Ten minutes before the start of the attack, Sokov took Samoilov to the trench outside the factory gate, raised his binoculars and looked towards the workers' new village in the distance. But because the light was too dark, he could only forcefully
Look clearly at the outline of the ruins in Workers' New Village.
"Colonel Sokov," Peter's voice sounded from behind Sokov. He was worried that the Guards' counterattack would not go smoothly, so he came to the front to have a look. Seeing Sokov holding up a telescope and looking non-stop, he couldn't bear it.
Zhu asked: "Why has our night attack force been silent until now? Has it been discovered by the enemy?"
"I don't think so." Sokov shook his head and said, "If the enemy had noticed it, the Workers' New Village would have been filled with gunshots and explosions at this moment. But if you listen carefully, you will hear nothing but the sound of explosions in the distance.
There is no movement except for the sound of gunfire." At this point, he raised his hand to check the time and added, "There are still six minutes until the attack starts, so let's wait patiently."
Hearing that the attack would start in six minutes, Peter knew that he was too nervous. He nodded and squatted in the trench. In order to relieve his nervousness, he took out the cigarette case from his pocket and just put the cigarette in his mouth.
Before he could light it, he heard Sokova's deep voice: "Comrade director, if you don't want to lose your life, don't smoke in the trench. I don't know if there are any German snipers nearby. If so,
If so, the spark on the cigarette end is enough to reveal your location."
It was Peter's first time to the forward position, and he really didn't understand that he couldn't smoke in the trenches at night. When Sokov said this, he quickly took off the cigarette in his mouth and put it back into the cigarette case. He stood up and lay down on his back.
Next to Sokov, he said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I didn't know there was such a rule at the frontier."
"It doesn't matter," Sokov waved his hand at him and said magnanimously: "Don't you know it now? I think I won't make similar mistakes next time."
"Comrade Factory Director, Comrade Factory Director." The two were talking when Bolshak suddenly ran over along the trench. He came to Peter, squatted down and said: "Comrade Factory Director, the deputy director is calling.
, said that General Chuikov called you..."
"Comrade Factory Director," Sokov learned that Chuikov had called Peter, guessing that it might be something important, and quickly urged him: "Hurry up and answer the phone."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Bolshak unexpectedly said to him: "And you, comrade colonel, the commander also asked you to answer the phone."
When Sokov learned that Chuikov was looking for him, he quickly put down his telescope and followed Bolshak along the trench towards his command post. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the battalion command post, Bolshak did not slow down.
Speed, still walking forward without stopping. "Major Bolshak," Sokov thought that Bolshak was thinking about something and was not focused enough to even recognize his command post, so he quickly
Remind him: "Where do you want? Your command post is here."
Bolshak stopped and turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Colonel, General Chuikov's call came to the duty room. The deputy director there specifically called my command post and asked me to inform you.
Go answer the phone."
Bolshak sent the two men to the door of the duty room, then turned around and returned to his battalion command post. Sokov stepped into the room and saw the microphone on the table at a glance, but he was not in a hurry to get it.
Instead of picking up the phone, he made a gesture of invitation to Peter: "Comrade Factory Director, please answer the phone first!"
"Comrade Factory Director, Comrade Colonel, you are back!" Seeing the arrival of Peter and Sokov, Zinchenko quickly picked up the microphone on the table, handed it to Peter, and said: "Comrade Factory Director,
General Chuikov wants to speak to you."
"Hello, General Chuikov, this is Peter." Peter took the microphone and put it to his ear, and asked with a smile: "Do you have any instructions?... What, hand over all the new tanks produced during this period?"
For Colonel Bely's tank brigade?... Don't worry, no problem, no problem. We will definitely hand over many of the tanks we have produced in recent days to Colonel Bely... Oh, you are looking for Sokov
Colonel!... Yes, he is right next to me, and I immediately put him on the phone."
Sokov didn't know what Chuikov would do if he came to see him at this time, but he still said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Sokov. Do you have any instructions?"
