On the way, Shamrich suddenly asked inappropriately: "Comrade Commander, do the regiment commander know about our battalion fighting in the friendly areas?"
Shamrich's words stopped Sokov. He thought about it carefully. Whether he went to the Third Battalion last night or mobilized the Marine Battalion today, he seemed to have not greeted their regiment commander Belkin. He shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Captain, if you don't remind me, I almost forgot that there is a reduction regiment. But don't worry, although I am not in the command center, the Chief of Staff will definitely vent this matter with Commander Belkin."
In order to resolve his embarrassment, Sokov promptly changed the subject and asked: "Comrade Captain, I ask you, how do you plan to deploy the defense line after you arrive at the ditch later?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Shamrich's expression of surprise flashed across his face. He said in confusion: "Of course, we are building at least two lines of defense in the ditch to prevent the enemy from going out along the ditch to the Volga River."
"Wrong, comrade Captain, wrong." Sokov said proudly when he saw Shamrich's surprised expression: "The ditch is full of ashes, and it is very difficult to build a line of defense. Even if two lines of defense are barely built, the enemy can destroy your line of defense by just a mortar bomb."
Shamrich received a task to stick to the ditch between the factory in the Red October and the barricade factory, but he knew nothing about the terrain there. At this moment, when he heard Sokov denying his plan to build a defense line, he was not discouraged, but asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, then tell me, should we do it?"
"Since there is no way to build a line of defense in the ditch," Sokov said with a smile: "You can place your main force on both sides of the ditch. After the enemy enters the ditch, you can attack them condescendingly. This will not only eliminate the enemy, but the troops themselves will not suffer too much casualties."
Shamrich was half-believing and half-doubted about Sokov's statement. He asked back with some hesitation: "Comrade instructor, can this be done?"
"Will it work? When we get to the ditch, we will see the terrain there." Sokov was unwilling to waste too much time with Shamrich on this issue: "No matter how many plans we make before we see the real terrain, it's all about paper."
The troops were passing through the Red October factory and met a patrol team in the factory. The captain was a foreman in the assembly workshop. When he saw Sokov bringing hundreds of sailors into the factory, he couldn't help but lit up. He quickly raised his hand to stop his subordinates. Then he trotted all the way to Sokov, raised his hand to salute him, and asked excitedly: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov!"
He tilted his head and glanced at the hundreds of sailors behind Sokov, and asked excitedly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, are these reinforcements you brought?"
"Comrade foreman," Sokov knew the other party, but could not call him by his name, and could only call him by his position: "I will take these soldiers to the ditch between your factory and the barricade, and lay out defenses there to block enemies that might rush to the bank of the Volga."
When the foreman learned that the soldiers Sokov brought were not here to reinforce the factory, the foreman was somewhat disappointed. However, he still asked politely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you need me to send someone to you as a guide?"
Sokov was just on the road and was thinking in his heart whether he should find a guide so as not to get lost with his troops. He heard the foreman say this and nodded with a smile and said, "That's great, comrade foreman. Then please find us a reliable guide and take us to the ditch."
"Voroni!" The foreman turned his head and shouted at the patrol that was standing not far away. As he shouted, a young militia ran out of the queue. He came to the foreman and stood up straight for the order. The foreman pointed at Sokov and ordered him, "Voroni, you can guide Lieutenant Colonel Sokov and take him and his troops to the ditch!"
"I understand, comrade foreman." Hearing the foreman's order, Voroni quickly agreed loudly.
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I wish you good luck!" After the foreman said that, he shook hands with Sokov first, raised his hand to salute, turned around and returned to his patrol team, and continued patrolling the factory with them.
"Voroni," as the troops continued to rush forward, Sokov saw the thick smoke rising from the north covering the sky and the sun, and it was obvious that the buildings were burning somewhere. He pointed to the direction of the fire and asked Voroni, the young man who served as a guide, "Where is there?"
"It's Derzhinsky Tractor Factory," Voroni said, looking at the smoke-filled place: "Yesterday the enemy first bombed with guns, and then with planes. The fire has not yet been extinguished since yesterday's daytime. These damn Germans, sooner or later, will be doubled for their crimes against us."
"Comrade Voroni, you're right." Sokov raised his hand and patted Voroni's shoulder twice, saying, "We will sooner or later ask the Germans for this blood debt."
"Ltd Colonel," Voroni looked at Sokov and said excitedly: "Do you know, you are a legend in our factory!"
"Legendary?!" Sokov asked with some confusion: "Comrade Voroni, how could I become a legend?"
"The fighter soldiers, militia and assembly workshop workers who once fought side by side with you have seen the brilliant achievements you have achieved with their own eyes." Voroni tilted his head to look at Sokov and said with admiration: "They all said that as long as you are in the area, no matter how many planes, tanks and cannons the enemy has, they will never go further."
"Comrade Voroni, this is all a rumor." Sokov waved his hand at the other party and said modestly: "I have indeed commanded the troops to win some battles, but there is no such magic as you said."
"It's like two days ago, in order to prevent the enemy from falling into the siege, the 308th Division and the 95th Division had to withdraw from the battle and move to our factory." Faced with Sokov's low-keyness, Voroni became even more excited: "I heard that a regiment they deployed to cover the breakthrough in the north was almost completely lost in less than an hour. I heard the soldiers say that they thought they would definitely not be able to withdraw the factory area, but at this moment, a regiment you sent rushed to take over the defense, easily blocking the enemy's attack, and even continued to take counterattacks and restored a large number of lost positions..."
