Red Moscow

Sokov was eager to lead his troops to Orlovka to join Bely's troops, so he naturally agreed with Guriyev's proposal. He asked Vanya to leave a platoon on each of the two lines to wait for the troops of the 39th Guards Division to take over the defense, and then he hurried to Orlovka with the rest of the troops.

He never dreamed that the result of doing so would cause his troops to fall into the encirclement of the German army, so that in the end he paid a very heavy price to escape from the encirclement of the German army. But at this moment, what he was thinking in his heart was to rush over to join Bely as soon as possible.

When I rushed to Orlovka to see Bely, the commanders and fighters who arrived here earlier were constructing large-scale construction projects to strengthen the fortifications here. After greeting Bely and Sokov, he said with a sad face: "Comrade Brigadier, although we have successfully reached Orlovka, this is really not an area suitable for defense."

In order to let Sokov have a more vivid understanding, he took Sokov to a hill, pointed around with his hand, and said: "Except for a few commanding heights, the rest are open. Grassland. We have no permanent fortifications that can be used. The existing field fortifications are built around these commanding heights. If the German army uses armored assaults, we will not be able to stop them at all."

"What about air defense?" Sokov felt that it was unlikely that the German army would dispatch armored forces to attack Orlovka in a short period of time. After all, fierce fighting was going on in the north of the city. It is obviously impossible to mobilize enough power to attack Orlovka. The greatest possibility is to dispatch the air force to carry out air strikes on the defensive zone occupied by itself. Therefore, he reminded Bely: "I think the enemy may dispatch the air force to bomb us indiscriminately to destroy the fortifications and kill soldiers."

Sokov's words made Bely break out in a cold sweat. After occupying this area, he had carefully inspected it. There were only simple field fortifications. Apart from a handful of civil firepower points, there were very few bunkers for the defenders to live in. Pitiful. At this moment, when Sokov reminded him, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, and quickly replied: "Comrade Brigadier, I will arrange for the soldiers to build air-raid shelters."

"Wait a minute, Colonel Bely." Seeing that Bely turned to leave, Sokov quickly stopped him: "Leave this matter to Vanya and Tenev, so you don't have to do it yourself. .”

"Guchakov," Sokov called Guchakov, who was standing not far behind, and told him, "Go and tell Captain Vanya and Major Tenev that they don't forget to dig the air-raid shelter. In order to reduce the loss of troops when they are bombed by the enemy."

Bely looked at Guchakov's back and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I have always wanted to ask you why this lieutenant Guchakov didn't go to command the troops, but like an ordinary soldier, By your side?"

Although Guchakov was dismissed as company commander and his rank was reduced to corporal, he still wears the rank of lieutenant, which is why Bely asked again. Sokov grinned silently, and replied: "He made a small mistake, so he was dismissed from the position of company commander and demoted to a corporal, and stayed with me as a guard."

"Mistake?" Hearing what Sokov said, Bely couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Brigadier, can you tell me what mistake he made?"

Seeing that Bely wanted to know Guchakov's story, Sokov explained the reasons why Guchakov was dismissed in detail, and finally said: "Because he was captured before, so the treatment of him In practice, we have to be cautious. Logically speaking, he should be sent to a military court, but since it is time to employ people, I decided to keep him by my side to see the effect."

After figuring out why Guchakov was dismissed, Bely couldn't help but sigh. After a while, he asked Sokov again: "Comrade Brigadier, did the superior say how long we need to stay here?"

For this question, Sokov also very much wants to know the answer. Cuikov only ordered him to lead his troops to occupy this place and hold on until the arrival of the friendly army. However, when the friendly army will arrive, even Cuikov himself does not know. Since Bely asked at this moment, he could only smile wryly and say: "Colonel Bely, I don't know when the friendly troops outside the encirclement will arrive. What we can do now is to strengthen the fortifications and wait here for the arrival of the friendly troops." .”

"Our troops are too small." Belei said with a bitter face, "With just a few hundred people and a dozen tanks, it is very difficult to defend this place."

After listening to Bely's words, Sokov quickly turned around and said to the radio operator squatting in a bomb crater: "Radio operator, send a report to the headquarters of the army group, saying that our troops are insufficient, and ask them to send us a reserve team."

"Comrade Brigadier," Bely heard that Sokov was going to ask for help from the headquarters, and hurriedly stopped him, and said cautiously, "I think even if we send a telegram to ask for help, I'm afraid we won't be able to get support from a single soldier. After all, the headquarters has sent us all the troops it can." After speaking, he pointed to the busy guard camp under the hill.

Looking at the soldiers of the guard battalion busy under the hill, Sokov also fell silent. He knew that this force was originally responsible for protecting the security of the headquarters, but in order to strengthen his assault force, Chuikov handed over the force to himself without hesitation. . But after he was silent for a long time, he felt that he should try his luck, so he said to the operator who was waiting for the order: "Continue to send the report!"

When the radio operator began to send a report to the headquarters, Sokov explained to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, I know that the Army Group Command has no reserves. But the Orlovka we are holding is whether our army can The key to breaking the German blockade, if we can get a support army, it will be very helpful for us to hold on to this place."

After speaking, Sokov raised his binoculars and looked around to observe the nearby terrain. After looking at it for a while, he suddenly found a small village in the northwest, quickly put down the binoculars and said to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, look, there is a small village in the northwest, about five or six kilometers away from us."

Hearing what Sokov said, Bely immediately raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. After observing carefully for a while, he put down the binoculars and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I will immediately ask Captain Sereda to send two tanks to check to see if there are any enemies in the village."

