Red Moscow

When the phone of the Army Group Headquarters rang, Sokov was sitting at the table staring at the map in a daze. He felt that his judgment should be correct. How could it be possible for a landmine planted hundreds of meters away from the position to explode inexplicably?

There is no forest near the explosion site, so naturally there will be no large animals. Even if there are animals, they are only small animals such as foxes or hares. They will never detonate landmines. Then the truth is ready to come out. Someone must have appeared in that area .

Sokov didn't sleep, and Smirnov naturally couldn't sleep either. He sat aside and read various battle reports, thinking in his heart that if Sokov was really suspended because of this incident, whether his superiors would order him to temporarily take charge of the entire army group.

As soon as the phone rang, Smirnov reached out and grabbed the receiver, put it close to his ear and said, "I'm Smirnov, what's the matter?" The next second, a shocked expression appeared on his face , "What? Say it again."

Sokov noticed Smirnov's strangeness, looked up at him and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov couldn't help raising his voice because of his excitement, "Colonel Sidolin reported that Height 239 was suddenly attacked by German troops..."

Before Smirnov could finish speaking, Sokov snatched the microphone in his hand, and impatiently asked, "Sidorin? I'm Sokov, tell me quickly, 239 What happened to the Highlands?"

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said on the phone, "I just received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Grushiko, the deputy commander of the 126th Regiment, saying that the 239 Heights, which was defended by the 2nd Battalion of the regiment, had been attacked by the Germans. Now the battle is on on the high ground."

Knowing that the Germans really launched an attack on Height 239, Sokov breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked, "What kind of force is the enemy?"

"I don't know much about this." Sidolin said with some embarrassment: "The news I have so far is that fighting is taking place on the high ground. It is not yet known how many troops the Germans have invested."

Seeing that Sidolin couldn't figure out the scale of the attacking German army, Sokov was somewhat disappointed. He could only say into the microphone: "Sidorin, as soon as you have the latest news, report to me immediately."

After Sokov put down the phone, he called a staff officer and told him, "Go and invite General Tsarev!"

After the staff officer left, Smirnov asked curiously: "Comrade commander, do you plan to order the artillery to shell the high ground?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said, "The 41st Guards Division has recruited a large number of recruits. These recruits have neither military training nor combat experience. If there is no artillery support, It is very difficult to stop the German surprise attack in the night battle."

"However, we don't know much about the situation on the high ground at this moment." Smirnov said embarrassingly: "Plus, the visibility at night is limited, so if we fire rashly, we may accidentally injure our own people."

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I won't order the artillery to fire on the high ground." Sokov reminded Smirnov: "Just use artillery fire to block and shoot in front of the high ground, and the enemy can't approach our army." The position. And those enemies who break into the position will be easily wiped out after losing their backup."

Tsarev, who was notified, hurried into the command post. He buttoned his military coat and asked in surprise, "Comrade Commander, is there anything urgent?"

"General Tsarev!" Sokov looked at his army artillery commander and asked, "How many artillery pieces can you use now?"

"There are 140 guns of various calibers." Tsarev asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what are you asking for?" ""

"Highland 239 was attacked by the German army." Sokov didn't go around in circles, and said straight to the point: "Because the visibility at night is too low, sending reinforcements rashly may cause confusion, and even fall into the enemy's ambush, resulting in unnecessary casualties. Therefore, I intend to order the artillery to fire, to use artillery fire to build an impenetrable wall of fire in front of the high ground, and to prevent the German attacking troops from approaching our positions."

After listening to what Sokov said, Tsarev frowned and said: "Comrade commander, to tell you the truth, although we have more than 140 artillery pieces of various calibers, due to the deployment position of the artillery positions, we can hit 239 On the front of the high ground, there are only more than 20 76.2mm howitzers and five 105mm howitzers."

After hearing Tsarev's words, Smirnov couldn't help frowning: "General Tsarev, it is basically impossible to build a wall of fire that is insurmountable for the enemy with just these cannons. If you want to start again How long will it take to adjust the gun positions?"

