Cuikov covered the microphone with his hands and looked up at Krelov standing opposite him: "Chief of Staff, what kind of bazooka that Colonel Sokov gave us two days ago..."
Seeing that Trekov could not remember the correct name of the bazooka, Krelov reminded him: "Bazukka Bazooka."
"Yes, yes, that's the Bazukka bazooka." Cuikov nodded and asked, "Have the soldiers of the Guard Battalion learned how to use it?"
"If you learn the steps of using it, you will learn it." Krelov replied awkwardly when he heard the question from Cuikov: "But none of them have ever conducted live-fire shooting, and they don't know if they can be used when they go to the battlefield."
Seeing that Krelov guessed his intention, Trekov stopped explaining, but ordered straightforwardly: "Chief of Staff, call Major Gladshev immediately and ask him to draw fifty soldiers from the guard battalion, take the Bazukka rocket launcher to the Derrensky factory, and reinforce General Jolujeff's 37th Guard Division."
"Comrade Commander," Krelov was worried that the soldiers were not familiar with the use of the rocket launcher and could not play any role in hasty sent to the battlefield, so he reminded Cui Kev again: "They did not have live-fire shots, and even if they were sent to the battlefield, they probably would not play much."
"Are there a few American instructors?" Cui Kev said in a stern tone: "Let them rush to the Derrensky factory with the soldiers of the guard battalion. Time is urgent, so let them teach our soldiers how to use this weapon on the battlefield."
Out of respect for American instructors, Cuikov sent his adjutant Captain Klimov, and ordered him to lead the squad to the Derzhinsky factory, and told him to ensure the safety of American instructors' lives.
After arranging the reinforcement mission, Cuikov let go of his hand covering the microphone and said to Jolujeff: "General Jolujeff, I have sent you a small team with new individual anti-tank weapons. With their assistance, I believe that you will be more confident in defending the existing defensive location."
"Great, this is really great." After learning that the troops coming to reinforce were carrying new individual anti-tank weapons, Ruo Lujeff was overjoyed. He knew that Sokov's troops were equipped with new anti-tank weapons, and had called Cui Kov and wanted to obtain such weapons, but Cui Kov refused without hesitation. After a brief excitement, he was wondering why Cui Kov became so generous, so he asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, has his superior sent this new weapon to the city?"
"No." Cuikov replied very simply: "These anti-tank weapons originally belonged to the 41st Guard Division, but the division commander Colonel Sokov, considering that other troops also have anti-tank needs, gave me some of the rocket launchers and asked me to allocate them to the troops in need as appropriate."
When he learned that his anti-tank weapon was actually provided by Sokov, Jolujev was still very moved. He said to the microphone: "Comrade Commander, please convey our gratitude to Colonel Sokov..."
"I understand, General Jorugev." Cuikov said to the microphone: "You must remember that you are not fighting alone. If you have difficulties, you can ask Colonel Sokolov's 45th Infantry Division, and they can also help you."
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Iflujeff replied solemnly: "Please rest assured that as long as we still want a soldier to live, we will definitely be able to defend our position."
…………
Sidolin, who was staying in Mamayev hill, called his old colleague in the headquarters at about noon and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, your judgment is very accurate, and the enemy has indeed launched an attack on the factory area. Not only did the battle in the barricade factory, but the battle in the Derrensky factory is also very fierce."
Seeing that everything was within his expectations, Sokov nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Since the factory area was attacked by the enemy, it proves that I won the bet between me and the commander. Our division does not need to launch a counterattack against the enemy today."
Knowing that the troops did not have to launch a counterattack against the enemy today, Ivanov also breathed a sigh of relief. He asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, then when are you going to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"
"Don't worry, comrade, deputy division commander." Sokov stood up, pointed to the map on the table, and said to everyone: "According to my judgment, when our Stalingrad front army launches counterattack tomorrow, the troops of the three major fronts will meet at the fastest speed and encircle Paulus's 6th Army in the Stalingrad region."
"Parcel the Germans in the Stalingrad region?" Hearing Sokov's statement, Ivanov shook his head with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, you are too optimistic. Even if we dispatched three fronts, the combat troops in each area are still very limited in such a vast area. With the Germans' mobility, they can completely rush out of the gaps in our defense line."
Sidolin did not speak, but stared at the map for a long time before looking up at Sokov: "Comrade Commander, where do you think the location where our three major fronts meet?"
"Here, Karachi!" Sokov pointed at that important position with his finger and said to the three of them: "There is a Don River Bridge here. As long as our troops occupy it, the enemy's retreat will be cut off. Hundreds of thousands of enemies will be trapped in the Stalingrad region and be trapped in our army."
"Karachi, Karachi!" Ivanov repeated the place name twice and asked Sokov with a frown: "Comrade Commander, since we can all think of the troops who can cut off the enemy's retreat after they meet here, the Germans should also think of this problem. If they send heavy troops to this area, it would be not easy for our army to break through their defense."
Sokov knew that Karachi was the key position for encircling the German army. If it were not too far from Mamayev Hill and there were several German defense lines blocking the way, he wanted to lead a force to seize the place and establish a great success. He sighed softly and said, "Judged from the reaction of the German army in the city today, they did not realize that our counterattack was a well-prepared attack. He thought it was just to restrain their strength and prevent them from concentrating their forces to attack the city. In this case, they simply did not realize that their retreat could be cut off by our army."
"The enemy is entrenched on both sides of the Don River, and the area where our army launched an attack is on the left bank of the Don River." Anisimov said with a serious expression: "Even if the river surface is frozen, it will probably be very difficult for us to seize the enemy's position on the right bank. The enemy who sticks to the cliffs will cause huge casualties to our offensive troops."
