Red Moscow

  Chapter 1097 Surprise

Thanks to Rokossovsky's support, not only the 21st Army provided Sokov with 200 trucks, but even the infantry army living in the northeast also handed over 60 trucks under its name to Sokov. Cove.

  The 124th Guards Infantry Regiment, which had been completed a long time ago, began to board the trucks one after another as soon as the trucks arrived. 260 trucks sounded like a lot, but in the end they only carried 4,000 commanders and their weapons and equipment. After the loading was completed, the mighty convoy headed towards the town of Khalzisk at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour.

  This battle is of great importance, and Sokov couldn't stay in his headquarters, so he handed over the command to Witkov, and he himself took an armored vehicle and acted with the 124th regiment.

   On the way, Starcha and Bergin also got into the armored vehicle and commanded the troops with Sokov. Sokov asked: "Do you have any information about the activity team of your regiment behind the enemy lines?"

"Yes." Belkin replied first: "According to the report of the activity group that sneaked into the city, it is said that the German army has a regiment in Donetsk, but this regiment was severely weakened after the battle. The head of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Feldman, was also wounded in the battle, lying in his command post every day, basically not going out."

   "Oh, a severely weakened infantry regiment." After listening to Belkin's report, Sokov couldn't help but his eyes lit up: "Then, have you figured out how many people there are in the enemy?"

"More than five hundred people." After Belkin finished speaking, he realized that his expression was not clear enough, and added: "Accurately speaking, among the more than 2,000 defenders in the city, there are only more than 500 Germans, and the rest are Germans." It's the Romanian and Italian armies."

  For Sokov, the Romanian army and the Italian army are just floating clouds. They have no combat effectiveness at all. One company of his own can defeat a battalion of the other side. He was deeply afraid that the deployment of troops in the city might be different from what he knew in advance, so he hurriedly asked again: "The distribution of the enemy's troops, have you all figured it out?"

"I figured it out." This time it was Colonel Starcha who answered, pointing to the map on Sokov's lap, and said to him, "There is a company of the German army in the east of the city, with about a hundred people. It was a Romanian battalion. The position consisted of two fronts, the Romanian troops in the front and the Germans in the rear."

   There are only more than 600 troops deployed in the east. It is very difficult to block the attack of 4,000 people with high morale. What's more, the first line of defense is still defended by the Romanian army with low combat effectiveness. Not to mention a sneak attack, even a strong attack can easily break through the enemy's defense.

  Sokov was confident about breaking through the enemy's direction, but he wanted to hear Starcha's thoughts, so he asked, "Comrade Colonel, tell me, you plan to destroy the enemy in front."

"Comrade Commander," Starcha quickly replied, "Since we don't have artillery and tanks accompanying us, before attacking, I want to use the new rockets I carry to cover the enemy's position with firepower. After two rounds of bombing After that, it is estimated that there are no living people on the ground, and our regiment will be able to launch a full-scale attack by then."

  Regarding Starcha's answer, Sokov's heart hurts. Although there are a lot of new rockets equipped with troops today, they are not such a waste. It is easy to say that it is easy to cover the German positions with firepower, but if the enemy retreats to the second line of defense before being bombarded, wouldn't all these rockets be wasted?

  Sokov didn't answer, but looked at Belkin and continued to ask: "What about you, my Comrade Political Commissar, what do you think?"

  Belkin and Sokov have been partners for almost a year, so they naturally know Sokov's character very well. He knows that Stalcha's approach is the traditional approach of the Soviet army. However, such tactics obviously did not satisfy Sokov, and he quickly said: "I think we should adopt sneak attack tactics, approaching the enemy's positions secretly, and then use hand-to-hand combat to destroy the enemies hiding in the fortifications. "

  Seeing that Belkin understood his intentions, Sokov put a smile on his face again. He also specifically emphasized: "If the Romanian army is defeated, they will definitely flee to the positions held by the Germans. At this time, our soldiers should not shoot at them again."

   "Don't shoot at Romanian soldiers?" Starcia showed a shocked expression on his face: "Comrade commander, why is this?"

"Comrade commander, don't you understand the meaning of the division commander?" Belgin explained to Starcha: "We can follow the fleeing Romanian soldiers and rush towards the German positions. The Germans found our people Following the Romanian soldiers, in order to protect themselves, they had to shoot at the Romanian army. In this way, there will be a firefight between the two sides, and our commanders and fighters can take the opportunity to rush into the enemy's position."

   "It turns out that battles can still be fought like this." After listening to Belkin's explanation, Starcha's face revealed a look of sudden realization: "Then I will pass the order to the soldiers when I arrive in the town later."

   "Also," Sokov said to Starcha, "remember to leave troops in the town for defense, lest the Germans steal our way."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Starcha assured Sokov: "I will leave the most elite troops to hold on to the town and never let the Germans have a chance to approach the town."

  After the commanders and fighters of the 124th Regiment arrived in the town, they rested in place for half an hour, ate something and drank some water, and then continued towards Donetsk.

At one o'clock in the morning, Sokov, who was staying in the town, received a call from Starcha: "Comrade Commander, the frontmost fighter of our regiment is only 50 meters away from the enemy, and you can even hear a sneeze. "

   "How prepared is the enemy?"

"I observed for a while, and only found a few sentries. As for whether there are secret sentries, I don't know." After Starcha's report, he specifically asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade commander, I don't know when we will start attack?"

"Since the enemy's vigilance is not high, then quickly send soldiers to touch it." Sokov said into the microphone: "As long as the sentries are killed, our people can easily enter the city without being noticed." .”

   "Understood." Starcha quickly replied: "I will immediately order the commanders and fighters of the first battalion to quietly touch the enemy's position and wipe them all out in their sleep."

   "Colonel Starcha," the battle is about to start, and it is inconvenient for Sokov to leapfrog command, so he said to Starcha: "Good luck!"

  (end of this chapter)