Back to a few hours ago, Yereomenko called Chuikov and said apologetically: "Comrade Chuikov, I am calling you because I have something important to inform you. The three infantrymen who were originally assigned to you
Master, due to various reasons, we are temporarily unable to enter the city."
Upon hearing this unexpected news, Chuikov's heart immediately went cold. He felt like asking: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me why?"
"The base camp considers that the German Air Force, which has control of the air, can carry out large-scale bombings on the city at any time." Yeremenko replied: "If we are in this situation, we will concentrate so many troops in a small area.
area, they will suffer heavy losses in the enemy's bombing, which will have an adverse impact on our future major counterattack."
"But, Comrade Commander." After hearing such a far-fetched reason, Chuikov said reluctantly: "If we want to stop the enemy, our existing military strength alone is far from enough. Even if we want to arm the workers and residents
Get up, but where can we find so many weapons and ammunition?"
Regarding the difficulties raised by Chuikov, Yeremenko thought for a long time before saying: "Comrade Chuikov, we have stockpiled a large amount of weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine on the east bank. Now that the underwater pontoon bridge connecting the two sides of the bank has been set up, I will
Send a convoy overnight to transport all the supplies you need to the city."
Krylov, who was on the phone at the side, saw that Chuikov's face was not very good after he put down the phone. He quickly gave a few instructions into the phone, then put down the phone, and then asked Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, has something happened?
?”
Chuikov looked up at Krylov and said with a wry smile: "Chief of Staff, Commander Yereomenko just informed me that due to changes in the situation, the three divisions originally planned to be dispatched from the city will not enter the city for the time being.
"
"What, they won't enter the city?" Krylov immediately knitted his eyebrows when he heard the bad news: "Comrade Commander, didn't you tell him that not only are we seriously short of troops, but also of weapons, ammunition and
Are there also shortages of food and medicine?”
"Don't the front army headquarters know about our situation?" Chuikov asked bitterly: "Even if I complain to Commander Yereomenko, do you think he will change his original intention?"
Krylov knew the truth Chuikov said. Since the superiors had already made a decision, no matter how much the people below complained, it would not change their minds. He murmured: "Even if we are not given additional troops, at least we must be given
Replenish various supplies. As long as we have enough ammunition, we can arm the workers and residents and fight the Germans."
"Commander Yeremenko told me that as soon as it gets dark, he will send a convoy to bring in the weapons, ammunition and various supplies we need." Thinking of the supplies that were about to be transported into the city, Chuikov became energetic again.
He said to Krylov: "Chief of Staff, you immediately notify the commanders of the arms exchange station and the supply station and ask them to go to the pontoon bridge to receive supplies after dark."
After Krylov recorded Chuikov's order, he asked again: "Comrade Commander, after we receive the supplies, where should we store them? There is no place suitable for storing large amounts of supplies near the underwater pontoon."
"Contact Director Peter," Chuikov replied: "The Red October Factory has many underground warehouses, and they should all be vacant at the moment. It should be the safest place to store newly arrived materials there."
Krylov did not express any meaning to Chuikov's order. He knew very well that in the entire factory area in the north of the city, the safest area was only the Red October Factory where Peter was the director. At the time, Sokov
The German attacks were repeatedly repelled here, forcing the enemy to change the direction of attack.
He quickly said: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately contact Factory Director Peter to discuss with him the storage of supplies..."
"Wait a minute, Chief of Staff." Before Krylov could finish speaking, Chuikov suddenly interrupted him: "You have more important work to do. When it comes to receiving supplies and contacting storage locations, you should leave it to logistics.
Minister General Lobov will do it."
"Then I'll call General Lobov and ask him to come here immediately." After Krylov finished speaking, seeing Chuikov nodding in agreement, he picked up the phone on the table and contacted the Logistics Department.
Contacted him and asked Logistics Minister Lobov to rush to the headquarters immediately.
After receiving the call, Lobov guessed that Chuikov was so anxious to call him to the headquarters because he must want to ask about logistics supplies. He quickly sorted out the relevant information and hurried to the headquarters.
