Early the next morning, Sokov began to readjust the defenses of Mamayev Heights.
Sokov first regrouped the sailors assigned to each battalion and returned them to the Marine Battalion in Shamrih to defend the North Point position; while the new 1st and 2nd Battalions after the merger were responsible for the South Point position.
defense. As for Andrei's third battalion, they still stayed in the city to engage in street fighting with the enemy, preventing the enemy from attacking Mamayev Heights from the flanks.
Regarding Sokov's arrangements, Belkin asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, when you readjust the defensive deployment of the downsized regiment, do you plan to concentrate on the defense of Mamayev Heights?"
"That's right." Naturally, Sokov would not hide his true thoughts from Belkin, his old partner: "Since we are no longer responsible for the defense of the Red October Factory, we should focus all our energy on
Mamayev Hill. As long as we hold here, the enemy will not be able to separate our defense line or cut off our connection with the east coast. As long as soldiers, weapons and ammunition are continuously transported in, the enemy will be able to seize the city.
If you try, you will not succeed."
"Would the deputy division commander have any objections to our regiment not participating in this counterattack?" Belkin asked tentatively: "After all, all the troops that will go into battle will be his subordinates."
"Commander Belkin, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov comforted the other party and said, "I will explain it to Colonel Ivanov."
While the two were talking, the phone on the table rang. Sidorin stood up, picked up the phone, and said: "I am Chief of Staff Sidorin, where are you? ... Comrade Commander, hello! ...
...Do you have any instructions? ...Artillery observers?...Some of them are there. There are still two artillery observers sent from the east coast. I wonder what tasks you want to entrust them to complete?...
…Understood, I will convey your thoughts to Comrade Senior Commander.”
Seeing Sidorin put down the phone, Sokov immediately asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what did the commander say on the phone? I seem to have heard him mention the artillery observer thing."
"The commander said on the phone," Sidorin replied: "The counterattack will officially begin at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"
"What, nine o'clock tomorrow morning?" Hearing the time Sidorin said, Sokov couldn't help being startled: "Hell, the superiors said that there were three divisions of troops participating in the counterattack this time, but now there are only three divisions in the city.
Gurdiev's 308th Division, my 41st Guards Division and another infantry division haven't even seen their shadows yet, and they will launch a counterattack tomorrow, what will I use to counterattack?"
"Comrade division commander, don't be anxious!" Sidorin naturally understood why Sokov was anxious, and quickly explained: "I haven't finished speaking yet. The commander said that in order to speed up the troops' entry into the city, he planned to let
Troops of the 41st Guards Division boarded barges at Red October Town, then went down the river and disembarked from Beigang."
"Down the river?" Sokov thought about the last time he returned to the city, he had planned to take a boat down the river, but his superiors reminded him that there was a section of the river where the water flow was slow and it was a German artillery blockade.
If he wanted to pass through that area by boat, he might be wiped out by the enemy's artillery fire. Sokov was so frightened that he had no choice but to give up the plan. When he heard that Ivanov planned to lead his troops this way, he was immediately anxious.
He didn't want to become a bare division commander, so he said loudly: "Don't Comrade Commander know that a section of the river from Red October Town is in the blockade area of German artillery fire? The slow-moving barges passing there will be very
Easily sunk by enemy fire."
Sidorin waited for Sokov to finish speaking before he said: "Comrade division commander, the commander has taken into account your concerns. Due to some circumstances, the original plan must be adjusted, so we can only risk the troops."
We have passed that dangerous section of the river by boat. He just called and asked us to send artillery observers to monitor the movements of the enemy's artillery. Once the exact location is found, we will immediately call in our army's artillery fire to suppress it."
Sokov knew in his heart that even if the artillery observers discovered the location of the German artillery in the shortest time, measured the position in time and reported to the artillery on the east coast, it would still take at least 10 seconds to call in artillery fire to destroy the enemy's artillery.
Five or six minutes. Five or six minutes may not seem like a long time, but the German artillery can fire at least hundreds of shells. Even if it cannot sink even one barge, it can still cause huge casualties to the soldiers on the barge.
