Red Moscow

  Chapter 688 Active Defense

  After dawn, Mamayev Hill ushered in fierce shelling, and the two hills in the north and south were immediately shrouded in smoke. Just after the bombardment ended, the enemy's bomber formation appeared over the highlands again, bombarding the positions on the top of the hills that had not been destroyed by the artillery fire.

  Sokov, who was staying at the headquarters, could imagine how violent the enemy's shelling and bombing were based on the slight tremors from the ground. Ivanov may have encountered this situation for the first time, and he asked Sokov worriedly: "Comrade commander, our headquarters will not be blown down, will it?"

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry." Sidolin had spent the longest time in the tunnel, and knew the fortifications best. Seeing that Ivanov was so worried about the collapse of the command post, he comforted him and said: "Our command post is more than ten meters away from the ground. Unless the enemy uses ground-penetrating bombs, it is impossible to destroy our fortifications at all."

  After listening to Sidolin's explanation, Ivanov wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand, and said repeatedly with relief: "It's fine if it doesn't collapse, it's fine if it doesn't collapse."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov felt that the shelling and bombing he suffered today was different from the past based on his own experience, so he tentatively asked Sidolin: "Do you notice anything abnormal?"

   "What's abnormal?" Sidolin was taken aback for a moment, then understood what Sokov wanted to express, and quickly replied: "Comrade commander, you mean that the enemy's shelling and bombing are more crazy than ever?"

Sokov nodded, and expressed his thoughts: "Recently, the Romanian army responsible for attacking Mamayev Gang has suffered a lot from our army. I saw my running dogs bumping into our army's position. I feel that the Germans, who are the masters, probably can't hold back, so they are going to go out in person and fight our army here to the death."

Hearing what Sokov said, Ivanov couldn't help sneering twice and said, "The Germans think they can take down the positions held by our Guards soldiers by going out in person? I want to wait until the end of today, and wait for the Germans to come back." Seeing their corpses piled up in mountains and valleys, you will understand that the victory they imagined is out of reach."

  Sokov thought of himself recently, like a fire captain running around, spending very little time on Mamayev Post. During his absence, whether it was Witkov or Sidolin in charge, both of them seemed a little conservative. They only knew how to carry out passive defense, and fought head-to-head with the enemy in positional warfare and a war of attrition. If I hadn't planned ahead and built tunnels early to compete with the enemy, maybe the commanding heights of this city would have fallen into the hands of the Germans long ago.

   Now that I have come back, I need to make adjustments in terms of tactics, and re-control the initiative of the local battlefield in my own hands. Thinking of this, he said to Sidolin and Ivanov: "Comrades, there is no impenetrable fortress in the world. Even if we have perfect tunnel defenses on Mamayev Gang, if we only carry out passive defense, then the One day, the high ground may be occupied by the enemy. In order to avoid this possibility, from now on, we need to make tactical adjustments, from the original passive defense to active defense."

  As Sokov's assistant, Sidolin naturally understood what Sokov meant by active defense. However, Ivanov's understanding of active defense has deviated because he has partnered with Sokov not long ago. As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, you are right, we can't just stay on the ground and carry out passive defense, but should seize every opportunity to hit the enemy hard. For example, Now we can take the initiative, meet the attack with the attack, smash the German offensive."

"Comrade deputy division commander, you have misunderstood me." After listening to Ivanov's words, Sokov said a little bit dumbfoundingly: "In the absence of air supremacy and artillery cover, the tactics of attacking against attacking, Fighting head-to-head with the Germans is like hitting a stone with an egg. I don’t think it will take more than two days, and it is estimated that there will not be many defenders left on Mamayev Hill.”

"The division commander is right." As soon as Sukov finished speaking, Sidolin nodded and echoed: "When we were still in the infantry brigade, the division commander was sent by the superior to replace him because of injuries. This tactic of countering the German attack with an offensive resulted in a reduction of more than 3,000 troops in just two days, which greatly weakened the defensive strength of Mamayev Kurgan."

  From the conversation between Sokov and Sidolin, Ivanov realized that the tactics he advocated were not easy to use here on Mamayev Gang. Fortunately, he was not discouraged, but asked humbly: "Comrade commander, can you tell me what you mean by active defense?"

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, in addition to fighting the enemy on Mamayev Hill, we also need to eliminate small groups of troops, go deep into the enemy's rear, and attack their lines of communication, warehouses, barracks, and headquarters," Sokov said. Ivanov was not ashamed to ask, and explained to him in detail: "Through this continuous attack, the enemy's offensive deployment is disrupted, so that they cannot concentrate all their forces to attack Mamayev Post."

Regarding Sokov's tactics, Ivanov was skeptical: "Comrade commander, is it appropriate to divide our elite troops into small units and send them to the enemy's rear to perform guerrilla tasks? If so To harass the enemy, I think it is enough to ask the superiors to contact the guerrillas behind the enemy and let them carry out such tasks.”

"Comrade deputy division commander, the composition of the guerrillas is relatively complicated. They are not small groups of troops that have been dispersed, but also local workers and collective farm workers." Sokov patiently explained: "Because most of the guerrillas have no After systematic military training and poor equipment, the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas is not satisfactory. And the small units we send are all commanders and fighters with rich combat experience. Even if there is only one squad of troops, the results achieved It won't be worse than the results of a guerrilla. Think about it, if we have a dozen or twenty such small units operating in the enemy's rear, in order to stabilize their rear, the enemy will send back how many troops to wipe out. In this way, The pressure on our frontal defense is greatly reduced."

  After Sokov’s explanation, Ivanov felt that this was really the case. He nodded vigorously, and said thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, if this tactic is really effective, then we should form a small force as soon as possible. When it gets dark, send them deep into the enemy's rear, Turn the enemy's lair upside down."

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  (end of this chapter)