Red Moscow

Sighs and voices of regret resounded in a mess in the temporary headquarters. None of you thought that such an unexpected accident would happen now that victory was in sight. Ivanov stomped his feet anxiously, and said repeatedly: "It's only a few minutes away, just a few minutes away, comrades. If the enemy's reaction is a little slower, our tanks and infantry will rush into the enemy's second line of defense. .”

Seeing the tanks and infantry in the distance start to retreat, Sokov was so angry that he clenched his right hand and slammed it heavily on the palm of his left hand. With a snap, Golikov, who was watching the battle with rapt attention, startled.

Golikov looked at Sokov and asked in surprise, "What's the matter with you, Colonel Sokov?"

"I really didn't expect that there would be enemies popping up in the communication trenches on both sides of the attacking troops." Sokov said angrily, "It was because of my poor consideration that this attack failed."

"Comrade Commander, I can't blame you for this." Chief of Staff Sidolin said in shame when he heard Suokov say this: "As the Chief of Staff, I am not familiar with the situation on the battlefield, which led our army to seize the second place. I have an inescapable responsibility for the failure of the first line of defense.”

"Okay, okay, you two don't argue." Golikov waved his hand and said impatiently: "It's no big deal to lose the attack, just reorganize the attack. By the way, the worker's new village How is the situation, have you been repulsed by the enemy?"

It stands to reason that standing on the commanding height of Mamayev Hill, you can see the movement in the direction of the workers' new village, but due to the smoke from the shelling and the high temperature generated when the shell exploded, the snow was melted and vaporized, so that Mamayev Between Mayev Gang and Workers' New Village, there was a thick layer of fog blocking it.

Since he couldn't see the situation in the workers' new village, Sokov signaled Sidolin to get in touch with Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko to learn about the offensive situation of the right-wing troops. Sidolin nodded, went to the table and picked up the phone. After dialing the headquarters of the 122nd Regiment, he said loudly into the microphone: "Is this Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko? I am Chief of Staff Sidolin, Division Commander Let me ask you, is your regiment's attack going well?...What, you have successfully captured the second line of defense and are preparing to attack the enemy's third line? This is really great. Wait a minute , I will tell the teacher the good news."

Sidolin covered the microphone with his hand and reported excitedly to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko reports that the 122nd Regiment, under the cover of the 1st Tank Battalion, successfully occupied the second German line. The defense line is preparing to launch an attack on the third line of defense."

"Strange," Sokov said with a frown, "didn't they come under attack from the flanking traffic trenches while advancing to the second line of defense?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sidolin moved his hand covering the microphone and asked, "Master, on the way to attack, were you attacked by fire from the traffic trenches on both sides? ... What, you were also attacked , but wiped out all the enemies?...Tell me, how did you eliminate them?"

After asking some questions that needed to be clarified, Sidolin stood up straight and reported to Sokov: "Comrade commander, I have asked carefully. When the 122nd regiment was advancing to the second line of defense, it was indeed attacked. The enemy hiding in the traffic trench attacked. However, Colonel Bely organized self-propelled artillery to bombard the enemy in time, covering the infantry to destroy the enemy hiding in the traffic trench. After clearing out the enemies on both wings, they were able to successfully occupy the second line of the German army line of defense."

After Sidolin hung up the phone, Golikov said with a wry smile: "I really didn't expect that the two tank battalions we sent from the left bank played little role in the battle and were repulsed by the Germans. And The improvised first tank battalion, but the covering troops successfully occupied the second line of defense of the German army."

Sokov thought to himself that the fact that the right-wing troops were able to successfully occupy the second German line of defense was indeed due to the role of the 1st Tank Battalion commanded by Bely. But they were able to achieve such a result, I am afraid it is related to the tactics they used. If Bely had not fought side by side with him before and learned a lot of tactics from him, I am afraid they will be like Mamayev Gang. Like the two regiments of the German army, they will return home in front of the second line of defense of the German army.

"Colonel Sokov." Golikov watched the frustrated troops retreat to the first line of defense, and asked Sokov, "When are you going to launch another attack on the enemy?"

"Report to Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said, thinking that it was obviously unrealistic for the commanders and fighters to launch a new attack as soon as they withdrew their positions and were still panting. They must be given sufficient time to rest. Thinking of this, Sokov replied: "I think it will take two hours at the earliest before we can attack the enemy again!"

"No, two hours is too long, I can't wait that long." Golikov said in an orderly tone: "I can only give you one hour, and when the time is up, attack the enemy again." attack."

"One hour?!" Hearing the time set by Golikov, Sidolin and Ivanov couldn't help but look at each other. As commanders, both of them understood that an hour's rest is not enough for a unit that has just lost a battle. It's simply not enough. But since Golikov had already given the order, even if he knew it was wrong, he could only bite the bullet and accept it. They looked at Sokov for help, hoping that he could come out and say a few words for everyone. "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, in such a short period of time, the physical strength and morale of the soldiers may be difficult to recover."

"I know that the troops are not well-prepared for you to attack after an hour." Golikov said with a straight face: "But have you ever thought about it? The longer the time drags on, the better the enemy's preparations will be. The more unfavorable it is."

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army..." Sidolin wanted to make some more excuses, but Sokov waved him off.

Sokov straightened his body and said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, my troops will launch an offensive attack on the second line of defense occupied by the enemy in one hour. And, we are sure to capture the enemy's position."

Hearing Sokov speak with such confidence, both Sidolin and Ivanov showed surprised expressions on their faces. But Golikov nodded with a smile, and said with satisfaction: "Colonel Sokov, I guess you will find a way to deal with the enemy. I hope you will not let me down in the next battle."

