"...The final decision on the end of any battle is mental power. To confirm this conclusion, there are ready-made examples..." The next morning, a strange voice sounded in the room woke Sokov from his sleep. Before he opened his eyes, he asked himself in his heart: "Strange, this seems to be the voice of Commander Cuikov. He is not commanding the battle in the headquarters, so why do you run to me to do?"
Sokov sat up with his eyes closed, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at the room carefully. He saw Sidolin standing at the table with his back to him, leaning over to see what was on the table. In the corner a little further away, several communication soldiers and staff officers were still busy as before, but they didn't see any trace of Cuikov.
"Chief of Staff," although he did not see the shadow of Cuikov, his voice still echoed in the room. Sokov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Come Commander has come here? Why didn't I see anyone else?"
"Comrade Commander, you are awake." Sidolin, who was looking down at something, heard Sokov's voice, turned around and smiled and greeted him: "Why don't you sleep for a while?"
"Chief of Staff, you haven't answered my question yet. Where is the Commander?" Sokov repeated his question again.
"Comrade Commander is naturally in his headquarters, how could he come to us?" When Cidolin said this, he shrugged involuntarily, "Our defense zone is not the focus of the enemy's attack. Even if the commander wants to come out to inspect, he will not choose us."
Sokov looked around and tried hard to find the source of the sound: "But, how could I hear the commander's voice?"
"Oh, it turns out that you are talking about the commander's speech." Sidolin pointed his hand at the top of the door and explained to Sokov: "According to your instructions, we installed wired speakers in the tunnel two days ago so that we can listen to outside news at any time."
Looking in the direction of Sidolin's finger, Sokov indeed saw a box hanging above the door, where Cuikov's voice came from. He walked over quickly, looked up at the box, and listened carefully to Cuikov's speech: "...Where is the source of our soldiers so firm and so tenacious? To answer this question, Hitler's strategists have the right to believe that we have some kind of fortifications and some special weapons that will make them unable to win even if their troops are obviously superior..."
After listening for a while, Sokov turned his head and asked Cidolin: "Chief of Staff, do you know what the Commander is talking about?"
"This is the situation," Sidolin left the table and walked to Sokov, explaining to him: "Due to the unfavorable war in the direction of the factory, some problems arose in the army, and some commanders and fighters were shaken in their thinking about whether we could achieve the final victory. After consultation, the commander and the military committee members decided to make a speech to strengthen the belief in victory in the hearts of the commanders and fighters."
"...We firmly believe in victory, and we have never betrayed this belief for a minute: our cause is just, what we defend is a progressive society, the bright life of future generations. The enemy will surely perish! This is not a slogan, not a speech at a mass assembly, but our eternal belief, the driving force of our combat effectiveness and the source of bravery."
Sokov listened to Cuikov's speech patiently, walked back to the table and sat down, and said to Cidolin who followed him: "This speech made by the Chief of Staff, the commander, is a great encouragement for all the troops who are standing in Stalingrad. They will strengthen their confidence in victory and continue to fight with the enemy bravely until they achieve the final victory."
Cidolin agreed with Sokov's statement: "You are right, Comrade Commander, although the enemy is still attacking our army, their offensive strength is no longer as strong as before. In other words, it will take long for their attack to stop, and we will launch a large-scale counterattack."
Sokov calculated in his mind the time for the counterattack, which was more than twenty days away. A few days before the formal counterattack, the supply to the city on the other side would have to be interrupted for a period of time due to too much ice on the water. If the storage of materials is not started now, then his troops may be short of materials.
Thinking of this, he said to Cydolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if the air gets colder today, before the Volga River is completely frozen, there will be too many ambushes on the river surface and ships cannot pass. Therefore, we must find a way to stockpile enough materials to avoid shortages when we get it."
"Comrade," Sidolin's face appeared after hearing Sokov's plan: "To be honest, if possible, I will try my best to fill the underground warehouse in Mamayev Hill. But it's not possible. The supplies given to us by our superiors are allocated in advance. No matter how many people we go to, the supplies they can give us are still only the specified number of supplies..."
While the two were worried about the possible shortage of supplies, a happy voice suddenly came from the door: "Hello, comrades in command!"
Sokov looked in the direction of the sound and found that the division political commissar Anisimov, who had not seen a figure for a long time. He quickly waved to the other party and said politely: "Hello, comrade political commissar, I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you doing recently?"
Anisimov walked over quickly and shook hands with Sokov. After Sidolin shook hands one by one, he replied with a smile: "Comrade Commander, I have actually often returned to the division headquarters recently, but unfortunately, every time I come back, you are not here." After that, he half turned around, pointed to the black box hanging above the door, and said to Sokov with pride, "Comrade Commander, have you seen that black box? Last time you proposed to install a loudspeaker in the tunnel so that the soldiers could answer the news outside. Yesterday, I organized manpower and installed more than 30 such boxes in the tunnel to ensure that all the soldiers could hear news from the outside."
Anisimov's efficiency in his work still made Sokov feel very satisfied. He gave a thumbs up to the other party and said with praise: "Comrade Political Commissar, you have done a good job! With this box, our soldiers can not only understand the situation outside at any time, but also won't be too bored to stay in the tunnel."
"By the way, division commander, comrade Chief of Staff." After hearing Sokov's praise, Anisimov spoke a few politely, and then changed the topic: "I have something to come to you to discuss."
"What's the matter?" Sokov asked briefly.
"In more than a week, it will be the great October Revolution Festival." Anisimov said to Sokov happily: "Comrade Commander, I plan to let the soldiers have a rich meal of 'Siberian dumplings' during the holidays. I would like to ask you to come forward and ask the Minister of the Army Logistics to ask for some meat. In addition to pork, it is best to ask for a little more beef."
"Siberian dumplings?!" Sokov thought to himself, dumplings are dumplings. Can they be divided into Siberian dumplings and Stalingrad dumplings? Moreover, he has only eaten leek pork stuffing, cabbage pork stuffing dumplings, and beef stuffing dumplings. With this curiosity, he asked, "Why do you still need beef?"
Seeing Sokov's confused look, Anisimov quickly explained to him: "The authentic Siberian dumpling filling should be filled with at least two kinds of meat - beef and pork. It would be even better if you could add some mutton or poultry meat."
"It's better to know a lot!" Anisimov, who waited for Sidolin to finish his speech, nodded in praise, and then said: "In addition to the mix of beef and pork, the authentic Siberian dumplings must be frozen first and then cooked after being wrapped. Perhaps it is because the freezing before cooking makes Siberian dumplings juicy and delicious. In addition, dumplings are usually cooked in chicken soup or beef soup, and sour cream is added when eaten."
Anisimov's words made Sokov feel that he was drooling. After smearing his hands on his mouth, he asked, "Comrade Political Commissar, although there will be one or two snows recently, the temperature is not low enough. If the wrapped dumplings are placed outside, they cannot be frozen?"
"I spent two years in Stalingrad before," said Anisimov carelessly. "Starting November, the weather will be very cold, and the whole city will be covered with snow. At that time, we can put all the wrapped dumplings in the snow outdoors and cook them when we want to eat. But the first problem in front of us is that we don't have beef and the amount of pork is very limited."
Sokov heard Anisimov's voice outline, and asked himself to go to the logistics minister to ask for meat. He said without hesitation: "Don't worry, comrade of the political commissar, I will call General Lobov later, and I will definitely find a way to get enough pork and beef from him."
"That's great, it's great." Seeing Sokov agreeing to his request, Anisimov was overjoyed: "In this way, our division's commanders and soldiers can have a beautiful meal of Siberian dumplings on the festival."
Although Sokov promised so readily, he actually had no idea. The supply in the city was so tight, and some troops were very difficult to eat dried bread slices, let alone eating meat. At this time, he called Lobov and asked him for beef and pork. Can he agree to him?
However, since he had made a promise to Anisimov, even if the hope was slim, Sokov felt he was trying his luck. He asked the operator to connect to the call from the Group Army Logistics Department and waited nervously for the other party to pick up the phone.
Not long after, the phone went on. A hoarse voice came from the receiver: "I am Lobof, where are you?"
"Hello, General Lobov." Sokov heard the person who answered the phone and quickly said, "I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Division of the Guards."
"It turned out to be Colonel Sokov." Lobov asked politely: "What can I do to serve you?"
"Comrade General," Sokov said hesitantly: "In more than a week, it will be the great October Revolution Festival. I think...I want..."
When the supply of materials was insufficient, Sokov asked the Minister of Logistics for the current luxury beef and pork. Sokov was somewhat embarrassed. He hesitated and said "I think" several times, but there was no follow-up. Fortunately, Lobov had received a similar call today. He heard that Sokov had no follow-up, so he guessed the other party's intention and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, do you call me if you want a batch of beef and pork to make dumplings?"
"Yes, Comrade General, I still mean that." Sokov saw that the other party guessed his intention and asked with a blushing face: "I wonder if you can provide us with the supplies we need."
"If someone asked this question, I would definitely tell him without hesitation: No!" Lobof said with a smile: "But your situation is different. If you hadn't suggested building a water pontoon bridge, the supply of materials in the city's internal team would be ten times worse than now. Just make this happen, even if you don't speak, I will send someone to deliver things to you."
"This is great, Comrade General." Sokov was overjoyed to learn that Lobov agreed to provide beef and pork to his troops: "I thank you on behalf of all the commanders and soldiers of the division."
"If I don't say what's going on in the city now, you should know what's going on." Lobof continued to say after a moment of pause: "So I can only provide you with five hundred kilograms of pork and one hundred kilograms of beef. As for lamb and chicken, I don't have any at all."
Sokov originally considered that if Lobov gave him too little meat, he would have to make less meat-filled dumplings and more mashed potato dumplings to fill in. Unexpectedly, Lobov was so generous that he gave him 600 kilograms of meat at once, which was an unexpected surprise.
Before Sokov could express his gratitude again, Lobov continued: "In addition to meat, I will provide you with two hundred kilograms of dark chocolate and three hundred servings of coffee. Giving you so much supplies is already the limit within my authority. Even if you want to ask for more, I can't do anything."
"Enough, Comrade General, you have enough supplies to us." Sokov once again expressed his gratitude to Lobov: "On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire division, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you and the comrades in the logistics department."
"Okay, don't say these useless words." Lobov interrupted Sokov's later words: "As long as you can block the enemy and prevent them from occupying the Mamayev hill, and ensure that the material resources on the other side continue to come ashore from the ferry, it is better than anything else." When he put down the phone, he thought of a key question and told Sokov, "Comrade Colonel, how much material I have given you must be kept confidential and must not let other troops know, otherwise I have the right to take back the materials allocated to you. Do you understand?"
Sokov naturally understood that there were too many monks and too little porridge and not enough stocks to allocate materials. Once other troops knew that General Lobov had given him so much supplies, they would definitely not be willing to do so, and would go to him to ask for things. In order to prevent the embarrassment of Lobov, he quickly promised: "Comrade General, please rest assured. Apart from the several commanders responsible for receiving the supplies, I will not let more people know about this."
Thanks to book friends l599xl and fugudoku for their rewards and support!
Chapter completed!