Chapter 809: Simple pontoon

  Chapter 809 Simple floating bridge

As soon as the call was connected, the location of the headquarters was bombed by enemy planes. In order to report the information to Yeremenko in time, Cuikov did not leave his headquarters, but continued to hold the microphone and talk to Yeremenko. call.

  Because of the deafening explosions coming from the receiver, Yeremenko struggled to hear clearly what Chuikov said. After pondering for a while, he asked loudly: "Comrade Chuikov, are you sure of success in taking such a large-scale operation behind the enemy's rear?"

Before Chuikov could answer, he said to himself: "There are more than 2,000 troops planned to go into battle, which is almost the total strength of our guerrilla forces behind the enemy lines. Have you ever considered that if we fail, we will The armed forces in the enemy's rear will be completely lost?"

"I've thought about it, Comrade Commander." Chuikov waited for Yeremenko to finish speaking, and replied respectfully: "This is a dangerous move. If it fails, our army's strength behind enemy lines will be destroyed." But once the offensive is successful, it can weaken the enemy's attack on the factory area. I think this risk is worth taking."

Although Yelymenko is the headquarters of the front army, his command ability and level are still weaker than Cuikov. He only considered the possible adverse effects of launching an offensive behind enemy lines, but he did not see this action. It is possible to improve the situation of the enemy and the enemy in the city. Therefore, he said stubbornly: "Comrade Chuikov, I disagree with you. We don't know how long it will take to smash the enemy's attack on Stalingrad. If the armed forces in the enemy's rear are exhausted prematurely, then The enemy can then concentrate all their energies on attacking the city, and the already precarious situation will deteriorate further."

Chuikov reported Guchakov's battle plan to Yeremenko, hoping that the other party could provide some help within his ability for this offensive launched by the enemy's rear, such as sending planes to bomb the enemy's reinforcements; Sovsky's troops launched a feint to attract the attention of the enemy's troops, etc. But at this moment, these ideas of his own were rejected by the other party before he raised them. Cuikov was very unconvinced.

   Don't look at him and Sokov, he immediately called Yeremenko to report to Yeremenko. The interval between them was very short, but it didn't prevent him from weighing the battle plan repeatedly in his mind. He felt that launching an offensive in the enemy's rear at this time would be helpful in reversing the unfavorable situation in the city.

It was precisely because of this consideration that he ignored Yeremenko's objection and continued to say to the other party: "Comrade Commander, the main force of the German army is in the factory area in the north of the city. They are fighting fiercely with our army. Their rear forces Inevitably weakened. I think it is positive that Captain Guchakov organizes this offensive behind enemy lines."

   "Comrade Chuikov," Yeremenko was surprised to see Chuikov continue to insist on his views. After being silent for a while, he said into the microphone: "This matter is of great importance, and I cannot make a decision easily. I will report this matter to the headquarters immediately to see what the Supreme Commander himself thinks. After the results are obtained , I’ll let you know again.” After speaking, he hung up the phone without giving Cuikov another chance to argue.

Khrushchev, who was sitting opposite Yeremenko, roughly heard what Chuikov said, and after Yeremenko put down the phone, he asked curiously: "Comrade commander, it was just a small offensive. , do we really need to alarm the base camp?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Yeremenko saw Khrushchev's expression of indifference, and guessed that the other party did not realize the impact of the actions here, so he said to him seriously: "Although the number of people who are about to go into battle Not many, only about 2,000. But including those non-combatants, I estimate that the total number will exceed 4,000. This is all our strength behind the enemy. If we lose it rashly, the enemy will have no worries. They Then we can concentrate our forces and launch a more violent attack on the city. In this matter, I can’t make the decision, and I need to report to my superiors immediately.”

After listening to Yeremenko's explanation, Khrushchev also realized the seriousness of the problem, and after careful consideration, he said to Yeremenko: "Comrade Commander, we sent a joint telegram to communicate this battle plan to you." Report to the headquarters of the Supreme Command."

  Seeing that Khrushchev raised the issue, Yelymenko was not pretentious. After nodding, he said, "I will draft the telegram now, and when it is finished, you and I will sign it and send it out directly."