After seeing Chuikov, Lobov took out his notebook from his bag and was about to report the logistics supply direction to Chuikov when he heard Chuikov speak first: "Comrade Logistics Minister, I called you here today because tonight we
A batch of supplies will be accepted, and you need to arrange a location to store the supplies."
When Lobov heard what Chuikov said, a look of surprise appeared on his face. He opened the notebook in his hand and looked up at Chuikov. He said in a doubtful tone: "Comrade Commander, according to my records, the fleet tonight
They can only provide us with a maximum of five ferries for the transportation of supplies. Once these supplies are ashore, they can be distributed to the troops waiting on the shore. I think there is absolutely no need to find any new storage locations."
"Comrade Logistics Minister, I called you here today. In addition to asking you to find a new storage location for supplies, I also want to tell you good news." Chuikov said with a smile on his face: "The engineers have successfully built a pontoon bridge on the river.
, In this way, the materials we need can be continuously transported into the city through the pontoon. "
"Floating bridge?!" Lobov's mind quickly flashed to the pontoon bridge that was constantly being bombed by German aircraft during the erection process. He couldn't help but said in surprise: "Comrade Commander, I saw that the pontoon bridge could not be erected.
Half of it was blown up by German planes, could it be repaired so quickly?"
"You are mistaken, Comrade Logistics Minister." Chuikov waved his hand and continued: "The pontoon bridge you mentioned was used by us to attract the attention of the German Air Force. But our real pontoon bridge was erected in the north and was bombed.
Next to the ruined bridge across the river is an underwater floating bridge."
"My God, it's an underwater pontoon?!" Lobov said in surprise: "The pontoon is underwater, how can we transport our supplies?"
"The bridge deck is only forty or fifty centimeters from the water, which will not submerge the truck's exhaust pipe, so that vehicles can drive over the bridge smoothly." Krylov explained to Lobov: "In addition to the fact that vehicles can drive over the bridge smoothly,
Given the situation, our soldiers can also wade across the river on foot from the bridge."
After hearing this, Lobov had an expression of surprise on his face: "Comrade Commander, so we no longer have to rely on the fleet for the transportation of soldiers and supplies in the future?"
"Is such that."
"Great, this is really great." Lobov couldn't hide his inner excitement. He spoke very quickly: "I still had a headache two days ago. As the weather gets colder and colder, at most
Within a month, a large amount of ice floes will appear on the Volga River. By then, ships will be unable to pass on the river, and our material transportation may come to a halt. Now with this pontoon bridge, all problems will be solved."
Chuikov raised his hand and looked at his watch and said to Lobov: "Comrade Logistics Minister, as soon as it gets dark, the convoy transporting supplies will set off from the other side. There are two things you have to do now: First, let the ordnance exchange station
Lieutenant Colonel Sokarov and Lieutenant Colonel Spasov from the supply station went to the pontoon to receive the supplies; secondly, they immediately contacted Comrade Peter, the director of the Red October Factory, and borrowed the underground warehouse in the factory to store the supplies.
supplies.”
"Comrade Commander, I would like to make a suggestion." Lobov waited for Chuikov to finish speaking and then said: "I want the convoy to drive directly outside the underground warehouse of the Red October Factory. This can greatly reduce the time of transporting materials.
Personnel. You must know that almost all the soldiers in our logistics department are busy at the ferry. If too many people are deployed, it will have an adverse impact on the work of unloading the ship."
"Comrade Commander," after hearing Lobov's suggestion of manpower shortage, Krylov thought of a compromise: "I have an idea, I don't know whether I should talk about it or not?"
"Chief of Staff, you can say whatever comes to your mind!" Chuikov was very dissatisfied with Krylov's act of selling out his words. He said with some displeasure: "Even if you say something wrong, I won't blame you."
"Now at the ferry, there are a large number of residents waiting to cross the river to the other side." Krylov said tentatively: "Can we recruit people from among them to help us unload the supplies carried on the ship? That way we can
Transfer more power to the warehouse of Red October Factory?"
