Sokov knew very well that the reason why Cui Kov sent Little Sidolin to pass the order was to find a reason to reunite the father and son so as not to leave both sides with lifelong regret. He said that he would only give Sidolin and his son half an hour to reminisce about the past, but after the time came, he did not send anyone to urge him.
Sidolin was also a sensible person. Seeing that no one was urging him, he guessed that everyone was going to leave more time to speak to him, father and son. But even if no one urged him, he always kept his duties in mind and could not delay official business due to personal affairs. Therefore, as soon as the time came, he took his son Little Sidolin back to the command center and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's getting late. You and Little Sidolin go to the headquarters, don't let the commander wait in a hurry."
After Sokov and Cydolin left, Belkin asked Cydolin in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't know what the situation is now. Maybe today is the last time you father and son meet, why don't you talk for a while?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, I appreciate the kindness of you and the brigade commander." Sidolin looked at Belkin and said gratefully: "I am a soldier and have been prepared to shed blood and sacrifice for the motherland. But the only regret is that I am worried about the safety of my child. Today, I am satisfied with seeing him safe and sound. How could I delay my work due to personal matters?"
After hearing what Cidolin said, Belkin nodded slightly and said, "The commander called the brigade commander to the headquarters. I don't know when I will come back. You are fully responsible for the work here."
"Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar." Cidolin regained his usual confidence, "I believe our soldiers will hold the position. But before that, we should follow the orders of the brigade commander and build a circular fortification on the top of the hillside of Nangang."
…………
Sokov followed Sidolin to the location of the new headquarters. He thought that Cuikov's headquarters was located on the ground for most of the time, but when he arrived at the place, he realized that he had guessed wrong. The new headquarters dug several holes on the steep river bank. Since there were not many people inside, many staff officers were staying on the barge parked by the river.
Sidolin took Sokov into a cave and said to the people inside: "Comrade Commander, I have been ordered to bring Lieutenant Colonel Sokov here."
With the help of the indoor lantern lighting, Sokov saw clearly Trekov. Krelov was standing by a table, so he hurried forward, raised his hand to salute the two of them, and reported respectfully: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, was ordered to come. I am waiting for your order, please instruct!"
"It's Sokov coming," Cuikov stepped forward and held Sokov's hand, greeting enthusiastically: "Hurry up and sit down."
After Sokov sat down, he looked around the cave. Seeing that there was no one except Cuikov, Krelov, Gurov and several communication soldiers, he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, where did General Rodimtev go?"
"He went to the 42nd Guards Regiment." Krelov placed a cup of hot tea in front of Sokov and continued: "He has just walked, why haven't you met on the road?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and replied, "Something missed somewhere on the road." He paused for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff, do you know if you have any important tasks for me to come here?"
Trikov raised his chin at Krelov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, give Lieutenant Colonel Sokov the battle order."
Krelov nodded, pulled out a piece of paper from a document bag hanging on the wall, walked to Sokov, and said to him: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you should first look at this order, and then we will assign you the task."
Sokov took the combat order from Krelov, and saw it read: "... In order to smash the enemy group attacking Stalinlege, I order you to cooperate with the Stalingrad Front: order the commander of the 62nd Army to organize at least three infantry divisions and a tank brigade assault group in the Mamayevgang area to attack the enemies in the northwest suburbs of Stalingrad and annihilate them in this area. The mission of the day: to eliminate the enemies in the city under the premise of effectively protecting the Rynok and Orlovka areas behind them, the 128 and 98.9 highlands, as well as the northwest and western suburbs of Stalingrad.
The artillery director of the Front Army was ordered to attack with powerful artillery to ensure that the 62nd Army carried out assaults from Gorodise and Gumlak on the right and to the Chalica River.
From 19:00 on September 18, 1942, the Gorishne Infantry Division was included in the 62nd Army.
The commander of the 62nd Army was ordered to cross the Volga River to Stalingrad from the northern ferry near the "Red October" village before 5:00 on September 19, 1942, and use this force to launch an assault from the 102 Highland to the northwest suburbs of the city...." The last of the order was the signature of Yelemenko and Khrushchev.
After reading the combat order, Sokov handed it back to Krelov, looking at Cuikov and asked: "Comrade Commander, our brigade has suffered more than 3,000 casualties in the past few days of battle. I am afraid that the troops will not be able to be drawn to participate in such a counterattack." The reason why he said that his troops had suffered more than 3,000 casualties was to prevent Cui Kov and others from forcibly drawing troops from themselves to carry out these doomed counterattacks in order to complete the tasks of their superiors.
But the facts soon proved that Sokov was overly worried, and Cuikov had no intention of drawing large troops from Mamayev's hill to participate in the counterattack. He said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I called you here today not to let your troops participate in such a counterattack, but to have other tasks?"
Knowing that his troops did not have to participate in the doomed counterattack, Sokov put his heart back in his stomach. He quickly asked, "Comrade Commander, can I ask what mission it is?"
"You should have seen in the combat order that we are about to launch an attack on the enemy in the north of Stalingrad to support the Stalingrad Front under General Rokosovsky." Cuikov pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "When our troops and the enemy start a fierce battle, you lead an elite force through the gap between the enemy's defense line and go north to welcome the Stalingrad Front troops to the south."
When Sokov heard Cuikov repeatedly mentioning the Stalingrad Front, he felt a sense of laughter and crying. The troops called the Stalingrad Front are still dozens of kilometers outside the city; while the troops that were stuck in the Stalingrad City belonged to the Southeast Front.
"Comrade Commander," Sokov thought that if he wanted to pass through the gap between the German defense line, the size of the troops he led could not be too large. So he asked Cui Kev for advice: "I wonder how many people the troops I led should be controlled?"
