Red Moscow

Although Sokov planned to advance with the troops, in order to prevent the division headquarters from being taken away by the enemy, he left Potukin at the headquarters, took the guard platoon and a communication team, and crossed the river to the newly occupied position on the opposite bank. .

After the German positions were bombarded by the Soviets for half an hour, there was empty soil everywhere. Sokov led the guard platoon and the communication team, walked past the corpses that had not yet been taken away, and walked forward without stopping.

Because the German positions had been bombed beyond recognition, Sokov couldn't find out where Bindasov's regiment command post was, so he stopped a sergeant who was leading soldiers to clean the battlefield, and asked loudly: "Come on. Comrade soldier, do you know where the regiment headquarters is?"

Seeing that it was the acting division commander who was asking himself, the sergeant quickly straightened his body and showed him the way respectfully: "Comrade commander, if you go straight ahead, you will see a firepower point that was blown up. Behind the firepower point, A complete trench more than five meters long, Colonel Bindasov's command post, is located there."

According to the guidance of the sergeant, Sokov successfully found Bindasov's headquarters. He jumped into the trench and said to Bindasov who was sitting on the ground: "Comrade Colonel, why did you set up the command post here?"

Hearing Sokov's voice, Bindasov quickly stood up from the ground, raised his hand to salute, and said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, our army's artillery fire has destroyed all the fortifications on the position. I have been looking for it for a long time. I found that only this part of the trench was still intact, so I made this my command post."

"Where is Lieutenant Colonel Pavel?" Sokov took out a cigarette case from his pocket, handed it to Bindasov, and asked, "According to the division's combat plan, shouldn't you establish a joint unit here?" Command?"

Bindasov drew a cigarette from the pack and put it in his mouth, but did not light it immediately. He lit Sokov's cigarette with a match first, then lit his own, and then said: "Comrade commander, you have also seen that it is difficult to even establish an ordinary headquarters here, let alone a joint headquarters." .Now Lieutenant Colonel Pavel led the troops of the two regiments and continued to pursue the enemy. Our regiment stayed behind to clean up the battlefield."

Hearing that Pavel led his troops to pursue the enemy, Sokov felt that his decision was very correct. If they really stay here and establish a joint command, should Colonel Bindasov, who commands a regiment, command Lieutenant Colonel Pavel? Or Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, who commanded two regiments, and Colonel Bindasov, who commanded only one regiment?

After Sokov finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, he said to Bindasov: "Comrade Colonel, you leave a battalion here to clean up the battlefield and repair the position, and then lead the other two battalions to continue to advance southwest."

"Understood, I'm leaving now." Bindasov stood up and shouted to the staff officers and communications soldiers who were busy beside him: "Everyone pack up, we are ready to go."

After Bindasov left with the troops, Sokov asked the communication team to set up the headquarters in the trenches. The guard platoon leader looked at the surrounding environment and asked nervously: "Comrade commander, do you just set up your headquarters in the trenches?"

"Yes, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Sokov waited for the guard platoon leader to finish speaking, nodded, and replied helplessly: "From the current situation, we can only use this as the headquarters."

"Comrade Commander," the guard platoon leader looked around, and then said, "I think there must be a bombed-out bunker nearby. I'll take someone to clear it out."

Hearing the guard platoon leader say about the bombed-out bunker, Sokov's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that it should be full of German corpses. It's really frightening to use such a place as the headquarters. Seeing that the guard platoon leader was still waiting for his reply, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay, Comrade Second Lieutenant, I will leave this matter to you."

As soon as the telephone line was set up, Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky himself: "Misha, why don't you stay in the headquarters and run to the front?"

When Sokov heard Rokossovsky say this, he immediately realized that he must have learned about the situation from Kazakov or Potukin, otherwise he could not have known so quickly that he had left the command. But Sokov knew that Rokossovsky was concerned about him, so he said with a smile: "Comrade commander, didn't you say that the commander should stay with his troops as much as possible, so that he can not only keep abreast of the battlefield The situation can also play a role in boosting morale.”

"That's right, I said that." Rokossovsky said on the phone: "According to the report of the famous writer and reporter Ehrenburg, the divisional headquarters of our army are generally located 300 meters away from the front. places, and the division headquarters of the German army are usually ten kilometers behind the front-line troops. His report explains from one side why the middle and senior commanders of our army suffered a lot of casualties, because they almost all stayed at the front to command.”

Sokov waited patiently for Rokossovsky to finish, and immediately replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will pay attention to safety. Our division will never cause the commander to withdraw from the battle. The system is paralyzed."

After finishing the conversation with Rokossovsky, Sokov ordered the radio operator: "Send a report to Lieutenant Colonel Pavel immediately and ask him to report the progress of the 1137th and 1139th regiments immediately."

But it took half an hour before the operator received a call back from Lieutenant Colonel Pavel. The content of Pavel's telegram is very simple, saying that the two regiments were in the process of chasing the enemy and were counterattacked by the enemy. After repelling the enemy's counterattack, for the sake of safety, he ordered the troops to turn to the defense on the spot in time and rush to repair the occupied positions.

Sokov looked down at the map laid out on his knees, studied the situation of the German troops in front of Pavel's troops, and then said to the radio operator: "Call Lieutenant Colonel Pavel back and ask him to stay on the defensive for the time being, and let the troops hurry up." Time to rest and prepare for the next stage of operations at any time."

After receiving Sokov's telegram, Pavel felt very relieved. The two regiments under his command marched overnight to the river crossing point. After crossing the river, they marched non-stop for several kilometers to attack the flank of the German army. Now the commanders and fighters are very tired. If they can take a good rest, it will be very beneficial to the next battle.