"Recruit residents to help us work?" Lobov first expressed doubts about Krylov's statement: "Is this possible?"
"Chief of Staff," Chuikov felt that with Krylov's character, he would not talk about this matter inexplicably, so he pointed at him with his hand and said, "Tell me what you think."
"As far as I know, some residents have been waiting for the ferry by the river for half a month or even longer, but they have never had a chance to get on the ferry. The food they brought with them has almost been consumed." Krylov once said
He once talked to Sokov about the residents waiting to cross the river, and the other party gave him a suggestion. Seeing that Lobov was facing a shortage of manpower, he took the opportunity to express Sokov's idea: "We can recruit from them.
With manpower, residents participating in the work can get 300 grams of bread, 50 grams of dry sausage or cheese per person per day..."
After Krylov told Sokov's original thoughts, both Chuikov and Lobov were shocked. After a long time, Lobov murmured: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are really a genius. If we really
By doing this, we can recruit at least one or two thousand residents to work for us, and we will no longer have to worry about shortage of manpower."
"Comrade Chief of Staff!" Chuikov knew Krylov's character very well and knew that he would never come up with such a method, so he asked tentatively: "If I am not wrong, this idea must have been thought up by Colonel Sokov.
Yes, right?"
Krylov is not a person who casually takes credit for other people's work. Hearing Chuikov's question, he nodded and replied affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Commander. Colonel Sokov came to the headquarters some time ago.
When I was chatting with him, I said that the river crossing was bombed by the enemy every day, and the soldiers responsible for unloading supplies suffered too many casualties. After hearing this, he gave me such a suggestion. At that time, because the manpower was barely enough, I
We didn't mention this matter. Now we have to receive supplies from the east coast in two directions at the same time, and we urgently need a large number of manpower, so we thought of Colonel Sokov's method."
"His method is very good and very effective." After Chuikov expressed his approval of Sokov's method, he turned to Lobov and said: "Comrade Logistics Minister, remember, in order to prevent the enemy from discovering that we have opened a new channel
The water transportation line, located in the warehouse of the Red October Factory, can only be loaded and unloaded by soldiers from the logistics department. As for the ferry by the river, except for the necessary manpower, the rest of the manpower comes from the residents who boarded the ship.
Recruit."
After Lobov waited for Chuikov to finish speaking, he asked another question: "Then who should be responsible for the distribution of food every day?"
"Needless to say," Chuikov pointed at Lobov: "Since they are recruited by your logistics department, your logistics department will naturally be responsible for distributing food to them."
…………
At ten o'clock in the evening, a convoy of fifty trucks set off from the east coast. Under the guidance of the engineering soldiers, it drove towards the underwater pontoon. In order to avoid a rear-end accident caused by the stalling of the vehicle in front, each truck
The cars were one hundred meters apart and drove onto the pontoon at a speed of five kilometers per hour.
In order to prevent being discovered by the German agents hiding on the shore, the driving vehicles did not have driving lights. The first few trucks that drove onto the pontoon bridge fell into the river one after another because it was too dark and they were not familiar with the performance of the pontoon bridge.
Except for the driver who managed to escape by jumping out of the truck, the truck and the materials on the truck sank to the bottom of the cold river.
Lobov, who was standing on the west bank, couldn't help but became anxious when he saw this situation. He quickly said to Spasov at the supply station: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, send a signal to the other side and ask all trucks on the bridge to drive with their headlights on."
"Comrade Minister," after hearing Lobov's order, Spasov quickly reminded him: "If we turn on the lights, the German agents hiding on the shore will find them. If they send a signal, they will direct the German artillery to bombard us."
In this section of the river, our situation will be even worse."
"I can't worry about that anymore." Lobov pointed to the drivers who were struggling in the water and said: "The drivers are using this pontoon for the first time and have no experience at all. If they continue to slander crossing the river, it is possible that they will
All the cars will fall into the river. If supplies can't be transported across the river, what's the point of our water transportation lines?"
This chapter has been completed!