"Let me tell me!" Sokov said with a kind look.
Sidolin picked up paper and pen, drew the general outline of the Volga River on it, and then drew a line to connect it. He explained to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we can use a few steel cables to connect the banks of the Volga River, and then lay logs on the steel cables. After the steel cables and logs are frozen, it will be a solid bridge. Not to mention vehicles transporting materials, even heavy tanks are passed through."
After hearing Cidolin's proposal, Sokov asked the most critical question: "Chief of Staff, if this is done, how many steel cables and logs are needed?"
It was not a day or two that Sidolin had already considered this plan, and had already had a general framework. When he heard Sokov's question, he immediately replied without thinking: "I have calculated roughly that to complete such a bridge, at least 20,000 meters of steel cables and 5,000 logs are needed."
"O my God, I actually need so many steel cables and logs." Ivanov came out and sang the opposite: "In the current situation of Stalingrad, let alone not to mention being unable to take out 20,000 meters of steel cables and 5,000 logs, even if it can be taken out, it will take at least two or three days to build such a bridge on the river.
Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder if you have considered it. We took the risk to spend such a large cost and so long to build a bridge on the Volga River. Maybe in less than a day, or even half a day, you will be blown up by the enemy's plane. I don't think your plan is feasible, and even if it is reported to the Army Command, it may not be approved."
Ivanov denied Cydolin's proposal, but Sokov was secretly thinking about the feasibility of this plan. According to the order of the superior, after the large-scale counterattack began, other troops of the 62nd Army held their existing defensive positions to block and restrain the enemy; and the task of their own troops was to choose the right time to counterattack the German army.
In order to counterattack the enemy, infantry alone is not enough, and it also requires support from artillery and tanks. But in my hands, there are only a few tanks I got from Director Peter, which is insignificant compared to the German tanks. If I can obtain support from the other strait before the counterattack begins, the results I achieved in the counterattack will be even more brilliant.
But when he thought of the materials and time required to build such a pontoon bridge, Sokov felt a headache. He was worried that even if he reported the plan, Cuikov and the others might refuse it due to insufficient materials and long construction time. Thinking of this, he sighed softly and said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, your plan is very good. But under the current circumstances, it is obviously unrealistic to build such a bridge."
Seeing the disappointed expression on Cidolin's face, Sokov quickly changed the subject: "By the way, is there any movement in the frontal Romanian army these two days?"
"It's still the same as usual," said Cydollin, shrugging his shoulders, "Blasting our positions for ten minutes every day, and then launching a ground attack. Once we fight back, we immediately retreat to the starting point of the attack."
"Yes, it's still the same. Without the supervision of the Germans, their daily attack is just a formality." Ivanov added with interest: "But this is very beneficial to us. We can draw more troops to attack to achieve greater results."
Although the Romanian army was his defeated man, Sokov did not take it lightly. He ordered Cydolin: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a scout to reconnaissance the Romanian army's defense and figure out where the weak points of their defense line are."
"I understand." Cidolin nodded and said, "I will arrange for the scout immediately."
After sending Sidolin and Ivanov to rest, Sokov lay on the camp bed in the corner of the command center, but he didn't fall asleep all night, thinking about Sidolin's bridge building plan.
The next morning, as soon as Sidolin walked into the command center from outside, Sokov turned over and sat up, greeted him: "Chief of Staff, you are here!"
Sidolin nodded to Sokov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, you haven't slept all night?"
"Can't sleep." Sokov got up and walked to the table, picked up the cigarette case and matches placed on the table, and said to Cydolin: "Chief of Staff, I'll go outside to smoke a cigarette."
Sokov followed the passage to the top of the slope. As soon as he walked out of the cave, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly behind a pile of soil: "Stop, command!"
The command?!Sokov was stunned and thought to himself that he wanted to take a fresh breath from the top of the slope and smoke a cigarette. How could he know what the command was? Just as he was about to reveal his identity, the other party suddenly exclaimed: "So it's you, comrade in command."
As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier wearing a steel helmet and a white camouflage costume emerged from a pile of soil with a gun. He came to Sokov and said with a straight body and apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade in the division, I don't know it's you..."
"It's okay, you're also responsible." Sokov waved his hand at the other party and said generously: "Fortunately, you recognized me in time, otherwise you would shoot me directly if you couldn't hear my answer?"
"How is this possible?" the warrior blushed and replied: "I won't shoot casually."
Sokov looked around. After a long period of shelling and bombing, the top of the slope had become unrecognizable. There were dark craters everywhere. After looking at it for a long time, he could not see where he was. Then he asked the warrior: "Where is where he is?"
"You go along these craters." The soldier pointed to a short distance and patiently explained to Sokov: "Walking out about twenty meters, you can see a trench. You just need to walk east along the trench to see the observation center."
After Sokov thanked the warrior, he quickly found the observation station according to the direction he guided. When the observation station saw Sokov coming in, he quickly raised his hand to salute him and asked in a panic: "Comrade Commander, why are you here?"
"How is the situation?"
"The enemy's position was very calm, and there was no movement at all."
After listening to the observation post, Sokov turned around and looked towards the ferry, raised his telescope to look up the river. From the telescope's lens, he found that the river surface was frozen again, and two transport ships sailing from the west bank to the east bank were actually frozen by the ice. Seeing this scene, he turned his head and asked the observation post: "How long has the transport ship been frozen on the river surface?"
"I was frozen when it was dark yesterday." When the observation post heard Sokov's inquiry, he quickly replied: "It's almost dawn today, I saw the sailors on the ship abandoning the ship."
Looking at the two frozen transport ships, Sokov thought to himself: Will the sailors in the district fleet find that the waterway is frozen, and will they use simple and crude methods to open up the waterway again with gunboats?
"Comrade Commander," the observation post found that Sokov had been observing the two frozen transport ships, and said carefully: "Do you think it doesn't make much sense for the sailors to do this?"
Hearing the observation post say this, Sokov put down his telescope, turned his head to look at him, and asked curiously: "Why doesn't it make much sense?"
"The night before yesterday, I was on duty here and saw the sailors treating gunboats as icebreakers." The observation post said to Sokov: "One gunboat sank, and the other two were severely damaged, so it barely opened up a narrow channel. As a result, it was frozen again after just one day of use. If you still want to continue using this channel, you can only use the original method and continue to use gunboats to hit the ice..."
After listening to the observation post's statement patiently, Sokov couldn't help but come up with the suggestion of Cidolin. The 20,000-meter steel cable may be a problem for other cities in war states, but Stalingrad, as a large heavy industrial city, could still achieve such a number of steel cables. As for those logs, they can be replaced by sleepers that can be seen everywhere in the factory area.
"Don't worry," Sokov made up his mind, raised his hand and patted the observation whistle twice, and said to him with a smile: "Sailors no longer need to use gunboats as icebreakers. There will be better ways to solve the material transportation problem on the other side."
Looking at Sokov's departure back, the observation post muttered in a low voice: "What a good way? You can't transfer two icebreakers from the Arctic to come here to open a waterway?"
As soon as Sokov walked into the command center, he shouted at Cidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I carefully considered your plan last night and thought it was still completely feasible. Let's discuss the details and report to the Group Army Command."
Sidolin originally had a lot of hope for his idea, but last night Ivanov poured a basin of cold water on his head. When he saw Sokov, he didn't agree with his plan. He felt a little disappointed. At this moment, when he heard Sokov's re-recommended the old story, hope ignited in his heart.
But when I think of Ivanov's attitude, Cidolin asked worriedly: "Comrade Commander, did the deputy commander say last night that in Stalingrad's current situation, it is probably impossible to provide so many bridge materials. Moreover, this kind of bridge takes time and may be blown up by German planes just after it is built."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that Stalingrad is a heavy industrial city. Even if it is in a state of war, I think there is still a way to get enough steel cables."
"Where is the log?"
"You can use sleepers instead," Sokov replied with a smile. "When you are repairing fortifications in the factory, you need to use a lot of sleepers. If it is not enough," he said, pointing to the west with his hand. "There is a ring railway not far from our position, and there are quite a few sleepers there."
When Sokov solved the problem of steel cables and logs in a few words, Cidolin couldn't help but smile. But this expression didn't last long, and he remembered an important question again: "The deputy commander is quite right. It will take at least one or two days to build such a bridge. What if we were bombarded by enemy planes just after we were built?"
"Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov waved his hand and said confidently: "It's not a few days since the start of a large counterattack. When our bridge is built, it is estimated that the battlefield air supremacy is in our hands. At that time, the enemy's planes are busy fighting with our planes, so where can we come here to bomb an inconspicuous bridge."
Sokov's words eliminated the concern in Sidorin's heart. He paused for a moment and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, can you report this matter to the headquarters?"
"Isn't your report the same?" Sokov saw that Sidolin gave up the opportunity to gain favor from his superiors, and asked in confusion: "You have a good relationship with the commander. He may praise you when he hears the proposal you proposed."
"No, no." Cidolin shook his head vigorously and refused firmly: "The person the commander trusts the most is you. If he hears you propose this kind of plan, he will definitely adopt it very readily."
Since Cidolin took the initiative to give up this opportunity, Sokov was not pretentious and asked the communications troop to connect to the call of the Group Army Command. Hearing Cuikov's voice coming from the receiver, he immediately said: "Comrade Commander, I want to give you a suggestion!"
"Oh, give me advice?" Cui Kefu said with a smile: "Then I have to listen carefully, just mention it."
"It's like this, Comrade Commander, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the Volga River, I think a bridge should be built on the river." Sokov carefully reported the bridge construction plan to Cui Kov in detail, and finally said: "Comrade Commander, this is just one of my suggestions. As for whether the bridge should be built, it's up to you to decide."
"Col. Sokov, your plan is very good." After Sokov finished speaking, he said with satisfaction: "I will report to the Front Command immediately and ask Commander Yelemenko to send an engineering corps to complete the bridge building work with the engineering corps of our army."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov asked curiously: "Do you just report to the Front Command without discussing with other army leaders?"
"What, discuss with other leaders?" Cuikov was obviously more surprised than Sokov: "Does the plan you proposed still need to be discussed?"
"..." Sokov couldn't believe that this was what a commander of the army said. His unreserved trust in himself made him feel very stressed.
"Col. Sokov, I may discuss the proposal proposed by others with other leaders. But for you," Cuikov's tone was filled with trust in Sokov: "I still know whether the proposal proposed applies."
Sokov was completely speechless when he heard this. Although he did not doubt the use of people, Cuikov's unreserved trust in himself made Sokov feel a lot of pressure. He became nervous. He was worried that when he commanded the troops to carry out a counterattack, he would not be able to achieve the results that would satisfy Cuikov, and then he would be ashamed.
"By the way, how is the situation there?" Seeing that Sokov didn't speak, Cuikov automatically switched the topic: "Are you ready to fight back?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander," Sokov replied, "I have sent scouts to conduct reconnaissance on the defense areas of the Romanian army, looking for their weaknesses as a breakthrough for our counterattack."
Chapter completed!