When Sokov followed Cuikov to the Southern Cluster Command, he heard bad news. The staff left here reported to Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, two hours ago, the Front Command issued an order to the 29th Division to immediately depart from the defensive area and move eastward to the Abuganerovo station area."
When Cui Kefu learned that his reserve team had been transferred, his face became particularly ugly. He asked dissatisfiedly: "Who issued such a bastard order?"
When the staff officer heard Cuikov's question, he replied in a panic: "It is General Goldorf, the commander of the front army. He said that Hot's 4th Armored Army had set out from Koternikovo and rushed to Stalingrad from the south. At present, no troops of our army were found on the way forward, so he decided to transfer Colonel Kolobutin's troops to fortification."
Sokov stared at the map and was stunned for a while. He raised his head and said to Cui Kov: "Comrade General, if the 29th Division is transferred, then there will be a huge gap in our defense area. I want to ask, which army should be used to adjust this gap?"
"To the north of the 29th Division is Major General Biliukov's 214th Division. They spread along the Don River to prevent the Germans from crossing the Don River." Cuikov walked to the table and sat down, pointing to the map and said, "To the south of them is the 255th Independent Cavalry Regiment, which I think can be filled in."
Sokov silently calculated the defense zone of the former 29th Division, and then asked with some concern: "Comrade General, is it a bit too difficult for the cavalry regiment to defend such a large area?"
Regarding Sokov's question, Cuikov pondered for a moment and said, "It's okay, from all signs, the Germans will not choose this place as a key offensive position, because after our cavalry regiment took over the defense here, the role played by our role is not to stick to it, but to serve as a vigilant in this area."
After Cui Kefu finished speaking, he asked the staff officer again: "When should Colonel Kolobujing's troops set off?"
"Tomorrow morning, Comrade Commander." The staff officer replied respectfully.
"Can you get in touch with them now?" Cuikov continued, "I want to talk to Colonel Kolobujing."
"Okay," the staff officer answered, and without waiting for Cui Kefu to ask again, he took the initiative to say: "I will help you connect to the command headquarters of the 29th Division immediately."
After the phone was connected, Cui Kefu took the microphone from the staff officer and put it in his ear and said, "Comrade Colonel, you are going to the new defensive zone soon. How about it? Are you ready to set off?"
"Where is it that easy, Comrade Commander." Kolobutin on the other end of the phone said with a sad face: "Although we ordered us to set off before this evening, some troops were too dispersed and it took a lot of time to regroup them, so we could only postpone the departure time until tomorrow morning."
Kolobujing thought that when Cui Kov called himself at such a time, it was definitely not for chatting, and there must be something important, so he asked: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what instructions do you have?"
"Since you are leaving, you must hand over the defense zone." Cui Kefu said slowly: "After repeated considerations, I decided to let the 255th Independent Regiment of the Cavalry take over your defense."
"What, the cavalry regiment?" Kolobutin couldn't help but feel nervous when he heard Cuikov say this: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, the cavalry regiment has only seven or eight hundred people. Is it appropriate to let them take over the defense of such a large area? If they are attacked by the Germans, they will not be able to stop it."
"Don't worry, Colonel Kolobujing." Cuikov comforted the other party, "In my opinion, the German army might not attack there. The work they have to do is to serve as a warning in that area. If the German army repels the cavalry regiment, they can retreat into the 118th Fortification area and rebuild new defenses."
After explaining some precautions to the other party, Cuikov put down the phone and said to Sokov: "Chief of Staff, how are our defenses along the Aksai River?"
"Comrade General," Sokov heard Cuikov ask about the defense line, quickly pushed the map in front of him, and then said: "According to the latest statistics, the troops of the 138th and 157th Divisions have built a five-kilometer-wide and three-kilometer-depth defense line along the north bank of the Aksai River; the 208th Division, who followed us, has now entered the defensive positions designated for them one after another..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Before Sokov finished speaking, Trekov interrupted, "Do you think our defense line on the north bank of the Aksai River can block the enemy?"
"This is undoubtedly, Comrade General." Sokov replied, "It will definitely be blocked."
Faced with Sokov answering this question in such a positive tone, Cuikov looked at him in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you really so confident?"
"We have buried a large amount of explosives on the road and railway bridges across the banks of the Aksai River. As soon as the German army arrives at the bridge, we will blow up the bridge immediately." Sokov immediately explained to him as soon as he finished speaking: "The German army rushing to the riverside cannot bring any crossing equipment. As long as the bridge is blown up, they will be blocked from the other side of the river. If they want to rely on rubber boats and wooden beds to force the Aksai River, we will make them pay a heavy price."
"Is explosives buried on both bridges?" Cuikov asked unexpectedly when he heard Sokov say this: "When is this happening, why don't I know?"
"Comrade General," Sokov quickly replied respectfully, "Before we set out to find the 208th Division, I specially arranged for the engineering company commander to carry out the project."
"To blow up the two bridges, there must be a lot of explosives." Cuikov looked at Sokov and asked suspiciously: "I want to ask, where did you find so much explosives?"
"Where else can you come from, Comrade General?" Sokov replied with a smile: "Of course it is from the warehouse of the City Defense Committee. There is no semicolon in Stalingrad that can provide such a huge amount of explosives except them."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect it." Cui Kefu said with some surprise: "You are actually someone from the City Defense Committee."
"After we arrived at Mamayev's hill, it was the city defense committee who helped us build fortifications." Sokov said calmly: "After we had been dealing with each other for a long time, we naturally met a few friends who could be useful."
