Red Moscow

  Chapter 647 New Tactics

After the meeting, Sokov took Ivanov back to his headquarters. Seeing that Sidolin and Belgin were there, he greeted them, and then introduced to Ivanov: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce you. This is my brigade political commissar Belgin, who is now the head of the downsizing regiment; this is Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, the brigade chief of staff, and now the division chief of staff."

  Ivanov waited for Sokov to introduce himself to the two, and asked Sokov with a frown: "Comrade Commander, is it appropriate to let political workers serve as the head of the downsizing regiment?"

Sokov had already guessed that Ivanov would ask this question, so he replied with a smile: "Don't worry, Comrade Colonel, Belkin used to be a military chief officer in the early years, and later turned into a political cadre. When he was partnering with me, he also knew the various tactics I used very well, and I am confident that he will be a qualified team leader."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Ivanov did not express any opinion on the matter, but looked at Sidolin and asked, "Where are the regimental leaders under me?"

   "They are resting in the next room." Sidolin quickly replied, "Do you need me to call them?"

   "Call them over," Ivanov nodded, and said, "Let them get to know the division commander, and arrange for them the combat mission after dawn."

  The three regiment leaders were right next door, and the people sent by Sidolin immediately came over as soon as they called out. The three walked into the headquarters and came straight to Ivanov. They were about to raise their hands to salute their division commander according to the regulations, but they were stopped by Ivanov. He pointed to Sokov who was standing beside him with his hand and said, "This is our new division commander, Colonel Sokov, please report to him."

  Although the three regiment leaders were full of resentment about the demotion of their division commander, they still showed due respect when facing Sokov, the new division commander. The three of them raised their hands neatly to salute, and said in their mouths: "Comrade Commander, the heads of the 122nd, 124th, and 125th Guards regiments report to you, we are waiting for your orders, please instruct!"

Sokov waited for the three men to put down their hands, and then raised his hand to return a military salute to them, then turned to Ivanov and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, can you introduce the three commanders to me? They just They spoke too fast, and I couldn't hear their names and ranks clearly."

Regarding Sokov's request, Ivanov did not object. He nodded, pointed to the three regimental leaders standing in front of him, and began to introduce Sokov: "Comrade commander, please allow me to introduce the division commander to you." The three regiment leaders here are Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, head of the 122nd Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Starcha, head of the 124th Regiment, and Lieutenant Colonel Ershakov, head of the 125th Regiment. Commander with combat experience, I believe that in the battle after dawn, you will achieve satisfactory results."

Sokov nodded, and after introducing Belkin and Sidolin to the three regiment leaders, he said: "Commrades, regiment commanders, in the battle at dawn, you will fight against the enemy without any cover. The enemy's defensive position launched a charge. You are all commanders with rich combat experience, so I won't talk nonsense, I only hope that when the battle ends in the dark tomorrow, I can see that you are all still alive."

  Sokov's words made Ivanov and the three commanders look at each other. After a while, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, the head of the 122 regiment, asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you explain it to us?"

"Comrades, Commander," Sokov said, looking at Ivanov and his three subordinates, "to fight, we must rely not only on bravery, but also on wisdom. Our soldiers are not afraid of sacrifice, but we cannot let them do it." A meaningless sacrifice." He pointed to his head, "In battle, we commanders must use our brains more, try to minimize the casualties of the troops, and achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost."

"Comrade Commander," just after Sokov finished speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Starcha, the head of the 124th Regiment, said with a puzzled look on his face: "If I remember correctly, I didn't criticize the idea of ​​winning victory with less bloodshed before. Is it true that it has always been incorrect, a erroneous view that leads the army to hope for an easy victory?"

"That's right, in the army before, it was indeed criticized for the idea of ​​less bloodshed in battle," Sokov said with a normal expression: "But after more than a year of war tests, the **** facts tell us that if Commanders consume the precious lives of soldiers unrestrainedly in battle, and apart from causing countless unnecessary casualties, it does not help to reverse the situation on the battlefield.”