On the other end of the phone, Chuikov asked with some displeasure: "I just heard from comrade the Military Commissar that your troops had voluntarily abandoned the Workers' New Village during the day. What on earth is going on?"
When Sokov heard Chuikov's question, he unconsciously raised his hand and looked at his watch. He found that ten hours had passed since he ordered the troops to withdraw from Workers' New Village, and Chuikov actually didn't know about it until now. In order to prevent Chuikov from letting Chuikov know about it,
Angry, he took the initiative to introduce the battlefield situation at that time and the reasons for what he did.
"Then when do you plan to take back the Workers' New Village?" Chuikov patiently waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then said bluntly: "I remind you, once the Germans gain a foothold in the Workers' New Village, what will you think about it?
If we take it back, we will pay a huge price."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, my troops are already lurking below the Workers' New Village. As soon as the time comes, they can immediately get out of the sewer and catch the enemy by surprise." Sokov said confidently: "
Just wait for our good news."
Sokov's answer surprised Chuikov: "What, your troops have been deployed in the sewers under Workers' New Village? That's great. When you recapture Workers' New Village, remember to report to me in time." After that, he also
Sokov hung up the phone without giving him a chance to speak.
After ending the call with Chuikov, Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was already two minutes past midnight. However, he did not hear the gunshots or explosions coming from Workers' New Village, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.
Peter and Zinchenko also noticed something strange. They looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes. Zinchenko tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, why is there nothing happening in Workers' New Village?
Isn’t it true that Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko’s troops haven’t entered the designated position yet?”
"That's impossible." Sokov shook his head and replied, "They set out an hour ago. It's impossible that they haven't arrived at the designated location by now."
"But there is no movement at all in Workers' New Village. Is there something wrong?"
"Don't worry, just wait." Although Sokov was panicking, he still pretended to be calm and said, "Maybe if we wait a little longer, there will be news."
Just as Sokov raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, a pack of cigarettes was handed to him. Peter nodded at him and said, "Comrade Colonel, don't be anxious. Let's wait and have a cigarette first."
After Sokov thanked Peter, he took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and held it in his mouth. Zinchenko quickly lit a match and lit the cigarette for him and Peter. Peter may have tried to relieve the tension in the room.
, after taking a puff of the cigarette, he asked Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, I heard that our soldiers were able to seize a lot of German cigarettes when cleaning the battlefield. Next time they seize German cigarettes, how many boxes can they give?
give to me?"
"No problem." Sokov knew that when the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, no one would ask for German cigarettes except for some soldiers who were very addicted to smoking. Everyone generally believed that German cigarettes smelled like horse manure. Sokov
My husband had smoked once before, and it was indeed extremely difficult to smoke. However, since Peter wanted to taste the taste of German cigarettes, he could ask the soldiers to find a few boxes for him when they were cleaning the battlefield, so he agreed very readily: "Wait a minute.
After taking over the Workers' New Village, I will ask the soldiers to send you a few boxes of German cigarettes."
"That's great, let's make it a deal." After Peter finished speaking, he stood up and walked to the door, shouting outside, "Someone's here!"
Following his shout, a worker holding a rifle and wearing civilian clothes walked into the room. He straightened up and waited for Peter to give orders. Peter pointed at him with his hand and ordered: "Take two people and observe the workers."
If you hear any movement in the direction of Xincun, report it to us immediately!"
After the workers left, Peter said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, if there is any movement in the Workers' New Village, my people will come back immediately to report it."
Seeing that Peter had already sent people to observe the movement in the direction of the Workers' New Village, Sokov did not add any more details and asked Samoilov to lead people to perform the same task. He pointed to the phone on the table and asked Qin in a consultative tone.
Section: "Comrade Deputy Factory Director, can you help me dial Mamayev Heights? I want to know the situation there."
In order to facilitate the command, Peter specially asked the telephone operator in the factory to install a high-frequency telephone in the duty room before dark. Without the help of the two factory directors, Sokov would not be able to connect to anywhere. Fortunately, Sokov
Kokov and Zinchenko had a good relationship, and the other party agreed readily: "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment, I will call you immediately."
