Seeing that Zinchenko understood his intentions, Sokov turned to the lieutenant who reported the news and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, you will go back later and tell Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko that although our night attack was successful, the Germans will soon realize that we were using the sewers to win. According to my estimate, the enemy will definitely learn from our tactics and send people to attack you through the sewers. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen the defense in the sewers."
The second lieutenant obviously participated in the work of laying mines and stacking fortifications in the sewer. As soon as Sokov finished speaking, he asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, are you laying minefields and stacking sandbag fortifications like the sewer below the factory gate?"
"No, no, no, the defenses of each place must be adjusted according to the characteristics of each place, and cannot be copied blindly." After Sokov and the second lieutenant finished speaking, they waved their hands and said, "The mine reserves in the factory are not infinite, so we cannot arrange the same minefields in the workers' new village."
Sokov was worried that the lieutenant would not understand what he was saying, so he took out paper and pen and explained to him while drawing sketches: "Almost all the buildings in the workers' new village were destroyed by enemy artillery fire, so you can no longer set up your defensive positions in the buildings like yesterday."
"Then where should we set the defensive position?" asked the second lieutenant respectfully: "Does it need to be urgently built fortifications outside the Workers' New Village?"
"You only need to choose a few important areas, establish defensive positions in the ruins, and organically connect these defensive positions through one or two sewers." Sokov told the second lieutenant: "Once you are bombarded by the enemy, you can quickly drill into the sewer to avoid enemy shelling.
Except for the sewers connecting the fire support points, all the other unused passages are blocked with sandbags, making it impossible for the enemy to pass. In order to prevent the enemy from secretly clearing the blocked passages, you can lay mines in front, back and middle of the sandbags. In this way, as long as the enemy moves the sandbags, they will be blown over by the mines."
"Comrade Commander," the lieutenant asked with a frown, "Why do we not set up firepower points in these areas but have to completely seal the passage?"
"There are at least twenty or thirty passages you want to block. Even if only five people are deployed to defend each passage, then at least one company is needed." Sokov had to build fortifications under the factory area, but in the workers' new village, he felt that there was no need, so he could explain to the second lieutenant patiently: "If we do this, no matter whether the enemy comes or not, the commanders and soldiers of this company must stick to their posts. Moreover, such a firepower point can be used to deal with a small number of enemies. If there are more enemies, they will not last long."
After Sokov's explanation, not only the second lieutenant understood his painstaking efforts, but even Peter and Zinchenko nodded thoughtfully, thinking that Sokov's words were very reasonable.
The second lieutenant took the sketch drawn by Sokov and saluted him. After turning around and walking out the door, he wanted to convey Sokov's order to the regiment commander Papchenko as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked out the door, he heard Sokov calling him. He stopped quickly, turned his head and looked at Sokov, thinking to himself: What will happen if the commander asked me?
"Comrade lieutenant," Sokov came to the lieutenant and asked in a low voice: "Do you have cigarettes?" After saying this, Sokov felt that he was not expressing it accurately enough, so he quickly added, "I said the seized German cigarette."
"Yes, comrade of the division commander." The lieutenant quickly reached into his pocket, took out two packs of cigarettes, and handed them to Sokov, saying embarrassedly: "I only have two packs on me. If you need them, I will send them to you later."
Sokov asked the lieutenant for cigarettes, completely to satisfy Peter's desire to taste German cigarettes. He thought the other party could give him half a pack at best, but now he saw that there were two packs, which was already an unexpected surprise. He waved his hand and said, "Enough is enough, two packs are enough. Thank you, lieutenant."
After the second lieutenant left, Sokov walked back into the duty room. Peter, who was talking to Zinchenko, looked at Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask, why do you have to lay mines in the middle of the sandbag in addition to burying mines in front and behind the sandbag?"
Not only Peter, but even Zinchenko looked at him curiously. Sokov felt that it was necessary to teach the two of them: "Comrade Director, we buried mines in front and behind the sandbags to prevent the enemy from approaching the sandbags. But if they cleaned these mines, they would immediately organize people to move all the sandbags that blocked the passage. At this time, the mines hidden in the middle of the sandbags can blow the enemy who carried the sandbags to the point of howling. The enemy found that we had mines in the middle of the sandbags, so they did not dare to act rashly. They could only choose a place that was not blocked..."
After Sokov's explanation, the two factory directors finally understood Sokov's true intentions. Peter nodded and said, "There are too many sewers in the Workers' New Village. If people were sent to defend each place, the strength of a regiment would be insufficient. But if only a few passages were left, not only would our army's attack become more hidden, but it would also make the Germans who attempted to sneak attack us through the sewers at a loss."
There was actually a more important reason why Sokov did not immediately follow the lieutenant to the workers' new village, but stayed here to talk to Peter and the others. He took advantage of Peter's happiness and asked tentatively: "Director Peter, I want to ask, how many broken tanks can you usually pull back to the factory every day?"
Peter, who was excited, heard Sokov's question, immediately restrained the smile on his face and asked vigilantly: "Comrade Colonel, what are you asking about this?"
"Comrade Director," Sokov took out the German cigarette he had taken from his lieutenant from his pocket, stuffed it into Peter's hand, and said with a smile: "You said you want to try German cigarettes, I have already helped you get it. You can taste it and see which one is better than our domestic cigarettes."
Peter took the cigarette with a puzzled look on his face, tore open the packaging, pulled out one and held it in his mouth, shook the cigarette box at Sokov, and asked him if he was smoking. Seeing Sokov shake his head, he turned to Zinchenko. Zinchenko pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, immediately lit a match, first for Peter, and then for himself.
"How is it, Director Peter?" Sokov saw Peter take a few sips and asked with a smile: "How does German cigarette smell?"
"It's not bad." Peter nodded slightly and said, "I heard that German cigarettes smell like horse manure when smoking, but I think it's not bad."
When Sokov heard Peter say this, he thought to himself: I think German cigarettes smell like horse manure, and I really don’t understand why you are used to smoking. Seeing that Peter was in a good mood, he asked again: “Director Peter, I want to ask, can you provide me with a few repaired tanks in the past two or three days?”
Unexpectedly, when Peter heard Sokov's question, his face immediately changed: "What kind of ghost cigarette is so difficult to smoke." He said, throwing the cigarette that had not finished smoking in his hand on the ground, crushing it with his toes, and saying viciously, "I will never smoke again in the future."