As soon as Sokov returned to the headquarters, Sidorin came up to him and said hurriedly: "Comrade division commander, you are back. Lieutenant Colonel Yakov has called you several times to ask when you will be back!"
"Lieutenant Colonel Yakov?" Sokov asked in confusion: "Comrade Chief of Staff, who are you talking about? Is it a new commander in the front army or group army?"
"No." Sidorin shook his head vigorously and replied: "That's your old friend Yakov. He has just been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel."
Sokov knew very well that Yakov would not call him for no reason. Once he called, it meant that there was something important, maybe related to the newly delivered batch of rockets, and maybe he wanted to ask about the results of the war.
. He looked at Sidorin and asked: "Chief of Staff, do you have any latest battle reports from Lieutenant Guchakov's squad behind enemy lines?"
"No." Sidorin shook his head, "In the past day and night, I have not received any news from the squad. I think they may still be looking for a suitable fighter plane."
After Sidorin reported to Sokov, he immediately thought of a possibility and asked immediately: "Comrade division commander, do you think Lieutenant Colonel Yakov called you about those rockets?"
"I think it must be for this matter." Sokov said thoughtfully: "Other than that, I really can't think of anything else for which Yakov would call me so frequently."
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin waited for Sokov to sit down, poured him a cup of hot tea, and asked with concern: "Have you gained anything from going to the Third Battalion this time?"
"During the day, the soldiers who stood firm in the Vasily Building used mortars and machine guns to attack the fast column passing by on another street, causing huge casualties to the enemy." Sokov drank hot tea.
After taking a sip, he continued: "If the enemy tanks hadn't fired, they could have continued fighting for a while. Unfortunately, we don't have long-range anti-tank weapons. Once we encounter enemy tanks on the battlefield, we can only let the soldiers risk their lives."
If your life is in danger, get close to the enemy tank and blow it up with anti-tank grenades or Molotov cocktails."
"Yes." When Sidorin was still working at the Army Group Headquarters, he had seen soldiers blowing up tanks with grenades or Molotov cocktails during battles, but they basically sacrificed their own lives in exchange for the enemy's tanks, sometimes in order to blow up the tanks.
One tank will sacrifice the lives of more than ten or twenty soldiers. He said with emotion: "If we can have long-range anti-tank weapons, we can reduce many unnecessary sacrifices."
After Sokov and Sidorin chatted for a while, they found that Ivanov was not at the division headquarters, so he asked curiously: "Why didn't you see the deputy division commander? Where did he go?"
"He went to Workers' New Village." Sidorin said, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed it to Sokov, and said, "He said he wanted to see his old army."
Facing the cigarette handed over by Sidorin, Sokov waved his hand and said: "Chief of Staff, the ventilation in the tunnel is not good. We occasionally use the samovar to make hot tea, but it's okay. If we smoke again, the air here will change."
It has to be more muddy.”
"You are right," Sidorin said obediently, quickly put away the cigarette and assured Sokov, "I will try my best to smoke less in the future."
…………
Yakov's call did not arrive, but Chuikov's call came first. He asked on the phone: "Colonel Sokov, it seems that the small team you sent to the enemy's rear did a good job. The German troops attacked the barricades during the day.
The offensive intensity of the factory and the Dzerzhinsky factory was obviously not as strong as usual. It seems that there was a problem with their ammunition and material supply."
"Reporting to Comrade Commander," Sokov waited for Chuikov to finish and immediately continued: "Lieutenant Guchakov's team successfully destroyed the German material storage point at Gumlak Station during the operation the day before yesterday.
However, according to his report, judging from the situation at the scene, there should be no weapons and ammunition in the station..."
"Regardless of whether there are weapons and ammunition among the destroyed materials, this is a huge victory." Seeing that Sokov's reaction was not strong enough, Chuikov asked with some confusion: "Don't you think so, Colonel Sokov?
"
"Of course it is an amazing result," Sokov felt in his heart. As long as the enemy's ammunition depot was not destroyed during the attack, then such results would be greatly reduced, because as long as the German army did not have a shortage of ammunition, it would not attack the factory area.
The attack will not weaken, but at this moment Chuikov has already concluded Guchakov's attack. Naturally, he will not be stupid enough to contradict his superiors: "If there are a few more such victories, the enemy's later stage will be
If huge difficulties arise, the enemy in the fighting area will also have to slow down the attack due to lack of ammunition and supplies."
"Yes, the small teams you sent are very effective in operating behind enemy lines. If possible, I hope you can send a few more such small teams."
"Comrade Commander, this may be a bit difficult." Seeing Chuikov holding such high expectations, Sokov replied with some embarrassment: "We sent several small teams to the enemy's rear to carry out sabotage some time ago, but
The results achieved were not ideal, and even a small squadron was completely destroyed during the enemy's encirclement and suppression."
Chuikov was a little surprised by Sokov's words. He asked curiously: "I would like to ask why the small team that attacked some time ago had a poor record, but this time it was able to achieve such huge results?"
"There are many reasons." Sokov had already made a careful analysis of the fact that the small team sent in the early stage could not achieve the desired results. When Chuikov asked about it, he quickly replied: "First of all, the small team sent in the early stage was not able to achieve the desired results.
, had no experience in operating behind enemy lines, so they still resorted to positional warfare and regular warfare to deal with the Germans. In the context of the huge disparity in strength and equipment between the enemy and ourselves, doing so was undoubtedly seeking death.
Most of the teams dispatched this time are veterans with rich combat experience. In addition, they also carry new rockets, which can launch sneak attacks several kilometers away from the enemy, and can quickly move positions after completing the attack.
, making it impossible for the enemy to find their whereabouts."
