After Sokov regained his position as brigade commander, he found that due to the recent excessive casualties, the morale of the troops was somewhat affected. Fortunately, the night attack of Goriya and others achieved great results, and they lost a German regiment headquarters in one fell swoop, completely disrupting the German offensive steps.
Seeing that Goria and the others had received medals for the night attack, the commanders and soldiers who were about to set out behind enemy lines to engage in a raid were immediately motivated. They all hoped that they would also receive medals or commendations when they returned to Mamayev.
The morale of the troops suddenly became high, which surprised Belkin, who was in charge of political work. Some time ago, he found that the morale of the troops was low, so he led the political workers at all levels in the brigade to talk to the soldiers, do political agitation work, and try to increase the morale of the troops. However, after several days of busyness, he sadly discovered that the results he had achieved were minimal.
He never dreamed that after Sokov returned to his brigade commander's position, he just ordered a small army to go deep into the enemy's back to conduct a night attack, and achieved a huge victory. The medals won by several commanders and fighters participating in the battle stimulated the commanders and fighters who had always regarded honor as more important than life, thus quickly reaching an incredible height.
Witkov looked at what happened in Mamayev's hill silently, and thought to himself: What am I doing wrong? Why do we repel the enemy's attack every time, but the morale of the troops is constantly getting low? And in just one day Sokov returned to the command post, the morale of the troops became high again?
"Comrade Colonel," just as Vitkov was thinking, he suddenly heard someone calling him. He looked up and found that it was Sokov. Sokov looked at Vitkov and asked, "Can you accompany me to the top of the hill to see?"
"No problem." Weitkov agreed to Sokov's request very readily, but as soon as he stood up, he saw Sokov's hand covering his abdomen. He suddenly remembered that the other party's injuries had not yet healed, so he asked hesitantly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, your injuries are fine, right?"
"It's okay." Sokov replied with a smile: "Actually, my injury should have been healed. The reason why I habitually put my hands on my abdomen may be a habitual movement. I always feel that when I walk around, the wound will hurt my heart."
Although Sokov said it was okay, after leaving the command center, Vitkov helped him along the passage to the top of the hill. The soldiers who were repairing fortifications saw the two brigade commanders suddenly appear in front of them, quickly stopped their work and straightened their bodies to salute them.
As the two walked along the traffic trench towards the observation site, Sokov tentatively asked Vitkov: "Comrade Colonel, did I angry with you when I asked the commander to regain the position of brigade commander?" Vitkov did not speak for Sokov's question, but just smiled faintly.
Sokov walked into the observation room and saw only one soldier standing in front of the observation port, holding up his telescope to observe the situation in the distance, and asked casually: "How is it, have you seen the enemy?"
Hearing Sokov's voice, the soldier quickly put down his telescope, turned around and saluted Sokov, and replied: "Report to the brigade commander, the enemy's position in the distance is quiet and there is no movement at all."
After Sokov finished speaking, he nodded slightly and said that he knew, and then said to him politely: "Comrade Soldier, you go out first, the deputy brigade commander and I have something to say."
After the soldiers left, Sokov said to Vetkov: "Comrade Colonel, you have been helping me command the troops during this period of time. I want to express my gratitude to you." After that, he raised his hand to salute Vetkov.
Seeing Sokov's behavior, Vitkov guessed that he must have wanted to talk to him, so he waved his hand and said generously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, don't be polite. In fact, even if I don't come to serve as the brigade commander, my superiors will send someone else to command you."
"Colin," Sokov put his hand down and continued, "From your heart, you performed remarkable during the period of time you took over my command, repelling all the enemy's attacks. The reason why I couldn't wait to return to the brigade commander before my injury was cured was entirely because according to your playing style, our troops would be wiped out soon..."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," said Vitkov, and he couldn't help but interrupt Sokov's words later, "Wars always kill people. In order to defend our great motherland and defeat the fascist invaders, I think it's completely worth it no matter how much the price it costs."
"College, you are right. Every commander and fighter in the infantry brigade is ready to shed the last drop of blood for the motherland and the people. However," Sokov said as usual: "If the commanders and fighters who defend Mamayevgang have all died, then who will defend the highlands? Once Mamayevgang is occupied by the enemy, they can quickly rush to the ferry of the Volga River and cut off the connection between the defenders in the city and the other side. If the connection between the city and the outside world is cut off, then no matter how many defenders there are, they will not be able to defend the city."
Witkov did not express any opinion, but took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out two cigarettes, threw one to Sokov, and held the other in his mouth. After lit the matches, he threw them out the matches, looked at Sokov and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, as he said, the reason why you are eager to return to the brigade commander is entirely because you are worried that the troops will be commanded by me. Is it very likely that they will be punished?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded, indicating that his purpose was exactly that.
