"Chief of Staff," Sokov said to Cydolin: "Call Lieutenant Colonel Pupchinko and ask him to come to the command."
Papuqinko, who received the call, rushed to the command center. He couldn't wait to ask: "Two division commanders, do you have any combat tasks that we have to hand over to our regiment to complete?"
Sokov and Ivanov looked at each other and saw a smile in each other's eyes. Sokov looked at Papchinko and said, "Lieutenant Colonel, you guessed that we called you to have an important task that we have to hand over to you to complete."
After Papuqinko came to the table, Sokov pointed to the map and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, according to the orders of his superiors, the 39th Guard Division stationed in the Red October Factory Family Area will be transferred to the new defense zone tonight. The task of your regiment is to replace the defense zone they have vacant."
"Ltd. Col. Papuchinko, I think it is necessary to remind you." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Ivanov continued: "Most of the buildings in the family area were destroyed by enemy artillery fire, and it is difficult to find any decent fortifications. It will be very difficult to block the enemy's attack."
Papchinko thought Sokov called him here to make his troops responsible for the defense of Beigang or Nangang. He never dreamed that the order he received was to go to the family area of ​​the Red October factory to take over the defense of friendly troops. He knew very well that facing the crazy artillery and bombing of the German army, if there were no solid fortifications, it would mean death.
Seeing that Papchinko had not responded for a long time, Sokov guessed what he was worried about, so he patted his shoulder and said calmly: "Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko, don't worry, although the enemy's artillery fire destroyed the surface buildings in the family area, you can rely on underground buildings to organize defense."
"Underground building?" Papuqinko looked at Sokov with a blank expression and asked, "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what is an underground building?"
"I have visited the Red October factory's family area, where most of the buildings are brick-concrete four-story buildings. After being bombarded and bombed by the enemy, although the buildings above the second floor were destroyed, the first floor and the basement were still intact." Sokov explained to Papchinko: "You can establish new lines of defense in the remaining first floor or basement to prevent the enemy's attack."
"Comrade Commander, if there is no trenches connected between each building, it will easily become a situation of fighting on their own." After Papchinko and Sokov finished speaking, they carefully expressed their concerns, "The enemies who have the advantage of military strength and equipment can defeat us one by one."
"Don't worry, even without trenches, we can connect all the buildings together." Sokov picked up the paper and pen, and quickly sketched the picture, and said to Papchinko: "There are sewers under each building, and you can make reasonable use of it."
"Sewer?" Papuchinko heard Sokov say this, raised his hand and slapped his forehead suddenly, and said in annoyance: "Yes, why did I forget the sewer? Although it smelled a little bad, it was more than enough to mobilize troops to transport supplies. In this way, each building will no longer be isolated. Wherever the situation is critical, we can use the sewer to transfer troops from other areas to reinforce."
"Ltd Colonel," Ivanov, after he finished speaking, coughed heavily, and then asked, "Do you have any difficulties?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Papuqinko saw that the teacher asked him if he had any difficulties, and quickly replied: "After the early battles, our regiment reduced its personnel by more than half, leaving only more than a thousand people. I hope the division can add some of our troops to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops."
Although Sokov had proposed in advance to supplement Shamrich's Marine Battalion to the 122nd Regiment, Ivanov did not immediately tell Papchinko the good news, but instead turned his attention to Sokov and waited for him to announce the matter.
"Ltd. Colonel Papchinko," Sokov naturally understood what the other party meant when he saw Ivanov's gaze, and he spoke, "The division decided to place Captain Shamrich's Marine Battalion to you for command, considering that the strength of your regiment was damaged in the early battles."
After Sokov finished speaking, he wrote a few lines of words on the paper with a pen, signed his name at the bottom of the paper, and handed it to Papchinko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is the order to get the Marine Battalion under your command. You should take over the troops now and get familiar with the commanders of the Marine Battalion. It will be helpful to your next battle."
After Papuchinko left with Sokov's warrant, Sidolin smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that you could actually use the sewers in the city to connect the isolated fire support points. In this way, the Germans should be depressed, and they will soon find that our army has deployed enough troops in every building they attacked."
"The use of sewers to mobilize troops and transport supplies can only be concealed by the Germans for a while." Sokov sighed softly and said, "Once the enemy discovers the secret of our sewers, they may carry out sneak attacks on our defensive positions through the sewers, which will backfire."
None of the division leaders present refuted Sokov's statement, because they knew very well that once the Germans discovered that the Soviet army used sewers to mobilize troops and transport supplies, they would soon use sewers to conduct sneak attacks. At that time, the defenders would be unable to defend themselves.
"Comrade of the Division," Anisimov asked cautiously, "If, what I mean, is the case. If the enemy really uses the sewer to launch a sneak attack on the buildings held by the defenders in the city, what can we do to deal with them?"
"There is only one stupid way," Sokov said with a finger up: "If the exits of all sewers are blown up, the Germans will not be able to use the sewers to sneak attack us."
"Breaking down the sewer outlet can indeed prevent the German army from using the sewer to attack us." Anisimov said with a wry smile: "But in this way, the buildings without trenches will become isolated again and can only fight on their own."
Sokov smiled and said, "Comrade Political Commissar, don't worry, there will always be more solutions than difficulties. When the German army knows the secret of our sewer, it will not be too late to find a way to deal with them."
