Back a few hours ago, Yeliaumko called Cui Kov and said apologetically: "Comrade Cui Kov, I call you, there is an important thing to notify you. The three infantry divisions that were originally scheduled to be assigned to you cannot enter the city for various reasons."
Upon hearing this unexpected news, Cui Kefu's heart immediately became cold. He felt that he asked, "Comrade Commander, can you tell me why?"
"The base camp considers that the Luftwaffe, which has air supremacy, can carry out large-scale bombings on the city at any time." Yellemko replied: "If we concentrate so many troops in a small area in this case, they will suffer heavy losses from the enemy's bombing, which will have an adverse impact on our future large counterattack."
"But, Comrade Commander." Hearing such a far-fetched reason, Cui Kefu said unwillingly: "If we want to block the enemy, relying solely on our existing troops is far from enough. Even if we want to arm the workers and residents, where can we find so many weapons and ammunition?"
Yeliaumko thought for a long time about the difficulties raised by Cui Kov before speaking: "Comrade Cui Kov, we have stockpiled a large amount of weapons, ammunition, food and medicine on the east coast. Since the underwater pontoon bridge connecting the two sides has been set up, I will send a convoy overnight to transport all the supplies you need to the city."
Krelov, who was on the phone, saw that Cui Kev's face was not very good after putting down the phone, so he quickly gave a few instructions to the microphone, then put down the microphone, and then asked Cui Kev: "Comrade Commander, has something happened?"
Cuikov looked up at Krelov and said with a wry smile: "Chief of Staff, Commander Yelemenko just informed me that due to the change in the situation, he was originally scheduled to send three divisions in the city and would not enter the city for the time being."
"What, they are not going to the city?" Krelov's eyebrows immediately twisted into a bump when he heard the bad news: "Comrade Commander, have you not told him that we are not only seriously insufficient in military strength, but also shortages of weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine?"
"What's our situation? Don't the Front Army Command know?" Cui Kefu asked back with a bitter look: "Even if I complain to Commander Yeliaomenko, do you think he will change his original intention?"
Krelov knew the truth about what Trekov said. Since his superiors had made a decision, no matter how much the subordinates complained, they would not change their ideas. He murmured: "Even if we don't replenish our troops, at least we must replenish all kinds of supplies. As long as we have enough ammunition, we can arm the workers and residents and fight against the Germans."
"Commander Yelemenko told me that when it gets dark, he will send a convoy to transport the weapons, ammunition and various materials we need." When he thought of the supplies that were about to be transported into the city, Trekov was energetic again. He said to Krelov: "Chief of Staff, immediately notify the commanders of the armed station and the supply station, and let them go to the pontoon bridge to receive the materials after dark."
After recording Cuikov's orders, Krelov asked again: "Comrade Commander, where should we store the supplies after we receive them? There is no place for storing a large amount of supplies near the bottom pontoon bridge."
"Contact with Director Peter," Cui Kefu replied: "There are many underground warehouses in the Red October Factory, and they should be vacant at this moment. It should be the safest to store the newly arrived materials there."
Krelov did not express any meaning to Cuikov's order. He knew very well that in the entire factory area in the north of the city, the safest area was the only Red October factory where Peter was the factory director. Sokov repeatedly repelled the German attack here, forcing the enemy to change the direction of the attack.
He hurriedly said, "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will contact Director Peter immediately and discuss the storage of materials with him..."
"Wait a minute, Chief of Staff." Before Krelov finished speaking, Cuikov suddenly interrupted him: "You have more important work to do. When receiving materials and contacting storage locations, it is better to leave it to General Lobov, the Minister of Logistics, to complete it."
"Then I will call General Lobov and ask him to come here immediately." After Krelov said this, seeing Cuikov nodding in agreement, he picked up the phone on the table and contacted the Logistics Department, and asked the Logistics Minister Lobov to rush to the headquarters immediately.
After receiving the call, Lobov guessed that Cui Kov was so anxious to ask him to go to the command center, and must have wanted to ask about logistics supplies. He quickly sorted out the relevant information and rushed to the headquarters.
After seeing Cuikov, Lobov took out his notebook from his bag and was about to report to Cuikov about the direction of logistics supply, but heard Cuikov say first: "Comrade Logistics Minister, I called you here today because we will receive a batch of supplies tonight, and you need to arrange the place where you can store the supplies."
When Lobov heard Cui Kov say this, he showed a surprised expression on his face. He opened the notebook in his hand and looked up at Cui Kov, saying in a puzzled tone: "Comrade Commander, according to my records, the fleet can only provide us with five ferries tonight for material transportation. As soon as such materials arrive, they can be allocated to the troops waiting on the shore. I don't think there is any need to find any new storage location."
"Comrade Minister of Logistics, today I will call you here, in addition to asking you to find another place to store materials, I will also tell you good news." Cui Kefu said with a smile: "The engineer has successfully built a pontoon bridge on the river, so that the materials we need can be transported into the city continuously through the pontoon bridge."
"Popular bridge?!" The floating bridge that was constantly bombed by German planes during the construction process, and I couldn't help but say in surprise: "Comrade Commander, but I saw that the floating bridge was less than halfway through the German plane. Could it be repaired so quickly?"
"You're wrong, Comrade Logistics Minister." Cuikov waved his hand and continued: "The pontoon bridge you mentioned is what we use to attract the attention of the Luftwaffe. Our real pontoon bridge is set up next to the bombed cross-river bridge in the north, and is a pontoon bridge underwater."
"My God, is a pontoon bridge under the water?" Lobof said in surprise: "The pontoon bridge is under the water, how can we transport our supplies?"
