Sighs and regrets sounded in the temporary command center in a mess. No one expected that such an unexpected accident would happen when victory was in sight. Ivanov was so anxious that he stamped his feet and said repeatedly: "It's only a few minutes away, just a few minutes away, comrades. If the enemy's reaction is a little slower, our tanks and infantry will rush into the enemy's second line of defense."
Seeing the tanks and infantry in the distance begin to retreat, Sokov was so angry that he clenched his fist with his right hand and smashed it hard into the palm of his left hand. With a bang, Golikov, who was concentrating on watching the battle beside him, was startled.
Golikov looked at Sokov and asked unexpectedly: "What's wrong with you, Colonel Sokov?"
"I really didn't expect that in the traffic trenches on both sides of the attacking troops, there would be enemies coming out." Sokov said in annoyance: "It was because I was not considering it carefully, which led to the failure of this attack."
"Comrade Commander, you can't blame you for this." Chief of Staff Cidolin said in shame when he heard Sokov say this: "As the chief of staff, I am not familiar with the situation on the battlefield, which leads to the failure of our army to seize the second line of defense. I bear an unshirkable responsibility."
"Okay, okay, don't fight for the two of you." Golikov waved his hand and said impatiently: "What's so great about the failure of the offensive? Just reorganize the attack. By the way, what's the situation in the Workers' New Village? Have you been repelled by the enemy?"
Logically speaking, standing on the commanding heights of Mamayevgang, you can see the movements in the direction of the workers' new village, but due to the smoke from the shells and the high temperature generated when the shells explode, the snow melted and vaporized, so that the Mamayevgang and the workers' new village were blocked by a thick layer of fog.
Since he could not see the situation in the workers' new village, Sokov signaled to Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin to contact Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko to understand the attack of the right wing troops. Sidolin nodded, walked to the table and picked up the phone, dialed the command of the 122nd Regiment, and shouted to the microphone: "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko? I am Chief of Staff of Sidolin. The division commander asked me to ask you, is your regiment's offense going smoothly?...What, you have successfully taken down the second line of defense and are preparing to launch an attack in the third direction of the enemy? This is great. Wait a moment, I will tell the division commander the good news."
Sidolin covered the microphone with his hands and reported to Sokov excitedly: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchinko reported that the 122nd Regiment, under the cover of the First Tank Battalion, successfully occupied the second line of defense of the German army and was preparing to attack the third line of defense."
"Strange," Sokov said with a frown: "Has they not been attacked from the flanking traffic trenches while advancing to the second line of defense?"
"Lt. Colonel," Cidolin removed his hand covering the microphone and asked, "The division commander asked, have you been attacked by fire from the traffic trench on both sides during the attack?...What, you were also attacked, but you have eliminated all the enemies?... Let's tell me, how did you eliminate them?"
After asking some questions that should be clarified, Sidorin reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have asked carefully. When the 122nd Regiment was advancing to the second line of defense, it was indeed attacked by enemies hiding in the traffic trench. However, Colonel Bereth organized self-propelled artillery to bombard the enemy in a timely manner to cover the infantry to eliminate the enemies hiding in the traffic trench. After clearing the enemies on both wings, they were able to successfully occupy the second line of defense of the German army."
After Sidolin hung up the phone, Golikov smiled bitterly and said, "I didn't expect that the two tank battalions we sent from the left bank were defeated by the German army without any effect in the battle. The first tank battalion that was temporarily pieced together covered the troops and successfully occupied the German second line of defense."
Sokov thought to himself that the right-wing troops could successfully occupy the German second line of defense, indeed, the first tank battalion commanded by Beret played a role. But the ability to achieve such a battle is probably related to the tactics they used. If Beret had never fought side by side with him before and had learned a lot of tactics from him, they might have returned in front of the German second line of defense like the two regiments on the front of Mamayevgang.
"Col. Sokov." Golikov looked at the frustrated troops retreating the first line of defense and asked Sokov, "When are you going to launch an attack on the enemy?"
"Report to the deputy commander of the Front Army," Sokov thought that the commanders and soldiers had just withdrawn their positions and had not yet breathed, so he ordered them to launch a new attack. It was obviously unrealistic and they had to give them enough time to rest. Thinking of this, Sokov replied: "I think it will take two hours at the earliest to launch an attack on the enemy again!"
"No, two hours are too long, I can't wait that long." Golikov said in a commanding tone: "I can only give you an hour. When the time comes, I will attack the enemy again."
"One hour?!" Hearing the time specified by Golikov, Sidolin and Ivanov couldn't help looking at each other. As commanders, both of them understood that an hour's rest was not enough for a unit that had just lost the battle. But since Golikov had issued an order, even though he knew it was wrong, he could only accept it. They cast their eyes on Sokov for help, hoping that he could come out to say a few words to everyone. "Comrade, the deputy commander of the front army, in such a short time, the physical strength and morale of the soldiers may be difficult to recover."
"I know that the troops are not prepared enough to let you attack in an hour," Golikov said with a straight face: "But have you ever thought about it. The longer the time delays, the more prepared the enemy will be, and the more unfavorable the counterattack will be for us."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army..." Sidolin wanted to defend himself for a few more words, but interrupted Sokov with a wave of his hand.
Sokov straightened his body and said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, my troops will launch an offensive attack on the second line of defense occupied by the enemy in an hour. And we are sure to seize the enemy's position."
After hearing Sokov's words so confident, both Sidolin and Ivanov showed a look of surprise on their faces. But Golikov smiled and nodded and said with satisfaction: "Col. Sokov, I guess you will definitely think of a way to deal with the enemy. I hope you will not disappoint me in the next battle."
