation."
Krelov still felt that the matter was a bit incredible, so he said to Cuikev ​​in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops were the third direction that they seized after dark yesterday. And there was no battle all night. How could they break through the enemy's fourth line of defense silently and go forward to Orlovka? I think there is something wrong with this telegram and need to be verified again."
After Krelov finished speaking, he handed over the telegram in his hand and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, then you can verify the authenticity of this telegram."
After Krelov walked away, Gurov asked Cuikov in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, do you think the contents of this telegram are true?"
Hearing Gurov's question, Cuikov nodded without hesitation: "I think it's true."
"Since it's true," Gurov glanced at Krelov who was asking the radio operator to send a message, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Then why do you still have to let the Chief of Staff send a telegram to verify?"
"Comrade of the Military Commission," Trekov explained to Gurov: "Although I think Sokov's telegram is true, they did not specify when they attacked the enemy's fourth line of defense, and when they broke through the enemy's position and advanced to Orlovka. I asked the Chief of Staff to verify that it was just to figure out what was going on, so that I could have a clear idea when I arranged today's combat mission."
"So that's it, I understand." Gurov said understandably: "Anyway, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's victory came too suddenly. We must understand what the real situation is."
After about ten minutes, Krelov walked back with the telegram he had just received and said happily: "Comrade Commander, I have figured it out. In the early morning of this morning, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov ordered the guard battalion to lurk in front of the German positions in the dark. After launching a rocket attack this morning, the lurking troops launched an attack on the enemy. In just over ten minutes, they took down the fourth line of defense of the German army. At the same time, the tank battalion commanded by Colonel Bere quickly rushed towards Orlovka before dawn, eliminated the enemy there, and established a support point."
"It's so beautiful!" Cuikov immediately praised Sokov after Krelov finished speaking: "When Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops arrived in Orlovka, they could restrain part of the German troops, which would be very beneficial to our counterattack during the day today."
"But, Comrade Commander," Krelov reminded him carefully when he saw that Trekov was so happy, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops must have lost a lot of troops during the repeated battles. If we do not provide reinforcements, it will probably be difficult to defend Orlovka."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Cuikov couldn't help frowning when he heard the word reinforcement: "We have sent the guard battalion that is on guard duty to Sokov, where can we have troops to reinforce him?"
Krelov stared at the map on the table for a while and said to Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division, four or five kilometers east of Orlovka, we can order them to move closer to Sokov's troops and jointly defend Orlovka."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Gurov couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "I want to ask, who will be unified after the two troops meet? Is it Colonel Gurdiev or Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?"
"Is this a matter of course Sokov." After Cuikov said this, he couldn't help but laugh: "Although Sokov is just a lieutenant colonel, he is now commanding several colonels. Maybe one day he can command the general. Well, that's it, let Colonel Gurdiev lead his troops to Orlovka."
Krelov agreed and was about to call Colonel Gurdiev, Trekov suddenly asked, "By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, Sokov's troops lurked in front of the enemy's positions, what's going on?"
In fact, even if Cuikov didn't ask, Krelov planned to report Sokov's new tactics to Cuikov at the right time. Since the other party asked, he replied truthfully: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov took advantage of the cover of the night to deploy Major Tenev's guard battalion in the grass in front of the German positions. According to him, this can shorten the attack distance, and in the shortest time, he will rush to the enemy's position and catch the enemy off guard."
"I really didn't expect that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's tactics were quite effective." After hearing this, Cui Kov couldn't help but sigh: "We still know the defense of the fourth line of defense of the German army. Even if it was a full-fledged infantry regiment, it would take at least several hours to launch an attack on them. Unexpectedly, Sokov and his team actually solved the battle in more than ten minutes. It seems that such a new tactic should be promoted within the entire army as soon as possible."
…………
After receiving the telegram from the headquarters, Sokov immediately spoke to Bere via phone: "Col. Bere, I just received a telegram from the headquarters, saying that Colonel Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division will come from the east to meet with us. Please be careful of identification and do not fight with your own people."
"Don't worry, comrade comrade commander." Bere assured Sokov: "It's already dawn and there will be no accidental injuries anymore. I will send a tank company to pick up the comrades of the 308th Infantry Division."
After notifying Bere, Sokov planned to lead his troops to Orlovka. Considering that he had too few troops, he called Guriyev for help: "Hello, comrade General, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
When Guriev heard Sokov's voice, he couldn't help but smile: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard that your troops have successfully broken through the fourth line of defense of the German army and went forward to the Orlovka area. Is this happening?"
"Yes, Comrade General, the information you have is completely correct." Sokov flattered the other party and continued, "I call you, there is something I want to ask for help."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Guriyev was in a very good mood when he learned that Sokov's troops had already arrived in Orlovka. He said carelessly: "If you have any, just say it. As long as I can do it, you will definitely meet your request."
"That's right, comrade General." In order to make up for his lack of military strength, Sokov planned to give up the occupied positions: "My troops are limited. In order to strengthen the defensive forces in Orlovka, I plan to transfer all the troops in the third and fourth lines of defense. And I hope you can send someone to take over the defense for the vacant defensive positions."
Chapter completed!