Sokov knew Chuikov was joking, smiled slightly, and then asked about important things: "Comrade Commander, after the superiors gave us the addition of these four battalions, did we formulate a counterattack plan, or is it going as scheduled?"
"Needless to say." Chuikov replied unambiguously: "If the superiors don't plan to let you fight back, how can they give you four additional battalions for the first time? You know, we have been notified a long time ago.
We will not receive any additional troops until the situation of the counter-offensive becomes clear."
Seeing that his superiors had entrusted him with such an important task, Sokov felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders. He was silent for a moment and asked: "Comrade Commander, can we get artillery and air force support before we attack?"
"I think there should be no problem." Chuikov said: "The artillery of the group army is deployed on the east coast. They have artillery observers at Mamayev Heights. They can indicate the artillery targets on the opposite bank before you attack. As for
As for the Air Force, it’s hard to say, after all, I don’t have the right to command the Air Force.”
Before Sokov raised the question to Chuikov, he had not expected to get support from the air force. After all, for the sake of the overall situation, the base camp would definitely use the air force in the most intense battles with the enemy. But it didn't matter if there was no air force at that time, presumably the enemy
He could not spare the air force to stop his attack. "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will attack the enemy on time."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Ivanov asked with some worry: "Comrade division commander, you are too rash. You did not ask whether the newly transferred reserve team was a recruit or a veteran, and what kind of technical equipment they had.
Promise the commander to launch a counterattack as planned. I'm worried..."
"What are you worried about, my comrade deputy division commander?" Sokov interrupted Ivanov before he could finish his words, "Is it true that since we are all new recruits, we can't defeat the Germans?
Without sufficient technical equipment, won’t we be able to break through the enemy’s defenses?”
"Don't you have confidence in our commanders and fighters?" After Sokov said this, without waiting for Ivanov's answer, he asked himself: "Anyway, I have confidence in them, I believe they will succeed.
We successfully broke through the German defenses and successfully completed the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."
"Comrade Commander, since you are so confident, we might as well study the counterattack plan again." Sidorin suggested to Sokov: "Let's see what else needs to be improved."
"Let's study it some more." Sokov agreed with Sidorin's proposal. After all, the enemy situation has changed. The next one to be commanded by him will be an unfamiliar force. All possible disadvantages must be overcome.
All considered.
While the three were studying the counterattack plan, Seryosha came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, there is a Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov outside who wants to see you."
"Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov?!" After listening to Seryosha's report, Sokov turned to Sidorin and Ivanov and asked: "Do you know which unit this commander belongs to?"
Both Sidorin and Ivanov heard this name for the first time. Naturally, they didn't know which army the other party came from, so they shook their heads neatly: "I don't know, this is the first time I heard this name."
"Lieutenant Seryosha," seeing that neither Sidorin nor Ivanov knew this man, Sokov turned back to look at Seryosha and asked, "Did he say which army he belonged to?"
Seryosha frowned and thought for a moment, then replied: "He said he was the head of the reserve regiment under the front army and was ordered to come to reinforce Mamayev Heights."
As soon as Seryosha said the number of the reserve team, Sidorin immediately reminded Sokov: "Comrade division commander, could it be reinforcements from the east bank?"
"Didn't Comrade Commander say that the troops from the other side can't come over until the bridge on the ice is built?" Sokov said to himself: "How did they come so fast?"
"Comrade Lieutenant," Ivanov said impatiently. He couldn't wait to ask Seryosha: "Where is the Lieutenant Colonel and how many people has he brought with him?"
"I just received a call from the soldiers on duty outside, saying that Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov from the reserve regiment wants to see you." Seryosha looked at Sokov and said: "He is now in Mamayev.
Outside the post, there was only one guard with him."
In order to find out what was going on, Sokov quickly ordered Seryosha: "Seryosa, you immediately call the soldiers on duty outside and ask them to let Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov in... No, there is no need to call.
