"What the hell is going on?" Guriev was happy to learn that the German 24th Armored Division was hit by artillery fire during the northward movement, but he wanted to figure out what was going on: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where the artillery fire from caused such losses to the enemy."
Zalijiuk shook his head and said with a wry smile: "This telegram from the headquarters is somewhat vague. We cannot know where the German army was bombarded and how serious the losses were."
Guriev felt that it was necessary to figure out the matter as soon as possible, and immediately asked the communications troop to connect to the call of the Group Army Command. When he heard Krelov's voice coming from the receiver, Guriev didn't care about greetings and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask, what was going on with the German 24th Armored Division attacked our army's artillery fire during the process of moving north? What was their casualties?"
"It turns out to be General Guriyev," Krelov smiled and said, "I guessed that you would call to inquire about this, and I guessed it."
Guriev was not at the moment thinking about playing puzzle games with Krelov. He asked anxiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me what's going on? This matter is very important to me."
"Comrade General, this is the case. A few days ago, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, who was responsible for defending Mamayev's post, sent a small force to fight guerrillas in the rear of the enemy. His main task was to destroy roads, bridges, attack enemy transportation lines, troop stations and command centers." Krelov replied: "This time the 24th Armored Division was attacked, and this small force did it."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, if you say that guerrillas destroy roads, bridges, attack enemy transport lines, warehouses and even commands behind the enemy, I believe it. But," Guriev asked half-doubtedly about Krelov's statement: "But it is impossible to attack a built-up armored force and cause them to be severely damaged."
Guriyev's statement is not aimless. In previous offensive and defensive battles, to deal with a German armored division, the Soviet army had to dispatch at least four or five divisions to barely tie. Now it is just a small army, and it is actually a fantasy to achieve such great results.
"Although we have not received any further war reports," Krelov said calmly in the face of Guriev's doubts: "But based on the results they achieved some time ago, I believe that all this is true."
The 73rd Infantry Brigade achieved results behind enemy lines and was confidential, and did not conduct large-scale propaganda within the group army. It only vaguely mentioned that the Infantry Brigade had achieved outstanding results in the battle to defend Stalingrad. Therefore, it was completely natural for Guriev to have such suspicion.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Guriev heard Krelov say this and immediately realized that the 24th Armored Division of the German Army seemed to have no threat to its defense zone in a short period of time. The stone hanging in his heart finally fell to the ground: "Thank you, thank you for notifying us of such good news."
…………
After Guriev left the assembly workshop, Sokov summoned Brisky, Ballshak and Cousto to discuss with them the shortcomings in the defense deployment.
After briefly talking about the installation of the assembly workshop, Sokov said casually: "In order to strengthen the defense of the factory and turn it into a fortress that the Germans cannot conquer, it is necessary to further improve our defense. You all tell me, what are the shortcomings of our defense!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ballsack rushed to say, "Lt. Col., let me tell you my opinion. Look, the German shelling broke the barbed wire in front of the factory, so that the German infantry could easily rush into our factory through the barbed wire."
Sokov wrote down what Ballshaq said in his notebook, then looked up and continued to ask, "Who else wants to add it?"
"I'll say a few words." Balshaq's words reminded Brisky, and he continued to express his opinion: "I think we should set up minefields in front of the positions so that the German infantry could not rush over quickly."
"Comrade Captain, you make sense, I was negligent in this." After admitting his negligence, Sokov asked Cousto: "Comrade in the workshop, do you know where to get landmines?"
"There are two hundred mines in the basement." Kusto asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where are you going to bury the minefield?"
Sokov did not answer his question immediately, but asked back: "Comrade in the workshop director, where do you think we should bury the mines?"
Cousto frowned and thought for a while, saying, "If we want to bury mines around the factory, the number of mines in our hands is far from enough. In this way, we can only lay them in the direction where the enemy may attack, but if buried here, once they are hit by fierce German artillery fire, these mines will be detonated..."
Hearing the problem that Cousto was worried about, Sokov smiled faintly and then said: "Comrade Workshop Director, you don't have to worry. We can bury the mines at a distance from the wall to the factory, and try to bury and disperse them as much as possible, so that it can make it more difficult for German engineers to remove mines."
"Comrade Brigade Commander is right," Brisky followed Sokov for a long time. After hearing this, he immediately understood what Sokov wanted to express and quickly echoed: "We scattered mines so that the enemy could step on landmines at any time from the moment they crossed the wall. Even if they found that there were a large number of mines in this area, it was not easy to eliminate them, because our mines were buried everywhere. Moreover, when their engineers demined, our sharpshooters could snipe them. Without engineers, I see how the Germans attacked."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, scattering landmines can indeed cause losses and threats to the enemy, but this will be very unfavorable to us." Ballshaq said with concern: "If we launch a counterattack, these landmines may also injure our commanders and fighters."
"Major Ballshak," Sokov and others asked slowly after finishing their speech: "Do you think with our existing strength, can we fight back against the enemy?"
"I don't think so." Ballshaq hesitated for a long time before answering: "My destroyer battalion has just been rebuilt, and it may take some time to form combat effectiveness. And you only have 300 soldiers under your command, which may be barely enough for defense; but if it is used for offense, please be honest, the number is really small."
