"Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Sidorin: "Call Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko and ask him to come to the headquarters."
After receiving the call, Papuchenko rushed to the headquarters in a hurry. He didn't even have time to salute, so he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade division commanders, do you have any combat tasks that you want to entrust to our regiment to complete?"
Sokov and Ivanov looked at each other and saw a smile in each other's eyes. Sokov looked at Papuchenko and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you guessed it right, we called you here,
There is an important task for you to complete."
After Papuchenko came to the table, Sokov pointed to the map and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, according to orders from superiors, the 39th Guards Division stationed in the family area of the Red October Factory will be stationed tonight.
Move to a new defense area. The task of your regiment is to take over the defense area vacated by them."
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, I think it is necessary to remind you." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Ivanov continued: "Most of the buildings in the family area were destroyed by enemy artillery fire, and it is difficult to find them.
It will be very difficult for any decent fortifications to block the enemy's attack."
Papuchenko originally thought that Sokov called him here because he wanted his troops to be responsible for the defense of Beigang or Nangang. He never dreamed that the order he received was to take over in the family area of the Red October Factory.
The defense of friendly forces. He knew very well that in the face of the crazy shelling and bombing of the German army, if there were no solid fortifications, it would mean death.
Seeing Papuchenko's delay in responding, Sokov guessed what he was worried about, so he patted him on the shoulder and said calmly: "Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, don't worry, although the enemy's artillery fire destroyed the family members
There are surface buildings in the area, but you can rely on underground buildings to organize defense."
"Underground buildings?" Papuchenko looked at Sokov in confusion and asked, "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what an underground building is?"
"I once visited the family area of the Red October Factory. Most of the buildings there were four-story brick-concrete buildings. After being shelled and bombed by the enemy, even the buildings above the second floor were destroyed.
It was destroyed, but the first floor and basement are still intact." Sokov explained to Papchenko: "You can build a new line of defense on the remaining first floor or basement to prevent the enemy's attack."
"Comrade Division Commander, if there are no trenches connecting each building, it will easily become a situation where they are fighting independently." Papuchenko waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then carefully expressed his concerns, "Arrived
The enemy who has superior strength and equipment at that time can defeat us one by one."
"Don't worry, even if there are no trenches, we can connect all the buildings together." Sokov picked up a pen and paper and quickly drew a sketch while saying to Papchenko: "There are holes under each building.
There is a sewer, and you can make reasonable use of it."
"Sewer?" Papuchenko heard what Sokov said, raised his hand and slapped his forehead, and said angrily: "Yes, why did I forget about the sewer. Although the smell inside is a bit unpleasant.
, but it is more than enough to mobilize troops and transport supplies. In this way, each building is no longer isolated. Wherever the situation is critical, we can mobilize reinforcements from other areas through the sewers. "
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Ivanov waited for Papuchenko to finish, coughed heavily, and then asked, "Do you have any difficulties?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Papuchenko saw his teacher proactively asking him if he had any difficulties, and quickly replied: "After the early battles, our regiment has been reduced by more than half, with only more than a thousand people left. I hope that the division will
It can replenish some of our troops to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops."
Although Sokov had proposed in advance that Shamrih's Marine Battalion should be added to the 122nd Regiment, Ivanov did not immediately tell Papuchenko the good news, but instead set his sights on Sokov.
Wait for him to announce this.
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko," seeing Ivanov's gaze, Sokov naturally understood what he meant and said, "The division has considered that the strength of your regiment has been damaged in the early battles.
Therefore, it has been decided to assign Captain Shamrih’s Marine Corps Battalion to your command.”
After Sokov finished speaking, he wrote a few lines on the paper with a pen, signed his name at the bottom of the paper, and handed it to Papchenko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is to assign the Marine Corps Battalion to you.
Command’s order. You go and take over the troops now and get familiar with the Marine Battalion commanders. It will be helpful for your next battle.”
After Papuchenko left with Sokov's warrant, Sidorin smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, I really didn't expect that you could think of using the sewers in the city to connect isolated fire support points.
Connect them. This will make the Germans depressed. They will soon find that our troops have deployed sufficient troops in every building they attack."
"The use of sewers to mobilize troops and transport supplies can only be hidden from the Germans for a while." Sokov sighed softly and said: "Once the enemy discovers the secret of our sewers, they may use the sewers to attack us.
A sneak attack on a defensive position will be self-defeating."
None of the division leaders present refuted Sokov's statement, because they knew very well that once the Germans discovered that the Soviet army used sewers to mobilize troops and transport supplies, they would soon follow suit.
If you draw a gourd and use the sewers to conduct a sneak attack, the defenders will be unable to defend themselves.
"Comrade Commander," Anisimov asked cautiously: "Suppose, I mean what if. Suppose the enemy really uses the sewers to carry out sneak attacks on the buildings guarded by the defenders in the city, do we have any way to deal with them?
?”
"There is only one stupid way." Sokov raised a finger and said: "Blow up all the sewer exits. The Germans will not be able to use the sewers to sneak attack on us."
"Blowing up the exits of the sewers can indeed prevent the German army from using the sewers to sneak attacks on us." Anisimov said with a wry smile: "But in this way, those buildings without trenches connected will become isolated and helpless again.
We can each fight on our own.”
Sokov chuckled and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, don't worry, there are always more solutions than difficulties. After the Germans know the secret of our sewers, it will not be too late to find ways to deal with them."