Cuikov raised his hand and looked at the watch, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must be tired these two days. Take the time to sleep for a while, otherwise you will have no time to sleep even if you want to sleep."
The next morning, Sokov, who was still sleeping, was awakened by the rumbling and explosion from afar. He hurriedly ran into the command center, but found that Cui Kefu was not there. He quickly grabbed the staff officer and asked, "Where has Comrade General gone?"
The staff officer pointed out and said, "Comrade Commander and his adjutant went to the small hill in front, as if to observe some movement." Sokov secretly cried in his heart, saying that the German army had launched an attack, and he was still sleeping soundly, watching himself as the chief of staff really incompetent.
When Sokov trotted to the small mound more than 200 meters away, he saw Cuikov holding a telescope and looking into the distance. Sokov came behind him and asked carefully: "Comrade General, what happened? Where did the explosion sound come from?"
Cuikov reached out and pointed forward, saying, "Just on the Aksai River ahead, the 29th Division, which was marching, is being bombed and strafed by German aircraft."
Sokov quickly raised the telescope hanging around his neck and looked into the distance. Four German planes were hovering above the Aksai River, diving from high altitude from time to time, dropping bombs and strafing at the ground forces. The 29th Division troops, which were air strikes, fell into chaos. The commanders and fighters fled the road one after another and ran to the grassland next to them, trying to avoid the attack of enemy planes. However, there was no barrier on the grassland, and the commanders and fighters fleeing the road still paid a considerable price under the bombing and strafing of enemy planes.
Seeing this, Sokov quickly put down his telescope and asked Cui Kov who was standing beside him: "Comrade General, what should we do now? Can you find a way to help them?"
"This is useless, Comrade Chief of Staff." Cui Kefu said weakly: "We are four or five kilometers away from them here. When we rush over, the enemy planes have already flew away. I just hope that Kolobujing can evacuate the soldiers in time so that the casualties of the troops can be minimized as much as possible."
After finally waiting for the enemy plane to fly away, the 29th Division, which paid a considerable price, began to regain the troops. Cuikov sighed and said to Sokov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go back to the command center. I believe Colonel Kolobujing can complete the remaining aftermath."
As soon as the two of them returned to the command center with Krimov, the staff officer hurried over and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, something is wrong, something happened."
The staff officer's words made Cui Kefu nervous, and he asked quickly: "What happened?"
"Comrade Commander, according to Colonel Lyudnikov's report, a German tank unit is rushing towards the Aksai River." The staff officer said worriedly: "It's only three kilometers away from the river bank."
"Hell," Cuikov couldn't help frowning when he heard the staff officer say this: "Why are these enemies coming so quickly?" After saying that, he paused for a moment and then asked, "Have Colonel Lyudnikov taken what measures?"
"Yes, he has contacted the engineers and just waited for the German tanks to hit the bridge, he immediately blew the bridge." The staff officer said with a serious expression: "We must not let the enemy use our bridge and rush to the north shore smoothly."
When Sokov learned that Lyudnikov had prepared to bomb the bridge, he suddenly remembered something and quickly said to Cuikov: "Comrade General, the bridge cannot be blown up. My third battalion is on the south bank. If the bridge is blown up, their retreat will be cut off."
"It's too late, Comrade Chief of Staff." Cuikov shook his head and said with a regretful look: "The distance of three kilometers is only a matter of ten minutes for the German tanks. Even if you want to remove the Third Battalion, before they can assemble, the Germans have already rushed to the north bank of the Aksai River."
Sokov had already picked up the phone and was about to call Andrei and ask him to lead his troops to retreat to the north shore immediately. But when he heard Cuikov say this, he had to put down the phone. He agreed with Cuikov's statement very much. Even if the Third Battalion was always in a state of preparation for war, it would take at least an hour to gather them and bring them to the north shore. Therefore, he could only hope Andrei and hoped that he could bring the troops out smoothly.
But if Andrei didn't inform him, he put his troops in danger. Sokov was a little unable to do this. He thought for a long time and finally decided to call Andrei, hoping that the other party would be ready. So he picked up the phone again and asked the communications officer to connect Andrei's battalion command post.
As soon as he heard Andrei's voice, Sokov said hurriedly: "Captain Andrei, something happened. A German armored unit was rushing towards the bridge on the Aksai River. In order to prevent them from passing through the bridge, we must make a quick decision and take necessary measures to blow up the bridge so that the enemy cannot easily cross the Aksai River."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Although Sokov is now the chief of staff of the Southern Cluster, Andrey is still used to calling him the brigade commander: "Comrade Brigade Commander, then, our battalion cannot return to the north shore before the bridge is blown up. I want to ask, what is our next direction of action?"
"Comrade Captain, after the two bridges on the river are blown up, you will immediately move west with your troops." Sokov said carefully: "Find a suitable area for crossing the river, cross the river and return to the north bank. I need you here."
"I understand, comrade comrade commander." Andre replied firmly: "Please rest assured. I will firmly execute your order and will definitely lead the troops back to the north shore smoothly."
Sokov just hung up the phone, suddenly two dull explosions came from a distance. At the same time, he felt the ground under his feet shake. He quickly picked up the phone and asked the communications officer to connect to the command center of Lyudnikov and said straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, I am Chief of Staff Sokov. What happened to the explosion just now?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lyudnikov quickly reported: "The two explosions you just heard were our engineers who blew up the railway bridge and road bridge on the Aksai River. Once the bridge was broken, the German troops could not get through."
Chapter completed!