Chapter 649: gap

  Chapter 649 Gap

  After a fierce battle, the first echelon troops finally occupied the enemy's first line of defense. A battalion commander commanding the operation pulled out the flare gun stuck in his waist, fired a shot into the air, fired a green flare, and told Sokov and Ivano who were staying on Mamayev Hill Husband: The position has been taken.

Seeing the signal flare rising in the sky, Sokov said to Ivanov who was standing beside him: "Comrade deputy division commander, I think a regimental commander is enough in the first line of defense already occupied. If there are two regiment leaders, it is easy for the soldiers to not know whose orders they should listen to, leading to a situation where they are fighting on their own."

Ivanov heard Sokov's subtext, nodded and said: "You are right, Comrade Commander. Then let Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko lead the 122nd regiment command post to the newly occupied enemy positions. The command post of the 124th Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Starcha remained in place,"

Seeing that Ivanov agreed with his opinion, Sokov quickly grabbed the phone and decisively gave Papchenko an order: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our army has occupied the enemy's first position. The troops will be moved there. In addition to directing the troops to continue to advance, we must also count the results of the battle."

Then, he called Starcia, who was a little impatient, and said bluntly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have ordered Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko to take his regiment command post to the front to command The troops. You just stay in the current position for me, and you are not allowed to move forward without my order. Do you understand?"

The habit of obedience developed in the army for a long time made Starcha dissatisfied with Sokov's arrangement in his heart, but he did not dare to disobey him, so he could only bite the bullet and replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will continue to wait for you." At the present position, awaiting your further instructions."

Besides, after Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko put down the phone, he immediately yelled at the people in the command post: "Hurry up and pack up, we have to rush to the front position as soon as possible. Hurry up, we must not let the 124th Regiment rob us." ahead of us."

  The chief of staff of the regiment waited for Papchenko to finish speaking, and immediately called the staff to pack up the maps and documents, and the communications soldier to pack up the communication equipment. When he was almost ready, he walked to the door of the command post and looked towards the command post of the 124th regiment more than two hundred meters away. Although there were people coming in and out, there seemed to be no sign of shifting. He quickly retracted his body and said to Papchenko who was about to go out: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and the others have no signs of transfer. Did the division headquarters let our command post go alone?" Go ahead?"

"Hello, Starcha?" Papchenko looked at the table in front of him, and there was still a telephone that hadn't been removed in time. He quickly connected to the command post of the 124th Regiment and asked loudly. Said: "We are all going to the front, why are you still not moving at all?"

Not being able to go to the front to command the troops to fight, Starcia was already aggrieved enough. Hearing Papchenko's sarcasm at this moment, he felt even more uncomfortable. He raised his voice and said to the microphone: "Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko , don’t talk sarcastic here. The division commander’s letting you go to the front to command the troops is because of his trust in you. If you don’t perform well and you can’t take down the second line of defense, I’ll see how you explain to the division commander.”

"You don't have to worry about this." Knowing that only his regiment headquarters can move forward, which means that the troops occupying the enemy's position must be under his command, Papchenko couldn't help feeling proud: "I will definitely not Let the teachers down."

Papchenko took the regiment command post and came to the position where there was still a wisp of smoke. He found a complete shelter and set up his regiment command post here. Then he ordered the regiment chief of staff: "Staff Commander, gather all battalion commanders together, and I will assign them the next task."

  The chief of staff of the regiment waited for him to finish speaking, and asked tentatively: "Are the three battalion commanders of our regiment alone?"

   "Call the three battalion commanders of the 124th Regiment." Papchenko said triumphantly, "You know, they are also under my command now."

  …

   When Papchenko convened a meeting of several battalion commanders, Sokov, who was staying in the observation post, said to Ivanov: "Comrade deputy division commander, I still haven't considered this attack thoroughly enough."

   Ivanov couldn't help being taken aback when he heard Sokov say this, and then asked, "Where is it not detailed enough?"

"The first echelon that goes into battle has the strength of two regiments." Sokov explained: "However, I did not appoint a commander to command the two regiments, so that our commanders and fighters will easily appear in the battle." Because of the lack of a unified command, and the situation of fighting independently, there is a possibility that the enemy will be defeated one by one."

"You are right, Comrade Division Commander. The first echelon does need a commander to carry out unified command." Regarding Sokov's mistake, Ivanov said euphemistically: "But after all, this is your first time serving as a commander. A division commander has no experience, and such a situation is inevitable."

Seeing that Ivanov did not have any mistakes in his command, he sneered at himself, and Sokov said modestly: "Colonel Ivanov, you have been a commander for many years and have rich command experience. , in the future, if you see that I have done something wrong, you must point it out to me."

   "Definitely." Ivanov readily agreed to Sokov's request. But he quickly changed the topic: "By the way, Comrade Commander, since we have taken down the enemy's first line of defense, when will we attack the enemy's second line?"

"Wait a little longer." Sukov guessed in his heart that Papchenko's command post was not in place yet, and if he launched an attack hastily, the troops might become a mess, so he said cautiously: "Wait a minute." Whenever Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko calls us, we attack the enemy's second line of defense."

  ...

  When Sokov's troops competed with the enemy for positions, the two infantry divisions in the direction of the Red October Factory had just launched an assault on the enemy's positions under the cover of tank troops. Since they charged at the enemy's position after the artillery preparations were over, the enemy was given enough time to recover from the artillery fire.

   The two tanks rushing to the front were destroyed by the anti-tank guns of the Romanian army, and the infantry who followed were also killed by the combined firepower of machine guns and mortars, and a large number of them fell down immediately. Seeing that the infantry was suppressed by the enemy's firepower, Colonel Bely did not dare to let the tanks attack the enemy's position without the cover of the infantry, so he could only order all the tanks to withdraw to their starting positions.