Chuikov reported his work but was not approved by Yeremenko. He was about to call Sokov to discuss the matter, but Krylov, who had just answered a phone call, reported to him in a panic: "Commander Comrade Comrade, the enemy infantry, under the cover of ten tanks and six assault guns, has rushed into the Dzerzhinsky factory, and now most of the factory area has fallen into the hands of the Germans."

   "What?" Chuikov was taken aback by Krylov's news. He asked with a straight face, "Isn't the 45th Infantry Division responsible for the defense of the factory now? Why didn't they block the enemy's attack?"

   "Our troops lack anti-tank weapons," Krylov replied with a bitter face: "Although the soldiers are very tenacious, their flesh and blood can't stop the enemy's tanks at all..."

"I understand." Chuikov didn't wait for Krylov to finish, and interrupted him, "Sokov and the others are going to get a batch of anti-tank weapons soon, and I'll see if he can share some of them with us. "

Hearing what Chuikov said, Krylov couldn't help shaking his head, and said with a wry smile: "Other troops, as soon as they heard that we wanted something, they sent it right away without saying a word; but in Sokov's place, if they want something, It’s almost as difficult as reaching the sky. Comrade Commander, I think even if you make this call, it may not have any effect.”

"How will you know if you don't try?" Chuikov very much agrees with Krylov's statement. Compared with other division commanders under the group army, Sokov is very stingy. He can always find many reasons to ask for a weapon from him. to excuse. Sometimes Cuikov even had the illusion that the other party was the commander, and he was just a division commander under him, and he could only speak in a negotiating tone when talking to him.

  After the call was connected, Chuikov heard that the person answering the phone was Sokov, so he directly identified himself: "Hello, Colonel Sokov, I am Chuikov."

   "Hello, Comrade Commander." Hearing the telegram from Chuikov, Sokov thought to himself, could it be that Guchakov is about to launch an offensive, has there been any change? Thinking of this, he asked with a guilty conscience: "What instructions do you have?"

   "The enemy has already stormed into the Dzerzhinsky factory and occupied most of the factory area." Chuikov did not go around in circles, and said bluntly, "I am asking you for help."

   "Ask me for help?!" Sokov couldn't help but thumped in his heart when he heard this, wondering if he was going to transfer any of my troops to reinforce the Dzerzhinsky factory, right? He tried his best to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to ask me to send troops for reinforcements?"

"There is no need for reinforcements. The militias in the factory plus the regular army have a lot of people." Unexpectedly, Cuikov's answer surprised him, "The reason why they couldn't stop the German army's attack was because the enemy deployed tanks and assault guns. Lacking anti-tank weapons, no matter how heroic you are, you can't block the enemy's steel with your own flesh and blood. Therefore, I plan to share some of the anti-tank weapons given to you by the superiors to the troops who stick to the Dzerzhinsky factory .”

"Comrade Commander," Sokov felt more at ease when he learned that Chuikov called him only for some anti-tank weapons. In this way, he would not have to worry about unnecessary losses to his troops: "The new anti-tank weapons given to us by our superiors haven't arrived yet. After they arrive, I will immediately distribute some of them to friendly troops."

  Chuikov didn't expect Sokov to agree so readily, and there was no need to say a lot of things that he had prepared. He hesitated for a moment, then asked back: "I only have one last question, when will the new anti-tank weapons be delivered?"

"I don't know, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied simply, "When Yakov called me, he said that it would be delivered in about five days. But you also know our transportation situation. Even if the goods are transported to the east bank, it will take a lot of trouble to transport them across the river. To tell you the truth, I am also looking forward to this batch of anti-tank weapons, so that they can be used against German tanks."

"So, we have to wait another two days." Sokov's answer somewhat disappointed Chuikov. That is to say, the 45th Infantry Division, which stood firm at the Dzerzhinsky Factory, had to rely on its own flesh and blood It took two or three days to resist the German army before they had the opportunity to be equipped with driving anti-tank weapons issued by their superiors.

