Red Moscow

  Chapter 144 Arranging positions

Belgin was overjoyed when he saw that Sokov came back with an anti-tank gun, and even anti-tank grenades and anti-tank mines. These anti-tank weapons, even if the Germans come with more tanks, we don't have to worry about it."

  But Sokov poured cold water on him: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, there are only so many anti-tank weapons we can get. If they are used up, they will be gone."

"What, there are only so many?" Belkin saw the wooden boxes that the soldiers were moving out of the carriage, and said with some disappointment: "This is too little, if the Germans only have four or five tanks, how many tanks are there?" It can barely deal with it; if there are more than ten tanks, we can only let the soldiers hold the cluster grenades and go to the enemy's tanks to die together."

"Comrade deputy battalion commander, call the two platoon leaders of the engineering platoon and the artillery platoon." In order to use these anti-tank weapons reasonably, Sokov decided to take people to consider the terrain in person: "Let's go and see the terrain. "

  The engineering platoon leader, Lieutenant Vasya, and the artillery platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Porochenko, were on the spot directing the soldiers to unload the vehicles. When they heard that the battalion commander had something to look for, they ran over immediately. When Sokov saw the two men coming, he shook his head at them and said, "You two follow me to the west of the highland to have a look, I plan to build an anti-tank position there, so as to prevent the enemy tanks from going around again. .”

When everyone came to the west slope, Sokov pointed to the simple road not far away, and asked the two platoon leaders: "Comrade two platoon leaders, if the German army wants to follow this road again and go back to the back of our highland, what do you do?" How do you plan to use the existing anti-tank weapons to deal with them?"

  After the two platoon leaders looked at each other, Lieutenant Vasya, whom Sokov was relatively familiar with, spoke first. Pointing to the destroyed tank on the road in the distance, he said to Sokov: "Comrade battalion commander, that tank blocked the road. If the rest of the tanks want to pass, they can only go around from both sides. We can Plant mines around that tank, and as long as the enemy makes a detour, it will definitely be bombed."

   "Artillery platoon leader," Sokov didn't express any opinion after hearing Vasya's words, but turned his head and asked Second Lieutenant Porochenko: "How do you plan to deploy the artillery positions?"

Porochenko looked around, then pointed to a bomb crater not far away and said: "Comrade battalion commander, I plan to set up an anti-tank position here. As soon as the German tanks come into range, we will open fire and destroy them." It's a mess."

  Sokov turned to Belkin and asked: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, what do you think of the deployment of the two of them?"

"If we have enough anti-tank mines and more than five anti-tank guns," Belkin said thoughtfully after hearing Sokov's question, "the plan of the two platoon leaders is very suitable. .”

  Sokov heard Belkin's off-screen voice, and said with a smile: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, that is to say, you don't fully agree with their plan."

"That's right, I think there are still many imperfections in their plan." Belkin nodded, and then explained his reasons for objecting to everyone: "For example, laying mines around the bombed tank, It may be possible to blow up one or two enemy tanks, but after the enemy suffers a loss, they will definitely send engineers to clear the mines. Although we can establish machine gun positions at our feet and use machine gun fire to kill those engineers, but the German tank fire, It can also easily position our machine guns." Vasya couldn't help nodding when he heard Belkin's comments, and felt that the deputy battalion commander's analysis was very reasonable.

Belkin went on to say: "Also, the anti-tank gun position is set here, and it is true that it can attack the enemy's tanks condescendingly. But we only have one gun. After destroying the front tank, the position will also be covered by enemy artillery fire. ..."

After listening to Belkin, Porochenko asked him humbly: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, since you can find our problems, is there any way to overcome these problems and make our defense become more perfect?"

   Regarding Porochenko’s question, Belkin said with a bitter smile: “I can only find the problem. As for how to solve the problem, you should ask the battalion commander. I think he already knows it.”

  While the two platoon leaders were discussing their opinions with Belkin, Sokov was thinking about how to make reasonable use of this terrain to avoid a war of attrition with the Germans. Seeing that everyone's eyes were focused on him at this moment, he knew it was time to speak for himself.

He coughed lightly, and said: "If you want to hold this road and prevent the enemy's tanks from rushing behind the high ground, you must adopt flexible defensive tactics." The crater said, "Although we only have one anti-tank gun, we must prepare three to four firing points, and change the place after firing two guns, so that the enemy will not know our strength. In addition, near the real firing positions, Set up a few more false positions, using planks and wood to disguise them as artillery to attract enemy tank fire."

Second Lieutenant Porochenko's eyes lit up when he heard Belkin say this, and he said: "Great, Comrade Battalion Commander, your method is really great. The Germans saw that our anti-tank guns were different. If you fire at a position, you will think that there are a lot of artillery in the position, so they can't concentrate their firepower on one point."

Sokov turned to face Vasya and continued: "As for the burial site of anti-tank mines, besides around the bombed tank, you can also consider placing two mines on the south side of the road. In this way, the German tanks along the When the road comes over, it will hit a mine and explode. Then the tanks behind will stop and let the engineers clear the mines. At this time, the anti-tank gun commanded by Second Lieutenant Porochenko can target the tanks parked on the road Shoot to increase your hit rate."

"Comrades, two platoon leaders, you have all heard it." Belkin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said to the two platoon leaders with a smile on his face: "How comprehensive is the battalion commander's consideration of the defensive deployment here?" .In my opinion, the enemy cannot pass here without losing seven or eight tanks."

Sokov glanced to the north of the road and thought to himself: "Even if the German tanks broke through the interception of anti-tank guns, passed through the minefield, and reached the north of the highland, there is nothing to worry about. Equipped with anti-tank A company of tank grenade commanders will give them a head-on blow."

He turned his head and said to the two platoon leaders standing in front of him waiting for further orders: "Since your mission has been clarified, don't stand here in a daze. Start building positions and laying mines immediately. You must not let the Germans attack you." Tanks, easily go around here to the back of the plateau."

   "Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander!" The two platoon leaders immediately replied in unison. "We started to act immediately."

  (end of this chapter)