"It's hard to say, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tsarev said embarrassingly: "Don't say it's night, even if it's daytime, if you want to move the gun position to the ideal shooting position, you can't do it for five or six hours. It’s right.” Probably because he was worried about being blamed by Sokov, he also deliberately added, “After all, according to the original battle plan, the enemy we want to defend is in the southwest direction.”

Sokov originally wanted Tsarev to move the artillery positions so that the artillery directly under the group army would also participate in the shelling, but he immediately changed his mind after hearing what he said. Although the German army in the southwest direction has not moved for the time being, it cannot be ruled out that they will cooperate The possibility of German action in the encirclement, so the original artillery positions remained unchanged.

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov asked Sokov, "what do you think?"

"The position of the artillery of the Army Group will not change." Sokov said: "I plan to call General Fumin, the artillery commander of the Front Army, and ask for his help."

"Isn't it a bit rash to call General Fumin now?" Smirnov reminded Sokov: "After all, we don't know how many German troops are attacking the 239 Heights. Maybe with the strength of the 126th Regiment itself, enough to annihilate them."

Sokov felt that what Smirnov said was very reasonable. At this moment, he didn't even know the strength of the German army, so he rashly asked the artillery of the front army for help. The bombardment with great fanfare will definitely attract criticism from others.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Smirnov, "call General Kurishenko and ask him if he has any information about the enemy's strength."

"Okay, Comrade Commander, I'll fight right away."

While Smirnov was on the phone, Sokov called the director of the communications corps to him and asked, "Comrade director of the communications corps, has the dedicated line with Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin been laid?"

When Sokov sent Ponegerin to the Fuming headquarters a few days ago, in order to facilitate contact, he specially asked his communications director to lead a dedicated telephone line between himself and Ponegerin.

"It has been laid and ready to be put into use."

"Please help me get through to Lieutenant Colonel Bornejelin, I have something to tell him."

After the call was connected, Ponejelin's lazy voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I heard that you ordered the artillery to shell the front of Height 239 without authorization. Is that the case?"

"That's right, General Ponegerin." When Suokov called Ponegerin privately, he would always add the general, "I did order the artillery regiment of the 41st Guards Division to attack the open space in front of Hill 239. A basic cannonball." After saying this, he paused for a moment and asked, "What else have you heard?"

"Misha, you may have gotten into trouble." After being confirmed by Sokov, Ponegerin's voice became serious: "I thought it was just a rumor, but I didn't expect it to be true. I heard a staff officer say If you start, your superiors may give you a serious punishment, after all, in the current situation where ammunition is not very abundant, your behavior is a waste."

"Is it not a waste as long as these shells hit the Germans?"

"I think so," said Pornegelin. "Even if your shells can kill dozens of Germans, then the bombardment you directed is completely correct. But if all the shells hit the open space, If not one enemy is killed, I’m sorry, but you may be in trouble. To put it nicely, it’s a waste; to put it badly, it’s to be frightened by the enemy and become panicked.”

Sukov knew in his heart that the reason why Ponegerin said these words was because he was worried about his future. Now Ponegelin and the others share weal and woe with themselves. If they are severely punished, or even revoked from the position of army commander, their future will also become bleak.

In order to dispel the other party's worries, Sokov said with a smile: "General Pornejelin, I called you because I have something important to tell you."

"what's up?"

"Not long ago, the 239 highland where the 41st Guards Division was stationed was attacked by the German army frantically." Sokov said: "The battle on the highland is still going on."

"Is this true?" It stands to reason that Ponegerin should feel worried when he heard such news, but for some reason, he felt a burst of joy in his heart. "Did the Germans really attack Hill 239?"

"That's right, the Germans are indeed attacking Height 239." Sokov said, "I'm calling you because I want you to contact General Fumin so that the artillery can prepare to shell the open space in front of Height 239."

"Okay, I'll contact General Fuming immediately." After Pornejelin finished speaking, he suddenly remembered an important question: "Misha, I want to ask, how many enemies are there attacking the high ground?"

