When Guchakov led the soldiers of the Ninth Company across the Aksay River and came to Andre, Andre glanced behind him and saw that there were only about fifty people at most, and he couldn't help showing surprise on his face.
His expression: "Why, Comrade Lieutenant, are there only so many people left in the Ninth Company?"
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander." Guchakov replied with a tired look on his face: "We were attacked by the Germans in the town. They were equipped with six tanks and the number of infantry was roughly equal to ours. After some
After a fierce battle, we destroyed all the German tanks and drove the enemy out of the town."
"Well done, Comrade Lieutenant." Andrei patted Guchakov's arm hard twice with both hands, and said approvingly: "You and your soldiers are both well done."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Guchakov asked expressionlessly: "Where should we go next?"
"I think we should go find the brigade commander."
Just when Andrei hurried to the southern cluster headquarters with the third battalion that had withdrawn from the south bank, Chuikov was furious in the headquarters: "What the hell, what the hell, the person in charge of the logistics department actually said that there is no one on the supply list.
The numbers of these troops refused to supply us. They never thought that if we did not get supplies, we would not be able to hold the Aksay River defense line at all."
"Comrade General, as far as I know, whether it is the 138th Division, the 157th Division, or the 208th Division that has just entered the defensive position, they are all facing a shortage of ammunition." Sokov waited for Chuikov to calm down and said to him:
"See if you can contact the front army headquarters directly and ask them to negotiate with the logistics department to provide us with urgently needed ammunition and supplies."
Chuikov let out a long sigh and said: "It's useless. I have already contacted Commander Gordov, but he said that which troops the logistics department will supply has already been arranged, and he has no right to change it.
."
Sokov never dreamed that the commander of the front army was such an old-fashioned man. It was strange that the troops could win the battle under his command. No wonder Stalin ordered Yereomenko to take over his post a few days later.
As the chief of staff of the Southern Cluster, Sokov had to find a way to provide ammunition and supplies for the troops. He stared at the map in front of him and searched along the Aksay River, hoping to see a warehouse sign somewhere like that.
Come, you can lead your troops to carry ammunition.
However, Sokov searched for a long time and could not find the so-called warehouse. He could only sigh and said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, I think the Aksay River cannot be defended at all."
When Chuikov heard what Sokov said, he did not get angry, but asked coldly: "Why?"
"The bridge on the Aksay River has been blown up by our army. If the German army wants to cross the river, they can only choose to cross it by force." Sokov said with some helplessness: "If our troops have enough ammunition, they can use firepower on the north bank.
Block the river and eliminate as many enemies as possible in the river. However, the situation in front of us is that our army is short of ammunition. If the last bullet in the gun chamber is fired prematurely, when the Germans land, we will
The soldiers can only engage in hand-to-hand combat with them."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand everything you said." After hearing Sokov's words, Chuikov said angrily: "But if our superiors don't give us supplies, I can't conjure weapons and ammunition out of thin air."
"Alas," seeing Chuikov also helpless, Sokov couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "It seems that in order to hold this line of defense, we can only fill it with human lives. We are afraid that even though we have exhausted all our people, we still cannot hold this line.
This line of defense allowed the German army to rush towards Stalingrad with great arrogance."
"Chief of Staff, I'm sorry." After an unknown length of silence, Chuikov suddenly said: "If I hadn't forced you to stay and become Laoshizi's Chief of Staff, maybe you would be enjoying yourself at Mamayev Heights right now."
When Sokov heard what Chuikov said, he couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. At this moment, he felt a little regretful and felt that he was meddling in other people's business. Although Chuikov had lost contact with the headquarters, he was definitely fine, but he hurriedly brought a weapon with strong combat effectiveness.
The Third Battalion rushed to this area to look for him, but the result was that they were now unable to dismount. It is not known whether the commanders and fighters of the Third Battalion have successfully returned to the north bank.
Just as Sokov kept thinking wildly, Klimov suddenly ran in from outside and said excitedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, your third battalion is back!"
"What, the third battalion is back?" Sokov, who was looking downcast, suddenly became excited when he heard what Klimov said. He stood up suddenly and asked Klimov excitedly.
Husband: “Where are they?”
"The troops are coming in this direction," Klimov replied: "They will be here in a few minutes."
"Comrade General," Sokov took a few steps towards the door. Suddenly thinking of his identity, he quickly stopped and turned to Chuikov who was sitting at the table: "Do you allow me to leave?"
