Sokov knew very well that when the Stalingrad meat grinder was about to start operating, the loss of personnel would be unimaginable. The average survival time of the soldiers who came here was no more than 24 hours, and the average survival time of the officers was only 72 hours.
It will be extremely difficult for you to replenish your troops in the future, so you must take advantage of the current situation when the number of troops is not too tight and try every means to enrich your troops with various types of troops.
Out of such considerations, Sokov immediately agreed to Belkin's proposal: "Since the political commissar comrades said so, then Captain Golya will stay with your troops." In order to prevent the other party from rejecting him.
, he immediately added, "Don't worry, Comrade Captain, I will continue to retain your designation. When the supplementary troops sent by your superiors arrive, your division can be rebuilt immediately."
"Keep the designation?!" When Golya heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask, how can we retain the designation of our division?"
"Captain Golya, I will not break up your men and organize them into various companies." In order to reassure Golya, Sokov said to him: "Based on the original commanders and fighters of the original 192nd Division, I
I will add another 200 people to you and form a new battalion, designated the 192nd Battalion, with you as the battalion commander. How about it, no problem?"
After listening to Sokov's arrangement, the expression on Golya's face became relaxed. He shook his head and replied: "No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. I will resolutely obey your arrangement."
"Captain Golya, why are you still calling him Lieutenant Colonel Comrade?" Belkin said with a smile: "From now on, you are already a member of our 73rd Infantry Brigade, you should call him Brigade Commander."
."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Captain Golya said in an obedient manner and immediately changed his address to Sokov: "I wonder where you plan to deploy our battalion?"
"Anyway, the training time of the security company has been greatly reduced recently. That area is empty, so why not station your battalion there first." Sokov said: "When the time is right, we will adjust your accommodation.
."
"Comrade Brigadier, even if our battalion only has more than 300 people now, to house them, we need at least sixty or seventy tents." Golia asked with some worry: "I wonder how many tents the brigade headquarters can provide us?
"
Since most of the troops of the infantry brigade have now entered the tunnel, the tents where they used to live are now empty. When Sokov heard Golya mentioning the tents, he ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we are now
Aren’t there a lot of empty tents? Let’s allocate eighty tents to the comrades of the 192nd Battalion so that they can have a good rest.”
Golya thought that after he made the request, Sokov could provide him with thirty tents, which was already the limit. In his heart, he had even made plans to let ten soldiers squeeze into one tent. Unexpectedly,
The other party was so generous that he promised to give him eighty tents in one fell swoop. He quickly said gratefully: "Comrade Brigadier, I represent the 192nd Division... No, it's all the commanders and soldiers of the 192nd Battalion. Thank you!"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov continued to say to Sidorin after solving the accommodation problem for Golia's 192nd Battalion: "Deploy no less than two hundred people from other battalions as soon as possible and enrich them into the 192nd Battalion to ensure that
They can re-form a strong fighting force in the shortest possible time."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I suggest that the additional soldiers of the 192nd Battalion be drawn from the 1st, 2nd and 4th Battalions." As the chief of staff, Sidorin knows the strength of each battalion in the brigade best.
After Cove finished speaking, he took the initiative to propose to the other party: "The third battalion has the smallest number of troops, so I think we won't deploy them for the time being."
Just as the soldiers of the 192nd Battalion were setting up tents in the area arranged for them, the roar of aircraft engines suddenly came from the air. As soon as these soldiers who had just withdrawn from the right bank of the Don River heard this sound, they immediately instinctively
Find a place to hide.
The soldiers of the guard company who were temporarily called to help couldn't help but laugh when they saw the embarrassed appearance of their new comrades. There are those kind-hearted soldiers who shouted to those comrades who were looking for cover: "Don't worry, don't worry,
It's a German reconnaissance plane, it's not dangerous."
