After some efforts, the troops sent by Sokov gathered more than 600 commanders and fighters of the 35th Guard Division, including deputy division commander Dubiyansky.
When Dubiyansky stood in front of Cuikov and reported to him that there were only more than 600 commanders and fighters who had gathered, Cuikov felt uncomfortable and covered his chest with his hands. Sidolin and Cuikov had been together for a long time, and knew that the other party's stomach disease must have occurred again. He hurried forward to support him and ordered a staff officer not far away: "Comrade Staff, go to the health team to get some stomach medicine, Comrade Commander's stomach disease has occurred again."
Sokov hurried forward and helped Sidolin help Cuikov sit down. Then he poured a cup of hot tea and handed it to Cuikov: "Comrade Commander, you should drink some tea first to warm your stomach, so it won't hurt so much."
After thanking Sokov, he picked up the teacup and took a sip, put it on the table, and then questioned Dubiyansky: "Comrade Colonel, how did you fight this battle? There are more than 8,000 people in the division, but now there are only more than 600 people left, and even the division commander is killed?"
"Comrade Commander, when I rushed out of the enemy's encirclement, almost one-third of the troops were killed and killed. Without being supplemented, I was put into the battle in the factory area again..." Dubiyansky was halfway through his speech, and then he realized it: "Wait, Comrade Commander, what did you just say? The division commander was killed? Is this true?"
"That's right." Cuikov nodded vigorously, turned his head to look at Sokov, and said in a heavy tone: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov sent someone to pick up Grazkov, but when he found him, he was seriously injured. No matter whether his leg was broken by a shell, and even a few shrapnel hit his chest, smashing his lungs. Although he was rescued immediately after he was sent here, he still failed to save his life."
"Comrade Commander," said Dubiyansky with some emotion: "Where is the body of the commander? I want to see him for the last time."
Sokov walked to the door, shouted outside, called Selyosha in, and ordered: "Shelyosha, take this to the health team and arrange for him to see General Grazkov's body." Then he said to Dubiyansky, "Comrade Colonel, please leave for the lieutenant, he will take you to see General Grazkov."
After Selyosha took Dubiyansky away, Trekov picked up the tea in front of him, took another sip, and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, after defeating the 35th Guards Division, the German army will make two choices next, one is to directly attack the factory area and clear the militia there; the other is to attack Mamayev's hill and cut off the connection between the city and the factory area. Have you ever considered how to fight the next battle?"
"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Sokov understood very well that in real history, the reason why Mamayev's hill was easily occupied by the German army was that there were no strong fortifications on the hill, and that Cuikov could not draw enough troops to use for defense in this position. Now he led thousands of troops to station here, and there were underground fortifications that were difficult to destroy by German artillery fire and bombing. There should be no big problem to defend Mamayev's hill. Therefore, he said confidently: "As long as there is a living soldier in our brigade, the Germans will not want to capture Mamayev's hill."
Seeing Sokov so confident, Cuikov stared at him for a long time before nodding, saying, "I believe in you, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. If I remember correctly, you pointed the German army at the attack a few months ago and took the initiative to lead the troops to defend here. Now you have strong underground fortifications and sufficient troops. I think it is not easy for the German army to seize your position even if the offensive is strong."
After Dubiyansky returned from the health team, he asked Cui Kefu with red eyes: "Comrade Commander, can we not withdraw our division to the east coast for the time being to repair it, we must stay and avenge the division commander!"
Faced with Dubiyansky's bold words, Cui Kefu just sneered and asked back: "Comrade Colonel, there are only more than 600 people left in your division. Even if you barely stay, what role can it play in the next battle?"
After hearing Trikov's ridicule, Dubiyansky's face turned red and white, but he still plucked up the courage to say, "This is how I think about it. If my superiors insist on letting us retreat to the other side of the Volga River, I will only take the wounded across the river and leave those soldiers who can still fight. They all have rich combat experience and can be used in the next battle."
Trekov was moved by Dubiyansky's words. He frowned and began to think about whether he should leave the soldiers who had combat effectiveness of the 35th Guards Division. Sokov, who was standing aside, was afraid that Cui Kev would be impulsive and leave those soldiers who had combat effectiveness, so he spoke to Dubiyansky: "No, comrade Colonel, nor any of the commanders and soldiers of the Guards Division could be left behind. Instead, he should immediately cross the river to the east bank according to the orders of his superiors."
Not only Dubiyansky was stunned by Sokov's statement, but even Cuikov was confused. He looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel, why did you let them all cross the river? Could it be that some commanders and fighters who still have combat effectiveness should be left to enrich your troops?"
To be honest, Sokov did leave some soldiers with combat experience, so that the troops could ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops. But when he thought that the troops were transferred to the rear to repair the troops, he gave up this idea. When he heard Cui Kov's question, he explained: "Comrade Commander, the 35th Guard Division retreated to the rear to repair the troops, and the troops supplemented by the superiors must be recruits. If there is no combat backbone in the troops, even if they have enough numbers, it will be difficult to form combat effectiveness in the shortest time."
After hearing Sokov's explanation, Cuikov nodded silently, and then said to Dubiyansky: "Comrade Colonel, have you heard it? Judging from the current situation, you should take all the commanders and soldiers across the river. As long as the combat backbone of the troops is still there, even if the superiors supplement you with new recruits, you can form new combat power in the shortest time."
"Well, Comrade Commander, since you say so, I will take all the troops across the river." After saying this, Dubiyansky hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I have a request, I wonder if you can agree."
"If you have any requests, just say it." Seeing that the other party agreed to cross the river, Cui Kefu said rationally: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely agree to you."
