After returning to the headquarters, Cuikov and Gurov immediately convened members of the Military Commission for a meeting. When everyone saw the commander convened everyone for an emergency meeting, they thought something had happened, so they quickly put down their work and rushed over.
Seeing that everyone was here, Cui Kev announced the meeting and said to everyone: "Comrades of the Military Commission, on the way to Mamayevgang today, I had an idea, which was to form a new combat cluster to fight the enemy in Mamayevgang and the old city in the south of the city to relieve the pressure on the factory area in the north of the city. I want to hear everyone's thoughts on this matter. Is this combat cluster necessary to be established?"
After Cui Kev finished speaking, the first person to speak was Chief of Staff Krelov. He looked at Cui Kev and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, if I guessed correctly, once this combat cluster is established, then Colonel Sokov will definitely be the best candidate for the commander, right?"
"Yes, I am indeed planning to let him serve as the commander of this combat cluster." After giving Krelov an answer, Cuikov did not say that Sokov refused himself, and asked directly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think it is necessary for us to set up such a combat cluster?"
"Comrade Commander, your proposal is indeed very attractive. Once a combat cluster is established, the German offensive power will inevitably be dispersed, so that we can get a breather in the factory area to the north." Krelov said that after completing the benefits of establishing a combat cluster, he began to talk about difficulties again: "But we have no extra troops to establish such a combat cluster."
After Krelov finished speaking, Colonel Zalijuk also expressed his opinion: "Comrade Commander, if you want to set up a combat cluster, the first thing you need to consider is whether the superiors will send us new troops? Even if they send new troops, what should they do if their supplies are done? You must know that with the enemy air force and artillery blocking the Volga River, our supply situation has deteriorated."
"The Operations Director is right." As soon as Zalijiuke finished his words, Major General Lobov, the Minister of Logistics, who has rarely spoken at military meetings, added: "As he said, our logistics has become increasingly difficult due to the blockade of enemy planes and artillery fire. What if there are more divisions or brigades, and their weapons, ammunition and various military supplies? You can't let them hold rifles without bullets and fight bayonets with the enemy?"
Then, Lieutenant Colonel Wei Yinlubu, the director of the Armored Forces of the Group Army, also stood up and spoke: "To establish a combat cluster, there must be an armored force. Then the question comes again. With our existing transportation capabilities, how many tanks and armored vehicles can be transported from the east bank of the Volga River in a short time?"
A series of questions raised by several members of the Military Commission made the initiator Grov feel uncomfortable. He heard the difficulties raised by everyone, and he became suspicious of his persistence. Is it really not suitable to form a new combat cluster in the city under the current circumstances to disperse the intensity of the German offensive?
Fortunately, the commanders attending the meeting guessed that this plan must have been proposed by the commander or military committee member, so they did not point the finger at the two of them, but talked about the reasons why they did not have the current situation to form a new combat cluster and the various difficulties they had to face.
Someone whispered: "If you really can't form a combat cluster, I'm afraid Colonel Sokov, who is standing on Mamayev's hill, will be disappointed."
When Gurov heard this, he could no longer hold back his anger. He slapped the table hard, stood up suddenly, and asked sternly: "Who is saying that Colonel Sokov will be disappointed if he cannot set up a combat cluster? I tell you that the first person to oppose this plan is Colonel Sokov. He firmly told me and the commander that the conditions for setting up a combat cluster are not yet met at the moment. It is because I stubborn and insisted that the headquarters mention this matter to the meeting of the Military Commission to discuss."
Seeing Grov getting angry, the man who had just spoken sarcastically quickly shut up his mouth to avoid causing trouble. Cui Kev raised his hand and pressed down, and said to Grov with a kind attitude: "Comrade Military Commissioner, it is natural for someone to have such an idea. Don't worry, sit down first, let's continue to discuss."
After Gurov sat down, the headquarters became extremely quiet and no one spoke. Krelov was discontinued when he saw it and hurriedly came out to liven up the atmosphere: "Comrades, I think whether to set up a combat cluster, no matter what conclusion we finally came to, if we don't have the support of our superiors, it would be useless. If the superiors don't send us new troops and technical equipment, even if we barely form a combat cluster, it will not be of use."
After Krelov's smoothing field, the originally silent commanders expressed their opinions one after another. However, their views were exactly the same as those of the previous people. They all believed that it would not be of much significance to form a combat cluster to disperse the intensity of the German army's offensive.
When Cuikov saw everyone stumbled and said that the combat cluster should not be established. In order to prevent Grov from feeling embarrassed, he quickly stood up and prepared steps for him: "Comrades, I think the Chief of Staff had just said a lot. No matter what result we finally discussed, the Front Command still needs to make the decision."
Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, looked at Krelov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please sort out your opinions, and then immediately report them to the Front Command to see what the opinions of Commander Yelemenko and Comrade Khrushchev are."
After Krelov nodded and agreed, he raised his concerns: "Comrade Commander, although the 41st Division of the Guards destroyed the enemy's ammunition depot, which forced the enemy to attack the Barrier Factory and the Derrensky Factory to slow down the pace of the attack. However, with the existing German transportation capabilities, the front-line attacking troops will be sufficiently supplemented in less than two days. At that time, our defenders deployed in these two factories will have to bear huge pressure."
Cui Kev felt that to solve this problem, he could adopt the plan proposed by Sokov to himself, so he stood up and announced: "Comrade Wei'inlubu stays, and the rest of the comrades can go back and rest."
After almost all the people in the meeting were about to be together, Cui Kefu said, "I asked Sokov today how to win the counterattack. He told me to ensure the suddenness and concealment of the counterattack..."
Wei Yinlubu, who stayed, thought that Cui Kov would simply order himself to organize a tank unit and launch a counterattack when the enemy attacked, and use the sacrifice of the tank unit to ensure that the infantry could defend the position. Unexpectedly, he heard Cui Kov telling how to counterattack the enemy. This new tactic quickly attracted him.
After Cui Kefu finished speaking, Wei Yinlubu asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, the tactics you mentioned are really novel. I wonder where you heard of them?"
"It was Colonel Sokov told me." Cuikov looked at Wei'inrub and said, "They used this tactic to repel the enemy's attacks many times. I hope you can also promote this tactic in the tank troops guarding the factory area as soon as possible, so as to achieve greater results with minimal casualties."
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Chapter completed!