Red Moscow

  Chapter 598 The eve of the breakout

  Asiya's first words after waking up, grabbed Ulanova's arm, and asked emotionally: "Ulanova, my Misha, where is my Misha?"

   "Asya," Ulanova said softly close to her ear, "Comrade Brigadier is still in Orlovka, and he will be back soon."

Assia sat up straight and said firmly, "I'm going to see Misha. I'm going to Orlovka to see Misha immediately. I'm going now." After she finished speaking, she struggled to stand up , ready to go outside.

Although Ulanova knew the content of the telegram sent back by Sokov, she thought in her heart that the above content was just to comfort everyone. As far as she knew, there were not many troops trapped by the German army that could successfully break through. . If Assia really wanted to go to Orlovka, it would be tantamount to death. She quickly grabbed Assia's arm and said nervously: "Assia, no, you can't go to Orlovka, Germany People have cut off the road leading there, you can't get through."

   "But my Misha is still there!" Assia looked at Ulanova and said in a crying voice, "I want to find him, even if it means death, I want to die with him."

   "Assia!" Briski had been following Sokov for a long time, and knew that he had always had the ability to perform miracles. Although he was surrounded by the German army at this time, he must be able to escape safely. Seeing that Asiya's emotions were so out of control at this moment, he quickly comforted her and said, "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier just sent a telegram saying that everything is under his control. I believe he will come back safely."

Although Briski was full of confidence in Sokov, Koida didn't think so. According to his thinking, an army of hundreds of people plus a small number of tanks was encircled by the German army. The possibility of encircling the circle is simply a dream. However, in order not to irritate Assia, he did not mention the matter, but said to Briski and Ulanova: "Comrade Assia's condition is not very good, you two should send her back to rest first. "

Koyda's words hit Briski's arms. He felt that keeping the depressed Assia in the headquarters would affect the command and operations. Since Koyda asked him to send Assia back, he nodded. , and Ulanova each held Assia's arm and walked outside the headquarters.

   After Assia was sent away, Mashkov sighed and said in a regretful tone: "Maybe in a few days, or even a few hours, she will become a widow."

"Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, don't make sarcastic remarks here." Koyda knew that Sokov and the others were dying, and he felt very bad. He said to Mashkov: "Let's discuss how to strengthen The defense here in the assembly workshop. You know, this counterattack has exhausted the only reserve force of the army headquarters, and we may not get any supplies of soldiers and materials in the next battle."

"It's impossible not to get supplementary soldiers and supplies." Mashkov frowned and said, "With this little force in our hands, coupled with the armed workers in the assembly workshop, there is no way to prevent the enemy from breaking into the factory area." .”

"If you can't stop it, you have to find a way." Koyda said with a wry smile: "The 39th Guards Division, which was responsible for the defense of the residential area and the main entrance of the factory, suffered huge losses in this counterattack. In the ensuing battle, Not only will we not get their support, we may even send troops to reinforce them."

  Mashkov is a political cadre. When it comes to fighting, he still wants to follow Koida's lead: "Comrade commander, tell me, what should we do?"

"Comrade Commissar, this is how I think about it." Koyda said thoughtfully: "In any case, we still have hundreds of people with ten tanks, and it is not a big problem to block one or two German offensives. Yes. As for the replenishment of soldiers, there are quite a few hundred wounded in the basement. I want you to come forward and do propaganda and agitation work for them. Maybe some of the wounded can be mobilized. Let them be added to the combat troops."

Regarding this proposal from Koyda, Mashkov said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, the wounded who are recovering in the basement come from different units. Even if I do political agitation work, would they be willing to join our army? It's still an unknown."

Koyda took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, lit it, took a puff, and said in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, we must find a way to mobilize more wounded and add them to the combat troops. You know, maybe just one more person can decide the outcome of a battle."

   "Okay." Seeing that Koida's attitude was so determined that he insisted on mobilizing the wounded, Mashkov could only reply helplessly: "I will definitely do my best."

  ...

   While Koida and Mashkov were struggling with the defense of the assembly shop, it was already dark outside. According to Sokov's order, after dark, except for the guard troops left behind in each position, the rest of the commanders and fighters took advantage of the cover of night and moved closer to the hidden small village of the tank battalion.

  But when everyone came to the designated place one after another, they unexpectedly found that the village had already been burned to ruins, and some logs that had been burned black were still emitting green smoke. Sokov's headquarters was set up in the woods not far from the village. In order to prevent the commanders and fighters who rushed to find their positions, he also specially sent manpower to respond.

   While the troops were still in motion, Sokov called a meeting of several commanders and discussed with them again the plan to break out. In a temporary tent, a map was spread out on the ground, and the commanders participating in the meeting squatted around the map. Sokov held up a gas lamp in one hand, and gestured on the map with the other: "comrades commanders, I chose the direction of breaking out to the north. Our troops took advantage of the cover of night and quietly approached this area. Before dawn, Under the cover of the tank battalion, we launched an attack on the enemy's defense line by surprise, striving to break through the enemy's defense line in the shortest possible time."

"Comrade Brigadier, I would like to ask." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Gurdiyev raised his own question: "How is the enemy's defense in the north? With our current strength, we can break through the enemy defense?"

   Sokov can understand Gurdiyev's question. You must know that Rokossovsky mobilized several divisions to attack in that direction, but he was still unable to break through the enemy's defense. The strength in my hand is not more than a thousand, but it is a bit unimaginable to break through the enemy's defense in a short period of time.

