Although Smirnov knew that Sidorin had been Sokov's responsibilities, he was still skeptical about his appointment as the director of the intelligence department: "Although Colonel Sidorin is an excellent chief of staff, he
Is it appropriate to rashly hand over the management of such an important department to him without any experience working in a group army headquarters?"
"There's nothing inappropriate." Seeing that Smirnov didn't seem interested in his proposal, Sokov guessed that the other party must not know Sidorin's past resume, so he added: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, no, now he is
Colonel. Before he became my chief of staff, he was General Chuikov’s chief of operations.”
"General Chuikov?!" Smirnov asked in surprise: "Is it General Chuikov, commander of the 8th Guards Army?"
"Yes, that's him." Sokov continued: "At that time, I said that I did not have a suitable chief of staff to assist me in commanding the battle, so General Chuikov sent Comrade Sidorin over."
Since Sidorin once had the experience of serving as the chief of the operations department, there will naturally be no problem in letting him serve as the chief of the intelligence department of the group army. Smirnov nodded and said: "Okay, comrade commander, I agree with you.
I made a proposal to let Colonel Sidorin serve as the head of the Army Intelligence Division. But there is currently no suitable candidate to replace him. I think it will not be too late to let him take office after the German troops in the encirclement are eliminated."
"Okay." Seeing that Smirnov did not object to his proposal, Sokov felt that it would not be a big deal for Sidorin to take office a few days later, so he nodded in agreement: "Then wait until our army annihilates the enemies in the encirclement.
, let Colonel Sidorin come and take office."
Smirnov picked up the phone on the table and called the 41st Guards Division stationed at Hill 239.
As soon as the phone call came through, Smirnov introduced himself and said: "I am Smirnov, Chief of Staff of the Army Group. Who are you?"
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff! I am Political Commissar Afanasi!" A slightly older voice came from the other end of the phone: "Do you have any instructions?"
"Hello, Colonel Afanasy." Smirnov said: "Where is Division Commander Kurishenko?"
"He went to Lieutenant Colonel Duharin's 126th Regiment to inspect the regiment's defenses." Afanasi said with a complaining tone: "Judging from the current situation, it is impossible for the Germans to approach our 239th Heights.
, why do we need to build so many fortifications? You know, the weather is too cold now. If you hit it with a pickaxe, you can only make a white mark on the frozen soil. In order to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, many of our commanders and soldiers are exhausted.
Got off."
"Colonel Afanasi," Smirnov waited for the other party to finish speaking, then said in a more serious tone: "No matter whether the enemy will reach your defense area, the fortification targets required by your superiors must be completed without compromise. Do you understand?
"
Hearing Smirnov's anger, Afanasi could only bite the bullet and reply: "Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff, we must complete the defense tasks assigned to us by our superiors without compromise."
Seeing that Afanasy did not contradict him, Smirnov slowed down his tone and continued the topic: "I am calling you to inform you of two things. One is that the new army commander has arrived.
Some of the original combat deployments may be adjusted, and I hope you can be mentally prepared in advance."
"The new commander has arrived?" Afanasi asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me who he is?"
Smirnov glanced at Sokov, who was sitting next to him, and said into the microphone: "It's Lieutenant General Sokov." Maybe he felt that his statement was not accurate enough, so he added, "He was in the battle to defend Stalingrad.
, once commanded your 41st Guards Division, and Colonel Sidorin was his chief of staff at that time..."
As soon as he said this, Smirnov heard an exclamation from the receiver: "Chief of Staff Sidorin, come here quickly!"
"What's up?"
"General Smirnov said that the new army commander is General Sokov!"
Smirnov soon heard the voice in the receiver change, "Hello, General Smirnov, I am Colonel Sidorin. Is what you said true?" Because of his excitement, Sidorin
Lin's voice seemed a little trembling.
"Yes, what I said is true." Smirnov glanced at Sokov again and asked tentatively: "Colonel Sidorin, do you want to say a few words to him?"
"Of course, of course." Sidorin said impatiently: "General Smirnov, can I have a word with the commander?"
