As a guide, Voroni was supposed to return to the Red October Factory after sending Sokov and others to the place. But when he heard that Sokov was arranging defenses, he couldn't help but interjected: "Comrade Colonel
, can I say a few words?”
Although Voroni interrupted when Sokov was assigning tasks, which seemed very impolite, Sokov knew very well that if the other party didn't have anything important to do, he felt that he would not do this, so he asked reasonably: "Voroni
Comrade Ni, do you have any good suggestions? If so, just say it without any scruples."
"That's it, Comrade Colonel." Voroni pointed in the direction of the Volga River and said: "More than a hundred meters further to the river, there is a conveyor belt specially used for dumping furnace ash, with a row of two
The two-story building was originally a place for workers to rest. After the enemy approached the city, there was no one there. If you want to build defenses in the ditch, it is better to choose there."
Regarding Voronifa's proposal, Sokov did not immediately express his position. He stood on a mound not far away and looked east. Sure enough, he saw a two-story building in the ditch. The color of the exterior had changed.
Like the surrounding furnace cinders, it might not have been easy to find if it hadn't been for Veroni's reminder.
After Sokov returned to Shamrich, he said to him: "Comrade Captain, the defensive position in the gully should be in that building. In addition to using mine carts and sandbags to build a defense line,
You can also set up machine guns on the second floor, so that when the enemy attacks, you can block the enemy's path with three-dimensional firepower."
"Understood." Shamrih nodded and said, "I will send the first company to build a defense line at the small building." After finishing speaking, he paused for a moment and then asked tentatively, "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you plan to send the command
Where is the headquarters located?”
Sokov raised his hand and pointed towards the opposite side of the gully, and said: "You and your battalion headquarters stay on the south side of the gully, and I will take Seryosha's guard company to the north side of the gully. This battle will be fought by
You will have full command and I will not interfere."
After Sokov left with the guard company, Shamrih convened a meeting with several company commanders and assigned them the tasks of each company. The first company was responsible for the frontal blocking. They would use the buildings in the gully to build a barrier to block the enemy.
The advancing defense line. However, the tasks of the other companies are very simple, which is to disperse into the ravines on both sides to hide, without even digging trenches.
After Shamrih assigned the task, Deputy Battalion Commander Yakuda came over and asked him for help: "Comrade Battalion Commander, please let me go to the first company, so that if any problems are discovered temporarily, I can deal with them in time."
Although the commander of the first company is a commander with rich combat experience, Shamrih considered the importance of this battle and has been thinking about whether the battalion command post should be located where the first company is located, so as to facilitate the command of the entire battalion.
Combat. At this moment, when the deputy battalion commander took the initiative to ask for help, he changed his mind and decided to let the deputy battalion commander serve as the front enemy commander. However, he still followed the plan and set up the command post on the south side of the gully.
"Okay, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I agree with your request." Shamrih nodded to Yakuda and said, "It is up to you to decide when the first shot should be fired."
…………
When the Marine Corps battalion was setting up defenses near the ravine, it was discovered by the observation post of the 95th Division not far away. Seeing a unit appearing nearby, the observation post in charge immediately reported the situation to the division commander Gorishny.
After receiving the report, Gorishny immediately rushed over with a platoon of soldiers. The first purpose of his doing so was to understand where the troops who appeared near the gully came from; the second purpose was to consider whether
This force can be used for one's own purposes.
When he was still two or three hundred meters away from the gully, he saw a troop of more than a hundred people digging trenches using the ravines created by the river water. He walked quickly forward and asked loudly: "Your commander?"
Where?"
Seryosha, who was digging trenches with the soldiers, heard someone shouting questions. He quickly put down his tools, jumped out of the half-dug trench, trotted up to Gorishny, straightened his body and answered:
"Hello, comrade colonel, I am the company commander, Lieutenant Seryosha. What instructions do you have?"
"Lieutenant Seryosha, I am Colonel Gorishny, commander of the 95th Infantry Division." Gorishny saw the troops digging trenches. They were all lively young people, and he moved to collect them.
Thoughts of using it for his own use, he didn't bother to ask which part they belonged to, and asked directly: "How many people are there in your company?"
"There are 129 people, Comrade Colonel." Seryosha replied briefly.
"The number of people is really large." Thinking that the number of people in the opponent's company was almost catching up with his current battalion, Gorishny couldn't wait to order Seryosha: "Comrade Lieutenant, I am now officially informing you that your company
From now on, you will be under my command."
"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel." Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Seryosha replied in a neither humble nor condescending manner: "I cannot obey your order."
"Why can't you obey my orders?" Seeing that a young lieutenant dared to disobey his own orders, Gorishny suddenly became angry. He raised his voice and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, you should know that disobeying the orders of your superiors
, what consequences will it bring?”
"Isn't this Colonel Gorishny?" Before Seryosha could answer, Sokov's voice came from beside him. He asked with a smile: "I wonder where my guard company commander offended you?
Are you so angry?"
"Ah, it's you, Colonel Sokov?" Gorishny was a little surprised when he saw Sokov suddenly appeared: "Why are you here? Also, what did you just say, he is your guard company
long?"
"Comrade Colonel, you asked so many questions at once, how should I answer you?" Sokov saw that the other party was openly trying to undermine him. Although he was dissatisfied, he still had a smile on his face: "I am under the command of the commander.
I came here to set up defenses under the orders of the generals."
"Deploy defenses?" Gorishny did not receive Chuikov's notice at all. Naturally, he did not know what kind of defenses Sokov brought his troops here to arrange, so he asked in confusion: "Colonel Sokov, can you tell me?
Why are we setting up defenses here?"
