Bantaileev originally thought that Sokov belonged to the Don Front, so he only planned to give him two or three hundred new recruits symbolically. After all, so many troops suffered huge losses and urgently needed the supplement of the troops. If Malining hadn't greeted him, he would probably not have the share of these two or three hundred people.
When he learned that Sokov's troops were standing by Mamayev's post, he was stunned. He stared at Sokov for a long time before turning his head to ask Orel: "Comrade General, have we broken through the German encirclement and met with the defenders in the city?"
Orel naturally understood the reason why Banteleev asked, waved his hand and said, "No, we have not yet been able to break through the German encirclement and meet with friendly forces in the city." He glanced at Sokov quickly and continued, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov broke out from Orlovka with a remnant."
When he learned that the internal and external attacks had not broken through the enemy's siege, Bantaileev showed a disappointed expression on his face: "So, the counterattack launched by friendly forces in the city has not been successful?"
"Comrade Colonel, although our counterattack failed this time, it does not mean that the next counterattack will not be successful." Sokov felt that at this time, he should come out and say a few words, "We can defeat the enemy attacking Stalingrad sooner or later."
"Col. Bantaileev," Orel knew very well. Malining asked him to be favored by Sokov here because he was worried that Bantaileev might make things difficult for Sokov on the issue of replenishing troops. At this moment, he saw the other party pushing and blocking his mind, and urged: "I have something urgent to rush back to the headquarters. Please call the battalion commanders of each new battalion as soon as possible."
Bantaileev said with a embarrassed look: "General Orel, I only have more than 4,700 people in my hands. If I add 4,000 Lieutenant Colonel Sokov at once, what should I do if other troops come to ask for people?"
Orel thought carefully and said that this was the case. Bantaileev was responsible for replenishing troops. He only had so many troops in his hand. What would he do if he had replenished Sokov, other divisions and brigade commanders came here to replenish the troops? Thinking of this, he asked reasonably: "Comrade Colonel, how many people do you think you can give to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?"
Bantaileev turned his head and looked at Sokov, thought for a long time, then raised a finger and said, "One thousand people."
"No, too few." Orel rejected the figures proposed by Bantaileev without hesitation: "The battle in the city is so fierce, and a thousand people will probably be exhausted in less than a day. I think at least three thousand people."
Hearing Orel say this, Bantaileev's muscles twitched violently for a few times, then stretched out another finger and said with difficulty: "Two thousand people, there can't be more."
"Three thousand." Orel insisted: "This is the bottom limit, and it cannot be less."
Seeing Oryol's attitude so tough, Bantaileev stopped doing it. He stood up, took off the belt around his waist, threw it on the table. The holster that was put on the belt and hit the table, making a loud noise, which scared Oryol. He stared at the belt and holster on the table and asked unhappily: "Comrade Colonel, what do you mean? Don't you want to do it anymore?"
"That's right, General Orel, you're right. I don't do such offensive things. Whoever wants to do them will do them!" Bantaileev said with his head held high, "I would rather be a battalion commander and take the soldiers to charge on the front line than working hard here."
Bantaileev wanted to pick up the pick, but it was a bit beyond Orel's expectations. If he really quit, he wouldn't be able to find a suitable candidate to take over his job in a hurry. Therefore, Orel could only turn his head and look at Sokov and ask, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what did you think?"
Sokov heard Malining say last night that under Bantaileev, there was a sailor unit from the Northern Fleet. Since it could no longer be replenished from here, Sokov planned to bring all the sailors over. He believed that the combat effectiveness of more than one thousand sailors could definitely defeat more than three thousand new army recruits.
He coughed softly and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask, do you have a sailor unit from the Northern Fleet?"
Seeing that Bantaileev was still angry, Orel walked to him, put his hands on his shoulder, pressed him on his seat, and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is asking you."
"Yes," Bantaileev nodded and said, "There is a 1,300-man marine battalion, the commander of the battalion, the captain of the Navy of Shamrikh, the deputy commander of the political battalion, and the deputy commander of the Navy of Yakov."
"Comrade Colonel," confirmed that there was indeed a Marine Corps in Bantaileev's hands. Sokov decided to take them under his command, and said in a negotiated tone: "Do you see if you can hand over this Marine Battalion to me, and I will no longer ask for other soldiers?"
"Well," Bantaileev said with some embarrassment about Sokov's request: "Of this group of newly added troops, this unit has the strongest combat power. If it is given to you, other troops will ask for it, it will be difficult for me to speak."
"Comrade Colonel, the combat effectiveness of the Marine Battalion is strong because they are a whole." Sokov emphasized in order to convince the other party: "If you assign them to other troops to command, they will face the possibility of being split, and the combat effectiveness of the troops will be severely weakened."
"College," Orel saw that Sokov had made any concessions and did not ask for another 3,000 or 4,000 people. As long as Captain Shamricht commanded his choice, he thought that his choice was very correct, so he said, "Since Lieutenant Colonel Sokov only had one marine battalion, you still have more than 3,000 soldiers left in your hands, and the commanders of other troops came to you, and you don't have to worry about not having any soldiers to supplement them."
Bantaileev looked at Orel, then looked at Sokov, and his fingers were knocking quickly on the table, thinking in his mind whether he should hand over the troops to Sokov. After thinking for a while, his finger stopped and looked up at Sokov and said, "Well, comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'll let Captain Shamrich come here. If he has no objection, you can take this troops away."