In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, he was going to call Chuikov and ask if he could counterattack according to the original time. But just when his hand touched the microphone, he suddenly remembered that Sidorin had mentioned that the reason for attacking in advance was
Because the situation had changed, I asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you just said that something happened. Can you tell me what happened?"
"In order to prevent us and our friendly forces from joining forces north of Orlovka, the enemy concentrated a large number of infantry. Under the cover of aircraft, tanks and artillery, they launched attacks on the unknown highlands again and again. The troops holding on to the position,
One division is lost almost every day." Sidorin replied with a serious expression: "And our troops approaching Orlovka were stubbornly blocked by the enemy and could not move forward at all. The commander was worried that if the unknown
If the high ground is lost, the enemies heading north will turn around and head south, and then our counterattack will become more difficult."
Sokov did not expect that the situation north of Orlovka would become so severe. If the German army really recaptured the unknown heights, it would mean that the attempt to reunite the troops inside and outside the city would be in vain. At that time, the Germans would only need to stay
Deploy a small number of troops and rely on the difficult terrain to block Rokossovsky's troops, and then confidently and boldly mobilize troops to deal with the city defenders to the south.
Seeing that he could not change the matter, Sokov sighed secretly in his heart, and then asked: "When will Colonel Ivanov's troops set off?"
"Let's set off when it gets dark." Sidorin explained to Sokov: "After dark, the enemy's air force will not be able to dispatch, and the chance of their artillery hitting the target will be greatly reduced. At the same time, the enemy's air force will be deployed in the mountains.
The artillery observers on the post can also preparatoryly judge the location of the enemy's artillery positions based on the muzzle flash of the German artillery fire, and summon our artillery to carry out precise strikes, striving to destroy the enemy's artillery positions in the shortest possible time.
"
"When a unit lands in an unfamiliar area, it's better during the day. At least it can see the surrounding environment clearly; but not at night. It's easy to cause chaos in the dark." Sokov told Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must
Someone needs to be sent to respond."
"Don't worry, comrade division commander." Sidorin assured Sokov: "I will definitely let my comrades in the 41st Guards Division successfully board the Beigang position." After saying this, he paused for a moment.
, and then asked, "Comrade Division Commander, I would like to ask, where will the soldiers of the Guards Division be placed after they land?"
Sokov had previously calculated that the tunnel fortifications on the two hills in the north and south could accommodate 6,000 people at the limit. This time, 8,000 people came at once. If they were all crammed into the tunnel, it might cause a suffocation incident. Therefore.
After thinking for a while, he replied: "The space in the tunnel is limited, and I'm afraid it cannot accommodate so many troops at once. According to our combat deployment yesterday, the 122nd and 124th Guards Regiments, as the first echelon, will first launch an attack on the enemy.
, and the second echelon is composed of the 125th Guards Regiment. In my opinion, let the 125th Regiment stay in the tunnel, and the two offensive regiments will be deployed in the open land east of Nangang."
When the infantry brigade was stationed at Mamayev Hill, it was stationed in the open space to the east of South Hill for a long time. Therefore, Sidorin did not object to Sokov's statement, but nodded and said: "
Okay, comrade division commander. After the soldiers of the Guards Division land, I will send the guard battalion to settle them."
When Belkin heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "Comrade division commander, it's cold today, especially the temperature is even lower at night. If the soldiers stay in the open ground, will frostbite occur? Once it occurs
With a large area of frostbite, I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly reduced in tomorrow's offensive battle."
Belkin's words reminded Sokov that when he was doing business in Moscow in his previous life, the market where he worked had implemented the 007 policy, requiring merchants to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 4 weeks a month.
Open for business. It was also October at that time. Since there was no heating, it didn't matter during the day. At night, the merchants who set up stalls on the roadside had suffered a lot of frostbite. So much so that the next day and a week, there were ambulances from the hospital.
Come and treat those merchants suffering from frostbite.
