Red Moscow

  Chapter 1608 Enemy's road is narrow

After dark, Sokov was having dinner with everyone in the temporary headquarters when suddenly a staff officer came in from the outside and reported to Shumilov: "Comrade Commander, Major General Vasilenko, commander of the 15th Guards Division, reports , Near their division headquarters, German snipers were found, causing them considerable casualties."

  Regarding the staff officer’s report, Shumilov said impatiently: “Since there are German snipers near the division headquarters, Vasilienko can find a way to send someone to kill the snipers. Why are you calling us to report?”

"The enemy is in the dark, and the snipers we sent couldn't find the enemy at all." The staff officer waited for Shumilov to finish speaking, and immediately rushed to say: "Five of the snipers under General Vasilenko have already fallen. Under the guns of German snipers."

  The words of the staff officer aroused everyone's shock. They didn't expect the German snipers to be so powerful. They killed five of Vasilenko's snipers in a row, but they were still safe and sound.

"Comrade Commander, this matter is a bit tricky." The chief of staff of the group army said to Shumilov: "The 15th Guards Division is the ace unit of our group army. If a unit loses its command, its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."

"But it's so dark outside at the moment, if the German snipers hide in the dark and shoot coldly, our soldiers can't find them at all." Shumilov said with a sad face: "Unless there is a way to illuminate the hiding place of the German snipers , otherwise it would be impossible to eliminate him at all.”

"Comrade Commander, we can order General Vasilienko to fire flares." The chief of staff suggested to Shumilov: "In this way, the snipers under Vassilenko will be able to find the location of the German snipers." .”

"It's useless, Comrade General." As soon as the chief of staff finished speaking, Sokov interrupted: "If the German sniper continues to lurk when our army fires flares, then not only will we not be able to find him, but we will be able to kill him." Let him see clearly our deployment situation, which will cause more innocent soldiers to lose their lives."

"Comrade Sokov," Konev, who was still silent next to him, heard Sokov question the opinion of the chief of staff of the army group, and guessed that he might have some good ideas, so he interrupted and asked: "What good ideas do you have? Against German snipers at night?"

  In fact, even if Konev didn't ask, Sokov planned to tell Shumilov and them the methods he knew, so that Vasilienko's subordinates would not sacrifice in vain. Since Konev asked at this moment, Sokov said generously: "There are two ways to deal with the enemy's snipers at night.

  First, order soldiers to hide in different places and shoot. The enemy hiding in the dark, once he hears the gunshot, his first reaction is to look for the direction of the gunshot, and there will inevitably be some noises, thus creating some favorable conditions for our snipers to find him .

  Second, light several fires near the division headquarters. The high temperature will distort the air near the fire, and when the German sniper uses the scope, there will be a certain degree of deviation, which will cause him to miss the hit..."

   After Sokov finished talking about his thoughts, he saw that everyone was staring at him blankly, and no one said anything. Seeing this situation, he felt guilty for a while, and could only drink tea from a teacup to cover up his embarrassment.

   At this moment, there was only a "snap" sound, and the chief of staff of the group army slapped the table heavily with his palm, which made Sokov tremble in fright, and almost threw the teacup in his hand out.

"Genius, General Sokov, you are truly a genius." The chief of staff of the group army shouted at Sokov's plan repeatedly: "Light the fire and let the soldiers shoot in different places, which can increase the difficulty of the German snipers' sniping. It prevents him from hitting the target immediately. As for how to find him, I still suggest firing flares into the air so that the German snipers have nowhere to hide."

After the chief of staff of the group army finished speaking, seeing Shumilov frowned, he quickly explained: "Comrade commander, if you simply fire flares, it will definitely let the enemy know more about our army's whereabouts. But if you add Soko With the plan proposed by the husband, it will be much easier to eliminate the snipers near the division headquarters."