Shamrich received a call from Bantaileev and immediately rushed to the office with his two deputy battalion commanders. After saluting by Bantaileev, the three others introduced Oryol who was sitting beside them, and then said: "Captain Shamrich, I called you here to tell you, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, I want you to join his troops. I want to hear what you think."
Since Bantaileev did not introduce Sokov to the three of them at all, Shamricht had no idea who Sokov was. He looked at Bantaileev and asked, "Comrade Colonel, I don't know where to see this Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"Here," Bantaileev said to Sokov who was standing beside him, "He is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"What, is he Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?" When Shamrich entered the door, he saw Sokov standing behind Oryol. However, when he saw that the other party was too young, he thought he was Oryol's adjutant and others, so he didn't pay much attention. At this moment, he heard that the other party was actually a brigade commander and couldn't help but be surprised: "It's so young."
When Sokov heard Shamrik say this, he smiled awkwardly and said, "That's right, I am Captain Sokov Shamrik, I'm very happy to know you." After that, he reached out to the other party.
Shamrich first raised his hand and saluted Sokov, then stretched out his hands, held Sokov's hand, and said politely and estrangely: "Hello, comrade Lieutenant Colonel."
"Captain Shamrikh," Oryol, who was sitting next to him, saw that Shamrikh seemed not interested in Sokov, decided to help Sokov, and said to Shamrikh: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov was just a corporal when the war broke out, but because of his outstanding ability and his countless merits in the battle, he was promoted from his superiors. Since there were no outsiders here, I might as well tell you that General Rokosovsky, the commander of the Front Army, had expressed to him many times that he hoped that he could stay in the Don River Front Army and even promoted him to general, but he refused without hesitation and still wanted to return to the city and fight side by side with his soldiers."
Orel's words shocked Shamricht a lot. At first he thought that Sokov could become a lieutenant colonel at such a young age, which must be because of nepotism. But after Orel said this, he realized that Sokov could have everything he has today was entirely the result of his own efforts. In particular, he heard that Sokov would rather give up the rank of general in order to return to the city and fight side by side with his warriors.
Shamrich's attitude towards Sokov changed unknowingly, and he no longer resisted becoming Sokov's subordinate. On the contrary, he could not wait to hope that Bantaileev could assign his troops to Sokov's command so that he could follow the new commander into the city.
"Captain Shamrich." Seeing that Shamrich didn't say anything, Bantaileev asked on his own initiative: "What are you thinking about? Should you continue to stay or follow Lieutenant Colonel Sokov into the city?"
"Comrade Colonel," Shamrich made up his mind to follow Sokov to the city. Therefore, he answered Bantaileev firmly: "I am willing to follow Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to the city to fight against the German devils."
When Sokov heard Shamrich's statement of willingness to follow him into the city, he felt ecstatic. Orel stood up and said to Bantaileev: "Comrade Colonel, since Captain Shamrich has decided, you can prepare a barge for them as soon as possible so that you can get into the city as soon as possible."
Although it takes time to prepare a barge and assemble the troops, Orel saw that his purpose of this trip had been achieved. Considering that there were still many things waiting for him in the headquarters, he said goodbye to Sokov. He held Sokov's hand, shook it hard twice, and said with a serious expression: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you must pay more attention to safety. I hope that by the day of victory, you will still be able to see you jumping around."
"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov was quite moved by Orel's concern: "I will definitely work hard to live, not only will I live to see the defeated enemy attacking Stalingrad, but also to see our bright red flags flying over Berlin."
After breaking up with Orel, Sokov and Berey brought the first battalion and the guard battalion to the ferry and waited for the arrival of the Marine Battalion. During the waiting period, Berey said to Sokov: "Misha, after the Marine Battalion arrived at Mamayev Hill, how do you plan to resettle them?"
Sokov's initial idea was to let the Marine Battalion stay in Beigang. Their troops were relatively sufficient, and they could provide timely rescues whether in Nangang or the Red October Factory in the north. But then he thought that although this unit had strong combat effectiveness, they were not familiar with the environment in the city and did not understand their combat style. They might have fought all in a few days. Therefore, he planned to wait until he returned to Mamayev and discuss with the deputy officers of the brigade command how to arrange the unit.
When Sokov heard Bere asked about this first, he said his thoughts in his heart, and then asked back: "Col. Berere, do you have any good suggestions?"
"That's how I think about it," Berey saw Sokov ask for advice humbly, and did not hide his own opinions, but took the initiative to say: "Don't you have four battalions under your command and fighter of the Marine Battalion, which can be organized into four battalions in a group of two hundred people. The remaining people are directly under the brigade. This arrangement can ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, and you also have a mobile unit that you can flexibly control."
"Col. Bere, you're saying it's too reasonable." Sokov thought for a moment about Berere's suggestion and then decisively agreed. Arrangements were made according to Berere's way, first, there was no need to adjust the defense zone of the troops, and second, it also increased the combat effectiveness of the existing troops. It was indeed a good way to kill two birds with one stone: "After returning to Mamayev's hill, we will allocate our troops in this way."
Seeing that Sokov and Bere had almost finished their conversation, Vanya walked over, pointed to a barge parked on the pier, and asked curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, will we take this barge and enter the city directly?"
Chapter completed!