After listening to Sokov's story, Chuikov sighed and said regretfully: "It's a pity that there are too few rockets allocated by superiors. Otherwise, some can be distributed to other troops, so that they can also send small teams to go deep behind enemy lines. We have more
If you attack on the road, you can make the enemy miserable."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said sternly when he heard Chuikov's idea of launching rockets: "My troops have mastered the use of rockets after special training. Now, except for the comrades of the old 73rd Brigade,
, other troops in the Guards Division have no access to rockets..."
Although Sokov did not explicitly reject Chuikov, Chuikov was also a smart man. He heard from Sokov's words that the opponent did not want to distribute even one rocket to other troops. He cursed in his heart, a stingy man.
, and then asked: "I just received a call from Yakov from Moscow, asking if you are at my place. I told him not, and was about to ask what happened, but he had hung up the phone. Soko
Colonel Husband, do you know something?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know either. I heard from the Chief of Staff that while I was away from the division headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Yakov called me several times in a row, but he didn't know what it was about.
"Say." Sokov said to Chuikov in an uncertain tone: "I guess it may be related to these rockets. He wants to ask what kind of results have been achieved."
After Chuikov finished listening, he felt that Sokov's explanation was reasonable, so he nodded and said into the phone: "So that's it. Colonel Sokov, Yakov will call again later. You must use the team
Tell him carefully about the results achieved by rocket launchers."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied respectfully: "I will tell Yakov in detail the results achieved by the team."
After Sokov put down the phone, he smiled bitterly and said to Sidorin: "Just now, Comrade Commander asked on the phone what Yakov wanted from me, which made me very embarrassed. This Yakov is really true, I am here
He didn't call me when I was at the division headquarters; he called me right after I left..."
Before he finished speaking, the phone on the table rang. The two of them glanced at the ringing phone. Sidorin smiled and asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, isn't it Lieutenant General Yakov?"
Was it called from the school?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." After Sokov finished speaking, he picked up the microphone before Sidorin, put it to his ear and said: "I am Colonel Sokov, where are you?"
"Hello, Comrade Colonel. I am Peter." The voice of Peter, the director of the Red October Factory, came from the receiver: "How are you doing recently?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Hearing that the call was not from Yakov, Sokov felt a little disappointed, but when he thought of the downsizing group that had set up camp in the Red October Factory, he immediately became interested again.
: "Comrade Factory Director, have my troops arranged defenses in the factory?"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel." Peter said in a positive tone: "I placed them all near the factory building. You know, the fighter battalions and militia teams originally stationed in these places were transferred to Dzerzhin
There are less than 30 people left in the Sky Factory to defend the factory building. However, after your troops arrive, they can solve a big trouble for us. I believe that with them here, no matter how many more Germans come, we will not be able to protect the factory building.
Don’t worry anymore.”
Seeing that Peter was so confident in his troops, Sokov was quite happy. He said into the microphone: "Comrade Director, the troops have just withdrawn from the archives building. There will definitely be a lot of wounded.
I hope you can send doctors and nurses from the factory hospital to treat them."
"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel, you don't need to ask about this. I have already ordered people to take the wounded to the factory hospital and treat them there." After Peter expressed his credit to Sokov, he suddenly lowered his voice and asked: "I
I want to ask one thing, do you think we can defend the city?"
Peter's jumping thoughts made Sokov hesitate for a long time before he realized that the reason why the other party asked this was simply because the defense of the Dzerzhinsky Factory was in danger. Once the German army established a foothold there, they could go directly south from the north.
, in cooperation with the Romanian army to the west, continued the pincer attack on the Red October Factory.
In order to strengthen the other party's confidence, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade director, don't worry, even though the enemy is so rampant in front of you, their strength has been weakened in the long-term battle. We can defend Stalinger
The battle of Le is divided into three stages. The first stage is the defensive stage of our army, which is when the enemy is driven into the city from the Don River Basin; the second stage is the stalemate stage, where we use various familiar terrains in the city
, fight tenaciously with the enemy and prevent them from advancing to the bank of the Volga River..."
After saying so many words in one breath, Sokov felt a little thirsty, so he picked up the teapot on the table and took a sip of water. Peter on the other end of the phone saw Sokov suddenly stopped and couldn't help but anxiously
Question: "Colonel Sokov, what about the third stage? What is the third stage?"
"The third stage is the counter-offensive stage." Sokov put down the tea vat and continued: "Due to our tenacious defense, the enemy exhausted almost all of his strength during the attack, while we have completed the assembly of troops on the east coast.
, we can launch a major counterattack against the enemy. With such a strike, we can not only repel the enemy, but also have the possibility of encircling and destroying the enemy."
Since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet army has surrounded the enemy with superior forces more than once. However, in the end, not only did it not destroy the enemy, but the enemy who broke through was defeated. It was because of the lessons of the past that Peter simply ignored it.
Sokov said the next sentence, and after chatting for a few more words, he put down the phone.
More than half an hour later, the phone on the table rang again. This time, the call was not from Chuikov or Peter, but from Yakov, who was anxious to find Sokov.
After Sokov heard Yakov's voice, he affectionately called him by his nickname: "Yasha, you keep calling me, are you asking about the results of these rockets?"
"Rockets, what rockets?" Yakov was stunned at first, but soon remembered that he had indeed delivered a batch of rockets to Sokov not long ago, so he nodded and said, "That's right, some time ago I
I did send you a batch of rockets, but the reason why I called you today was for something else."
"Something else?" Hearing what Yakov said, Sokov asked in confusion: "Yasha, can you tell me what it is?"
"It's good news." Yakov pretended to be mysterious and said: "You still remember the drawings you provided me last time. Among them are anti-tank rocket launchers. After our repeated testing and assembly, they have been