Red Moscow

After Bely led the troops to the village, he immediately asked the subordinates who had arrived earlier to learn what happened in the village. After figuring out the ins and outs, he made a detailed report to Sokov over the radio.

There was originally a platoon of German soldiers deployed in the village. When they saw two Soviet tanks carrying infantry coming towards the village, they found a place to hide. As soon as the tanks entered the village, they immediately opened fire. Sereda and the others were caught off guard. Not to mention all the infantry died, two tanks were also destroyed one after another. Although Sereda escaped from the destroyed tank by chance, he was also seriously injured. .

After listening to Bely's report, Sokov asked cautiously: "Comrade Colonel, have all the enemies in the village been wiped out?"

"Yes, all the enemies in the village have been wiped out." After answering this question, Beley added a special sentence: "I sent a platoon of soldiers to search the nearby woods to see if there are any who slipped through the net. German."

"Colonel Bely," Sokov deliberately emphasized to Bely, considering the importance of the small village in his plan: "The village you are in is very important to us, so all enemies in the village and nearby woods must be wiped out." Purging. Do you understand?"

Bely thought that the importance of what Sokov said meant letting the tanks lie in ambush in the village, taking advantage of the enemy's attack, and hitting the enemy from the flank by surprise. Enemy in the woods."

Sokov asked people to dig a cave on the reverse slope of the hill, which can accommodate four or five people, as his temporary headquarters. At the same time, the communicators were also asked to lead a telephone line to each of the first battalion, the guard battalion, and the 308th infantry division. In this way, to understand the situation of the troops or to convey any orders, there was no need to send the communicators to run back and forth.

When the communications soldier was busy pulling the telephone line, the radio operator squatting in the temporary headquarters poked his head out and shouted at Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, the telegram is from General Guriyev."

Hearing that it was Guriyev who sent the telegram, Sokov immediately felt an ominous premonition. He hurried to the headquarters, took the telegram from the radio operator, and after reading it, he found that the situation he faced was very bad. He handed over the two lines of defense of the 120th Guards Regiment, which were being attacked by the German army at the moment. onslaught.

Although Guriyev emphasized in the telegram that his subordinates were fighting tenaciously, Sokov knew very well that in the face of such a fierce German offensive, the loss of these two lines of defense was only a matter of time. Seeing that his troops' retreat to the south was in danger of being cut off, after some thought, Sokov asked the radio operator to send a report to Chuikov, asking how long his troops needed to hold on to Orlovka.

After the telegram was sent, Cuikov waited for a quarter of an hour before replying with a telegram. The content of the telegram was simple: "Resolutely hold on to Orlovka, and no one step back without orders."

Seeing this telegram that was exactly the same as Order No. 227, Sokov couldn't help but laugh. The troops and technical equipment in my hands are very limited, without artillery and air force, and I am sticking to this very unfavorable zone for defense. If the German army launches a fierce attack, my troops may be exhausted in a short time.

But since it was Cuikov who gave the order, it meant that there was no room for bargaining, so he could only sigh, and then told the radio operator: "Call back to the headquarters. I will resolutely obey the orders of my superiors and guard this place at all costs."

Although the telegram showed his determination to live and die with the position, Sokov was unwilling to bury his life here, so he once again set his sights on the small village in the northwest, thinking to himself: "In Orlov Ten kilometers to the north of the card is the small Ivanovka where the Rokossovsky headquarters is located. As long as Bely clears out the enemies in the village, I can lead the troops to withdraw when the situation is not good for us. Get there, and from there head north, break through the enemy's blockade, and rush over to join Rokossovsky's troops."

In the evening, Guriyev sent a telegram again. He said in a regretful tone: After fierce fighting, the third line of defense has fallen into the hands of the German army, but he is organizing troops to counterattack and try to recover the lost positions. .

Seeing this telegram, Sokov's heart sank. He knew very well in his heart that with the equipment of the Guards Division, it would be almost impossible to regain the lost positions from the Germans. Moreover, the loss of the third line of defense means that the troops standing on the fourth line of defense have lost contact with the main force of the division. In the end, the garrison was either wiped out by the enemy, or it retreated to the north to join itself.

But no matter what kind of ending it is, Sokov doesn't want to see it. Once the fourth line of defense is lost, it means that the road to the south is blocked; the remnants of the defenders go north, it seems that their own defense strength has increased, but in a zone that is not conducive to defense, even if the Germans do not launch a ground attack, they only need to Prolonged shelling and bombing is enough to make your troops lose most of their combat effectiveness.

Just at this time, the telephone line had been set up, so Sokov connected the headquarters of the 308th Infantry Division, and Gurdiyev who answered the phone said: "Comrade Colonel, the current situation in the south of Orlovka is not very good. You immediately send troops to the south to serve as a guard, and once you find the enemy, you will immediately block it."

"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Gurdiyev said politely: "I will immediately send a security force to the southwest to closely monitor that direction. Once I find the enemy's movements, I will report to you."

Although the situation in the south is critical, Sokov's attention is still focused on the west, because not only the Germans will attack from that direction, but the reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement may also appear from that direction.

Sokov stood on the hill, raised his binoculars and looked westward, hoping to see some movement, but in the binoculars, except for a stretch of endless grassland, no moving objects could be seen at all.

Vanya, who was staying at the foot of the hill, saw Sokov observing the terrain on the hill, and quickly explained to his deputy, and then trotted to the top of the hill. Panting, he asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, we have been here for so long, why haven't we seen any Germans or reinforcements yet?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Sokov put down the binoculars in his hand, looked at Vanya and said unhurriedly: "The more this is the case, the more calm we are as commanders. Understand? ?”