When Chuikov was considering whether to call Colonel Sokolov, the commander of the 45th Infantry Division, and ask his men to persist for another two days, he unexpectedly heard Sokov say: "Comrade Commander, although there is no decent response Tank weapons, but not much difficulty holding the factory district?"

  If someone else said such a thing, Cuikov would definitely think that he was bragging. But the words came from Sokov's mouth, so Chuikov had to take them seriously. He was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "Colonel Sokov, what can you do, tell me quickly."

"Comrade Commander, my troops have participated in battles at the Dzerzhinsky factory, and I have also carefully checked the terrain there." Sokov said into the microphone: "I found that the factory was surrounded by the Moklaya River or something. surround…"

"It's the Mokraya Mechetka River." Seeing that Sokov couldn't remember the name of the river next to the factory, Chuikov reminded him, urging him, "Quickly continue, what does this river remind you of? "

"I once asked the soldiers who participated in the factory battle, and they said that there were three road bridges across this river." Sokov felt that the name of the river was too difficult to pronounce, so he did not say the name of the river, but used this river Instead, "Enemy tanks and assault guns enter the factory area through these road bridges. My idea is to blow up these road bridges..."

"What, you said blowing up the highway bridge?" Cuikov was taken aback. "Blowing up the bridge, how will our people cross the river? You must know that the river is more than 30 meters wide and the water depth is more than three meters. You can't let us Are all the people swimming there?"

   Although Sokov has never been to the Dzerzhinsky factory in person, he does not know what the river there is like. But he clearly remembers watching a movie about the Battle of Stalingrad when he was a child. This old movie was shot in the late 1940s and reviewed by Stalin himself. It truly restored the topography of the city. In order to facilitate the passage of the river, workers built many pontoon bridges on the river. These pontoons are all composed of empty oil drums, fixed with ropes and thrown into the water, they can bear the weight of people.

   It is precisely because of his understanding of this simple pontoon bridge that Sokov proposed to blow up the road bridges around the factory. Seeing that Chuikov did not understand at this moment, he explained to the other party: "Comrade commander, even if all the road bridges are blown up, it is very easy for us to cross the bridge. There are so many empty oil drums in the factory, as long as we use a rope After being bundled and thrown in the river, it can become a simple pontoon bridge, even if it is destroyed by German artillery fire, we can rebuild a new bridge in the shortest possible time.”

"Colonel Sokov," Chuikov waited patiently for Sokov to finish, then sighed softly, and said, somewhat dumbfounded: "As early as August, the factory workers built many such pontoon bridges on the river. .But I can't figure out, what does this have to do with keeping the factory?"

   "Comrade Commander, I want to ask you." Seeing that Chuikov didn't understand his intentions, Sokov asked with a smile, "Can this simple pontoon bridge bear the weight of tanks and assault guns?"

"How is this possible? A simple pontoon bridge built with empty oil drums is passable enough to pass people. Let alone such heavy tanks and assault guns, even a much lighter truck will sink immediately..." Cuikov said When he got here, he was stunned suddenly, and he suddenly realized what Sokov was going to tell him. After a moment of silence, he asked tentatively: "Colonel Sokov, if I understand correctly, you mean that after blowing up all the highway bridges, we only use this kind of pontoon bridge made of gasoline barrels to pass. Tanks and armored vehicles can’t cross the bridge?”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, that's exactly what I mean." Seeing that Chuikov finally understood his thoughts, Sokov said with relief: "As long as the enemy's tanks and assault guns cannot enter the factory area, then we will stick to the factory area." enough troops to stop their infantry attack."

After he finished speaking, it suddenly occurred to him that rashly blowing up the road bridges around the factory might cause some people's dissatisfaction, so he quickly added: "Comrade commander, if you want to blow up the road bridges around the factory, there may be some Some different opinions, I hope you can stick to your point of view."

  Chuikov is also a smart person. He didn't understand what Sokov wanted to express, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, Colonel Sokov. If anyone wants to pursue this matter in the future, I will take the initiative to take all the responsibilities."

  (end of this chapter)