When deploying defenses, he asked the accompanying communications soldiers to start laying telephone lines with Sokov's headquarters so that when something happened, they could communicate directly by telephone. convenient.

Seeing that the Soviet attack stopped suddenly, the enemy in the direction of Pavel's department thought that their counterattack had achieved results, so they began to bombard the defense areas of the two regiments with artillery fire. After the shelling ended, the Germans sent infantry to charge again, but were repulsed by the Soviets.

In the next two hours or so, Pavel realized that something was wrong. Although the German army kept shelling his position, the enemy's infantry behaved extremely abnormally. They advanced to a distance of two to three hundred meters from the position. If there is any place, they will stop and fire a burst of guns towards their position, and then hastily withdraw.

The actions of the German army made Pavel feel that something was wrong, so he picked up the phone and reported to Sokov. After listening to his report, Sokov asked noncommittally, "Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, what do you think?"

"Comrade Commander," Pavel replied cautiously, "I think the Germans are just bluffing in our direction, and their purpose is not to repel us, but to keep us firmly in the existing area so that cover their possible actions in other directions."

For Pavel's analysis, Sokov agreed very much. After all, he had just played a trick with the Germans not long ago. It is entirely possible for the Germans who have suffered a lot to follow suit. The key depends on where they will choose the real counterattack direction?

However, everything is guesswork at present. What kind of gourds are sold in the Germans still needs to continue to observe. Thinking of this, he said to Pavel: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, pay attention to the movements of the Germans, and report to me immediately if you find anything, understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Pavel assured on the phone: "If there is any change in the enemy's situation, I will report to you immediately."

Sokov put down the phone, stared at the map on his lap again, and secretly pondered the enemy's intentions: Did he want Bindasov on Pavel's left flank, or the friendly troops on the right flank? After thinking about it for a while, he felt that no matter which unit the German army planned to attack, they must be vigilant and adjust their forces in a timely manner to prevent being plotted by the German army.

He raised his head and looked at the radio operator sitting beside him, and told him: "Radio operator, send a message to Colonel Bindasov and ask where his troops are now?"

Bindasov's reply came quickly. According to his report, Sokov found that he had wedged into the German defense five or six kilometers deep, leaving Pavel's troops far behind. When Sokov discovered this situation, he was shocked into a cold sweat. He felt that the reason why the German army made a feint in the direction of Pavel's headquarters was probably because they wanted to concentrate their forces to eat up the 1135th regiment, which was alone.

After realizing this problem, he immediately ordered the radio operator: "Send a telegram to Colonel Bindasov, it is urgent, your regiment has drawn a distance from the main force of the division, and may be encircled by the German army, now order your department to stop immediately." Go forward, and turn to the defensive on the spot, waiting for the next order."

Bindasov, who was directing the troops to pass quickly, frowned after receiving the telegram from Sokov, and said, "Damn, how can you stop advancing at this time?" The radio operator on the side said, "Call back the division commander immediately, saying that our regiment's current offensive is going well, and we hope to achieve even greater results before dark."

Sokov received the telegram from Bindasov who obviously wanted to disobey, and gritted his teeth and said to the operator: "Call Colonel Bindasov back again: Is it the division command regiment or the regiment commander? Now order your regiment to immediately Stop advancing, and build fortifications on the spot to prepare for the German counterattack. If you continue to disobey, you will be sent to a military court." Sokov knew that his tone had to be tough in order to calm down those who had higher ranks than himself. The commander, after dictating the telegram, nodded at the telegraph operator, "Send it!"

When Bindasov ordered the radio operator to send the telegram, he thought that Sokov would change his original intention and allow his troops to move on after receiving his telegram. After receiving the new telegram, he realized that although Sokov was only a major, he was his superior after all, and there was no room for bargaining on the orders he issued. In desperation, he could only order the troops to stop advancing and turn to defense on the spot.

The two battalion commanders under him also did not understand the sudden order from Bindasov, especially the first battalion commander, Captain Jetrov, who went to the regiment command post to ask Bindasov: "Colonel Comrade, our battalion is fighting smoothly, why did it suddenly stop attacking?"

Bindasov glared at him, and said angrily: "You think I want to stop the attack? This is an order from the division commander to me by telegram, and it must be carried out." He waved at Jetrov, Said, "Okay, Comrade Captain, don't talk about it, you go back to the army immediately to arrange defenses."

Knowing that Sokov personally issued the order, Jetrov knew that there was no room for change in the matter. After raising his hand to salute Bindasov, he turned and left the regiment command post, and returned to his camp to arrange defense matters. .

Another battalion commander learned that the order to stop the attack was issued by Sokov. Although he didn't say anything, he was muttering in his heart, thinking that the acting division commander was too young to grasp such a good fighter. But inexplicably ordered the troops to turn to defense on the spot. However, his complaints turned into admiration after an hour. The Germans used artillery from an artillery regiment to shell the defensive positions of the 1135th regiment, and then tanks led the infantry to attack.

After Bindasov heard the news from the front, cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead, and he thought to himself: It's so dangerous, if the division commander hadn't sent a telegram, strictly ordering us to stop advancing and turn to defense on the spot, Otherwise, the round of artillery fire by the German army just now would have wiped out more than half of my two battalions. When the German infantry rushed up, it was difficult for the remaining soldiers to prevent an effective defense. Then the scene of the German army being annihilated in the early morning will happen in one's own regiment.

After Sokov learned that the 1135th regiment was attacked by the Germans, he immediately ordered the battalion remaining in the existing position to move out immediately, rush to join the main force of the regiment, and prepare to block the German counterattack.