"The bridge deck is only forty or fifty centimeters away from the water surface and will not flood the truck's exhaust pipes, so that the vehicle can drive from the bridge smoothly." Krelov explained to Lobov: "In addition to the situation on the bridge, our soldiers can also cross the river from the bridge."
After hearing this, Lobof showed a surprise expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, then, we will no longer have to rely on the fleet for the future transportation of soldiers and materials?"
“That’s how it is.”
"Great, this is great." Lobov couldn't hide his inner excitement. He said quickly: "I was having a headache two days ago. As the weather became colder, at most a month, there would be a large amount of ice floating on the Volga River. Then, ships would not be able to pass on the river, and our material transportation might stop. Now with this floating bridge, all problems will be solved."
Cuikov raised his hand and looked at the watch, saying to Lobov: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, when it gets dark, the convoy transporting materials will set off from the other side. There are two things you need to do now: First, let Lieutenant Colonel Sokarov of the Arms Exchange Station and Lieutenant Colonel Spasov of the Maintenance Station go to the pontoon bridge to receive the materials; second, immediately contact Comrade Peter, the director of the Red October factory, and borrow the underground warehouse in the factory to store the received materials."
"Comrade Commander, I want to make a suggestion." After Luobou waited for Cui Kefu to finish speaking, he spoke: "I want the convoy to drive the car directly outside the underground warehouse of the Red October Factory, so as to greatly reduce the number of people carrying materials. You must know that almost all the soldiers in our logistics department are busy at the ferry. If too many people are drawn, it will have an adverse impact on the unloading work."
"Comrade Commander," Krelov thought of a compromise when he heard Lobov's inadequate staffing: "I have an idea, I don't know if I should talk about it?"
"Chief of Staff, say whatever you think!" Cuikov was very dissatisfied with Krelov's behavior of keeping him in hiding. He said with some displeasure: "Even if you say it wrong, I won't blame you."
"Now there are a large number of residents waiting to cross the river to the other side of the river." Krelov said tentatively: "Can we recruit people from among them to assist us in unloading the supplies carried on the ship, so that we can transfer more power to the warehouse of the Red October Factory?"
"Recruiting residents to help us with work?" Lobof first questioned Krelov's statement: "Can this work?"
"Chief of Staff," Cuikov felt that he would not say this inexplicably with Krelov's character, so he pointed at him with his hand and said, "Tell me what you think."
"As far as I know, some residents have been waiting for a ferry by the river for half a month or even longer, but they never had the opportunity to get on the boat. The food they carry with them is almost exhausted." Krelov had talked to Sokov about the residents waiting to cross the river, and the other party gave him a suggestion. Seeing that Lobov was facing the problem of insufficient staff, he took the opportunity to express Sokov's idea: "We can recruit people from it. The residents involved in the work can get 300 grams of bread, 50 grams of dried sausage or cheese every day..."
After Krelov expressed Sokov's original thoughts, both Trekov and Lobov were shocked. After a long time, Lobov murmured: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are such a genius. If we really do this, we can recruit at least one or two thousand residents to work for us, and we will no longer have to worry about insufficient staff."
"Comrade Chief of Staff!" Cuikov knew Krelov's character very well and knew that he could never think of such a solution, so he asked tentatively: "If I was not wrong, this idea must have been thought of by Colonel Sokov, right?"
Krelov was not a person who just took other people's credit for himself. When he heard Cuikov's question, he nodded and replied with certainty: "Yes, Comrade Commander. Some time ago, Colonel Sokov came to the headquarters. When I chatted with him, he said that the ferry crossing by the river was bombed by the enemy every day, and the soldiers responsible for unloading supplies were too heavy. After hearing this, he gave me such a suggestion. At that time, because the manpower was barely enough, I did not mention this matter. Now we have to receive the supplies sent from the east coast in both directions at the same time, and urgently needed a large number of people, so we thought of this method of Colonel Sokov."
"His method is very good and effective." After expressing his agreement with Sokov's method, Cuikov turned to Lobov and said, "Comrade Logistics Minister, remember that in order not to let the enemy discover that we have opened a new water transportation line. The warehouse located in the Red October factory can only be carried out by the soldiers of the Logistics Department. As for the ferry by the river, except for the necessary personnel left behind, the rest of the personnel will be recruited from the residents who boarded the ship."
After Trikov finished speaking, Lobov asked another question: "Who should be responsible for the distribution of food every day?"
"Is this a matter of course?" Cui Kefu pointed at Lobof with his finger: "Since it is the staff recruited by your logistics department, the food distribution work will naturally be handled by your logistics department."
…………
At 10 o'clock in the evening, a convoy of fifty trucks set off from the east coast and drove towards the underwater pontoon bridge under the guidance of engineer soldiers. In order to avoid rear-end collisions caused by the car in front of the car, each vehicle was separated by 100 meters and drove onto the pontoon bridge at a speed of five kilometers per hour.
In order to prevent the German spies hiding on the shore from discovering that the vehicles driving were not turned on, the first few trucks driving on the pontoon bridge were too dark and unfamiliar with the performance of the pontoon bridge, and they all fell into the river one after another. In addition to the driver who luckily jumped off the vehicle and escaped, the truck and the supplies on the pontoon traffic sank into the cold bottom of the river.
Lobov, who was standing on the west bank, couldn't help but feel anxious when he saw this. He quickly said to Spasov, who was at the supply station: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, send a signal to the other side and let all trucks on the bridge drive with their headlights."
"Comrade Minister," he heard Lobov's order, Spasov quickly reminded him: "If we turn on the lights, the German spies hiding on the shore will find out that if they send a signal and guide the German artillery to bombard the river, our situation will be even worse."
Chapter completed!