Red Moscow

When Sokov and Lunev were wandering in the street, a staff officer suddenly ran over in a hurry, saluted him and reported: "Comrade Commander, the Chief of Staff ordered me to come and ask you to go back. I have something important to do with you." Ask yourself."

"Do you know what happened?" Lunev asked beside him.

The staff officer turned to face Lunev, shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissar, I don't know exactly what happened. I only know that the chief of staff ordered me to come and find the commander immediately after he answered a phone call."

Hearing what the staff officer said, Sokov couldn't help trembling. Could it be that something went wrong that Sameko sent someone so nervously to look for him? Thinking of this, he didn't have the mind to continue shopping, and hurriedly urged Lunev to return to the headquarters, trying to find out what happened.

As soon as he returned to the headquarters, Sokov couldn't wait to ask Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"Comrade Commander," Sameko reported to Sokov, "I just received a call from General Solomatin. The morale of the army is lax..."

Sokov frowned and interrupted Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what does General Solomatin mean?"

Sameko replied: "He intends to draw a force to counter the enemy."

The landing field on the right bank established by Sokov's troops was a thorn in the side of the German army. In order to consolidate the Dnieper River defense line, Marshal Manstein ordered General Blaskowitz's 1st Army to increase its attack on the landing field. Trying to drive the Soviet army into the Dnieper River and eliminate the landing field on the right bank through a fierce offensive.

Because of this, while the troops holding their positions are defending, they will follow Sokov's order to launch counterattacks against the enemy at night, disrupting the enemy's offensive steps, so as to better defend their positions. It was for this purpose that Solomatin asked Sokov to counterattack.

Seeing the microphone on the table, Sokov pointed to Sameko and asked, "General Solomatin hasn't hung up yet, has he?"

"No." Sameko said, picked up the microphone and handed it to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, you can communicate with him in person."

"General Solomatin," Sokov said, putting the microphone close to his ear, "I'm Sokov. I heard that you plan to launch a counterattack against the enemy within the defense zone?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Solomatin replied truthfully: "Although there are commanders and fighters from the 300th Division in front of us, they are stubbornly resisting the German attack, but I don't think we can stay in the trenches every day doing nothing. The enemy should be attacked."

Sokov did not disagree with Solomatin's statement. If he wanted to hold the landing field on the right bank, he could not carry out passive defense, but must carry out uninterrupted counterattacks. Develop in a direction that is beneficial to our army. "

Sokov looked down at the map on the table and asked, "General Solomatin, where are you planning to attack?"

"To the south of the landing site, there are several isolated small villages, where the Germans have established fire support points. If we don't pay attention, the enemy may turn them into their starting point of attack." Solomaking plausibly Said: "Therefore, I feel that it is necessary to launch a counterattack, destroy the enemy in these isolated villages, and completely tear the German defense line."

After hearing Solomatin say the name of the village he planned to seize, Sokov found it on the map and asked, "Is the enemy's deployment clear?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, everything is clear," Solomatin replied politely: "According to our reconnaissance, the number of German troops in these villages is not large, and there are about one company in the villages with a large number. troops, and villages with few people have only one platoon."

"What kind of force do you plan to use to carry out this counterattack?"

"I plan to send the 219th tank brigade to carry out this combat mission." Solomatin said confidently: "The brigade has three tank battalions, all equipped with advanced T-34 tanks. There are 62 tanks in total. ability to destroy the enemy stationed in these villages."

After listening to it, Sokov asked: "They are all tank troops, so there is no infantry to cooperate?"

"There is no need for this, Comrade Commander." Solomatin said: "The enemy is a lightly armed force that lacks heavy weapons. Seeing our tanks rushing up, don't you turn around and run away in fright?!" After finishing speaking, haha Laugh out loud.

Seeing that Solomatin was so confident, Sokov had no reason to object. He nodded, and then said: "General Solomatin, I agree with your counterattack plan. Let me know as soon as possible, I will always wait for your good news."