  Although Starcha did not fully agree with what Sokov said, he still said vaguely: "I understand, Comrade Commander! I will find a way to reduce the casualties of the troops in the battle."

We all knew each other, and then Sokov began to assign tasks to the three regiment leaders: "In the battle after dawn, the 122nd and 124th regiments, as the first echelons, took the lead in attacking the enemy's positions; the 125th regiment As the second echelon, after the first echelon breaks through the enemy's defense line, it will immediately go into battle to consolidate the breakthrough..."

After arranging the tasks, Sokov considered that the commanders and fighters of the 41st Guards Division were still using the old tactics, so he added: "Before tomorrow's offensive starts, the artillery of the group army deployed on the left bank will conduct a semi-final attack on the enemy's positions. Hours of artillery preparation. According to the past practice, our troops attack the enemy's positions after the shelling is over. However, I plan to adjust the steps of the attack. As soon as the shelling starts, our first echelon will directly attack the enemy's position. The enemy's position is set out."

"What, set off towards the enemy's position at the beginning of the shelling?" Sokov's words startled Ivanov, and he quickly reminded Sokov: "Comrade commander, our soldiers may be killed by our own soldiers." shells hit."

Sokov didn't answer his question immediately, but walked quickly to the wall, and said to everyone, "Everyone come to me!" After everyone gathered around him, he took a stick to explain Stick, pointing to the map on the wall, and said to the crowd, "Look at the map, everyone. There is a distance of about four kilometers from Mamayev Post to the enemy's first line of defense. According to the normal speed of travel, it is necessary to finish this journey. It takes about forty minutes to cover a distance of four kilometers. Think about it carefully, if you are bombarded by the enemy, how long after the bombardment is over can the soldiers re-enter the firing position?"

  After this question was raised, everyone immediately frowned and began to think. Soon, Ivanov figured out the answer: "I think at most five minutes, I can get all the fighters into shooting positions."

"That's right." Sokov nodded, and said: "If our soldiers wait until the shelling is over before leaving their positions and heading towards the enemy's position. Before they approach the position, the enemy has already made all preparations for battle. If our fighters go up, they can only be used as targets."

  After Sokov's explanation, the four commanders, including Ivanov, all understood that to fight here on Mamayev Gang, some old tactics had to be adjusted. Ivanov said bluntly: "Comrade Commander, I understand. After dawn, I will order the troops to attack the enemy's position as soon as the artillery fires from the other side."

  At the military meeting held by the headquarters, Sokov noticed that neither Chuikov nor Krylov mentioned the deployment of the enemy's troops, probably because the time was too short to send people to reconnaissance. Therefore, Sokov felt that in this regard, it was necessary to give Ivanov and the others a warning: "Also, the command does not seem to know anything about the deployment of the enemy's troops."

  Starcha asked with a bitter face: "If we don't understand the enemy's deployment of troops, how can we attack?"

"According to my estimation, the commander will ask the troops to send a battalion to conduct reconnaissance on the enemy's defense line before attacking." Sokov thought that Chuikov's favorite tactic in the later stages of the war was to send a reconnaissance battalion to touch the enemy's defenses. Near the position, implement fire reconnaissance. If the enemy's strength is not strong, a breakthrough will be made directly; if the enemy is too strong, the reconnaissance plane will turn to defense on the spot and request reinforcements from the rear. "Then judge the enemy's troop deployment based on the battalion's battle progress."

"Damn it," said Ivanov, who had just transferred from the First Guards Army. Naturally, he didn't understand Chuikov's combat style at all. When he heard that Chuikov would send a reconnaissance battalion to test the enemy's firepower and troop deployment At that time, he couldn't help complaining: "If the reconnaissance area happens to meet the enemy's massed heavy troops, wouldn't that be a waste of a reconnaissance battalion? Moreover, our army's offensive intentions will be exposed to the enemy."

