"No rush," Sokov waved his hand and said, "At present, the artillery and tank troops are not in place. If an attack is launched in a hurry, we can only rely on infantry attacks, and casualties will definitely be small. The current task is to strengthen reconnaissance of the railway station and department stores, and to clarify the enemy's troops distribution."
"Comrade Commander, I recommend someone to you to be responsible for the reconnaissance of these two areas."
"who?!"
"Sergeant Vasily."
"Sergeant Vasily?"
"Yes."
"Tell me your reasons."
"He is a very good sniper." Cidolin said excitedly: "In the battle to defend Stalingrad, there were more than a hundred enemies he killed."
"Yes, he is indeed an excellent sniper." Sokov felt a little guilty when he heard Cidolin say this. If the original historical development was based on the original history, the enemy he killed in the Battle of Stalingrad should have been 225. Now, for his own reasons, the number of enemies he killed was sharply reduced by half: "But what does this have to do with sending him to reconnaissance?"
"Comrade Commander, this is how I think about it." Sidolin explained to Sokov: "Sergeant Vasily has been operating in various areas of the city for a long time in order to kill the enemy. His familiarity with these places will definitely not be worse than that of any of our scouts. Therefore, I think he should use his advantage to go to the area we are about to attack to perform reconnaissance missions."
Sokov thought about it carefully and felt that Cidolin's proposal was still very reasonable. So he picked up the phone and answered Belkin's command. As soon as he heard Belkin's voice, he asked bluntly: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you know Sergeant Vasily?"
"I know, Misha." Belkin replied, "You suddenly asked him, what happened?"
"That's right, I plan to send someone to the Central Railway Station and the department store to conduct reconnaissance." Sokov said to the microphone: "The Chief of Staff recommended him to me. I thought about it carefully and felt that it should be very appropriate for him to be responsible for the reconnaissance."
"But he is just a sniper," said Belkin with some embarrassment: "Is it appropriate to let him perform such an important reconnaissance mission?"
"Don't forget that he is an excellent sniper who scared the German army. In order to kill more enemies, he lurked in many places in the city." Sokov said: "I think there are probably few people who are more familiar with the terrain of the city than him. It is perfect for such people to perform reconnaissance missions."
"What about the acupuncture teams I sent out?" Belkin asked for instructions: "Can they all be withdrawn?"
"No, give them all to Sergeant Vasily." Sokov said confidently: "I believe that under Vasily's command, they will be able to complete the reconnaissance mission better and understand the specific deployment of the German army."
"Misha, there are some problems here, I want to tell you first." Belkin said hesitantly: "My regiment is distributed in several reconnaissance teams near the railway station and department store, with two lieutenants in it. Let them follow the command of a sergeant, and I am worried that they will be emotional."
"What does this matter?" Sokov said disapprovingly: "In his Vasily building, besides the second lieutenant and the lieutenant, they also obey Vasily's command. Don't the commanders of the reconnaissance team know that the orders of the superiors must be obeyed unconditionally?"
"Misha, I have an idea." Belkin waited for Sokov to finish his speech and immediately said: "Would Vasily be promoted to the rank? After all, he has made considerable achievements in this defense battle. If there is no reward at all, I am worried that it will make the commanders and fighters feel disappointed."
"You are right, Comrade Political Commissar." Sokov had long wanted to promote Vasily, but he had never found a reason. Since Berkin mentioned this at this moment, he said with a promise: "Then promote him to the rank of lieutenant, so that he can be commanded in the reconnaissance team with justification."
"I understand, Misha." Belkin replied, "I will convey your appointment immediately."
"Comrade Commander," said Cydolin cautiously when he saw Sokov drop the phone: "I just heard you promoted Sergeant Vasily to Lieutenant."
"Yes." Sokov nodded and replied affirmatively: "It is very appropriate to promote him to lieutenant with the results he has achieved."
"I didn't say that he was inappropriate to promote him, but that there were other people who should be promoted." Sidolin said, and whispered to the position where communication equipment was placed on the other side of the room, "For example, Lieutenant Maxim, the commander of the communication company, and Lieutenant Seryosha, should they also be promoted to their military rank?"
Sokov stared at Maxim who was busy in the distance, feeling that the other party had made a lot of contributions to maintaining the smooth communications of the command over the past year, but now he is still a second lieutenant, which is really unreasonable. "Chief of Staff, come with me!"
After Sokov and Sidolin arrived at the communication area, they raised their hands and patted them twice, and said, "Comrades, please stop." He only said once, both the staff officer and the communications officer quieted down and turned their eyes to him in unison.
"Comrades, I will announce an important thing to you." Sokov said loudly: "In view of the outstanding contributions of the company commander of the communications company, Lieutenant Maxim, in order to ensure the smooth communications of the command center, after research by me and the Chief of Staff, I decided to promote him to the rank of captain. Everyone applauded!" After that, he took the lead in clapping.
Maxim's eyes were filled with tears in the warm applause. This happiness came so suddenly. He did not expect that he would be suddenly promoted to two levels of military rank at this time. After the applause stopped, he quickly raised his hand to salute Sokov and Sidolin, and said respectfully: "Team Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, thank you for your trust in me. I promise you that I will always keep the communication of the command center in a smooth state."
"Congratulations!" Sokov stepped forward and shook hands with Maxim, and said, "Continue to work." After that, he turned around and walked towards his seat. Cidolin also shook hands with Maxim and quickly chased after him.
Back at the table, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, in order to defend this city, all the officers and soldiers of the division were brave and tenacious. Was it possible to award outstanding commanders and fighters who performed well to be awarded medals and promoted military ranks?"