When Chuikov learned that the attack from the direction of the Red October factory had ended in failure, he was immediately furious: "Two infantry divisions plus a tank unit can't break through the enemy's position without any solid fortifications. These commanders are white Is there something to eat?"

Seeing that Chuikov got angry, Khrushchev, who was sitting on the side, quickly persuaded him: "Comrade Chuikov, don't worry, the enemy's strength is far stronger than we imagined. Since the first attack failed, let's let the troops take a rest." , launch another attack, maybe it will succeed.”

   After saying these words, Khrushchev was silent for a moment, and said to himself: "I don't know what happened to the attack from the direction of Mamayev Post. Why hasn't there been any movement yet?"

Khrushchev's words reminded Chuikov that he realized that it was a bit strange that he hadn't received a call from Mamayev Gang since the beginning of the offensive. Make a phone call from Mamayev Gang and ask them how the attack is going in that direction?"

   Krylov agreed, immediately picked up the phone on the table, and connected to the division headquarters on Mamayev Gang. Hearing Sidolin's voice from the receiver, he asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, how is your offensive going? Have you broken through the enemy's defense?"

   "Report to Comrade Chief of Staff." Hearing that Krylov was asking about the battle situation, Sidolin quickly replied: "Our first echelon has successfully broken through the enemy's defense and occupied the enemy's first line of defense."

"What, you have already occupied the enemy's first line of defense?!" Sidolin's report surprised Krylov. He turned his head and glanced at Khrushchev and Chuikov who were also surprised, and said angrily: " Now that you have occupied the enemy's position, why don't you report to the army headquarters?"

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, what did you say? You didn't get any report?" Krylov's words also surprised Sidolin. He asked in puzzlement: "Didn't Comrade Commander report to you?"

  From Sidolin's words, Krylov guessed that Sokov must not be in the headquarters, so he asked in a low voice, "Where did Sokov go?"

"He and the deputy division commander, Colonel Ivanov, went to the observation post on the top of the hill." Only now did Sidolin know that Sokov did not occupy the enemy's position with his troops at all, so he reported to the headquarters and quickly explained. : "Comrade Chief of Staff, I thought the division commander had already reported the battle situation to you, so I didn't call the headquarters."

   After Sidolin’s explanation, Krylov realized what the problem was. It must be that after the troops seized the enemy's position, Sokov, who stayed at the observation post on the top of the mountain, thought that Sidolin would report the battle situation to the headquarters, so he didn't have to report it anymore. As for Sidolin, he thought that Sokov must have reported the battle situation immediately, so he did not report to his superiors. This has led to the fact that the troops have occupied the enemy's position for a long time, but the headquarters still knows nothing about it.

   Regarding the fact that the 41st Guards Division was able to capture the enemy's position so quickly, Krylov was very curious: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, I would like to ask, how can your troops occupy the enemy's position so quickly?"

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Krylov was eager to know the secret of the troops' victory, Sidolin introduced him to him: "Comrade Commander is worried that we will attack the enemy after the artillery preparations are over, and it will hurt the enemy." The enemy had ample time to prepare, and the attacking force suffered heavy losses. Therefore, as soon as the bombardment began, he ordered the troops to advance towards the enemy's position."

"My God," Krylov couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard this: "When our army's artillery preparations were just beginning, Sokov ordered the troops to attack. Isn't he worried that the artillery fire will accidentally injure you?" Are you one of your own?"

"No," Sidolin replied confidently: "Comrade Commander has carefully calculated that it will take about forty minutes to walk from Mamayev Post to the enemy's position. After the artillery preparations are over, our troops Stay at a position no more than ten minutes away from the enemy's position, so that not only will you not be accidentally injured by our artillery fire, but you can also rush into the enemy's position in the shortest possible time."

After listening to how the troops of the 41st Guards Division attacked, Krylov said approvingly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, please convey my words to Colonel Sukov: You have done a good job! I hope you We can take down the enemy's second line of defense as soon as possible, and create favorable conditions for occupying the Razgulyevka fortress."

After Krylov put down the phone, he explained the ins and outs of the matter to Khrushchev and Chuikov, and said with emotion: "I thought that our attack from the direction of the Red October factory would be easier to achieve the goal. After all, we have invested two-thirds of our troops in this direction, plus dozens of T-34 tanks, so we should have no problem breaking through the enemy's defenses. On the contrary, in the direction of Mamayev Hill..."

"It will be very difficult for troops attacking in the direction of Mamayev Kurgan to break through the enemy's position without the cover of tanks." Khrushchev interjected, "Am I right, Kray? General Love?"

"I think," Chuikov said cautiously after Khrushchev finished speaking, "if the troops attacking from the direction of the Red October factory were commanded by Sokov, they might have occupied the enemy's position at this moment. Don't look Among the three division commanders, he has the lowest qualifications and the shortest time as a commander. But when it comes to fighting, let alone our army group, even if all the division-level commanders of the entire front army are selected, there is not a single one The level of command can surpass his."

"I have to admit that Sokov is really good at fighting." Krylov said with a wry smile: "We old guys still have a huge gap in front of him. After two years of training in the position, maybe his position will surpass us and become our superior."

No one refuted Krylov's statement. On the contrary, Chuikov also echoed: "Chief of Staff, you are right. For example, General Rokossovsky, when the war broke out, he He is just a commander of the mechanized army. But the war has only been going on for a little more than a year, and he is now the commander of the front army. I think he will become a marshal sooner or later."

  (end of this chapter)