"Don't worry, Comrade, Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly replied: "We will never let you down."
Golikov raised his hand and looked at the watch, then looked at the troops that had gathered in the first position, and then said, "I didn't sleep all night last night, and now I'm a little sleepy. I'll go back and sleep for a while, and call me to notify me when there is progress."
After seeing Golikov off, Sidolin said anxiously to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, how can you easily assure the Deputy Commander of the Front Army? You must know that now you don't know whether our soldiers can win in the next battle. If you lose another attack, how do you plan to explain to the Deputy Commander of the Front Army?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Cydolin was anxious, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "It is not a big deal for us to take down the enemy's second line of defense. As the Chief of Staff, you cannot lose your own position."
"Comrade Commander, I want to ask, how do you plan to seize the second line of defense in front of our army?" Cidolin asked, "You must know that the enemy has a lot of troops deployed in the line of defense. Just one of our divisions, it may not be easy to eat them."
"It is probably not easy to take down the enemy's positions with the strength of the 124th and 125th Regiments." Sokov ordered Sidolin: "Call you call Captain Andre immediately, and ask him to transfer Guchakov's Ninth Company over to assist the two guard regiments in launching an attack."
"Just transfer a company?" Cidolin asked with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, are there too few reinforcements?"
"One company is enough." Sokov saw that Sidolin was still stubborn, so he reminded him: "Especially those troops who followed us to many places are the most trustworthy."
"Comrade of the Division," although Sokov was full of confidence, Cidolin was still uneasy in his heart. He frowned and asked, "Can you tell me more details?"
"There are many soldiers familiar with new rockets in the third battalion. We have drawn them out to allow them to use rockets to attack the enemy's positions and cover our army's tanks and infantry to advance forward." Sokov reminded the other party: "If possible, I plan to transfer one or two platoons of troops from the barricade factory to let them use rocket launchers to eliminate the enemy's fortifications."
After receiving Sokov's order, Guchakov immediately hurried over with his Ninth Company. After coming to Mamayev hill, he left his troops at the foot of the mountain, ran up the hill by himself, and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Guchakov, the company commander of the Ninth Company of the Third Battalion, was ordered to report to you. I obey your order, please give instructions!"
"Captain," Sokov brought Guchakov to the lookout, pointed his finger at the position covered with smoke and mist in the distance, saying: "Because the superiors shortened the time for our shelling, the fortifications on the second line of defense of the German army were not completely destroyed, and there was also the value of continuing to use. Therefore, you can attack these fortifications with rockets and burn the enemy to death in the fortifications."
After Sokov finished speaking, he immediately replied loudly: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured, I will not let you down."
"Also," Sokov added: "On the first attack, the tanks we advanced toward the enemy's positions were attacked by German infantry from both sides. If you want to cooperate with the 124th and 125th Regiments, you must eliminate those enemies hiding in the traffic trenches."
"I understand." Guchakov answered loudly and asked Sokov about the rockets: "Where can we get the rockets?"
Sokov called a staff officer and said to him: "Take Captain Guchakov and others to the warehouse immediately and get the new rockets you need."
After the staff officer left with Guchakov, Sokov looked at Cidolin again and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, are there any soldiers who know how to use the bazooka in the division's direct troops?"
"Some." Cidolin nodded and replied: "Major Tenev, the commander of the guard battalion, and Lieutenant Selyosha, they all use bazooka, but they use it pretty well."
Tenev was the commander of the guard battalion, so naturally Sokov could not send him to the assist missions, but prepared to hand it over to the commander of the guard company, Lieutenant Seriosha. After a moment of silence, Sokov said: "I think it's still the warriors carrying the bazooka to eliminate the enemy's hidden firepower points."
After Sidolin understood Sokov's intention, a smile appeared on his face. He then said, "Don't worry, comrade instructor, I will call Selyosha immediately and ask him to come here immediately."
"Don't call." As soon as Cidolin finished speaking, Cidolin's voice sounded not far away. He quickly raised his right hand high and walked out of the crowd. He quickly walked to Sokov and said with a sincere expression: "Comrade Commander, I'm here. If you have any instructions, please give an order."
"Lieutenant Selyosci," Although Selyosci is Sokov's friend, friendship is friendship and work is work. In front of everyone, Sokov still ordered him with a stern face: "You should immediately bring twelve rocket launchers and rush to the attack site of the 125th Regiment and cooperate with them to launch an attack on the enemy."
With the addition of the 9th Company of the Third Battalion and the Guard Company, Sokov was full of confidence in seizing the enemy's position. However, for the sake of safety, he still called Bilei and said straight to the point: "Col. Bilei, I plan to order the 124th and 125th Regiments to launch an attack on the enemy's position again. I hope you can get your cooperation?"
"Comrade Commander, please give orders as to how you should cooperate." After hearing Sokov's order, Bereh replied readily: "I firmly obey your orders."
"When the two regiments and the enemy are in a difficult situation, you will send out your own artillery, a few tanks, as well as some infantry of the 122nd Regiment to attack the enemy from the flanks, so that they will lose sight of each other and cannot look at each other, so that our army's chances of seizing the enemy's positions will be greatly improved." After saying his thoughts, Sokov asked loudly: "Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade of the division commander." Bellei replied loudly: "I will prepare for the battle between the tanks and self-propelled artillery. Just wait for your order, we will launch an assault on the flanks of the German army."
All the issues that have just been considered were considered; the tasks that should be assigned were also arranged. Sokov turned his head and looked at Cidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have anything else to add?"
Chapter completed!