Red Moscow

Belkin originally had a fluke mentality, thinking that he might be able to rescue the surviving commanders and fighters of the 44th regiment, but after seeing their positions on the map, he couldn't help but take a breath. It is the hinterland of the German army, surrounded by heavy troops, it is only a matter of time before they are wiped out.

He can only say regretfully: "The commanders and fighters of the 44th regiment are too far away from us, otherwise we can send troops to pick them up. Now I can only wish them good luck, and hope that they have the opportunity to jump out of the enemy's encirclement come out."

Belgin felt that it was necessary to report this situation to Sokov immediately, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade General, can your phone here directly communicate with our defense zone? I need to report the situation here to the commander immediately." Comrade report."

Sivalenko turned his head and asked his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can the phone number of our division headquarters communicate directly with the defense line of the friendly army?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff nodded and replied, "Since I found out that the friendly army who handed over the defense to us did not go far after leaving the town, but started to build fortifications nearby, I ordered people to lay established a telephone line so that they can be reached by telephone if necessary."

"Good work, my comrade chief of staff." Knowing that the chief of staff had actually laid a telephone line leading to a friendly defense zone without his knowledge, Sivalenko couldn't help but praise him, and then called The communication company commander ordered: "Comrade Captain, immediately connect Colonel Belgin to the friendly defense zone."

The call was connected quickly. After thanking the communication company commander, Belkin picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. He recognized that the person answering the phone was a communication staff officer of the division, so he said bluntly: "I am not Colonel Erkin, please ask Comrade Commander to answer the phone."

When the staff officer heard Belkin's order, he didn't dare to be negligent. He quickly put the microphone on the table, got up and reported to Sokov who was talking to Fomenko and Koida: "Comrade commander, your phone number is Colonel Belkin is calling from the town of Ratswe."

Sokov felt that Belkin must have something important to call when he called at such a time, so he hurried over. The staff officer picked up the microphone on the table and handed it to Sokov with both hands.

"I'm Sokov." Sokov put the microphone close to his ear. According to his understanding of Belkin, if there was no important matter, he would never call himself at such a time, so he spoke into the microphone Asked: "Is it Colonel Belkin, what happened to you?"

"Comrade Commander," in front of outsiders, Belkin could not call Sokov by his nickname, but by his position: "Not long ago, Sivalenko received a telegram, and we thought that The 44th Guards Regiment, which has been completely wiped out, unexpectedly had two hundred men break through the encirclement of the enemy."

"Oh, there are still survivors from the 44th regiment?" Sokov was also surprised when he heard the news, and asked curiously, "Where are they now?"

"After they protruded from the encirclement of the German army, because the road to the south of the town of Latseve has been cut off by the enemy, they can only choose to move in the opposite direction, and now they are staying at..." Belgin said after finishing the stay of the 44th regiment. After the place, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think we can provide them with some help within our ability to rescue them from danger?"

"Map!" Sokov turned to Fomenko and said, "General Fomenko, find me a map."

Soon, the map was placed in front of Sokov. He found the location, checked it carefully, shook his head and said, "No, Colonel Bergin, judging from the current situation, our troops are temporarily unable to Get there and rescue the remnants of the 44th."

"That's such a pity." Although Belkin had guessed this result a long time ago, it was quite regrettable to hear Sokov say it, "These commanders and fighters who can protrude from the enemy's encirclement, if they can If you come back alive, you will definitely be the backbone of the army in the future. It is such a pity to sacrifice for nothing like this."

Compared with the big action to be carried out next, Sokov could only temporarily put aside the lives and deaths of more than two hundred commanders and fighters, and then asked: "Colonel Belgin, I wonder if you talked to General Sivalenko How is it going, is he willing to take the troops back into our defense zone as planned."

"Yes, he has already agreed." Belkin replied: "Just after the troops have repelled this German attack, immediately organize a retreat, leaving an empty town for the Germans, and let them have a headache. "

Knowing that Sivalenko agreed to withdraw his troops from the town of Ratesve, Sokov couldn't help but secretly heave a sigh of relief. You must know that if Sivalenko insists on fighting the enemy in the town to the death, when the time comes If one's own troops cast a mouse-snatching weapon, it is possible to disrupt the originally planned plan.

