Shortly after the German artillery positions were bombed, Sokov received a telegram from Grisa from behind enemy lines, saying that the scouts had confirmed that all the German artillery had been destroyed during the bombing, and that less than thirty artillerymen had survived.
Come down.
After reading the telegram, Sokov's face showed no trace of joy, but instead frowned. Briski, who was sitting next to him, was startled by his expression and thought something big had happened, so he hurriedly
He asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, has something happened?"
"Take a look." Sokov did not explain the reason, but directly handed the telegram in his hand to Briski: "The flying regiment bombed the German artillery position not long ago."
After hearing what Sokov said, Briski quickly read the contents of the telegram, raised his head and asked in confusion: "Comrade Brigadier, this is good news. Why do you seem so depressed?"
"Didn't you see the content at the end?" Sokov clicked on the telegram with his finger and said: "The Germans have thirty artillerymen left. Doesn't Grisa know that to train a good artilleryman?
How long will it take? If they kill all the remaining artillery by the way, then the German artillery team can be decommissioned."
After finishing speaking, before Briski could speak, Sokov ordered the operator: "Call back Lieutenant Grisa and tell him that since the Air Force has killed all the enemy's artillery, his mission, in addition to confirming the results of the battle,
Just kill all the remaining artillery pieces."
Regarding what Sokov said, Briski thought about it and felt that it was quite reasonable. If the German artillery was destroyed, it might only take a few days to replace it with new ones; but if the experienced artillery was killed,
It will take at least a month or two to retrain qualified artillerymen.
When the radio operator began to send the message, Briski nodded and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right, destroying the enemy's artillery is sometimes more meaningful than blowing up the enemy's cannon."
Sokov thought to himself: Since the flight regiment can attack the enemy's artillery positions today, it can bomb the enemy's marching columns tomorrow. Even when the enemy launches a fierce attack on the assembly workshop, he can order the air force to attack and use three-dimensional defense.
Crush the enemy's attack.
While he was thinking about the problem, the phone on the table rang. Seeing that Zinchenko and Cousteau were not there, he casually grabbed the phone and asked directly: "This is the assembly workshop, where are you?"
?”
"Hello!" A strange voice came from the receiver: "I am from the Army Group Headquarters. Please ask Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to answer the phone..."
"I am Sokov." Knowing that the call was from the Army Group Headquarters, Sokov guessed that there must be something important and quickly identified himself to the other party: "Excuse me, what can I do?"
"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." The caller also identified himself: "I am Colonel Belyavsky, chief of the Group Army's Operations Department. Please come to the Army Group Headquarters for a meeting after dark.
"
"Going to the Army Group Headquarters for a meeting tonight?" Sokov couldn't help being stunned, and instinctively asked: "Comrade Director, can I ask what it is about?"
But Belyavsky did not explain the topic of the meeting to him, but said dryly: "You will know it in the evening. I wish you good luck!" After that, he hung up the phone directly.
"Strange, why are you holding a meeting at the Army Group Headquarters at this time?" After Sokov put down the phone, he couldn't help but said to himself: "It's so strange!"
After Sokov finished speaking, Briski asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigadier, is it possible that our army is about to launch a counterattack?"
"Counterattack?!" Sokov's eyes widened and he asked in surprise: "Comrade Captain, do you think our army has the strength to launch a counterattack against the enemy under the current situation?"
Sokov's words made Brisky silent for a long time, and then he said: "Comrade Brigadier, honestly speaking, I also feel that under the current circumstances, it is not suitable to launch a counterattack. After all, in terms of our strength and equipment, we have
Compared with the Germans, they are at a disadvantage. But now the city is in danger of falling at any time. If the existing passive defense posture is not changed, the consequences will be disastrous."
"Comrade Captain, what you said makes some sense." Sokov knew very well that if the Soviet army launched a counterattack at this time, it would be difficult to escape the fate of failure. But since Chuikov informed him to go to the meeting, it showed that he had obtained
Under the instructions of his superiors, even if he knew it would end in a disastrous defeat, the counterattack would proceed as usual. He smiled bitterly and said: "I guess the topic of tonight's meeting is related to the counterattack."
…………
After dark, Sokov led several soldiers along the traffic trench in the factory area, left the factory from the west factory gate, and went to the group army headquarters for a meeting.
When he walked into the semi-underground shelter, he unexpectedly found that his deputy brigade commander Vitkov was also there. He couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Comrade Colonel, why are you here?"
"The Army Headquarters is holding an important military meeting, why can't I come?" Vitkov reminded Sokov specifically: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't forget, I am also the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Group."
If Witkov hadn't reminded him, Sokov would have really forgotten that his deputy brigade commander was actually the deputy chief of staff of the group army. In order to get rid of the embarrassment, he scanned the room with his eyes and found that there were quite a few people coming, almost all from various divisions.
Seeing this situation, the military commander of the brigade said to himself: Maybe Briski's guess is true, and tonight's meeting is to discuss the counterattack. He asked Vitkov in a low voice: "Comrade Colonel, do you know that tonight
The topic of the meeting?”
Unexpectedly, Vitkov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, actually I know as much as you do. I also hurried over after receiving the call."
At this moment, Krylov came out of the back room. Seeing that everyone attending the meeting had almost arrived, he announced loudly: "Comrade commanders, the meeting is about to start. Please take a seat."
The area of the meeting room was limited, and the long conference table in the middle was relatively short. Therefore, only generals were eligible to sit at the table. The other commanders participating in the meeting could only sit on the benches near the wall.
As soon as everyone sat down, they saw Chuikov and Gurov walking out of the back room. Everyone stood up and paid attention to them. "Comrade commanders, please sit down." Chuikov left.
