Red Moscow

Sokov agreed with Bely's statement in his heart. Don't look at your troops breaking through the four German defense lines, but the troops standing there will be constantly attacked by the German troops from the west. Once one of the positions is lost, their retreat will be cut off, so he He agreed to let Bely go to reinforce the friendly army.

After receiving Sokov's order, Bely immediately returned to the tank battalion, picked out eight tanks from the remaining tanks, took two platoons of infantry, and went east to meet Colonel Gurdiev's 308th Infantry Division . ,

Looking at the tank unit in the distance, Guchakov asked Sokov with some concern: "Comrade Brigadier, we only have fifteen tanks in total, and Colonel Bely took away eight at once. Of the two vehicles that searched in the direction, there are only five vehicles left in the position. If the Germans launch an attack at this moment, I am afraid that we will not be able to withstand it."

Sokov turned his head to look at his subordinate, and said to him: "Comrade Guchakov, Colonel Bely took people to meet the friendly forces. Once the 308th Infantry Division can get here smoothly, then our defense The strength will be greatly strengthened, and we will be more sure that we can hold here."

Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a crisp gunshot from the foot of the hill. Just as he was about to ask someone to ask why the gun was fired, a hoarse shout came from the fortification under the hill: "Air raid, air raid siren. Take cover, everyone hurry up and find a place to hide."

Hearing the shout, Sokov immediately thought that the gunshot he heard just now should be the gunshot fired by the anti-aircraft post he promoted in the army. They used the gunshots to warn their comrades who were still in the fortification. Sokov listened carefully, and sure enough, he heard the roar of the engine of the plane in the sky, but it was getting louder and louder, indicating that the enemy was approaching his position. He quickly waved at the soldiers standing on the top of the hill, and shouted loudly: "Air raid siren, everyone hurry up and find a place to hide."

The four German dive bombers came over the defensive position of the infantry brigade, lowered their altitude and swooped down, dropping bombs and strafing the fortifications on the ground. Since there was no time to dig the air-raid shelter, the soldiers could only cover their ears with their hands and curl up in the trench to avoid the bombing of enemy planes.

Sokov, who was hiding in the crater on the top of the hill, worried about his subordinates, instead of looking at the foot of the hill with his head. Although the bombs dropped by the enemy planes lifted the soil high, the soldiers did not run around, but stayed in the trenches to avoid air strikes, thereby reducing unnecessary casualties.

Seeing this situation, Sokov immediately felt relieved. He knew very well in his heart that when being bombed by the enemy, as long as he did not run around, the casualties of the troops would not be too great. After all, as long as the bombs dropped by the enemy planes did not directly hit the trenches, the soldiers hiding inside would not be in great danger.

After the enemy plane left, Sokov crawled out of the bomb crater, dusted off the dirt on his body, and was about to ask someone to count the casualties, but he heard Guchakov complaining: "Damn, where is our air force? ? Just watched us being bombed, and didn’t expect to come to support us.”

"Enough, Guchakov, stop talking." Sokov interrupted Guchakov and said displeasedly: "There is a reason why our air force cannot provide us with air cover. Now , you immediately go to the bottom of the hill and inform Captain Vanya and Major Tenev, so that they can immediately count the casualties of the troops." Guchakov, who was criticized, did not dare to refute, so he quickly agreed and turned around He ran down the hill and conveyed Sokov's order.

After waiting for Guchakov to leave, Sokov walked to the other side of the hill and raised his binoculars to look east. He was worried that the tank unit led by Colonel Bely would also encounter gaps in the German army, and that it would suffer heavy losses. However, the actual situation was more optimistic than he had imagined. The infantry tank was heading east, and there was no sign of being bombarded by enemy planes.

After Vanya and Tenev counted the casualties of the troops, they went to the top of the hill one after the other and reported to Sokov. Vanya first said: "Comrade Brigadier, in the bombing just now, our battalion lost 4 people and injured 11 people."

Tenev then reported: "Our battalion suffered 29 casualties, of which 15 were killed."