After listening to Shumilov, he thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case, so he ordered the staff officer who came to report: "Comrade staff, you go back and call General Vasilienko and find out what we have researched. There is a way to tell him and let him choose the right person to carry out this operation to get rid of the snipers."

  After the staff officer left, everyone continued to eat dinner, and at the same time discussed how to cooperate in the battle during the day tomorrow. At this moment, a telephone placed in the headquarters rang, and the chief of staff of the group army stepped forward to pick up the phone and listened to a few words, then handed the microphone to Sokov, and said in his mouth: "General Sokov , is your phone number."

  Sokov was very surprised. At this time, there was probably no one else who could call him except Sameko. With the microphone pressed against his ear, he asked, "Is this Chief of Staff Sameko? I'm Sokov."

   "Hello, Comrade Commander." Sameko said hurriedly, "A major event has happened, and I think it is necessary to report to you."

  Hearing this, Sokov's heart beat faster, but he still forced himself to ask calmly: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, speak slowly, what happened?"

   "We attacked the troops in Chijilin and were driven out of the city by the Germans..."

Even if a shell fell on Sokov's side and exploded at this moment, the shock it brought to him was definitely not comparable to what Sameko said: "How could you be kicked out? Comrade Chief of Staff, hurry up!" Tell me, what happened?"

"Two hours ago, the reinforcements of the German army entered Chijilin." Sameko reported in a heavy tone: "The commanders and fighters of the 84th Division who entered the city faced the frantically attacking German army. In the end, they were driven out of the city by the German army because they were outnumbered. Our troops suffered heavy casualties, and the Belkin Regiment suffered more than half of them.”

   "How many reinforcements did the enemy send?"

   "According to the report, there is only one grenadier regiment and one assault gun battalion." Sameko reported: "But their combat effectiveness is extremely powerful, far exceeding our imagination..."

   "Strong fighting power?!" Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help sneering again and again, and asked disdainfully: "Could it be that the troops who came for reinforcements are stronger than those elite SS divisions of the German army?"

  The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, and then Sameko's heavy voice came again: "That's right, the reinforcements for Qijilin City this time are the Viking Division of the German Army."

   Hearing the number of the Viking Division, Sokov fell silent. The 300th Division under them fought against the Viking Division in August. Although they were on the defensive, they still paid a huge price in the face of the crazy German attack. Unexpectedly, Yuanjia Road is narrow, and my army encountered this **** army again during the process of liberating Qijilin.

Since the troops who came for reinforcements were the Viking Division, it is normal for the 84th Division to be unable to stop their attack. After all, Fomenko did not carry any heavy weapons. helpless.

After being silent for a while, Sokov told Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to the two division commanders Fomenko and Koyda, ordering them to regroup on the outskirts of Qijl, and prepare to launch another attack on the city. attack."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko said in surprise after hearing Sokov's order, "Even if our troops are on the defensive, they can't stop the enemy. Now the offensive and defensive positions are changed. The enemy defends and we attack. Can it be successful?"

"If you attack directly, you will definitely suffer failure." Sokov began to issue orders to Sameko on the phone: "Immediately transfer the artillery division to the vicinity of Chijilin. Before attacking tomorrow, we will use artillery fire to teach Germany a lesson. After a pause, and then launching an infantry attack, I don't believe that the city can't be taken."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Now that Sokov has issued such an order, Sameko will naturally not contradict him, but readily agrees: "I will call the First Artillery Division and let They marched in the direction of Qijilin overnight."

  As soon as Sokov put down the phone here, Konev stood up and asked with concern: "What's the matter, Comrade Sokov? What happened to make you so sad?"

Sokov knew that Chijilin's gains and losses could not be concealed at all, so he waited for Konev to finish speaking, and immediately replied: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, my chief of staff has just reported to me, Our troops occupying the city were driven out of the city by the Germans not long ago."

   "What, your troops stationed in the city were driven out of the city by the enemy?" Hearing Sokov's report, Konev asked in surprise: "How did this happen?"

