At 6 a.m. on the 21st, two tank battalions assigned to the 41st Guards Division began to cross the river through bridges on the ice.
Upon hearing that the tank battalion had begun to cross the river, Sokov quickly called Bere, who had already rushed to the 122nd Regiment headquarters. He said excitedly: "Col. Bire, let me tell you a good news. The tank battalion, which is assigned to my division, is crossing the river at this moment. I believe that they will be able to arrive at Mamayev Hill in no time."
"That's great, this is really great." Bere, who had just received more than 20 tanks in the Workers' New Village, was worried that the number of tanks in his hands was too small. He heard that the new tank battalion was crossing the river. He repeatedly said yes, and added: "I will immediately rush to the river to receive these two tank battalions."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Golikov: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I plan to launch a counterattack against the frontal enemy at nine o'clock. But there is one more thing, I need help."
The purpose of Golikov's visit to Mamayev's hill was to supervise Sokov's troops to carry out a counterattack. At this moment, when he heard Sokov say the counterattack time in person, he said generously: "If you have any request, please make it. As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you solve it."
"The German army built solid fortifications on the front of our army. If there is no artillery fire support, it would probably cost a lot of money to attack the tough ones by relying on tanks and infantry alone."
"You want to get the support of artillery."
"Yes." Sokov nodded, gave Golikov a positive answer, and then said: "I hope I can command the army artillery deployed on the East Coast to destroy the enemy's defenses with powerful artillery fire."
Golikov was embarrassed to hear that Sokov was planning to demand command of the army artillery: "Col. Sokov, your request is reasonable, but if I want to obtain command of the army artillery, I don't have to say anything, but General Cuikov nodded."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said with a smile: "I can raise this matter directly to Commander Cuikov, but I am worried that he will refuse me. I want to ask you for help, that is, after he rejects me, you can say a few good things for me."
"No problem." Seeing that it was such a simple question, Golikov nodded and said, "Col. Sokov, if Trekov really rejects your request, I will definitely say good things to you."
After dialing the number of the Group Army Command, Sokov reported to his home and said, "Please ask the commander to answer the phone. I have important things to ask him."
Soon, Cuikov's voice came from the receiver: "I am Colonel Chokov. Sokov, what's the matter with me?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Sokov reported: "The tank battalion, which was assigned to my division, has begun to cross the river at this moment. I have set the time for counterattack at 9:00 in the morning."
"Change the enemy at 9 o'clock in the morning?" Cui Kefu raised his hand and looked at his watch, then said, "There are less than three hours left. Are you ready for battle?"
"We are still preparing." Sokov replied: "I call you, which is an important thing, and I need help."
"Just say anything," Cui Kefu said impatiently: "Don't keep going around in circles."
"We want to counterattack the enemy, relying solely on existing troops and technical equipment is obviously not enough." Sokov didn't know what Cuikov would react after he made a request, so he said carefully: "So, I hope to get the support of artillery. If possible, can I personally command the artillery unit of the group army?"
"Absurd, it's simply ridiculous." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Cuikov started to attack: "Col. Sokov, do you know what you are talking about? A small division commander actually wants to command the artillery battles of the entire army. Do you still want to be the commander of the army? I'll give my position to you!"
Hearing that Cui Kov got angry, Sokov quickly moved the microphone to a position a little further away from his ear. After Cui Kov finished his attack, he continued cautiously: "The Mamayev hill that our division has adhered to is the commanding height of the city. Artillery observers can guide the artillery targets prepared for the artillery on the east coast. I know that the artillery units of the army now have limited reserves, so they took the liberty to make such a request so that they can achieve more results with the same shells."
After Sokov finished speaking, he was silent for a long time and finally asked: "Col. Sokov, you have a saying that is right. The number of artillery shells reserved by the group army's artillery is indeed not large, and I am afraid that it will not be able to provide you with artillery fire support for too long. If you want to counterattack the enemy, you may only rely on your own strength."
"Comrade Commander, we only need the artillery to provide one hour, no, fifty minutes of artillery fire support, and we are confident enough to break through the enemy's defensive positions."
"Okay." After thinking for a long time, Cui Kefu finally made a difficult decision: "I ask Major General Hogarsky, the commander of the army artillery, to contact you. How to cooperate will be handled through consultation."
Golikov saw Sokov put down the phone and asked with a smile: "Col. Sokov seems that Cuikov agrees with your proposal and is ready to hand over the artillery to your command. I want to ask, how do you plan to use them?"
"Comrade, Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov heard Golikov's question and immediately pointed to the map and introduced to the other party: "According to my plan, the shelling time should last for fifty minutes. In the first twenty minutes of shelling, artillery fire should be concentrated to bombard the German front-line positions, and our counterattack troops left the tunnel during this period and began to gather. When the artillery fire extended to bombard the enemy's second line of defense, the troops began to attack."
After Sokov finished speaking, he asked unexpectedly: "Why, the artillery preparations are not over yet, are you planning to let the troops attack? Are you not worried that our shells will blow up our own people?"
"It will not hurt your own people by chance." Sokov shook his head and said, "When the troops attacked, the artillery fire on the east coast had already extended to the enemy's second line of defense. There is a distance of about a thousand meters between the first and second lines of defense. No matter how far the shrapnel flew, it will not hurt the offensive troops by chance."
Chapter completed!