As a guide, Voroni, after sending Sokov and the others to the place, he should have returned to the Red October factory to report. But when he heard Sokov's defense, he couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Comrade Colonel, can I say a few words?"
Although Voroni interrupted when Sokov was assigned a task, it seemed very impolite, but Sokov knew very well that if the other party had nothing important, he felt that he would not do this, so he asked rationally: "Comrade Voroni, do you have any good suggestions? If so, just say, don't have any concerns."
"That's right, comrade Colonel." Voroni pointed toward the Volga River and said, "Walking a hundred meters further to the river, there is a conveyor belt dedicated to dumping furnace ash, and there is a row of two-story buildings below. It was originally a place for workers to rest, but when the enemy approached the city, there would be no one there. If you want to establish defense in the ditch, it would be better to choose there."
Sokov did not immediately make a statement about Voroni's proposal. He stood on a mound of soil not far away and looked east. Sure enough, he saw a two-story building in the ditch. The appearance color had become the same as the surrounding ash. If Voroni had not reminded him, it would have been difficult to find it.
Sokov returned to Shamrich and said to him: "Comrade Captain, choose the defensive position in the ditch. In addition to building defense lines with mine cars and sandbags, you can also set up machine guns on the second floor so that when the enemy attacks, you can use three-dimensional firepower to block the enemy's way forward."
"I understand." Shamrich nodded and said, "I will send a company to build a defense line in the small building." After saying that, he paused for a moment and asked tentatively, "Comrade Brigade Commander, where are you going to set up the command center?"
Sokov raised his hand and pointed at the opposite side of the ditch, saying, "You and your battalion stayed on the south side of the ditch. I will take Selyossa's guard company to the north side of the ditch. You will be in charge of this battle, so I will not interfere."
After Sokov left with the guard company, Shamrich summoned several company commanders to meet and assign tasks to them. The company was responsible for the frontal blocking. They would use the buildings in the trench to build a line of defense that blocked the enemy's advance. However, the tasks of the other companies were very simple, which was to scatter into the trench and hide the trench on both sides, saving them from digging trenches.
After Shamrich finished assigning the mission, Deputy Battalion Commander Yakuda came over and volunteered to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, let me go to the first company. In this way, I can deal with any problems that are temporarily discovered," he said.
Although the first company commander was a commander with rich combat experience, Shamricht, considering the importance of this battle, was still thinking in his mind whether the battalion commander should be placed in the location of the first company so as to facilitate the command of the entire battalion. At this moment, he heard the deputy battalion commander volunteering, and he changed his mind and decided to let the deputy battalion commander serve as the commander of the front enemy, and he still set the commander on the south side of the ditch according to the plan.
"Well, comrade deputy battalion commander, I agree with your request." Shamrih nodded at Yakuda and said, "It is up to you to decide when the first shot should be fired."
…………
When the Marine Battle Battalion was deploying defenses near the ditch, it was discovered by the observation post set up by the 95th Division not far away. Seeing a unit appearing nearby, the observation post in charge immediately reported the situation to the division commander Gorishne.
Gorishne, who received the report, immediately rushed over with a platoon of soldiers. The purpose of his doing this was to understand where the troops that appeared near the ditch came from; the second purpose was to consider whether the troops could be taken over to their own use.
When he was two or three hundred meters away from the trench, he saw an army of more than a hundred people digging the trench using the trenches hit by the river. He quickly moved forward and asked loudly: "Where is your commander?"
Selyosha, who was digging a trench with the soldiers, heard someone asking loudly, quickly put down his tools, jumped out of the half-digged trench, trotted to Gorishne, straightened his body and replied: "Hello, comrade Colonel, I am Lieutenant Selyosha, I have any instructions?"
"Lt. Seryosha, I am Colonel Gorishne, the commander of the 95th Infantry Division." Gorishne saw this army digging trenches, all of whom were lively young people, and even thought of taking them for themselves. He didn't bother to ask which part of them they were, and asked bluntly: "How many people do you have in them?"
"There are 129 people, comrade Colonel." Seryosha replied briefly.
"The number of people is really quite large." Thinking of the number of people in the other party's company, almost catching up with his current battalion, Goreshne couldn't wait to order Selyosha: "Comrade Lieutenant, I will officially notify you now that your company will be under my command from now on."
"I'm sorry, comrade Colonel." After he finished speaking, Selyosha replied in a humble manner, "I cannot obey your orders."
"Why can't you obey my orders?" Seeing a small lieutenant who dared not obey his orders, Gorishne suddenly became nameless and raised his voice and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, you should know what consequences will bring about disobeying the orders of your superiors?"
"Isn't this Colonel Gorishne?" Before Selyosha could answer, Sokov's voice came from beside him. He asked with a smile: "I wonder where my guard company commander offended you, and you have made you angry?"
"Ah, it's you, Colonel Sokov?" Gorishne was surprised to see Sokov suddenly appearing: "How are you here? And, what did you just say, he is your guard company commander?"
"Comrade Colonel, you asked so many questions at once. How should I answer you?" Sokov saw that the other party was openly digging his wall, but he still had a smile on his face: "I came here to arrange defenses under the command of the commander."
"Defence arrangement?" Gorishne did not receive any notice from Cuikov. Naturally, he did not know what defense Sokov led his troops here to arrange, so he asked in confusion: "Col. Sokov, can you tell me why you are deploying here?"