It was the first time Shamrich heard about what Voroni told him. In order to understand the battle situation at that time, he walked by Voroni, fearing that he would not be able to hear the complete story if he missed a certain sentence from the other party.
After telling the story he knew, Voroni excitedly said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if your troops had not taken action in time, I'm afraid the factory would not be as peaceful as it is now. Maybe we are fighting the enemy who broke into the factory. Comrade Lieutenant Colonel..."
Speaking of this, Voroni suddenly stopped. He had just seen Sokov's collar seal clearly, and the vertical strips representing the military rank sign were not three but four. Therefore, after a while, he said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade Colonel, I didn't see your military rank clearly!"
"It's okay, Comrade Voroni." Sokov waved his hand and said lightly: "I just obtained the rank of colonel not long ago. When I was fighting in the Red October factory, I was indeed a lieutenant colonel."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov... is wrong, it's a comrade of the colonel." Seeing that Sokov did not blame him, Voroni asked carefully: "Will you still bring your troops to our factory to participate in the defense?"
"Sorry, Comrade Voroni, I can't answer you this question." When Sokov said this, he looked at the direction of the smoke-filled Derzhinsky Tractor Factory, and then said: "Some time ago, the enemy placed the focus of the attack on the Red October factory. Seeing that my troops were close, the superiors sent me to support him. Now the enemy seems to be more interested in taking down the Derzhinsky Tractor Factory, so in the coming days, it should be the focus of our army's defense."
Although Sokov did not explicitly say whether he would go back to the Red October factory, Voroni still heard what he wanted to express from his words and said regretfully: "It's such a pity. Since you became a legend, the workers in our factory want to know you. If you don't go to our factory again, I think everyone will feel regretful."
"Comrade Voroni," Sokov replied with a smile: "This battle will not be finished soon, that is, we will have the opportunity to fight side by side in the future. Then, the workers in your factory will see me."
"That's great." Voroni said excitedly: "When I return to the factory, I will definitely tell my colleagues what you say, and they will be very happy."
The conversation between the two made Shamrich, who was standing by, was amazed. From Voroni's story, he learned about the series of achievements made by Sokov, which gave him a further understanding of Sokov. In the past, he obeyed Sokov because of his superiors and subordinates, and was convinced orally but not by his superiors; but now, he is convinced by Sokov.
Sokov was busy talking to Voroni, but did not notice the change in expression on Shamrich's face: "Comrade Voroni, tell me about the terrain of the ditch."
"Comrade Colonel," Voroni heard Sokov's question and quickly replied respectfully: "The ditch is made up of river water, with a length of about three kilometers, a wide area of ​​two hundred meters, and a narrow area of ​​seventy or eighty meters. Since there is no river water in the ditch, our factory and the barricade factory pour the ash slag produced in the ditch..."
While listening to Voroni's story, Sokov imagined in his mind how the troops should be deployed. After Voroni finished speaking, he asked, "Comrade Voroni, can tanks or armored vehicles be driven in the ditch?"
"No," Voroni heard Sokov's problem and immediately shook his head like a rattle: "Although the width of the ditch ranges from seventy or eighty meters to two hundred meters, the ditch is full of furnace ash slag, and there is only a two or three meters wide path in the middle, with tracks laid for mine trucks that dump the furnace ash slag."
After Woroni's story, whether it was Sokov or Shamrich, the two had an emotional understanding of the terrain of the ditch. Shamrich thought to himself: "It seems that the division commander's idea is correct. It is impossible to build solid fortifications in the ditch. Even if they can barely build two lines of defense according to their own ideas, the German army will be defeated soon with a mortar."
"Comrade Captain," just as Shamrich was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Sokov calling himself, and quickly turned his head to look at Sokov, and heard the other party ask: "After Comrade Voroni's introduction, you have a certain understanding of the terrain of the ditch. Tell me, how do you plan to organize defenses in the ditch?"
"Comrade Commander," Shamrich is also an experienced commander. After understanding the terrain, he quickly thought of a defense plan in his mind. When he heard Sokov ask himself, he immediately said: "I plan to place a company in the middle of the ditch to defend the front, and the main force of the battalion is ambushing on both sides of the ditch. After the enemy enters the ambush circle, he will surprise them with a blow."
Sokov still questioned Shamrich's plan: "Comrade Captain, what kind of fortifications do you plan to build for this company deployed in the ditch?"
Shamrich turned his head and looked at Voroni, and continued, "Comrade Commander, Voroni just said that there is a track for mine trucks in the middle of the ash in the ditch. I plan to cross these mine trucks in the middle of the road and pile sandbags next to it, so that a simple fortification can be quickly formed. Although such fortifications are simple, it is probably not easy for the Germans to pass through."
Sokov thought to himself that the ditch was full of ash, and the Germans could not walk on the ash, and could only advance through the path in the middle. If Shamrich and his friends really used mine cars and sandbags to build a line of defense, they could indeed block the enemy's attack. When the enemy was stuck in the ditch, the troops lying on both wings were attacking. At that time, the enemy entering the ditch would at least be seriously damaged even if they were not completely wiped out.
"Comrade Captain, you are very thoughtful." Sokov nodded and agreed with Shamrich's plan: "When we arrive at the ditch later, we will follow your plan."
Chapter completed!