"I hope that friendly forces outside the city can launch an attack sooner," Cidolin said with emotion: "Otherwise, if we continue to fight like this, it won't take long for our brigade to fight all."
Sidolin's words made Sokov's heart skip a beat, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have the troops suffered heavy casualties recently?"
Cidolin sighed and said helplessly: "Yes, comrade brigade commander, after these days of fighting, our brigade suffered more than 3,000 casualties, of which more than 1,200 were sacrificed."
More than 3,000 casualties were killed or killed. When Sokov heard this number, he couldn't help but tremble. He finally saved up such a little wealth, but more than half of the casualties were killed in a few days. And if the fortifications he built were all on the open ground, he would have probably wiped out the troops long ago. Thinking of this, Sokov finally understood why in real history, after Rodimtev's 13th Guard Division entered Stalingrad, he had the chance to wipe out all of them in less than three days. This shows the cruelty of the battle.
Seeing Sokov remained silent, Sidolin quickly explained to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, although we have strong fortifications, in order to repel the German attack, every time the enemy's shelling stopped, our commanders and soldiers would enter the surface position from the tunnel and engage in a fierce positional battle with the enemy, so casualties were inevitable."
Sokov was also quite depressed now, because there was still a difference between fighting in Mamayevgang and Shangganling. Shangganling could allow the enemy to occupy surface positions, and then use the night to sneak attack the enemy and consume their vitality. But if he did this in Mamayevgang, Cui Kov might remove himself that day. Once the enemy occupied the surface positions in Mamayevgang, he would immediately rush to cross the river beside the Volga River and cut off the Soviet army's connection with the other side. Therefore, he could only use tactics that regardless of casualties to prevent the enemy from occupying Mamayevgang.
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I think we can reduce casualties in the troops by strengthening surface fortifications." Belkin interrupted: "Every time the enemy's artillery is ready, our soldiers will go out of the tunnel and seize the time to repair the fortifications that were damaged. Sometimes, as soon as the construction is halfway through, the enemy will come up, so that our soldiers have to fight against the attacking enemies in the broken fortifications, thereby increasing casualties."
"It is not that easy to reinforce fortifications. The City Defense Committee has no idea where to move. Now it cannot contact Major Ozor, nor does it know whether he is dead or alive." Sokov sighed and said, "But even if he finds him, he has no choice. The Germans cannot let us build fortifications in a swagger. Their artillery fire will destroy the fortifications under construction."
"Is there really no way?" Belkin said regretfully: "If the status quo is maintained, we have to consider what we should do once the troops are exhausted."
Sokov knew very well that when the civil war in Stalingrad was tense, more than one person had the idea of ​​fighting his own troops, but because they learned that they could enter here, it was arranged by the base camp himself, they had to choose to remain silent. Although others could not draw their own troops, it was probably impossible to replenish their troops.
He could only look at Sidolin and Belkin and asked, "Do you have any good solutions?" Since Sokov couldn't think of any good solutions, Sidolin and Belkin were naturally helpless. The question he raised was undoubtedly asking Yu Blind. Seeing that the two of them could not come up with any good solutions, Sokov could only continue to think of a solution by himself. He held a cup of hot tea and drank slowly one by one, and his mind was conceiving various fortifications that he knew, but it seemed that they were not suitable for use in this situation.
Just when Sokov was helpless, he suddenly heard two staff members not far away talking about something, so he turned his head slightly and listened carefully. One staff member whispered: "Why not build the fortifications on the edges on the top of the hill? This not only allows us to see the enemy's dynamics, but also condescendingly exert our army's firepower advantage and give the enemy major damage."
"Did you think the brigade commander hadn't considered the plan you were thinking about?" Another adviser retorted: "If this plan was feasible, he would have adopted it long ago."
A word woke up the dreamer. The chat between the two opened up a new idea for Sokov. He remembered that in a certain anti-Japanese drama, the Japanese pirates besieged by the Eighth Route Army built a circular fortification in the center of the top platform of the mountain, causing the attacking troops to be unable to see the enemy's position, causing all kinds of direct firepower to lose their effect. As soon as the soldiers rushed up the steep slope, they would be knocked down by the enemy's bullets as soon as they emerged.
"Well, Chief of Staff and Comrade Political Commissar, I thought about how to build new fortifications." Sokov ignored the surprise expressions of the two men, picked up paper and pen to draw a schematic diagram for them: "Look, at the top of our Nangang, there is a wide mountaintop platform. The observation stations set up by artillery observers here are rarely concentrated by enemy artillery fire. We can completely establish a new defensive position here."
After Sokov finished drawing the schematic diagram, he stared at the small circular position on the top platform and frowned and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I don't understand why the circular fortifications you designed are forty or fifty meters away from the edge of the hillside? In this way, the soldiers who stayed in the fortifications could not see the enemies under the hillside at all."
"Yes, they really can't see the enemy. But the enemy can't see them either." Sokov expressed his affirmation of Sidolin's statement, and he continued: "As soon as the Germans show up, they will be defeated by our army, which is already on guard. And even if they want to throw grenades, it will be difficult to accurately throw into our position within such a long distance."
"If the attacking German army prepared to have mortars, it would still pose a threat to our fortifications..."
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, don't say it anymore. Do you have a better plan?" Before Cydollin finished speaking, Belkin interrupted the words behind him first: "Don't see the enemy's daily artillery fire is so fierce, but the shells hitting the top of the mountain are a few after all. Building circular fortifications on the top platform of the hill can not only reduce the chance of the fortifications being directly destroyed by artillery fire, but also allow soldiers to quickly enter the position through the exits at the top to block the enemy."