"Since we do not have the power to attack the enemy for the time being, no matter how mines are buried, it will not cause any loss to us." Sokov said this, seeing Ballshaq open his mouth, as if he wanted to say something else, he raised his hand to stop him, and then said: "When we have the ability to launch a counterattack, the mines buried should have been almost trampled by the Germans. Even if there are a few left at that time, it will have no effect on us."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Sokov said as soon as he finished speaking, the radio operator sitting beside him suddenly shouted: "The Chief of Staff sent you a telegram."
"Take it to me."
The radio operator stood up and handed Sokov a telegram that had just been copied. Sokov opened the telegram and saw that it said: "Highly 100,000, please call back quickly."
After Sokov read the contents of the telegram, the image of a pager suddenly appeared in his mind. He felt that the telegram was like Cidolin asking him to return the page. He put down the telegram and turned his head to ask Cousto: "Comrade in the workshop, do you have a phone number here to contact Mamayevgang?"
Kusto pointed to the direct-dial phone beside Sokov and replied: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the phone beside you is fine. Just pick up the microphone and hear someone talking inside, let her help you take over the brigade command of Mamayevgang."
Sokov was eager to know what Sidolin had to look for him, so he followed the steps Kusto said and connected the brigade command of Mamayevgang. As soon as he heard Sidolin's voice, he couldn't wait to ask: "Chief of Staff, I am Sokov, what happened?"
"Hello, comrade comrade commander!" There was a joy in Cidolin's voice: "I have a good news to tell you, but because I can't get through the phone number there, I have to send you a telegram."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov felt a little amused when he heard Sidolin say this: "I am carrying a phone call. In addition to sending telegrams, I can also make wireless calls directly."
"I know, comrade comrade commander." Cidolin said with a smile: "Aren't I worried that the wireless phone would be eavesdropped by the Germans, so I sent a telegram."
Sokov had no intention of going around with Cydolin and said impatiently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a lot of things. If you have anything, please tell me directly, is it okay?"
"That's right, comrade comrade commander." Sidolin heard the displeasure from Sokov's tone and quickly said seriously: "Lieutenant Grissa, who was operating behind enemy lines, sent us a telegram saying that he had attacked a German armored unit heading north today, and wiped out nearly twenty tanks, more than thirty trucks, and more than 500 German soldiers. Through the documents on the German corpses, they confirmed that this was the 24th Armored Division of the German Army."
"24th Armored Division?" Sokov was shocked when he heard the German army's troops number, because this unit had been operating in the left wing of Mamayevgang, but now it was inexplicably present in the area where the small troops were active. It was indeed puzzling: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you figured out what's going on?"
"I figured it out, comrade comrade commander." Sidolin replied respectfully: "The Germans obviously wanted to transfer this force to the factory area, so that they could assist the infantry in launching a new round of attacks on the factories occupied by our army. They might know that we had artillery observers on the hills of Mamayev Hill, which could guide artillerymen on the left bank to carry out artillery fire strikes on the enemy. Therefore, they did not choose to go from the railway line ahead of Mamayev Hill, but chose an area farther from the high ground. But they were very unlucky, and their route was within the range of the attack of our enemy's squad. After Lieutenant Grissa discovered the enemy's marching brigade, he decisively ordered the soldiers to attack with new rockets, which severely damaged the enemy."
"Lt. Grissa is a good person," Sokov said happily: "They actively seized the fighter planes, and severely damaged the Germans and relieved our defense pressure in the direction of the factory."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Brisky couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Brigade Commander, has something happened?"
"Comrade Captain," Sokov said with a smile at Brisky: "The Chief of Staff told me that the small troops behind enemy lines led by Lieutenant Grissa attacked the 24th Armored Division heading north and caused huge casualties to them. I think this Armored Division will be useless in a short time."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what did you say just now? One of your small troops attacked the 24th Armored Division heading north and caused huge casualties to them?" No matter what, Ballshaq was considered a soldier. After hearing what Sokov said, he asked half-believably: "I want to ask, if the enemy is really so vulnerable, why would our defense be so difficult?"
"This, this..." Ballshak's words really stopped Sokov. After a long time, he began to say: "The small troops in our brigade's behind enemy lines all carry a new type of rocket. This rocket can strike enemy targets a few kilometers away. The German armored division in this attack was using this new type of rocket."
"New rockets?" Ballshak couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard Sokov say this, and then asked tentatively: "Is this new rocket in the wooden boxes you pulled from a truck?"
"That's right." Since everyone was a comrade in the same trench, Sokov felt that there was no need to hide the matter anymore, so he nodded and replied, "The boxes are indeed new rockets."
When they learned that there were rockets in the factory that could cause huge casualties to the Germans, both Ballsack and Cousto breathed a sigh of relief, because they understood that with such a weapon, it would no longer be difficult to smash the Germans' attack.
Cousto couldn't help asking: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I wonder when you plan to use these rockets to destroy the attacking enemies?"
Chapter completed!