Sokov never dreamed that the reason why the rockets assigned to Vasily had not been put into use was entirely because of Vasily’s distrust of such rockets. In his impression, rockets were
It is the kind that is as tall as a person and requires a rocket launcher to launch it. Unlike this so-called new rocket, which only has a simple launcher. He has doubts about whether the rocket can be launched.
However, in front of Sokov, he certainly couldn't tell his true thoughts. After hearing Sokov's arrangement, he also casually said: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigadier, wait until daybreak, once you find that the German troops are there,
If there are signs of gathering on the opposite side of the square, we will use this rocket launcher to hit them."
He said this, but he was thinking in his heart: After dawn, the brigade commander will definitely leave and will not appear in the building again in a short period of time. This new rocket will be temporarily stored somewhere until the brigade.
When the commander comes next time, it's not too late to fire at the enemy.
Sokov couldn't guess what Vasily was thinking. Seeing that Vasily agreed so readily, he proudly said to Yakov: "Yakov, let's wait here until dawn and see with our own eyes how this new type of rocket works."
Beat the Germans until they are howling like ghosts."
Vasily, who was standing aside, heard Sokov say this, and his smile immediately froze on his face. He never dreamed that Sokov would stay here to see the power of the new rocket with his own eyes. After thinking for a moment, he
, bit the bullet and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, it's too dangerous here. The Germans may launch an attack at any time. I think you should go back to the headquarters first."
Sokov did not notice anything strange about Vasily and thought he was worried about his own safety. He quickly waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. When the enemy comes to attack, we can just see with our own eyes how you fight." At this point.
, his eyes scanned the room, but did not see the shadow of the new rocket, so he asked curiously, "By the way, where is that new rocket? Why didn't I see it?"
"In the basement," Vasily said with great embarrassment, "I was worried that the rockets would explode when the enemy shelled or bombed the building, so I temporarily stored them in the basement."
Hearing what Vasily said, Sokov immediately realized that something was wrong. How could he store the rockets in the basement just because he was worried that they would explode in the enemy's shelling and bombing? However, he did not expose Vasily's lies.
, but said expressionlessly: "Comrade Sergeant, take us to see."
Going downstairs this time, Vasily took Sokov and the others up another staircase. They soon came to the entrance of the basement and saw the closed iron door. Vasily turned to Sokov and said: "Brigade
Comrade Chang, please wait a moment, I will ask them to open the door immediately."
After getting Sokov's permission, Vasily stepped forward, punched the iron door twice, and shouted inside: "Open the door, open the door quickly, I am Vasily, I have something urgent to go in."
After a while, the iron door was pushed open from the inside. A soldier rubbed his eyes and leaned out from the inside. After seeing Vasily standing at the door clearly, he weakly asked: "Comrade Sergeant, we are all sleeping, you
What's matter?"
"Sergeant Sobgaida," Vasily quickly turned his head and glanced at Sokov next to him, then said to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander is here!"
"Comrade Brigade Commander is here?!" Vasily's words startled the man. When he saw Sokov and Yakov clearly standing next to Vasily, he quickly pulled the hem of his military uniform with both hands, and then
He raised his hand in salute and said dryly: "Hello, comrade brigade commander, Sergeant Sobgaida of the anti-tank team is reporting to you. We are resting here, please give us instructions!"
Sokov felt very sorry for disturbing the rest of Sergeant Sobgaida and his men, but at the moment he was eager to see the rocket launcher he gave to Vasily, so he could only apologize to Sobgaida.
Ida said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Sergeant, we are here to check out the new rockets. I didn't expect to disturb your rest. I'm really sorry."
It was probably the first time that Sobgaida encountered a superior commander apologizing to him. He quickly replied in a panic: "Look at what you said, Comrade Brigade Commander, you are doing this for official business. Please come in quickly."
As soon as Sokov entered the basement, he felt a strange smell inside. He frowned slightly and asked Vasily who was following him: "Comrade Sergeant, is the ventilation here not good?"
"Yes, Comrade Brigadier." Vasily replied quickly: "One of the vents is covered by masonry and rubble, so you will feel a little stuffy if you stay here for a long time."
"Shouldn't there be residents in the building?" Sokov saw clearly that there were more than a dozen people lying on the floor in the basement to rest, but they were all dressed as soldiers, and no one in civilian clothes was seen, so he asked curiously: "They
Where have they all gone?”
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vasily explained quickly: "There are three basements in this building. This one is used for our soldiers to rest. There are also two others, one is for the sick and wounded, and the other is for residents.
The place where we usually stay." After introducing the situation, he asked tentatively, "Do you want me to take you there to have a look?"
"No need." Sokov thought that this was the time when people were most sleepy, and the residents in the other basement must be sleeping soundly. There was no need for him to disturb their rest, so he waved his hand and said: "
They should be resting at the moment, so let’s not disturb them.”
After a pause, Sokov asked Vasily: "Where are the rockets?"
Vasily pointed towards the corner and said: "They are all there!"
Sokov walked to the box in the corner, opened a wooden box, and after seeing clearly what was inside, he turned to Yakov who was following him and asked: "Are these the rockets you brought?"
"That's right." Yakov only glanced at it and replied affirmatively: "They are the rockets I brought."
"Comrade Sergeant." After Sokov covered the wooden box, he ordered Sokov: "Immediately send someone to carry the rocket to the fourth floor and find a suitable location to arrange the launch site. Maybe it will be put to use soon."
.”
"Comrade Brigadier, can I ask a question?" Before Vasily could answer, Sergeant Sobgaida interrupted and asked: "This kind of rocket is different from what we usually see. It can really be fired.
?"
