For a whole day, the German army did not launch another attack on the assembly workshop. Regarding this performance of the German army, Sokov felt full of anxiety. He felt that the enemy must be brewing some conspiracy.
After dark, Sokov immediately sent two groups of lurking sentries in the direction of the wall, each group of five people, each carrying an MG34 machine gun, two rifles and a submachine gun. If they found that an enemy had entered the factory area at night,
, in addition to firing a warning shot, it also has enough firepower to stop the enemy for a period of time.
Worried about a German night attack, several leaders, including Sokov, did not sleep at night. Instead, they sat in the command room in the basement and chatted.
Sokov thought about the collapse of the roof and walls, which almost destroyed the production line in the factory and made it impossible to continue the assembly work. While nothing was going on, he curiously asked Cousteau: "Comrade workshop director, your workshop cannot produce now."
Well, then where will the tanks needed for other fronts be produced?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Cousteau had a surprised expression on his face: "Why, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't you know that the Dzerzhinsky Factory is the largest tank production plant in Stalingrad?
"You know, since the fall of industrial cities like Kharkiv, more than half of the country's tank production has been completed by their factories. And the output of our factories," said this, Cousteau's face showed
With a hint of embarrassment on his face, he said, "Can't even keep up with one-fifth of others."
Sokov once asked Cousteau about the output of the assembly workshop and knew that ten T-34 tanks could be produced a day. Now that he heard that the output of the Dzerzhinsky factory was more than five times theirs, he couldn't help but asked in surprise.
: "What, their output is actually so high?"
Borshak sighed and said, "I guess their production will come to a halt soon."
"Pause, why?" Sokov asked puzzledly: "Is it because of the enemy's attack on the factory?"
"The enemy's attack is one aspect." Bolshak pointed upward with his hand and continued: "When we are attacked by the enemy here, as long as there is power supply, the work in the workshop will not stop."
Bolshak's words made Sokov even more confused: "Since production will not stop when the factory is attacked by the enemy, what is the reason why they will stop production in the near future?"
"Raw materials, the raw materials in stock at the Dzerzhinsky factory are about to be used up." Bolshak was afraid that Sokov would not understand, and specifically explained to him: "The raw materials needed to produce tanks used to be through
Transported by railway or ship. Now the city is under siege by the German army, and the railway has been cut off by the Germans. As for shipping, since soldiers and various military supplies must be continuously transported to the city, the amount of raw materials that can be transported across the river
There are very few and they come very slowly. As a result, the factory will have to shut down due to shortage of raw materials in the near future."
After Sokov waited for Bolshak to finish speaking, he turned to Cousteau and asked: "Comrade workshop director, I would like to ask, is there a smelting workshop in the factory? That is, a place where scrap copper and scrap iron are re-smelted?"
"Yes." Cousteau nodded after hearing this: "Not only does Dzerzhinsky have a smelting workshop, but we also have one in our factory. Why do you ask?"
"There are so many destroyed tanks on the battlefield, both from the enemy and from our army. Why don't you collect these scrap metals and recycle them to produce new tanks?"
Sokov's words made Cousteau's eyes light up, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you tell me where there are tanks that have been scrapped?"
Sokov smiled bitterly, pointed upward with his hand, and said: "Comrade workshop director, why have you forgotten that there are several destroyed German tanks within the wall. You can completely recycle them.
Then use it to manufacture the tanks our army needs."
"The German tanks have too many impurities, and the quality of the steel plates they produce is not as good as our steel plates." Cousteau complained, and then said: "Anyway, now we lack raw materials, so we can only reluctantly turn the German tanks into
Brought it back into the furnace."
"There are eight tanks in the factory area," Sokov said to Cousteau with a straight finger: "In addition, there are hundreds of tanks and tanks in front of the two hills to the north and south of Mamayev Hill.
The wreckage of the armored vehicle..."
"How many do you think there are, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" Cousteau couldn't help being surprised when he heard the number Sokov said, "In front of Mamayev Hill, there were so many tanks destroyed by you.
Tanks and armored vehicles?”
"That's right," Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "In these more than two months of fighting, we have indeed eliminated a lot of German tanks. These tanks were piled in front of our position, not only
It blocks the vision of our soldiers, and when the Germans attack, they can use these tanks as cover to move closer to our positions. If you can drag these wreckage away from our positions, I would be really grateful."
"This is really good news. I want to report it to the factory director immediately." Cousteau said excitedly: "In this way, the Dzerzhinsky factory will not be forced to shut down due to lack of raw materials."
Sokov understands Cousteau's reaction very well. The Red October Tractor Factory is currently under attack by the German army, and the assembly workshop is the first to bear the brunt. If the Dzerzhinsky factory can maintain normal production
, even if the work here is temporarily suspended for a period of time, it will not affect Stalingrad's mission of providing tanks to other fronts.
While Cousteau was on the phone, Borschak asked Sokov about a topic of interest to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you really think that the German army will come for a sneak attack tonight?"
"Whether the enemy will come for a sneak attack, I can't say for sure." Sokov replied with a smile: "But I'm not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. The reason why I arranged two groups of lurking posts in the factory is to prevent the Germans from attacking.
Just like last night, people quietly approached our position while the sentries on our position could not observe it."
"You also said yesterday that you were also preparing to carry out a sneak attack on the German army." Seeing that Sokov was not active at all in sending troops to sneak attack the enemy, Bolshak deliberately reminded him: "It's getting late now, why?"
You haven’t sent out a sneak attack force yet?”
"Comrade Major, don't be anxious." Sokov said calmly: "Before we carry out a sneak attack on the enemy, we must find out where their headquarters is, what the surrounding defense forces are, etc. We will wait for it.
Once we understand all this, it won't be too late for us to send troops to carry out a sneak attack."
After Cousteau finished the phone call, he returned to Sokov and said with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have reported the situation to Factory Director Peter. He heard that at the front of Mamaev Hill
, there are hundreds of tanks and armored vehicle wreckage, but I am so happy that I am preparing to send out a tracked armored maintenance vehicle overnight to pull back the wreckage."
"This is a very correct decision." Sokov thought that he could really clear the front of Mamayev Heights in a short period of time. In the next battle, the attacking German troops would be directly exposed to the defenders.
Under the heavy firepower, if they want to capture Mamayev Heights, they will inevitably pay a heavier price. "After the armored maintenance vehicles are dispatched, I will call the brigade headquarters and ask them to send personnel to help remove the wreckage.
Drag away."
While the two were talking, there was suddenly a faint sound of gunfire outside. The sudden sound of gunfire made Sokov become alert. He listened to the movement outside. Although there was thick concrete blocking it,
He still heard that the gunfire came from the north of the factory.
The Germans started sneak attacks again! This was Sokov's first thought. He picked up the phone, dialed Briski's battalion command post, and asked directly: "Comrade Captain, what happened outside? What?"
