Chapter 404: Candidates

  Chapter 404 Candidates

After the call was connected, Chuikov heard Sokov's voice, and immediately ordered: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, today we have a troop sent by the base camp, which may cross the river and enter the city. You must closely monitor the river. If you have any news, report it to me immediately."

  Sokov couldn't help being a little stunned when he heard what Cuikov said. He wondered if the news of the landing of the 13th Guards Division and the defenders at the ferry didn't report to Cuikov and the others?

  Chuikov didn't hear Sokov's answer, so he raised his voice and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what are you doing, why don't you answer me?"

"Comrade Commander, I can report to you right now that the vanguard of the 13th Guards Infantry Division has completed crossing the river and is moving towards the city from the ferry." Sukov glanced at Luo Ji who was standing beside him. Mtsev, adding: "General Rodimtsev is next to me, and he wants to talk to you."

Knowing that Rodimtsev had arrived at Sokov's headquarters, Chuikov was also taken aback, but he quickly recovered and said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, give the microphone to Rodimtsev." , I want to speak to him personally."

   Sokov handed the microphone to Rodimtsev, but did not leave, wanting to hear what Chuikov would do next. After chatting with Chuikov on the phone for five or six minutes, Rodimtsev put down the microphone and said to Sokov: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander said that from now on, the Mamayev post to Tsaritsa The troops along the river are under my unified command."

  Sokov had long guessed that Chuikov would hand over the troops scattered around Mamayev Post to a certain commander. But he felt that it was inappropriate for Rodimtsev to take command of so many troops. Although Rodimtsev is a general, he has just entered the city. It can be said that his eyes are smeared, and he can't figure out what is going on. How can he formulate a series of defensive or offensive plans in a targeted manner?

  But an order is an order, and sometimes you know that it is a wrong order, but you can only bite the bullet and execute it. So he straightened his body and said to Rodimtsev: "Comrade General, I am willing to obey your command, please give me an order." Although he said so, he was muttering in his heart, if the other party ordered him to lead If the troops standing on Mamayev Post launch a full-scale counterattack against the German army, will they obey the order or choose to disobey it?

Fortunately, Rodimtsev did not give Sokov such an order that made him in a dilemma, but said to him with a taste of negotiation: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, Comrade Commander ordered me to lead the troops to retake the captured The expert building occupied by the German army, and the strengthening of the defense of the Central Station. I don’t know where the places he mentioned are, can you send someone to guide us?”

   Knowing that you only need to send someone to act as a guide, Sokov naturally agreed: "No problem, Comrade General, I will immediately dispatch capable people to act as guides for your troops."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Sidolin suddenly asked: "Comrade General, since Commander Chuikov ordered you to command the troops near Mamayev Post, where do you plan to place your headquarters?" ?”

  Sidorin's question made Sokov feel a little bit in his heart. If Rodimtsev decided to place the headquarters here, wouldn't he have to change the place? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly blamed Sidolin for why he suddenly thought of asking such a question.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Rodimtsev just shook his head and said: "I plan to be with my troops. When my troops take down the expert building, I will set up the headquarters there. Sokov Principal, I have two things to ask you."

Knowing that Rodimtsev did not set up his headquarters at Mamayev Gang, Sokov couldn't help but secretly heaved a sigh of relief, so he said without hesitation: "Comrade General, as long as it is within my ability, I will It must be done."

  Rodimtsev said with some embarrassment: "Although there are tens of thousands of my troops, there are still more than a thousand without weapons. I wonder if you can help us solve the problem of weapons."

Before the German army approached the city, Sokov sent troops out to harass the enemy many times, especially when Christopher led the attack, he directly took out a military warehouse of the German army and seized a large amount of supplies from it, including Including a lot of weapons and ammunition. Sokov considered that the supply of ammunition from the other side of the river was prone to problems, so he replaced most of the troops in the brigade with German equipment. At this moment, he heard that more than a thousand people in the Guards Division had no weapons, so he said bluntly: "Comrade General, there are a batch of unused weapons in our warehouse. You can send someone to get them."