Sokov said to the microphone with relief: "Sivalenko is willing to take the initiative to give up the town of Ratsve. I am willing to help him bear all the consequences caused by it.”

To be honest, Belkin persuaded Sivalenko to withdraw from the town of Ratesve, and Sivalenko agreed well, but there was always a knot in his heart. He was worried that after his troops withdrew from the town, the Germans would not Sokov's plan was defeated by sending heavy troops to the town of Ratsve. When the time comes for the superior to pursue the responsibility, I, the chief military officer, will have to bear the blame.

But when he heard Belkin convey Sokov's words, saying that he was willing to bear all the consequences when his superiors held him accountable, he completely let go of the stone in his heart, commanded the battle wholeheartedly, and prepared to lead his own army after repelling the enemy's attack. The troops withdrew from the town of Ratsve, allowing Sokov's troops to use artillery fire to destroy the enemy who wanted to die.

The battle lasted for more than an hour. Seeing that their attack could not be effective for a long time, the German army stopped their unnecessary attempts and withdrew to their starting positions one after another.

Seeing that the enemy was retreating, the two captains of the Guards lost no time in conveying the order to retreat to their subordinates. What they didn't expect was that this order actually caused an uproar. The soldiers who were still immersed in the joy of victory were dumbfounded when they learned that their superiors wanted to order them to retreat.

Soon there were soldiers in the trenches roaring: "Why retreat? We just repelled the German attack. Isn't this retreat the same as handing over the position to the Germans?"

"So many of our comrades-in-arms have shed their last drop of blood on this position, and we absolutely cannot leave them behind."

"No matter who gave this order, I will never leave the position."

Not only the soldiers were furious, but even the commanders at the battalion and company level did not understand why their superiors issued such an order. They either made phone calls in person, or sent communication troops to the regiment headquarters to suit the orders they received. Is it real.

However, due to reasons of confidentiality, Sivalenko did not tell the heads of the regiments at all when he issued this order. So when faced with a phone call from the battalion and company commanders below, or seeing the communication soldiers they sent, the two regiment leaders gave the same answer: "I don't know why the superiors gave the order to retreat. But as soldiers, our duty is to obey. When we are given the order to retreat, we do so without discussing or questioning it."

In this way, under the strong pressure of the two regiment leaders, even if the grassroots commanders were reluctant, they could only choose to obey and withdraw from the position with their troops according to the order of their superiors.

But these commanders and fighters came to a place two kilometers away from the town, and unexpectedly found that there was an extra defensive position here at some point, and a large number of troops were stationed here.

Seeing this scene, the commanders and fighters who had become depressed because of the retreat became excited again. They pointed at the assault rifles in the hands of friendly soldiers and whispered: "What kind of gun are they holding?" , Why have I never seen it before?"

A knowledgeable soldier immediately told his comrades: "That is a new type of gun called an assault rifle. It is said that the rate of fire is similar to that of a Bobosa submachine gun, but its shooting accuracy is comparable to that of a Mosin Nagant rifle."

"My God, isn't that power almost as powerful as that of a machine gun?" The soldiers around exclaimed, "If we equip all our companies with such guns, then our speed of repelling the enemy will be greatly improved."

"Hey, don't count on it." The soldier who first recognized the assault rifle said with a wry smile: "As far as I know, this kind of gun is only equipped with General Sukov's 27th Army now, and the rest of the troops are still in rotation temporarily." not on."

Immediately, other soldiers caught an important message from his words: "What, this weapon is only equipped with General Sokov's troops? In other words, the troops stationed here are General Sokov's subordinates. "

"That's right," another soldier interjected, "Look at the captain standing by the trench over there. I met him yesterday when we were defending the town of Ratseve. He belongs to the 254th regiment."