"The political commissar is right." Ivanov once led his troops to fight in the Don River Basin and was very familiar with the terrain there: "The right bank is full of cliffs. In such a bad weather, even if there is no enemy defense on it, it will be difficult for our soldiers to climb up."
"The only way is to send people to dig eyes on the cliff, then place explosives and blow up a passage." Cidolin said thoughtfully: "This way, not only our infantry can go up, but some areas can even go up even tanks."
Sokov thought to himself that if he wanted to quickly break through the German defense line in front, he might need to get the cooperation of the tank troops. Now there are only workers in the new village of workers, and there are several T-34 tanks provided by Director Peter to him. It may be enough to use it as a turret when used for defense, but it is far from enough to be used as an offense.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked Cidolin: "Chief of Staff, if we want to fight back, we may need a large number of tanks. Now we only have a few T-34s in our hands to cover the attack of the troops, and the number may be too small."
"What should we do?" Sidolin knew the order from his superiors. Before the large counterattack began, he would not supplement troops and technical equipment to the troops in the city. In other words, everything could only depend on himself. As for the infantry of the four battalions, it was accidental. It was given by Yelemenko and Khrushchev for Sokov's sake. If someone else was the division commander, he would definitely not get this supplementary force. Therefore, after hearing the difficulties raised by Sokov, he asked tentatively: "Seeking assistance from the Army Command or the Front Command?"
Sokov wanted to call Yelemenko or Khrushchev directly and ask them to send him one or two tank battalions to help him launch a counterattack against the frontal enemy. However, considering that this way of making a request to the superior command organization directly caused unnecessary trouble for him, he decided to follow the procedures: "I think it's better to ask the Army Command for help and ask us to send tanks. If the Army cannot provide us with tanks, then Commander Cuikov may be more appropriate to make a request to the Front Command."
"I agree with your opinion, Comrade Commander." After Sidolin finished speaking, he nodded vigorously and continued, "I will call the commander later and convey our request to him."
As soon as Sidolin finished speaking, the phone ringing on the table rang. He picked up the microphone and heard Cuikov's voice coming from it: "I am Cuikov, is Colonel Sokov here?"
"Comrade Commander, I am Sokov." Sokov heard Cuikov look for him and quickly took the microphone from Sidolin's hand. He knew that Cuikov had a bet with him and the other party had lost. When he called at this time, he definitely did not urge him to send troops, but for other things, he asked respectfully: "What instructions do you have?"
"Col. Sokov, you guessed it right." Cuikov said with difficulty: "The enemy has indeed launched an attack on the Barrier Factory and the Derrensky Factory, and the attack is not weak, so it is very stance to not give up until the factory area is taken down."
Hearing what Cuikov said, Sokov felt uneasy. He was afraid that Cuikov ordered his troops to be transferred to the barricade factory or the Derrensky factory for reinforcements, which would completely disrupt his counterattack plan. Therefore, he hesitantly said: "Comrade Commander, our division will choose the right time to launch a counterattack against the enemy. If you transfer my troops at this time, the counterattack plan will have to be postponed or stranded."
"Don't worry, Colonel Sokov." Trekov knew what Sokov was worried about, so he comforted him and said, "I call you not to draw troops from you, but to tell you something else."
As long as the troops were not drawn from him, other things would be indifferent to Sokov. After he breathed a sigh of relief, he asked casually: "Comrade Commander, what's the matter?"
"I have all equipped the bazooka that you handed over to the Army Command to General Jorugef's 37th Guard Division." Cuikov said on the other end of the phone: "In the battle that just ended, our commanders and soldiers used this bazooka to destroy six enemy tanks and one assault gun."
"The results are good." Sokov only handed over five Bazukka rocket launchers to Cuikov at that time, but he did not expect that he could achieve such results by using them in the Derrensky factory for the first time. He thought that his subordinates had trained for a long time to master the use of this weapon, and it was amazing that the commanders and fighters of the Guards under Rugev could learn how to use the rocket launchers so quickly: "Also, the guards of the Guards under General Rugev are really amazing. They learned how to use the rocket launchers in such a short time."
"You are wrong, Colonel Sokov." Cuikov interrupted Sokov and said to him: "The people who use these weapons are not the subordinates of General Jorugev, but the personnel I have drawn from the guard battalion. Since you handed over the bazooka, I have asked them to learn how to use this anti-tank weapon. When I went to reinforce the Derzhinsky factory today, I was worried that these soldiers were not skilled in using them, so I specially ordered Klimov to bring those American instructors. Our soldiers, under the guidance of these American instructors, successfully eliminated the enemy's tanks and assault guns."
When Sokov heard Cuikov mentioning the bazooka more and more ominous premonition in his heart, he said with some trepidation: "Comrade Commander, I know very well in my heart how powerful the bazooka is. I want to ask, what's wrong with calling me?"
"That's right. Since this kind of anti-tank of bazooka is so effective, I want to discuss it with you." Cui Kefu said this, his tone became a little hesitant: "Can you draw a few more bazooka and order people to support the 45th Infantry Division and assist them in anti-tank operations?"
“…”
After Cuikov finished speaking, he heard Sokov remain silent and realized that the other party might be reluctant to let it go. He added: "Col. Sokov, you know, the 45th Infantry Division is now responsible for the defense of most areas of the Derrensky factory. But because they lacked enough anti-tank weapons, in order to destroy the enemy's tanks, the soldiers tied cluster grenades on their bodies, rushed to the enemy's tanks, pulled the grenades, and died with the enemy's tanks."
Chapter completed!