After finishing speaking, Bely turned around and walked down the hill. Sokov turned around and shouted at his back: "Comrade Colonel, take two more infantry squads with you. If you find enemies, you will resolutely destroy them."

"Understood." Belei said without turning his head: "If there are enemies in the village, I will definitely not let them go."

Not long after Bely left the hill, the radio operator reported to Sokov with a look of surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, the headquarters has called back, and they have ordered Colonel Gurdiyev's 308th Infantry Division to actively move westward. Movement, go out to Orlovka and join us before getting ready."

"What, the 308th Infantry Division is coming to join us?" Sokov heard what the radio operator said, and rushed over, impatiently asking: "How many troops do they have, and how far are they from us now? "

To Sokov's question, the operator shook his head and replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade Brigadier, these questions you asked were not mentioned in the telegram."

"Send a telegram to the headquarters." Seeing that the radio operator didn't know anything, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and he told the other party: "Ask for the contact code of the 308th Infantry Division, and we will contact them directly. "The reason why Sokov ordered the radio operator was that if the two troops wanted to communicate through the radio station of the Army Group Headquarters, it would inevitably delay the fighter plane, so he decided to contact the friendly army directly.

Not long after, the operator reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I have obtained the contact code of the 308th Infantry Division. Are you going to send them a report, or talk directly?"

"Let's talk directly." Sukov considered that if he used a telegram to contact the other party, he didn't know when he would receive an answer, so he simply used plain language to communicate. The Germans love to eavesdrop, so let them eavesdrop. Anyway, the task of the two troops after joining forces is to stick to Orlovka, and the Germans will be aware of the real situation sooner or later. "Call now."

The radio operator shouted into the microphone for a long time, and finally contacted the division headquarters of the 308th Infantry Division. Sokov put on the headset, squatted beside the radio operator, and said loudly into the microphone: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, please speak to your division commander, Colonel Gurdiyev."

A voice quickly came from the headset: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov! I am Colonel Gurdiyev. My division is ordered to accept your command, please instruct!"

Knowing that another division was under his command, Sokov couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He knew very well that the more troops he had in his hands, the greater the commotion in the Orlovka area. He quickly asked : "Comrade Colonel, let me ask you, how many troops do you have and how far are you from Orlovka?"

"Reporting to Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," although he was reporting to a commander with a lower rank than himself, Colonel Gurdiyev was very cooperative: "There are more than 1,500 people left in our division. Orlovka is still six kilometers away. In front of us, there is a defensive position of the German army. As long as we can break through the enemy's defense, we can rush there to join you as soon as possible."

Sokov heard that the other party was only six kilometers away from him, so he stood up and looked around. He heard gunfire from the north, east and south, and unable to tell where the 308th Infantry Division was, he asked into the microphone: "Colonel Gurdiyev, where is your unit?" ?”

"To the east, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Gurdiyev replied, "we are attacking the enemy's defensive positions to the east of you."

"I see, Comrade Colonel." Sokov turned his eyes to the east and listened intently. Sure enough, there were dense gunfire from that direction. It seemed that Colonel Gurdiyev's troops were fighting the enemy. , He quickly said into the microphone: "I will send tanks to support you."

"What, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you have tanks?" Colonel Gurdiyev was overjoyed when he heard that Sokov planned to send tanks to support him: "If we can get the cooperation of tanks, I believe we will be able to Break through the enemy's defenses."

"Come on!" Sokov shouted at the guard standing not far away: "Call Colonel Bely to me immediately!"

"Yes!" The guard agreed, turned around and ran down the hill.

Not long after, Bely followed the guards and ran up from the hill. He came in front of Sokov and asked breathlessly: "Comrade Brigadier, I have sent the tank, do you have any instructions?"

Sokov handed back the microphone and earphones in his hand to the radio operator, stood up and said to Bely: "Colonel Bely, we just received a telegram from the Army Command, Colonel Gurdiyev's 308th Infantry Division , are coming towards us from the east. Now they are six kilometers away, engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy. Now I have a new task for you."

Before Sokov could finish speaking, Bely said first: "I understand, Comrade Brigadier Commander. I will immediately bring a few tanks to support them and help them seize the enemy's position."

Knowing that Bely led tanks to attack from behind the enemy, Sokov would surely be able to successfully break through the German defenses and meet up with the 308th Infantry Division. He nodded and said, "Colonel Bely, you are breaking through the enemy's defenses. After the friendly forces join forces, bring the troops here as soon as possible."

After listening to Sokov's order, Bely frowned slightly, and asked back: "Comrade Brigadier Commander, may I ask, how many troops does the 308th Infantry Division have today?"

"According to the commander of the division, Colonel Gurdiyev, they still have more than 1,500 people." Sokov said thoughtfully: "Even if they will pay some casualties when they break through the enemy's defense, wait for them When we arrive here, there will be about a thousand people. In this way, we will have enough troops for the defense of the Orlovka area."

"Comrade Brigadier," Bely disagreed with Sokov's statement: "Have you ever thought that the defensive position here is too narrow, if so many troops are crowded together, once they are attacked How much will it cost us if we get bombed or shelled by the Germans?"

Regarding Bely's statement, Sokov asked noncommittally: "Colonel Bely, according to your opinion, where should Colonel Gurdiyev's troops be deployed?"

"This is how I think about it. After we broke through the German defense, except for a part of the division's troops to strengthen the defense of Orlovka, the rest of the troops will stay in the newly occupied positions." Bely said cautiously : "In this way, even if we cannot defend Orlovka, we can retreat to the east, pass through the position occupied by the division, and retreat to our original defense zone."