After hearing Sokov's answer, Vitkov's resentment subsided a little. After taking a puff of cigarettes, he asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you have returned to the position of brigade commander, I want to ask, how do you plan to stick to Mamayev's post next?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind! "We have too few people, and we must stick to the two hills in the north and south respectively. If the German army attacked like the beginning of the month, we would not be able to defend at all." Sokov took out a match from Vitkov's pocket, lit a cigarette, and stuffed it back: "We have a lot to do now, the first thing is to replenish the troops."
"Replenish the troops?!" Hearing Sokov said this, Vetkov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you know how tight the troops in the city are now? Although the 37th and 39th Guards entered the city a few days ago, they were immediately arranged by the commander to deploy defenses in the factory area. When a soldier wished to be used by two people, I would like to ask, where can you replenish the troops from?"
"It is definitely impossible to be supplemented by established troops." Sokov said to Vetkov with his fingers: "We have three ways to replenish soldiers: one is the wounded and discharged from the hospital, the second is the officers and fighters who were disbanded in the city, and the third is to arm the citizens who have not had time to evacuate in the city."
"Well, it is a good choice to add the injured and broken commanders and fighters to the troops." After Sokov finished speaking, he took the initiative to talk about his opinion: "But I think this is a bit inappropriate to arm the citizens. No matter what, they have not undergone special military training. You must know that winning on the battlefield depends not only on the number of people, but on the combat-ready people."
"Yes, you're right." Sokov continued: "The citizens have no military training and no combat experience, but as long as we organize them, train them, let them master basic military skills, and then fight two more battles, they can form combat power."
When Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "Comrade Colonel, what was your job before you came to Mamayev's post?"
"Am I?" Witkov said to Sokov: "The commander asked me to organize the defense of the factory."
When Sokov learned that the other party was in charge of the factory defense, he knew what to say next: "Are you worried about the lack of troops guarding the factory?"
"It's true," Vitkov affirmed Sokov's speculation: "You also know that in early September, two large-scale counterattacks were launched in the north of the city, and the army put all its strength into it. Who knew that not only did not achieve ideal results, but instead consumed all the living forces that had been accumulated. In the following battle, we had to rely on militia from various factories to carry out defensive tasks."
Sokov remembered that after receiving replenishment of troops and weapons and ammunition, the German army launched fierce attacks on Stalingrad in early October and early November. Their focus of their attack was in the factory area. He sucked two cigarettes hard, threw them on the ground and crushed them with his toes, and said to Vitkov: "Comrade Colonel, according to my judgment, the German army is likely to concentrate more troops and technical equipment in the near future and launch an attack on the factory area. At that time, with the existing troops of our army in that area, we will not be able to defend at all."
Not only did Vitkov not refute Sokov's alarmist words, but he also humbly asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, do you have any good ideas?"
"Since it is a factory area, there are tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of workers to use. If they can be organized, what a huge team it would be." Sokov could not directly propose to Trikov to arm all the workers, but could only convey it through Vitkov, the deputy chief of staff of the army: "I think you can make such suggestions to the commander."
Hearing Sokov say this, Vetkov grinned and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you know, I am your deputy brigade commander now, how can I report to the higher level?"
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov smiled and said, "Although you are now the deputy brigade commander of the infantry brigade, the commander has not removed your position as deputy chief of staff of the group army. You still have the right to make suggestions directly to him."
"No hurry in advance. I'll find some time to have a good talk with the commander." After throwing away the cigarette butts in his hand, Vetkov asked curiously: "You just said we have a lot to do, and replenishing our troops is only one aspect, but what about the other aspects?"
"In addition to replenishing troops, the second thing to do is to repair fortifications." Sokov pointed to the soldiers who were repairing the ring fortifications on the top of the mountain and said: "In addition to the ring fortifications on the top of the mountain, I also plan to let the troops repair the fortifications on the front slope and fight positions with the German army."
After Witkov silently wrote down this point, he continued to ask: "Is there anything else besides these two things?"
"We draw personnel from each battalion and form several small teams. When it gets dark, we will quietly pass through the enemy's defense line and go deep into their rear to engage in a raid war." Sokov said: "As long as they can restrain some of the enemy's forces, the pressure we are under in Mamayev Hill will be greatly reduced."
While the two were chatting, a communications soldier hurriedly ran over, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and reported in a angrily manner: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the Chief of Staff asked you to return to the command center and said that there are important things to discuss with you."
"Let's go, comrade Colonel, let's go back to the command center." Sokov stood up and said to Vitkov: "Based on my understanding of Lieutenant Colonel Cydolin, if it weren't for something urgent, he wouldn't have sent anyone to me."