Smirnov quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked Sokov politely: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Sidorin would like to have a few words with you. Is that okay with you?"
"Nothing is wrong." Sokov stretched out his hand to Smirnov and said with a smile: "Give me the microphone."
"Hello, Colonel Sidorin. I'm Sokov, nice to hear your voice again!"
"Hello, comrade division commander." Although Sidorin knew that Sokov was now the commander of the group army, he still used his original title, which seemed more cordial: "I never thought I would have the opportunity to fight alongside you again."
"Colonel Sidorin," Sokov thought that the current military situation was urgent and it was not a good time to reminisce about the past, so he said into the microphone: "I just seemed to hear that you had some resistance to the instructions from your superiors!"
Without waiting for Sidorin to answer, he continued: "We cannot be resolute in executing orders from our superiors just because the enemy may not appear. Think about it, if your division fails to build fortifications in accordance with regulations and the enemy does not come,
Naturally, everyone is happy. But what if it comes? How can you block the enemy's attack? "
"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." After hearing what Sokov said, Sidorin immediately realized the seriousness of the problem: "We were wrong. But because the weather is too cold, it is difficult to dig through the permafrost with our existing tools.
"
"Then what kind of help do you think I can provide you with so that the soldiers can easily dig through the permafrost?"
"I think we can only use howitzers to blast it!" Sidorin replied: "The crater caused by the shell can allow our soldiers to build trenches more easily."
Sokov was thinking that if the German army rushed to Hill 239 regardless of hesitation, they would have to use powerful artillery fire to suppress the opponent, and they must not waste the artillery shells on building fortifications. Thinking of this, he shook his head and said: "No, Xi
Comrade Dolin, you can't use howitzers to blast open the frozen soil, you can think of other ways."
Unexpectedly, Sidorin said with a bit of laughter and laughter: "Comrade Commander, to tell you the truth, we have tried every possible way, but the results are not ideal. No, the division commander personally went to the 126th Regiment, and
The commanders and fighters of the regiment went to study how to build fortifications."
"Sidolin," Sokov held the phone and thought for a while, then said: "You can try to light a few fires where the fortifications are dug. After the fires are extinguished, the frozen soil should become soft, then
It should be easy to carry out the construction of fortifications in time."
"This is a good idea." Sidorin said, "We can try it."
After a pause, Sidorin asked again: "Comrade division commander, General Smirnov just said that there are two things to inform us. One is about your taking office, so what is the other thing?"
When Sokov heard Sidorin address himself as division commander again, he did not speak in an official tone, but said truthfully: "I have applied for a batch of artillery from the Weapons and Equipment Department. These artillery should be not far from you, very soon.
It will be sent to your defense area soon. After you finish counting it, give me a number."
"A batch of artillery is going to be sent to our defense area?" When Sidorin heard the news, he couldn't help being surprised and happy: "Comrade division commander, I would like to ask how much of this batch of artillery can be distributed to us?"
"No matter how many artillery pieces there are, all of them will be given to your division for use."
"Great, this is really great." Sidorin said excitedly: "With these artillery pieces, even if the enemy launches an attack on our defense area, we don't have to worry about them breaking through our defense line."
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our artillery force is still too weak. If the German army fails to break through from the north and turns around to break through from us, I am worried that with our strength, we will not be able to defend the enemy at all."
Can’t live.”
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov carefully reminded Sokov after he finished speaking: "You have already contacted the Weapons and Equipment Department and obtained an unknown number of Bofors field guns. If you call again
If you ask for help, even Colonel Yakov may not be able to do anything."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you say makes sense. It is useless to call Yakov at this moment. We can only solve the problem of insufficient artillery fire in our group army through other means."
"Comrade Commander, what are you going to do?"
"Naturally, I want to ask the front army headquarters for help. I think we should be able to get strong enough artillery support near our defense area." After Sokov said this, he ordered Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should immediately send all troops to
The division commander called and informed them of my taking up the post of commander."