…………
After dark, Sokov accompanied the 122nd Regiment to the family area of the Red October Factory to take over the defense of the 39th Guards Division. Seeing that friendly troops were retreating in an orderly manner, he took Papp with him
Chinko went to Guryev's headquarters.
Under the guidance of the soldiers, the two of them arrived at the headquarters of the 39th Guards Division and met Guriyev who had not yet had time to move. Guriyev was stunned when he saw Sokov walking into his headquarters.
Then he stepped forward, held his hand, and asked curiously: "Colonel Sokov, why are you here in person?"
"Hello, comrade general." Although the two men had the same position, Guryev had a higher military rank than Sokov, so Sokov responded respectfully: "My superiors ordered my troops to take over your defense. As a
Division commander, you must check the terrain first, this will be helpful for the next battle."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Guryev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then said to Political Commissar Chernyshev who was packing his things: "You and the Chief of Staff will move with the division first, and I will ask Sokov
After handing over the defense, we can leave."
Chernyshev walked up to Sokov, stretched out his hand to shake him, and then said with a smile: "Colonel Sokov, the last time we met, you were still the lieutenant colonel commander of the infantry brigade, and the result was just
A month later, you will already be the colonel commander of the Guards Division. Maybe when our army defeats the enemy attacking Stalingrad, you will be able to become a general."
After Chernyshov and Sokov exchanged a few pleasantries, they moved away with most of the division's personnel, while Guryev pointed to the map and introduced Sokov to the defensive zone of the 39th Guards Division. Narration
After finishing, he turned over the map and wrote in red and blue pencils on the back: "Transfer the defensive position of the family area of the Red October Factory to the 41st Guards Division. Division Commander: Guryev."
Sokov knew that this was a ceremony commonly used by the Soviet army to hand over defense, so he waited for Guryev to finish writing, took the pencil from his hand, and wrote below: "The 41st Guards Division takes over from the 39th Guards Division.
After Guryev waited for Sokov to finish writing, he rolled up the map. After handing the map to Sokov, he held his hand tightly and said with a solemn expression: "Colonel Sokov, I gave the superior
The defensive position assigned to our division has been handed over to you every inch. I hope you can continue to hold it and prevent the Germans from approaching the Volga River."
"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov nodded vigorously and said: "As long as our 41st Guards Division sticks here, we will never let the enemy advance even one step."
After sending Guryev and several of his guards away, Sokov took the map into Papchenko's hand and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, from now on, the Red October Factory Family Area
Your regiment is officially responsible for the defense. You have to promise me that as long as there is one living person, the enemy will never be allowed to completely occupy this place."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, we will never..." Papuchenko was just halfway through his words when he suddenly realized that Sokov's words seemed to have some language errors, and quickly reminded him: "Comrade Commander, did you say
Wrong, we will not let the enemy enter the family area at all, how can they completely occupy this place?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am not wrong." Sokov waved his hand towards Papuchenko and said: "We only have one regiment of troops. No matter how we defend, there will always be some areas that will be occupied by the enemy. If there is a
In this case, you have to decide whether to carry out a counterattack and recapture the lost area based on the actual situation. If it cannot be recaptured, let the troops stick to the occupied positions and continue to fight the Germans, so that they cannot be confident and bold.
We are advancing towards the factory area and the Volga River. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I will immediately order the troops to enter their respective defense areas." After Papuchenko said these two sentences, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, it is too dangerous here. You should return to Mamaye as soon as possible."
Go to Fu Gang."
"No hurry, no hurry," Sokov waved his hands and said with a smile: "I plan to wait until dawn to see how the Germans attack here."
Hearing that Sokov was going to watch the battle here, Papuchenko couldn't help but become anxious: "Comrade division commander, if the battle starts here, I don't think you can guarantee your safety, so you should go back to the division headquarters overnight."
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko," Sokov knew in his heart that Papuchenko said this out of concern for himself, but as a division commander, if he couldn't even figure out the situation in his own defense area, what else could he do?
Commanding the battle? Therefore, he politely rejected Papuchenko's kindness, "I am not a new recruit on the battlefield for the first time, and I don't know how to preserve myself on the battlefield. Don't worry, I will stay here and I won't add anything to you."
If there is any trouble, I will return to Mamayev Heights immediately after seeing the way the Germans attack."
Now that Sokov had spoken to this extent, Papuchenko knew that it would be meaningless to persuade him any more, so he could only nod his head and said bravely: "Comrade Commander, since you want to stay and watch the battle, I suggest you
Establish the observation post in a relatively safe place so that your safety can be guaranteed."
The reason why Sokov wanted to stay was not to show off as a hero. He really wanted to find out how the enemy attacked the family area. Although through Papuchenko's report, he could also understand the situation of the enemy's attack, but he always
It was not as direct as seeing it with his own eyes. He believed that as long as his observation post was not directly hit by enemy artillery fire, the three platoons of soldiers led by Samoilov would be enough to ensure his own safety.
Sokov and Samoilov walked through the ruined family area, trying to find a suitable place to set up their own observation post. Seeing their figures, the soldiers who were setting up defenses all whispered: "You guys
Did you see that? The person who just passed by seems to be our division commander?"
"What, our division commander? No way, how could he come to such a dangerous place?"
"Is there anything impossible?" A soldier who knew Sokov said firmly: "I saw with my own eyes that the division commander left Mamayev Heights with the regiment commander. What's so strange about his appearance here?
.”
Sokov did not hear the private discussions of the soldiers. After some investigation, he finally found a relatively complete building. He stopped and said to Samoilov: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I'll take it as soon as I see it."