Chuikov covered the microphone with his hand and looked up at Krylov standing opposite: "Chief of Staff, that rocket launcher that Colonel Sokov gave us two days ago..."
Seeing that Chuikov couldn't remember the correct name of the rocket launcher, Krylov reminded him: "Bazooka rocket launcher."
"Yes, yes, that's the bazooka rocket launcher." Chuikov nodded and asked: "Have the soldiers in the guard camp learned how to use it?"
"If you have learned the steps to use it." Krylov heard Chuikov's question and replied with some embarrassment: "But none of them have ever conducted live ammunition shooting, and they don't know whether it can be used on the battlefield."
Seeing that Krylov had guessed his intention, Chuikov stopped explaining and gave a straightforward order: "Chief of Staff, call Major Gladshev immediately and ask him to transfer fifty soldiers from the guard camp.
, carry the bazooka rocket launcher to the Dzerzhinsky Factory to reinforce General Zorudev’s 37th Guards Division.”
"Comrade Commander," Krylov was worried that the soldiers were not familiar with the use of rocket launchers and had been hastily sent to the battlefield and would not be of much use. He reminded Chuikov again: "They have not been fired with live ammunition. Even if they are sent to the battlefield,
I’m afraid it won’t be of much use on the battlefield.”
"Aren't there still a few American instructors?" Chuikov said in a stern tone: "Let them rush to the Dzerzhinsky factory with the soldiers of the guard battalion. Time is urgent, and let them teach our soldiers how to do it on the battlefield.
Use this weapon."
Out of respect for the American instructors, Chuikov sent his adjutant, Captain Klimov, and ordered him to lead the team to the Dzerzhinsky factory, and told him to ensure the safety of the American instructors.
After arranging the reinforcement mission, Chuikov released his hand covering the microphone and said to Zoludev: "General Zoludev, I have sent you a small team carrying new individual anti-tank weapons.
With their assistance, I believe you will be more confident in holding on to the existing defensive areas."
"Great, this is really great." Ruoludev couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that the reinforcements were carrying new individual anti-tank weapons. Before the military meeting, he knew that Sokov
His troops were equipped with new anti-tank weapons, and he once called Chuikov to obtain such weapons, but Chuikov refused without hesitation. After a brief excitement, he wondered why Chuikov became so generous.
Then he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, has the superior sent this new type of weapon to the city again?"
"No." Chuikov answered simply: "These anti-tank weapons originally belonged to the 41st Guards Division, but the division commander, Colonel Sokov, considered that other units also had anti-tank needs, so he handed over some of the rocket launchers to me.
I will assign them to troops in need at my discretion."
After learning that his anti-tank weapons were actually provided by Sokov, Zholudev was still very moved. He said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, please convey our gratitude to Colonel Sokov..."
…”
"I understand, General Zoludev." Chuikov said into the microphone: "You have to remember that you are not fighting alone. If you have difficulties, you can ask for help from Colonel Sokolov's 45th Infantry Division, and they can also help you.
You helped."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ruolujiev replied solemnly: "Please rest assured that as long as we have one soldier alive, we will definitely be able to hold our position."
…………
Sidorin, who was staying at Mamayev Kurgan, made a phone call to his old colleagues at the headquarters when it was almost noon. After learning about the progress of the fighting in the city, he reported to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander.
, your judgment is very accurate, the enemy has indeed launched an attack on the factory area. Not only the fighting took place in the barricade factory, but the fighting in the Dzerzhinsky factory was also fierce."
Seeing that everything was as expected, Sokov nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Since the factory area has been attacked by the enemy, it proves that I won the bet between the commander and me. Our division does not need to fight today."
Launch a counterattack against the enemy."
Knowing that the troops did not have to launch a counterattack against the enemy today, Ivanov was relieved. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Division Commander, when do you plan to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Sokov stood up, pointed at the map on the table, and said to everyone: "According to my judgment, after our Stalingrad Front Army launches a counterattack tomorrow, the three major front armies will
The troops will join forces as quickly as possible and encircle Paulus's 6th Army in the Stalingrad area."