After listening to the casualties of the troops, Sokov couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief. It seems that the German bombing did not cause too many casualties to the troops. The large number of casualties is due to the fact that they dispatched too few planes. Once they dispatched several times the number of planes to bomb our positions, we may face the threat of annihilation of the entire army. The two of you immediately urged the troops to hurry up and repair Air-raid shelters to avoid a new round of enemy bombing."

"Understood." After the two battalion commanders answered in unison, they turned and walked down the hill, preparing to urge their subordinates to seize the time to build fortifications in the trenches.

Although Sokov once mentioned the matter of digging an air-raid shelter, except for the commanders and fighters of the first battalion who followed his orders and hurriedly repaired the air-raid shelter, the soldiers of the guard battalion were just doing their jobs. As a result, when the enemy plane came, the number of casualties in the guard battalion was more than that of the first battalion. At this moment, when the soldiers heard Sokov's order to repair the air-raid shelter, for the sake of their own safety, they shook off their arms and desperately dug the soil, trying to repair the air-raid shelter before the arrival of a new wave of German air raids.

While the commanders and fighters who stood firm in Orlovka were desperately digging the air-raid shelter, the tank unit led by Colonel Bely had already reached the vicinity of the German defense line. He ordered all the tanks to stop through the radio, then opened the hatch himself, leaned out half of his body, and raised his binoculars to look at the enemy's position not far away.

There are no permanent fortifications on the German positions, only two long trenches, and a few civil firepower points, and the shooting direction is all towards the east. Bely turned his head and said to the infantry commander sitting on the tank: "Comrade commander, let your soldiers get out of the car, let's go and teach the Germans a lesson."

The commander agreed loudly, then stood up straight, and shouted at the infantry on the left and right tanks: "All get out of the vehicles, form a battle formation, and advance behind the tanks!" A few minutes later, Bely's tank troops led Infantry, rushing towards the enemy's position.

The German soldiers who were shooting wildly in the trenches heard the roar of tank engines behind them, thinking that their reinforcements had arrived. When they found out that it was not their own people, but Soviet tanks, they suddenly caused a burst of panic. Some soldiers turned their guns and aimed at the tanks and infantry rushing forward. Since the infantry were hiding behind the tanks, the German soldiers' bullets could not hit them, and they all hit the tank body, splashing a series of sparks.

Seeing that the German troops on the ground were shooting, the Soviet tanks stopped, aimed at the location of the German firepower point, and bombarded them with a "boom". Since the Soviet tanks used high-explosive grenades, the German soldiers near the bombing point were immediately killed. Air waves were pulled up from the trenches, thrown high into the air, and scattered down again.

The German army was able to block the attack of the 308th Infantry Division because Gurdiyev's troops were not covered by artillery fire when they attacked. Now seeing a dozen huge vehicles approaching them, the German soldiers who lacked anti-tank weapons immediately Consciousness said: The position cannot be defended.

Smart, immediately ran along the trench to the sides, trying to escape from there. But there are still some stupid German soldiers still staying in the fortifications, using weapons in their hands to shoot in vain at the approaching Soviet tanks, and then after a loud noise, they were blown to pieces.

There was no suspense in such a battle, and it didn't take much time. The tank unit led by Bely joined forces with Gurdiyev's 308th Infantry Division. Gurdiyev received an order from his superiors to lead his troops to Orlovka and then accept Sokov's command.

Seeing a tank unit emerge from the enemy's rear at this moment, he immediately realized that this unit might be related to Sokov. He tentatively asked Bely: "Comrade Colonel, are your troops from Orlovka?"

"Yes, Comrade Colonel." Bely saw that the person who asked him was a colonel, so he guessed that it must be the commander of the 308th Infantry Division, so he nodded and said, "I am on the order of Comrade Sokov. , came to help you."

Knowing that the tank unit in front of him was indeed from Orlovka, Gurdiyev felt much more at ease in his heart, and he quickly said to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, our division was ordered to reinforce Orlov card, to strengthen the defense there, please take us there."

"Colonel Gurdiyev," Beley reminded Gurdiyev, seeing that Gurdiyev was in a hurry to go to Orlovka, "shouldn't you leave a force here for defense, so as not to be attacked by the enemy again?" Occupation, resulting in our retreat being cut off?"

