"The first battalion and regiment directly under my command have more than 800 people." Berkin smiled slightly and replied: "If it is used for attack, this amount of force is obviously not enough. But it is more than enough for defense."
After hearing Belkin's answer, Sokov looked at Lyudnikov who was sitting aside and said, "Just just now, the enemy rushed to a place less than 100 meters away from the division command. Colonel Lyudnikov called a rocket launcher to shoot here. Although the rushing enemy was eliminated, he might have accidentally injured many of his own people. Now the troops in front of the division command are empty, so you can take over the defense of this area with the first battalion."
After assigning the task to Berkin, out of courtesy, Sokov looked at Lyudnikov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, do you think my arrangement is appropriate?"
"Col. Sokov," when Sokov was assembling a mission to Berkin, Lyudnikov tried to interrupt several times, but he didn't find a suitable opportunity. At this moment, when he heard Sokov ask for his own opinions, he quickly said: "I just thought about it and felt that it was really not necessary to change a battalion of infantry into artillery for use. You must know that the enemy not only has air supremacy, but also the strength of the artillery is far greater than that of us. I am worried that this temporary artillery pieced together is not the enemy's opponent at all. I am afraid that it will be wiped out by the enemy's artillery fire after not long."
"Comrade Colonel, don't worry." In order to dispel Lyudnikov's concerns, Sokov said to him: "The weather has been bad recently and the enemy planes cannot be dispatched at all, that is to say, the air supremacy controlled by the Germans does not exist at all.
As for the artillery we temporarily pieced together, I admit that the combat power of the artillery we cannot compare with that of the enemy's artillery. But you may not know that the artillery is now broken into pieces and scattered in different areas. Even if the enemy's artillery finds their location, it is not easy to destroy them with artillery fire."
Berkin interrupted, "Misha, if you scatter the artillery in various areas, how should the commander command?" He and Sokov had been together for so long, so naturally they would not be unclear about the purpose of Sokov doing this. The reason why he asked this was to help Sokov speak in disguise so that he could dispel his doubts.
When Sokov heard Belkin's question, he immediately understood what the other party meant and laughed: "Comrade Political Commissar, I have asked Major Savage to bring telephone lines to several artillery positions. He can command artillery attacks on the target by telephone. Moreover, each position is assigned its own area. He can make different positions carry out artillery attacks according to the situation of the enemy's assembly."
"If you do this, the artillery attack will be more efficient." Belkin replied with a smile: "They can save shells when they kill large amounts of enemy technical equipment and soldiers."
“…”
...
Lyudnikov heard the answer he wanted to know from the conversation between Sokov and Berkin. He nodded and said, "Col. Sokov, I once heard from the commander that you have rich experience in fighting defensive wars, and also introduced me some of your successful battle examples in the past. To be honest, I heard that you are coming to assist us in defense. Now, through your conversation, I have more confidence in defending the factory."
Although Sokov's current military rank is the same as that of Lyudnikov and has made many great achievements in military achievements, no matter what, age is his weakness. If Lyudnikov does not trust him from the bottom of his heart, there will be problems in cooperation in the next battle. Now seeing that Lyudnikov agree with his actions, Sokov's heart suddenly felt much more at ease.
Sokov turned his head and said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, the Germans may launch an attack soon. You should arrange defense as soon as possible. Remember, you must use the sewer on the basis of strengthening the fortifications. Do you understand?"
"Don't worry, Misha." Belkin replied with a smile: "The first thing our regiment has done after entering the position is to find the entrance to the sewer so that it can be used as soon as possible."
After Belkin left, Lyudnikov asked Sokov curiously: "Col. Sokov, I heard you talk about the sewer with Commander Belkin. What's going on?"
"That's right, comrade Colonel." Sokov couldn't help but look surprised on his face when he saw that Lyudnikov didn't know about using sewers to fight, but he still explained to the other party patiently: "Since the enemy entered the city, all our combat areas were covered by enemy artillery fire. In combat, we would inevitably mobilize troops to the frontline. If our actions were discovered by the enemy, it was very likely to attract a burst of artillery fire, which would lead to heavy losses of reinforcements. But if we mobilize troops through sewers, then no matter how strong the enemy's artillery fire was, the losses caused to us could be ignored."
"Col. Sokov, when did you summarize the experience?" After Sokov finished speaking, he asked in surprise: "Why is it not promoted within the army?"
"I once wrote a detailed report on how to use sewers and organically combine various defensive positions to the Group Army Headquarters." Sokov said with a wry smile: "I thought that after so long, I was afraid that all divisions would know how to use sewers to deal with the enemy. I didn't expect you to know."
"I don't know." Lyudnikov shook his head and said, "This is the first time I heard today that troops can be mobilized through sewers to reduce casualties in the movement."
Sokov was not sure of his proposal and could not be promoted among friendly forces. Whose responsibility was it. He could only say bitterly: "Comrade Colonel, although it is a little late now, it is better than not. Although I have no right to order you, I still strongly suggest to you to promote this tactic in the army as soon as possible to reduce unnecessary casualties. You must know that the sewer is tantamount to us as much as a solid fortification."
In order to reduce the casualties of the troops in the subsequent battle, Lyudnikov immediately called several regiment commanders, repeated Sokov's words to them, and ordered them to use the sewers in the defense zone as soon as possible to rebuild the defense line to fight against the German army's subsequent attack.
…………
Just as Lyudnikov called the commanders of the regiments, Paulus learned in his command that the 297th Infantry Division had launched an attack on the factory, which ended in failure.
After receiving a call from the division commander Major General von derrebel, he asked specifically: "What did you say? Your troops have rushed to the Russian command, but were attacked by Russian rocket launchers. As a result, a battalion that rushed up was destroyed? Is this news reliable? You must know that the rockets have poor accuracy and large killing area. If the two armies fired at such a close distance, it would be easy to cause accidental injuries."
"Yes, Commander, I'm all right." Von der Rebel said quickly when he heard Paulus's doubts, "The Russians are crazy. I saw from the telescope that my soldiers were approaching the factory where the Russian command was located. In just one more than ten seconds, or even a few seconds, they could rush in, but they were attacked by the Russian rocket launcher, and the entire army was destroyed under the attack of artillery fire."
"These Russians are crazy, they are crazy." Paulus was absolutely incredible. The Soviet army dared to fire artillery at his division command when the two armies were so close to each other. This was something that only madmen could do. He thought that the 297th Infantry Division was exhausted after this round of attack. In addition, he saw his companions completely lost in the Soviet artillery fire with his own eyes, so many people must have been scared. Letting them continue to attack at this moment may have greatly reduced the effect.
Thinking of this, Paulus said to the microphone: "General von der Lebel, your troops have fought for so long, and the officers and soldiers must be tired. This way, you can withdraw the troops first and rest, and I will let other troops take over your attack."
When von derrebel heard that his troops were suspended from attack, he felt ecstatic. He quickly replied: "I understand, Commander, I immediately ordered the troops to withdraw the second line of defense for defense."
As soon as Paulus put down the phone, Schmid came over and asked, "Mr. Commander, isn't your order to stop the attack? Isn't it equivalent to giving the Russians a breather? If they use this time to strengthen the fortifications and wait for us to launch a new attack, they will pay a greater price."
"Chief of Staff." Paulus looked at Schmid and said with a serious expression: "Although I ordered the 297th Infantry Division to withdraw from combat, it does not mean that the attack on the barricade factory will be stopped. I plan to replace the 297th Infantry Division with a low morale."
When Schmid learned that Paulus was going to send another troops to replace the attack of the 297th Infantry Division, he quickly recalled the distribution of the troops in his mind, and then asked tentatively: "Hiss Commander, are you going to let Major General Steinmetz's 305th Infantry Division continue to attack the barricade factory?"
"That's right." Paulus nodded slightly and replied: "Let the 245th Assault Arsenal Battalion dispatch assault guns and cooperate with the attack of the 305th Infantry Division, it is necessary to take down the barricade factory in the shortest time."
After receiving the offensive order from Schmid, Major General Steinmetz, the commander of the 305th Infantry Division, immediately summoned commanders at the battalion level and above to his command center to study how to seize the Barrier Factory. He had just taken over the command of the 305th Infantry Division from Lieutenant General Auburnland. He hoped to establish his absolute authority in the division through the battle to seize the Barrier Factory.
A large group of German officers soon gathered in Steinmetz's command center and listened quietly to the new division commander's combat orders. Seeing that everyone was here, Steinmetz said to everyone: "Gentlemen, I just received a call from General Schmid, the Chief of Staff. He asked us to organize our forces to attack the barricade factory immediately and seize the factory from the Russians in the shortest time."
"Sir, Division Commander." As soon as Steinmetz finished speaking, Colonel Wentzer, the commander of the 578th Infantry Regiment, spoke first: "Leave this task to our regiment, I promise you to take down the entire factory before dark."
The reason why Wentzel is so confident is that the area controlled by the Lyudnikov division is only 500 meters wide from north to south, and the depth from east to west is only 400 meters. Moreover, it is attacked on three sides. As long as the attack is launched at the same time, the defenders cannot stop it.
Seeing that Wentzel was the first to speak and grab the task, Lieutenant Colonel Brandt, the commander of the 577th Infantry Regiment, was dissatisfied with him. He ignored the other party's rank being higher than his, and then started to fight with him: "Colonel Wentzel, I think the task of seizing the barricade factory should be handed over to our 577th Regiment. As last time on the Don River, a regiment's force was held by the Russians and a battalion for three hours, causing the plan to wipe out the Russians to fail..."
"What did you say?!" Wentzel was anxious when he heard Brandt's sarcasm for himself. When the troops were forcing the Don River, his troops were blocked by the Soviet army. They arrived at the designated location three hours later than the scheduled time, and as a result, the Soviet troops that should be surrounded escaped. This matter has always been a part of his heart. At this moment, Brandt mentioned it, he was naturally furious: "You only know how to talk about me, what about you? Who sent a battalion to attack the barricade factory, but after two days of fighting, he didn't even take down a factory building?"
Steinmetz had been the commander of the division for only a week and did not understand the personal grudges between the two commanders. At this moment, they were furious when they saw the two of them quarreled at such an important military meeting. He slapped the table hard and shouted: "Enough, gentlemen, we are holding a military meeting. If you want to argue, it will not be too late to argue again after the meeting is over."
When they heard the commander's words, although the two were not convinced by the new commander, they still did not dare to sing against Steinmetz in such a formal occasion, so they could only shut up obediently.
"Chief of Staff," Seeing that both regiment commanders shut their mouths, Steinmetz turned his head and asked the chief of staff on the side: "Which unit do you think you should send to seize the barricade factory?"
The chief of staff of the division stood up, looked at Wentzel, then looked at Brandt, and finally turned his attention to Steinmetz again, saying, "Grandmaster, I think Lieutenant Colonel Brandt's 577th Regiment should be sent to complete this glorious and arduous task."
The quarrel between Wentzel and Brandt left a bad impression on the two, and he even planned to let the 576th Infantry Regiment perform this mission. At this moment, when he heard the division chief of staff recommending Brandt's 577th Infantry Regiment, he frowned and asked, "Why?"
"Sir, please look at the map." The Chief of Staff came to the wall, pointed to the map hanging on the wall, and said to Steinmetz: "Lt. Col. Brandt's 577th Infantry Regiment is just west of the barricade factory. They can enter the factory area to replace the defense of the 295th Infantry Division in the shortest time. The 576th and 578th Infantry Regiments are a little far from the factory. If they are transferred far away, they may cause unnecessary chaos."
After hearing the reasons of the Chief of Staff of the Division, Steinmetz immediately made the final decision: "Since that is the case, then the task of attacking the barricade factory will be handed over to Lieutenant Colonel Brand's 577th Infantry Regiment." He said to Brandt, "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I hope you don't let me down."
Chapter completed!