Red Moscow

Since Sokov received a call from Belkin in the morning, knowing that they had repelled the attack of the German 24th Armored Division, he was still thinking about where to send troops to fill the gap once the position in that direction was broken by the Germans. But waited and waited until the afternoon, and did not receive any more information about the German attack.

"Strange, how come the Germans haven't attacked after such a long time?" Sokov looked at his watch. It was only two hours before dark. If the Germans did not attack again, it would be dark. The role played by tanks at night is far inferior to that during the day. It was with this in mind that he said to himself: "What the hell are the Germans doing?"

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin saw Sokov's distraught look. Before he could speak, he picked up the phone on the table, dialed Belkin's command post, and asked straight to the point: "Belkin Captain Jin, how is the situation there?"

Belkin was also quite depressed when he saw the anticlimax of the German attack. He tried his best to compete with the 24th Armored Division and let the Germans taste the power of the rocket launcher. After killing more than a dozen tanks of the opponent, the German army The attack on one's own position stopped completely. Several hours have passed now, and the enemy's position is still quiet, and there is no movement of attacking at all.

"There is no movement in the enemy's position?" After hearing Belkin's answer, Sidolin frowned slightly, and asked: "Commander Belkin, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure." Belkin replied in an affirmative tone: "Since the German attack was repelled by us, the area they occupied has been quiet and there has been no movement at all."

Sokov, who was sitting on the side, heard the conversation between Sidolin and Belkin, and a sense of ominous premonition surged in his heart. He quickly got up and took the phone in Sidolin's hand, and asked tentatively: "Political Commissar Comrade, is it true that the enemy has not moved at all?"

"Yes, Misha." Although Belkin had just answered this question, but now that it was Sokov who asked, he replied truthfully: "The enemy has not moved at all."

"Comrade Commissar, this is too abnormal." Sokov frowned and said into the microphone: "How could the enemy only attack once and nothing happened? I think there must be something wrong."

"Misha, I also think there is a problem." Belkin replied truthfully, "But I just don't know where the problem lies."

"Since there is no movement on the enemy's position," Sokov continued to ask, "Did you send someone to scout?"

"Reconnaissance? Send scouts to perform reconnaissance missions during the day?" Belkin said with some embarrassment. "

"Comrade political commissar, I think something is wrong with the enemy." Sokov didn't wait for Belkin to finish, and interrupted him: "Immediately send personnel to conduct reconnaissance, and we must find out what the Germans are doing."

Regarding Sokov's tough order, although Belkin still had different opinions, out of respect for his superiors, he still bit the bullet and agreed: "Okay, I will immediately send people to carry out reconnaissance on the combat area. "

Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade commander, what are you worried about?"

"This is really strange." Sokov explained to Sidolin: "The enemy's forces are stronger than ours. Even if they are blocked by the shrinking regiment when attacking our flank, they will not be able to survive for a long time." I have been standing still, I think there may be something wrong, so I ordered Captain Belkin to send someone to try reconnaissance."

After saying this, Sokov said to Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, please call Comrade Commander to find out about the progress of the peripheral troops."

"Okay." Since Golikov left, it is relatively difficult to obtain the latest battle report. After all, there are many things that even the commander Chuikov does not know, let alone the division commander below. Sidolin was also anxious to know what was going on outside. After receiving this order from Sokov, he immediately ordered the communications soldier to connect to the army headquarters. He wanted to talk to Chuikov. "I immediately got in touch with Comrade Commander and asked what happened."

After the call was connected, Chuikov asked anxiously without waiting for Sidolin to explain his purpose, "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, you called me in such a hurry, is there something wrong?"

"No problem at all." Sidolin quickly replied: "The German 24th Armored Division, which attacked our division's defense area from the flank, launched an attack on the position of the Belkin Regiment. It is strange to say that they have started since then. , there has been no movement. The teacher asked me to ask you, have you received the latest news?"