"Okay, Comrade Commander, I'll make a call right now."
While Sokov was waiting for Smirnov to make a call, he turned around and asked Ponedelin, who had always remained silent: "General Ponedelin, do you have any different opinions?"
"No." Ponejelin shook his head and said, "If I were in your position, I would make the same decision." At this point, a bitter smile suddenly appeared on his face, "When the troops were there
When the Uman area was attacked by the enemy, I asked for help from my superiors, but unfortunately, the superior authorities were too busy to take care of themselves at the time. Where could they provide us with help, I could only watch my troops being destroyed by the enemy.
Defeat them and annihilate them one by one."
"General Ponedelin, I know that the Uman area is an eternal pain for you." Sokov knew that Ponedelin had a knot in his heart, so he assured him carelessly: "As long as everything is cut
The enemies in the encirclement of Erkaser have been annihilated. The next direction of our army’s attack will be the Uman area, and then you will have the opportunity to take revenge.”
"Really?" When he heard that the troops would defeat the Germans in the Uman area in the future, Ponedelin lost control of his emotions: "Can we really teach the Germans a lesson in the Uman area?"
"That's for sure, General Ponejelin, I promise you with my honor that we will repay the blood debt from the Germans."
After Sokov comforted Ponedelin for a few words, he ordered the director of the communications corps to help him get through to the front headquarters.
"Comrade Sokov," Konev asked bluntly after the call was connected, "have you taken over the command of the troops?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have officially taken over as commander of the 53rd Group Army."
"Very good." Konev asked in a kind tone: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the artillery firepower of the 53rd Group Army is too weak. If the enemy breaks out from the north to the south, then our defense area will be the key area for the enemy to break through." Sokov said to the topic: "If there is no strong enemy.
With artillery support, it may be very difficult for us to stop the crazy enemy."
"Well, what you said makes sense." Konev waited for Sokov to finish and then said: "The 53rd Army suffered huge losses in the early battles. Although it added a large number of troops,
However, the weapons and equipment are very poor. If you fight against the German army with such strength, you will indeed suffer a big loss. Well, let me call the front artillery commander over and ask him to talk to you."
Sokov soon heard Konev calling someone on the other end of the phone: "General Fomin, General Fomin, please come to me." Then he heard Konev say, "The person I am talking to is calling.
This is Lieutenant General Sokov, commander of the 53rd Army, and he wants to talk to you about artillery support."
"Hello, General Sokov. I am Lieutenant General Fomin, Commander of the Artillery of the Front." The Artillery Commander asked politely on the phone: "How can I help you?"
"Comrade Artillery Commander," Sokov said: "If the German army launches an attack on Hill 239 where our troops are stationed, I hope to receive support from the artillery of the front army, otherwise we will not be able to stop the enemy's attack at all."
Fomin asked on the phone: "General Sokov, what do you want me to do for you?"
"It's very simple." Sokov said: "When the German army launches an attack on Hill 239, I hope you can provide them with strong artillery support."
"Strong artillery support?!" Fuming said with a smile: "General Sokov, your statement is very vague. I don't know what constitutes strong artillery support?"
"At least three to four basic shellings are needed." Sokov thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "This can contain the German army's crazy attack."
"Oh my God!" But after hearing Sokov's words, Fomin exclaimed: "Do you know what the concept of three to four base shells is?"
Sokov was not an artilleryman, so naturally he didn't know how many base numbers of artillery shells there were, but in order to prevent the Germans from desperately breaking out from the 239 Heights, he could only open his mouth and give Fuming a vaccination first, so that he could
Be mentally prepared in advance. "General Fomin, I know my proposal is a bit excessive, but in order to crush the Germans' intention to break out, strong artillery support is completely necessary."
Although it was the first time for Fomin to deal with Sokov, he knew very well that the other party would not be able to talk nonsense. Since he proposed that three to four base shells were needed, he must have had a brilliant idea and lit them.
The leader said: "Okay, General Sokov, it may take me a while to stock up on artillery shells so that I can provide you with strong artillery support when necessary."