"That's for sure, Comrade Sergeant." In order to let the other party better understand this kind of rocket, Sokov opened the wooden box cover again and explained: "This new type of rocket is driven by its own engine.
Each of the six nozzles at the tail has a certain deflection from the axis of the projectile, which ensures that the rocket launcher rotates at high speed and flies stably."
Although Vasily and Sobgaida still had doubts about this kind of rocket, since Sokov ordered them to move to the fourth floor, they did not dare to disobey the order. Sobgaida quickly woke up his
Subordinates, ask them to move these rockets and launch tubes to the fourth floor.
While the soldiers were carrying rockets, Sokov asked Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, while you have time now, please tell me about the defense situation in the building."
Seeing that Sokov wanted to know the defense situation in the building, Vasily immediately began to report: "In order to defend this building, in addition to arranging firepower points on each floor, we also arranged anti-tank positions on the top floor.
Trenches were dug, barbed wire was pulled up and minefields were laid..."
After listening patiently to Vasily's introduction to the situation, Sokov asked rhetorically: "Comrade Sergeant, if I am not mistaken, the entrance to each unit and the windows on the ground floor are not closed, right?"
"No."
"Have you ever thought that if the Germans attack from several directions at the same time, you can't send people to guard all the windows and doors, so that the enemy can break into the building directly through the windows or doors." Sokov.
Pointed out the deficiencies in their defense to Vasily: "Are you really planning to put the enemy into the building and fight for it floor by floor?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vasily said with some embarrassment when Sokov pointed out the weak points in his defense: "Our troops are limited and cannot defend so many positions at the same time."
"Since you don't have enough troops, you have to find a way to make up for it."
"What should I do?" Vasily asked humbly.
"It's very simple. You immediately send people to block the unit door and all the windows on the first floor with bricks." Sokov said unambiguously: "In this way, the enemy will not be able to enter the building through these places.
"
"But, Comrade Brigadier." Vasily said with a bit of laughter when he heard what Sokov said: "If we really block the door and windows on the first floor with bricks, the Germans will certainly not be able to enter, and we will also not be able to enter.
Go in and out."
"Comrade Sergeant, have you forgotten that you still have a few traffic trenches?" Seeing Vasily's anxious look, Sokov smiled lightly and said: "After blocking all the doors and windows, you
You can enter and exit freely through the traffic trench."
"Through the traffic trench?" Vasily said confused: "The doors and windows are sealed, how can we get in and out through the traffic trench?"
Vasily's answer made Sokov almost fall to the ground. He thought to himself: Even though Vasily is a sniper master, when it comes to leading troops in battle, his level is still a little behind. He has already said this.
Understood, but he still didn’t understand. Just when he was about to introduce a few words to him in detail, Yakov, who had been standing silently beside him, spoke: "Comrade Sergeant, don't you understand what your brigade commander means? For example
Say that your traffic trench can lead directly to the door of a certain unit, and then lay wooden boards on it, and then pile up bricks and rubble. In this way, the Germans looked from a distance and found that the entrance to the unit had been blocked by bricks and stones.
But I never dreamed that there is a traffic trench below that allows you to enter the building directly."
After Yakov's explanation, Vasily suddenly realized: "So that's it. I understand. In this way, I only need to send a few soldiers to guard the entrance of the traffic trench to prevent the Germans from breaking into the building."
"Also," Yakov waited for Vasily to finish, and then continued: "Even if the doors and windows on the first floor are blocked with bricks, you can also open some shooting holes to shoot at the people who rush towards the building from here.
Enemy shot..."
When Yakov and Vasily were talking, Sokov wanted to understand one thing. No matter how much he thought of Vasily, he was still a recruit who had just joined the army. It was normal for him to lack military knowledge. If he didn't give them
To be more specific, there may be many problems in the defense of this building. The Pavlov Building in history held out for nearly two months, don't forget that after changing to the Vasily Building, it couldn't even hold on for a month.
After thinking about this, he said to Vasily: "Comrade Sergeant, leave some more shooting holes on the first floor. When the enemy's offensive is fierce, the soldiers who should be resting can use these shooting holes to shoot at the enemies rushing towards the building.
.As for the second and third floors, if conditions permit, machine gun positions can be established to shoot at enemy infantry. As for the fourth floor, it is mainly used as a position for the mortar team and the anti-tank team..."
When Sokov said this, Vasily nodded repeatedly while silently recording the key points of defense that Sokov said. After Sokov finished speaking, Vasily looked up at Sokov and said
: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I feel that I am just a sniper material and know nothing about military command. You should send someone else to command the troops here."
Changing generals on the spot is a taboo in the army. Vasily has always had the final say here. Even if there is a lieutenant in the garrison, Sokov once said hello and asked him to obey Vasily's command. If it is changed at this time
Commander, it will inevitably cause some turbulence and be detrimental to the defense. Therefore, Sokov rejected Vasily's request without hesitation: "No, Sergeant Vasily. I am here to tell you that as long as Stalingrad is not relieved for one day,
You must command the troops in this building for me. Do you understand?"
Although Sokov showed great trust in Vasily, Vasily still lacked confidence and said: "Comrade Brigadier, I feel that I am really not capable of commanding this unit. You can replace him."
"Sergeant Vasily," Sokov raised his hand and patted Vasily on the shoulder a few times, and said: "Based on the situation during this period, you are a very competent commander. No one is born with
Those who have the talent to be a commander have grown up slowly in the war. There are many commanders with higher military ranks than you in this building. If you encounter something that you don’t understand, you can ask them for advice.
.”
Sokov's words finally reassured Vasily. He nodded vigorously and replied: "I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander. I will humbly ask the commander in the building for advice and learn how to be a good commander."