red moscow

Chapter 2958

Before the artillery barrage could begin, the battalion commander led an officer into the command post.

After entering the room, the officer glanced at Sokov and the others before decisively walking towards Belkin and saluting him: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I am Captain Rubtsov, the commander of the militia annihilation battalion!"

Belkin looked embarrassed. He pointed to Sokov beside him and explained, "Comrade Captain, you've got it wrong. This is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander. I am Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, the deputy brigade commander."

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Rubzov realized he had mistaken someone for someone else, his old face flushed slightly, and he turned to face Sokov and saluted to express his apology.

"Captain Rubtsov!" Sokov shook Rubtsov's hand and asked politely, "What brings you here?"

“It’s like this, Lieutenant Colonel.” Rubzov didn’t beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose: “My annihilation battalion was formed half a month ago. From officers to soldiers, none of them have any combat experience. I’ve come here today to ask for your advice on what we should pay attention to in combat.”

Upon learning that the enemy's annihilation battalion had only been formed half a month ago and that the officers and soldiers had no combat experience, Sokov couldn't help but feel uneasy. Sending a unit with little combat capability into battle was tantamount to sending them to their deaths.
However, the die was cast, and there was no turning back. Retreating this unit was out of the question, and even swapping positions with the 3rd Battalion was impractical, as such an action would be detected by the enemy in the distance. Since they couldn't be withdrawn, and a rotation wasn't feasible, Sokov could only temporarily impart some survival skills to reduce casualties within the unit.

"Captain Rubzov!" Sokov said solemnly, "On the battlefield, to defeat the enemy, bravery alone is far from enough; some combat skills are also required."

"Could you explain in more detail?" Rubzov asked humbly.

"Our target this time is a settlement one kilometer away," Sokov said. "Once you break through the enemy's outer defenses and rush into the settlement, you must immediately seize one or two buildings as quickly as possible and use them as strongpoints." Worried that the other side might not understand his meaning, he emphasized, "Set up two machine guns in the windows upstairs. During the attack, this will suppress enemy fire; if the attack fails, it will also cover the retreat of more soldiers..."

When Sokov recounted survival techniques on the battlefield, Rubzov showed great humility and eagerness to learn, recording all his insights in his notebook.

Rubzov had just finished writing on a page and was about to turn the page to continue when he heard the rumble of artillery fire outside. He stopped writing, put his things into his satchel, and then said apologetically to Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the artillery preparations for the attack have already begun. Please forgive me for not being able to listen any longer. I must rush back to my unit immediately to prepare the soldiers for battle."

Sokov nodded and instructed the other man, "Captain Rubzov, you should try to pass on what I just said to your officers, so that they know how to capture settlements from the enemy and minimize troop casualties as much as possible."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel." Rubzov saluted Sokov and assured him, "I will pass on the combat techniques you taught me to my officers."

After Rubzov left, Sokov also left the command post, found a spot with a good view, and observed the artillery preparations through binoculars.

Judging from the location of the artillery fire, the area under the infantry brigade's responsibility was clearly not the main direction of the attack. The rest of the area was engulfed in flames and smoke, while only sporadic shells fell outside the settlement they were about to attack.

As Sokov was observing the battlefield, Belkin approached him and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what's wrong with our artillery? We know our target is a settlement, so why are we getting so few shells down?"

Upon hearing Belkin's voice, Sokov put down his binoculars, turned his head and said, "I think the higher-ups probably think there aren't too many enemies in the settlement, so it's not worth wasting precious shells. That's why there's only sporadic shelling here."

“But what’s the point of such shelling?” Belkin said with a stern face. “So far, the shells have only exploded outside the settlements, and have not caused any damage to the enemy entrenched inside.”

Upon hearing Belkin's words, Sokov couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It was a pity that his two artillery battalions had been transferred away; otherwise, he could have ordered the artillery to launch a round of direct fire on the locations in the settlements where German firing positions might be hidden.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin continued, seeing that Sokov remained silent, "do you think we can take this settlement smoothly?"