Seeing that Belkin was also very optimistic about this ring fortification, Cidolin nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander, then build a new ring fortification on the platform at the top of the hill according to what you said."
After discussing the construction of fortifications on the top of the hill, the three of them turned the topic to logistics supply. Although there was a lot of ammunition and materials hoarded in the early stage, after this period of consumption, Cidolin was worried that the troops would face a shortage of ammunition in the near future.
Sokov pinched his chin and said thoughtfully: "Our brigade is almost all German equipment, and it is almost impossible to replenish us with logistics. Therefore, we must organize soldiers to collect weapons and ammunition from the enemy's corpses while the night is dark to ensure that we have enough ammunition to continue fighting."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, the MG34 general machine gun and MP40 submachine gun we equipped are powerful, but they are also a big problem for the consumption of ammunition." After Sidorin and Sokov finished speaking, they asked tentatively: "Look, can we try to change the equipment of the army and the standard equipment of our army?"
"It's useless to change to the standard equipment of our army. Comrade Chief of Staff, don't you know how bad the current logistics supply situation is?" Sokov vetoed Cidolin's suggestion without hesitation: "What's more, after the soldiers change their equipment, there is still an adaptation process, which will inevitably affect their combat effectiveness. Therefore, I decided to maintain the status quo."
After hearing Sokov's words, Sidolin was about to say a few more words, but saw Selyosha walking in from outside the door. He knew that Selyosha would go to the Three Treasures Hall without any trouble, and he would never enter the command center easily, so he asked, "Selyosha, is there anything wrong?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Seryosha replied, looking at Cydolin, "A commissar came from the Army Command, and there were important orders to be conveyed to the brigade commander."
When Sokov learned that a messenger sent by Cuikov from the headquarters, he quickly ordered: "Seryosha, please come in!"
Xie Liaosha walked to the door and said to the outside, "Please come in, Comrade Messenger, our brigade commander is waiting for you."
Walking into a small little warrior from the door, Sokov couldn't help but wonder why the messenger sent by Cuikov was actually a child. Belkin's attention was also attracted by the little messenger. None of them noticed that Cidolin, who had always been steady, was so excited that his hands were trembling.
Before Sokov could find out what the other party was about to come, he heard a voice that changed tone from behind him because of excitement: "Son, I'm not mistaken, right? It's really you?"
The little messenger was stunned when he heard the sudden sound. He narrowed his eyes and looked behind Sokov. After he saw Cidolin's face clearly, he exclaimed, rushed towards Cidolin, and said loudly: "Father, it's me, I'm little Cidolin." Then, the father and son hugged each other tightly.
At this moment, Sokov and Belkin learned that the small messenger sent by Cuikov was actually the son of Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin. After looking at each other, they kept silent tactfully so as not to disturb the father and son's meeting on the battlefield.
Seeing his son whom he had seen for a long time, Cidolin was certainly overjoyed, but he did not forget his responsibilities. After hugging for a while, he gently pushed his son away, looked at him and asked, "Son, was Commander Choikov sent you here?"
"Yes." Cidolin's words reminded Little Cidolin of his purpose here, and quickly replied: "Comrade Commander asked me to come here to convey the order."
Seeing that the father and son were talking seriously, Sokov took a step forward and asked Little Sidolin: "What order does the commander have?"
Little Sidolin glanced at Sokov's collar quickly, and saw clearly that the other party, like his father, had the rank of lieutenant colonel, and quickly straightened his body and replied: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. I am under the command of the commander, please go to the headquarters."
"Damn it, I'll just have to let the brigade commander go to the headquarters and make a call." Sidolin couldn't help but mutter in a low voice when he heard his son say this, "Why do you have to send someone to the trip?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't you understand the commander's painstaking efforts?" Belkin approached Cidolin and whispered: "The reason why he asked Little Cidolin to pass the order was simply to let you father and son meet, so that you will not worry about each other."
The authorities were confused by the bystander Qing. When Sidorin heard what Belkin said, he immediately understood Cui Kefu's painstaking efforts and couldn't help but feel grateful to Cui Kefu.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov also guessed Cuikov's intention. If he wanted to call himself to the headquarters, he could call him. But this time he specifically asked Little Sidolin to travel. The purpose was to let the father and son meet, so as not to worry about Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin. Considering that Cuikov did not seem to be in a hurry to call him to the headquarters, he did not rush to set off, but said to Cidolin: "You and Little Sidolin have not seen each other for a long time, so go to the room next to you to have a good chat." He raised his hand and looked at the watch, "I'll give you half an hour."
"Thank you, thank you, comrade comrade commander." Sidolin was so moved that his eyes turned red with emotion for Sokov. After thanking Sokov, he took his son to the room next door to reminisce.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," after Sidorin and his son left, Belkin asked curiously: "Tell me, what did the commander think, and how did he arrange for the father and son to meet at this time?"
Sokov looked at Belkin and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Political Commissar, I think the reason why the commander sent Little Sidolin here to meet his father may be because he was worried that the next battle would be too ashamed. One of the father and son might not be able to survive until the moment of victory, so he arranged this meeting."
"Yes, yes, judging from the battle situation in the past two days, the Germans launched attacks in various areas like crazy, trying to take Stalingrad in one fell swoop." Berkin said: "How many people can we have to survive until the day of victory in the battle is really an unknown."
Thinking of Sokov's trip to the headquarters this time, he might encounter danger on the way, Belkin carefully advised Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there is still time, don't you go and say apart to Asia?"
Chapter completed!