When Sokov put down the phone, Managarov, who was sitting on the table next to him, smiled and said: "General Sokov, I think Solomatin chose the timing of this attack very well. With a large number of troops, their defensive strength in the south of the landing field has become weak, and a counterattack against them at this moment will definitely achieve good results."

Both Sokov and Managarov are full of confidence in Solomatin's prepared counterattack. With an elite tank force, go to a village defended only by light infantry, and it will be strange if you can't win.

However, the ideal is plump, and the reality is skinny. Two hours later, Solomatin called Sokov and said in a heavy tone: "Sorry, Comrade Commander, I have let you down."

Sokov was startled, and quickly asked, "General Solomatin, what happened?"

"Comrade Commander, our counterattack has failed."

"What the hell is going on here," Sokov asked anxiously, "Did you encounter a large German army?" The reason why he thought so was because Solomatin dispatched 62 T- The tank brigade of 34 tanks will never be defeated if it does not encounter an enemy with an absolute advantage in terms of strength and equipment.

"Unfortunately, Comrade Commander, we encountered only a small group of enemies." Solomatin said with a bitter face: "According to the report of the brigade commander, Colonel Spyridon Timofevich, their tanks fired at the first When a village was advancing, it accidentally entered a minefield set up by the Germans, and 11 tanks hit the minefield and exploded. The tanks that passed through the minefield were attacked by anti-tank guns and tank fire when they entered the village, causing our Army tanks were destroyed one after another.

Since the anti-tank guns and tanks fired were hidden between the wooden houses, it was impossible for our army's tanks to detect the opponent's whereabouts in time. Seeing that the situation was not good, Colonel Spiridon Timofevich immediately ordered all the tanks to withdraw from the village, preparing to engage the German tanks in a place outside the village with a wide view..."

"You can't beat the Germans in the village, but you can win if you leave the village?" Sokov was full of doubts about this matter, and he said displeasedly: "All the tanks were withdrawn from the village in a hurry, and we didn't wait for everyone to fight." When I come to my senses, I am afraid that it will be completely destroyed by the anti-tank firepower of the German army."

The other party between Sokov and Solomatin, Managarov, who was sitting not far away, heard it all, and he was a little dumbfounded. This is simply a joke, dispatching an elite tank brigade to attack a few small villages is simply killing a chicken with a sledgehammer. But I didn't expect to be defeated by the Germans... Fortunately, he was still in front of Sokov just now, saying good things for Solomatin. Now it seems... His face hurts, and the corners of his mouth are twitching. It was a real slap in the face.

Sokov, who was on the phone with Solomatin, didn't notice Managarov's expression. What he cared about was how many tanks in this tank brigade remained: "General Solomatin, please tell me Let me tell you the truth, how many tanks are left in the 219th Tank Brigade?"

Solomatin on the other end of the phone couldn't help but smile wryly when he heard Sokov's question, "There were less than twenty tanks, and they were successfully withdrawn."

I learned that the 219th Tank Brigade, which was originally equipped with 62 tanks, was wiped out by the Germans in an instant. Two-thirds of the tanks were wiped out. The remaining tanks were used for defense, not to mention offense.

Sokov sighed softly, and then said: "General Solomatin, since your counterattack has failed, immediately withdraw your troops, and when the time is right in the future, we will launch a new offensive against the Germans." .”

"Unexpectedly, General Sokov." Seeing Sokov put down the microphone, Managarov said hastily: "I thought that an elite tank brigade would be dispatched to capture a few villages occupied by the German army, but it would be a surprise! Such a terrible loss."

"Yes, Comrade General, not only did you not think of it, I also didn't think of it." Sokov said with a melancholy expression: "I didn't expect that a small German army would cause such heavy casualties to our army. The failed There are many reasons, but I think the most important point may be to underestimate the enemy."

