The journey from Mamayev Heights to the command post of the Third Battalion is actually not that far, only less than five kilometers away. But this journey took Sokov a lot of time. Dozens of people were crowded together.
It can make the German snipers helpless. But if they encounter a small German army hiding in the ruins, the opponent only needs to shoot with a few submachine guns or throw a grenade to cause heavy casualties to the troops.
In order to avoid this situation, Sokov divided everyone into three teams. The front and rear teams each had ten soldiers, led by Guchakov and Samoylov respectively. He took the remaining two teams with him.
Ten people walked in the middle. Each team was one hundred meters apart. Even if any team was attacked by the enemy, the other two teams could rescue them in time.
Sokov held the assault rifle with his finger on the trigger. He watched the surroundings vigilantly as he walked. Once anything unusual appeared, his muzzle would immediately point in that direction until he passed through the dangerous zone where he might encounter the enemy.
, he breathed a long sigh of relief when he arrived at Captain Andre's command post.
When Andrei saw Sokov's arrival, he immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, comrade division commander, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the battalion, I welcome you!"
"Hello, Captain Andrei. Nice to meet you." Sokov shook hands with Andrei, walked quickly to the wooden table in the middle of the room, lowered his head and glanced at the map placed on it.
Ask bluntly: "How many people are there in your battalion who control those streets?"
"We still have 1,367 people in the entire battalion, of which 139 are soldiers from the original infantry brigade, and the rest are militiamen and armed citizens." Andre walked to the table and pointed on the map with his hand.
Control area: "The areas currently under our control are Second Embankment Street, January 9th Square, Sun Street, Kursky Street and Gogol Street."
From Andre's report, Sokov found that although the third battalion had a lot of troops, most of them were militiamen or ordinary citizens with little combat effectiveness. It was really difficult for them to defend such a large area. After a moment of silence
Finally, Sokov raised his head, looked at Andre and asked: "Do you have enough troops to defend such a large area?"
"To defend such a large area, we do have a few people, and most of them are militiamen and citizens with low combat effectiveness." Andre said hesitantly: "If the division headquarters can give us more troops,
Maybe I can expand the control area by a street or two."
"No need, just keep the current scale." Sokov knew very well that the most difficult days for the Stalingrad defenders were coming. If Andrei and the others were allowed to continue to expand their control area, they would soon be
It will attract the attention of the Germans. Once the enemy mobilizes heavy troops to compete with Andre and the others in the city, then the unit protecting the left wing of Mamayev Heights may be destroyed: "If you stimulate the Germans too much,
, they will make you the focus of their attack in the next battle, and it will be difficult for you to support it with your current strength."
Seeing that Sokov was unwilling to send reinforcements to him and did not agree to expand his territory, Andre couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but he also knew very well that Sokov's starting point for doing this was to protect himself and prevent him from becoming a
The focus of the German attack.
"How is the situation at Vasily's place?" After a while, Sokov suddenly asked again.
"Vasily?!" When he suddenly heard Sokov's question, Andrei couldn't help but be startled. He thought to himself that his unit was solely responsible for the defense of the city. How could he know the situation of the new battalion stationed at Mamayev Hill?
? But he soon realized that he had made a mistake. Sokov was asking about the sniper Sergeant Vasily, not the new battalion commander Captain Vasily. He quickly replied: "Comrade Division Commander, Sergeant Vasily."
The building we are holding is now the focus of the enemy's attack and is attacked almost every day. Fortunately, the building is still in our hands."
Sokov knew that the Pavlov Building in history held on for 58 days during the Battle of Stalingrad. He was worried that after it became the Vasily Building, different results might occur depending on the defenders. Listen.
After finishing Andre's report, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Andre: "Comrade Captain, leave the work here to your deputy, and you take me to the Vasily Building."
"What, go to the Vasily Building?" Andrei heard that Sokov was going to the Vasily Building, and quickly dissuaded him: "Comrade Division Commander, there are Germans everywhere there, you can't take risks easily."
"The Vasily Building is an important support point located on January 9th Square. Its gain or loss is directly related to the rear security of Mamayev Heights." Seeing Andrei objecting to his going to the Vasily Building, Sokov specifically emphasized
He said: "I will go to the building to meet with the soldiers, and I can strengthen everyone's confidence in guarding the building."
Now that Sokov had spoken to this extent, Andrei could only choose to compromise. After handing over the command to his deputy, he said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, since there are many enemies near the Vasily Building, we
Don’t let too many people go, lest the target be exposed.”
Sokov agreed very much with Andre's statement. If he really brought dozens of people there and was discovered by the Germans lurking nearby, thinking that there were more troops in the building, he might directly call for artillery fire.
attack.
Just as Andrei, Sokov and others were preparing to leave the command post and go to the Vasily Building, fierce gunfire and explosions suddenly came from outside. Hearing this sound, Sokov immediately asked vigilantly: "Comrade Captain,
Where is this firefight taking place?"
After Andrei heard the noise coming from outside, a relaxed expression appeared on his face. He turned to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, if I am not mistaken, the enemy must be attacking the Vasily Building again.
.I think you’d better not go.”
Although Sokov wanted to visit the Vasily Building, there was a war going on there at the moment. If he had to go, he would be putting himself in danger. Sokov would never do such a stupid thing.
However, on the surface, he still ordered Andre: "Comrade Captain, just to be on the safe side, you should call Sergeant Vasily to see if his place has been attacked by the enemy again."
Andrei carried out the orders issued by Sokov very simply. He quickly picked up the phone and asked the communications soldier to help connect the Vasily Building. After hearing Vasily's voice, he asked directly: "China
Comrade Shi, what happened? Did the enemy attack you again overnight?"