"What's the latest news?!" Regarding Sidolin's question, Cuikov didn't recover for a moment, and said in a daze: "The troops of our army are engaged in small-scale battles with the enemy in the existing defensive zone. "

"Comrade Commander, you misunderstood." Hearing what Chuikov said, Sidolin immediately realized that the other party had misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "The division commander asked me to ask, do you know the latest battle situation of our troops in the periphery?"

"Oh, that's what you're talking about. Wait a minute, I'll ask the chief of staff." Sidolin heard Chuikov ask Krylov next to him: "Comrade chief of staff, what's new for the friendly forces on the periphery?" Is there any movement?"

"I heard that the Supreme Command has issued a combat order to all the troops on the periphery." Krylov replied: "Let our army carry out a concentric attack on the Gumrak area."

"Central attack?!" Sokov, who had been listening to the conversation between Sidolin and Chuikov, couldn't help interjecting and asked, "Could it be that the superior has confirmed that the enemy's headquarters is located in the Gumrak area?" Dorin hurriedly repeated Sokov's question to Cuikov.

"That's right, the superior said that the communication department found a large amount of radio wave activity in the Gumrak area, which should be the location of the German headquarters." Cuikov replied: "That's why the superior issued the order to launch a centripetal attack on the Gumrak area." Order."

"Gumrak area?!" Sokov waited for Sidolin to put down the phone, and asked tentatively: "Did the reconnaissance team we sent to arrive last time attack the Gumrak station occupied by the German army with rockets?" ?”

"That's right, it was the enemy's squad led by Guchakov and Samoilov. They successfully destroyed the supplies stockpiled by the German army at Gumrak Station, interrupting the enemy's supplies for a few days." West After Duolin answered this question, he tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, are you planning to send troops to harass the enemy's rear again?"

"This point is worth considering." Sokov nodded and said, "There are many numbers of German troops assembled there. If you send a sabotage team behind the enemy, even if you pretend to be the enemy, the possibility of revealing your identity is not too great. We have to Take a good look at how large the troops should be sent, and who will command them."

Sidolin considered that when Sokov previously dispatched a small unit behind the enemy, the men he selected were basically downsized regiments or guard battalions. As for the commanders and fighters of the other three regiments, he rarely considered them, so he reminded him: "Comrade Commander, I think the selection of manpower this time can be selected from the three regiments in front of Mamayev Hill. In order to prevent the commanders and fighters in these regiments from privately complaining about you, saying that you have any important tasks, all of them will be handed over to the downsizing regiment. And the guard battalion to complete, seems to have been treating them as outsiders."

Sidolin's words reminded Sokov that when he thought about it carefully, he seemed to be a little too partial to the downsizing regiment and the guard battalion. In any case, the three guard regiments are all his subordinates, so one should not treat one more favorably than another. Thinking of this, he nodded and said, "Chief of Staff, you are right. The next time you select candidates for the enemy's rear squad, you will choose from the three guard regiments."

After a pause, Sokov added: "Be sure to select elite soldiers. If possible, I hope that this small team can take out Paulus's army headquarters."

"Get rid of Paulus's army headquarters?!" Hearing Sokov's thoughts, Sidolin's breathing became rapid: "Comrade commander, the enemy's headquarters must be heavily guarded. I'm worried that our Squads behind enemy lines simply couldn't get close to the target."

"Don't we still have new rockets?" Sokov smiled lightly and said, "As long as you find the location of the Paulus headquarters, you don't need to approach it at all. You only need to launch a few rockets from a distance to knock the enemy away." Got dizzy."

…………

Although the reconnaissance mission assigned by Sokov was a bit too difficult for Belkin, since the order had been issued, he could only find a way to execute it.

He asked Captain Vanya, the chief of staff of the regiment: "Comrade chief of staff, the division commander ordered us to send our troops immediately to detect the movement of the enemy on the opposite side. Do you have a suitable candidate?"

