red moscow

Chapter 2981

Unable to retrieve more artillery from the hidden armory, the troops occupying the two towns had to rely on their mere four cannons to deal with the German tanks and infantry.

The enemy's attacks on the town were fierce. They knew very well that once the Soviet army gained a foothold in the town, it would become the starting point for their offensive. In order to eliminate the Soviet threat to Volokolamsk, they concentrated their superior forces and launched attack after attack on the town under the cover of tanks, artillery, and aircraft.

Despite their fierce resistance, the soldiers who held out in the towns were ultimately defeated by the enemy, who possessed superior numbers and equipment. By evening, both towns had fallen.

Seeing that the situation on the battlefield was unfavorable to his side, Sokov naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to order his troops to counterattack the two towns and waste his precious manpower. He ordered his troops to retreat to their original starting point and use the fortifications there to put up a resistance.

After dark, Sokov received a phone call from Rokossovsky himself: "Misha, how are things there?"

“It’s not good, Comrade Commander.” In response to Rokossovsky’s question, Sokov replied truthfully: “My troops have been driven out of the town by the enemy. Because of the heavy casualties among the officers and soldiers, we are temporarily unable to launch a counterattack and can only retreat to the original starting point of the attack and resist from the rudimentary fortifications there.”

“Misha, listen to me,” Rokossovsky said, his voice tinged with urgency. “Before today’s counterattack began, I moved the army group headquarters to the Telyayeva-Sloboda area, but two hours ago, the enemy detected our location and launched a massive bombing raid on the headquarters with over a dozen aircraft. Now, we have moved to Novopetrovskyye, on the Volokolamsk-Moscow highway…”

Rokossovsky's words made Sokov's heart race. The enemy bombing would certainly have caused some casualties at headquarters, and he wondered if it would negatively impact the upcoming operations. He cautiously asked, "Comrade Commander, did headquarters suffer any losses during the bombing?"

Upon hearing Sokov's question, Rokossovsky sighed softly and said with regret, "The operations and reconnaissance departments have suffered considerable casualties in the bombing. This means that for the foreseeable future, if you want to understand the enemy's situation, you will have to send out reconnaissance personnel to do so, and we cannot provide you with any assistance here."

Upon learning of the heavy losses suffered by the operations and reconnaissance departments, Sokov, after a moment of deep regret, tentatively asked Rokossovsky, "Comrade Commander, given the current situation, it is clearly unrealistic for us to retake Volokolamsk. What are your plans next?"

Rokossovsky was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Retaking Volokolamsk is an order from above. In any case, we need to try again tomorrow."

Sokov's facial muscles twitched a few times, and he asked with a wry smile, "So, is our brigade's mission tomorrow to retake those two towns?"

“There’s no need for that,” Rokossovsky said. “Judging from today’s battle, even if you manage to recapture these two towns, holding them will probably not be easy. After 10 p.m., you will lead your troops to withdraw from their current positions and retreat to the location of Sun Mountain City, where you will organize a new defense.”

Upon hearing the city's name, Sokov couldn't help but smile wryly. The Soviet defense deployment chart indicated at least one garrison regiment in Sunhill, but in reality, aside from police officers on duty and a few militiamen, there wasn't a single regular army unit. Therefore, when the German army bypassed the Soviet defenses and directly attacked Sunhill, they captured the city with almost no effort.

“Misha, why aren’t you saying anything?” Rokossovsky asked when Sokov didn’t respond. “Are you still there?”

"Yes, Comrade Commander," Sokov replied hastily. "I'm considering how to strengthen the defenses after the troops withdraw to Sun Mountain City."

"According to the information provided by our superiors, there is a garrison regiment of more than two thousand men in Sun Mountain City." Rokossovsky was indeed misled by the wrong intelligence, and was still seriously assigning tasks to Sokov: "After you enter Sun Mountain City, you can take over this garrison regiment and temporarily act as the city's defense commander. Organize forces to strengthen the city's defenses and prepare to use it as a stronghold when we have to retreat again."

