As soon as the phone was connected, the headquarters was bombed by enemy planes. In order to report the information to Yeliaomenko in time, Cuikov did not leave his command center, but continued to hold the microphone and talk to Yeliaomenko.
Due to the constant deafening explosions coming from the earpiece, Ye Liaomenko took great effort to hear the content of Cui Kov's report. After pondering for a while, he asked loudly: "Comrade Cui Kov, are you sure you can succeed in taking such a large-scale action behind enemy lines?"
Before Cui Kefu could answer, he said to himself: "There are more than 2,000 troops planned to be invested in the battle, which is almost the total force of our guerrillas behind enemy lines. Have you ever considered that once we fail, our armed forces behind enemy lines will be completely lost?"
"Thinking about it, Commander Comrade." After Cuikov finished speaking, he replied respectfully: "This is a dangerous move. If it fails, our army's strength behind enemy lines will be devastatingly hit; but once the offensive is successful, it will weaken the enemy's attack on the factory area. I think this dangerous move is worth taking."
Although Yelemenko is the headquarters of the Front Army, his command ability and level are still weaker than Cuikov. He only considered the possible adverse effects of launching an offensive behind enemy lines, but did not see this operation, which could also improve the enemy-to-me situation in the city. Therefore, he said stubbornly: "Comrade Cuikov, I disagree with you. We don't know how long it will take to smash the enemy's attack on Stalingrad. If the armed forces behind enemy lines are consumed too early, the enemy can concentrate all their energy to attack the city. The already precarious situation will further deteriorate."
Cuikov reported to Yeliaumko's combat plan, hoping that the other party could provide some help for the offensive launched behind the enemy, such as sending planes to bomb the enemy's reinforcements; or asking Rokosovsky's troops to launch a feint attack to attract the attention of the enemy's troops, etc. But at this moment, before his thoughts were proposed, they were rejected by the other party, and Cuikov was very dissatisfied.
Although he and Sokov had just finished their call, they called Yeliaomenko to report. The interval between them was very short, but it did not prevent him from repeatedly weighing the combat plan in his mind. He felt that launching an offensive behind enemy lines would be of some help to reverse the unfavorable situation in the city in front of him.
It was precisely for this reason that he ignored Yeliaumko's opposition and continued to say to the other party: "Comrade Commander, the main forces of the German army are in the factory area north of the city. If we fight fiercely with our army, the troops in their rear will inevitably become weak. I think Captain Guchakov has positive significance for organizing this offensive behind enemy lines."
"Comrade Cui Kov," Yeliaomenko was surprised to see Cui Kov continue to stick to his point of view. After a while, he said to the microphone: "This matter is of great importance and I cannot make a decision easily. I will report this matter to the base camp immediately and see what the Supreme Commander himself means. I will notify you after the result." After that, without giving Cui Kov a chance to argue again, he hung up the phone directly.
Khrushchev, who was sitting opposite Yelemenko, roughly heard what Cuikov said. After Yelemenko put down the phone, he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, it's just a small offensive battle. Do you really need to alarm the base camp?"
"Military Comrade," Yelemenko saw Khrushchev's indifferent look, and guessed that the other party did not realize how much the impact of the operation here was, so he said to him seriously: "Although there are not many people about to be put into battle, only about two thousand. However, with those non-combatants, I estimate that the total number of people will exceed four thousand. This is all our strength behind the enemy. If it is rashly lost, the enemy will have no worries. They can concentrate their troops and launch a more fierce attack on the city. In this matter, I cannot make any decision and need to report to my superiors immediately."
After listening to Yelemenko's explanation, Khrushchev also realized the seriousness of the problem. After careful consideration, he said to Yelemenko: "Comrade Commander, we send a joint telegram to report this combat plan to the headquarters of the Supreme Command."
Seeing Khrushchev taking the initiative to raise this matter, Yeliaoméko was not pretentious. After nodding, he said, "I will draft the telegram now. After writing it, you and I will sign the name and send it directly."
After Cuikov reported on his work, he did not get Yelemenko's approval. He was about to call Sokov to talk about this matter. Krelov, who had just received a call, reported to him in panic: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's infantry, under the cover of ten tanks and six assault guns, had rushed into the Derzhinsky factory. Now most of the factory has fallen into the hands of the Germans."
"What?" Cuikov was startled by the news of Krelov. He asked with a stern face: "Isn't the 45th Infantry Division now in charge of factory defense? Why didn't they block the enemy's attack?"
"Our troops lack anti-tank weapons," Krelov replied with a bitter face: "Although the soldiers are very tenacious, their flesh and blood cannot stop the enemy's tanks at all,..."
"I understand." Cuikov interrupted Krelov without waiting for him to finish his words: "Sokov and his team will soon have a batch of anti-tank weapons. I see if he can share some of them with us."
Hearing Cuikov say this, Krelov couldn't help but shake his head and smiled bitterly: "Other troops, when they hear something we want, they will send it here immediately without saying a word; but it is harder to want something from Sokov than to climb the sky. Comrade Commander, I think even if you make this call, it will probably not be effective."
"How can I know if I don't try it?" Cuikov agreed with Krelov's statement very much. Compared with other division commanders under the army, Sokov was very stingy. He always found many reasons to refuse if he wanted any weapon from him. Sometimes Cuikov even had an illusion that the other party was a commander, and he was just a division commander under his command, and he could only speak with a negotiation tone when talking to him.
After the phone was connected, Cuikov heard that the person who answered the phone was Sokov, so he directly stated his identity: "Hey, Colonel Sokov, I am Cuikov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander." When he heard the telegram from Cuikov, Sokov thought to himself, was it that Guchakov was preparing to launch, and there was any change? Thinking of this, he asked guiltily: "What instructions do you have?"
"The enemy has rushed into the Derzhinsky factory and occupied most of the factory." Cuikov did not go around in circles and said bluntly: "I came to ask for help from you."
"Ceek for help from me?" Sokov couldn't help but feel a little shocked when he heard this. He thought to himself that he would not be able to transfer my troops to reinforce the Derrensky factory, right? He tried hard to control his emotions and tried his best to say in a stable tone: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to let me send troops to reinforce?"
"There is no need to reinforce. The militia and regular troops in the factory are quite large." Unexpectedly, Cui Kefu's answer surprised him. "The reason why they could not stop the German attack was because the enemy dispatched tanks and assault guns. They lacked anti-tank weapons. No matter how brave they were, they could not use their flesh and blood to block the enemy's steel. Therefore, I plan to share part of the anti-tank weapons given to you by the superiors to the troops that were defending the Derrensky factory."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov suddenly felt much more at ease when he learned that Cui Kov called him and wanted some anti-tank weapons. In this way, he did not have to worry about unnecessary losses from his troops: "The new anti-tank weapons given to us by his superiors have not arrived yet. After they are shipped, I will immediately divide some of them to friendly forces."
Cuikov didn't expect Sokov to agree so readily. There was no need to say a lot of things he had prepared. He hesitated for a moment and asked back: "I only have one last question, when will the new anti-tank weapons be shipped?"
"I don't know, Comrade Commander." Sokov answered very simply, "When Yakov called me, he said it would be transported in about five days. But you also know our transportation situation. Even if the things are transported to the east coast and you want to transport them across the river, it will take some trouble. To be honest, I also hope that these anti-tank weapons can be used to deal with the German tanks."
"So, I have to wait for another two days." Sokov's answer disappointed Cuikov, which means that the 45th Infantry Division, which was stuck in the Derrensky factory, had to withstand the German army for two or three days with its own flesh and blood, before they had the opportunity to equip anti-tank weapons issued by their superiors.
Just as Cuikov was considering whether to call Colonel Sokolov, the commander of the 45th Infantry Division, and asked his men to hold on for another two days, he unexpectedly heard Sokov say: "Comrade Commander, although there are no decent anti-tank weapons at present, it is not difficult to defend the factory area?"
If someone else said such a thing, Cuikov would definitely be his first reaction. But this was said from Sokov's mouth, and Cuikov had to take it seriously. He was silent for a moment and said without moving: "Col. Sokov, what are you good ways to do? Tell me quickly."
"Comrade Commander, my troops have participated in battles in the Derzhinsky factory, and I have also carefully checked the terrain there." Sokov said to the microphone: "I found that the factory is surrounded by some river in Mokraya..."
"It's the Moklaya Mechetka River." Seeing that Sokov couldn't remember the name of the river next to the factory, Cuikov reminded him and urged him: "Speak quickly, what did this river think of?"
"I have asked the soldiers who participated in the factory battle, and they said there were three highway bridges across the river." Sokov felt that the name of the river was too difficult, so he did not say the name of the river, but instead used this river. "The enemy's tanks and assault guns entered the factory through these highway bridges. My idea was to blow up all the highway bridges..."
"What, you said you would blow up the road bridge?" Cui Kefu was surprised. "Blow up the bridge, so how can our people cross the river? You must know that the river is more than 30 meters wide and the water depth is more than three meters. You can't let our people swim over, right?"
Although Sokov had never been to the Derrensky factory in person, he did not know what the river was like there. But he clearly remembered that when he was a child, he once watched a movie about the Battle of Stalingrad. This old movie was filmed in the late 1940s and was personally reviewed by Stalin himself. It truly restored the terrain of the city. In order to facilitate the passage of the river, workers set up many pontoon bridges on the river. These pontoon bridges are composed of empty oil barrels. They are fixed with ropes and thrown into the water and can withstand the weight of people.
It is precisely because of his understanding of this simple floating bridge that Sokov proposed to blow up the highway bridges around the factory. Seeing that Cui Kov expressed his discomfort, he explained to the other party: "Comrade Commander, even if we blow up all the highway bridges, it is easy for us to cross the bridge. There are so many empty oil barrels in the factory, as long as they are tied with ropes and thrown into the river, they can become a simple floating bridge. Even if they are destroyed by German artillery fire, we can build a new bridge in the shortest time."
"Col. Sokov," Cuikov waited patiently for Sokov to finish his words, sighing softly, and said with some amusement. "As early as August, the workers of the factory built many such pontoon bridges on the river. But I can't think of any connection with keeping the factory?"
"Comrade Commander, I want to ask you." Seeing that Cuikov did not understand his intention, Sokov asked with a smile: "Can this simple pontoon bridge withstand the weight of tanks and assault guns?"
"How is this possible? A simple floating bridge built with empty oil barrels is fine. Not to mention such heavy tanks and assault guns, even a much lighter truck will sink immediately..." Cuikov was stunned when he said this. He suddenly realized what Sokov was going to tell him. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Col. Sokov, if I don't understand it wrong, what do you mean after blowing up all the highway bridges, we only use this kind of floating bridge made of gasoline barrels, and the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles cannot cross the bridge?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, I mean exactly that." Seeing that Cui Kov finally understood his thoughts, Sokov said with relief: "As long as the enemy's tanks and assault guns cannot enter the factory area, then our troops in the factory area will be enough to block the attack of their infantry."
After saying this, he suddenly thought that the rash blowing up the road bridge around the factory would probably cause dissatisfaction among some people. He quickly added: "Comrade Commander, if you want to blow up the road bridge around the factory, you may have some different opinions. I hope you can stick to your own point of view."
Chapter completed!