When he got to his seat, he raised his hand and pressed down, inviting everyone to sit down. Then he nodded to Krylov: "Let's get started, Comrade Chief of Staff."
"Comrade commanders, the Supreme Commander has given our Stalingrad Front a counterattack order, asking us to break through the enemy's siege of Stalingrad at all costs." Krylov picked up an explanation stick and pointed at the wall.
He looked at the map on the screen and said to the commander present: "After study, the head of the group army decided to concentrate his forces to launch an attack to the northwest of the factory area, striving to recapture Orlovka from the enemy within one day.
.After achieving this goal, we will use this place as the starting point for our attack and continue to launch attacks deep into the enemy's defenses in order to join up with friendly forces on the periphery."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Guriyev heard this and couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "I would like to ask, what kind of troops will we use to launch this counterattack?"
Krylov held the explanation stick with both hands, looked at Guriyev and said: "Tomorrow, two infantry brigades will cross the river and enter the factory area. They will be the main force of the attack..." At this point, he turned to face the map.
, raised the explanation stick again: "When they launch an attack on the enemy, the commanders of each division and brigade should actively cooperate with their actions and launch a counterattack against the enemy from existing defensive positions to contain their forces.
"
"Some people may ask, why did we launch a counterattack against the German army under such circumstances?" Krylov put down his explanatory stick and said to the participating commanders: "Because the current situation in Stalingrad has reached its peak.
Critical moment. In the urban area located in the south of the city, more than 70% of the blocks and buildings have been occupied by the enemy. Our remaining troops there have been divided into several small pieces and are still relying on buildings and fortifications to engage in street fighting with the enemy;
In the Yerman District, Dzerzhinsky District, Red October Factory Area, Barricade Factory Area, and Tractor Factory Area in the north direction of the city, although our commanders and soldiers are resisting tenaciously, under the crazy attack of the German army, the defense line is moving forward step by step.
He retreated to the bank of the Volga River.
In a word, if we continue to carry out passive defense, the city may fall into the hands of the Germans. Therefore, we must launch a counterattack as soon as possible to reverse this unfavorable situation."
After Krylov finished speaking, the whole room fell into silence. Chuikov's eyes swept over everyone one by one to observe their expressions. He stood up and said: "Comrade commanders, you and I are very important.
It is clear that at present, our army is far from being able to compare with the German army in terms of equipment and soldiers. Under such circumstances, launching a counterattack against the enemy is tantamount to seeking death. However, the reason why a counterattack must be carried out has just been stated by the Chief of Staff.
After that, I won’t repeat it here. The attack will start in three days. Please take the time to prepare after you go back so that you can cooperate with the friendly forces to complete this counterattack mission."
After Chuikov finished speaking, he saw that the room was still silent and no one took the initiative to speak. After a moment of silence, he briefly asked: "Do you have any questions?"
Regarding the counterattack decided by the base camp, all the commanders remained silent. They were thinking in their hearts what kind of troops they should use to complete the tasks assigned to them by their superiors.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Chuikov could only call them by name: "General Guryev, what do you think of this counterattack?"
"I resolutely obey orders." Guryev looked up at Chuikov and said: "If my superiors order me to attack, I will attack."
"General Guryev," Gurov, who had never spoken at the side, asked: "As far as I know, your division has suffered a lot of losses in recent battles. Is it capable of launching a counterattack?"
"Comrade Military Commissar," Guryev replied solemnly: "Since the superiors have issued a counterattack order, we will carry it out unconditionally. If there is only one regiment left in the division, I will be the regiment commander; if there is only one battalion left, I will be the commander.
I will be the battalion commander. Even if there is only one person left, we will find ways to complete the orders from our superiors."
"General Guryev, what you said is so good." Gurov applauded Guryev's words. He turned to other commanders and said: "Comrades, you have all heard that General Guryev
Did you say what you said? If all of us have this kind of courage and heroism, then there will be no problem in breaking through the enemy's siege of Stalingrad."
Seeing that Guryev's statement was well received by the comrades of the Military Commissar, the other commanders knew what they should say, and they all stood up to clarify their attitudes, saying that they would fight the ferocious enemy to the last man.
Sokov was the only one who sat silently. He frowned and thought: If the troops holding on to the entire factory area are consumed in this counterattack with no hope of success, who should be responsible for the defense of these areas next?
what about work?
Vitkov noticed that Sokov didn't speak, so he touched him with his elbow and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Brigade Commander, aren't you going to say a few words?"
"Comrade Colonel, what can I say?" Sokov looked at Vitkov beside him, and whispered with a wry smile: "Are you going to launch a counterattack against the enemy in front? How many troops are left in the brigade? I think you should be very careful.
Clearly, once all these effective forces are consumed in a counterattack without loss, once the German army regains the advantage and launches an attack on Mamayev Heights, what kind of force should we use to defend it?"
"Comrade Brigadier," Vitkov leaned into Sokov's ear and said anxiously: "I don't think the superiors have any intention of using the troops on Mamayev Heights. They know very well that once this commanding height is occupied by the German army,
, then the city's north-south connection will be cut off, and even if we don't replenish our troops, the troops here will not be mobilized to leave. I am talking about your fourth battalion in the factory area, handing over the defense to the militia in the factory, and then
Then you can attack the enemy with confidence and boldness."
Sokov knew that launching an attack against the Germans would end in defeat, so he said euphemistically: "Comrade Colonel, you don't know that there are too many places to defend in the factory area, and even the annihilation battalions that cooperate with us have been transferred.
If only militiamen with weak combat effectiveness and small numbers are left in the assembly workshop, I'm worried that the enemy will soon gain a foothold in the factory area."
Chuikov also hoped that Sokov could stand up and say a few words. After all, the troops under his command had achieved so many victories, and his speech could increase everyone's confidence, so he personally named Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov