The drivers who were waiting to cross the river on the east bank were panicked when they saw the trucks that were first to board the bridge and all turned into the river. They parked the car by the river. An elderly driver begged the officer who maintained order: "Comrade Commander, can we turn on the lights when crossing the river? Without the lights on the road, we can't see the location of the floating bridge at all!"
"No!" The officer on duty replied firmly: "The superior has an order. In order to prevent the target from being exposed, all vehicles cannot turn on the headlights when crossing the river."
"If we had walked through this pontoon bridge before, even if we had no headlights, we could drive the car to the other side based on our driving experience." The elderly driver said angrily: "What does this bridge look like now? Let's drive in the dark. Isn't this let us die?"
To be honest, the officers on duty by the bridge did not agree with this order, but the order was an order. Since the superiors had made such a rule, those who were subordinates could only implement it unconditionally. In order to prevent the trucks that were about to board the bridge from repeating the same mistake again, he said to the elderly driver after thinking for a while: "Comrade Driver, do you think this is OK? I will send someone to lead the way in front. As long as you follow the guide, you can drive the car to the other side. Although the speed may be slower, it can avoid exposing the target when crossing the bridge."
The elderly driver knew that the officer said this was already the limit of his ability, so he nodded and said, "Okay, comrade commander, please arrange someone to guide the way forward, I'll try it first."
Taking advantage of the time when the officer called, the elderly driver walked to the first car and asked loudly: "Whose car is this?"
With the shouts, a young man walked out of the driver who was gathering together and talking, "Old man, this is my car. I wonder what I can serve you?"
The elderly driver pointed to the underwater pontoon bridge that could not be seen clearly and said to the young driver: "Young man, I just asked the commander. He said that his superiors had an order. In order to avoid exposing the target, no one could turn on the headlights when crossing the bridge. In order to allow us to cross the river safely, he was going to send someone to lead the way in front. As long as we follow that person, our car can drive to the other side smoothly. I have been a driver for more than 30 years and have more experience than you. Let me drive this car."
The reason why the young driver parked his car by the river was because he saw several cars in front falling into the river. Seeing those companions who escaped from the cab by chance, he was scared to be afraid that his car would not be able to escape after falling into the river. At this moment, when he heard that the elderly driver was willing to drive over the river, he quickly reached out and held the other person's hand, and said excitedly: "Old man, thank you so much..."
"Old man!" After the officer standing by the river arranged the manpower, he shouted at the elderly driver: "The person who led the way has been arranged and can set off."
The elderly driver opened the car door, sat in the bridge, and started the car. When he was about to follow the soldiers who were wading onto the water and stepping onto the pontoon bridge, he suddenly saw several red highlights shaking on the other side, as if someone was sending signals.
When the officer on duty saw the signal, he was stunned at first, and first called the soldiers who were walking on the floating bridge with wooden sticks. Then he shouted at the elderly driver sitting in the first car: "Old man, turn on the headlights and drive directly to the other side!"
The elderly driver thought he had heard it wrong, so he quickly pushed open the car door and asked the officer loudly: "Comrade Commander, what's going on? I just said that my superiors were not allowed to turn on the lights, so why can I turn on the lights again now?"
"I don't know what's going on," the officer replied, "Fortunately, let all vehicles turn on the lights. Okay, don't be too slow, drive quickly!"
Since the convoy could turn on the lights while driving, the young driver immediately became confident. He hurried to the front car, replaced the elderly driver, drove the truck slowly onto the pontoon bridge, and drove towards the opposite shore.
…………
Shortly after the convoy with the lights turned on the pontoon bridge, he was discovered by the observation post by the river and immediately reported the situation to Chief of Staff Krelov. Krelov learned that the convoy had violated his orders and swayed across the river with the lights on the headlights. He immediately called Lobov and asked straight to the point: "Comrade General, what's going on? Who allowed the convoy to turn on the lights when crossing the river? Are you not afraid of exposing the target?"
"It was me, Comrade Chief of Staff. It was the order I gave." Lobof was a responsible person. He did not put the blame on anyone, but admitted on his own initiative: "At the beginning, we strictly implemented the command of the headquarters. The convoys across the bridge were not allowed to turn on the lights. However, because it was too dark, the drivers never walked across the pontoon bridge, so the first few trucks on the bridge rolled into the river, and the vehicles and the supplies on it sank to the bottom of the water."
"Where is the driver?" After hearing Lobov's report, Kreloff was shocked and asked quickly: "Have they all escaped?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, they all escaped." Lobof replied: "There is a patrol boat downstream of the pontoon bridge, and they rescued all the drivers who fell into the water."
Krelov also breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that all the drivers who fell into the water had been rescued. He continued to ask: "General Lobov, you let the convoy cross the river with your headlights on. Are you not afraid of being discovered by German spies?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, there is nothing we can do about it." Lobof said helplessly: "We cannot forcefully stipulate that the trucks cannot turn on the lights when crossing the river just because we are worried that the German spies will find a convoy crossing the river. This will cause a large number of vehicles and important materials to sink into the water. As long as the convoy can transport a large amount of weapons, ammunition and materials into the city in a short time, we can arm more workers and residents and severely attack the invaders of Faxi Temple."
After Krelov put down the phone, he reported to Cuikov about what happened at the pontoon bridge. He finally said: "Comrade Commander, I am very worried that there are German spies hidden near the pontoon bridge. If they send signal flares and guide night flight planes to carry out bombing, what should we do?"
But after hearing this, Cuikov acted calmly, as if he was not worried that the enemy would dispatch night flight planes and bomb the pontoon bridge. He said to Krelov lightly: "Chief of Staff, call Sokov and ask him if there is any solution."
