Although the guard company successfully seized the building occupied by the German army, the entire Liumeng Street battle lasted another half an hour before it ended. During the battle, a total of 285 enemies were eliminated, 49 people were captured alive, and more than a dozen artillery and supporting ammunition were seized.
When Sokov was ordering people to count the results and was planning to report the results directly to the Army Command, Guchakov walked in from outside and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Omelichenko, the commander of the 109th Guards, is outside. Do he want to see you and let him in?"
"It's all right," he heard that the friendly commander was outside, how could Sokov turn the other party off, so he quickly ordered Guchakov: "Come Omelichenko comes in quickly."
Not long after Guchakov went out, he brought a middle-aged officer in. Sokov saw the visitor wearing the colonel's collar and guessed that the other party must be Colonel Omelichenko, so he stood up and greeted him, saying in a friendly tone: "It's Colonel Omelichenko, right? Hello, I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Guards Division."
After the battle, Colonel Omelichenko learned from the soldiers of the Marine Battalion that the commander of the 41st Guard Division himself was the commander of the 41st Guard Division. He was surprised and felt that he should visit the other party in person to express his gratitude. After inquiring about the location of the temporary command center, he rushed over with two soldiers.
Unexpectedly, after entering the house, I found that the so-called commander of the Guards Division was actually a little too young colonel. I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Isn't the 41st Guards Division the commander of Colonel Ivanov? Why isn't he here?"
When Sokov heard the other party’s question, he replied lightly: “My deputy division commander is now in Mamayevgang, where he commands the main force to fight against the enemy.”
Omelithenko was also a smart person. After hearing Sokov said this, he immediately understood that the division commander of the division had already been replaced. He quickly said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade Colonel, I don't know that the personnel of the Guards Division have been adjusted."
"Col. Omelichenko," Sokov did not entangle with Omelichenko on this issue. After he greeted the other party, he asked with concern: "I want to take the liberty to ask, is your regiment command here?"
"No, my command is not here." Omelichenko shook his head and replied, "My battalion commander asked me for help, saying that the enemy's offensive was too strong and their troops were insufficient, so it was difficult to defend it anymore. Therefore, I left the Chief of Staff to guard the house and personally brought the staff and logistics personnel in the regiment to support it."
Sokov was about to repel the enemy and immediately moved. When he heard Omelichenko say this, he immediately realized that he might not be able to leave here for the time being. He asked with a stern face: "How many people do you bring?"
"The more than 130 commanders and fighters I brought," Omelichenko pointed on the floor twice with her toes and said with a wry smile: "Almost all of them died in the battle to capture the building, and there are less than 20 people left."
After listening to the data reported by Omelithenko, Sokov's heart sank immediately and he quickly asked: "How many troops do the battalion that was holding here have?"
"Even the wounded," Omelithenko replied, "there are 43 left who can fight."
Sokov thought to himself that such a large area, can you defend it with more than 60 people? It seems that before Cuikov sent new reinforcements, he could not leave here. Thinking of this, he turned to the radio operator sitting in the corner and said, "Send a report to the Army Command, and the defenders on Liumian Street are suffering heavy casualties, and I am afraid they are unable to continue to hold on. He requests his superiors to approve us to temporarily take over the defense here until the new reinforcements arrive."
Taking advantage of the time when the radio operator sent the newspaper, Sokov said to Omelithenko: "Comrade Colonel, if your superiors agree to my request, then you should take the troops to retreat. The defense of Liumian Street will be handed over to me."
"Col. Sokov!" Omelithenko stood up and held Sokov's hand, and said excitedly: "I thank you on behalf of the commanders and soldiers of the entire regiment for your kindness."
"Col. Omelichenko, there is no need to be so polite. We are all comrades in the defense of Stalingrad." After Sokov said politely with a smile, he suddenly remembered the tactics mentioned by the prisoner. He felt that he needed to remind the other party, and then he restrained the smile on his face and said, "By the way, comrade Colonel, I have another important thing to tell you."
Seeing that Sokov's expression suddenly became serious, Omelithenko guessed that there must be something important, so he said politely: "Col. Sokov, just say whatever you have."
"Col. This has a confession of a German prisoner, and it has something to do with you. You can take a look." Sokov picked up a confession of a prisoner and handed it to Omelichenko. "It will be very helpful for your next battle."
After seeing the prisoner's confession, Omelithenko's face became shady and he murmured: "Damn German, I'm so cunning. I actually used this tactic and caused my subordinates to suffer heavy losses."
Although Sokov's position is higher than that of the other party, since Omelichenko is not his subordinate, he can't say anything serious, so he can only say tactfully: "Col. Omelichenko, the combat effectiveness of the staff and logistics personnel is worse than that of ordinary soldiers. If their weapons are not good at hand, they will rush to fight, which is equivalent to letting them die. In the future, in this case, not only should they provide them with weapons that are handy, but they should also be used with the soldiers, so that the number of people can be used."
"You make sense." Omelithenko said in shame after hearing Sokov's words: "At that time, thinking that the situation here is critical, I didn't think so much. As soon as I gathered the personnel, I hurriedly threw myself into the battle. It was all my fault. If I had acted calmly and matched the personnel well, the casualties might have been much smaller."
The headquarters' call came quickly, and the message read: "Agree that your department will temporarily take over the defense of Liumian Street, and be sure to stick to it until dark today." Finally, the signatures of Cuikov and Krelov.
Sokov thought that after receiving his telegram, he would let himself stand for two or three days. If that were the case, he would have to transfer the troops from the ditch to strengthen the defense of Liumian Street. However, since he was only sticking until the evening, the existing troops would be more than enough. After reading the telegram, he looked up at Omelichenko and said, "Col. The call from the headquarters has arrived. From now on, the defense of Liumian Street has been officially handed over to us. You can take your people to retreat."