  Sokov pointed at Bely and said with a smile: "I think it's better for Colonel Bely to introduce the situation. He has stayed in this area the longest and knows the enemy's situation best."

Bely coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said, "The enemy's defense line is eight kilometers to the north, with its back against a river. The reason why General Rokossovsky's attack was delayed It was impossible to break through the enemy's defense because the north of the German line of defense was steep and separated by a river. If the friendly commanders wanted to capture the enemy's position, they had to cross the river first and then rush up the steep hillside. The enemy's The firepower point, but can use the terrain to kill our attacking troops condescendingly..."

  Hearing Bely's words, everyone finally understood why Rokossovsky's troops were unable to break through the German defenses for a long time, and rushed to join them. After a pause, Gurdiyev asked again: "Colonel Bely, what about the enemy's defense on our side?"

"Let's put it this way, the enemy's defensive direction is mainly aimed at the north, but there are very few firepower points to the south." Bely explained in detail in order to let the commanders and fighters know: "More importantly, the German defense line The south side of the front is a gentle slope, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and our tanks can even drive directly in front of the enemy's firepower."

"Our tanks can drive directly in front of the enemy's firepower point, is this true?" Gurdiyev asked with a shocked face when he heard this: "If this is the case, why didn't our troops in the encirclement take the initiative? How about launching an attack on the enemy here? If we really do this, maybe we will join forces with the oncoming friendly forces long ago."

"Colonel Gurdiyev," Belyi glanced at Sokov, and then said: "In the past, the troops stationed in Orlovka were blindly holding on, waiting passively for reinforcements from outside the encirclement to come and fight with them." They joined forces by themselves and never considered taking the initiative to attack outwards. Therefore, they knew nothing about the weak links in the German defense line."

   After Bely's analysis, Gurdiyev found that this is really the case. One of his regiments had been ordered to enter Orlovka some time ago. The order they received was to stand firm at all costs and wait for the reinforcements from outside the encirclement to come to join them. Regrettably, the reinforcements did not arrive, but the commanders and fighters of this regiment were completely destroyed in the German air strikes and shelling. He thought to himself, if the regimental commander under him could send someone to the north to reconnaissance, find the weak point of the German defense line, and cooperate with Rokossovsky's troops, he might have broken through the enemy long ago. line of defense.

  Thinking of this, Gurdiyev suddenly remembered an important question: "Comrade Brigadier, in a few hours, we will implement a breakout. Do we really need to report our breakout plan to our superiors?"

"No need." The reason why Sokov did not report the breakout plan to Chuikov, nor did he send power to Rokossovsky to inform himself that he was about to break out to his location, was because he was worried that the news would leak out, which would lead to the failure of the breakout plan. Therefore, regarding Gurdiyev's proposal, he shook his head and said resolutely: "If we report the breakout plan, I am afraid that the Germans will soon notice that our breakout operation may fail."

   "What about the specific attack time?" Gurdiyev asked briefly.

   "Colonel Bely," before answering Gurdiyev's question, Sokov turned his head and asked Bely: "How long will it take for your tank battalion to reach the German defensive positions from here?"

  Biely calculated silently in his heart for a moment, and then replied in an affirmative tone: "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander, if you drive at full speed, you can reach the battlefield in a quarter of an hour at most."

"Very good!" Sokov nodded approvingly, then turned to Gurdiyev and said, "Colonel Gurdiyev, the starting position for your attack is two kilometers away from the German defense line. Launch an attack at 1:45, and within a quarter of an hour Colonel Bely's tanks will overtake your infantry and rush to the enemy's position first."

"Understood." Gurdiyev replied: "It is only eight kilometers from here to the enemy's position. At three o'clock in the morning, I will lead the troops to move closer to the enemy's defense line and establish an offensive without the enemy noticing. Starting position."

"In this attack, Colonel Gurdiyev's 308th Infantry Division, under the cover of the tank battalion, is responsible for the main attack." Sokov put the gas lamp on the ground and said to everyone: "Vanya's first battalion, Tenev's guard battalion followed up as the second echelon, and once the first echelon breaks through the enemy's defense, you have to find a way to tear the breakthrough even further."

  Next, Sokov answered the questions raised by several commanders one by one, and gave solutions. Finally seeing that no one was talking, he stood up and said solemnly: "comrades commanders, waiting for our fate, whether the whole army is wiped out, wiped out by the enemy or captured by the enemy; That's all there is to it. Are you confident of victory?"

  All the commanders stood up in unison, and replied neatly and loudly: "We are confident."

   "Since the tasks are clear, let's all go back to our respective troops." Sokov waved his hand at the crowd, "Hurry up and let the soldiers rest, and wait until three o'clock in the morning to quietly move closer to the enemy's position."

  After the commanders left the tent, Yakov, who had never spoken, tentatively asked Sokov, "Misha, do you really have the confidence to lead the troops to break through the enemy's line of defense?"

"Yakov, in the current situation, if we can't break through the enemy's defense line, then we will either be captured or sacrifice all of us." Sokov said with a sad smile, "Therefore, we must do whatever it takes. To break through the enemy's defenses, rush to meet General Rokossovsky's troops."

"Misha, I have an idea." After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Yakov was silent for a moment, and said with some hesitation: "I think even if the tank's fuel and ammunition are all used up, there is no need for us to blow up the tank." They, they can be left for a bigger purpose."

  (end of this chapter)