"Come on, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Krylov saw Sokov's little trick and said disdainfully: "My deputy chief of staff is serving as deputy brigade commander under you, and you are not embarrassed at all.
.What does it matter if a tank brigade commander becomes your battalion commander now? As long as I can defeat the Japanese invaders, I will not have any complaints even if I become your subordinate."
Seeing that Krylov had seen through him, Sokov laughed sheepishly.
"Stop laughing, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Krylov's tone suddenly became stern: "With the help of Colonel Bely and his subordinates, your strength has been greatly improved. If in this situation
Next, if there are any problems with Mamayev Kurgan and the Red October Tractor Factory, just wait to go to the military court."
Sokov heard that Krylov was not joking with him, so he quickly suppressed the smile on his face and replied respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I assure you with my head that as long as the tank battalion exists for one day, no matter whether it is a horse
Neither Mayevgan nor the Red October Tractor Factory will be occupied by the enemy."
Krylov snorted heavily and said: "Actually, we are not worried about the Red October Tractor Factory at all, because besides you, there is also Guriev's 38th Guards Division, which is a force capable of fighting a tough battle.
troops. With their presence, the enemy will be driven out even if they occupy the factory area. What worries us the most is the Mamayev Hill."
Krylov's words made Sokov a little depressed. He thought to himself: If my troops hadn't been holding on here desperately, the enemy would have already rushed into the factory and formed an encirclement of the 39th Guards Division.
But he could only think about these words silently in his heart, but could not say them out. But when he heard Krylov specifically mention Mamayev Heights, he expressed his position again: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please don't worry.
The position is there, and as long as one of us is here, Mamayev Heights will never be lost."
"Wish you good luck!" Krylov had finished what he should say, and stopped talking nonsense with Sokov. After saying a cliche, he hung up the phone directly.
After Yakov waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he smiled and asked: "Misha, is there any good news?"
"The problem of the tank troops has been solved." Sokov said happily: "The Army Headquarters has temporarily assigned Colonel Bely's 84th Tank Brigade to my command."
"Colonel Bely's tank brigade?" When Sokov called, Yakov and Brisky were discussing other things in a low voice, so they did not hear what Krylov said. He asked curiously: "Mi
Sha, do you think a colonel can obey the command of a lieutenant colonel like you?"
"I have already asked the chief of staff." Sokov replied: "After Colonel Bely brought his people here, he served as the commander of the tank battalion. He and his men were under my command."
"If that's the case, that's not bad." Regarding this arrangement from his superiors, Yakov nodded with satisfaction: "Anyway, you've been here for a long time, and the situation is more familiar to Colonel Bely. It's up to you.
It’s perfect to serve as the supreme commander.”
Briski also said with relief: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I was originally worried that there would be two commanders in one unit. In this way, when you have differences of opinion during the war, the soldiers would not know who to listen to. Or maybe it was
You are so apologetic to each other that you always wait for the other party to give orders no matter what happens, which will also delay the battle. Now that it is fine, you are still the only commander, so I am completely relieved."
Sokov is well aware of the fact that there are two commanders in a unit, leaving soldiers at a loss as to what to do. But this is the first time he has heard of the second situation Briski mentioned. If it is really the case
When it is difficult to make a decision, the two commanders will blame each other and wait for the other party to issue orders, which will also delay the fighter opportunity.
After waiting for more than an hour, the phone on the table suddenly rang. Briskey picked up the phone and asked, "I'm Briskey, where are you from?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," the caller was a sentry outside the factory. He reported to Briski: "A few of our own people have come, including a colonel. He asked to see the brigade commander by name."
Brisky heard that several people were coming outside, including a colonel, and he guessed that Colonel Bely might have arrived. However, he did not immediately give the sentry the order to let go. Instead, he glanced at Sokov.
Sokov nodded in agreement and then said into the microphone: "Send someone to bring in the comrade commander."
Not long after, a tall and thin middle-aged officer walked into the room under the leadership of the sentry. As soon as he entered the room, he first introduced himself: "I am Bely, commander of the 84th Tank Brigade. Excuse me.
Which is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"That's me." Sokov quickly stepped forward to greet him, raised his hand to salute him, then extended his hand and said enthusiastically: "Comrade Colonel, you are welcome to come to us."
"Hello, comrade brigade commander." Bely did not immediately shake hands with Sokov. Instead, he raised his hand in salute and said respectfully: "Colonel Bely, acting commander of the tank battalion, is reporting to you. I follow your orders."
,Please advise!"
Sokov shook hands with Bely and introduced Yakov and Briski to him. When Bely heard Yakov's name, his eyebrows rose and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
From his expression, Sokov could see that the other party seemed to know Yakov's identity. However, under the current circumstances, Sokov did not want Yakov's identity to be known to passers-by, so he opened his mouth when he saw Bely
, when he was about to ask Yakov something, he asked first: "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask, how many of you are here?"
As expected, Bely's attention was diverted by Sokov's question, and he quickly replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I have brought a total of 160 people this time. However, in order to prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, I only
I brought five people here, and the rest stayed outside the factory."
"Comrade Colonel, maybe we will start a battle with the enemy as soon as daybreak." Sokov said to Bely: "So please send someone to notify other tank crews to come over as soon as possible."
Bely nodded, turned around, walked to the door, and whispered a few instructions to a subordinate standing at the door. The subordinate nodded, turned around and left quickly. Bely walked back to Sokov
, said to him: "Comrade Brigadier, my people will not arrive until half an hour at the earliest. I don't know where the tanks prepared for us are. Can you take us to see them?"