"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly replied, "We will never let you down."

Golikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then glanced at the reassembled troops in the first position, and then said: "I didn't sleep all night last night, and I'm a little sleepy now. I'll go back to sleep first, and wait for some If there is any progress, please call me again."

After sending Golikov away, Sidolin said anxiously to Sokov: "Comrade commander, how can you easily give a guarantee to the deputy commander of the front army? You know, now we don't even know what our soldiers will do next." In the battle, can you win the battle? If you fail to attack again, how do you plan to explain to Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Sidolin was impatient, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "It is not a big deal for us to take down the enemy's second line of defense. As the division chief of staff, You can't mess yourself up."

"Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, how do you plan to capture the second line of defense in front of our army?" Sidolin asked: "You know, the enemy has deployed a lot of troops in the line of defense. With just one division of ours, It might not be an easy task to eat them."

"With the strength of the 124th and 125th regiments alone, it may not be an easy task to take down the enemy's position." Sukov told Sidolin: "You immediately call the third battalion commander, Captain Andrei, Ask him to transfer Guchakov's Ninth Company to assist the two guard regiments in launching an attack."

"Only transfer one company?" Sidolin asked with a wry smile, "Comrade Commander, isn't there too little reinforcement?"

"One company is enough." Seeing that Sidolin was still struggling, Sokov reminded him, "Especially those troops who followed us to many places are the most trustworthy."

"Comrade Commander," although Sokov said it confidently, but Sidolin was still not at ease. He frowned and asked, "Can you explain it to me in more detail?"

"In the third battalion, there are many soldiers who are familiar with the new rockets. We have drawn them out so that they can use rockets to attack the enemy's positions and cover our tanks and infantry to move forward." Sokov Remind the other party: "If possible, I also plan to transfer one or two platoons of troops back from the barricade factory, and let them use rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's fortifications."

After receiving Sokov's order, Guchakov immediately rushed over with his Ninth Company. After arriving at Mamayev Hill, he left his troops at the foot of the hill, flew up the hill by himself, and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Guchakov, the commander of the 3rd Battalion and 9th Company, has been ordered to come to you Report. I follow your orders, please instruct!"

"Comrade Captain," Sokov brought Guchakov to the lookout, pointed to the position shrouded in smoke and mist in the distance, and said, "Because the superiors shortened the time for our shelling, the German second The fortifications of the first line of defense have not been completely destroyed, and there is still value for continued use. Therefore, you can use rockets to attack these fortifications and burn the enemy to death in the fortifications."

After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Guchakov immediately replied loudly: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will not let you down."

"Also," Sokov added: "During the first attack, our tanks advancing towards the enemy's position were attacked by German infantry from both sides. If you want to cooperate with the 124th and 125th regiments, you must The enemies hiding in the communication trenches must be eliminated."

"Understood." After Guchakov replied loudly, he asked Sokov about the rockets: "Where can we get the rockets?"

Sokov called a staff officer and said to him: "You immediately take Captain Guchakov and the others to the warehouse to get the new rockets you need."

After the staff officer left with Guchakov, Sokov looked at Sidolin again and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, are there any soldiers who know how to use rocket launchers in the troops directly under the division?"

"Yes." Sidolin nodded and replied, "Major Tenev, commander of the guard battalion, and Lieutenant Seryosha, commander of the guard company, both of them can use rocket launchers, but they use them well."

Tenev was the commander of the guard battalion, so Sokov naturally couldn't send him to perform these assist tasks, but he was going to hand it over to the guard company commander, Lieutenant Seryosha. After a moment of silence, Sokov said: "In my opinion, it is still up to Seryozha to take the fighters carrying the rocket launchers to destroy the enemy's hidden firepower points."

After Sidolin understood Sokov's intentions, a smile appeared on his face, and he went on to say, "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will call Seryozha immediately and ask him to come here immediately."

"No need to call." Just as Sidolin finished speaking, Sidolin's voice sounded not far away, and he quickly raised his right hand high and walked out from the crowd. He walked quickly to Sokov, and said with a sincere expression: "Comrade commander, I am right here. If you have any instructions, please give them an order."

"Lieutenant Seryozha," although Seryozha is Sokov's friend, friendship is friendship and work is work. In front of everyone, Sokov still ordered him with a straight face: "You immediately take ten Two rocket launchers, rushed to the attack point of the 125th regiment, and cooperated with them to attack the enemy."

With the addition of the third battalion, the ninth company and the guard company, Sokov is full of confidence in capturing the enemy's position. But just to be on the safe side, he still called Bely and said straight to the point: "Colonel Bely, I plan to order the 124th and 125th regiments to attack the enemy's position again. I hope to get your cooperation?"

"Comrade commander, if you want to cooperate, you can give an order." After listening to Sukov's order, Bely replied straightforwardly: "I will resolutely obey your order."

"When the two regiments are inextricably fighting with the enemy, you send self-propelled artillery, a few tanks, and some infantry from the 122nd regiment to attack the enemy from the flanks, so that they can't pay attention to each other. The chances of seizing the enemy's position will be greatly improved." After Sokov finished his thoughts, he asked loudly, "Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Bely replied loudly: "I will make the tanks and self-propelled artillery ready for battle, and we will launch an assault on the flank of the German army as long as you give an order."

All the issues that were just considered have been considered; the tasks that should be assigned have also been assigned. Sokov turned to look at Sidolin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have anything else to add?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Sidolin thought for a moment, shook his head bluntly, and said, "Your plan is very thorough. I really can't think of anything to add."