"What, send scouts in broad daylight to scout the enemy's position on the opposite side?" Hearing the order relayed by Belkin, the muscles on Vanya's face twitched violently a few times, and he said with some embarrassment: "The regiment Comrade Chang, aren't you worried that the scouts we sent will be discovered by the enemy?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, how can I not be worried about actinium." Belkin said with a wry smile, "But this is an order from Misha, and we can only carry it out unconditionally."

Hearing that the order was personally arranged by Sokov, Vanya stopped complaining. He thought quickly in his mind, who should be sent to carry out this dangerous task? After thinking for a while, he finally thought of a suitable candidate. He said to Belkin: "Comrade commander, I have a suitable candidate for reconnaissance missions."

"who is it?"

"Sergeant Coppetto of the 2nd Battalion and 5th Company," Vanya replied, "He is a very good tactician, and I think it is perfect for him to lead the team."

"Okay." Belkin nodded when he heard that Vanya was so optimistic about the other party, and said in agreement: "Then give him the mission as soon as possible, and quickly rush to the area controlled by the enemy to carry out the reconnaissance mission."

After receiving the mission, Sergeant Kopetuo set off immediately with his five soldiers. In order not to be discovered by the frontal enemies, a group of six of them carefully walked around from the west. The reason for choosing this direction is entirely because it is under the control of the German army. The German army on the opposite side does not have strict surveillance here and can easily pass by.

According to Ke Peituo's idea, there may be a firefight with the German army on the way. After all, it is daytime now, even if he takes a detour, there is still a possibility of being discovered by the enemy. Therefore, from the moment of departure, all fighters are ready to fight. However, until they approached the frontal German positions, no trace of the enemy was found.

The soldier Yefim asked Kopetuo curiously: "Comrade squad leader, what's going on, we didn't meet any Germans along the way? Where did they go?"

"This is really a hell." Kopetuo didn't encounter the enemy at the place where he was most likely to encounter the German army, and he was quite puzzled, wondering what the hell the Germans were doing. This reconnaissance team successfully entered their position without hindrance? "What exactly is going on?"

After walking for a while, Yefim suddenly said in surprise: "Comrade squad leader, do you think the Germans have all retreated? That's why we didn't see a single German on the road?"

"The Germans retreated?" Coppetto frowned and asked back: "A few hours ago, they were still attacking our position. How can they just withdraw? Let me see, where are they supposed to be lurking? We'll have to look for it later."

A few people approached the first line of defense of the German army without knowing it. They were afraid of exposing their targets and dared not move on, so they stopped to find a place to hide and observe the movement on the opposite side from a distance. But after looking for a long time, there was no one walking around in the fortification. At this time, Yefim volunteered again: "Comrade squad leader, if you trust me, let me take two people to have a look."

Ke Peituo saw that there was no movement on the other side, and his heart was full of doubts, so he readily agreed to Yefim's request, but reminded the other party: "Be careful, and withdraw immediately if you find something is wrong. Come."

After Yefim and the others left, Kopetuo ordered an accompanying radio operator: "Report to the regiment headquarters that we have not found any traces of Germans along the way. Now we are sending people to carry out reconnaissance on the German positions. For the specific situation, wait a moment." It will be reported to regimental headquarters."

Just as the radio operator here reported the situation to the regiment headquarters, Kopetuo saw Yefim and the others who had just crawled forward and rolled over into the German trenches. Reckless, if you break into the enemy's position rashly like this, you will be eaten up by the enemy.

Just as he thought of this, he suddenly saw Yefim emerging halfway from the trench, waving his hands and feet, as if he was shouting something loudly. Seeing all this, the radio operator said to Copeto: "Comrade squad leader, something is wrong. Is there no one in the enemy's position?"

"There is no one on the enemy's position?" Coppetto felt that this inference was really absurd. How could the Germans give up their position so easily? But seeing Yefim's expression in the distance, it seemed that there was really no one in that area, so he said to the remaining soldiers, "Let's go up and have a look."