Knowing that the troops stationed here are actually the 254th Regiment that handed over their defenses to their own troops yesterday, even the most stupid people understand that their superiors told them to withdraw from the town because they intend to use this heroic army to deal with those damned German guy. After thinking about this, the soldiers lifted their heads up again, and the originally loose formation quickly turned into a neat four-way column.

The change in the attitude of the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division was clearly seen by Sokov standing in the distance through a telescope. He put down the binoculars, turned his head and said to Fomenko and Koida behind him: "Comrades, two division commanders, have you seen the mood swings of the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division?"

"I see." It was Koyda who spoke first. After he glanced at Fomenko with envy, he said with emotion: "When the commanders and fighters of the Guards Division just arrived here, almost everyone was downcast, but Since they recognized the troops stationed here, the ones that had handed over their defense, the spirit of the whole army has changed. If someday our troops can be like General Fomenko's troops, what? Not to mention, just standing there can boost the morale of the friendly army, and then I, the division commander, will also feel proud."

Hearing Koyda's praise from the bottom of his heart, Fomenko was actually a little embarrassed, he laughed a few times, and then said to Koyda: "Colonel Koyda, if we captured the town of Rateve and Jingji The troops in the town are your subordinates, I am afraid that the commanders and fighters who have withdrawn from the town today will also be in awe when they see your troops and regain their confidence."

…………

After a burst of artillery fire, the German army launched another attack on the town of Ratswe.

But to their surprise, there was no resistance at all. Not to mention the mortars that gave them a headache during the last attack, they didn't even hear the gunfire, and the whole town was quiet, as if there was no one there.

Seeing this situation, the German army became hesitant. They worried that it was a Soviet conspiracy and set a trap for themselves in the town, so they stopped advancing, and only sent a company of troops to enter the town to search.

The German company that was ordered to enter the town spent more than half an hour searching the town. They found that there was no sign of the Soviet army in the town at all, not to mention living people, and they didn't even see the corpses. It was obvious that the Soviet army took away the corpses of their companions when they retreated.

The German company commander was a cautious person. Although he did not find any trace of the Soviet army in the town, he ordered his soldiers to check those important buildings to see if there were any explosives or landmines planted by the Soviet army.

When his soldiers came to report to him one by one, saying that no explosives or landmines were found in the town, the German company commander relaxed his vigilance, and then ordered his radio operator to follow him, sending a safety signal to the troops outside the town .

It was getting late at this moment, and the German officers and soldiers waiting outside the town quickly advanced towards the town after seeing the safety signal sent by the search force.

The German troops entering the town had two infantry battalions and one armored battalion, as well as a company of the 5th Armored Light Infantry Battalion of the Viking Division. The deputy commander of these troops was in charge of commanding these troops. Seeing that it was getting late, he ordered the troops to camp in the town if he returned to the starting position of the attack for the night, and worried that the Soviet army would reoccupy the town overnight.

The troops that entered the town, after receiving the order from the deputy head, immediately used the company as a unit to look for those buildings that were still relatively complete, and planned to rest there for a night, and went to chase the fleeing Soviet army tomorrow.

At two o'clock in the morning, the deputy commander of the German army, who was sleeping soundly, was suddenly awakened by a huge explosion outside. He jumped up from the camp bed and asked loudly, "What's going on, where is the artillery firing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a shell fell on the door of the church and exploded. The flying debris knocked down several soldiers at the door, and they fell to the ground screaming.

"Damn, what's going on, why are you shooting at us?" The deputy commander heard the sound of cannons outside, and said to the radio operator angrily: "Radio operator, immediately send a telegram to Shangfeng, saying that we have been shelled .Attention, it is shelling from our own people, please let them stop the shelling immediately, so as not to cause huge casualties to us."

The deputy head's decision was correct. If he didn't report to the peak in time when he was attacked by his own shelling and asked them to stop the damn shelling, it wouldn't be long before the entire town of Latsewe would become a sea of ​​flames. But to his surprise, the artillery that was shelling them did not come from the rear of the German army, but the Soviet artillery position a few kilometers away from them.