Bely's words made Gurdiyev puzzled: "Comrade Colonel, aren't we waiting for the reinforcements to arrive in Orlovka? Since the reinforcements will arrive soon, what does it matter if we stay here or not?" What about the relationship?"

Seeing that Gurdiyev was not willing to leave troops here, Bely reminded him specifically: "Colonel Gurdiyev, this is what Brigadier Sokov meant. He felt that if the troops were not left here, Once we are counterattacked by the German army, we may be surrounded by the enemy, so..."

"Okay, Comrade Colonel, you don't need to say any more." Before Bely finished speaking, the political commissar Sverling, who had been silent all the time, interrupted: "You are right, it is indeed necessary for us to leave an army here for defense. "In order to show that he wasn't talking nonsense, he turned around and called a captain to his face.

Sverling said to the captain: "Comrade captain, your battalion stays and is responsible for the defense of this place. Do you understand?"

"Understood! Comrade Political Commissar."

Bely originally planned to ask Gurdiyev to leave more troops to stick to this place, but he heard that the political commissar ordered a battalion commander to lead the troops to stay, so he couldn't say anything more. But he never dreamed that the battalion left behind by Sverling, after repeated battles, there were only thirty people left in the battalion. It is barely enough to perform security tasks, but it is not enough when it comes to holding the position.

Bely came to Orlovka with the 308th Rifle Division, and with Colonel Gurdiyev and Commissar Sverin, they went to the top of the hill to meet Sokov.

When Gurdiyev saw that Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who commanded him, was actually a young man, he couldn't help being shocked. He couldn't help thinking to himself: What is the origin of this person, the superior would order himself to obey his command.

"Misha." Before Gurdiyev could speak, he heard a major standing beside Sokov say: "The defensive position here is too narrow, so many troops can be deployed at once. I am afraid that casualties will not be small due to shelling or bombing. I suggest that the 308th Infantry Division be deployed in other areas."

"Colonel Bely," Gurdiyev saw that Sokov had a thoughtful expression on his face after listening to the other party, and he tilted his head and asked Bely in a low voice: "Who is this major? Why does Lieutenant Colonel Sokov seem to respect his opinion?"

"This is Major Yakov, from the Weapons and Equipment Department in Moscow." Although Bely knew Yakov's true identity, he did not easily disclose it to Gurdiyev, but said vaguely: " He and Lieutenant Colonel Sokov are good friends."

"A major from the weapons and equipment department, what qualifications do you have to point fingers here?" Gurdiyev was about to refute the other party, but was stopped by his political commissar. He turned his head to look at the political commissar, and asked dissatisfiedly: " Comrade Commissar, what are you going to do?"

"Mr. Commander, I was about to ask you this sentence. What are you going to do? Is it to refute the other party's proposal?" Swerin said with a sneer: "This major has a lot of background."

Gurdiyev, who was about to explode, couldn't help being curious when he heard his political commissar say this: "Comrade political commissar, do you know him and what background he has?"

Sverling quickly moved closer to Gurdiyev's ear, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the son of the Supreme Commander. Don't you want to cause trouble for yourself? ?”

These few words of Sverling made Gurdiyev break out in a cold sweat. He originally thought that the other party was an ordinary major, relying on his military rank to be two ranks higher than the other party, and wanted to reprimand him, but after hearing what Swerling said, he immediately dispelled this crazy idea: Just kidding, if If you offend the son of the supreme commander, you will be in trouble. Therefore, he wisely kept silent, wanting to hear how Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who commanded him, planned to arrange his troops.

"Major Yakov is right. Our fortifications here are too narrow. If we deploy too many troops, we will definitely suffer heavy casualties when bombed by enemy planes or German artillery." Sokov said here, turning his gaze to I left Gurdiyev and asked in an inquiring tone: "Colonel Gurdiyev, I plan to deploy the troops of your division to the southeast. There are also several hills there, and you can rely on the hills to build a defensive position." . Do you think it will work?"

"Okay, of course." Gurdiyev didn't dare to say anything at the moment, and quickly said with a smile on his face: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I will resolutely obey your instructions!"