"Comrade Colonel, do you see that ditch?" Sokov pointed at the position of the ditch and explained to Gorishne: "According to the headquarters' judgment, the enemy is likely to bypass our army's defense line at the silicate factory, and then go forward from the ditch between the Red October factory and the barricade factory to the bank of the Volga River. In order to prevent the enemy from detouring to the rear of our defense line, the commander urgently transferred us here to defend."
"Col. Sokov," after figuring out what happened, Gorishne showed an embarrassing expression on his face. He looked at the location of the trench, pointed with his hand at the location where the guard company was digging the trench, and asked back: "Don't you think your defensive position is too far from the trench?"
"Yes, my guard company is a little farther from the ditch." Sokov replied without changing his face: "But in the ditch and on both sides, I also arranged a battalion of troops, which are enough to teach the Germans a lesson that will last forever."
"So that's how it is." Gorishne realized that he had wronged Sokov and asked embarrassedly: "Col. Sokov, since you have arrived in my defense zone, why not go to my division headquarters for a cup of hot tea?"
"Thank you for your kindness, comrade Colonel." Sokov knew that the war was about to begin and there was no other intention to drink tea, so he politely rejected the other party's kindness: "The enemy's attack may begin soon. Let's wait until the opportunity to drink tea."
"Since that's the case, I won't force you." Gorishne just said politely, and he didn't really want to invite Sokov to visit him. Now that he saw that the other party had refused, he said with the flow: "Col. Sokov, we will have a date in the future. Good luck!" After that, he reached out and shook Sokov, and then turned around and left with his subordinates.
Looking at the back of Gorishne's far away, Seriosha, who had not spoken, snorted coldly, and then said to Sokov: "It's so shameless. Come so blatantly to grab the troops. Misha, fortunately you led the team this time, otherwise our company would have become the 95th Infantry Division from now on."
Sokov raised his hand and patted the old friend Seriosha on the shoulder, sighed and said, "Seryosha, if you change your position, you might do the same thing."
"What?!" Sheryosha's eyes widened in surprise when he heard Sokov say this: "Misha, do you think I'm the kind of shameless person who goes everywhere to steal other people's troops?"
"Don't look at him as a division commander. After such a long battle, his subordinates probably have less than one regiment of troops left." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Under the current situation, the superiors will not replenish him for the time being. If you were him, what method would you use to replenish troops?"
After Sokov's explanation, Selyosha felt that he had misunderstood Gorishne. If he was really a division commander, if he wanted to defend the position assigned to him by his superiors, he would probably use any means to contain the troops everywhere.
"Continue to dig fortifications," Sokov waved his hand at Selyosha and said, "Although it may not be used, I am always uneasy when there are no field fortifications on the battlefield."
When Selyosha waved the engineer shovel again and began to dig the trenches, Sokov walked to the radio operator and told him: "Send a telegram to the division headquarters, saying that we have arrived at the designated location. If something happens in the division, you can contact me through the radio."
"I understand." The radio operator stood in a pit with more than half a person, put the reporter on the ground, looked up at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Commander, do you still need to send a report to the Group Army Command?"
"No, no need to send a message." Sokov shook his head and said, "Captain Sidolin will report our situation to the Army Command."
The telegram was sent back to the division headquarters in Mamayevgang. After reading the telegram, Sidolin picked up the phone on the table and reported to Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, the Marine Battalion led by Colonel Sokov, has successfully arrived at the ditch and is laying down defenses."
After hearing this, Cuikov remained silent for a moment, feeling that since Sokov was in the ditches personally, the Germans' attempt to exit from the ditches to the Volga River would definitely go bankrupt. So he changed the question and asked: "How is the situation in Mamayev's hill? Has it been attacked by the enemy?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." As soon as he talked about this, Cidolin felt a little proud: "Maybe it was our thunderbolt yesterday that scared the enemy out of his courage. Before finding a solution, I think they might not dare to act rashly."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin," Cuikov heard from Sidolin's tone that the other party was underestimating the enemy, and quickly reminded him: "The enemy is cunning. Although they suffered huge losses in front of your positions yesterday, I believe that they will soon find measures to deal with it. You must not take it lightly."
Hearing Cui Kov's words, Sidorin immediately realized that he had underestimated the enemy a little, and quickly straightened his body and replied: "I understand, comrade Commander, we will be vigilant and will never underestimate the enemy."
Seeing that Sidolin realized his mistake, Cui Kefu did not criticize him anymore. After nodding, he ordered him to say, "Why is there any news from the ditch? Remember to report to me in time. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Cidolin quickly replied, "I will report to you in detail what happened in the ditch at any time."
Ivanov, who was sitting aside, waited for Cidolin to put down the phone and asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I always think of a question in my heart. Will the Germans really use that ditch and go forward to the bank of the Volga River?"
"Isn't it?" Seeing that Ivanov actually questioned Sokov's judgment, Cidolin showed a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I have been with the division commander for several months. Although he is young, his judgment of the enemy situation has always been very accurate. Therefore, he said that the enemy would go out to the bank of the Volga River through the ditch, so he would never be wrong."
Seeing that Sidolin supported Sokov so much, Ivanov was even more surprised: "Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that you would trust the division commander so unconditionally."
Hearing Ivanov say this, a smile appeared on Cidolin's face: "Comrade Deputy Commander, wait for you and Commander to partner for more than a month, and after understanding what he has done, I think you will trust him unconditionally."
Chapter completed!