"Encircle the Germans in the Stalingrad area?" Hearing Sokov's statement, Ivanov smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Comrade division commander, you are too optimistic. Even if we dispatched three front armies
The troops are distributed in such a vast area, and the combat troops in each area are still very limited. With the mobility of the Germans, they can completely rush out through the gaps in our defense lines."
Sidorin did not speak, but stared at the map for a while, then raised his head and asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, where do you think the meeting point of our three major front armies may be?"
"Here, Karachi!" Sokov pointed at that important position with his finger and said to the three people: "There is a Don River bridge here. As long as our troops occupy this place, the enemy's retreat will be cut off. Dozens of people will be killed."
The enemy will fall into a heavy siege determined by our army in the Stalingrad area."
"Karachi, Karachi!" After Ivanov repeated the place name twice, he frowned and asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, since we can all think that after the troops join here, they can cut off the enemy's retreat, then Germany
People should also think about this issue. If they send heavy troops to this area, it may not be easy for our army to break through their defenses."
Sokov knew that Karachi was a key location for the encirclement of the German army. If it were not too far from Mamayev Heights and blocked by several lines of German defense on the way, he would have wanted to personally lead a force to seize it and achieve unparalleled feats.
He sighed softly and said: "Judging from the reaction of the German troops in the city today, they did not realize that our counterattack was a well-prepared attack. They thought it was just to contain their strength and prevent them from concentrating their forces on the attack.
A local offensive in the city. In this case, they simply did not realize that their retreat might be cut off by our army."
"The enemy is entrenched on both sides of the Don River, and the area where our army launched the attack is on the left bank of the Don River." Anisimov said with a solemn expression: "Even if the river is frozen, we must seize the enemy positions on the right bank.
, I’m afraid it will also be very difficult. The enemy standing on the cliff will cause huge casualties to our attacking troops.”
"The political commissar is right." Ivanov once led troops to fight in the Don River Basin and was very familiar with the terrain there: "The right bank is full of cliffs. In such bad weather, even if there is no enemy defense above, our soldiers
It’s also very difficult to climb up.”
"The only way is to send people to drill holes in the cliffs, and then plant explosives to blow out a passage." Sidorin said thoughtfully: "This way not only our infantry can go up, but some flat areas can even allow tanks to go up."
It can all be driven up."
Sokov secretly thought that if he wanted to quickly break through the frontal German defense line, he would probably need the cooperation of the tank troops. But now there are only a few T-34s provided to him by the factory director Peter parked in the workers' new village.
When a tank is used for defense, it may be enough to have a turret, but when it is used for offense, it is far from enough.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, if we want to counterattack, I'm afraid we will need a large number of tanks. Now we only have a few T-34s in hand to cover the attack of the troops. Maybe the number is still too much."
A little less.”
"Then what should we do?" Sidorin knew the orders from his superiors and would not replenish soldiers and technical equipment to the troops in the city before the major counterattack began. In other words, everything could only be done by himself. As for the four
The infantry of the battalion was an accident. It was completely given by Yeremenko and Khrushchev for Sokov's sake. If someone else was the division commander, he would definitely not be able to get this supplementary force. Therefore, I heard
After Sokov raised the difficulty, he asked tentatively: "Should we ask for help from the group army headquarters or the front army headquarters?"
Sokov wanted to call Yeremenko or Khrushchev directly and ask them to send him one or two tank battalions to help him launch a counterattack against the enemy in front. However, considering this kind of step past Chuikov, he directly
The method of making a request to the higher-level command organization would cause unnecessary trouble for himself. He decided to follow the procedures: "In my opinion, we should ask for help from the group army headquarters and ask for tanks to be sent to us. If the group army cannot help us,
To provide tanks, it may be more appropriate for Commander Chuikov to submit a request to the Front Army Headquarters."
"I agree with you, Comrade Division Commander." Sidorin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, nodded vigorously, and then said: "I will call the commander later and convey our request to him."
