red moscow

Chapter 2884

Karsokov stuck his head out of the tent and saw that Sokov and his men had captured the German tanks that had broken in, so he quickly ran out.

Coming in front of Sokov, Karsokov said excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are really amazing. You captured the German tank without firing a shot."

Hearing Karsokov's praise, Sokov just smiled faintly and said modestly: "It was all thanks to the German uniforms we were wearing that the enemy tankers mistook us for their own people, and that we were able to capture the tank so smoothly."

"Captain Bobrikov." Sokov turned to Bobrikov and said, "Leave two people to guard the tank, and then send someone to take the German tankmen to the prisoner-of-war camp in the rear."

"Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander." Bobrikov agreed and began to arrange personnel to guard the tanks and escort the prisoners to the prisoner-of-war camp in the rear.

Just as Sokov and others were preparing to return to the tent, there was a sudden whistling sound from the sky caused by a shell cutting through the air.

Hearing the sound, Bobrikov immediately shouted: "Artillery fire, hide, hide quickly!" After shouting, he threw Sokov to the ground and used his body to protect him from harm.

A shell landed and exploded seven or eight meters away from the tank, and the flying shrapnel hit the tank body with a clanging sound, and the warm mud fell on everyone. Fortunately, everyone heard Bobrikov's shout and lay down in time to avoid being injured.

"What's going on?" Sokov looked up and asked, "Where did the shell come from?"

"I don't know," Karsokov answered in bewilderment. "I didn't order the artillery to fire here."

Bobrikov got up and hid beside the tank. He carefully looked out and saw a tank coming towards him in the distance. He turned around and shouted to Sokov, "Comrade Commander, there is a tank coming towards us."

Sokov was shocked when he heard this. He wondered if there were more than one German tank that bypassed the Fourth Battalion's defense line. He asked quickly, "Can you see clearly whether it is our tank or the enemy's tank?"

Hearing Sokov's order, Bobrikov stuck his head out again to check. Soon, he saw clearly that the tank coming was a Sherman tank driven by Lieutenant Kozak. He turned around and shouted excitedly to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's Lieutenant Kozak's tank."

After saying this, without waiting for Sokov's orders, Bobrikov came out from his hiding place and waved his hands desperately at the oncoming tank.

The tank in the distance stopped, and a moment later, another shell was fired and flew directly towards Bobrikov's position.

With a loud bang, the shell exploded about ten meters away from Bobrikov. Fortunately, Sokov pulled him back in time, otherwise the flying shrapnel would have killed or injured him.

Bobrikov, who had hidden behind the tank again, said in shock: "What's going on? Why is Lieutenant Kozak shooting at me?"

Sokov laughed and said, "There is a German tank next to us, and you are wearing a German uniform. Lieutenant Kozak thought you were German, so it would be strange if he didn't shoot at you."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Bobrikov finally understood what was going on. He quickly took off his German uniform and revealed his Soviet uniform. After doing all this, he walked out of his hiding place again and waved his hands at the tanks in the distance.

Seeing a man in Soviet uniform running out from behind a German tank, Kozak ordered the gunner to stop shooting and asked the driver to speed up and pass by.

To be on the safe side, he parked the tank more than 30 meters away from the German tank, with the black muzzle of the gun facing the German tank, ready to open fire immediately if he found anything wrong.

Seeing Kozak's tank stop, Sokov, who had taken off his German uniform, also walked out from behind the German tank and walked towards Kozak's tank. When several soldiers from the guard company saw Sokov walk out of his hiding place, they followed him without taking off their German uniforms.

After Kozak recognized the man coming out from behind the German tank as Brigade Commander Sokov, he immediately opened the hatch on top of the turret and asked Sokov loudly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what happened here? Why are you wearing German uniforms?"

Sokov came to the side of the Sherman tank, looked up at Kozak on it, and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, a German tank bypassed our defense line and broke in here. I ordered my men to change into German uniforms, so that they thought we were their own people, and thus easily captured the tank and captured all the tank soldiers. By the way, how did you end up here?"

Kozak climbed out of the turret, jumped off the tank, came to Sokov, saluted, and reported respectfully: "We received an order saying that a German tank had rushed through our defense line. The target might be the brigade headquarters, so we came to rescue it. I didn't expect that you had dealt with the enemy tank before we arrived."

Sokov turned his head and glanced at the two craters on the ground. He said with lingering fear: "Comrade Lieutenant, it's a good thing your guns didn't fire accurately, otherwise we would all be destroyed."

Hearing Sokov's words, Kozak's face turned red and he quickly defended himself, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I didn't know that the tank had been captured by you at that time. I was worried that they would threaten the safety of the brigade headquarters, so I fired from 1000 meters away. Fortunately, I didn't hit it, otherwise it would have been a big mistake."

Sokov knew very well that the enemy had mistaken his people for Germans and that was why they opened fire. Fortunately, although they fired two shots, there were no casualties, so he naturally did not care about what Kozak had done.

"Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov pointed at the German tank and said to Kozak, "You will arrange for someone to take this tank back later."

"Thank you, Brigadier!"

Soon after Sokov and Karsokov returned to the brigade headquarters, Belkin appeared.

Seeing that the two were safe and sound, he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief and quickly said, "I feel relieved to see that you two are safe and sound."

When Sokov heard him say this, he immediately thought of Lieutenant Kozak who came to rescue us, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, did you ask Lieutenant Kozak to rescue us?"

Belkin nodded vigorously and answered in an affirmative tone: "That's right. I got the news that a German tank bypassed the defense position of the Fourth Battalion and drove towards the brigade headquarters. I was worried that you were in danger, so I immediately notified Lieutenant Kozak and asked him to drive the tank to rescue you." "So it was you who called Lieutenant Kozak." Sokov said to Belkin with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, thank you!"