"I think that as long as there is heavy artillery support, it shouldn't be a big problem to take that village." Derevyanko suddenly interjected, "We should bombard the village immediately before the enemies leave. A way to destroy the enemy's tanks and anti-tank artillery ambushed in the village."

"General Derevyanko, you are right. If you use heavy artillery to bombard the village at this moment, and then the tank brigade assaults, there should be no problem in taking the village." Sokov said to Derevyanko: "Soloma Jing launched a counterattack against the enemy's defense zone. Originally, it was only to destroy some fire support points on the German defense line, and by the way, wipe out the enemy's vital forces.

But as long as we occupy these firepower support points, the Germans will dispatch troops to snatch them, and then this place will become a battlefield of attrition. Instead of expending a lot of energy to maintain an insignificant village, it is better to concentrate on thinking about how to eliminate more enemies. "

"General Sokov is right. Once our army occupies those villages, the enemy will definitely not let it go. At that time, they will dispatch a large number of troops to start repeated tug-of-war with us in these villages and consume our army. Seeing that his chief of staff seemed to want to refute Sokov, Managarov hurried out to smooth things over: "What to do next, it is up to General Sokov to decide."

According to Sokov's original plan, when the 5th and 7th Guards Army captured Poltava and the main force advanced towards the Dnieper River, he could take the lead in launching an attack on the German army on the right bank. The several tank brigades in the army are about to play a big role. But unexpectedly, one of them was directly maimed by a small German army today, which made Sokov feel extremely distressed in his heart.

"Comrade Commander," Sameko said suddenly when Sokov was heartbroken: "I think we can consider Derevyanko's proposal and organize another attack on that village, and find a way to remove the village from the Germans." Take it back from your hand."

Sokov frowned at Sameko's words, and said to himself, aren't you playing against me? I just stated that I am not planning to attack that village again, so you suggest that I attack the village?

Sokov's reaction was seen by Sameko. Seeing Sokov's reaction, he immediately realized that the other party might have misunderstood, and quickly explained: "Comrade Commander, according to General Solomatin's report, they More than forty tanks were lost in and around the village, and if we don't bring back the wreckage of these tanks as soon as possible, they will probably be dragged back to the furnace by the Germans..."

Sameko's words reminded Sokov that anyway, the 219th Tank Brigade left more than 40 tanks near the small village. If he sent people to bring back all these tanks, he might be able to repair some of them. Tanks continue to be used. "Comrade Chief of Staff, which unit do you think is more appropriate to send?"

"In my opinion, let the 483rd Tank Battalion go, and another infantry company will be deployed to support them. I believe that the village will be captured." Sameko said: "After we bring back all the tank wreckage, we will abandon those A village that has long since lost its function."

"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff. Just do as you said, let the 483rd Tank Battalion attack and cover the infantry to seize the village." Seeing that Sameko's thoughts coincided with his own, Sokov readily agreed to him request, and told him: "Remember, once the village is captured, you must send someone to drag the wreckage of the tanks inside and outside the village to the maintenance station as soon as possible, to see if some of the tanks can be repaired."

"Then I will contact the maintenance station," Sameko said, "Ask them to send armored maintenance vehicles and rush to the combat area as soon as possible. Once they see destroyed equipment of our army, they should be dragged back as soon as possible. They must not be left behind." to the Germans."

Sokov knew very well that once the Germans took these scrapped tanks back, they would definitely repair them. Maybe such a toss would provide the Germans with the tanks they needed for combat in disguise. "Tell the workers involved in the maintenance that if it is really impossible to pull the tank back to the maintenance station, they must also find a way to blow it up. This way, the Germans are not using our destroyed tank wreckage."

"Comrade commander, you can rest assured about this." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sameko assured Sokov: "I will definitely handle this matter properly, and I will never let the wreckage of our tank fall into the ground." into German hands."

"Very good, very good." Sokov was very satisfied with Sameko's statement. He pushed the phone in front of Sameko and urged: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's getting late, you can call the maintenance station first." Give them a call and get them ready to go."