Red Moscow

The outpost here was fighting in full swing. Although the 73rd Infantry Brigade on their right was on standby, the brigade commander, Major Guchakov, stood in a position with a wide view, holding a telescope to observe the battle here.

After looking at it for a while, he put down the binoculars, turned around and asked Lieutenant Colonel Askel, the chief of staff standing beside him: "Comrade chief of staff, how do you view the ongoing battle on the left wing?"

Askel hesitated for a few seconds, then said slowly: "Comrade Brigadier, I think if we follow the friendly army's style of play, not to mention only a few companies, even if there are one or two brigades, it is estimated that sooner or later they will fight Light."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me your reasons."

"The reason is very simple," Askel said with some disdain: "There were only simple fortifications on the high ground. When the enemy's shelling started, the defenders did not retreat to the reverse slope in time to avoid the enemy's shelling, but stayed on the ground. The fortifications were bombed, causing a large number of unnecessary casualties."

After listening to Askel's comments, Guchakov smiled slightly, and then asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you are not a member of the 27th Army, you don't know any reverse slope fortifications at all. Facing such a fierce German shelling , what choice will you make?"

Guchakov's question made Askel feel confused. It took him a long time before he smiled bitterly and said: "Comrade Brigadier, you are right. If I am not a member of the 27th Army, I will not understand it at all." What is a reverse-slope fortification. Faced with such a fierce German shelling, I can only order the soldiers to stay in the fortification to avoid the shelling. As for how many survive after the shelling is over, it is up to fate.”

"Chief of staff, I want to report the situation here to the commander." Although Guchakov is the brigade commander, his rank is lower than that of Askel, so he has enough respect for his chief of staff : "I wonder what your opinion is?"

"Report, report what?" Askel asked puzzled.

"Here!" Guchakov pouted his lips towards the outpost that was under heavy artillery fire, and said, "According to the friendly army's style of play, the 21st Mechanized Brigade will probably be wiped out before noon."

Askel stared at the distant position for a while, then nodded vigorously, and replied: "Comrade Brigadier, you are right, the commander must stop this kind of fighting that does not spare the lives of commanders and fighters."

Seeing that Askel agreed to his suggestion, Guchakov didn't dare to neglect, and quickly turned around and returned to his headquarters, ready to call Sokov immediately. After all, there are soldiers making unnecessary sacrifices every minute. .

After the call was connected, Sokov asked in surprise: "Major Guchakov, didn't I order you to rest? Why, you didn't obey my order?"

"Comrade Commander," Guchakov said rather sadly, "I also want to obey your order and lie down in the shelter and have a good sleep. But I can't, when I see the position of the friendly army on the left, My heart hurts especially when I was bombarded by the enemy and turned into a sea of ​​flames. I feel sad for the soldiers who died in the positions."

Sokov misunderstood what Guchakov meant, and said with some displeasure: "Major Guchakov, there is no one who survives a war. Since the battle is taking place in a friendly defense zone, don't meddle in your own business and be honest. Just stay and sleep in your headquarters."

Hearing what Sokov said, Guchakov immediately realized that Sokov had misinterpreted his meaning, and quickly argued: "Comrade Commander, you made a mistake. I feel sad not because I saw someone sacrificed, just as you said Speaking of war, there are no immortals. I feel sad because of other things."

Guchakov's statement aroused Sokov's curiosity: "Comrade Major, what is it?"

Guchakov hurriedly explained to Sokov what had happened in the outpost, and finally emphasized: "Comrade commander, no matter how brave the commanders are, they are all flesh and blood after all. Under shelling, there will still be heavy casualties. I beg you, immediately contact General Solomatin and ask him to adjust his tactics in time to prevent more soldiers from paying unnecessary sacrifices."

Although what Guchakov said was very reasonable, Sokov still said with a straight face: "Comrade Major, I want to remind you that it is the major general who commands the major, not the other way around. I know what I should do. There is no need for you to give pointers. You still hold your position honestly, and you don’t have to meddle in other things.”

After Sokov put down the phone, Chuvashov immediately came over and asked, "Comrade Commander, what happened?"