Cui Kefu thought for a while and replied: "There are too many people, and it is easy to be exposed when crossing the enemy's defense line; the number of people is too small, and it will not play a necessary role. I think there are only three hundred people."
As for which unit to lead to head north, Sokov first considered the Third Battalion. But then he thought that the Third Battalion's combat power was not weak and they should be kept for the most difficult time. In addition, the most suitable candidate was the 192nd Battalion. The commanders and combat backbones of the battalion were all from the 192nd Division of the former infantry. They were full of hatred for the German army. In addition, they had not allowed them to participate in the war recently, so they must have a fire in their hearts. Leading them to head north will definitely be able to exert their combat power to the limit.
Just as Sokov saw that the mission had been arranged and was about to get up and say goodbye, the phone ringing on the table suddenly rang. Krelov picked up the earpiece and put it in his ear and listened for a moment, then covered the microphone and said to Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, it is Major General Mattviev, the commander of the artillery of the Front Army."
After hearing the name Krelov said, Cuikov asked impatiently: "What are he going to say this time?"
Sokov, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but think in his heart: Is there any conflict between the commander and the artillery commander of the Front Army? In order to figure out all this, he did not say goodbye immediately, but stood there, pricked up his ears and listened carefully to the conversation between the two.
"What else can I say?" Krelov shrugged and said helplessly: "It's not the words that in order to better attack the enemy, all the army artillery should be deployed in Stalingrad City, not on the east coast."
"The Army Military Commission has made a resolution long ago," Cui Kev continued: "Leave artillery on the left bank of the Volga River, and only needs to deploy an artillery observation station on the right bank. Artillery observers can defend the front wide and command the firepower maneuver of artillery on the left bank. The artillery that can be left in the city can only be mortars and anti-tank guns."
"Comrade General," Krelov, after he finished speaking, let go of his hand covering the microphone, "In the city, our artillery group has neither horsepower nor mechanical traction. In this way, our artillery almost loses its maneuver. Think about it, it is impossible for us artillery to push the cannons and howitzers with both hands, walking on the bumpy streets that were blown through the ruins of the city.
And since late August, it has become difficult to transport the shells from the left bank of the Volga River and then into the city, and sometimes it is completely unworkable. Because during the day the enemy monitored all the roads leading from the east to the Volga River. The enemy's air force and artillery blocked our crossing area, and we transported the ammunition across this water which is only one kilometer wide, which is more difficult than transporting the ammunition to the bank of the Volga River from a hundred kilometers away...."
When Krelov was explaining to Matviev the benefits of leaving artillery on the left bank, a thought suddenly popped up in Sokov's mind. He walked to Cuikov and whispered: "Comrade Commander, I think several rocket artillery battalions can be arranged in the right bank area."
"Design a rocket launcher battalion in the city?" After hearing Sokov's suggestion, Cuikov frowned and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want to ask you, if there are really a few rocket launcher battalions in the city, how do you plan to use them?"
"Comrade Commander, it is the layout of your new command that gave me a new idea." Sokov pulled Cuikov to the entrance of the cave and said to him: "We can dig some caves on the steep river bank to hide the rocket launcher. Once we find that the enemy launches a large-scale attack on our position, our rocket launcher battalion will sail out of the hiding cave and cover the enemy with firepower. After completing the shooting mission, we will return to the hiding cave. Do you think this is OK?"
Sokov did not immediately express his opinion, but stood by the river and carefully observed the nearby river bank. After a long time, he finally nodded and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, your proposal is completely feasible. I will contact General Matviev and ask him to send us a few rocket launcher battalions as soon as possible."
Trekov returned to the cave and quickly came to Krelov's side. He took the phone from his hand and said to the microphone: "General Mattviev, hello, I am Trekov. I now have a new idea. You can send us two or three rocket launchers battalions, and we will deploy them in the city to attack the Germans hard."
Krelov heard what Cuikov said, and he immediately became anxious. He lowered his voice to remind Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, if we really deploy the rocket artillery battalion in the city, they will be destroyed by German artillery and aircraft in less than two days. I suggest leaving them on the other side."
Cui Kefu did not raise his eyelids, but continued to say to the microphone: "Comrade General, you also know that our counterattack is about to begin. Please be sure to operate the rocket launcher we need to the city two nights tonight."
As soon as Krelov waited for Trikov to put down the phone, he said anxiously: "Comrade Commander, have you forgotten the situation in the city? Under the current circumstances, if artillery troops are deployed in the city, we cannot carry out firepower maneuvers at all, so we can only make them targets of the enemy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff." After Krelov finished speaking, he said with a smile: "Did you not hear clearly just now? What I asked for is the rocket launcher battalion, not the cannon or howitzer. You should be very clear that the rocket launcher battalion has very high mobility."
"But the roads in the city have been severely damaged." Krelov said impatiently: "Even a rocket launcher with extremely strong mobility will become difficult to move forward after arriving in the city."
Cuikov turned his head to look at Sokov, and then said to Krelov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov suggested to me that a cave can be built on the river bank where rocket launchers can hide. Usually, we hide rocket launchers in the cave. When the enemy launches a large-scale attack on our army, the rocket launcher battalion will emerge from the cave, establish positions on the river bank, and implement firepower coverage on the enemies entering the range. After completing the combat mission, they will return to the cave where they are hiding."
After figuring out what happened, Krelov showed a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, if this is the case, it is completely feasible to transfer some rocket launchers back from the east coast. I believe that their use of this tactic of running after fighting will definitely cause serious casualties to the enemy."
Chapter completed!