, you go out and invite them in yourself."
Seryosha agreed and ran out of the headquarters quickly. Ivanov asked curiously: "Strange, why did the commander of the reserve team come so quickly? Has the bridge on the ice been erected?"
"Probably not yet." Sokov shook his head and said: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you just didn't hear Lieutenant Seryosha say that Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov only had one guard with him. I guess
, they must have used some special means of transportation to get here smoothly from the east coast."
A few minutes later, Seryosha walked into the headquarters with a lieutenant colonel wearing a fur round military cap and an khaki short fur coat. The lieutenant colonel saw Sokov standing at the table and hurriedly stepped forward
Standing at attention and saluting, he said: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov, head of the reserve group, is reporting to you. I am here to establish contact with you."
"Lieutenant Colonel Yakubov!" Sokov raised his hand in return, reached out to hold the other person's hand, and said friendly with a smile: "Welcome to Mamayev Heights!" Then he said to the other person again.
Sidorin and Ivanov are introduced.
After Ivanov and Yakubov shook hands, he accidentally glanced at the soldiers brought by Yakubov standing at the door, and then a surprised expression appeared on his face: "Oh my God, this
Isn't it Captain Zu Mingte? What I saw was your ghost, or you in person."
The soldier standing straight at the door couldn't help but be startled when he heard someone calling his name. When he saw the person talking to him clearly, he suddenly exclaimed: "It's Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov."
,...No, I should call you Colonel Ivanov. I really didn’t expect to see you here.”
Ivanov stepped forward and gave the other party a warm hug, slapped the other party on the back with his hands, and said excitedly: "Captain Zuminte, I really didn't expect to see you here.
I thought you had been sacrificed a long time ago." When Ivanov said this, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. He quickly let go of the other party, took two steps back, looked at Zu Mingte carefully, and said in confusion
Asked, "Captain Zu Mingte, why are you wearing a soldier's uniform?"
After hearing Ivanov's question, Yakubov, who was talking to Sokov, replied with an embarrassed look: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, please listen to my explanation. Zumint was once captured by the Germans, and he escaped from the enemy's
After escaping from the prisoner of war camp, he was sent to the punishment camp again. This time, we were going to launch a counterattack against the enemy. The superiors transferred some troops from the punishment camp and added them to my reserve regiment. And this is how Comrade Zu Mingte became
Killed my subordinates."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Sokov saw that Ivanov seemed to be very familiar with Zumingt, so he stepped forward and asked curiously: "Do you know this Comrade Zumingt?"
"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Ivanov nodded to Sokov and replied: "Before the war, when I was the regiment commander, Captain Zuminte was the best battalion commander in my regiment.
Later, his superiors transferred him to General Romanov's 172nd Infantry Division as the deputy commander. Unexpectedly, two years later, he was no longer an officer, but just an ordinary soldier. This made him
It’s too hard for me to accept.”
From the few words of a few people, Sokov had a general understanding of the matter. However, in order to understand the ins and outs, he first asked everyone to sit down, and then asked Zu Mingt in a friendly manner: "Comrade Zu Mingt, can you help me?"
Can you tell us about your experience?"
Zu Mingte was quite worried when he saw that the new division leaders knew that he had been a prisoner of war. But seeing Sokov's kind attitude at this moment, he felt much more at ease, and he boldly
He told everyone about his experience: "After the war broke out, my 172nd Infantry Division was transferred to Mogilev, Belarus, and was responsible for the defense of the city... Facing the enemy's fierce attack, we persisted for fourteen days.
, we were forced to abandon the city and retreat until we ran out of ammunition and food... On the way back, we encountered a dominant German armored force. After a fierce battle, the unit was scattered, and I was captured because of my injuries..."
"Where is General Romanov?" Hearing this, Sokov suddenly remembered that he had heard some stories about the Soviet division commander, and quickly asked: "Was he also captured by the Germans?"