Hearing the shouts of the soldiers from the guard company, the frightened soldiers gradually calmed down. They stood up from their hiding places, looked up into the sky, and saw clearly the enemy planes hovering in the sky. Sure enough, it was an enemy plane without
The armed reconnaissance plane put the heart in his throat back into his stomach.
Sokov heard the sound of the aircraft engine, walked out of the tent, looked into the sky and asked Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the enemy's reconnaissance planes visit Mamayev Heights every day, you said they discovered what we built
Have the fortifications been carried out?”
"The surface fortifications on the hillside must have been detected. As for the fortifications in the tunnels, unless the German pilots have clairvoyant eyes, they cannot be discovered at all." When Sidorin said this, he suddenly said hesitantly: "But..."
Seeing that Sidorin was hesitant to speak, Sokov asked anxiously: "But what? Comrade Chief of Staff, if you have anything to say, just say it all at once. Don't leave half of it and make people anxious."
"
"Comrade Brigadier, the tunnel connecting the north and south slopes has not been completely completed so far." Sidorin replied: "There is no problem with the tunnel using the underground digging method. German pilots will never be able to discover it.
.However, the tunnel using the open-cut method has been repeatedly scouted by German reconnaissance planes. I am worried that once the battle starts near Mamayev Hill, the location of that tunnel will become the focus of German bombing."
Regarding Sidorin's worries, Sokov waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff. Even if the enemy discovers the tunnel using the open-cut method, they won't care. They may even take it.
Treat it as a trench or anti-tank trench dug by us, and we will not waste their precious bombs casually."
Seeing the reconnaissance plane circling in circles over Mamayev Heights, Sokov said to Sidorin and Belkin who were standing aside: "There is nothing to see, let's go back to the tent first."
The three of them had just walked into the tent when suddenly there was a rumble of artillery fire outside. Hearing this sound, Sokov's heart sank suddenly and he thought to himself: Could it be the Germans who started to attack Mamayev Hill?
Was there a shelling? But he soon discovered that there was no vibration on the ground, but the sound of artillery came from the air.
"Hell, this is the anti-aircraft artillery deployed on the dock, firing at the enemy's reconnaissance plane." Sokov roared out of the tent with dissatisfaction, looked up into the air, and sure enough, he saw the reconnaissance plane all around.
Black puffs of smoke bloomed, but were quickly blown away by the wind.
"Comrade Brigade Commander, what happened?" Belkin saw Sokov rushing out of the tent, thinking that something had happened, and rushed out too. When he saw the smoke blooming in the air, he couldn't help but smile.
Said: "It's great, our anti-aircraft artillery is really great. As long as they can shoot down the enemy's reconnaissance planes, no enemy planes will dare to appear in the sky above Mamayev Heights in the future."
"How can anti-aircraft artillery fire casually?" After seeing the German reconnaissance plane being driven away by gunfire, Sokov said angrily: "It's just a reconnaissance plane. There are at least five anti-aircraft guns firing now. This is not
Exposing the target?" He turned to ask Sidorin, who had just walked out of the tent, "Chief of Staff, what is the number of the anti-aircraft artillery deployed on the dock?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sidorin quickly replied: "It's the 1077th Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. The regiment leader is Lieutenant Colonel Gorman. His headquarters is located in the building next to our health team."
"Comrade Brigadier, what do you want to do?" Belkin and Sokov spent a lot of time together. When he asked this, I guessed that he must be thinking of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment and go talk to Commander Gorman.
, quickly stopped him and said: "The anti-aircraft artillery regiment and our defense area are just adjacent to each other, but they have no affiliation. Even if you go, what the other party says to you will not attract attention."
"Once a battle breaks out here, we must rely on them for air defense." Sokov straightened the helmet on his head and continued: "But if the anti-aircraft artillery regiment suffers unnecessary losses because it exposes its target prematurely,
Our officers and soldiers can only squat in the fortifications and get bombed every day!"