Omelichenko nodded, stood up and shook hands with Sokov, and said sincerely: "Col. Sokov, I wish you good luck!" After that, he raised his hand to greet a solemn military salute, and then turned around and left the room.
"Come!" After Omelithenko left, Sokov called a communications soldier and told him: "Go and inform Lieutenant Selyoscis and Captain Agranov, and let them come to me immediately."
Fortunately, the area of ​​the residential area is not too large. Within five minutes of the communications troop, the two company commanders who received the notice ran in panting. After entering the house, they raised their hands to salute Sokov, and then asked: "Teacher Commander, what instructions do you have?"
"The superiors have ordered us to take over the defense of Liumian Street." After he greeted the two of them and divided their respective defense areas for them, he continued: "Although the enemy's attack was crushed by ours, they will definitely not be willing to do so and will definitely launch a new attack. Therefore, before dark, no matter what method you use, I must firmly defend here."
"Comrade Commander," in front of Agranov, Selyosha was embarrassed to call Sokov's nickname again, and could only ask seriously: "What should we do if the enemy dispatches tanks?"
Selyosha's words reminded Agranov. He nodded quickly and echoed: "Comrade Commander, I just checked it. There is not much ammunition left by friendly forces. If the enemy dispatches tanks, we may not find enough grenades to form a cluster grenade to explode the tank."
"What's wrong with you two?" Sokov looked at them and asked strangely: "If you want to destroy the enemy's tanks, can you only use cluster grenades?"
"Then what should we use?" asked Selyosha.
"Use anti-tank guns, stupid!" Sokov laughed and scolded: "Didn't we seize more than a dozen 75mm anti-tank guns, put them on the first floor of the building, and shoot at the attacking enemies from the window. The enemy uses it to attack our infantry. You can not only use this gun to attack enemy infantry, but also their tanks."
Sokov's words made both of them happy. They all knew a little about the performance of this anti-tank gun: the firing speed is 14 rounds per minute, and it can penetrate 116 mm of armor at a distance of 1,000 meters; even if the enemy deploys a new Tiger tank, it can penetrate its front armor at a distance of 1,500 meters.
However, the two of them had just been happy for a while, and their faces were filled with sorrow: "Comrade Commander, although there are more than a dozen artillery guns, we don't have so many artillery soldiers to operate."
Sokov thought to himself: Even if an anti-tank gun only requires four people, a dozen guns will cost about sixty people. Now the two companies have only four hundred people in total, so where can we find so many gunners?
Thinking of this, he turned his head and looked at the radio operator and told him: "Send a report to the division headquarters, saying that we need artillery here, please send fifty people to support immediately."
Ivanov looked at the telegram sent by Sokov and asked Cidolin with a blank look: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think the division commander needs so many artillery soldiers to do? Do you still have to engage in an artillery battle with the enemy in the ditch?"
Sidolin and Sokov had been dealing with each other for a long time. Knowing that there must be a reason for the other party to issue such an order, he immediately picked up the phone and found Lieutenant Porochenko, the artillery company commander, and asked bluntly: "Comrade Lieutenant, how many artillery soldiers do you have now?"
Porochenko, who had been idle, heard the question of Cidolin and immediately realized that he had the opportunity to go to the battlefield. He quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Chief of Staff, I still have more than 70 artillery soldiers under my command, but most of them are recruits and have no combat experience..."
"Okay, gather them immediately and rush to the six-sided street south of the Derzhinsky tractor factory as fast as possible." Cidolin said on the phone: "Comrade Commander is waiting for you there."
When Porochenko heard Sidolin ask them to rush to Liumeng Street, he wanted to ask why, but when he heard the words mentioned to the commander in the next sentence, he immediately understood what was going on and replied loudly: "I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff, we will set out in ten minutes and rush to Liumeng Street as fast as possible."
After confirming that Porochenko and their number had enough people, Sidolin immediately ordered the radio operator to call Sokov, saying that the artillery they needed would arrive at the destination within two hours. After all this, he explained to Ivanov, who was still puzzled, "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, based on my understanding of the division commander, after he led the troops to Liumian Street for rescue, he seized the enemy's artillery, so he asked us to send artillery to them."
"So that's the case," Sidolin's explanation made Ivanov realize: "Although the division commander took away a large number of people and had strong combat power, it is probably very difficult to pick out a few gunners from them, so he chose to ask the division headquarters for help."
"I'm very worried," Cidolin glanced at the map on the table and said worriedly: "Liumen Street is south of the Derzhinsky Tractor Factory. Once it is lost, the enemy will have an offensive starting point to attack the Tractor Factory. In order to achieve this goal, they will definitely launch fierce fortifications. Can the little force under the division commander block the enemy?"
Ivanov also agreed with Sidolin's concerns. He frowned and thought for a while, then asked tentatively: "Or, let's send him more troops from Mamayevgang."
Sidolin also wanted to send at least one regiment to Liumian Street to support Sokov, where he gave a strong lesson to the Germans. But when he thought that Sokov had repeatedly emphasized the importance of Mamayev's gang to him and tried not to use the defenders here under any circumstances, Sidolin couldn't help but sigh and looked at Ivanov and said, "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I feel the same as you at this moment. I wish I could send a force immediately to support the division commander. But it's not possible. The division commander once emphasized that Mamayev's gang is our key to defense. Without his permission, no one is allowed to easily transfer the troops here."
Ivanov understood that what Cidolin was talking about was the truth. Since he came to Mamayevgang, he had seen the crazy attacks launched by the enemy to seize the place. With the existing troops, whether they can defend Mamayevgang for a long time is a question, not to mention that some of the new forces had to be transferred, which would weaken the existing defensive power.
Chapter completed!