Sokov desperately wanted to tell Rokossovsky that Sun Mountain was now a ghost town, and establishing defenses there was practically impossible. But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and he chose to remain silent. He was mainly worried that if he actually said that, and Rokossovsky asked him how he knew about it, he wouldn't know how to answer.

Therefore, he could only bite the bullet and reply, "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will lead the troops to Taiyangshan City as soon as possible to organize a new defense there."

After hanging up the phone, Sokov turned to Karsokov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately contact the deputy brigade commander and the four battalion commanders, and have them withdraw from their current positions under the cover of darkness at 10 p.m. tonight, and then move towards the direction of Sun Mountain City."

"What, move to Sun Mountain City?" Karsokov stared in surprise. "We are currently about fifty kilometers away from Sun Mountain City. There is no transportation. If the officers and soldiers rely on their own two legs, it will take at least until tomorrow morning to barely reach our destination."

"Execute it, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov didn't want to waste words with his chief of staff and directly ordered him, "Quickly call the battalion commanders and tell them to prepare for the retreat as soon as possible."

Sokov instructed Karsokov to call the two battalion commanders of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, while he himself called the deputy brigade commander, Belkin.

Berkin was somewhat surprised when he received the call from Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what exactly is going on? Why are you choosing to retreat at this time? Don't the higher-ups intend to retake Volokolamsk?"

Sokov did not explain the reason on the phone, but said briefly: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, we can talk about it in detail when you return to the brigade headquarters. Your task now is to find a way to bring the officers and soldiers of the Third and Fourth Battalions back."

After hearing Sokov's words, Belkin remained silent for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Should we also withdraw the two companies we sent to the Duboshkovo rendezvous point?"

“Of course.” Sokov nodded and said with certainty, “The orders from above are for the entire brigade to withdraw from its current positions, which naturally includes the two companies we sent to reinforce our allies.”

“Alright,” Belkin said with some difficulty, “I will inform the commanders of those two companies as soon as possible and have them withdraw from their positions.” Sokov suddenly realized that these two companies were sent to reinforce the Duboshekovo Pass. If they were all withdrawn, the pass would be left unguarded. If the Germans attacked, they could take it without firing a shot.

He quickly asked, "By the way, will Duboshkovo have any other troops at the station besides our two companies?"

“Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander,” Belkin replied. “After dark, a company from the 1077th Regiment came and moved into the Duboshekovo Pass.”

Knowing that the 316th Infantry Division had moved into the Duboshekovo Pass, Sokov felt relieved. He said one last thing: "Since our friendly forces have moved into the Duboshekovo Pass, let's withdraw our soldiers."

Around 11 p.m., the troops from the four battalions gradually withdrew back to the brigade headquarters.

After taking stock and clarifying the casualties of the troops, Sokov's heart sank. The entire brigade now had less than two thousand men left. In particular, the two companies sent to reinforce the Duboshkovo pass had set out with 314 men, but only 25 returned. The rest had fallen en route to the Duboshkovo pass or in the battle to retake it from the Germans.

Knowing that the two companies had been almost wiped out, Karsokov's voice trembled with emotion as he spoke: "Comrade Brigade Commander, more than three hundred soldiers, almost all wiped out in one battle. If they had stayed on their own positions to fight instead of going to reinforce our allies, I think the vast majority of them would have survived."

Sokov knew in his heart that Karsokov was right, but sending troops to reinforce Duboshekovo was Rokossovsky’s personal order, and he couldn’t disobey it.

He sighed softly, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Captain Yefim, the battalion commander, ask, "Comrade brigade commander, why did the higher-ups order us to withdraw overnight? Don't they intend to retake Volokolamsk?"