"You are right. This method of reconnaissance does more harm than good." Sokov agreed with Ivanov's statement, but he also said helplessly: "But the counterattack to be carried out this time It was too hasty, and our army didn't even have time to carry out basic reconnaissance, so we can only use this method to get a general understanding of the enemy's troop deployment."

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Belkin, who had been silent all this time, said at this moment: "Because the friendly forces are in the north of Orlovka, they have taken active actions. In order to stop their attack, the Germans did not let the friendly forces and the city The defenders joined forces, and the troops that were originally stationed near Mamayev Post were transferred to Orlovka in the north. Now, the enemy facing us is the Romanian army."

"What, the enemy on the other side is the Romanian army?!" When he heard that the enemy he was facing was not the Germans, but the Romanian army from the slave country, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko couldn't help but shine: "Comrade commander, what if We are really facing the Romanian army, and I can assure you that my troops will easily defeat them."

"Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko, even if we are facing the army of a slave country, we must not underestimate the enemy." In order to prevent the other party from underestimating the enemy and causing unnecessary losses, Sukov specially reminded Papchenko: "Papchenko Lieutenant Colonel Ke, in the battle the day before yesterday, our northern hill was attacked by the Romanian army. After the enemy rushed to our position, they fought hand-to-hand with our soldiers. I witnessed all this with my own eyes. Speaking from the heart The officers and soldiers of the Romanian army still have a very strong will to fight. They and our defenders are like medieval warriors fighting with bayonets on a position several hundred meters wide. Although we finally repelled their attack, Beigang The garrison was also almost completely lost."

Sokov's words forced Papchenko to put away his contempt for the Romanian army. He said cautiously: "I really didn't expect that the army of these slave countries would have the courage to fight our soldiers with bayonets. Look When we fight against them, we must be vigilant enough, otherwise it will be easy to suffer."

"Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko," Sokov waited for Papchenko to finish speaking, and kindly reminded the other party: "When you are attacking the position of the Romanian Army, if you are intercepted by their machine gun fire, don't let them attack you." The soldiers rushed forward blindly, but should immediately establish several machine gun positions to suppress the firepower points on the enemy's positions and cover the soldiers to continue their attack."

If Sokov had said this a few minutes ago, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko might not have taken it seriously, but at this moment he knew very well that this was Sokov teaching himself valuable battlefield survival experience, so he said gratefully: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will never let the soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices."

Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was getting late, he said to the three regiment leaders: "Comrades, regiment commanders, it's getting late. You should all go back to your respective troops. Return to your troops while the battle is about to start." There are five or six hours, hurry up and take a good rest."

  After the three regiment leaders left, Sokov felt that something was wrong. He got up and looked around the room, and suddenly remembered that he had been back for so long, why hadn't he seen the division political commissar Anisimov? He hurriedly asked Ivanov: "Comrade deputy commander, where is the political commissar? Why didn't I see where he is?"

Ivanov shook his head and replied: "In order to prevent the troops from being seriously damaged by the enemy's artillery fire, the political commissar and I were not on the same barge when we set off. And I received a call to the headquarters for a meeting as soon as I disembarked." Notification, so I don't know where he is now."

  Belkin waited for the two to finish speaking, and asked tentatively, "Are you talking about the battalion-level political commissar Anisimov?"

   "That's right, that's him." Sokov and Ivanov nodded at the same time, and asked in unison, "Do you know where he is?"

"I know!" Belkin nodded vigorously, and said in an affirmative tone: "When political commissar Anisimov disembarked, his leg was scratched by the iron on the ship, and he bled a lot. After he came here , I saw that his leg was bleeding all the time, so I took him to the health team to bandage. Since I don't know when you will come back, I saw that his injury is not serious, and he is still very tired, so I let him stay in the health team to rest first .”

  (end of this chapter)