Red Moscow

  Chapter 363 Xiaosheng

   Guchakov's Ninth Company rushed to the forefront of the chasing team. The Ninth Company used to have more than 300 people. Except for two platoons left to monitor the enemy, the remaining seven platoons were brought here by Guchakov to participate in the battle. With less than a hundred people, Guchakov's leg was also stabbed by a German bayonet, so that he limped a little while running.

  His company had just undergone a round of replenishment not long ago, and he couldn't even call out the names of many soldiers. Unexpectedly, many of them disappeared before the battle was over. Not to mention that Sokov gave the order to chase the fleeing German army, even if he didn't give the order, he would have volunteered to chase the enemy.

Although his legs were a bit inconvenient, he still rushed to the front of the team, and while running, he turned his head and greeted his subordinates: "Comrades, come on, the enemy who killed our comrades in arms is ahead, we have to kill them , to avenge our sacrificed comrades!"

Many soldiers had almost exhausted their physical strength in the hand-to-hand combat, and before they had time to rest, they started chasing the German army. They mechanically moved forward with the troops with their guns on their shoulders. Looks like it's about to fall down at any moment. But after hearing Guchakov's words, they cheered up again, quickened their pace and continued to run forward.

   Lieutenant Colonel Siknius, who led the troops to retreat, thought that the Soviet army must have been exhausted after the fierce battle just now, and would not be able to pursue him in a short time. He guessed correctly that the Soviet army was exhausted and exhausted, but he did not expect that the Soviet army would pursue the troops led by him regardless of their own fatigue.

  Due to the hasty start of the retreat, the troops lost their organizational structure during the retreat. Without the organizational system, the German army was like a mess. Facing the overtaking Soviet army, they could not prevent effective resistance at all. In addition to speeding up their escape, all they could do was to raise their hands and try to catch up with the Soviet army to surrender.

  But the Soviet army that was pursuing them ignored the enemies who stood on the side of the road and surrendered, but continued to pursue them tirelessly. As for these captives, there are naturally troops behind to take them in.

"Comrade Brigadier," Andrei asked out of breath while running forward beside Sokov, "I...we...at least...at least...at least seven or eight kilometers, what...when will we stop? ?”

"What, you have chased for seven or eight kilometers?" Sokov was so tired that he didn't even notice how far he chased. He only saw German soldiers raising their hands and surrendering everywhere on both sides of the road. Then he slowed down and said, "I think it's almost there, just stop here..."

Sokov knew that both the 3rd Battalion and the 149th Brigade were at the end of their strength, and if they continued to pursue, once the Germans launched a counterattack, the entire army would be in danger of being wiped out. Therefore, he ordered the troops to stop advancing and take prisoners on the spot. .

  As soon as the order to stop the pursuit was issued, the soldiers stopped, sat down on the ground without hesitation, and began to breathe heavily; some even lay directly on the ground and fell asleep.

Seeing that the soldiers were so tired, Sokov, who was also exhausted, said to Borvinov and Andrei who came over: "The soldiers are very tired, let them take a good rest. In addition, arrange for the officers to take those who are on the road The prisoners on the side are taken in, and by the way, we will count the results of the battle."

  Sixnius, who led the troops to flee with their lives, saw that the Soviet army suddenly stopped their pursuit. He couldn't help secretly rejoicing that he was lucky enough to escape from the hands of the Soviet army. As for the soldiers and technical equipment lost in the battle, after returning, let the division commander replenish himself.

After arranging the manpower to take in the prisoners, Andrei came to sit next to Sokov and said with a bitter face: "Comrade Brigadier, our battalion has suffered a lot in today's battle. Apart from staying in the artillery position and monitoring The enemy's platoons and the rest of the participating companies suffered heavy losses."

  Sokov glanced around and found that there were less than 300 commanders and fighters left in the third battalion, and the situation of the 149th brigade was not much better, with seven or eight hundred people left at best.

Hearing what Andrei said, Borvinov also echoed: "Yes, Comrade Commander, when our brigade held its position, more than half of the casualties were lost. Later, we fought hand-to-hand with the Germans and suffered a lot of casualties. Now There are only a few hundred people left, and we may not be able to participate in the next battle."

"Comrade Colonel, don't worry." Sokov waited for Borvinov to finish speaking, and comforted him, "I think the superior will soon replenish the lost soldiers so that you can continue to participate in other battles." Cove knew very well in his heart that what he said was just a scene, and the 149th Brigade wanted to be supplemented, and it was estimated that they could only wait until the base camp transferred them to the rear.

  The troops rested for an hour, and the officers had already taken in the prisoners and counted the results of the battle. Seeing that the time was almost up, Sokov ordered the troops to retreat.

   When Sokov spent more than two hours returning to the place where the hand-to-hand battle had just taken place, he found that there were corpses of enemies or his own people everywhere, and there was a lingering smell of blood in the air.

   At this moment, the radio operator reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, General Chuikov sent a telegram to ask how the situation here is?"

From the operator's address to himself, Sokov knew that he was from the third battalion, so he ordered him to say: "Immediately call back the headquarters of the group army, saying that our department has successfully defeated the German 2nd Armored Regiment, 16th Artillery Regiment and 79th Infantry Regiment, covering part of the surrounded troops to highlight the encirclement..."

  While the radio operator was squatting on the side of the road to send a report, a group of soldiers came from a distance. Sokov had sharp eyes and recognized at a glance that the person walking in the front was Colonel Gorokhov, commander of the 124th brigade.

  After Gorokhov approached, he was startled when he saw Sokov's face covered in blood, and thought he was injured. After learning that it was the enemy's blood, he complained to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are the commander of the northern group, how can you charge forward like a company commander?"

  Sokov grinned and did not answer this question, but asked instead: "Colonel Gorokhov, how is the situation there, have the enemies been repelled?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Gorokhov nodded and said: "After a day of fighting, the enemy launched no less than ten charges against our brigade's position, but we repelled them all. After leaving behind more than 300 corpses and more than a dozen three-wheeled motorcycles, they retreated in a panic."

   Just when Sokov was about to say a few words, the radio operator suddenly reported to him: "Comrade Brigadier, just received a telegram from General Chuikov, and he ordered us to withdraw to the starting position."

  (end of this chapter)