Sokov stared at Yefim and said, "Captain Yefim, the battle to attack Volokolamsk will continue tomorrow. However, our brigade will no longer participate in this attack. Instead, we are ordered to retreat to Sun Mountain City and establish defenses there."

Everyone present knew the location of Sun Mountain City. However, what puzzled them was why their own force, which wasn't participating in tomorrow's attack, had been transferred to a city dozens of kilometers away. What were their superiors thinking?
Seeing the puzzled expressions on the faces of the commanders present, Sokov said, "Comrades, I know very well that you all find it strange that the higher command would issue such an order?"

Upon hearing Sokov's question, Belkin and the four battalion commanders all nodded in unison, then stared intently at Sokov, hoping to get the answer they wanted from him.

“Look at the map,” Sokov said, pointing to the map on the table. “If our counter-offensive against Volokolamsk fails, the entire army group’s defensive line will have to shift eastward. Our 5th Army on the left flank has already been pushed back to the Tula area; and our 30th Army on the right flank, located in the north, is also retreating under constant German attacks. In this case, the enemy could potentially cross the Istrian River from the north of our defensive line, bypass the Istrian Reservoir, capture the city of Sun Mountain, and cut off our connection with Moscow…”

After Sokov's account, everyone immediately realized that the situation on the battlefield was very unfavorable for the 16th Army. If the German army really crossed the Istrian River, bypassed the Istrian Reservoir, and occupied the city of Sun Mountain, then the army's rear would be cut off by the German army, and it would be in danger of being encircled by the German army at any time.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin looked up at Sokov and asked, "How many troops are there in Sun Mountain City?"

"Comrade Commander told me," although Sokov knew that Sun Mountain City was an empty city, before the troops arrived at Sun Mountain City, he could only use the intelligence provided by Rokossovsky to deceive everyone: "There is a garrison regiment of two thousand men in the city, as well as several militia annihilation battalions. The total strength is at least five thousand men. Add our two thousand men, and seven thousand men to guard a city should not be a big problem."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, there's one more thing," Belkin kindly reminded Sokov. "In today's battle, our newly formed artillery company suffered considerable casualties; all four of our cannons have been lost. In the battles to come, whether defending or attacking, without artillery, the fight will be very difficult."

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, you don’t need to worry about the artillery.” Sokov reassured Belkin: “On our way to Sun Mountain City, I will arrange for people to move all the weapons and ammunition from the hidden armory, especially the artillery stored there, which will be assigned to the artillery battalion that is currently just an empty shell as quickly as possible.”

"If that's the case, that would be wonderful." Belkin turned to look at the battalion commanders beside him and said excitedly, "With the help of artillery in battle, we will have a much better chance of defeating the enemy."

Sokov glanced at his watch and said to everyone, "You all return to your units and let the officers and soldiers get some rest. We'll set off at midnight and try to reach Sun Mountain City as soon as possible."

After the battalion commanders left, Belkin suddenly asked again, "Comrade brigade commander, we currently have no means of transportation. How will we transport the artillery stored in the hidden armory to Sun Mountain City?"

“If there’s no transportation, then we’ll try to find some,” Sokov said to Belkin. “The 76.2mm cannon isn’t heavy. Even without a truck, we can probably use an oxcart or horse-drawn cart. I think there should still be quite a few villagers in the nearby villages who haven’t left. Can you see if you can find an oxcart or horse-drawn cart from them?”

“Yes, I understand.” Belkin nodded and said, “I’ll take some men to the nearby villages right away. Maybe we’ll find one that actually needs an oxcart or horse-drawn carriage.” With that, he got up and left the tent.

Watching Belkin's figure disappear outside the tent, Karsokov looked at Sokov and asked another question: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since we are going to move, what will happen to the brigade's field hospital? Should we leave them here, or should we move with them?"

“Of course we’ll bring them with us,” Sokov said with a serious expression. “If we leave them behind, they’ll likely become targets of the Germans’ massacre once they occupy this place.”

(End of this chapter)