"In that case, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will accompany you." Belgin was worried that Sokov had entered someone else's territory and would get angry at the other party's commander for such a thing, so he offered to go with him.
"As for matters in the brigade, leave them to the chief of staff to take full responsibility."
The anti-aircraft artillery regiment's station is not far from Sokov's brigade headquarters, only a ten-minute walk away.
There were two female soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the regiment command post. When they saw two friendly commanders approaching, they quickly blocked their way and asked politely: "Comrade commanders, which unit are you from?
What happened here?"
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and this is my political commissar Belkin. Our troops are stationed at Mamayev Heights." After introducing himself, Sokov asked the person standing in front of him.
The female soldier in front of her: "I have something urgent and I want to see your regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Gorman. Is he in there?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the regiment commander is resting inside." After learning the identities of Sokov and Belgin, the female soldier quickly said respectfully: "Please wait here for a moment, I will go in and report.
One sound."
The female soldier walked out less than two minutes after entering. She was accompanied by an elderly lieutenant colonel. Sokov first raised his hand to salute the other party and said politely: "Hello,
Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and I came here specifically to visit you. This is my political commissar Belkin."
"Hello, comrade commanders." Gorman raised his hand in return and asked curiously: "I heard from my subordinates that you have something to do with me?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have something to talk to you about." Sokov glanced at the female soldier standing guard at the door from the corner of his eye: "Can we go in and talk again?"
"Please come in, two comrades, commanders." Gorman invited the two of them into his room, asked them to sit down on the bench next to the wall, tidied up the somewhat messy camp bed, and then turned around and asked them
Person: "I wonder if you have come to see me specially. Do you have anything important to do?"
"That's it, Comrade Commander." Belkin was worried that Sokov might ruin the matter by talking directly to the other party, so he said first: "When the enemy's reconnaissance plane was conducting reconnaissance over Mamayev Heights today, you
The anti-aircraft artillery regiment used no less than five anti-aircraft guns for bombardment."
"We can't let the enemy's reconnaissance planes roam around the Volga River unscrupulously." Gorman was sleeping, but the rumbling sound of artillery woke him up. After he woke up, he went to the door to inquire and found out
Knowing that it was his anti-aircraft gunners who were attacking the German reconnaissance planes, he went back to cover his head and fell asleep. "Why, two comrades, commanders, is your arrival related to our attack on the German reconnaissance planes?"
"Yes, it is indeed like this." It was Sokov who spoke this time. He said to Gorman: "German reconnaissance planes fly to Mamayev Heights every day. Whatever they want to detect, I am afraid they have already detected it.
That's almost it. But your unauthorized firing today has exposed all your anti-aircraft gun emplacements. Once the German army bombs the Mamayev Heights area, I'm worried that your area will become the focus of the attack."
After Gorman waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he actually laughed. After he finished laughing, he said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think it is necessary to remind you that since we are anti-aircraft artillery,
Then, the only thing you can do to deal with the enemy plane that appears over the defense zone is to shoot it down with artillery, or drive it away from a distance.
As for your worry that the enemy will use our area as a key bombing area, that's great. We can take advantage of the gathering of enemy bombers to shoot down more enemy planes to ensure safety over the city."
The meeting ended on bad terms. Sokov walked away angrily. After Belkin and Gorman exchanged a few words, they also chased after him. He caught up with Sokov and said to
He said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't be angry. The anti-aircraft artillery regiment is not under our jurisdiction. It is their freedom to fire whenever they want, and we have no right to interfere."
"I understand, Comrade Political Commissar, I understand everything you said." Sokov said with some helplessness: "In order to expel a reconnaissance plane today, at least five anti-aircraft artillery positions of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment were exposed. I'm worried.
What is most likely is that in the near future, the German army will carry out bombing here, and those exposed anti-aircraft artillery positions will bear the brunt."
Belkin sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, under the current circumstances, we only need to do our own air defense work. As for other friendly forces, let everything take its course."