…………
After dark, Sokov accompanied the 122nd Regiment to the family area of ​​the Red October Factory to replace the defense of the 39th Division of the Guards. Seeing that the friendly troops were retreating in an orderly manner, he took Papchinko to Guriyev's command center.
Under the guidance of the soldiers, the two of them came to the command of the 39th Guards Division and saw Guriyev, who had not had time to transfer. Guriyev was stunned when he saw Sokov walking into his command center, then stepped forward and held his hand, and asked curiously: "Col. Sokov, why have you come in person?"
"Hello, Comrade General." Although the two have the same positions, Guriyev's rank is higher than Sokov, so Sokov replied respectfully: "The superior ordered my troops to take over your defense. As the division commander, I must first check the terrain, which will be helpful for the next battle."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Guriyev said to Sokov after he finished speaking, and said to Cherneshov, who was packing things on the side: "You and the Chief of Staff will first lead the division headquarters to transfer first, and I will hand over the defense to Sokov before leaving."
Chernesov walked to Sokov, stretched out his hand and shook it at him, and then said with a smile: "Col. Sokov, when we met last time, you were the lieutenant colonel brigade commander of the infantry brigade. As a result, just one month later, you were already the colonel commander of the Guards Division. Maybe when our army defeated the enemy attacking Stalingrad, you will be able to become a general."
After a few greetings with Sokov, Cherneshov took most of the personnel from the division headquarters to transfer, while Guriyev pointed to the map and introduced the defense zone of the 39th Guard Division to Sokov. After the story, he turned over the map and wrote in red and blue pencils behind him: "Transfer to the defense position of the 41st Guard Division to the Red October Factory Families Area. Division commander: Guriyev."
Sokov knew that this was a common ceremony for handing over defense by the Soviet army, so he waited for Guriyev to finish writing, and wrote below: "The 41st Guard Division took over the defense of the 39th Guard Division. Division commander: Colonel Sokov."
After Sokov finished writing, he rolled up the map. After he handed the map to Sokov, he held the other party's hand tightly and said with a serious expression: "Col. Sokov, I handed over the defensive position that I assigned to our division to you in less than an inch. I hope you can continue to defend it and prevent the Germans from getting close to the Volga River."
"Don't worry, Comrade General." Sokov nodded vigorously and said, "As long as our 41st Guards Division is here, we will never let the enemy move forward."
After sending away Guriyev and several of his guards, Sokov took the map into Papchinko's hands and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, from now on, your regiment will be responsible for the defense of the Red October factory's family area. You must assure me that as long as there is still a living person, the enemy will never be allowed to completely occupy the place."
"Don't worry, comrades-in-chief, we will never..." Papuqinko was just halfway through his words, and suddenly realized that Sokov said something seemed to have some grammatical problems. He quickly reminded him: "Comrades-in-chief, are you wrong? We will not let the enemy enter the family area at all. How could they completely occupy this place?"
"Ltd Colonel, I'm not wrong." Sokov waved his hand at Papchinko and said, "We only have one regiment of troops. No matter how we defend, there will always be some areas that will be occupied by the enemy. If this happens, you must decide whether to launch a counterattack and regain the lost areas according to the actual situation. If it cannot be regained, let the troops stick to the occupied positions and continue to fight with the Germans, so that they cannot be assured and boldly advanced to the factory and the Volga River. Do you understand?"
"I understand, I immediately order the troops to enter their respective defense areas." After saying these two sentences, Papuqinko asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Commander, this place is too dangerous, you should go back to Mamayev's hill as soon as possible."
"No, no," Sokov waved his hand and said with a smile: "I plan to wait after dawn to see how the Germans attacked here."
When he heard that Sokov was going to watch the battle here, Papuqinko couldn't help but be anxious: "Comrade Commander, if the battle here starts, I think you may not be able to guarantee your safety, so you should go back to the division headquarters overnight."
"Lieutenant Colonel Papuchinko," Sokov understood in his heart. Papuchinko said this out of concern for himself, but as a division commander, if he couldn't even understand the situation in his own defense zone, how could he command the battle? Therefore, he politely rejected Papuchinko's kindness, "I am not the first recruit to the battlefield, and I don't know how to save myself on the battlefield. Don't worry, I stay here and will not add any trouble to you. As long as I see the German attack method, I will immediately return to Mamayev."
Since Sokov has already said this, Papchenko knew that it would be meaningless to persuade him again, so he could only nod and said with a tough look: "Comrade, since you want to stay and watch the battle, I suggest that you build your observation in a relatively safe place so that your safety can be guaranteed."
The reason why Sokov stayed was not to show off any hero. He did want to figure out how the enemy attacked the family area. Although he could also understand the enemy's attack through Papchinko's report, he never saw it directly. He believed that as long as his observation site was not directly hit by the enemy's artillery fire, the three rows of soldiers led by Samoilov would be enough to ensure his life safety.
Sokov took Samoilov through the ruined family area, trying to find a suitable place to build his own observation room. Seeing their figures, the soldiers who were setting up defenses were whispering: "Did you see it? The person who just passed by seemed to be our division commander?"
"What, our teacher? No, how could he come to such a dangerous place?"
"What's impossible?" said a soldier who knew Sokov with his own words: "I saw with my own eyes that the division commander left Mamayev's hill with the regiment commander. What's strange about him appearing here."
Chapter completed!