red moscow

Chapter 2928

Sokov led his troops to the south of Borechevo and found that the enemy had only simple fortifications outside the city and not many soldiers for defense. He decisively ordered the accompanying artillery to destroy several fire points on the German positions by direct shooting. After doing all this, he ordered the troops to launch an attack.

Seeing the officers and soldiers rushing into the city like a tide over the enemy's fortifications, Sokov smiled with relief. Just as he was about to enter the city with his guards, the radio operator called him: "Comrade Commander, a telegram from the brigade headquarters."

Upon learning that it was a telegram from the brigade, Sokov stopped, took the telegram handed over by the radio operator, and began to read it.

Khabarov also came over and asked curiously: "Misha, what does the telegram say?"

The content of the telegram was not top secret, and Sokov did not need to keep it secret from Khabarov, so he said truthfully: "The deputy brigade commander said in the telegram that the commander personally asked about the situation here and asked me to contact the army headquarters as soon as I received the telegram."

After Sokov finished speaking, he turned to the radio operator and said, "Radio operator, send a message to the army headquarters, saying that the counterattack force I led has rushed into the city of Borechevo and is engaging in a fierce battle with the enemy."

"Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will send a telegram to the Army Headquarters immediately."

Sokov left two soldiers behind to cover the radio operator who was sending a telegram to the army headquarters, and he took the rest of the people and walked towards the city where gunfire was still heard.

After entering the city, corpses of both sides could be seen everywhere on the streets, indicating that the battle was very fierce.

Sokov saw that Khabarov looked absent-minded, so he raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head: "Anton, we are still fighting, be alert, otherwise you will be killed by the Germans and you won't know what happened yet."

After Sokov's reminder, Khabarov reluctantly agreed, raised the gun in his hand, and looked around as he walked to see if an enemy would appear from somewhere.

Fortunately, everything was safe along the way, and they were only one street away from the area where the fierce fighting was taking place.

Just as they reached a crossroads, several German soldiers with submachine guns suddenly appeared from the corner of the wall and pulled the trigger at the soldiers who had already reached the middle of the intersection.

In an instant, several soldiers who were caught off guard fell to the ground.

Chulxin, who was walking with the soldiers, managed to avoid the enemy's bullets. He quickly fell to the ground, turned over, picked up the machine gun in his hand and fired back at the German soldiers. The two German soldiers were shot through with dense bullets.

Sokov, Zhukov, Zub and others who followed behind also quickly raised their guns and shot at the German soldiers who rushed out, knocking them down one by one. Khabarov was obviously frightened and stood there in a daze with his gun, even forgetting to shoot.

Sokov fired all the bullets in his pistol in one breath. Before he could change the magazine, a German soldier rushed out from the wall and knocked Sokov to the ground. When Sokov fell to the ground, he didn't know where his pistol was. He could only fight the German soldier with his bare hands.

Chulxin, who was lying on the ground, killed two German soldiers and then found that there were still a dozen German soldiers leaning against the wall, ready to join the battle at any time. He quickly turned his gun and shot at them indiscriminately to ensure Sokov's safety.

The officers and soldiers who had engaged in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy were all busy dealing with the enemy in front of them, and had no time to help Sokov who was wrestling with the enemy. The tall and strong German soldier quickly gained the upper hand in the fight. He grabbed Sokov's neck with his left hand, pulled out a dagger with his right hand, and stabbed Sokov's chest fiercely.

Sokov knew very well that if he let the German soldier stab him with the dagger, he would be dead, so he grabbed the German soldier's left hand that was strangling his neck with one hand, and held the wrist of the German soldier's right hand holding the dagger with the other hand, holding on hard, hoping that his subordinates would come and rescue him quickly.

Seeing the dagger in the German soldier's hand getting closer and closer to Sokov's chest, Khabarov, who was frightened by the battle scene, finally came to his senses. He raised the butt of his rifle and hit the back of the head of the German soldier who was holding Sokov down. After knocking him down, he was still not satisfied and continued to hit him again and again. He didn't stop until Sokov got up from the ground and pulled him hard.

Sokov bent down to pick up an MP40 on the ground and pulled the trigger at the nearby German soldier. After killing a German soldier, Sokov went to help other soldiers deal with the enemy.

After the small-scale encounter, Sokov asked Zhukov to count the number of people. A total of 19 enemies were killed, 5 of his own were killed, and 12 were injured.

Although the enemies were all eliminated and Sokov was not injured, Zhukov, who was responsible for protecting Sokov, felt guilty. He bowed his head and admitted his mistake to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I should have sent scouts to explore the way ahead, so that you would not be in danger."

Sokov waved his hand at Zhukov and said generously: "Comrade Lieutenant, this is not your fault. No one could have imagined that so many German soldiers would appear in the area we occupied. Be careful in the future and don't let something like this happen again."

Facing Sokov's magnanimity, Zhu Kewen said with tears of gratitude: "I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander."

In order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, when everyone set out again, Zhu Kewen sent out several soldiers to serve as scouts in front. Whenever they passed an intersection, they would specifically check the corners to see if there were any German soldiers hiding.

After receiving the telegram sent by Sokov, Rokossovsky immediately called Zhukov: "Zhukov, Misha's telegram has been sent."

"Where is he now?" Zhukov asked.

"According to his report, the counterattack force he led has now entered the city of Borechevo and is engaging in a fierce battle with the enemy."

"Oh, they have already rushed into Borechevo?" Zhukov asked in surprise, "What about the situation in Volokolamsk? Has the enemy's attack slowed down?"

"Not yet, Zhukov." Rokossovsky answered truthfully: "Even if the Germans knew that our troops had entered Borechevo, they would not immediately withdraw troops to encircle and suppress our troops occupying the city. In fact, even if Misha's troops completely occupied Borechevo, the enemy would probably not withdraw troops from the front line to encircle and suppress them." "Why?" Zhukov asked, "Tell me your reason?"