As soon as Sidorin finished speaking, the phone on the table rang. He picked up the phone and heard Chuikov's voice: "I'm Chuikov, is Colonel Sokov here?"
"Comrade Commander, this is Sokov." When Sokov heard Chuikov calling for him, he quickly took the microphone from Sidorin's hand. He knew that the bet between Chuikov and himself had been lost, so he called at this time.
He came here, certainly not to urge him to send troops, but for other reasons, so he asked respectfully: "What instructions do you have?"
"Colonel Sokov, you guessed it right." Chuikov said with difficulty: "The enemy has indeed launched an attack on the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory, and the intensity of the attack is not weak. There is a chance that the factory area will not be captured.
The attitude of never giving up.”
After hearing what Chuikov said, Sokov became uneasy. He was deeply afraid that if Chuikov ordered him to dispatch troops to reinforce the barricade factory or the Dzerzhinsky factory, his counterattack would be completely disrupted.
plan, so he hesitated and said: "Comrade Commander, our division will choose the right time to launch a counterattack against the enemy. If you transfer my troops away at this time, I am afraid that the counterattack plan will have to be postponed or shelved.
.”
"Don't worry, Colonel Sokov." Chuikov knew what Sokov was worried about, so he comforted him and said, "I'm not calling you to draw troops from you, but to tell you something else.
thing."
As long as troops are not transferred from him, other things are indifferent to Sokov. After he breathed a sigh of relief, he asked carelessly: "Comrade Commander, what's going on?"
"Those rocket launchers you handed over to the group army headquarters, I have equipped them all with the 37th Guards Division of General Zoludev." Chuikov said on the other end of the phone: "In the battle that just ended, our commanders and fighters
Using this rocket launcher, six enemy tanks and an assault gun were destroyed."
"The results are good." Sokov only handed over five bazookas to Chuikov at that time, but he did not expect that he would achieve such results after using them for the first time in the Dzerzhinsky factory. Thinking of his subordinates
It took a long time to train to master the use of this weapon, and it is amazing that the Guards commanders and soldiers under Jolu Jeff could learn how to use the rocket launcher so quickly: "Also, General Joru Jeff's soldiers
It's really amazing that the Guards soldiers learned how to use rocket launchers in such a short period of time."
"You are mistaken, Colonel Sokov." Chuikov interrupted Sokov's words and said to him: "The people who use these weapons are not General Zholudev's men, but I transferred them from the guard camp.
personnel. Since you handed over the rocket launcher, I have asked them to learn how to use this anti-tank weapon. When I went to reinforce the Dzerzhinsky factory today, I was worried that these soldiers were not skilled in using it, so I specifically ordered Klimov to take it.
It was under the guidance of those American instructors that our soldiers successfully destroyed the enemy's tanks and assault guns."
When Sokov heard Chuikov emphatically mention the rocket launcher, the ominous premonition in his heart became more and more obvious. He said with some uneasiness: "Comrade Commander, I know very well how powerful the rocket launcher is. I want to ask, please call me."
, what’s going on?”
"That's right. Since the anti-tank effect of this kind of rocket launcher is so good, I want to discuss it with you." When Chuikov said this, his tone became a little hesitant: "Can you deploy a few more rocket launchers and order people to support the infantry?"
45th Division, assist them in anti-tank operations?"
"..."
After Chuikov finished speaking, he heard Sokov's silence and realized that the other party might be reluctant to leave. He added: "Colonel Sokov, you know, the 45th Infantry Division is now responsible for most of the areas of the Dzerzhinsky Factory.
defense work. But because they lack sufficient anti-tank weapons, in order to destroy the enemy's tanks, the soldiers tie cluster grenades on their bodies, rush to the enemy's tanks, ignite the grenades, and die together with the enemy tanks."
At this point, Chuikov's tone became serious: "Since every tank is followed by German infantry, we sometimes have to sacrifice the lives of more than a dozen soldiers to blow up an enemy tank or assault gun. If there is
With long-range anti-tank weapons like rocket launchers, we can minimize casualties."