Although Vanya did not understand what Sokov said, he still habitually replied: "Understood." After a pause, he looked at the small village in the distance and asked Sokov curiously: "Travel Comrade Chang, Colonel Bely has taken the rest of the tanks to a distant village, when will they come back?"

"When can I come back?" Hearing this question, the muscles on Sokov's face couldn't help twitching twice, and he replied with some embarrassment: "When we defeat the enemy attacking Orlovka, we will fight with the enemy from the periphery of the encirclement." After the friendly forces rushing in converge, the tank battalion commanded by Colonel Bely will be able to return here."

"Comrade Brigadier," Vanya realized the seriousness of the problem from Sokov's words, and he asked tentatively, "Do you think reinforcements can come?"

"I am not in command of the reinforcements outside the encirclement." Sokov replied angrily: "How do I know if the reinforcements will come? Our task is to stand here and wait patiently for the reinforcements to arrive. Without orders, No step back. Do you understand, Comrade Captain?"

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." Vanya nodded and replied, "We will never take a step back until reinforcements appear."

When Sokov was about to speak, a telephone beside him suddenly rang. He grabbed the microphone, put it close to his ear and said, "I'm Sokov, what's the matter?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I'm Gurdiyev." Gurdiyev's voice came from the receiver, and he said in a panic: "Something happened, something happened!"

"What happened?" Sokov's heart rose to his throat, he thought to himself, could the enemy have rushed to the defense zone of the 308th Infantry Division? Quickly urged: "Comrade Colonel, what happened, tell me quickly and listen."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just got the information." Gurdiyev said in a heavy tone: "Our eastern position was occupied by the Germans half an hour ago."

"What, the position in the east is occupied by the Germans?" Hearing the bad news, Sokov almost jumped out of the bomb crater where he was squatting. He asked a little angrily, "Colonel Gurdiyev, are you Is a battalion holding the position? Why was the position taken by the enemy so quickly?"

"That's right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I did leave a battalion to hold the position to the east." Gurdiyev replied with embarrassment: "But after a long period of fighting in that battalion, only one battalion remained. Twenty or thirty people, the number is equivalent to an infantry platoon."

If Gurdiyev was in front of Sokov at this moment, Sokov would definitely throw the microphone in his hand at the opponent without hesitation. At that time, after meeting with the 308th Infantry Division, Bely represented himself and asked the opponent to save more The troops defended the captured positions to prevent the Germans from taking the rear.

But Sokov never dreamed that Gurdiyev would play word games with himself. He said that a battalion of troops was left to defend the position to the east, but the number of this battalion was only equivalent to a platoon. With this little force, how can it stop the German attack? He said sharply into the microphone: "Colonel Gurdiyev, take it back, organize your troops immediately, and take back the lost position. If the Germans are allowed to gain a firm foothold there, we will become a besieged army." Soldiers alone, we will either die or be captured by the Germans. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The loss of the position caused his retreat to be short of breath, and Gurdiyev also panicked. He quickly replied: "I will immediately organize my forces and take the position back from the Germans."

Vanya had overheard something when Sokov called. When he waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he asked cautiously, "Comrade Brigadier, what should we do if our retreat is cut off? Should we stay here and wait for the reinforcements to rush in from outside the encirclement?"

"Captain Vanya!" Sokov waited for Vanya to finish speaking, and immediately said with a straight face: "Do you really think that there will be reinforcements rushing in from outside the encirclement?" Sokov thought of the last time he was here He waited until the end to meet the reinforcements, but what he waited for was the news that the reinforcements were completely wiped out. Therefore, he was not optimistic about the plan to join forces with the reinforcements from the beginning.

After sending Vanya away, Sokov sat in the crater and meditated for a long time, finally got up and walked back to the temporary headquarters, and said to the radio operator sitting inside: "Operator, put me through Colonel Bely, I have It's important to get in touch with him."

Seeing Sokov's pale face, the radio operator immediately realized that something important must have happened, and he didn't dare to neglect, so he quickly grabbed the microphone and started calling Bely. Two minutes later, he handed the headset and microphone to Sokov and said, "Comrade Brigadier, it's connected. Colonel Bely is waiting to talk to you."

"Colonel Bely," Sokov felt the need to let Bely understand the current situation, so he didn't go around in circles, but said bluntly: "Our retreat has been cut off by the Germans."

"What, our route of retreat has been cut off?" Bely thought that Sokov was talking about the road to the south, and after a moment of silence, he comforted him and said, "It's okay, Comrade Brigadier, even if the road to the south is cut off by the enemy." , but we can still retreat from the east and enter our defense zone from there..."

"Colonel Bely," Sokov interrupted Bely in time, and said solemnly, "I contacted you just to tell you that our retreat route to the east has also been cut off by the Germans."

"Hey, what's going on here?" Sokov's words made Bely confused: "Didn't Colonel Gurdiyev put a battalion there for defense? How could the position be destroyed by the Germans in such a short period of time?" People took it?"

Sokov sneered twice, and then said in a contemptuous tone: "Yes, Colonel Gurdiyev did deploy a battalion there for defense. However, after a long period of fighting, the whole battalion only There are twenty or thirty people left, which is only equivalent to the number of an infantry platoon. With this strength, it is obviously impossible to stop the German attack."

Before Bely led his troops to the village, he knew that the German army would concentrate its superior forces and launch an attack on the third and fourth lines of defense. Since the loss of these two positions was only a matter of time, Bely never considered a southward withdrawal plan at all. He cautiously said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I think it's better to let Colonel Gurdiyev organize troops, take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold, and come to a counterattack to regain the lost position."