Sokov waited for Taflin to call back and said that he had safely evacuated the airport. He called Cuikov and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, I will report you good news. Not long ago, a small army of mine attacked the Pitomnik Airport occupied by the German army."
Cuikov, who was drinking water, heard Sokov say this and squirted the water on the opposite side of Krelov's face. After coughing violently, he didn't bother to apologize to Krelov, and couldn't wait to ask: "Col. Sokov, are you all saying true? Your troops really attacked the Pitomnik Airport occupied by the German army?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied affirmatively: "It's true."
"Hell, Sokov, how could your squad appear near Pitomnik Airport?" Cuikov asked in confusion: "Did you airdrop the squad?"
"The main members of the squad that attacked Pitomnik Airport were guerrillas of the Ignatov brothers." Sokov explained to Cuikov: "Only Sergeant Tavlin and the other two soldiers who led the team are my subordinates."
"What kind of losses have you caused to the enemy?"
"According to Sergeant Taflin's report, there were no planes on the airport." Sokov reported to Trikov: "The soldiers of the squad wiped out more than 300 Germans."
"What, more than 300 Germans were eliminated?" Cui Kefu knew that the guerrillas had poor combat effectiveness. If more than 300 German troops were to be eliminated, there would probably not be many people left in the entire guerrillas. So he asked cautiously: "What are the casualties of the guerrillas, how many people are left?"
"No one was injured or killed."
"No one is injured or killed?"
"Yes, no one was injured or killed!"
"This is impossible." Cuikov shouted loudly: "Col. Sokov, although the Germans are now defeated by us, their combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated. With the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas, they have to eliminate more than 300 enemies without any casualties. This is simply a fantasy."
"What I said is true," Sokov explained to Trekov: "The squad led by Sergeant Taflin rushed from the guerrilla camp to Pitomnik Airport from the guerrilla camp. Unexpectedly, the Germans who found their traces ran away without a single shot. The soldiers of the squad destroyed more than 300 enemies with machine guns on the armored vehicles."
When Cui Kefu heard this, he wanted to ask how many of the more than 300 enemies that were wiped out were wounded. But then he thought that in such cold weather, the wounded would be frozen to death in less than half an hour. Even if a German soldier was not killed on the spot, he would be frozen to death by the severe cold.
"What did your squad do after the enemy at the airport fled?" According to Cui Kov's idea, even if there are no enemies or planes at the airport, the soldiers of the squad should destroy the runway of the airport so that the enemy's transport planes cannot take off and land.
Unexpectedly, he heard Sokov say, "Comrade Commander, I did not let them do anything, just let them withdraw from the airport as soon as possible." Sokov was worried that Cuikov would get angry, so he explained to him, "There are only more than 30 people in the squad, and they are equipped with light weapons. Even if the entire airport is barely occupied, they will not be able to defend once the German army launches a counterattack, so I ordered them to evacuate the airport."
When Cui Kefu heard this, he laughed and made Sokov laugh so hard that he thought to himself: Why did the commander laugh so strangely? Did I say something wrong? He waited for Cui Kefu's laughter to come to an end and asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, why are you laughing?"
"Sokov, I should have thought that you would definitely give such an order to your soldiers." Cuikov took the initiative to speak without waiting for Sokov to ask again: "Since your division launched a counterattack, it has stopped moving forward. The reason used is that it is that it lacks troops and has backward equipment, and cannot resist the enemy's counterattack."
After hearing Cuikov's explanation, Sokov smiled embarrassedly: "Comrade Commander, what I said is the truth. If I were not a division in my hand, but an infantry army strengthened by tanks and artillery, I would definitely be able to seize more positions from the Germans."
"Okay, okay, stop complaining." Cuikov interrupted Sokov and asked with a stern face: "I think you call me, it's definitely not just to report on the attack on the airport. Tell me, what else is there?"
"Comrade Commander, this is how I think." Sokov saw that Cui Kov guessed his intention, so he didn't go around in circles, but said truthfully: "Under the attack of our army, the failed enemies have become panicked. For example, today, when the enemy at the airport saw our army appear, they fled in panic without a single shot. This was simply unimaginable in the past. I think the focus of our next attack is the airport occupied by the German army. As long as they occupy all the airports, they will basically cut off the connection between the enemy and the outside world."
"A few days ago, we were responsible for broadcasting the ultimatum of the German army. Over the Pitomnic Airport, we were intercepted by German anti-aircraft artillery fire, which injured a pilot." Cuikov said on the phone: "We thought the Germans must have been heavily guarding near the airport, so our superiors did not use it as the target of the attack for the time being."
"Comrade Commander, I suggest to you to report this matter to the Front Command immediately." Sokov said to the microphone: "Our army should take advantage of the weak defense of Pitomnik Airport to launch a decisive attack and seize this important airport. As long as we control all the airports, the besieged Paulus troops will have to rely on airdrops if they want to obtain supplies."
"You make sense." Cuikov agreed with Sokov: "I will report this matter to General Rokosovsky immediately and ask him to adjust the direction of the attack."
Half an hour later, Rokosovsky received a report from Trikov. After staring at the report for several minutes, he turned his head and asked Malining: "Chief of Staff, which unit is the closest to Pitomnik Airport?"
"Pitomnik Airport is in the attack area of ​​the 21st Army," Malinin looked at the map and reported to Rokosovsky: "But there are many moral defense lines on the route they are moving forward. Even if the attack goes smoothly, it will take at least three or four days to reach Pitomnik Airport."
"No, three or four days are too long." Rokosovsky shook his head and said, "We must take down Pitomnic Airport as soon as possible to cut off Paulus's connection with the outside world."
"But," said Maliningly: "With the combat effectiveness of the 21st Army, it is very difficult to break through so many German defense lines in just one or two days."
"Look at this place," Rokosovsky said to Malining with his hand: "The 65th Army of Batov is only more than fifty kilometers away from Pitomnik Airport. It only takes one day to reach the airport."
"But Pitomnik Airport is within the scope of the attack of the 21st Army." Malinin reminded Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, I am worried that it will cause unnecessary chaos."
"Not that serious." Rokosovsky said with a firm conclusion: "Immediately notify Batov to adjust the direction of the offensive and send troops to advance to Pitomnik Airport. Be sure to seize the airport in the shortest time and cut off the air passage where Paulus escaped."
Chapter completed!