"I want to take the division commander's body across the river," Dubiyansky asked cautiously, "I wonder if it's OK?" When he asked this question, his eyes were staring at Sokov standing beside Trekov.
Sokov knew that in the battle of Stalingrad, due to the fierce war, the bodies of many sacrificed soldiers could not be buried in time, and could only let them corpses on the streets. And the 138th Division of Lyudnikov dug several thousand pits to bury the sacrificed soldiers. After the war, his relatives could not distinguish them at all. If Grazkov's body remained in Stalingrad, it would probably be impossible for his relatives to find his body accurately by the end of the war. In view of this consideration, Sokov simply agreed to Dubiyansky's request: "Comrade Colonel, if the commander does not object, I will immediately arrange for the soldiers to carry General Grazkov's body out."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the commanders and soldiers who are alive or dead in the division." After saying that, Dubiyansky raised his hand to salute Sokov, and Sokov raised his hand to salute him in a panic.
…………
According to Cuikov's idea, after occupying the position of the 35th Guard Division, the German army then attacked Mamayevgang. After all, the two places were only a few kilometers apart. Then unexpectedly, the German army dispatched a large number of bombers the next day to carry out saturated bombing on the entire city of Stalingrad.
At the beginning of the bombing, Sokov ordered all the commanders and soldiers of the brigade to retreat into the tunnel to reduce casualties. At the beginning, Sokov acted indifferently in the face of the German bombing, so there was a soil layer seven or eight meters above his head, and many places in the tunnel fortifications were reinforced with reinforced concrete. Ordinary bombs had no way to use this fortification.
However, when the first bomb fell on Mamayev hill and exploded, Sokov was shocked and covered in white sweat. In order to deal with his tunnel, the German army actually used a bombshell. He thought to himself, don’t be the kind of bomb that can drill into the ground. Ordinary battles in a confined space like the tunnel, the power of the explosion will greatly increase. If a bombshell drilled into the tunnel, it would definitely cause considerable casualties to the thousands of commanders and fighters inside.
Seeing that soil was falling from the top of his head, Sidolin couldn't help but say to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's not OK for us to just hide in the tunnel and get passively bombed. If we let the German plane continue to blow up, I'm worried that many areas will be blown down. It's better to organize machine gun fire and go outside the tunnel to shoot in the air. Even if we just shoot one or two planes, it can reduce some danger."
Sokov only pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately organize a group of machine gun shooters and bring MG34 machine guns to the tunnel to conduct air shooting. We cannot be passively beaten like this!"
With the order issued, a group of machine gun shooters carried MG34 universal machine guns and drilled out from the east exit. After setting up the machine guns at different locations, they immediately continued to shoot at the enemy planes flying in the air. The fire suddenly emerged from the ground caught the enemy planes that were diving and dropping bombs off guard. After a while, two enemy planes dragged long smoke belts and flew into the distance. Not far away, they fell to the ground, and a huge fireball rose up, making a shocking explosion. The rest of the planes saw air defense firepower on the ground, so they raised the height one after another to prevent themselves from being shot down.
When the machine gun was shooting outside the tunnel, Belkin suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there are several anti-aircraft artillery guns from the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion at the foot of the mountain in Beigang. Do you see if they are allowed to participate in the shooting?"
"No, those female soldiers have no combat experience. Letting them go to air defense at this time is equivalent to letting them die." Sokov shook his head and denied Belkin's proposal and said to himself: "Besides, our troops in Beigang are equipped with a lot of MG34 machine guns to deal with German planes."
Just as Cidolin wanted to call the Fourth Battalion in Beigang and asked them to organize machine gun shooters. When they went to the tunnel to defend air, the phone ringing rang first. Cidolin picked up the phone and the voice of the Fourth Battalion Commander Brisky came from the receiver: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not good. The bomb dropped by the enemy detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain, and the entire hill has turned into a sea of fire..."
"What, the German bomb detonated the oil tank on the top of the mountain?" After hearing Brisky's report, Cidolin was shocked and sweated: "Didn't the people from the City Defense Committee say that they have drained the fuel in the oil tank?"
"The oil tanks they empty are only a small part, and most of them have fuel in them." Brisky said anxiously: "I just saw that the burning oil flowed down the hillside to the east into the Volga River, floating down the river water, and burning flames were everywhere on the river. Many ships crossing the river began to burn, and the people on the boat dived and escaped... A small boat transporting arms was detonated by the high temperature and sunk..."
Hearing that the people crossing the river dived and escaped, Sokov knew that the chances of these people were not high. Even if they were not washed away by the turbulent river water, they would be burned to death by the fuel that floated down the water. He sighed, stepped forward and took the microphone from Cidolin's hand, and asked, "Comrade Captain, is there anyone going to rescue the people who fell into the water at the dock?"
"No, comrade comrade commander." Brisky heard Sokov's voice and quickly replied: "According to my observation, the German planes are not only bombing our Mamayev hill, but also the factory area to the north and the city area to the south, have been bombarded by a large number of bombers. Now the entire city is burning, and everyone is unable to take care of themselves. Where can we draw out our forces to rescue..."
"I understand, Comrade Captain." Sokov knew that Beigang had been burned into a sea of fire by burning oil. It was impossible for them to go outside the tunnel to defend air. On the contrary, whether it was safe to stay in Beigang was also a big question, so he continued to ask: "Is there any danger in your tunnel?"
Brisky replied: "The tunnel near the Volga River is so hot that it cannot be treated by people, so I have ordered the soldiers from that area to retreat to the main tunnel."
"Captain Brisky," Sokov not only did not criticize Brisky's arrangement, but instead took the initiative to say: "If you feel that Beigang cannot continue to stay, you can take your troops from the tunnel to the tunnel in Nangang."