"Yes." Sokov did not object to Sidolin's expression. He nodded and said, "The people who can survive the city defense battle are our backbone of combat. In the future, we will use them to form more new troops, so the ranks cannot be too low. Take the time to organize a promotion list, and when Paulus is eliminated, we will have a promotion as a whole."
"Comrade Commander, I'm too busy recently." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Cidolin shook his head, "Now the new combat cluster has just been established, I have to be busy contacting the commanders of each division every day. I don't have time to organize the list, so you should change someone."
"Switch? Who should I change?"
"How about the political commissar?" Sidolin suggested to Sokov: "Anyway, the deputy division commander and the political commissar do not have much work, so it is perfect to hand over this matter to both of them."
"Okay, just do it." Sokov agreed readily.
"The ranks of commanders at all levels of the reduction regiment are generally low," Cidolin reminded again: "After the troops are mixed in this way, they suffer a disadvantage because they must obey those with higher ranks than themselves."
"You are the most familiar with the commanders of the reduction team at all levels." Sokov felt that the list of promotions was most appropriate for Cidolin to be responsible for, so he said to him: "You will be responsible."
"Okay, comrade instructor." Cidolin agreed, "I will sort out the list as soon as possible."
The phone ringing on the table rang, and Sokov picked up his headphones and put them in his ears. Soon he heard someone inside saying, "I am Rokosovsky, find me your division commander Colonel Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly asked respectfully: "What instructions do you have?"
Rokosovsky asked in an official voice: "Col. Sokov, I have personally formed a combat cluster for you, and all the troops are basically in place. When do you plan to launch an attack?"
"Thank you for your trust in me." Sokov first expressed his gratitude to Rokosovsky, and then said: "We are still doing preparations before the attack."
"Preparation work? What preparation work?" Rokosovsky asked impatiently when he heard this: "Col. Sokov, don't you know that our army is fighting hard with the enemy in other areas? In order to ensure your attack success, I personally dispatched so many troops to you, but when things come to an end, you said that the conditions are not ripe. What is going on?"
"The three infantry divisions have arrived one after another." Sokov heard Rokosovsky get angry, but he was not panicked, but answered truthfully: "But the important tank brigade and artillery regiment are still marching on the road. I plan to wait until they all arrive before thinking about the enemy's attack."
"If the tank brigade and artillery regiment have not been delayed, are you ready to stop attacking?" After listening to Sokov's report, Rokosovsky became more angry: "If you think you can't command so many troops, just say as soon as possible, I can send someone to take over your command."
"No, comrade Commander of the Front Army, you misunderstood," Sokov quickly explained to Rokosovsky: "The area we want to attack is mainly stone buildings. These buildings are very strong and must be destroyed with artillery fire. Therefore, our attack can only wait until the artillery and tanks arrive before officially entering the battle."
"Then tell me, how many days will it take for your preparation?"
"How many days will take, it depends entirely on the speed of the tanks and artillery marching." Sokov replied: "If they could arrive one day earlier, we would have launched an attack on the enemy one day earlier."
"I'll give you two days," Rokosovsky said on the phone. "In two days, I hope to hear with my own ears the news of your attack on the enemy."
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied: "I believe that we can attack the enemy in two days."
"Very good." Rokosovsky was very satisfied with Sokov's answer, nodded, and finally said, "Good luck to you!" and hung up the phone directly.
"Comrade," said Sidolin, who heard the conversation between Rokosovsky and Sokov, saw Sokov put down the phone and asked quickly: "Do you think two days of preparation time are enough?"
"Enough," Sokov said confidently: "We don't necessarily have to concentrate all the troops around the railway station. Although the terrain here is wide, so many troops will not be able to be used here."
He drew a circle at the central railway station with a pencil and said to Cydolin: "Chief of Staff, look, I will first send a division to attack the railway station from the front to attract the enemy's attention. At the same time, I will draw some troops and detour from the direction of the family area, and severely strike the enemy's side. The enemy is attacked by our army on both sides, and it will definitely not last long, and the defense line will collapse."
Before Cidolin could make a comment, Cuikov called in. He shouted loudly on the other end of the phone: "Col. Sokov, what's wrong with you? Why do you have so many troops in your hands and are afraid of wolves in front of you and tigers in the back? He even told General Rokosovsky that you should wait until the artillery and tanks arrive before attacking the enemy. Do you not have the support of tanks and cannons, and will you not fight?"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said calmly in the face of Cuikov's series of accusations: "You also know that the buildings in the central area are extremely strong. If our soldiers do not receive the cover of artillery and tanks when attacking, they will be knocked down one by one by one by the enemy as if they want to shoot targets. I am worried that in this case, we may all die, and we may not be able to occupy the areas occupied by the enemy."
"Okay, okay, stop talking." After hearing Sokov's defense, Cuikov waved his hand impatiently and said, "I don't care how you prepare. Anyway, you have promised General Rokosovsky that I will launch an attack in two days, so I will not pursue this matter anymore. Good luck to you!"
"Comrade Commander, you haven't finished speaking yet." As soon as Sidorin put down the phone, he immediately pushed the map in front of him and said to him: "Please continue talking."
Sokov pointed to the map and continued, "After our division's troops arrived at the south of the city, they would divide the troops into two groups. One way to drive the enemies in the city to the south of the city, so that they would fight to the death with the friendly troops going north; the other way to launch a tentative attack on the department store."
"Temporary attack?" Cidolin asked in a confused look: "Comrade Commander, what does it mean?"
Chapter completed!