After staying here for several days, Sokov naturally knew where the underground tank depot was, so he nodded in agreement. Before leaving, he casually asked Yakov: "Yakov, are you coming too?"
"Let's go." Yakov stood up and said, "I want to see how Kalashnikov's phone is installed."
"Telephone, what phone?" When Bely heard Yakov say this, a confused expression appeared on his face. He looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what phone are you planning to install on the tank?"
"
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov considered that Belly was a tank soldier and had the right to speak out about the pros and cons of installing a phone in a tank, so he told Bely about his idea of installing a phone and finally said
: "This is just my personal idea, and I don't know whether it will be applicable in combat, so I only asked Lieutenant Kalashnikov to install one first to see how it works."
After hearing this, Biely nodded repeatedly and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, your idea is very novel. If there is a phone on the back of every tank, then our coordinated operations with the infantry will become more convenient."
"
When several people arrived at the underground tank depot, Kalashnikov's phone had just been connected. When he saw Sokov and Yakov walking over with a colonel, he quickly straightened up and stood at attention. His eyes
He scanned the three of them back and forth, thinking about whom to report to.
Bely waved his hand to Kalashnikov and said carelessly: "Report to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Now I am also following his command."
What, the colonel obeys the command of the lieutenant colonel?! When Kalashnikov heard what Bely said, he had a surprised expression on his face, but he still followed what Bely said and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel
, the phone has been installed and we are about to test it."
Sokov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and ordered: "Time is running out, start testing immediately."
Kalashnikov agreed and was about to climb onto the tank when Bely stopped him: "Wait a minute, Comrade Lieutenant. Let me test it with you."
When Kalashnikov heard what Bely said, he didn't dare to neglect. He helped the other party get on the tank first, and then climbed up himself. After a while, Kalashnikov's roaring voice came from the open turret:
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we can begin."
Sokov and Yakov came to the back of the tank and saw a telephone. Sokov picked up the phone and immediately heard Kalashnikov's voice coming from inside: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you hear me?"
The sound?"
"I can hear it, very clearly."
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he suddenly felt the tank body shake, as if Kalashnikov was about to start the tank. He was afraid that if the tank reversed, he would be crushed under the tracks, so he hurriedly held the microphone and backed away.
A few steps.
The tank started, but it still stayed in place without moving. Sokov pretended to be brave and approached the tank and put the microphone to his ear again. Because the noise was so loud, he had to cover one ear with his hand and shouted loudly: "
Hey, hey, Lieutenant Kalashnikov, can you hear me?"
"I can hear it." Although the tank engine was loud, Sokov could still clearly hear Kalashnikov's voice coming from inside: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I can hear you clearly."
In order to test whether the phone worked well, Sokov said loudly into the phone: "Comrade Lieutenant, can you try turning the turret to the left?" After speaking, he looked up to see if the tank's turret turned according to his instructions.
The turret slowly turned ninety degrees to the left and then stopped. Then Kalashnikov's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, did I execute the order correctly?"
"That's right." Seeing that the tank turret turned to the left as he instructed, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly said into the microphone: "Next step, turn right again and return to the original position."
After a while, the turret turned to the right again and returned to the starting position. Seeing this, Sokov turned to Yakov and said: "Yakov, it seems that our method is completely feasible." Then.
, he said into the microphone again, "Comrade Lieutenant, okay, come out."
But Bely's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I think after installing this kind of telephone, our communication with the infantry will become much more convenient. When will you be able to install telephones on all tanks?"
Woolen cloth?"
"As soon as possible, Comrade Colonel, I can only reply to you that the installation will be completed as soon as possible." Sokov said into the microphone: "Now, you can turn off the engine."
After the roar of the tank engine stopped, Bely took the lead to get out of the tank. He jumped off the tank body and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, if we start a war with the enemy at dawn tomorrow, can we defeat the enemy?"
Are the phones set up?"
"This?!" Faced with Bely's question, Sokov glanced at Kalashnikov and said with some embarrassment: "Now there is only Lieutenant Kalashnikov. If he wants to complete this work, he must
There may be a lot of people needed.”
"Comrade Brigade Commander, you don't have to worry about this." Bely said carelessly: "Among the people I brought here this time, there are many soldiers who know how to maintain tanks. If they help, I believe that the telephone installation project will be very fast.
It’ll be done.”
Among the more than 100 tanks that Bely brought, there were more than 20 soldiers who knew how to maintain tanks. As soon as they arrived at the underground tank depot, Bely called them to the tank with a telephone installed. Bely pointed at
The phone on the back of the tank said to them: "Comrades, have you seen this phone?"
"I saw it." The soldiers standing next to the tank replied in unison.
"Do you know what this phone is for?"
This was the first time for the tank crews to see a telephone installed on the back of the tank, so after hearing Bely's question, they collectively shook their heads and said they didn't know. One of the tank crew second lieutenants asked in confusion: "Comrade Colonel.
, what is the use of installing a phone on the back of a tank? Who else will call us during the battle? "
"Comrade Second Lieutenant, you are right." Belei nodded to the Second Lieutenant a few times with his hand, nodded and said, "Yes, this phone is used by the infantry to call us during battles."
"The infantry called us?!" Hearing what Bely said, everyone looked at each other. The second lieutenant asked in surprise: "Colonel, why did the infantry call us?"
"You all have experience fighting the German army. You should know that when we are fighting with the infantry, communication is the biggest problem." Bely stepped forward, picked up the microphone, and said to his subordinates: "And with this
With a phone, the infantry can communicate with us and give us instructions on attack targets."