"The No. 1 outpost is very dangerous now." Sokov pointed to the location of the No. 1 outpost on the map, and introduced to Chuvashov: "The enemy is attacking the No. 1 outpost, and the commander who stands firm is still holding on to the position." He followed the old defensive tactics of the past. When faced with the enemy's fierce shelling, he still kept his troops in the trenches to avoid the shelling, which resulted in heavy casualties for the commanders and fighters."

"Didn't he withdraw his troops to the anti-slope position after the German shelling started?" Chuvashov just said this, and immediately realized that he was wrong. The theory of the so-called anti-slope position was still Sokov After serving as the commander of the 27th Army, it was promoted in the army. Presumably other troops have no idea what a reverse slope is. "Could it be that mechanized comrades don't understand what a backslope is?"

"I think so too."

After taking a sip of the tea in front of him, Sokov looked at Chuvashov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, can you talk to the Army Command of the Mechanized Army here?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Chuvashov explained to Sokov: "There are relatively complete telephone lines in the city. phone calls between ministries.”

"Then get me the mechanized army headquarters immediately." Sokov felt that it was necessary for him to reach a consensus with Solomatin on the defense of the No. 1 outpost, so as not to fight independently and be defeated by the German army in the end.

Solomatin was very surprised when he received a call from Sokov: "Comrade Commander, you called me, what's the matter?"

"Yes, Comrade General, I do have something to ask you." Sokov asked bluntly, "There is a fierce battle going on at Outpost No. 1, do you know about this?"

"Of course," Solomatin said casually, "I have already issued an order to the commander of the 21st Mechanized Brigade to hold outpost No. 1 at all costs."

"Comrade General, I'm calling you about this Outpost No. 1." Sokov didn't exchange too many greetings, and said straight to the point: "According to the current way of fighting, I'm afraid I won't wait until noon. The 21st Mechanized Brigade has only one empty designation left."

"Comrade Commander, is your statement too alarmist?" Sokov's statement made Solomatin feel very uncomfortable: "According to various indications, the enemy has always wanted to retake the landing site and take our Our troops rushed into the Dnieper River, but no matter how many casualties we pay, we will not let them do what they want."

"Comrade General, please listen to me." Sokov was afraid that Solomatin would start arguing with himself on the phone, so he interrupted him first: "I called you to tell you that if you still If the existing tactics are not changed, the commanders and fighters of the 21st Mechanized Brigade will continue to fill the meat grinder of the outpost. I am afraid that it will not last until noon, and this brigade will only have one empty number left."

"Comrade Commander," Solomatin was unavoidably anxious when he learned that his unit would be marked as empty. He asked in a panic, "Is everything you said true?"

"Of course it is true." Sokov knew very well that if he wanted Solomatin to change the tactics that had formed a fixed pattern, he had to persuade him first: "Comrade General, think about it, now the No. 1 outpost , there are only crude fortifications, and they can't withstand the enemy's shelling. But what about your commanders? When the enemy starts shelling, they will only let the soldiers stay in the trenches to suffer shells. After the shelling is over, the soldiers in the position The soldiers have already suffered heavy casualties."

Solomatin recalled that his troops often encountered similar situations in previous battles, and he said puzzledly: "Comrade commander, is there anything wrong with this? You know, we used to fight, no matter what the fortifications were Simple, when being bombarded by the German army, the commanders and fighters all stay in their positions. The purpose of this is to enter the combat position as quickly as possible after the bombardment is over."

"That's right, you have been using this tactic all along." Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately said unceremoniously: "But have you ever considered that this tactic will increase unnecessary casualties for the troops? "

Solomatin was silent for a while, and then asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any good ways to reduce the casualties of the troops?"

"Of course there is a way." Seeing that Solomatin finally got to the point, Sokov said to him: "Since there are no solid fortifications on the outpost, when the enemy's shelling starts, our commanders and fighters will be hiding in the fortifications." , will still suffer heavy casualties. The solution to the casualties is to transfer the main force to the reverse slope of the position during shelling, leaving only a few soldiers as observation posts to monitor the enemy's movements."