Cuikov's words reminded Krelov. He remembered that the underwater pontoon bridge was proposed by Sokov, and he must have a clear idea of ​​how to deal with the German night flight plane. He quickly picked up the phone and asked the operator to connect to the division headquarters in Mamayev.
Sokov had just arranged for Rezakov and others to rest when he suddenly heard the phone ringing on the table. He was worried about what happened to the group below, so he quickly grabbed the microphone: "I am Sokov, where are you?"
"Col. Sokov, I am Krelov."
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov was puzzled when he heard Krelov's voice. As it was dark today, the battle in the city had basically subsided. What would happen if the Chief of Staff of the Group Army called him? He quickly asked respectfully: "What instructions do you have?"
"That's right, Colonel Sokov." Considering that Sokov needs to give advice for himself, Krelov believes that there is no need to hide the pontoon bridge from opening to traffic, so he said truthfully: "The newly repaired pontoon bridge will be officially opened to traffic tonight."
"Oh, the underwater pontoon bridge is open to traffic?!" Sokov was overjoyed when he heard the news and asked quickly: "I wonder how much supplies the convoy has transported to the city?"
"Col. Sokov, how much materials are transported into the city? This is a secret that the leader of the group army is qualified to know. Don't inquire about it casually." Krelov was unwilling to reveal the details of the materials transported to Sokov, so he changed the topic: "I called you because of another important thing."
"Please say it, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Krelov was unwilling to reveal more useful information to himself, Sokov said kindly: "I'm listening."
"According to the command of the headquarters, in order to prevent the convoy from exposing the target when crossing the river, all vehicles are not allowed to turn on the lights." Krelov said a little embarrassedly: "As a result, the trucks that took the lead on the bridge were unable to see the bridge deck and all overturned into the river. General Lobov, the Minister of Logistics, who commanded the riverside, took the risk of turning on the lights in order to prevent more accidents."
"General Lobov did it right." Sokov agreed with Lobov's approach. "The drivers probably never drove such a pontoon bridge. Not to mention the dark nights, even driving during the day, they were probably worried. Therefore, it is the most correct way to drive on the pontoon bridge."
"You are right. Turning on the light can indeed speed up the vehicle's crossing the river, but it also increases the risk of exposure." Krelov said: "We are worried that the German spies lurking by the Volga River. After discovering that our convoy crosses the river, we will contact the German night flight planes and bomb the pontoon bridge and the convoy on the bridge. The commander asked me to call you and ask if you have any good solutions."
Seeing that Krelov had such a big circle, he found himself asking for advice. Sokov was really amused and amazed. But since the superior leader took the initiative to ask him, if he didn't give an ideal answer, the other party would probably not agree. Fortunately, he had come from later generations and had already had various corresponding response measures in his heart, so he answered confidently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this matter is easy to handle. We just need to establish an air defense post."
"Air defense whistle?" Hearing this fresh noun, Krelov asked curiously: "Col. Sokov, can you tell me what it means?"
"The so-called air defense sentry is to arrange observation sentries near the enemy's position. Once they hear the sound of enemy planes, they call the police by phone or fire guns, which can win enough early warning time for the convoys crossing the river."
"Interesting, this air defense sentry is so interesting." After listening to Sokov's introduction, Krelov smiled on his face. He nodded and said, "Then I will discuss with the commander to build the air defense sentry as soon as possible. If the convoy can really avoid being bombed by German night flight planes, you will be a great achievement."
Sokov was already immune to Krelov's verbal praise. He thought to himself: Now, except for the shrinking regiment, the other regiments use Su-style weapons, which cannot be seized on the battlefield and can only rely on supplies from the rear. Since he had such a good idea for Krelov, can he get more benefits from him?
Thinking of this, Sokov asked carefully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, after the convoy transports the materials into the city, can we add some weapons, ammunition, food and medicine to our division?"
"Hmm?!" Krelov asked in surprise: "Col. Sokov, if I remember correctly, almost all the equipment used by your troops were seized from the Germans and never asked for it. Why? Today the sun came out from the west, and you actually asked me for equipment?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, yes, my troops used to use German weapons and could be seized from the battlefield." Sokov did not hear whether Krelov was joking or saying this seriously, so he could only laugh with a smile: "But later he rushed to the 41st Guard Division of Mamayevgang, but all of them were Soviet-style equipment. I couldn't seize this weapon and ammunition from the enemy. I could only ask you to allocate a batch of us."
Krelov thought carefully about Sokov's request, and then said: "Col. Sokov, our logistics department rented a batch of underground warehouses at the Red October factory to store ammunition and supplies transported into the city. When General Lobov returns, I will ask him to allocate you a batch of ammunition and supplies."
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he said excitedly to Ivanov, who was still sitting on the left: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, let me tell you good news. I have just talked with Chief of Staff Krelov. After the materials on the east coast are transported into the city, we will give priority to replenishing a batch of ammunition and supplies. In this way, our troops will not have to worry about running out of ammunition and food."
Ivanov thought that the supplies mentioned by Sokov were transported into the city by ships by sailors, and quickly said to Sokov: "In the past, after ammunition and supplies were transported from the other strait, the logistics department of the group army would call the troops and notify them to collect them. But recently I found that the situation had changed. Each division and brigade had special personnel at the ferry. Once the ammunition and supplies were unloaded, they rushed up and quickly transported their own ammunition and supplies to the front line. Look, how many people should I send to the ferry to wait to transport ammunition and supplies?"
Chapter completed!