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander," Sokov had just finished speaking when Karsokov added, "You may not know this yet, but Lieutenant Kozak mistook us for Germans and even fired at us. Fortunately, God bless us, no casualties were caused."

Belkin was stunned when he heard this. He looked at Sokov, then at Karsokov, and asked in confusion: "What's going on?"

"Nothing, just a misunderstanding." Sokov told Belkin in detail how he and his men disguised themselves as German soldiers and went to seize the tanks after discovering them. When they were about to return, Lieutenant Kozak, who had rushed over, mistook them for Germans. He finally said, "Lieutenant Kozak had good intentions and thought we were Germans, so he fired at us. But there were no casualties, which is a blessing in disguise."

After listening to Sokov's story, Belkin felt much more at ease.

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, what are the results of the battle over there?"

"They once again repelled the German attack, killed hundreds of German soldiers, and destroyed five tanks and seven armored vehicles."

"Well done." Karsokov's face lit up with joy after hearing this. "The Germans suffered a great loss here. Next time they want to attack, they will have to think carefully."

But Sokov was not only concerned about how many enemies were killed. He frowned and asked, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, what are the casualties of the Fourth Battalion?"

Belkin, who was smiling, suddenly looked gloomy. He sighed softly and said, "The casualties are not small. In the battle that just ended, the 4th Battalion suffered more than 400 casualties, including nearly 200 soldiers who died."

The corners of Sokov's mouth twitched violently, and he said seriously, "If we continue to fight like this, we will have no more troops to replenish the Fourth Battalion in a week at most."

Karsokov also realized the seriousness of the problem from Sokov's words, and quickly asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, is there any good way to reduce the casualties of the troops?"

"Yes, comrade brigade commander, do you have any good ideas to reduce the casualties of the troops?" Belkin continued, "Before each attack, the enemy bombarded and bombed the positions of the Fourth Battalion. Many soldiers died in the enemy's bombardment and bombing without even seeing the enemy."

Sokov stared at the map in front of him, thought for a moment, and then said, "Deputy Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff, I have an idea that can reduce the casualties of the troops."

Hearing Sokov's words, Belkin and Karsokov's eyes lit up immediately, and they urged him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, please tell us quickly, is there any way to reduce the casualties of the troops when they are bombarded and bombed?"

"If the enemy bombards or bombards our positions and there are no people on our positions, then no matter how many shells they throw, they will not cause any casualties to our troops."

Belkin and Karsokov looked at each other and saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"Comrade Commander," Belkin asked curiously, "could you explain it in more detail? I don't quite understand what you mean?"

"The solution is very simple." Sokov pointed to the map in front of him and said to the two men, "We will set up a second-line position behind the existing position. Every time the enemy's artillery bombardment begins, let the soldiers move to the second-line position to avoid the bombardment. When the enemy's artillery bombardment or bombing ends and the ground forces launch an attack, the troops hiding in the second-line position will return to the first-line position through the communication trench to participate in the battle."

After listening to Sokov's story, Belkin thought for a while and asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, how far do you think our first and second lines should be apart?"

"Three hundred to five hundred meters, preferably five hundred meters," Sokov said, "so that the soldiers can return to the front-line positions as quickly as possible after the enemy's ground attack begins."

Belkin did not immediately express his opinion, but looked at Karsokov and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

Karsokov nodded and said thoughtfully: "I think Comrade Brigade Commander's idea is good. We can try it."

Seeing that Karsokov also agreed with Sokov's plan, Belkin naturally would not go against it. He asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think that only the fourth battalion should be allowed to build the second-line position, or should the other three battalions also follow suit?"

"Although the enemy's main attack direction in the past two days has been the positions of the Fourth Battalion, no one knows where their next attack direction will be." Sokov said, "So the four battalions must establish a second-line position behind their current positions and connect the two positions with a communication trench."

"Okay then." Karsokov nodded and said, "I will call several battalion commanders and ask them to immediately transfer personnel to build a second-line position behind the existing position."

The first battalion to be called was Captain Yefim, the battalion commander. After hearing the order, he asked in confusion: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't understand. We already have a position, why do we need to build a new one in the rear?"

"Captain Yefim," Karsokov said earnestly, "The brigade made this decision after careful consideration. You also know that before the attack, the Germans will launch a fierce artillery attack on our positions, and even send out the air force to bomb. The current positions of our brigade are all field fortifications. Even if the officers and soldiers hide well during the bombardment, the casualties will not be small. The brigade commander took this into consideration and decided to order each battalion to establish a second-line position. In the future, if you encounter enemy shelling or bombing, you can retreat to the second-line position to hide, and when the enemy stops shelling and bombing and launches a ground attack, you can return to the first-line position to fight. Do you understand?"

After listening to Karsokov's explanation, Captain Yefim suddenly understood: "So that's how it is. I understand. By the way, how far should the second-line position be from the first-line position?"

Karsokov turned his head and looked at Sokov, and continued, "The brigade commander said that the distance between the two positions should be between 300 and 500 meters, and they should be connected by a communication trench, so that the troops can quickly travel back and forth between the two positions."

"If we are only under German artillery fire, a distance of 300 to 500 meters between the two positions would not be a big problem," Yefim said thoughtfully, "but if we are bombarded by the enemy, this distance is a bit too short."

"Captain Yefim." Sokov heard what Yefim said, walked over and took the microphone from Karsokov's hand, and continued: "If you think this distance is too far, you can extend it to 600 meters or even 800 meters. But you must ensure that when the enemy's ground attack begins, all troops must enter the front-line positions within five minutes. How about it, can you do it?"

(End of this chapter)