Seeing that Sokov readily agreed to provide weapons to his troops, Rodimtsev had a smile on his face, so he made a second request: "According to the prior arrangements for crossing the river, the first ones who will cross the river with me , are the 34th and 39th Guards Regiments. Colonel Yelin’s 42nd Guards Regiment may not be able to cross the river until night. Soldiers who lack weapons are now concentrated in the 42nd Guards Regiment. I hope that when they cross the river , you can send someone to meet them, get them properly settled, and provide them with weapons."

  Hearing that Ye Lin's 42nd Guards Regiment was going to enter the city at night, Sokov couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and his heart beat faster. He thought to himself, if he remembered correctly, Vasily Zaitsev, a recruit who had just joined the army, should be in the 42nd Guards Regiment. In addition, there is also the Sergeant Pavlov who stood firm on the Pavlov Building, also from this regiment. If possible, I must find a way to recruit these two people, presumably Colonel Ye Lin will not have any objections.

  Sokov was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear Rodimtsev's words behind him. It was Sidolin who gently tugged on his sleeve a few times to wake him up from his imagination. He quickly put on a serious look, and said to Rodimtsev: "Don't worry, Comrade General, I will send someone to wait at the ferry, and when Colonel Yelin's troops arrive, I will lead them here."

   A quarter of an hour later, the 39th Guards Regiment sent by Rodimtsev to the Central Station set off. In real history, as soon as the regiment crossed the Volga River, it launched a counterattack against the German troops occupying Mamayev Gang. At this moment, because the 73rd Infantry Brigade under the command of Sokov did not allow the enemy to occupy Mamayev Post, the task of this unit changed from attacking Mamayev Post to reinforcements. Central Station.

Standing with Rodimtsev in the observation post on the top of the hill, Sokov looked at the departing troops and murmured to himself: "Now there is a guard regiment of more than 2,000 people guarding the Central Railway Station. The Germans To win here, it is bound to use more troops than in history. In this way, the pressure on Mamayev Post will be greatly reduced."

  Sidorin called from the headquarters and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier Commander, a commander from the Army Group Command has come, and he said he wants to see General Rodimtsev."

"I see." Sokov said into the microphone: "Let's go down now." After putting down the phone, Sokov immediately said to Rodimtsev, "Comrade General, there is an officer from the Army Group Command." Commander, I said that I came to see you specially."

When the two left the observation post on the top of the hill and walked towards the command post in the tunnel, Rodimtsev suddenly asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I would like to ask, what prompted you to go to Mama?" Digging tunnels under Yevgang?"

It is naturally impossible for Sokov to tell Rodimtsev that he is a person from the future, knowing that during the entire Stalingrad defense battle, this Mamayev Hill was the focus of contention between the two sides. If you want to keep this place, you can only fill it with human life. He hesitated for a moment, and said in a way acceptable to the other party: "Comrade General, this is the commanding height of Stalingrad, and I think it will definitely become the focus of the German attack. Due to geological reasons, it is impossible to build a solid tower on the surface of the hill." Fortifications, so I thought of using tunnel fortifications and surface positions to resist the German attack."

   When the two returned to the headquarters, they saw a lieutenant colonel chatting with Sidolin inside. Judging from the expressions on their faces, they should be acquaintances.

Seeing Sokov and Rodimtsev walking in from the outside, the lieutenant colonel quickly stopped talking with Sidolin, but walked up to Rodimtsev, raised his hand to salute him, and politely Said: "Hello, General Rodimtsev! Let me introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Colonel Weinrub, director of the Armored Forces of the Group Army, and I was ordered to cooperate with you in capturing the expert building."

  Hearing that the other party was the director of armored vehicles, Rodimtsev couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I wonder how many tanks you can provide to cooperate with our attack on the expert building."

Weinrub stretched out a palm, and replied with a little embarrassment: "Comrade general, because our tanks suffered huge losses in the early battle. Therefore, in cooperating with your attack on the expert building, we only Can provide you with five tanks."