"Comrade Colonel, have you seen that gully?" Sokov pointed to the location of the gully and explained to Gorishny: "According to the judgment of the headquarters, the enemy is very likely to bypass our army.
The defense line of the Silicate Factory then went out from the gully between the Red October Factory and the Barricade Factory to the bank of the Volga River. In order to prevent the enemy from detouring back to the rear of our defense line, the commander urgently transferred us here to conduct
Defensive."
"Colonel Sokov," after figuring out what was going on, Gorishny showed an embarrassed expression on his face. He looked at the location of the trench, pointed to the location where the guard company was digging the trench, and asked.
: "Don't you think your defensive position is too far away from the gully?"
"Yes, my guard company is a little far away from the gully." Sokov replied without changing his face: "But I also deployed a battalion of troops in the gully and on both sides. They
It was enough to teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget."
"So that's it." Gorishny realized that he had wrongly blamed Sokov, and asked with some embarrassment: "Colonel Sokov, since you have come to my defense area, you might as well go to my division headquarters for a cup of hot wine.
Tea bar?"
"Thank you for your kindness, Comrade Colonel." Sokov knew that the war was about to begin, so he had no intention of drinking tea, so he politely declined the other party's kindness: "The enemy's attack may start soon, so let's wait for tea.
Let’s talk about it later when we have a chance.”
"If that's the case, then I won't force you." Gorishny was just saying polite words, and he didn't necessarily really want to invite Sokov to be a guest at his place. Now that he saw that the other party had already refused, he said in passing.
: "Colonel Sokov, we will meet again later, wish you good luck!" After saying that, he stretched out his hand to shake Sokov's hand, then turned around and left with his subordinates.
Looking at Gorishny's retreating back, Seryosha, who had been silent for the whole time, snorted coldly, and then said to Sokov: "It's so shameless to come so blatantly to rob the troops. Misha, this time
Fortunately, you are leading the team yourself, otherwise our company might have become the 95th Infantry Division from now on."
Sokov raised his hand and patted Seryosha's old friend on the shoulder, and sighed and said: "Seryosa, if you were in his position, you might do the same thing."
"What?!" Hearing what Sokov said, Seryosha's eyes widened in surprise: "Misha, do you think I will be the kind of shameless person who goes around robbing other people's troops?"
"Even though he is a division commander, after such a long battle, he is estimated to have less than one regiment of troops left." Sokov said with a wry smile: "And under the current circumstances, the superiors will not do it for the time being.
To replenish his troops, if you were him, what methods would you use to replenish his troops?"
After Sokov's explanation, Seryosha felt that he had misunderstood Gorishny. If he was really a division commander and wanted to defend the position assigned to him by his superiors when the troops suffered serious losses, he would probably
Use any means necessary to contain troops everywhere.
"Continue digging fortifications," Sokov waved his hand to Seryosha and said, "Although it may not be of use, there are no field fortifications on the battlefield, and I still feel uneasy."
Seeing Seryosha wielding the engineer shovel again and starting to dig trenches, Sokov walked up to the telegraph operator and ordered him: "Send a telegram to the division headquarters saying that we have arrived at the designated position. Something happened in the division,
You can contact me on the radio.”
"Understood." The radio operator stood in a pit with half a dozen people, put the radio on the ground, looked up at Sokov and asked: "Comrade division commander, do you still need to send a report to the group army headquarters?"
"No, there is no need to send a report." Sokov shook his head and said, "Chief of Staff Sidorin will report our situation to the army headquarters."
The telegram was sent back to the division headquarters at Mamayev Ridge. After reading the telegram, Sidorin picked up the phone on the table and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the Marine Battalion led by Colonel Sokov,
We have successfully reached the gully and are setting up defenses."
After Chuikov heard this, he was silent for a moment. He felt that since Sokov was personally commanding the gully, the Germans' attempt to get out of the gully to the Volga River would definitely fail. So he changed the subject and asked: "Mamaye
What's the situation in Fugang? Has it been attacked by the enemy?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." When talking about this matter, Sidorin felt a little proud: "Maybe it was our flying thunder cannon yesterday that scared the enemy out of their courage. Before they found a way to crack it, I think they
Maybe I don’t dare to act rashly.”
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin," Chuikov heard from Sidorin's tone that the other party was underestimating the enemy, and quickly reminded him: "The enemy is cunning. Although they suffered huge losses in front of your position yesterday,
, but I believe that they will find countermeasures soon, and you must not take it lightly."
Hearing Chuikov's words, Sidorin immediately realized that he had underestimated the enemy. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander, we will be more vigilant and will never underestimate the enemy."
Seeing that Sidorin realized his mistake, Chuikov stopped criticizing him. After nodding, he ordered him: "If there is any news from the other side of the ditch, please remember to report it to me in time. Do you understand?
"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sidorin quickly replied: "I will give you a detailed report on everything that happened in the gully at any time."
Ivanov, who was sitting aside, waited for Sidorin to put down the phone and asked in a skeptical tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is always a question in my mind. Will the Germans really use that gully?
Out to the Volga bank?"
"Isn't it possible?" Seeing that Ivanov actually questioned Sokov's judgment, Sidorin showed a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I have been partnering with the division commander for several months. Although
He is young, but his judgment of the enemy's situation has always been very accurate. Therefore, when he said that the enemy would pass through the gully and reach the bank of the Volga River, he was absolutely right."
Seeing Sidorin supporting Sokov so much, Ivanov was even more surprised: "Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect you to have such unconditional trust in the division commander."
Hearing what Ivanov said, a smile appeared on Sidorin's face: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, after you have partnered with the division commander for more than a month and understand what he has done, I think you will also
Trust him unconditionally."
"Is it true?" Regarding Sidorin's statement, Ivanov said dubiously: "Then I'll wait and see."