Red Moscow

Not long after the retreat of the first battalion began, Sokov received a call from Rodimtsev. The general asked angrily on the phone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what on earth are you trying to do? Don't you know that Order No. 227 stipulates that no one is allowed to take a half step back until they get the order to retreat from their superiors?"

"Comrade General." Rodimtsev's questioning made Sokov confused. He asked puzzledly, "What happened? My troops stood firm and did not retreat?"

"My observation post just reported to me that the friendly forces on our right flank have begun to retreat." Rodimtsev said on the phone: "When I first heard the news, I thought the observation post was wrong. The bombardment has just ended, how could your troops retreat. But when I went to the commanding heights to observe it, I found out that this is actually true, your troops are withdrawing from their positions and fleeing towards Nangang."

When Rodimtsev said this, Sokov understood what was going on. He must have regarded the battalion that was retreating to the reverse slope as a troop that fled without authorization, so he quickly explained: "Comrade General, you Mistake, my troops are moving according to plan, definitely not fleeing, we will never let the Germans occupy Mamayev Kurgan."

"Since you are not fleeing, why are you withdrawing from the current position?" Rodimtsev's tone softened a lot when he heard that the troops of the first battalion were not fleeing, but he still asked displeasedly: "In this way, Didn't you give the position to the Germans?"

"Comrade General, please listen to my explanation." In order to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, Sokov explained to Rodimtsev: "The position of the First Battalion is exposed on the open and unobstructed land. We have built a large number of fortifications on the position, but the enemy's shelling or bombing will cause them huge losses. I temporarily decided to withdraw them to a new defensive area in order to reduce unnecessary losses."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," after listening to Sokov's explanation, Rodimtsev said in an uncertain tone, "this matter is too involved, and neither you nor I have the right to make a decision. You first order the troops to stop Withdraw, I will immediately report this matter to Comrade Commander, listen to his opinion, and then decide whether to keep this position.”

Chuikov's phone call came quickly, and he asked Sokov loudly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who gave you the right to let the troops retreat? Don't you know that by occupying Mamafu Post, you can control the entire city, The factory area and the Volga River? You voluntarily gave up the defensive position in front of Nangang, which is equivalent to giving the German army a starting point for attack. They will continue to gather troops there, and then launch wave after wave of attacks on you until they occupy Mama As far as Yevgang. I am now officially notifying you that the original retreat order is cancelled, and the 1st Battalion will continue to stay in the original position.”

Sokov didn't expect that Cuikov would directly issue such an order to himself indiscriminately. Although Cuikov had hung up the phone, he was still holding the phone in a daze, and he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle: Should the first battalion retreat or stay on the ground? If you retreat, you can reduce the casualties of the troops, but it will definitely anger Cuikov. If he dismisses himself, he may only be able to charge forward like an ordinary soldier; but if he does not retreat, he can only continue to watch helplessly. A battalion of commanders and fighters suffered casualties from the enemy's shelling and bombing.

Belkin saw Sokov's embarrassment, took the receiver from him, put it on the base of the phone, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigadier, what do you think? Let the troops stay where they are." Position or continue to retreat?"

"Withdraw, continue to withdraw!" Sokov gritted his teeth and decided to go all out. He decisively ordered Sidolin: "Chief of staff, inform Captain Vanya that, according to the original plan, except for one platoon to block, the main force of the first battalion has withdrawn to the reverse slope of the south hill to build new fortifications. In addition, you Then tell him that the platoon in charge of blocking the mission will lay mines in the trenches before withdrawing from the position, so that the Germans will suffer."

"Comrade Brigadier," Sidolin had just heard what Rodimtsev and Chuikov said, and knowing that Sokov was disobeying orders, he reminded him: "You are disobeying orders, and you may be sent to prison at any time." Go to court-martial."

"Chief of Staff, I can't take care of that much anymore." Sokov knew the consequences of disobedience, but in order to have enough troops to defend Mamayev Post in the future, what he has to do now is to do everything possible to support the first battalion. Save some more troops, so he said decisively: "Immediately order the first battalion to speed up the retreat, and must retreat to the reverse slope position before the German infantry launches an attack."

Seeing that Sokov had gone all out, Sidolin knew that no matter how much he persuaded him, it would be useless. Moreover, in the infantry brigade, Sokov was the highest military commander. Even if he was the chief of staff of the brigade, he could not give orders. Change. Sidolin quickly called a communications staff officer and ordered him to take two communications soldiers to find Vanya and convey the order from Sokov.

After Vanya received Sokov's new order, he led the main force of the 1st Battalion to retreat to the reverse slope smoothly. Rodimtsev, who was standing on the expert building, saw the whole process of the retreat of the first battalion, but he did not call to stop Sokov. He thought to himself that he had already reported to Cuikov about the unauthorized retreat of the infantry brigade, and now they were still retreating, apparently with Cuikov's permission, so they didn't meddle in other matters.

Not long after the retreat of the first battalion was completed, the platoon leader who stood firm at the original position called Vanya, and he reported in a panic: "Comrade battalion commander, the enemy has dispatched tanks and infantry to rush towards our position. coming."

Hearing his subordinates report to him in such a terrified tone, Vanya was not surprised at all. There were nearly a thousand commanders and fighters in the position, but now there are only about forty people left. Let them block the enemy's attack. It's strange to be panicked. But he still tried to ask in a calm tone: "How many tanks does the enemy have?"

"I saw seven of them," the platoon leader said emotionally, "there are the same number of armored personnel carriers behind them. Comrade Battalion Commander, I am afraid that our platoon alone will not be able to stop the enemy."

"Don't worry, Comrade Second Lieutenant." In order to prevent his subordinates from abandoning their positions without authorization due to panic, Vanya comforted him and said, "We will help you." As soon as the phone was put down here, Vanya ordered to go aside The communications soldier said, "Pick me up to the brigade headquarters immediately, I have something important to report to the brigade commander."