"This is impossible." Before Zuminte could answer, Ivanov rushed to say: "I know General Romanov. Even if he dies, he will never be a prisoner of the Germans."
"Comrade Commander, your guess is correct." Unexpectedly, as soon as Ivanov finished speaking, he saw Zuminte nodding vigorously at Sokov, and then said: "When I am taken to the prisoner of war camp,
It was only then that I discovered that Division Commander Romanov was also captured because of his injuries.”
When Ivanov heard this, he muttered dissatisfiedly: "Did you make a mistake? I heard from my comrades some time ago that General Romanov is now commanding the guerrillas in Belarus and fighting tenaciously against the enemy.
If he was captured, how could he command the guerrillas to fight behind enemy lines?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Ivanov, I'm not talking nonsense. General Romanov was indeed captured by the enemy." Seeing Ivanov's confused look, Zumint explained to him: "The general's injury has improved.
After that, we organized the prisoners of war to take advantage of the enemy's lax supervision and break out of the prisoner of war camp. After we escaped from the prisoner of war camp, the enemy immediately chased us. I was separated from General Romanov on the way to escape..."
"So that's it." After figuring out the story of Zumingt's capture and escape, Sokov turned to Yakubov and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let's put Zumingt's matter aside for now, let's talk about it first.
Let’s talk about your troops. Let me ask you, how many people are there in your reserve group now?”
"Report to Comrade Division Commander." Yakubov replied respectfully: "The whole regiment has four battalions, all reinforced battalions, each battalion has 800 people. Plus some troops directly under the regiment, the total strength is 3,000
Five hundred people.”
Hearing the number of 3,500 people, Sokov couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He originally thought that a so-called full infantry battalion would be good with 400 people in each battalion, but he did not expect Yereomenko's handiwork.
It's so big, and all the reinforcement battalions are given to me are super-staffed, which seems to increase the chance of my counterattack being successful.
After a pause, Sokov then asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are your regiment veterans or new recruits?"
"The fourth battalion is a newly recruited recruit." Yakubov continued to answer: "As for the other three regiments, they are basically composed of veterans and soldiers from the punishment battalion, and their combat effectiveness is pretty good."
After Sokov asked a few more questions that interested him, he nodded with a smile and said to Yakubov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, for the convenience of command, when your troops cross the river, I will break them up and organize them separately."
Join the four existing regiments. Do you have any objections?"
Regarding Sokov's plan to dismantle his regiment, Yakubov was unwilling to do so. However, facing his new leader, he could only bite the bullet and laugh with him and replied: "Comrade Commander, I have nothing different."
I will resolutely obey your orders."
"By the way, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have one more important thing to ask you." Sokov asked Yakubov curiously: "How did you cross the river?"
"The superiors gave us three automatic sleds," Yakubov quickly replied: "We crossed the river on the automatic sleds."
"Each automatic sled can carry two people, and three sleighs can hold six people." Sokov recalled that Seryosha had said during his report that there was only one guard beside Yakubov, and he couldn't help but asked in surprise:
"Where are the rest of them?"
"Comrade Commander, you don't know that the ice on the river may be thick or thin, and not everywhere can be passed." Hearing Sokov's question, Yakubov replied with a wry smile: "The other two sleds are on the river.
When crossing the river, the ice broke and unfortunately they all fell into the water."
"What about the soldiers above?" Hearing that the automatic sled fell into the water while crossing the river, Sokov hurriedly asked: "Are they okay?"
"Comrade Commander, thank you for your concern. They are all fine." Seeing Sokov caring so much for his subordinates, Yakubov was quite moved. He quickly replied: "They all climbed onto the ice in time.
Then we went back to the other side."
"One more thing." Sokov pointed at Zumingt and said to Yakubov: "My deputy division commander just said that Comrade Zumingt was once an excellent battalion commander. Now the division commander
The lower-level commanders were severely attrited during the battle, and I plan to let him serve as a battalion commander. Do you have any problem?"