Sokov grinned. "Don't worry, Deputy Brigade Commander, we'll definitely take the settlement."

Belkin's gaze fell upon the militia annihilation battalion in the distance, and he remarked with a sigh, "After the shelling ends, the first to launch an attack will be the militia annihilation battalion, which has no combat experience whatsoever. The sporadic artillery preparation has not destroyed any of the enemy's firing positions, and they will likely suffer considerable losses during their charge."

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, every battle has its casualties.” Sokov wanted to provide artillery cover for the annihilation battalion when they launched their attack, but his superiors had transferred his artillery. Now, Sokov was like a skilled cook without ingredients, anxious but helpless. “Even if their attack doesn’t go smoothly, it will expose the enemy’s firing positions. This way, we can clear these positions before our attack, clearing the way for the attacking troops.”

“We don’t have artillery, how are we going to clear out these firing points?” Belkin asked.

“Our special company has a group of sharpshooters,” Sokov said. “When we launch our attack, we’ll have them take cover two hundred meters from the settlements and accurately take out the exposed firing positions.”

A worried look appeared on Belkin's face: "Will it work?"

“Of course, no problem,” Sokov said confidently. “I received reliable information from headquarters that the higher-ups plan to select a group of sharpshooters to study at the newly established sniper school, in order to train a group of qualified snipers.”

"Sniper?" Belkin asked, somewhat puzzled. "What do you mean? I don't quite understand?"

Sokov knew about the sniper profession; it was relatively new and not many people understood it yet. It was normal that Belkin didn't know either. So he explained to him, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, a sniper is a specially trained military personnel who uses precision shooting as their core skill and plays a tactical role by conducting long-range strikes against high-value enemy targets through covert operations."

Belkin nodded as if he understood, and said, "So, a sniper is a soldier with better marksmanship than a sharpshooter?" "You could say that."

The artillery preparations were over, and with three red signal flares launched into the sky, the ground offensive officially began.

Sokov saw the soldiers of the annihilation battalion stand up from their hiding places, form a long skirmish line, and stride quickly toward the German-occupied settlement with their weapons in hand.

Upon seeing the skirmish formation of the annihilation battalion soldiers, Belkin couldn't help but snort, and then said, "To attack in such an orderly formation, aren't we just making our soldiers live targets for the enemy's machine guns?"

Sokov knew, of course, that such an offensive formation would likely wipe out a large number of soldiers if subjected to enemy machine gun fire. However, this unit was newly formed and knew nothing about tactics; Rubtsov must have put in a tremendous amount of effort to train them to form such a formation.

When the attacking troops were still more than 100 meters away from the outermost buildings of the settlement, the German machine guns mounted on the second-floor windows began to fire.

With a burst of gunfire, gaps appeared in the once orderly ranks. Soldiers in the back ranks, seeing their comrades in the front fall, hurried forward to fill the gaps. But they too soon fell to the German guns.

Seeing his comrades falling one after another around him, one soldier panicked. However, instead of turning back, he shouted and rushed towards the buildings in the residential area. His actions inspired his comrades nearby, who also changed from walking to running, shouting as they rushed towards the nearest building.

Although the enemy's machine guns on the second floor were still firing incessantly, the soldiers of the annihilation battalion quickly rushed to the bottom of the building. They threw grenades at the windows upstairs, causing the enemy hiding inside to scream in terror.

As the machine gun fire weakened, some soldiers climbed through windows into rooms on the first floor, attempting to clear out the enemies inside and then use the space as a fire support point.

Seeing this from a distance, Sokov nodded slightly, then turned to Belkin and said, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, it seems that Captain Rubzov took my words to heart and knows that he wants to capture a building at all costs and establish a firing stronghold before continuing to develop into the settlement."

As more and more officers and soldiers climbed through the windows to the first floor of the building, a German armored vehicle drove up from behind the building. It quickly moved to the side of the building and opened fire on the officers and soldiers gathered outside with its machine gun.

