"Comrade commanders," Sokov asked puzzledly when he saw the melancholy expressions on his men's faces, "I want to ask, what are you worried about?"
"Comrade Commander, didn't you just hear that Hitler promoted Paulus to field marshal?" Makarenko smiled bitterly: "No field marshal has ever been captured in Germany, which means that Paulus has been completely cut off.
If Si wants to surrender, he can only fight to the death with us."
"You can't say that," Sokov said with a smile in order to restore the confidence of his men: "Germany may not have had a captured head of state before, but we can set this precedent. As long as Paulus is captured alive, won't Germany be broken?"
There has never been a practice of marshals being captured. Do you think this is true?"
Everyone spent a few minutes digesting what Sokov said, and then they all nodded and said at once: "Comrade Commander is right, there has indeed been no German marshal captured before. But as long as we capture him alive,
By killing Paulus, we broke the German army's practice."
Seeing that everyone's faces had regained confidence, Sokov felt very relieved. He nodded and said: "Let's put the Paulus matter aside for now and continue to discuss how to deal with the German troops deployed in the department store.
Artillery. That guy is too much of a threat to our offensive forces."
After Sokov's reminder, everyone immediately thought of the annoying artillery in the building, and their moods couldn't help but feel depressed. Finally, Sidorin said: "Comrade Commander, you have many ways, so it's up to you to tell us what to do."
Deal with the German artillery deployed in the building."
"I have been to the department store many times, and I know the architectural structure there quite well." Since Sidorin asked him to give everyone advice, Sokov did not pretend to be pretentious. He stood up and said: "The entire building of the department store is
They are all made of stone, which can completely withstand the bombardment of 76.2 mm caliber artillery, and the second floor is the strongest floor of the whole building. If the Germans deploy artillery on this floor, it will be very difficult to use artillery to destroy them.
difficult.
Therefore, I have an idea, which is to push our tanks to a position about three hundred meters away from the building. At this distance, the German anti-tank crews cannot get close to the tanks, and the artillery deployed in the building, in order to deal with
Our infantry cannot be equipped with many armor-piercing bullets..."
"I understand." Bely, who had been sitting silently in the crowd, suddenly realized when he heard this: "As long as our tanks stop about three hundred meters away and aim at the artillery in the building for bombardment, we can suppress the enemy.
artillery and machine gun fire to cover our infantry's attack."
"Colonel Bely is right, that's what I want to express." Seeing that Bely had understood his intention, Sokov continued: "Since the tanks of the tank brigade are responsible for dealing with the enemy artillery in the building, they will be eliminated.
The task of the enemy's peripheral firepower points must be completed by the artillery. They will advance with the infantry and get as close to the building as possible to destroy the firepower points that threaten our army and cover the infantry's attack."
After listening to Sokov's tactics, Sivakov felt that there was nothing unusual about them. He couldn't help but murmured in a low voice: "This tactic is also very common. Can it break through the enemy's defense line?"
"Colonel Sivakov," Major General Makarenko approached Sivakov and asked in a low voice: "You and Sokov are both colonels, but why can he command a combat group, but you can only command one?"
Where is the teacher?"
Sivakov was stunned by this question. He hesitated for a long time without saying a single word. Makarenko continued: "Since his method is very simple and there is nothing strange about it, why can't you think of it?"
Where to go?"
Makarenko's criticism made Sivakov blush with embarrassment, and he wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it immediately.
"Comrade commanders," after Sokov finished deploying the mission, he scanned everyone again and asked habitually: "Do you have any questions?"
"Comrade Commander, I have a question." After hearing what Sokov said, Sivakov quickly stood up from his seat, raised his hands and said, "I want to ask a question."
"Ask, Colonel Sivakov." Sokov said reasonably: "If you have any questions, just ask, and the chief of staff and I will give you a satisfactory answer."
"Our division paid a heavy price during the daytime attack, and its troop strength should be considered the smallest among the three divisions." Sivakov asked awkwardly, "I wonder if you can give us some additional troops."
