Red Moscow

The third battalion, which attacked across the board, gained a lot in today's battle. In addition to capturing hundreds of German officers and soldiers, three Panzer IV tanks, an assault gun, and five heavy guns that were lucky enough not to be blown up by the Air Force were also captured.

Regarding the disposal of these prisoners, Sokov and Belkin also had a dispute. Belkin believed that if so many enemies were let go, they would take up arms to fight us again when they went back, which was tantamount to strengthening the strength of the German army in disguise.

The reason why Sokov insisted on letting go of these German prisoners was simply that the city did not have the capacity to accommodate prisoners. Sokov couldn’t do the shooting of prisoners in large numbers, and it was too unrealistic to incorporate German prisoners into his own team, so he thought it was better to let the prisoners go. After the prisoners returned to the army, even if After being re-armed, their fighting will cannot be compared with before, but it will also affect the morale of the Germans.

Later, despite Belkin's objections, Sokov gave Andrei an order in the name of the brigade commander, asking him to release all the prisoners he had captured. Andre also had some resistance to this order, but since it was an order from his superior, he could only execute it unconditionally. After the prisoners left, he called a meeting of several company commanders below, and said to them: "Comrades company commanders, I think you have all seen that the brigade commander let us release the prisoners we captured twice in a row. I am now officially declaring that our battalion will not keep any prisoners during battles in the future. Do you understand?"

The three company commanders also had emotions in their hearts regarding the release of the prisoners. When they heard the order from Andre, they immediately replied loudly: "I understand."

Sokov didn't know that for his own sake, Andrei had given orders to the company commanders of the third battalion not to keep any prisoners. He was handing over tasks to the artillery company commander and the tank company commander. He first said to Porochenko: "Comrade Lieutenant, in today's battle, the third battalion captured five 150mm howitzers. I will hand over these artillery to your company. You must conceal these artillery well." , so as not to suffer losses in the German bombing."

"Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier." Porochenko replied with a smile: "The artillery of our company is hidden in different alleys. When shelling is required, it is pushed to the street, and then according to the artillery observers Provided data, accurate bombardment of the enemy."

"Good job." After praising Porochenko, Sokov turned to Alitai and said, "Lieutenant Alitai, your tank company suffered certain losses in today's battle. Tanks and assault guns, let's assign them to your company. How about it, will the tankers drive German tanks?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier." Ali Tai waited for Sokov to finish, and said with a smile: "Although it is a different tank, our tankers can still drive it with ease. By the way, Comrade Brigadier, I heard that you can also drive a tank, where did you learn it?"

Naturally, Sokov would not tell Alitai that he learned it at a tuition fee of more than 100,000 rubles in the tank museum next to the Victory Square in later generations. As a tractor driver, he drove a crawler tractor, so he quickly learned how to drive a tank."

Fortunately, many of the tank soldiers had worked as tractor drivers before, and their ability to quickly observe the driving skills of tanks was entirely due to their experience in driving crawler tractors. Therefore, after listening to Sokov's far-fetched explanation, Alitai also thought that Comrade Brigadier Commander's proficiency in driving tanks was completely related to his previous history as a tractor driver.

Sokov thought that the attack position of the tank company these two times was to the north of the third battalion's position. The Germans are not fools, they have already suffered twice in a row, and before launching an attack next time, they may strengthen their defenses on the right wing to prevent Soviet tanks from rushing out from the same direction again. So he said to Alitai: "Comrade Lieutenant, in these two battles, your company launched attacks from the left flank of the third battalion, that is, from the north. Right?"

"Totally correct, Comrade Brigadier Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, Alitai immediately guessed what he wanted to say, and quickly asked tentatively, "Are you worried that the next time the enemy attacks, they will focus on guarding against the direction of our company's attack? "

"That's right, that's how I think about it." In order to attract Alitai's necessary attention, Sokov specially emphasized: "If I were the commander of the German army, before launching a new offensive, I would definitely use artillery fire to attack your hidden enemies. If this is the case, you will definitely suffer huge losses, so you have to move to a new attack position overnight."

Alitai nodded to Sokov's reminder, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, I plan to transfer the tank company to the right wing of the third battalion. I wonder if it is appropriate?"

"I think it should be possible." Sokov said, "When the enemy attacked twice in a row, you all attacked from their right flank. If they attacked again tomorrow, the enemy would definitely think that you would come from the same place. Attack. If you suddenly change the direction of attack, I think you will be able to catch the enemy by surprise."

"Comrade Brigadier," Alitai said after Sukov finished speaking, after a short pause, "The German tanks we captured are seriously short of fuel and ammunition, otherwise the Germans would not be able to escape when they escaped." Will throw these tanks. You see, if you can find a way to refuel and refill us."

"You don't have to worry about fuel and ammunition." Sukov heard that Alitai was worried about this issue, and said carelessly: "There are plenty of these things in the warehouse we occupied, and I will immediately arrange for people to send them to you. Yes. Do you have any other questions?"

Aritai and Porochenko looked at each other, shook their heads at the same time, and replied loudly: "No problem!"

After sending the two company commanders away, Sokov was preparing to arrange manpower to deliver fuel and ammunition to Ali Tai's troops. The radio operator suddenly said to him in surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, I have received a call from the friendly army!"

Hearing that it was a telegram from a friendly army, Sokov couldn't help being ecstatic, and quickly ordered the operator: "Receive the telegram immediately!"

After the operator agreed, he began to concentrate on receiving the telegram from the friendly army. Although the entire process of receiving and translating telegrams only lasted two or three minutes, to Sokov it seemed as long as one or two hours.

As soon as he took the telegram from the operator, Sokov couldn't wait to browse it. I saw a brief note on it: "The vanguard of the 7th Tank Army will arrive at Kursk at around 2 o'clock tomorrow morning to join your department."