"The reason is simple," Rokossovsky replied. "There are too few troops participating in the counterattack, and the location of the attack is not a strategic location. Even if it temporarily falls into our hands, it will not have much impact on the Germans. On the contrary, once the Germans occupy Volokolamsk, they can rely on the important location of the city to establish a new starting point for the attack and quickly rush to Moscow."

"How long can the city's defenders hold out?"

"The enemy attacking the city has been disrupted by the bombing of our air force." Rokossovsky replied cautiously: "Judging from the situation on the battlefield, the city will still be in our hands before dark."

"Send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and tell him to make some noise after he completely occupies Borechevo to attract the enemy's attention."

Rokossovsky felt that Zhukov's order would not have much impact on changing the current situation, but would put Sokov's troops in danger. Thinking of this, he tactfully reminded him: "Zhukov, Misha's troops are isolated. It is not easy for them to take back Borechevo from the Germans. But if they make a big noise there, the Germans will feel threatened by this unit and will definitely mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress them. By then, I am afraid that not many of the troops participating in the counterattack will be able to come back alive."

Zhukov was silent for a long time, and then he said in a muffled voice: "Comrade Rokossovsky, execute the order."

Rokossovsky knew Zhukov's character very well. Since he called him by his last name at this moment, it meant that what he said to him was not a chat between friends, but an order from a superior to a subordinate, which could only be executed unconditionally.

After he put down the receiver, he called Malinin to him and ordered, "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Misha and ask him to find a way to create some noise there after occupying Borechevo to attract the enemy's attention and force them to withdraw some troops from the front line to relieve the pressure on the Volokolamsk defenders."

"Comrade Commander." As the army chief of staff, Malinin naturally understood that issuing this order would put Sokov's troops in danger. However, since it was an order from his superiors, he only had to pass it on to his subordinates. The rest had nothing to do with him.

When Sokov received a call back from the army headquarters, the fighting in the city was basically over and only sporadic gunfire could be heard.

"Comrade Brigade Commander." Olga came to Sokov and asked him, "The enemies in the city have been basically eliminated. What should we do next?"

Sokov held the telegram in his hand, wondering in his heart what he should do to make a big noise and attract the attention of the Germans.
After reading the contents of the telegram, Zhukov asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, before the battle to attack the city began, I had already blown up the bridge over the Ruza River. Even if we want to retreat, there is no way to retreat. What should we do next?"

Sokov turned his head and looked at Zhukov, shaking his head and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, before I gave you the order to blow up the bridge, I told you that no matter whether we can occupy Borechevo or not, we will not return to our defense line from there. The purpose of blowing up the bridge is to prevent the enemy from crossing the river from there and threatening our rear."

"So, we can only set up defenses in the city and wait for the enemy to attack?"

"Deploying defenses in the city and waiting for the enemy to attack is nothing but passive defense." Sokov shook his head and said, "With only more than a thousand of us, no matter how strong the fortifications are, how long can we hold out against the enemy's attack? Therefore, I plan to leave a small number of troops here to defend, and the rest of the troops will follow me to other places to see if there is a chance to teach the Germans a lesson."

Sokov called all the company commanders and said to them: "Comrade commanders, we have completed the orders given to us by our superiors. But not long ago, we had a new task, which required us to make a big noise here to attract the attention of the Germans and force them to withdraw troops from the front line to maintain stability in the rear."

Olga waited for Sokov to finish his words, then immediately asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what can we do to make a bigger noise?"

"Although we have occupied the city, I do not intend to set up defenses here." In order to prevent someone from suggesting strengthening the defense and setting up defenses in the city, Sokov said first: "In order to turn passive defense into active defense, I plan to leave only a small number of troops in the city to perform guard missions, and the rest of the troops will follow me to other places to look for new opportunities."

After saying that, Sokov pointed to one of the company commanders without waiting for other commanders to ask questions, and said, "Comrade, your company will be responsible for defending Borechevo, and the rest of the troops will follow me to continue to penetrate deep into the enemy's hinterland and look for new opportunities to fight."

When the company commander heard Sokov's order, he was immediately unhappy. He said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you should let others guard this city. I want to follow you and continue to teach the Germans a lesson."

"Comrade Company Commander," Sokov looked at him and said with a smile, "Don't worry. If there are any good jobs in the future, I will give priority to your company."

After pacifying the company commander, Sokov placed a map in front of everyone and asked, "Tell me, where should we go?"

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing whether they should answer Sokov's question.

After a brief silence, Olga asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you want to hear the truth?"

"Nonsense, I want to hear the truth." Sokov urged the other party, "If you have any ideas, just say it."

Olga pointed at the map and said to everyone: "First of all, we can't take the road we came from because the bridge over the Ruza River was blown up. Secondly, the northeast is where the German army is heavily concentrated. If we move in that direction, it would be like a sheep walking into the tiger's mouth..."

"Captain Olga." Sokov interrupted Olga and said, "We all know the current situation. Just tell us which direction we should turn to find new opportunities."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, according to my idea, we should move westward." Olga said this and immediately saw that most people's faces changed. She quickly explained: "I understand what everyone is thinking. If we move westward, it means we are going deeper into the enemy's defense depth and farther away from our positions. In this way, we will definitely not be able to get reinforcements. It won't be long before we will run out of ammunition and food. At that time, we may be annihilated by the enemy at any time."

"Comrade Captain, you are right." The artillery commander added: "If the ammunition we consume is not replenished, the few artillery pieces we brought with us will eventually have to be abandoned or blown up to prevent them from becoming a burden."