"Colonel Sivakov," Sidorin said before Sokov could speak: "Now all the troops are used to attack the department store, where are the extra troops to supplement for you."
"But our division has too few troops," Sivakov continued to complain: "If we don't have enough troops, our ability to attack fortresses will be greatly reduced. I'm worried that the commanders and fighters of other divisions have already rushed into the department store, and I'm afraid we haven't even gotten close yet.
.”
Sidorin was about to say a few more words, but Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Colonel Sivakov, before the attack tomorrow, I can give you a regiment of troops. But if you get the supplement, you still can't fight with me."
What should we do if other divisions rush into the department store at the same time?"
Sokov's words stopped Sivakov in his tracks. His face turned red and he didn't know how to answer for a moment. Fortunately, his division political commissar Lieutenant Colonel Yegorov came to his rescue in time. He straightened his body and approached
Sokov expressed his position: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, if we cannot rush into the building at the same time as the commanders and fighters of other divisions, you will remove us from our posts."
Regarding Yegorov's rhetoric, Sokov just smiled faintly and thought to himself: Even if I want to remove you from your posts, I don't have the right. He quickly changed the subject and asked the other commanders: "Other comrades
Do you have any other questions?"
"No." The commanders sitting below replied in unison.
"Since there is no problem, let's adjourn the meeting."
The other commanders left, and only Ivanov and Bely stayed. Seeing that everyone was almost gone, Bely asked with some worry: "Misha, I'm worried about bombarding the building at close range.
It may cause the building to collapse, and if Paulus is killed, wouldn’t all our previous work be in vain?”
"Don't worry, Colonel Bely." Sokov picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a few cigarettes, and handed them to Ivanov, Bely and Sidorin in turn. He just put the cigarette in his mouth,
Sidorin lit a match and helped him light the cigarette. After taking a puff, he said to Bely: "The basement is very solid and solid. Even if the whole building collapses, it will not pose much of a threat to the people inside."
"
"But if collapsed masonry and rubble blocks the exit, we won't be able to find the location of Paulus' headquarters."
"There will be a way." After Sokov said this, he asked Bely: "Colonel Bely, how many tanks and self-propelled artillery do you have in hand?"
"There are still 31 tanks and 5 self-propelled artillery." Bely replied with a wry smile: "This is all my property. If I lose a little, I will become a mere commander."
"Colonel Bely, when you bombard the department store tomorrow, don't let the self-propelled artillery participate." Sokov said: "Their armor protection capabilities are far inferior to our tanks. Let the self-propelled artillery stay behind.
Maybe it won’t be long before they can be put to use again.”
In response to Sokov's order, Bely nodded and replied: "Understood, I will leave the self-propelled artillery behind and let them park in the ruins to eliminate those firepower points that pose a great threat to our army."
…………
At dawn the next day, the attack on the department store began again.
Sivakov's division, which was responsible for attacking on the right wing, in order to prevent the troops from being hit by precise German artillery fire as they advanced, Sivakov ordered the scouts to release smoke on the way forward. Now it was better, the enemy saw
Out of sight, the Soviet army was also out of sight, and the entire attack fell into chaos.
After receiving the report, Sokov quickly came to the top of the slope, raised his telescope and looked at the fighting area. Fireballs or black smoke rose from the center and left wing from time to time, while the right wing responsible for Sivakov's division was shrouded in
Amidst a gray-white smoke.
"Nonsense, absolutely nonsense." Sokov returned to his headquarters, immediately called Sivakov, and asked sternly: "Colonel Sivakov, what are you doing, why are you in your own position?"
up, releasing so much smoke."
"Comrade Commander," Sivakov said with a sad face: "In order to block the sight of the German artillery and machine gunners, I ordered people to release a large amount of smoke on the position. But I did not expect that after the smoke was released, there would be no wind at all.
None, and as a result, our entire area was shrouded in smoke."
"What do you have in mind?" Sokov asked coldly.