Chuikov had clearly heard the conversation between Sokov and Klimov. When he saw Sokov running a few steps outside and then stopping to ask for instructions, he waved to him and said feebly: "Go!"
Sokov followed Klimov out of the mill and immediately asked impatiently: "Comrade adjutant, where are they?"
"There, Comrade Chief of Staff." Klimov pointed at the troops approaching from a distance and said with emotion: "It seems that they did not suffer any losses."
Andrei, who was walking at the front of the team, saw Sokov and Chuikov's adjutant standing outside a windmill. He quickly raised his right hand high above his head and said loudly: "Stop the troops!" Then he ran alone.
When he arrived in front of Sokov, he raised his hands and saluted, "Hello, Comrade Brigade Commander, I'm back!"
Sokov returned the salute, and when shaking hands with Andre, he asked with concern: "Comrade Captain, are there any losses during the transfer of the troops?"
Andrei nodded and replied: "Guchakov's Ninth Company suffered huge casualties when they blocked the German army in the small town. The entire company was reduced by up to three-quarters. However, they still succeeded in blowing up six
A German tank and nearly a hundred *** bandits were killed.”
"Lieutenant Guchakov did a good job." After Sokov said approvingly, he asked curiously: "Lieutenant Andrei, but I think your army has at least a thousand people. It's not like you have suffered losses."
Look."
Hearing Sokov's question, Andrei grinned and said: "Comrade Brigadier, have you forgotten that when our battalion went to the south bank to set up defenses, you once told me that we would take in more of those who were beaten.
The scattered soldiers. To tell you the truth, I took in more than 300 people during this period."
After Andre's reminder, Sokov remembered that he had indeed issued such an order. He told Andre: "Comrade Captain, since the Ninth Company has suffered heavy losses, replenish all the troops contained in the Ninth Company."
After Andrei nodded in agreement, he looked at Klimov who was standing not far away, then took Sokov to the side and said in a low voice: "Comrade Brigadier, there is a situation that I want to report to you.
Report it."
"What's going on?" Sokov asked briefly.
"It's like this. In order to get rid of the Germans on the south bank, I led the troops to go far downstream before finding a suitable place to cross the river... We got a few small wooden boats, and we could only cross one platoon at a time.
strength, so I divided the troops into ranked units..."
Sokov frowned, looked at Andre and said coldly: "Get to the point!"
Andre laughed dryly and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't be anxious, I'll get to the key points right away. After we waited for the Ninth Company to arrive, we headed here. The leading soldier who opened the way unexpectedly discovered the hidden hill on the roadside.
The warehouse in the back.”
"Warehouse?" Hearing Andre talk about the warehouse, Sokov felt his heartbeat suddenly accelerate. He grabbed Andre and asked nervously: "What kind of warehouse is it?"
Andre shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I don't know."
Regarding Andre's answer, Sokov was really angry and funny. He grabbed the other party's lapel and asked: "Since you discovered the warehouse, why don't you go in and take a look?"
"Comrade Brigadier, it's not that I don't want to go in." Andre said with a grimace: "The key is that there are almost two squads of internal security troops guarding the door, and we are not allowed to approach at all."
"Wait for me here, and you are not allowed to leave." After Sokov said, he turned and ran towards the mill. He rushed into the mill, rushed to Chuikov's side, and asked out of breath, somewhat angry: "General
Comrade, do you know of any warehouses nearby that are guarded by internal security forces?"
"Warehouse, what warehouse?" Chuikov said with a confused look on his face: "What kind of warehouse will there be near here? I asked Comrade Chief of Staff, are you mistaken?"
"Probably not." Sokov said to Chuikov: "My third battalion commander, Captain Andrei, just reported to me that they found a warehouse hidden in the hills on their way back here. But because the warehouse is
It was guarded by two squads of internal security troops. They did not dare to take action and had no choice but to come back and report to me."
"A warehouse guarded by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Chuikov stood up and said to Sokov: "Although I have never heard of any warehouses in this area, since our troops have discovered the warehouse, we should go and take a look. Let's go,
Comrade Chief of Staff, let’s go take a look now.”
"Comrade General," Sokov looked at Chuikov who was about to walk outside and asked curiously: "Are you planning to go there yourself?"
"Yes, I plan to go and see for myself." Chuikov said to Sokov as he walked outside: "If the internal guards resolutely prevent you from entering the warehouse, my status as a general can still scare them."