"A grenadier regiment and an assault artillery battalion of the German Viking Division entered the city of Chijilin." Sokov reported to Konev: "Although my men resisted tenaciously, due to lack of sufficient heavy weapons, Facing the crazy German attack, they had no choice but to retreat."

  It turned out that the German troops that entered Qijilin for reinforcements were actually Viking divisions? ! The people present couldn't help but gasp when they heard the Viking division's number. Some of them had dealt with the Viking Division and knew how powerful the opponent was. Even if an army group faced this army, there was not much chance of winning. Now there is only one division fighting against the Viking division. It is definitely not realistic to hold the position.

When Sokov called, Konev was buried in his food and did not hear what Sokov was talking about, so he continued to ask: "Comrade Sokov, your troops were driven out of the city by the enemy. Come out, what are your plans?"

"Yes, Comrade Front Army Commander." Sokov replied: "I ordered the 84th and 188th Divisions to regroup outside the city, and at the same time dispatched the 1st Artillery Division to rush for reinforcements. After the artillery arrived at the designated position, we could Start a heavy shelling of the city."

  Konev was thinking, in the face of the enemy's attack, your troops can't stop it. Now you want to switch from defense to offense, from the original defense to offense. Can you succeed? But in order not to dampen Sokov's enthusiasm, he still said cautiously: "Is there anything I can help you with?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov was thinking about how to ask Konev for help, but since the other party brought it up, he said smoothly, "I wonder if we can provide us with air cover when we attack tomorrow."

"Comrade Sokov, if you need air support, do you need to report to me?" Konev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said a little bit dumbfoundingly: "Now you and General Goryunov can contact directly, do you plan to Where to bomb, just ask, and Goryunov will definitely fulfill your request."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov licked his face and said, "Sending the air force to bomb a city occupied by the enemy is a big deal. I think it's better to communicate with you first, and then contact Goryunov after getting your consent. The general is not too late."

Seeing that Sokov respected him so much, Konev was very happy. He smiled and said: "I agree, then you should contact General Goryunov as soon as possible, tell him the time and place of your attack, and let him It can be prepared in advance.”

  But Sokov did not rush to call Sameko and asked him to contact Air Force Commander Goryunov, but continued to chat with everyone. During the chat, although he was still chatting and laughing happily, the sadness that could not be dissipated from his brows showed that he still had no confidence in this attack.

About half an hour later, Sameko called again and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the commanders and fighters of the First Artillery Division are gathering. Move in. Also, I have ordered Major General Gritsenko's 384th Division to also move towards the Chigirin Line."

Knowing that the total strength of the troops participating in the battle outside Qijilin City has reached three infantry divisions and one artillery division, Sokov began to wonder whether he should send a tank unit to strengthen them. After all, the troops were driven out of the city by the enemy today. It came out entirely because of the lack of heavy weapons, and the commonly used rocket launchers did not play much role because of the limited number they carried. As a result, as soon as the German assault guns rushed up, the troops without the bazooka could only use flesh and blood to tie cluster grenades, rush to the German tanks and detonate them, so as to achieve the purpose of destroying the enemy tanks.

  Sokov was very worried. His troops usually used rocket launchers to destroy German tanks and combat vehicles. Now they replaced them with cluster grenades to deal with enemy tanks. Will it be successful?

From Sokov's tone, Sameko heard his hesitation, and quickly guessed what was on his mind, and quickly said: "Comrade Commander, I will organize a convoy to send to the No. The 84th Division transports a sufficient number of new rockets and rocket launchers."

  Although Sokov knew that dispatching a convoy at night to transport troops on such a rough and uneven road was a very dangerous thing. But in order to ensure that the troops attacking tomorrow have sufficient weapons to deal with the enemy, Sokov decided to take a risk, so he said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, arrange this matter as soon as possible, after all, the weapons and equipment will arrive at the front earlier. , our commanders and fighters will become more confident in defeating the enemy."

  (end of this chapter)