  Five tanks? ! When Rodimtsev heard this number, he couldn't help frowning slightly, but he quickly stretched out: "Not bad, our troops did not carry any heavy weapons because they were in a hurry to enter Stalingrad. With this With the cooperation of five tanks, we will be more confident in taking back the expert building from the enemy's hands."

Hearing what Rodimtsev said, Weinrub could not help secretly heaving a sigh of relief. He was worried that the other party would dislike the fact that he had brought too few tanks. Seeing that the other party was so reasonable, he said easily: "Comrade General, we The tank is being refueled at the moment, and it will reach the attack position in about half an hour, why don't I accompany you to see the terrain first?"

  ...

After Rodimtsev left with Weinrubb, Sokov immediately told Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Colonel Yelin's 42nd Guards Regiment is coming across the river tonight, and you immediately send a few smart fighters to Cross the river and wait for them."

"After they come, where should we place them?" Sidolin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and asked him for instructions: "We can't let them stay in the open space, so when the day dawns, they will become a target for enemy aircraft."

Sokov thought for a while, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, isn't there a Krutoy deep ditch on the northern **** of Beigang? It can directly lead to the factory area. It is said that the sides of the ditch are full of The waste **** transported from the factory is a very convenient place to hide. Why not put the 42nd Guards Regiment there first, and it will not be too late to adjust their positions after the conditions improve."

   For Sokov's arrangement, Sidolin disagreed from the bottom of his heart. But after thinking about it for a while, he found that there was really no other place where he could hoard two or three thousand people without being discovered by the German reconnaissance plane, just like the Krutoy trench. Thinking of this, he nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Brigadier Commander, I will do as you say. After the 42nd Guards Regiment crosses the river tonight, I will have someone take them there to hide."

"By the way, General Rodimtsev said that more than half of the commanders and fighters of the regiment are not equipped with weapons." Sokov remembered Rodimtsev's words and quickly reminded Sidolin: "After Colonel Yelin landed, Have someone invite him here, and we will provide them with enough weapons and ammunition."

"Comrade Brigadier," Sidolin said to Sokov with some hesitation: "When you said these words in front of General Rodimtsev just now, I thought you were just trying to put on a gesture, not Do you really plan to provide them with weapons?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, let me remind you that the Germans are very powerful. No matter how strong our brigade is, we cannot defeat them on our own. We need the cooperation of our allies. Do you understand?" Sokov said Afterwards, seeing that Sidolin still had a dazed look on his face, he continued: "Moreover, the commanders and fighters of our brigade are almost all equipped with German-style equipment. The eliminated equipment of our army can only be piled up in the warehouse. Instead of letting these weapons Rust, it is better to use it to support friendly forces, they fight the Germans the fiercest, the less pressure we will bear here."

Sukov's words convinced Sidolin, who nodded and said, "Comrade Brigadier, you are right. Anyway, we won't be able to use the eliminated weapons for the time being, so we might as well use them to support our friendly forces. In this way After the battle has started, there are people who can provide us with some help in critical times to relieve the pressure we are under."

   Next, it is to arrange for the candidates to meet the 42nd Guards Regiment at the ferry. Sidolin advocated sending Sergei, the company commander of the guard, to go up, but was denied by Sokov: "No, Sergesha still has to command the troops and be responsible for the security of the headquarters. He cannot take risks. Chief of Staff, you still Get another person."

  Sidorin was silent for a moment, then asked again: "How about Christopher?"

  Sokov still shook his head and objected: "He is the commander of the reconnaissance company, and there are more important things waiting for him to do. It is better to arrange other people to send people to the ferry to meet the troops."

Seeing that the two candidates he proposed in succession were rejected by Sokov, Sidolin asked with some frustration: "Comrade Brigadier, tell me, who do you think is the best candidate for this task? "

   "Samoilov." Sokov said without hesitation: "Second Lieutenant Samoilov, the third platoon leader of the guard company, I think he is the best candidate."

Sidolin also saw the ability of Second Lieutenant Samoilov, seeing that this person was the candidate proposed by Sokov, he did not object, but nodded and said: "Okay, Brigadier Comrade, then send Second Lieutenant Samoilov to meet Colonel Yelin."

  (end of this chapter)