Two minutes later, Zinchenko took the microphone and said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, we have contacted Mamaev Gang."
Sokov took the phone and heard clearly that the voice coming from it was Sidorin's. Without going around in circles, he asked directly: "Chief of Staff, this is Sokov. How is the situation at Mamayev Heights?
"
"We repelled four German attacks during the day." Sidorin quickly replied: "According to statistics, a total of six German tanks and assault guns were destroyed, and more than 500 German soldiers were killed..."
"Well done." Sokov felt very satisfied when he heard such results. Although there were not as many tanks and assault guns destroyed as in Workers' New Village, this was entirely because the terrain of Mamayev Hill was not conducive to the use of armor.
Troops, the number of tanks and assault guns invested by the Germans will be much smaller. He then asked: "Where are the small teams we have deep behind enemy lines? What kind of results have they achieved?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Sidorin hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "A small team sent by the drawdown regiment attacked a German battalion command post last night, killing more than a dozen captain-level officers, and
There are more than thirty soldiers. However, small teams from several other regiments have not achieved any results."
"What, the other teams did not achieve results?" Regarding this result, Sokov asked with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is this?"
"This, this..." Sidorin became a little hesitant when he heard Sokov's question, not knowing how to answer. At this moment, Sokov suddenly heard Ivanov's voice coming from the receiver.
Voice: "Comrade Commander, it's up to me to report this matter to you."
"Hello, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Sokov guessed that the reason why Sidorin was hesitating must have something to do with Ivanov. Since he was willing to explain it to him personally, that was the best thing: "If you have any questions, you can
Just say it."
"Comrade Division Commander, my unit has been engaged in face-to-face positional warfare with the enemy since its formation. This kind of harassment warfare behind enemy lines has never been fought before." Ivanov explained to Sokov with a bitter look on his face:
"They may need to be given a few days to adapt before they can learn how to fight behind enemy lines."
After listening to Ivanov's explanation, Sokov felt that this was normal. Letting troops who were accustomed to regular warfare fight guerrilla warfare would not be something they could adapt to in a short time. It would take a while. Therefore, he reasonable
Said: "I understand, Comrade Deputy Division Commander, please tell the commanders of the other regiments to let them adapt to how to fight in the enemy's rear as soon as possible. Let them understand that if you want to defeat the enemy, you must not only fight the enemy on the front.
, we must also learn to get behind the enemy's back and disrupt them."
"I understand." Seeing that Sokov did not blame himself, Ivanov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly straightened his body and replied: "I will tell the other group leaders what you said."
After saying this, he paused for a moment and asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, how is the situation there at your place? Are there any heavy casualties among our troops holding on to Workers' New Village?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Division Commander, since I am personally commanding here, I will be able to minimize the casualties of the troops." Sokov did not tell the other party, saying that he had abandoned the Workers' New Village and was now organizing troops to carry out a night attack.
They were prepared to retake the positions abandoned during the day while minimizing casualties. Instead, they warned the other party: "Your task of holding Mamayev Heights is very arduous. You have to promise me that you will not be able to do so under any circumstances."
Let the enemy occupy Mamayev Heights."
"Don't worry, comrade division commander." Ivanov said confidently: "The people are still in the position, and we swear to live and die with the position."
Before Sokov could put down the phone, the workers Peter sent out to observe the situation hurried in and shouted to Peter: "Comrade Factory Director, someone is here from Workers' New Village!"
"What, someone came from Workers' New Village?!" Both Sokov and Peter had surprised expressions on their faces when they heard the worker say this. Peter quickly asked: "Where is the person?"
"Report!" As soon as Peter finished speaking, a second lieutenant quickly walked into the duty room. After raising his hand to salute Sokov, he reported excitedly: "Comrade division commander, the regiment commander ordered me to come and report to you.
Report that we have successfully eliminated the enemies entrenched in the Workers' New Village and retaken the positions abandoned during the day."
"What, the Workers' New Village has been retaken?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Why didn't I hear gunshots and explosions?"