After receiving the call from Vanya, Sokov thought for a moment, and then said to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Captain, I will not fight alone with your soldiers. Please tell him immediately, and I will provide him with Necessary artillery support."

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin quickly asked, "Comrade Brigadier, are you planning to let the artillery on the east bank use artillery fire to block and shoot the attacking enemy?"

Sokov turned his head and glanced at Sidolin, then shook his head and said: "The Germans only dispatched seven tanks and the same number of armored vehicles. It is absolutely inappropriate for me to use artillery fire from the east bank for this force. It's..." Before he finished speaking, the phone on the desk rang.

Sidolin picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then covered the receiver and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, the call is from the artillery observers on the top of the hill. They said they saw enemy tanks and armored vehicles heading towards the They came to the forward position of our army. They asked, can they notify the artillery fire on the east bank to intercept?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please express my gratitude to the artillery comrades on my behalf." Sokov replied: "The German army only dispatched a few tanks, and our artillery is enough to deal with it. We don't need their help for the time being."

After Sidolin put down the phone, Sokov said to him: "Chief of Staff, I will go to the observation post above to see the situation, and I will leave it to you to take charge here. By the way, let Lieutenant Porochenko take the artillery company The cannons were all pulled up to the top of the hill, and let them destroy the German tanks."

Sokov trotted to the observation post on the top of the hill. The second artillery lieutenant, who was observing the enemy's situation inside, saw Sokov breaking in from the outside and quickly raised his hand to salute him. Sokov nodded at the other party, and asked impatiently: "How is the situation?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," replied the Second Lieutenant of Artillery, "the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles are rushing towards the forward positions. In five minutes at most, they will rush into our positions."

"Five minutes?" Sokov couldn't help but frowned when he heard the time said by the second lieutenant of artillery. That is to say, if Lieutenant Porochenko's artillery company didn't fire at the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles within five minutes, The enemy will rush into the position of the first battalion, and when the time comes, the soldiers in the armored vehicle can get out of the vehicle to occupy the position and destroy the blocking platoon.

Sokov thought with some hesitation: "Just these few tanks and armored vehicles, it seems a bit too wasteful to let the artillery fire on the east bank provide support. But if there is no support, the enemy will soon rush into our forward position."

Just when Sokov was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard the sound of shouting not far away. He quickly put down the binoculars and leaned over to look outside. He saw the soldiers of the artillery company firing cannons from the tunnel along the slope. Lee pulled out. Seeing the appearance of the artillery battery, Sokov couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He quickly shouted at the crowd: "Lieutenant Porochenko! Come to me!"

Following the shout, a lieutenant wearing a steel helmet quickly ran up to Sokov, stood upright and asked, "Comrade Brigadier, what instructions do you have?"

"Look, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov pointed at the German tanks and armored vehicles in the distance with his hand, and said, "The enemy tanks and armored vehicles are rushing over quickly. In a few minutes at most, they will rush into a German tank and armored vehicle." Battalion defensive positions. When will your guns be ready to fire?"

After looking into the distance with his binoculars, Porochenko replied decisively: "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander, if you want to fire within two minutes, only one cannon can be fired at most..."

"That's enough," Sokov interrupted without waiting for the other party to finish, "Let one gun fire first to slow down the speed of the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles, so that they cannot rush into our army's position quickly."

Porochenko didn't dare to neglect, and hurried back to his subordinates, greeted a gun crew, positioned the cannon that had been pulled out, and then opened fire on the fast German column in the distance. Since Porochenko realized the seriousness of the problem, there was only a minute and a half between when he received the order and when the artillery fired the first shell.

Since the artillery was fired in a hurry, it did not hit the German tank or armored vehicle at all, but landed more than fifty meters away from the first tank and exploded. Although the shell failed to hit the target, it still surprised the enemy. In order to find out where the shell came from, a tank soldier leaned out half of his body from the turret, and used a telescope to look around for the direction of the shell.

The German tank soldier thought that the shells were fired from some hidden artillery position at the foot of the mountain, so his attention was mainly focused on the vicinity of the foot of the mountain. Before he could find the position of the artillery of the Soviet army, another shell fell, and it landed more than ten meters away from him. The soil lifted up by the air wave fell on his body like raindrops. Seeing that the situation was not good, the tank soldiers quickly retracted the tank and closed the hatch.

After the first artillery on the top of the hill fired two rounds, several other artillery were also in place one after another, participating in the condescending shelling one after another. Six artillery pieces fired at the speeding tanks and armored vehicles at the same time. Even if the impact points were scattered, they still hit an armored vehicle. The shell hit the cab of the armored vehicle, causing an explosion that blew up the German soldiers in the compartment.

It may be that an armored vehicle was hit by artillery fire. The German commander was worried that similar incidents would happen again, so he quickly ordered the armored vehicles to stop, let the infantry on the vehicle get off, and followed the tank to continue the assault.

Sokov in the observation station couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the enemy's infantry being released from the armored vehicles, and the tanks that opened the way ahead slowed down appropriately in order not to lose touch with the infantry. As long as the enemy's infantry is not charging in armored vehicles, the infantry standing on the ground can cause them considerable casualties.

At first, when the second lieutenant of the artillery saw the German tanks and armored vehicles rushing to the front, he was worried that the infantry brigade's position would be breached, but now after seeing the artillery company firing, the situation changed. Not only the infantry sitting in the armored vehicle got out of the vehicle In combat, even the galloping tanks had to slow down in order to prevent getting out of touch with the infantry. In this way, the infantry left behind in the forward position can repel the German attack with the support of artillery on the hill.