"It's not clear yet." Sokov replied, "But I guess it's definitely not a small army. In order to prevent their attempt to seize the high ground, intensive artillery fire must be used to block and shoot the German attacking troops, and drive them far away. Stay out of position."

"Misha," Sokov's answer made Ponejielin feel uncomfortable: "If General Fumin asks, how should I answer him? It is impossible to say that according to your estimation, the enemy attacking the high ground is not a small army. You Do you think General Fuming will believe it?"

Just as Sokov was considering how to answer Ponegerin, Smirnov suddenly said agitatedly: "Comrade Commander, the situation is not very good."

Seeing Smirnov's panicked expression, Sokov hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

"Two companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 126th Regiment launched an attack on the high ground. However, they were met with a frenzied counterattack by the Germans. After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, less than 50 people retreated."

Sokov's pupils contracted violently. He knew that there were more than 600 people in the Second Battalion, but within half an hour, there were less than 50 people left. This shows how huge the German army is on the high ground today. He looked at Smirnov and asked, "Chief of Staff, has Lieutenant Colonel Duharin taken any measures?"

"He is gathering the 1st and 3rd Battalions, ready to attack the high ground again with the artillery support of the mortar platoon."

Hearing this, Sokov immediately issued an order to Smirnov: "Chief of Staff, immediately tell General Kurishenko to let the 89th Guards Artillery Regiment fire, and use artillery fire to form a line of fire two hundred meters in front of the position. Firewall, lest more enemies enter our position."

Hearing what Sokov said, Smirnov immediately understood that if more enemies continued to enter the position, even if the 126th Regiment responsible for holding on to the 239 Heights was wiped out, they might not be able to regain the lost position. He quickly agreed, and then said into the microphone: "General Kurishenko, Comrade Commander ordered the 89th Guards Artillery Regiment to open fire immediately, and bombard the position 200 meters in front of the high ground with artillery fire to prevent more enemies from entering the high ground. "

Sokov said into the microphone with a serious expression: "General Pornejelin, have you heard it? One of our battalions launched an attack on the German army on the high ground, and the entire army was almost wiped out in just ten minutes. In this Under such circumstances, do you still think that the enemy attacking the high ground is just a small force?"

Pornegerin realized that his judgment had gone wrong. Sure enough, a large number of German troops were attacking Height 239. He hurriedly said: "I'll go to General Fuming and tell him the situation, and let the artillery do a good job. Ready to fire."

As soon as Sokov finished talking with Ponejielin, he ordered the director of the communications corps: "Get me to the headquarters of the Front Army. I want to find General Zakharov."

Zakharov was on duty tonight and stayed in the headquarters without leaving. Hearing that it was Sokov calling him, he thought that the other party wanted him to help him intercede, but before Sokov could tell the reason, he took the initiative to say: "Comrade Sokov, your matter is big or small. , it depends on whether the superior wants to target you. Don't worry, when it's time to help you speak, I will naturally speak. "

After saying this, Zakharov thought that Sokov would be grateful to him, but the other party said in shock: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I just received a report from the 41st Guards Division that the 239 Heights were attacked. The German army's sneak attack, a battalion that stood firm has been defeated by the German army, and the commander of the 126th regiment is preparing to organize troops to launch a new round of offensive."

"What, the enemy launched an attack on Highland 239?" Zakharov couldn't believe his ears: "What the hell, the enemy is at least a dozen kilometers away from Highland 239, and there is a defense zone of friendly troops in the middle. They are How did you get to the vicinity of Height 239 without anyone noticing?"

"I don't know either." Sokov replied truthfully: "Anyway, our army and the enemy are fighting on Height 239 at this moment."

"What kind of enemy is it?" Zakharov asked.

"I don't know." Sokov answered very simply. "Although I haven't figured out the strength of the enemy, the second battalion that stood firm on the high ground has been completely defeated by the enemy. There are less than fifty people left in the whole battalion."