The officers and soldiers, who were waiting to climb through the windows into the building, were caught off guard when a German armored vehicle suddenly drove up. Many fell against the wall amidst the gunfire. The remaining soldiers quickly raised their weapons and returned fire at the armored vehicle. Unfortunately, while the armored vehicle's armor was thin, that was only effective against tank cannons or anti-tank rifles. Ordinary rifle bullets hitting the vehicle only created a series of sparks but could not penetrate its armor.

Seeing this, Sokov slammed his hand on the trench wall in anger and cursed, "Damn it, where did the enemy's armored vehicles come from? If my artillery were still here, we could easily destroy these damned armored vehicles with just direct fire."

The German armored vehicles fired for a while, but then, having likely run out of ammunition, turned around and drove back behind the building. By this time, a dense mass of corpses lay beside the building, mostly officers and soldiers who had been killed by enemy machine gun fire.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin said, his eyes wide with fury. He turned to Sokov and said, "The annihilation battalion has suffered heavy casualties. If we let them continue, they will likely be wiped out. Shouldn't we send our troops to attack?"

"I agree!" In fact, even if Belkin hadn't said it, Sokov had already planned to send the Third Battalion into battle. After all, the Third Battalion had fought so many battles that capturing a small settlement shouldn't be a big problem.

Thus, the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion also launched an attack on the settlement.

Because the annihilation battalion had basically taken control of the outermost building after suffering heavy casualties, the 3rd Battalion did not suffer any losses during the assault.

When the officers and soldiers of the 3rd Battalion arrived near the first building, the armored vehicle drove up again. The machine gunner on board attempted to repeat his previous tactics, inflicting heavy casualties on the Soviet attacking forces once more. Had the troops present at this moment been from the same annihilation battalion, his plan might have succeeded. However, the 3rd Battalion that arrived was a battle-hardened unit, possessing extensive combat experience in dealing with German tanks and armored vehicles.

Upon seeing the armored vehicle suddenly appear, a round of grenades was thrown at it. When the smoke from the explosions obscured the German machine gunners' vision, several soldiers rushed towards the armored vehicle and threw grenades emitting white smoke into the vehicle through the open windows.

A series of explosions rang out, and the German armored vehicles were destroyed, temporarily eliminating the threat from the flank. However, Nazorov was not satisfied with this result. He summoned his three company commanders and ordered them to lead their respective companies in different directions into the settlement, clearing out any enemy they encountered along the way.

Seeing that the officers and soldiers of the Third Battalion had split into several groups, bypassed the first building, and rushed into the settlement from different directions, Belkin asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, our troops have entered the settlement. Should we send other battalions to support them?"

“I think that’s a good idea.” Sokov agreed with Belkin’s suggestion and continued, “I think we should send Captain Yefim’s battalion up. Two battalions should be able to take over a settlement and wipe out the remaining enemy forces without any problem.”

“By the way, didn’t you also say you were going to select a group of sharpshooters from the special company to deal with the Germans’ activities?” Belkin reminded Sokov, “What do you think, should we send them up with the 1st Battalion?”

Sokov nodded and instructed, "I feel more at ease having Captain Zaryagin, the company commander of the special company, personally lead the team and put him in charge."

Thus, Yefim's 1st Battalion was urgently dispatched by Sokov to the settlement to support the 3rd Battalion and the annihilation battalion, who were still fighting the enemy there, in order to seize the settlement from the Germans as quickly as possible.

As the First Battalion entered the settlement, the wounded from the Annihilation Battalion and the Third Battalion were carried off one after another and urgently sent to the field hospital deployed a few hundred meters behind.

Sokov watched as the wounded were carried past on stretchers, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Without heavy firepower cover, launching an assault would surely result in heavy casualties for the troops. By the time the battle to capture the settlement was over, the heavily damaged and weakened annihilation battalion would likely be rendered ineffective.

(End of this chapter)