"What else can be done?" Sivakov replied listlessly: "We can only wait for the fog to clear before allowing the infantry to attack."
"If the smoke doesn't disperse for an hour, will you not attack for an hour? If it doesn't disperse for two hours, will you just wait for two hours?" Faced with Sivakov's negative mood, Sokov was very angry.
He said: "Although the visibility in the smoke is low, as long as you know the general direction, you can sneak into the enemy's position. After the smoke dissipates, you can catch the enemy by surprise."
In addition, tanks are not affected by smoke. As long as they get close to the department store, they can aim at pre-set targets and bombard the enemy."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov speaking so confidently, Sivakov could only say helplessly: "I will follow the method you mentioned and let the tanks and infantry attack in the smoke."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin asked worriedly: "Comrade division commander, is it too risky to attack in the smoke?"
"Yes, the visibility in the smoke is indeed very low." Sokov said: "But we can't see clearly, and the enemy can't see clearly either. We have to take advantage of the favorable opportunity when they can't observe, and approach the department store at a glance.
, as soon as the smoke dissipates, we will launch an assault immediately."
Malinin called again and said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, Comrade Commander will return from Moscow tomorrow morning. He will stay at the headquarters and wait for your good news. I hope your performance will not disappoint you."
His expectations.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please rest assured." Sokov expressed his determination to Malinin: "We will definitely capture the department store and capture Paulus alive."
As soon as he heard Paulus' name, Malinin couldn't help but ask again: "Colonel Sokov, are you really sure that Paulus is hiding in the basement of the department store?"
"It's absolutely certain." Sokov said calmly: "And he has no way out. He is just waiting for us to capture him alive."
"Very good. If you can really capture Paulus alive, I will join hands with Comrade Commander to ask for credit for you." Malinen said on the phone: "I hope you won't let our joy be in vain."
After receiving Sokov's order, Sivakov asked the leading group responsible for the main attack to follow the tanks and slowly approach the enemy's position. The German troops gathered in the trenches heard the smoke coming from the front.
The roar of tank engines and the slogans of "Ula". They could not see where the attacking Soviet troops were at any time, but they still aimed at the smoke and kept shooting. Although such shooting had limited effect,
Still caused some casualties to Sivakov's division.
When Sivakov received a report from the front that the casualties of the troops were much less than expected. After he put down the phone, he said to Yegorov sitting aside: "Comrade Political Commissar, it seems that our cluster commander
The soldiers are quite capable and know how to use the smoke as cover to quietly approach the enemy's positions and minimize casualties."
The two infantry divisions attacking from the center and left wing became the focus of the German attack. Artillery shells hit the ground attacking troops for free, causing huge casualties to the Soviet army.
The 122nd Regiment of the 41st Guards Division, which was attacking from the left wing, saw fierce enemy artillery fire. The regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, ordered the infantry to lie down on the spot, then called Bely and said loudly: "Colonel Bely, the enemy
The artillery fire is very fierce, hurry up and bring your tanks up."
Belly, who was driving a tank, received a call from Papchenko and said angrily: "Hell, there are big and small craters everywhere on our way forward. We can't move fast even if we want to. You guys have to think of your own solutions."
Bar."
Since the tanks would not be able to get through for a while, continuing to charge the infantry would only cause unnecessary casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko kept in mind Sokov's principle of a steady attack and ordered the commanders and fighters of the entire regiment to choose concealment on the spot.
At the location, it would not be too late to wait for the tanks of the tank brigade to arrive and suppress the enemy's firepower points with artillery fire before launching an attack. Therefore, he specially issued an order to the commanders of each battalion, telling them: "Without my order, everyone will
Just lie down in the crater and hide behind the rubble, and no one is allowed to act without permission."
Although the infantry attack had stopped, Papuchenko was not idle. He ordered the chief of staff to mobilize more than a dozen sharpshooters and rush to the forefront, using their marksmanship advantages to kill those firepower points that were extremely threatening.