In order to avoid a recurrence of similar incidents, Sokov thought for a long time and then asked Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, do we still have tents in the warehouse?"
"Yes," Sidorin nodded and said, "There are tents that can accommodate five to six thousand people, but I'm worried that after dawn, the place where the tents are placed will be discovered by enemy reconnaissance planes, which will lead to bombing.
Trouble."
"The tents are arranged on the east side of Nangang just to prevent the soldiers of the Guards Division from getting frostbite at night." Sokov said to Sidorin: "As for tomorrow's daytime, the enemy's attention will be distracted by our counterattack.
Attracting people, they don’t even care about the tents we set up.”
"Then I will immediately arrange manpower to move all the tents out." Sidorin is also a smart man. Although Sokov did not say it clearly, he also knew what to do: "As soon as it gets dark, let the soldiers from the guard camp
Set up tents in the open space so that the soldiers of the Guards Division can find a suitable place to spend the cold night."
After dark, Sokov took Belkin to the observation post on the top of the hill. He raised his telescope and looked up the Volga River, trying to see whether Ivanov's fleet had set off. Then due to the darkness
It was too dark and visibility was limited, so he couldn't see anything clearly.
I don’t know how long it took, but a red light suddenly appeared from the direction of the German defense area. Belkin, who was standing aside, exclaimed: "Comrade division commander, the enemy has begun shelling!" After saying these words, he directed at
The artillery observer shouted, "Comrade observer, quickly determine the location of the enemy's artillery, and then call for artillery fire from the east bank to suppress it."
While Belkin was busy, Sokov did not even look in the direction of the enemy's artillery position. He held up his binoculars and looked intently at the upper reaches of the Volga River, hoping to spot the fleet going down the river. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
can not see.
After a while, Sokov saw a ball of fire. He quickly saw clearly that it was a barge that had been hit by enemy artillery fire, and the supplies piled on the bow were burning. Although there was no one around,
, but Sokov's heart still felt as if something had suddenly tugged at him. He was worried that a shell would penetrate the deck and cause casualties to the soldiers staying in the cabin.
With the help of the fire, Sokov saw water columns rising into the sky from time to time around the barge. However, because it was too dark, the shooting accuracy of the German artillery was greatly reduced. Except for the unlucky barge, they had no more
Hit any target.
The sound of artillery on the east bank rang out. In addition to cannons and howitzers, the artillery commander even used rocket launchers. Sokov saw one rocket after another dragging a long flame tail, flying over his head.
After drawing beautiful arcs in the sky, it plunged into the German artillery position that was shelling, turning the place into a sea of fire. A few minutes later, the German artillery position that was hit by Soviet artillery fire was completely mute.
Seeing the enemy's artillery fire stop, Sokov let out a breath and said with relief: "Thank God, the enemy's artillery fire was suppressed by our army. It seems that Colonel Ivanov can successfully land the troops with his troops."
Belgin also saw the burning barge and said worriedly: "Comrade division commander, look at that barge. The fire has not weakened. Could it be that all the soldiers on board have died?"
"Hell, the enemy's shelling has stopped. Why haven't I seen anyone coming out to put out the fire?" Sokov felt the same way about Belkin's statement. Logically speaking, the enemy's shelling had stopped and he was hiding in the cabin.
The soldiers should have come out to put out the fire, but on the deck illuminated by the fire, there was not even a single figure. Could it be that all the soldiers on the ship were sacrificed?
This idea was vetoed by Sokov as soon as it came up. A barge can carry thousands of people, and judging from the damage to the ship, it only received two or three shells at best. How could it be possible to kill the people on the ship?
Were they all killed? The exit must have been blocked by fire, preventing the soldiers in the cabin from coming out to put out the fire.
Thinking of this, he said to Belkin: "I think there may be a fire at the entrance, which prevents the soldiers hiding in the cabin from coming out to put out the fire. Unfortunately, we are too far away, even if we want to help them, we can do everything
No. I just hope God bless more people on this barge to survive."