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy came over again under the cover of night and tried to seize the building." In addition to Vasily's anxious voice, fierce gunshots and explosions could be clearly heard in the receiver: "Please rest assured.
, we are fully confident in repelling the enemy's attack."
After Andrei hung up the phone, he looked up at Sokov and said: "Comrade Division Commander, I have verified that the enemy is indeed attacking the Vasily Building. It is too dangerous there, so you should not go there."
"Well," Sokov said calmly: "Since there is a fighting there, I won't go."
Andrei knew very well how difficult and dangerous the road to the Vasily Building was. Every time he sent someone to deliver ammunition or supplies, he had to pay a high price. Even if there was no fighting there at the moment, he would take Sokov there with him.
An accident might happen. Now that Sokov knew that he would not go to the Vasily Building, he felt much more relaxed.
But now that Sokov is here, even if he can't go to the Vasily Building, he still has to give some advice on Andrei's work, so that it's not worth the risk to come here. He pointed to the map on the table and said
Andre said: "Comrade Captain, your troops are limited. If you want to completely defend these blocks, you must adopt reasonable tactics..." After hearing what Sokov said, Andre immediately guessed that the division commander might want to teach him defense techniques.
, quickly took out a pen and paper and started recording.
“...The windows on the first floor of the building should be blocked with wooden sticks wrapped with barbed wire to prevent the enemy from breaking in through the window or throwing grenades, causing casualties to the defenders inside the house.
… All doors leading to the outside of the house or stairwells that are not in use must be blocked with furniture and waste to prevent them from being used by the enemy and becoming their attack channels.
...Due to the limited elevation angle of enemy tanks, observation posts, snipers and radio operators should stay on the top floor or roof. This not only has a wide field of vision and is convenient for observation, but also makes them less vulnerable to tank fire.
... If possible, mortars or heavy machine guns should be placed on the roof of the building to kill and injure the attacking enemy from a high position."
After Andrei recorded what Sokov said, he humbly asked for advice: "Comrade Commander, you have told us these defense techniques before, so many of them have been used in actual combat. Do you have any more applicable experience?
"
"Is there more applicable street fighting experience?" Sokov smiled faintly and continued: "Although you control a lot of areas, in order to attack the enemy more effectively, I suggest you divide it into a defensive area and a guerrilla area."
"Fortified areas and guerrilla areas?" Hearing the new term Sokov said, Andrei showed a confused expression on his face: "Comrade division commander, can you explain it in more detail?"
"There are many old stone buildings in the city. These buildings are extremely strong and will be destroyed unless the Germans bombard them with 155mm heavy artillery or use bombers to drop heavy bombs. In such a building, you can
Arrange enough troops to hold on and serve as the firepower support point for your defense line.
As for some buildings that are located in traffic arteries and are not very strong, you don’t have to waste your troops to defend them. You only need to place some soldiers inside to ambush the passing enemies. Once the task is completed, you can immediately move and use them.
The enemy cannot figure out your whereabouts."
Regarding Sokov's statement, Andrei raised his own question: "Comrade division commander, if our soldiers are entangled by the enemy while performing tasks in the guerrilla zone, how can they escape?"
"It's actually very simple to get out." Sokov has a lot of experience in how to conduct guerrilla warfare, so when he heard Andre's question, he answered confidently: "Every time the soldiers enter those buildings,
, they all set some booby traps or traps and move immediately after fighting them. Even if the Germans react quickly, they can rush into the building before the soldiers leave. The booby traps and traps set up in advance are enough for them to drink. Wait for them
After clearing the booby traps and traps, our soldiers have long disappeared. Even if they want to pursue us, they don't know where to pursue them."
Sokov's words made Andre's eyes light up. He had never thought that street fighting with the enemy in the city could be fought like this. He quickly recorded what Sokov just said and asked for advice again.
: "Comrade Division Commander, how large do you think the troops sent out to attack the enemy should be each time?"
"Five to eight people are enough." Sokov pointed at Andre and explained: "The members should be two machine gunners, a sniper or sharpshooter, plus a few soldiers equipped with submachine guns. Such a scale
The small team is very flexible in street fighting. After they attack the enemy in this building, they can quickly move to another building to continue fighting.
If the enemy wants to deal with our guerrilla tactics and prevent their soldiers from being unexpectedly attacked by us during the march, they must deploy sufficient garrison forces in the buildings on both sides of the road. In this way, they
The strength will be dispersed, and then you can think of ways to concentrate your forces and eat these enemies bit by bit."
Sokov was deeply afraid that Andre would look down on his own tactics, and specifically emphasized: "Comrade Captain, maybe the result of each of our battles is to wipe out a German squad or even less, but as long as we fight unremittingly,
, if a small amount adds up to a large amount, the enemy will have a serious shortage of soldiers. Not only will it be difficult for them to pose a threat to you, but on the contrary, they will be worried about being attacked by you all day long, and they will be in panic all day long. "
"Comrade Division Commander, your street fighting experience is really useful." Andrei waited for Sokov to finish speaking and then said excitedly: "This way, I will be more confident in holding the existing defensive zone.
"
"It's not enough for you to understand these tactics alone. After all, you are not fighting the enemy alone." Sokov reminded Andre: "You must also familiarize and master each company commander as soon as possible, so that
Only in this way can you ensure that your defense zone is unbreakable. Do you understand?"
"Comrade division commander," Andrei waited for Sokov to finish and asked cautiously: "I will call some company commanders here now and ask you to personally introduce the new tactics to them. Do you think it is appropriate?"
Although Andre promised to promote the new tactics, Sokov still felt uneasy. At this moment, when he heard that he wanted to invite several company commanders to learn together, he said casually: "Okay, it just so happens that I am still here.
Here, you call them all immediately, and I will explain these tactics to them again."