"A reverse slope?" Solomatin asked curiously when he heard this unfamiliar term, "What does it mean?"

Seeing that Solomatin did not understand the meaning of the reverse slope, Sokov quickly explained to him: "For example, the No. 1 outpost is being attacked by the German army. Its south slope is the positive slope, and the north slope is the reverse slope. Slope. The enemy artillery is deployed on the south slope side. If they counterattack the position, they can only hit the south slope or the top of the mountain, while the area on the north slope is hit by artillery shells. There are very few areas. If the commander of the outpost, At the beginning of the enemy's shelling, except for a few observation posts, the rest are withdrawn to the north slope position, and when the enemy's shelling is over and the ground attack starts, then return to the combat position, which can effectively reduce the number of casualties of the troops .”

"Comrade Commander," Solomatin asked tentatively after pondering Sokov's words, "You mean to say that when the enemy is shelling, the commanders and fighters should be withdrawn to positions on the reverse slope where the enemy's artillery can't reach?" , can effectively reduce the casualties of the troops?"

"That's right, Comrade General, I used this tactic to deal with the enemy when facing the powerful German artillery fire without solid fortifications." In order to enhance his persuasiveness, he also specifically mentioned Stalingrad: " You should know that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the commanders who entered the city survived for only 72 hours, while the soldiers survived for 24 hours. A division I commanded, even in such a difficult situation, was able to survive nearly 24 hours. Half of the commanders and fighters survived by flexibly using various tactics in battle to effectively reduce the casualties of the troops."

If Sokov said something else, Solomatin might still be suspicious, but since the other party specifically mentioned the Battle of Stalingrad, so many commanders and fighters of the entire division could survive. have a great relationship.

Thinking of this, he quickly stated to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I will immediately call the commander of the 21st Brigade and ask him to adjust his tactics to reduce unnecessary casualties of the troops."

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Sokov felt more at ease. As long as the mechanized army has enough strength to stick to the existing defense zone, then its own troops can take the initiative to attack the German army while defending. He finally said: "Comrade General, I wish you good luck!" After finishing speaking, he put down the phone directly.

Solomatin put down the microphone when he knew there was a blind tone coming from the receiver. He said to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately call the commander of the 21st mechanized brigade and order him to adjust tactics in time. , When the enemy bombards the high ground with intensive artillery fire, first withdraw the troops to the reverse slope to hide. After the enemy's shelling is over, return to their respective combat positions."

Like Solomatin, the Chief of Staff of the Army had never heard of the word backslope before. Hearing Solomatin mention it now, he couldn't help asking curiously: "I don't know what the backslope means?"

Solomatin hurriedly conducted science popularization to the chief of staff of the army, and emphasized: "Tell the brigade commander that the troops must be transferred to a safe reverse slope during the enemy's shelling to avoid unnecessary casualties, otherwise they will not wait until noon." , his unit will only have one empty number left.”

The brigade commander of the 21st Mechanized Brigade couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat after receiving a call from the chief of staff of the army. He quickly stated: "Understood, comrade chief of staff, I will immediately adjust the tactics."

Putting down the phone, the brigade commander called the Second Battalion Commander and said to him, "Second Battalion Commander, your battalion is currently defending the No. 1 outpost, but judging from the fighting situation, your battalion is almost exhausted."

"Yes, Comrade Brigadier." The second battalion commander heard the brigade commander talk about this matter, and quickly explained: "The enemy's artillery fire was too fierce. Our reinforcements went up, and they were all shot in less than an hour. We The Second Battalion had just completed its replenishment before departure, with a total strength of more than 700 people, but now there are no more than 200 people left, including about 120 combat soldiers."

"Second Battalion Commander, this battle can no longer be fought like this." After listening to the report of the Second Battalion Commander, the muscles on the brigade commander's face twitched a few times. He felt that what Solomatin said was very reasonable. If the fight continued like this , Before noon, he became a bachelor commander. He absolutely did not allow such a thing to happen: "You must adjust your tactics in time. When the enemy bombards your position, don't foolishly let the soldiers stay in the trenches It is better to transfer them to the anti-slope position in time than to take shells."